# Faber Infinite

> Crafting Growth Opportunities


## Posts

- [3 things the most creative leaders do](https://faberinfinite.com/3-things-the-most-creative-leaders-do/): As leader, you should be leading the whole organization creatively. But how can you nurture creativity all around yourself? Glad to share 3 proven ways to foster further creativity. To read further details, please click here.
- [5 Lessons from A Navy SEAL To Make Your Resolutions Stick](https://faberinfinite.com/5-lessons-from-a-navy-seal-to-make-your-resolutions-stick/): As part of first Transformation Tuesday note of 2016, we are super excited to share ‘Five Insights to make New Year Resolutions work’. Many of us pen our New Year resolutions every year, however many give up midway. But the big question today is to make those daunting resolutions or not to have, the major reason being ‘how many of us could accomplish them?’ According to the University of Scranton, 92% of people fail at these goals every year.  Why? The fear of failure eliminates most people from completing goals. Let’s have a glance on 5 key tools to help you and your organization. To explore further details, please click here.
- [12 Powerful Transformation Tools of 2015](https://faberinfinite.com/12-powerful-transformation-tools-of-2015-2/): We are approaching the new year, and as part of last Transformation Tuesday note of 2015, we are tempted to share with you 12 improvement concepts which were picked by stalwart transformation leaders and which have benefited various forward looking organizations across the world in the continual improvement journey. Old or new practices do not make much difference, what matters is solutions which delivered results! For ease of understanding, the 12 powerful tools are categorized into further 3 buckets. Details are as follows:  
- [12 Powerful Transformation Tools of 2015](https://faberinfinite.com/12-powerful-transformation-tools-of-2015/): We are approaching the new year, and as part of last Transformation Tuesday note of 2015, we are tempted to share with you 12 improvement concepts which were picked by stalwart transformation leaders and which have benefitted various forward looking organizations across the world in the continual improvement journey. Old or new practices do not make much difference, what matters is solutions which delivered results! For ease of understanding, the 12 powerful tools are categorized into further 3 buckets. Details as follows:
- [Go Green](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green/): Going green is an approach to help the earth and society while sustaining the business. In the earlier post, we talked about types of green waste, which can be avoided and improved to facilitate better processes and cost benefits as well. Faber Infinite has been working with businesses to be more sustainable by going green and targeting bottom line improvements. Further, as put across by Hon. Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi, ‘Zero Defect Zero Effect’ signifies production mechanisms wherein products have no defect and the processes through which product is made has zero adverse environmental and ecological effect. If the defects are zero, the investment in terms of material, manpower will be less, so the bottom line can be affected and the profitability is increased with savings. One of the types of seven green wastes is energy and energy conservation is also on key radar not only for private organizations but for nations! Energy conservation refers to reducing energy consumption through using less of energy services, for example driving less is energy conservation, but driving the same amount with higher mileage vehicle is an example of energy efficiency. Energy conservation and efficiency both are energy reduction techniques. Even though energy conservation reduces energy services, it can result in increased environmental quality, national security, personal financial security and higher savings. Institutes like Petroleum Conservation Research Association are engaged in promoting energy efficiency and conservation in every walk of life. Organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic and environmental sustainability. Industrial users may want to increase efficiency and thus maximize the profit. Energy conservation is important to prevent climate change and makes it easier to replace non renewable resources with renewable energy. It is applicable for developed as well as developing economies. Lately, African economy of Zambia has been facing sever power crisis. Zambia, also being exporter of electricity in the past, has faced tough times due to several reasons and unable to meet demands of growing population and their internal needs. All of Zambia’s electricity could force grid operators to cut power supplies by 30% to country’s copper mines, the key stone of it’s economy. In future, energy conservation and efficiencies are the only ways for sustainable growth and development. Contributed By:- Faber Khushboo Vyas 
- [Learn how to make your team creative](https://faberinfinite.com/do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-help-your-team-to-be-creative-in-your-organization/): Today is the generation of competencies, skills and talent. Competencies testing and training has proved invaluable in business. In the continuous improvement journey we are learning that murky human performance categories like sales ability and leadership can be broken down into skill sets that are not only measurable; they are also trainable. Creativity, like leadership, can be broken down into measurable, trainable competencies, and providing variety of training pays off both with more creative output and more money. Sharing an interesting article on “Do you have what it takes to help your team to be creative”. Following are the eight competencies that help managers elicit creativity in subordinates in any organization. You may refer to further details here.
- [Do you have what it takes to help your team to be creative?](https://faberinfinite.com/do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-help-your-team-to-be-creative/): Today is the generation of competencies, skills and talent. Competencies testing and training has proved invaluable in business. In the continuous improvement journey we are learning that murky human performance categories like sales ability and leadership can be broken down into skill sets that are not only measurable; they are also trainable. Creativity, like leadership, can be broken down into measurable, trainable competencies, and providing variety of training pays off both with more creative output and more money. Sharing an interesting article on “Do you have what it takes to help your team to be creative”. Following are the eight competencies that help managers elicit creativity in subordinates in any organization. You may refer to further details here.
- [Engaging Your Employees Is Good, but Don’t Stop There](https://faberinfinite.com/engaging-your-employees-is-good-but-dont-stop-there/): What can companies do to build satisfaction, engagement, and ultimately inspiration for their employees? Today, in this Competitive scenario companies need effective leaders who value both performance and inspiration, just as a great place to work requires both high performance and high engagement. However, some of the leaders today are unable to manage individuals to their full potential, build and lead truly great teams, and connect a team or individual’s mission to the company’s overall purpose. It’s probably unrealistic to think that you can inspire every employee in your organization—each individual works for different reasons. But many people do seek fulfillment in their jobs. If you aren’t trying to inspire these employees, you are leaving real money on the table. We have come across an interesting article on “Engaging Your Employees Is Good, but Don’t Stop There”. Following are the pyramids of the employee needs on the basis of which any organization can keep their employees engaged. You may refer to further details here
- [Faber Infinite partners with CII](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-partners-with-cii/): Team Faber Infinite has associated with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on several occasions. During the Engineering and Construction Summit 2015 – ‘Engineering – The Way Forward in Construction’ organised on October 29, 2015 in Vadodara; team Faber Infinite was called upon as Knowledge partner of this summit. Engineering and construction are vehicles for the technological and infrastructure progress. A strong infrastructural backbone is essential to sustainable economic growth. Infrastructure growth holds the key to the engineering & construction equipment industry realizing its potential in India. Investment and implementation of key projects are key concerns of the engineering and construction equipment industry. Construction and Engineering are fields, which heavily complement each other. Engineers provide both skilled manpower and trained talented human resources to the construction sector. They also develop several raw materials and provide technological inputs that further spark innovation in the same. A key driver of the economy, Infrastructure or Construction is highly responsible for propelling India’s overall development. The industry enjoys intense focus from the top officials of the government for initiating policies that would ensure time-bound creation of world-class infrastructure in the country. This sector includes power, bridges, dams, roads and urban infrastructure development. The summit focused on tabling the challenges and discussing ways to achieve accelerated growth and utilize the opportunities that lie ahead. Engineering & Construction Summit 2015 focused on the theme “Engineering – The Way Forward in Construction” and covered key areas of Engineering and Construction sector which can be improved and enhance the continuous improvement journey of India. Several industry experts had participated in the summit. The speakers were from the different industries and sectors who have deliberated their views on the Engineering and Constructions sectors and recent trends of the both the sectors. Faber Infinite captured the details of the summit in a proceeding report. This report covers key aspects of deliberations by speakers which are as follows: –   Mega Trends – Engineering & Construction –   Engineering Overview – Best practices to overcome the flaw –   Innovation in Construction Balancing Environment –   Transformation in Protection Weathering & Paint –   Re-Engineering Transformation Jugaad –   Challenges to Delivery-Proactive or Reactive –   Typical Cost Overrun & Contract Conditions –   Innovative Design Engineering & Construction –   Construction Method, Safety & Audits India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and it is continuously improving in each and every sector. Overall engineering and construction summit throws light on each and every aspect and trends of engineering and construction sector now a days. Team Faber Infinite concludes the report as ‘Though India is proceeding towards excellence however there are several areas where it needs improvement and for which we need to execute a faster, effective and efficient approach to achieve the goal of excellence.’ You may click here to download complete report. Reported by: Faber Raveena Rathi
- [Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/proof-that-positive-work-cultures-are-more-productive/): It is proven that positive work cultureimproves productivity and organizations achieve overall goal by going an extra mile. Positive organizational psychology demonstrates that not only a cut-throat environment is harmful to productivity over time, but that a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line.However there’s an assumption that stress and pressure push employees to perform more, better, and faster. This is the reason organizations fail to recognize the hidden costs incurred. One of the surveys indicates, stress led to disengagement and disengaged workers had 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and 60% more errors and defects. In organizations with low employee engagement scores, they experienced 18% lower productivity, 16% lower profitability, 37% lower job growth, and 65% lower share price over time. Importantly, businesses with highly engaged employees enjoyed 100% more job applications.Employees prefer a positive workplace culture to material benefits. As a part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share thought-provokingarticle on benefits ofpositive and healthy work culture for your team.Following are insights on 4 steps to build a positive and healthy work culture for your organization and your team. A happy and caring culture at work not only improves employee well-being and productivity but also improved health outcomes and satisfaction. You may refer to further details here.
- [Seven Leadership Keys To Resolving Mission Impossible](https://faberinfinite.com/seven-leadership-keys-to-resolving-mission-impossible/): What do you do as a leader when you’re facing mission impossible? What are the options when you simply don’t have enough resources—human, financial, or physical—to achieve the goals that you are required to achieve? Great Leaders take this as a challenge and proceed towards the solution of this ‘Mission Impossible’. To achieve excellence in this competitive scenario and for growing business, great leaders have to mobilize their resources beyond the corporate world. Just as the great leaders in history delivered extraordinary performance by mobilizing others to achieve impossible performance to succeed in their respective missions. This interesting note talks about ‘Seven Leadership Keys for Resolving Mission Impossible’. Following are 7 key elements: You may refer to further details here.
- [Seven Leadership Keys for Resolving Mission Impossible](https://faberinfinite.com/seven-leadership-keys-for-resolving-mission-impossible/): What do you do as a leader when you’re facing mission impossible? What are the options when you simply don’t have enough resources—human, financial, or physical—to achieve the goals that you are required to achieve? Great Leaders take this as a challenge and proceed towards the solution of this ‘Mission Impossible’. To achieve excellence in this competitive scenario and for growing business, great leaders have to mobilize their resources beyond the corporate world.Just as the great leaders in history delivered extraordinary performance by mobilizing others to achieve impossible performance to succeed in their respective missions. This interesting note talks about ‘Seven Leadership Keys for Resolving Mission Impossible’. Following are 7 key elements: You may refer to further details here.
- [Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-your-tolerance-for-change-tripping-you-up-2/): Today in a scenario where everyone is talking about tolerance and intolerance – What’s your change tolerance? How does it match the tolerance levels of your employees, colleagues or clients? Does it fit your business situation? Mark Zuckerberg currently holds a 99.3% approval rate from his employees, partially due to his openness and adaptability. How about yourself? For growing business, change is inevitable; the only factor you need to identify for the successful implementation of the change is up to what extent the change is tolerated in your company and among your employees. You and your team must be ready for each evolution of the market and the business. At the same time, no growing business can succeed without processes and workflows to hold it together. One study showed that 86% of employees surveyed believed that failed collaboration and communication had damaged major projects they were involved with. ‘Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up? Ask the following two questions for the successful change tolerance among your employees: Your change tolerance is a key factor in how you adapt. Match that with what the business needs — and your team’s readiness for change — to get where you want to go. You may refer to further details here.
- [Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-your-tolerance-for-change-tripping-you-up/): Today in a scenario where everyone is talking about tolerance and intolerance – What’s your change tolerance? How does it match the tolerance levels of your employees, colleagues or clients? Does it fit your business situation? Mark Zuckerberg currently holds a 99.3% approval rate from his employees, partially due to his openness and adaptability. How about yourself? For growing business, change is inevitable; the only factor you need to identify for the successful implementation of the change is up to what extent the change is tolerated in your company and among your employees. You and your team must be ready for each evolution of the market and the business. At the same time, no growing business can succeed without processes and workflows to hold it together. One study showed that 86% of employees surveyed believed that failed collaboration and communication had damaged major projects they were involved with. ‘Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up? Ask the following two questions for the successful change tolerance among your employees: Your change tolerance is a key factor in how you adapt. Match that with what the business needs — and your team’s readiness for change — to get where you want to go. You may refer to further details here.
- [Operational Excellence in Textile Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-in-textile-industry/): “We are, what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore is not an action but a Habit” – Aristotle. ‘Operational Excellence is a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving resulting in continuous improvement throughout the organization by focusing on the needs of the customer, empowering employees, and optimizing existing activities in the process.’ Operational Excellence (OE) is a critical driver for business success and a key part of Continuous improvement journey for any organization, regardless of industry/ sector. Continuous improvement is a never-ending journey, and it can lead any organization to world class performance. The Operational Excellence program provides a framework to understand why and how performance needs to improve. Textile Sector is one of the oldest sector and one of the largest contributors to economies in India and across many other countries. The textiles industry is extremely varied, with the hand-spun and hand-woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum, while the capital intensive sophisticated mills sector at the other end of the spectrum. The decentralized power looms/ hosiery and knitting sector form the largest component of the textiles sector. The close linkage of the textile industry to agriculture (for raw materials such as cotton) and the ancient culture and traditions of the country in terms of textiles make the textiles sector unique in comparison to the industries of other countries. Operational Excellence in Textile Industry With global competitive market environment the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organizations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at Operational Excellence (OE)/ LEAN to eliminate waste across their value chain which ultimately helps them drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers leading organizations to world class organizations. Lean manufacturing has traditionally been thought as being applicable mostly to the discrete manufacturing industry. However, there is considerable interest in extending lean to the textile industries due to the dramatic results in manufacturing with discrete production systems. Few lean techniques initially created for discrete usage are beneficial in textile with robust design and inflexible machines. The key focus of operational excellence in textile industry is to reduce the manufacturing throughput time from the raw material receipt till the finished fabric is ready for dispatch. It is noticed in textile industry the common challenges are as follows: Capacity imbalance between spinning, weaving, process house, finishing and dispatch which results in long throughput time which finally builds up work in process (WIP) inventory High pile up of WIP between department resulting in multiple handling and stocktaking High WIP results in stains and damages, which call for rework later Great potential for changeover/ setup time reduction at spinning, weaving and dyeing exists Setup time reduction enables small lot production with higher variety Tremendous potential for downtime reduction through TPM exists which impacts spare part consumption and quality Cost reduction through focused defect/ quality rejection projects, consumable reduction projects, etc. are often undertaken in the lean initiatives. Faber Infinite Consulting strives towards excellence and continuous improvement and has supported numerous manufacturing organizations by implementing Faber Infinite 360 Degree Transformation model. Typical Improvement areas in the Textile Industry: – Improvement in On Time In Full (OTIF) supplies to customers – Reduction in Customer complaints and returns – Creation of flow from raw material receipt to finish goods dispatch – Improvement in Overall Equipment Excellence (OEE) – Improvement in labour productivity – Rejection Reduction – Inventory Management through Kanban – Low Cost Automation – Creation of improvement oriented culture Operational Excellence enables any enterprise/ organization and its leadership to continuously improve all areas of performance, including decision-making, ongoing investment, profitability, customer and partner services and human resources capabilities. Ready to achieve operational excellence in the textile industry? Take the first step towards optimizing your processes and maximizing efficiency. Fill out the form below to unlock exclusive insights and strategies from industry experts. Start revolutionizing your textile business today! Contributed and adapted by: Faber Aakash Borse & Faber Raveena Rathi
- [Media Coverage](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that it got featured in Business India – India’s one of the leading business magazine (with readership of more than 0.6 million/ 6 lacs). The feature published in Nov edition talks about the organizational achievements and its team. Unlike other consulting firms, Faber infinite works with the management to ensure execution of the plans drawn up. Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, Founding Director of Faber Infinite says “We give a guaranteed minimum 10 times returns on investment to our clients. It is our strong belief to under commit and over perform. In many cases the returns are as high as up to 50-100 times of the investment.” Mr. Jalay Pandya, Founding Director of Faber Infinite shares, “The focus as of now is on the mid-tier companies aspiring to grow big but do not have wherewithals. There is a huge unmet gap for the small and medium enterprises in terms of consulting support which Faber Infinite is successfully delivering.” Mr. Aakash Borse, Founding Director of Faber Infinite said, “There is a lot of scope for improvement and cost management in small and medium enterprises as well (along with large organizations) which are the drivers of competitiveness for any economy. Team Faber Infinite has been striving towards building competitiveness across regions where within a short span of time, we have spread our wings in more than half a dozen countries.” We wish to thank all our clients, team members and well wishers for unconditional support and encouragement. Faber Infinite, as a team stands by its aim of ‘Creating a Fab World by Crafting Growth Opportunities!’ As Reported by: Faber Raveena Rathi
- [What Separates High Performing Leaders Fromaverage Ones](https://faberinfinite.com/what-separates-high-performing-leaders-fromaverage-ones/): Leadership is often considered as a top management approach but in actual, it is personal attribute which anyone can use in any role. Be it leading a team or handling a project. You can always use best of your skills by leading people in right way. What is actually required for good leadership? Competency to be leader or anything else? Leaders do know their competency and many times organisation also know leaders’ competency but then also leaders fail to perform. Why such things happen? Leaders have to understand social system they are working in first. Best leaders are defined by their day-to-day routines and not just based on competencies. If one wants to become a great leader, become a student of the context — understand your organization’s social system — and focus on routines. Please find interesting insights on “What separates High Performing leaders from others?” You may refer further details here.
- [Excerpts on ' Frugal Innovation'](https://faberinfinite.com/excerpts-on-frugal-innovation/): As a part of Fab Faber series here we are with few excerpts from another business book “Frugal Innovation – How to do more with less” by Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu.  “Innovation is not about saying yes to everything, it’s all about saying no to all but the most crucial features.”  – Steve Jobs Today is the era of high global competitiveness, where every organization is striving for excellence leading to success.  Innovation and change are the major tools to achieve the above goal. There has been a misconception that innovation is new idea which can be applied by adapting new resources to meet new requirements of consumers, however ‘Innovation’ refers to how to do more with the less i.e how to utilize the existing resources to create a new idea. Frugal Innovation is a way that companies can create high-quality products with limited resources. In this book, both the authors Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu identify high-impact macro changes and how they are forcing companies globally to change so that they can deliver the best-in-class, affordable, sustainable, and high-quality products and services with the use of minimal resources and in less time. ‘Frugal Innovation- How to do Better with Less’ identifies the philosophy, principles and techniques behind frugal innovation, which, if adapted in the right way, can help companies become global leaders. It is about revolutionising business and reshaping management thinking. There are 6 key takeaways, on the six principles and recommendations made by the authors which can be taken from this wonderful book. 1: Engage and Iterate: The first principle explains how innovation requires R&D to move away from an insular way of working to an approach which involves intense customer interaction – observing customer behavior in their natural environment. A better solution with high-speed innovation call for new kinds of titles and incentives. 2: Flex your assets: The second principle describes the trend towards mass customization and how through new tools and approaches such as social manufacturing and continuous production, the operations managers can extract more from production, logistics and services, and the whole value chain supporting it. 3: Create sustainable solutions: The third principle brings out the way customers are making their choices to buy a new product or service, and how companies are implementing practices like ‘cradle-to-cradle’. A new trend is also the rise of the ‘sharing economy.’ Sustainability should be built right into the R&D phase, and should be promoted as cool and aspirational. 4: Shape customer behaviour: The fourth principle gives the marketing manager new insights on how to tailor and position frugal products and services. In addition to changing their own goals and structures, companies can also actively engage with their customers to promote sustainable living. Visualization tools, self-monitoring, gamification, social comparison, social learning and storytelling are useful techniques here to motivate, nudge, inspire, and empower customers. 5: Co-create value with prosumers: The fifth principle, describes how co-creation and crowdsourcing can help harness the collective wisdom and skills of consumer communities, and the mindset shift required from R&D and marketing managers to be on top of this. Consumers today are transformed into prosumers who want meaningful brands conversations and personalized solutions. A useful categorisation of such customers is dreamers, validators, ideators, makers, evangelists, sales agents, and fixers. 6: Make innovative friends: The sixth principle brings out the strong need in the new flat world, for R&D to be highly networked, lean and flexible, and how companies can leverage the ecosystem to make this happen. Companies need innovation brokers who understand the language of the organization, its creative partners and customers. Corporations need to become more agile and not just file patents but monetise them. This is an inspiring book which is grounded in reality and can trigger new thoughts and ideas to build a frugal innovation engine, which can help companies across the world to become global leaders of products and services leading to them to excellence. At its core the book ‘Frugal Innovation’ describes how innovation is now a global endeavor involving large and small firms, mature and emerging economies, tool and talent approaches, both in the West and East. Compiled by: Faber Raveena Rathi
- [Value Stream Mapping (VSM) Consultants/Experts](https://faberinfinite.com/value-stream-mapping-vsm-delivered/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that our workshop on ‘Value Stream Mapping (VSM). A tool for Lean Process Mapping’ delivered by VSM Consultants/VSM Experts was successfully delivered in Pune, India on November 4, 2015. Core aim of the workshop was to learn how Value Stream Mapping acts as a major tool in the lean process mapping to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, reduce inventory and improve overall performance. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is an effective lean tool which serves the process of an organization to identify the substantial opportunities for process improvement, cost reduction, improve productivity and save time. Value Stream Mapping can further assist organizations to improve their performance using existing resources. Objective of the Workshop:- To visualize entire process operations To see how VSM helps in identifying the wastes along with the source of waste To have a clear understanding of the Material flow To show linkages between Information and Material Flow To understand how it helps in forming the basis for implementation plan The workshop participants represented varied sectors from eminent organizations like Atlas Copco, Mahindra Tsubaki Conveyor Systems, Indo Schottle and many more. The workshop was well received and methodology was highly appreciated. Our innovative ‘Fun and Learn’ methodology supported the workshop with simulation games engaging all the participants till the end and helping them to understand the importance of Value Stream Mapping which will drive the continual improvement journey further. Glimpses from the workshop: The workshop was rated excellent (more than 90% rating) by the participants and few excerpts from the feedback is shared below:– The Workshop was power packed because of the practical approach of it– Simulation game was very well connected with actual practices at the shop floor– Content of the training was very interesting and the way it is delivered was excellent In order to accelerate the improvement in any organization and to identify and enhance the key drivers of the continual Improvement in any organization, Value Stream Mapping is power packed tool for successful Lean implementation. The workshop shall further assist all participants towards crafting growth opportunities by improving organization bottom line leading to operational excellence!. Faber Infinite is a company known for its expertise in Value Stream Mapping. As trusted Value Stream Mapping Experts, they assist businesses in identifying and streamlining their operational processes for maximum efficiency and value delivery. With a proven track record, Faber Infinite is the go-to choice for organizations seeking to optimise their value streams and drive continuous improvement. Experience the power of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) first hand! Fill out the form below to unlock our comprehensive guide on how to implement VSM for maximum efficiency and productivity. Take charge of your operations and propel your business to new heights with this exclusive resource! Reported by : Faber Raveena Rathi Contact Us for Value Stream Mapping Consultants
- [12 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs](https://faberinfinite.com/12-characteristics-of-successful-enterpreneurs/): What are the traits of successful entrepreneurs that set them apart from everyone else? Today, the business scenario is very competitive and changing at a fast pace. You could be an innovation today and become obsolete tomorrow. To stay on course and adapt swiftly to the ever-changing trend, successful entrepreneurs keep studying and learning that will lead to success in this transformation journey. Entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or Richard Branson are iconic figures who seemed to burst from the womb with the enterprise in their DNA. We want to learn how they achieved that level of success. And, it turns out that wealthy people are leaders who share these traits. Below are the most insightful, 12 Leadership Traits of the World’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs: They don’t play the blame game. They are open-minded. They are willing to take appropriate risks. They set realistic goals. Know how to solve problems. Can empower others. They’re proactive. They are lifelong learners. They ask well-considered questions. They are willing to walk away. They collect facts before making a decision. They know their strengths and hire for their weaknesses. You may refer to further details here.
- [Identifying your Super Heroes](https://faberinfinite.com/identifying-your-super-heroes/): Today, in the era of change, every transformation and change – irrespective of it being personal or organizational or social has a super hero who leads from the front. These heroes don’t wear a cape and are in disguise! They look like anyone of us or it can be within us. We often identify superheroes as individuals with extraordinary strength, however each of us does possess something that makes us extraordinary. Whatever that something is, that’s your superpower, the source of your strength, and what defines you as a superhero. It is a challenge to identify the crusaders or change agents within an organization or work environment, amongst various leaders trying to build sustainable performance and growth. Have you identified one yet in your organization or within yourself? These people are rare indeed, and they are the most important people in your organization. One who champions the cause of change! It is must to accelerate the transformation journey! The first key ingredient for any organizational transformation are the Heroes – Value Adders (people who are running the show on the ground). Rare identification of your Super heroes is not enough you have to rather support them and encourage them to work even harder for the development of both your organization as well as they themselves. But the question is how you will support your superheroes? In any case, we are not discounting that any journey is a team journey. Super heros also need a team with whom he/ she can work and face all the challenges that comes their way to perform smoothly the transformation journey. Also you need to give them appropriate time and required resources to accomplish the targets. As there is no point in choosing the perfect heroes but not giving them the time, resources, and support to do their job. For any organization, it is necessary to keep their Super Heroes engaged. Below are some tips of how organizations can keep their heroes engaged. Support: Either from external experts, line managers, or peers. Organization can use a buddy system where inexperienced champions are matched up with experienced champions from different parts of the business. By communicating over the phone or even face to face interactions over the lunch or on the coffee table. Training: Besides support, formalized training is a great way to keep people engaged and knowledgeable. This could be training in skill development or sustainability so people know the latest research and policies, or as a way to develop transferable skills that they can use in their day job – be it leadership, strategy planning, communication, or presentation. Reward and Recognition: When they hit / succeed their goals it is important your heroes get the recognition they deserve. It is also important that this recognition comes from the top, especially if people are going above and beyond their job description. This doesn’t even need to be lavish, just knowing you are appreciated is usually enough. So there you have it; identify your heroes by recognizing their extraordinary powers and abilities, unmask them and get them to join your team, then train and support them to reach their full potential. Together you can make any initiative a super success leading your organization towards business excellence. Contributed & Adapted by: Aakash Borse & Raveena Rathi
- [The 4Ms of Manufacturing Process – Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/four-ms-of-manufacturing-process/): In our earlier article ‘Tackle Tough Times’, we had discussed about factors pulling organizations down and the need to steer clear of it during tough times. We had several encouraging views as well as requests to share insights on how to build muscles and might for world class manufacturing set ups. Like in any road expedition, a solid 4 X 4 transmission comes handy to maneuver daunting twists and tricky turns. Similarly the ‘4 X 4’ formula for manufacturing organizations helps them to see through the uncertain and dynamic scenarios in today’s world. The first 4 elements of the ‘4 X 4’ formula form the foundation or the pre-requisite for building muscles. Basic Stability of 4Ms: Assign the right Man (person) with right attitude for the job: Operator qualification and awareness of potential for waste stands critical. Taking responsibility for seeking solutions is another enabler, which cannot be ignored. Appropriate Machine for the job, both in capacity and capabilities: Equipment health is an important aspect of Asset Management.  As per the studies, basic steps of cleaning, oiling, tightening and inspection (COTI) can avoid 80% of the breakdowns and stoppages. Adequate supply of the correct Material:  On time availability of the materials, raw materials or consumables, as per the standards is essential to sustain the service or manufacturing process. Standardized work Methods:  Sequence of the steps used in the work must allow for the most efficient practice. Another aspect to be considered is the physical setup of the work area; whether a desk or a factory workstation. It should maximize the flow evenly with minimum disruption and adequate communication. The next 4 elements of the ‘4 X 4’ formula constitute the actual training for the organization to be followed rigorously to build strong muscular structure which is fit and agile. Material Velocity is indication of health of any manufacturing organization, whether discrete manufacturing or process industry. Higher material velocity ratio is sign of higher throughput leading to better inventory turns! One needs to work on the obstructions to material flow and attack the pockets of work-in-process stocks. As the expectations of customers grow day by day, we are in an era where Quality of products and services is an order qualifier and not order winner. Needless to say, high quality standard is a mere hygiene factor with byproducts like less rework, and higher productivity. The next two factors focus more on the people issues Employee Involvement is a great way to generate new ideas and harness the energy and commitment of any organization’s greatest asset — its people. Initiatives with joint employee-management committees play a pivotal role in the muscle building efforts. Time and again, top leaders across the globe have been talking about it and challenges faced due to lack of employee engagement and involvement. Designing and offering all your products and services with customer (internal or external) in mind, and exceeding his / her expectations should be the aim of any organization, which is real Customer Centricity. It is the most important exercise to build muscle! Considering these 8 aspects and working on it diligently, any organization can reach the stature of being world class. Let us not get overwhelmed by all different tools, concepts and philosophies rampant in the industry; but organizations which keep these fundamental axioms in mind, shall prosper and progress. As they say, “Only the legs that run are those that really have muscles”, it is important to practice these exercises in order to build muscles! Unlock the power of the 4Ms in your manufacturing process today! Fill out the form below to gain insider knowledge on leveraging manpower, machinery, materials, and methods for optimized production. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your manufacturing operations! Contributed by:  Faber Aakash Borse
- [7 Key Lessons on Leadership!](https://faberinfinite.com/7-key-lessons-on-leadership/): As a part of our ‘Transformation Tuesday’ Series, we are glad to share another fab article on ‘ 7 Key Lessons from the Best Leadership Books of the Past Decade’. What does it take to be a great leader? Leading a team or company is always a challenge. In any Organization, effective leader has to face this challenge to keep the team and the Organization in sync. Not only do you need to manage the roles and responsibilities of your team, but also you need to inspire them to be beneficial to the Organization and help them develop as individuals. However, the most challenging situation is that there is no ‘one size for all’ in the journey of transformation and success. Leaders have to change their approach on the basis of the personality, skill set and the composition of each and every team member. Great leaders also have to learn these types of skills regularly. Below is the insight of well-founded leadership tips which have been picked from the most popular leadership books of the past decade. 7 Key Lessons on Leadership Give people clarity about goals and the latitude to meet them Take action Lead with inspiring values Strive for level 5 leadership Fire people the right way Confront nasty facts Set the future course — but not in stone You may refer the original article here. We would appreciate your feedback.
- [What does it take to be a great leader?](https://faberinfinite.com/what-does-it-take-to-be-a-great-leader/): Leading a team or company is always a challenge. In any organization, effective leader has to face this challenge to keep the team and the organization in sync.Not only do you need to manage the roles and responsibilities of your team, but also you need to inspire them to be beneficial to the organization and help them develop as individuals. However, the most challenging situation is that there is no ‘one size for all’ in the journey of transformation and success. Leaders have to change their approach on the basis of the personality, skill set and the composition of each and every team member. Great leaders also have to learn these types of skills regularly. In this graphicbelow, the most insightful, well-founded leadership tipshave been picked from themost popular leadership books from the past decade. You may refer to further details here.
- [Can a team of B players achieve A+ success?](https://faberinfinite.com/can-a-team-of-b-players-achieve-a-success/): Research says yes – but only with an A-level leader. Effective leaders can have a variety of styles, but they share certain characteristics: superior judgment, which helps them make good decisions and learn from mistakes; high emotional intelligence, which helps them stay calm under pressure and build relationships with their teams; and high ambition, which pushes them to high performance. In order to achieve excellence and to increase the performance of their team members, good leaders will implement right strategy at the right time, gathering precise performance data, giving accurate feedback, and building and maintaining high morale. This will lead any organization towards continuous improvement by having the smooth transformation journey! Please find below interesting insights on ‘How to Manage a Team of B Players?’ Following are four important tactics any leader can use to make their teams more effective: You may refer further details here.  
- [WHY ORGANIZATIONS DON’T LEARN?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-organizations-dont-learn/): Why do companies struggle to become or remain ‘learning organizations’? All the leaders believe that to stay competitive, their organization must learn and improve day by day and manage to have a smooth transformation journey. However companies revered for their dedication to continuous learning and find it difficult to always practice what they preach. As a part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share following thought-provoking article to become or remain ‘Learning Organizations’! In this article, it discusses how deeply ingrained human tendencies interfere with learning —and how they can be countered. Following are few challenges, which become an obstacle for any organization in their learning and transformation journey and also with their antidotes in order to overcome the same. You may refer to further details here.
- [HELPING AN EMPLOYEE OVERCOME THEIR SELF DOUBT](https://faberinfinite.com/helping-an-employee-overcome-their-self-doubt/): Do your team members in the organization hold back by self-doubt? Is this self-doubt affecting the people potential in your organization? Today, many managers and mentors are facing this challenge of their employees having self- doubt. Self-doubt can seriously impair the performance of the employee at work. This can create a negative impact to the inner critic. If the employees are in self-doubt then they will shy away from leading projects or teams, or put off going for the big opportunities – new clients, new business lines, and innovative moves – that could help your business grow. To overcome this, as a manager or mentor, one of the most powerful ways you can unlock your people’s potential is to give them a toolkit for managing self-doubt. The alternative is to take the conversation up a level. Instead of arguing with your team members’ inner critics, you can introduce a conversation about self-doubt – what it is, why it shows up, and how it can impact what you achieve as a team? We have come across an interesting article which talks about ‘How you can help your employees to overcome self-doubt?’ Following are some common qualities of the inner critic’s voice to help your people identify their critics: You may refer further details here.
- [Workshop on Value Stream Mapping](https://faberinfinite.com/workshop-on-value-stream-mapping/): Do you want to accelerate the improvement journey in your organisation? Do you want to identify the key drivers to continual improvement? Team Faber infinite rolls out a power packed solution via one day workshop on ‘Value Stream Mapping – A tool for Lean Process Mapping’ at Pune, Maharashtra on November 4, 2015. ‘Value’ is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. A value stream is all the actions (both value adding and non value adding) currently required to produce a product for customer demand fulfillment. Value stream mapping is a pencil paper tool, which means improving the whole and not just the process. As drawing is the language of the engineers, Value Stream Mapping is the language of Lean practitioners. To get benefited from VSM it should be used on shop floor. Value Stream Mapping is a lean process mapping method for understanding the sequence of activities used to produce a product. Value Stream Maps serve as a critical tool during the review process and can reveal substantial opportunities to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, reduce inventory and improve overall performance. Value stream mapping includes: – All the activities for customer order fulfillment. – Includes Material flow from Supplier-Factory-Customer. – Includes Information flow from Customer-Factory-Supplier. – To get benefited from VSM it should be used on shop floor Program Details: – Training Workshop on “Value Stream Mapping” – Thursday, November 4, 2015 – Venue: Courtyard by Marriott, Bund Garden Road, Pune, Maharashtra Objectives: – To visualize entire process of Operation – VSM helps to see wastes along with the source of waste. – To have a clear understanding of the Material flow. – To show linkages between Information and Material Flow. – Helps in forming the basis for implementation plan. Training Methodology: – Simulation Games – Group Exercises – Tutorial Sessions – Interaction with experienced trainer who has successfully implemented VSM in various organization and transformed many organizations. Who should attend? – Value Stream Leaders, Managers, Executives from Production, Planning, Purchase, Quality, Maintenance. – Operational Excellence/ Lean/ Kaizen/ Continual improvement managers, leaders, coordinators. Content: Faber Infinite’s Innovative “Learn and Fun” methodology will help participants to understand: – Lean Foundations – What is Value and Value stream – Why use Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – Preparatory for VSM : PQ Analysis – Different levels of VSM – Understanding Current State Map – Tutorial on Current State Map – Understanding Current State Mapping (using Case Study) – Introduction to Future State Map – Key elements of Future State Map – Benefits of Value Stream Mapping Do join us for this learning experience. Please connect with Prashant on prashantj@faberinfinite.com / +91 – 92288 77937 for further details.
- [9 HARD EARNED LEADERSHIP LESSONS](https://faberinfinite.com/9-hard-earned-leadership-lessons/): The path to innovation is rarely smooth No matter how talented or intelligent you are, many of the greatest lessons—in business and in life—don’t come until after years of experience. There is no age for learning new lessons for the leadership. Even after getting success through years of experience, looking back to learn and improve the mistakes can help to become a Successful leader. I have come across an interesting article which talks about “Nine Hard Earned lessons of Leadership”. In this article below, nine executives like COO of Yahoo share the lessons they learned in retrospect after years of doing business and leading teams. Following are some insights of the same. You may refer further details here.
- [Manufacturing Improvement by Lean Product Development](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-of-lean-product-development-drives-manufacturing-improvement/): Today where every organization is striving towards continual improvement, organizations have to eliminate waste at every single step. However, it is very challenging to identify waste and to apply a systematic framework of LEAN for the same. In order to achieve excellence through a systematic process of improvement, organizations have to reduce the waste in their operations. This will result in increased productivity, and lessen inventory to save money and increase their bottom line. Please find excerpt from an interesting article, which talks about ‘5 Ways of Lean Product Development drives Manufacturing Improvement’ You may refer to further details here.
- [Help Your Team Agree on How They’ll Collaborate](https://faberinfinite.com/help-your-team-agree-on-how-theyll-collaborate/): “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” –Andrew Carnegie When ideas flow freely at your organization, you’ll reach even stronger solutions. This is the importance of collaboration between team members. Since everyone’s skills and experience are slightly different, each member of the organization brings a different set of thoughts and ideas to your business. However this can bring arguments in your organization, but agreeing on clear rules of conduct allows you to blend individual team members into one cohesive unit. The purpose of this is to agree on the one consistent way, which may run a particular team. Below is sample framework on Collaboration from an interesting article, which talks about “Help Your Team Agree on How They’ll Collaborate”. You may refer to further details here.
- [Improve Equipment Performance via Autonomous Maintenance - TPM](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-equipment-performance-via-autonomous-maintenance-tpm/): Faber Infinite has been working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence and Business Excellence. In order to graduate towards excellence, manufacturing organizations should work towards basic stability of 4Ms – Man, Method, Material and Machine. Its tried and tested fact, that equipment/ machine maintenance can be improved via deploying TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) methodology, which can lead the organization towards the goal of continuous improvement. One of our esteemed clients in Gujarat, India was facing challenges in terms of equipment performance which was blocking the continuous improvement journey of the organization. Hence, the client team along with team Faber Infinite introduced Autonomous Maintenance, one of the pillars of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) framework to enhance the Operational Excellence journey and continual improvement culture on the shop floor. Few glimpses of Autonomous Maintenance – Step 1: Initial Cleaning Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a Japanese framework which is globally accepted and proven. The origin of TPM can be traced back to 1951 when preventive maintenance was introduced in Japan by the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM). TPM framework involves a defined concept for maintaining plants and equipment. The goal of the TPM program is to markedly increase production while, at the same time, increasing employee morale and job satisfaction. This method further tunes up existing processes and equipment by reducing mistakes and accidents. TPM has eight pillars which focuses on proactive and preventative techniques for improving equipment reliability and stability. When companies begin to implement Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) they often start by piloting Autonomous Maintenance (AM). This is understandable as Autonomous Maintenance is one of the key distinguishing features of TPM Autonomous Maintenance is the second of the eight pillars of TPM. It is also known as JISHU HOZEN in Japanese.  It follows a structured approach to increase the skill levels of personnel so that they can understand, manage and improve their equipment and processes. The major goal is to change operators from being reactive to working in a more proactive way, to achieve optimal conditions that eliminate minor equipment stops as well as reducing defects and breakdowns. BENEFITS OF AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE: Deployment of Autonomous maintenance will bring the following benefits to any organization: – Improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) – Reduction in performance loss – Increase in equipment availability – Improvement to employee engagement – Increase in capability levels. Today, with competition in industry at an all-time high, TPM is one of the key framework which stands between success and failure of equipment/ machine/ asset management for any organization in its journey of continuous improvement. Ready to revolutionize your equipment’s performance through autonomous maintenance? Fill out the form below to gain invaluable insights and techniques that will enhance efficiency, minimize downtime, and maximize productivity. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to optimize your operations and stay ahead of the competition! Complied by :- Faber Raveena Rathi
- [LEADING CHANGE](https://faberinfinite.com/leading-change/): Organizational change management and transformation have become permanent features of the business landscape. However, organizations often fails in its change management efforts. Why organizations fail? As a part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share following interesting approach to avoid failures in any change management initiatives! By adapting to the following eight step process of ‘Leading Change’ outlined by Dr. Kotter, organizations can avoid failure and become adept at change. Create a Sense of Urgency- Identify and discuss crises, potential crises or opportunities Build a Guiding Coalition- Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives- Create a vision and develop a strategy to help direct the change effort Enlist a Volunteer Army- The guiding coalition new behaviors and leading by giving example Enable Action by Removing Barriers– Changing systems or structures that undermines the vision by encouraging risk taking activities Generate Short-Term Wins- Recognizing and rewarding employees involved in planning for visible performance improvement Sustain Acceleration- Hiring, promoting and developing employees who can implement the vision Institute Change – Creating the connections between new behaviors and corporate success You may refer further details in the book called “Leading Change” by John P Kotter.
- [Lean and Green](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-and-green/): “Continuous improvement is not about the things you do well — that’s work. Continuous improvement is about removing the things that get in the way of your work. The headaches, the things that slow you down, that’s what continuous improvement is all about” – Bruce Hamilton To sustain in this competitive market, organizations are facing today – levels of unprecedented global competition. In which the organization have to design and offer better products and services and improve their manufacturing operations. ‘Lean’ manufacturing has been used to improve operational performance of an organization leading to excellence. Operational Excellence is concerned with continuously improving the quality of goods and services, reducing the costs, increasing speed and enhancing flexibility to achieve competitive superiority and to maximize the profit of an organization. Lean is excellent at marshaling different groups and individuals into a high performing team focused on rooting out waste. That relentless focus on eradicating waste makes lean a necessary partner for green. Green manufacturing is a method of manufacturing that minimizes Environmental waste and pollution. Environmental waste is any unnecessary use of resources or a substance released into the air, water, or land that could harm human health or the environment.  Environmental wastes and pollution are often a sign of inefficient production, and they frequently indicate opportunities for saving cost and time. Lean manufacturing is the system which aims in elimination of the waste from the system with systematic and continuous approach. The obvious benefits of green and lean are energy savings, productivity savings, and savings from improved utilization of materials. They can also lead to innovations that involve creation of new products out of waste materials. Many Lean implementation efforts often overlook opportunities to prevent or reduce environmental wastes.  Following are the 5 environmental wastes with the acronym WASTE to the traditional wastes helpful: – Water: leaks, waste streams from processes – Air: evaporation of chemicals, dust, particulate – Solid Waste: filters, excess material scrap – Toxic/Hazardous Waste: solvents, process residuals – Energy: machinery on when not in use, heat loss, oversized motor As in Lean, tools are used to visualize and identify the wastes in our processes so we can eliminate or reduce them. There are eight steps which can guide any organization towards Lean and Green, which are as follows: 1. Know what Lean and Green really means. It is a process where you use more eco-friendly processes and products that help reduce or eliminate the 7 wastes in manufacturing processes plus the 8 wastes of Environmental. 2. Identify, assess and manage risks to employees, customers, suppliers, contractors, visitors and the environment. 3. Conduct operations in compliance with all relevant legislation & other requirements as a minimum condition. 4. Consult and communicate regularly with employees about Lean Environmental Health & Safety (LEH&S) issues, improvements and about individual responsibilities. 5. Develop improvement strategies and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a continual basis, with appropriate targets, which aim to eliminate unsafe conditions, reduce non-value wastes and prevent environmental pollution. 6. Prepare and provide the necessary resources in time to meet the targets. 7. Continually conduct a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) review on performance and reassess the goals. 8. Develop procedures, work instructions, and training material to assist the workforce to develop. While the pursuit of Lean & Green is not a destination, but a continuous journey. Any organization that stretches themselves, to build a culture around the values of Sustainability, Excellence, and Equity will ultimately have a big advantage those who do not. Complied By:- Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Five Paradoxes of Digital Business Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/five-paradoxes-of-digital-business-leadership/): “Leadership” is historically referred as “Industrial Leadership” – the managerial styles and structures that served industrial firms well for the century. Leadership has increasingly replaced management in modern organization, which strives to become the world-class organization. There is no organization that can expect to survive amidst fiercely competitive business scenario without leadership being provided by all the people of the organization. So today, the age of individual leadership is gradually paving the way for “Digital Leadership” in this post-industrial age. This will help organization in its transformation journey of becoming the world-class organization and leading to fully digital business from the traditional firms. I have come across an interesting article which talks about “Five Paradoxes of Digital Business Leadership”. Following are some insights of the same: You may refer further details here.
- [Training to Young Leaders at Bombardier](https://faberinfinite.com/training-to-young-leaders-at-bombardier/): Employee Training and Development is essential to the ongoing success of every organization. It enables employees to develop skills and competencies necessary to enhance top line & bottom-line results for the organization. Faber Infinite offers a broad range of training that is well received by today’s most demanding employers. Sharing glimpses of another two day Training Session on ‘Foundations of Lean and Flow Management’ conducted by Faber Infinite at Bombardier Transportation, world’s leading manufacturer of airplanes and trains. Bombardier has been doing exceptional work in the domain of Operational Excellence (Lean) and sought assistance to conduct training for its team of Young Leaders on culture of continual improvement and operational excellence. Objectives of the Training Session: – To understand the concept of  Lean and Flow Management – Power of Paradigms – To establish the foundation of lean manufacturing system – To understand the concept of Five S and key drivers for Continual Improvement – To have a clarity on World class organization Training was conducted for the young leaders who are entering into the organization so it was full of enthusiasm and energy. The two day training was combination of interactive tutorials, group work, simulation games, group exercises which helped the participants in experiential learning. Participants in action during a simulation exercise: The young leaders, who participated in the training session, appreciated the training for its delivery methodology as well as the content facilitated to them by team Faber Infinite. Following are some pointers of the feedback given by them: – The games were excellent and the training was very interactive and instrumental in relating the theory with the real industry practices. – Flow of information sharing and the way it is delivered was excellent – All the team activities and simulation games were interesting and  innovative In this competitive scenario, where Business Excellence is the only way to survive in the market, organizations like Bombardier appreciate importance of Operational Excellence and are training new employees. Team Faber infinite unlocks the concept of achieving world class performance and implementing steps in Continual Improvement Journey. Reported By:- Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Tips for implementing new manufacturing technology](https://faberinfinite.com/five-tips-for-effectively-implementing-new-manufacturing-technology/): Reducing waste, implementing efficiency-promoting practices and continuously improving manufacturing operations are the main goals of any manufacturing organization. Similarly, innovation of new technology is a new trend in most of the manufacturing firms. But to facilitate innovation, it takes a change of mindset in the organization. This is a cultural and organizational issue and is difficult to accomplish. However, for most of us, innovation doesn’t come naturally. Factory managers are no different, and that’s normal. You can still create an edge by embracing a culture of experimentation, identifying the areas of greatest need, and then leaning on employees with experience to teach others. Please find excerpts from an interesting article, which talks about “Five tips for effectively implementing new manufacturing technology”. You may refer further details here.
- [Six Practical tips for Managers to turn into Coaches Again](https://faberinfinite.com/six-practical-tips-for-managers-to-turn-into-coaches-again/): Historically, managers embraced the role of coach and mentor. Through informal conversations during the commute to work, over a coffee break, managers passed along crucial information and knowledge about the organization’s culture. However, today managers are falling into the habit of dictating to-do lists, micromanaging, or unnecessarily rolling up their sleeves to become a ‘Do For’ boss or reverse delegator because of tighter budgets flatter organizations, a heavy workload, and too many direct reports often leave managers without the time to lead their subordinates like a coach. It seems easier and more expedient to “boss” than to coach. In order to be a great manager, you need to be an effective coach with the ability to ask powerful questions, listen actively, and offer observations. You must help your employee create the shifts in their beliefs and actions that will result in the achievement of desired results. Please find below an excerpt from interesting article on “6 Ways to Turn Managers into Coaches Again”. You may refer to the original article here for further details. Hope you will like it!
- [9 key learning from this Book “The Power of Habit”](https://faberinfinite.com/9-key-learning-from-the-power-of-habit/): Yet again, as part of Faber series here we are with few excerpts from another Fab Business book “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. “Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.” – Charles Duhigg. The premise of the book is simple. we create and maintain habits to conserve mental energy so we can think about more complex and difficult issues. These habits can be good or bad or neutral, but once established. They never really leave us, but lurk, waiting to be rediscovered; and creating habits is straightforward, but choosing which habits to create isn’t. In ‘The Power of Habit’, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation. There are 9 Key Learnings, which can be taken from this wonderful book 1: The habit loop – How habits work: When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or diverts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit – unless you find new routines – the pattern will unfold automatically. 2: The craving brain – How to create new habits: Craving is what makes cues and rewards work. The craving is what powers the habit loop: –          Find a simple and obvious –          Clearly define the rewards. 3: The golden rule of habit change – Why transformation occurs: You can never truly extinguish bad habits. Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine. That’s the rule; if you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Almost any behavior can be transformed if the cue and reward stay the same. 4: Keystone Habits – Which habits matter the most: Some habits have the power to start a chain reaction, changing other habits as they move through an organization. Some habits, in other words, matter more than others in remaking businesses and lives. 5: The habit of success – When willpower becomes automatic: Willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success. Willpower isn’t just a skill. It is a muscle and it gets tired as it works harder, so there is less power left over for other things. 6: The power of crisis – Creating habits through accident and design: It may seem like most organizations make rational choices based on deliberate decision making, but that’s not really how companies operate at all. Instead, firms are guided by long held organizational habits, patterns that often emerge from thousands of employees’ independent decisions. 7: When companies predict and manipulate habits: The first things you see upon entering the grocery store are the fruits and vegetables arranged in attractive, bountiful piles. If we start our shopping sprees by loading up on healthy stuff, we´re much more likely to buy Doritos or frozen pizza when we encounter them later on. 8: How movements happen: The behaviors that occur, unthinkingly, across dozens or hundreds or thousands of people, which are often hard to see as they emerge, but which contain power that can change the world. Social habits are what fill streets with protesters who may not know one another, who might be marching for different reasons, but who are all moving in the same direction 9: The neurology of free will – Are we responsible for our habits? As our bodies move in and out of different phases of rest, our most primitive neurological structure – the brain stem – paralyzes our limbs and nervous system, allowing our brains to experience dreams without our bodies moving. At its core, “The Power of Habit” contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. Compiled By : Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Simple Tips to start a Week](https://faberinfinite.com/simple-tips-to-start-a-week/): “I’ll get that done over the weekend.” This one sentence has become a one-size-fits-all solution when we can’t fit in working on a project, answering e-mail, or simply knocking items off our to-do lists during the week. It shouldn’t be our go-to solution for the work we can’t fit in during the week. To preserve the much-needed break that the weekend offers, try frontloading your week. Since unexpected tasks will always come up, no matter how hard you try to plan your work, you want to fully book your schedule at the beginning of the week so you can leave more open space on your calendar as the week progresses. Ideally half of Friday should be reserved to tie up loose ends. You can also avoid the trap of answering emails on the weekend by blocking out designated times each day to work through your inbox. And when you commit to doing something fun on the weekend, it’s much easier to set priorities so that you can leave on Friday work-free. Successful people know that great weekends are the secret to workday success. This Tuesday we would like to share an interesting article which talks on ‘How to Plan Your Week to Keep Your Weekend Free’. Following tips will help you to start your week. Adapted from “How to Plan Your Week to Keep Your Weekend Free,” by Elizabeth Grace Saunders. You may refer to the article here for further details.
- [Productivity Improvement Tool: Points of Time and Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study-a-robust-planning-system/): What is a Time and Motion Study?  A Time and Motion Study is a systematic observation method used to analyze work processes, identify inefficiencies, and optimize productivity. It involves breaking down tasks into elements, measuring the time taken for each element, and finding ways to streamline operations. “The unexamined life is not worth living” said the great Management thinker ‘SOCRATES’. As far as operations is concerned, Time and Motion Study is one of the better ways of determining the capacity of the plant and also the particular time when the efficiency and productivity can be improved. This study is an appropriate solution to determine the ‘time’ taken to complete a certain task by a plant and machinery in a factory. Though basic in nature, Time and Motion studies outlines the ground work and facilitates to arrive at better capacity, awareness and robust planning system which will lead the operations of a plant to operational excellence. Basic study of Time and Motion includes the following 5 key points: 5 key points of Time and Motion Study Look closely at the present work/ current situation Identify the opportunities to be more efficient Modify the current process that is followed Examine if it produces the expected results Rinse and repeat Application of Time-Motion Study in Today’s Business  Time and Motion Studies have extensive applications across diverse sectors in today’s business landscape:  Manufacturing  These studies help optimize assembly lines, reduce setup times, and improve production efficiency. By analyzing workflow processes and identifying time-consuming tasks, manufacturers can streamline operations, minimize waste, and enhance overall productivity.  Healthcare  In the healthcare industry, Time and Motion Studies play a crucial role in optimizing patient care workflows. By observing and analyzing the time taken for various medical procedures, administrative tasks, and patient interactions, healthcare providers can identify inefficiencies, reduce wait times, and improve the quality of care delivered.  Service Sector  Time and Motion Studies are valuable in the service sector for enhancing customer service delivery. By studying service processes such as call handling, ticket resolution, and service interactions, organizations can identify opportunities to streamline operations, allocate resources effectively, and improve response times, leading to higher customer satisfaction levels.  Technology  In the realm of technology, Time and Motion Studies are used to streamline software development processes. By analyzing tasks such as coding, testing, and deployment, technology companies can identify bottlenecks, optimize workflows, and reduce time-to-market for new products and updates, thereby increasing competitiveness and customer satisfaction.  Retail  Time and Motion Studies are instrumental in optimizing retail operations. By studying tasks such as inventory management, checkout processes, and store layout, retailers can identify areas for improvement, reduce wait times for customers, enhance store efficiency, and ultimately, improve the overall shopping experience.    By leveraging Time and Motion Studies effectively, businesses across these sectors can drive operational efficiency, reduce costs, improve quality, and ultimately, achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage in today’s dynamic business environment.  Time and Motion Study is an observation method used to determine the timing and duration of tasks or procedures. It is a work measurement technique for recording the times and rates of working for the elements of a specified job carried out under specified conditions and for analyzing data. The study helps in reducing and controlling costs, improving working conditions, and motivating people. When the time taken to complete a task is measured, machine delays, personal needs, fatigue, and any other foreign interference is also taken into account. Effectively a job is broken down into its component parts. The time taken to complete each component is noted. And the components are ordered or rearranged, keeping in mind efficiency. A Time Standard is an important component of Time and Motion Study. A time standard takes into account three factors: qualified worker, working at a normal pace, and doing a specific task. Advantages of a Time and Motion Study  Time and Motion Studies offer a range of significant advantages that contribute to the overall success and competitiveness of businesses:  Increased Productivity   By meticulously analyzing work processes and identifying inefficiencies, Time and Motion Studies pave the way for increased productivity. Streamlining workflows, optimizing task sequences, and eliminating time-wasting activities result in employees accomplishing more in less time, ultimately boosting overall productivity levels.  Cost Reduction   The optimization of workflows and resource allocation achieved through Time and Motion Studies leads to cost savings. By identifying and eliminating non-value-added activities, reducing idle time, and minimizing resource wastage, businesses can significantly lower their operational costs and improve profitability.  Enhanced Quality  Time and Motion Studies not only focus on efficiency but also on improving the quality of work output. By identifying areas where quality may be compromised due to inefficient processes, organizations can implement measures to ensure consistent and high-quality outcomes. This, in turn, leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.  Employee Engagement  Involving employees in Time and Motion Studies can enhance their engagement and satisfaction. Employees feel empowered when they contribute ideas for process improvement and witness the positive impact of their suggestions on productivity and efficiency. This engagement can lead to a more motivated workforce and lower turnover rates.  Data-Driven Decision Making   Time and Motion Studies provide valuable data and insights that enable data-driven decision-making. Businesses can use the data collected during these studies to identify trends, measure performance metrics, set realistic benchmarks, and make informed decisions about resource allocation, process redesign, and strategic planning.  Continuous Improvement  One of the key benefits of Time and Motion Studies is their focus on continuous improvement. The data and insights gathered from these studies act as a foundation for ongoing optimization efforts. Businesses can implement iterative changes, monitor their impact, gather feedback, and make further adjustments, ensuring that processes remain efficient and effective over time.  Competitive Advantage   Efficient and streamlined operations resulting from Time and Motion Studies provide a competitive advantage in the market. Businesses that can deliver high-quality products or services efficiently are better positioned to attract and retain customers, outperform competitors, and adapt quickly to market changes, ultimately driving sustainable growth and success. 
- [Six Key Strategies for Great Leaders for Long Term Success](https://faberinfinite.com/six-key-strategies-for-great-leaders-for-long-term-success/): “To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way.” —Pat Riley. The most successful leaders envision a bold future and then make it happen. Real leaders are not just along for the ride — they shape the future by thinking big. A competitive long-term strategy is required to grow and compete in a larger market. And a leader takes this strategy forward with right execution leading to attain the Business Excellence. Please find excerpt from an interesting article, which talks about the strategies, which are used by the great leaders to achieve the long-term success. You may refer further details here.
- [Looking for Risk in all Wrong Places](https://faberinfinite.com/looking-for-risk-in-all-wrong-places/): ‘Risk’ by nature seems scary. Its uncertain and unpredictable. However, there are times in every individual’s life when they are faced with a choice that involve risk. In today’s era where business excellence is the only choice we have as far as competition is concerned, we all have to live with risks! Hence, it is essential to invest sometime on exploring – how to live with risks. In business aspects we call it managing risk or Risk Management. There are three best practises for accessing and managing risks: Strike the right balance between risk and reward. Focus on decisions, not process. Make employees the first line of defence. You may refer to the original article here for further details.
- [Cost Management via Inventory Management](https://faberinfinite.com/cost-management-via-inventory-management/): Yet again, Faber Infinite in association with CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) conducted a training workshop on “Material Handling and Inventory Management – Tools for Efficient Output & Cost Control” at Vadodara in July, 2015. The key purpose of the workshop was to learn effectively and efficiently the tools for cost management as well as Material handling and Inventory Management. 5 Key Points of Inventory Management Understanding the basic concepts of material handling and inventory management To establish key aspects of Lean framework To determine the drivers for high efficiency and productivity To establish the framework for inventories by different models of Inventory Management. To understand the process of Kanban Implementation Participants from eminent organizations like Apollo Tyres, Piramal Glass and others from in and around Vadodara participated in the workshop. The participants were from the different sectors and segments. The workshop was received well due to its interactive approach and delivery methodology. The simulation exercise via ‘The Plug Factory’ created by team Faber Infinite made the session extremely interesting and lived the Faber philosophy of ‘learning by doing’. In today’s, competitive scenario organizations strive for Operational Excellence. Team Faber Infinite unlocks the concepts of Inventory Management and Material handling as tools for efficient output and effective cost management. All the aspects of workshop will further assist towards crafting growth opportunities by improving organization bottom line leading to business excellence. Ready to unlock the power of inventory management for better cost management? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert tips and techniques. Take the first step towards efficient cost control now! Reported & Complied by: Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs](https://faberinfinite.com/the-5-strategy-rules-of-bill-gates-andy-grove-and-steve-jobs/): There is difference between a “strategy” and a “successful strategy”. This difference is unlocked by the three most popular CEOs – Bill Gates (Microsoft), Andy Grove (Intel) & Steve Jobs (Apple). These men have successfully defined the meaning of “successful strategy” which is captured in the book named “Strategy Rules” by David Yoffie and Michael Cusumano. The answer to this question is depicted by 5 Key strategies, which include the common leadership lessons from three different perspectives. This book is about strategies, principles, and skills of three of the most successful and influential figures in business—offering lessons for all managers and entrepreneurs on leadership, strategy and execution. “Strategy Rules” examines these three individuals collectively for the first time—their successes and failures, commonalities and differences—revealing the business strategies and practices they pioneered while building their firms in 5 key strategies. Please find below insights from these 5 key strategies: You may refer to the original article here for further details.
- [Are You Overlooking Inventory as a Focus for Process Improvement and Waste Reduction?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-overlooking-inventory-as-a-focus-for-process-improvement-and-waste-reduction/): What is top priority for any organisation? Profit – Obviously. Isn’t it? If an organisation is profitable, then only it can sustain and grow. Many companies focus just on improving bottom line (Profit) and they neglect other factors which are affecting in a better Bottom Line. There are several factors which any company need to consider. One amongst them is Inventory. Often organisations consider Inventory as one of the cost factor which is of less relevance but in actual it is one of the major costs in any organisation. When we think of Inventory, only finished goods comes to our mind. But inventory is not only Finished Goods but it includes Raw-Material, Work-In-Progress as well. If we calculate the total amount of all three, we can actually find how much cash flow is blocked because of improper inventory management. Inventory is one area where there are significant opportunities to improve processes and we can identify waste clearly and can reduce those waste. Proper Inventory Management can lead to improved cashflow, can release lots of space, can obsolete spares not in use and can reduce stock-outs. Proper flow of Inventory can lead to reduced lead time. Following are some insights from one of the articles “Are you overlooking Inventory as a focus for Process Improvement and Waste Reduction?”: When you see excess inventory you can be sure that processing issues are being hidden. Here are a couple of basic truths: The longer any form of inventory sits, the colder the trail becomes to find and solve problems. Early in your journey this almost always leads to finding the process failures too late to avoid excessive rework, scrap and missed customer commitments. Our objective is to know about process variation, outside the norm, as close to real time as possible. The same premise goes for the supplier base as well. [See the figure below on how inventory hides problems — we don’t know what the No. 1 issue to attack is until inventory is reduced enough to expose it.] Excess RIP (RM + WIP) always exposes poor scheduling practices and the need to substantially reduce cycle times. This is often a major contributor to No. 1 above. Reducing cycle times/inventory can be a driving force to improve plant performance; so can a bold objective to significantly increase RIP turns. You may refer further details here. Contact us
- [Communicating a corporate vision to your team](https://faberinfinite.com/communicating-a-corporate-vision-to-your-team/): What makes organisation successful? Is it Strategy or People? Answer lies within, both of them. Problem with most of the companies is not wrong strategy but lack of explaining strategy to the people who makes strategy successful. No strategy can succeed without proper explanation for People who actually implement it. Leaders have to be specific and set benchmarks and deadlines. People should feel motivated to make it successful rather than doing it as a part of  strategy. There is always gap of thinking between top management and middle management. Top Management always thinks that we don’t have right people to make strategy successful and Middle Level Management always thinks Top Management does not give clarity on actual goals to be achieved. In actual, right strategy can be successful if it is explained in right manner to the people who work on implementation. Top Management would have broader vision and results in their mind but most often they fail to cascade it down to the people working to achieve goals. Leaders have to break goals to individual benefits and make sure people work better as an individual and as a team. Real success can be achieved if every person knows why any goal is important and what can be benefit to him/her out of it. Below are few of the key points from an interesting note on ‘Communicating a Corporate Vision to your team’. You may refer further details here.      
- [Lean Innovation](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-innovation/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! Innovation is must to sustain in today’s dynamic business world. Every company has to focus on Innovation also as a crucial part of organisation. Corporate Innovation may vary with existing level of organisation. With existing business, every company has to explore new opportunities. Gone are the days when companies were focusing on profitable products only, companies have to focus on new innovations as well which can actually grow their organisation at much faster pace. Innovation is not one day job but it is more of process which every company has to follow. Continuous Innovation may differ with various business types like Mature Business, Rapidly Growing Business and Emerging Business. Companies now has to focus on Lean Innovation Management to make Corporate Innovation work. I have come across an interesting article on Lean Innovation Management. Below is graphical representation of one the key highlights of the Lean Innovation. Have a Transforming Tuesday!!
- [Are We Too Busy to Improve?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-we-too-busy-to-improve-2/): In this competitive era of business and excellence, corporate world seems busy and everyone seems busier than ever before. Even with all the technology available to us, we just seem busier with more to do. The reason we are getting too busy is it takes so long to do things the current way (which is no longer current, it’s 20 years old+). But we don’t have time to learn new yet proven tools or concepts, to step back and think about how we do things, and if there is a better way.  We just keep on relentlessly pushing.  Picture someone saying to an old generation phone user – but just use this smart phone, and they say ‘I’m too busy typing in text messages using 9 little buttons, I don’t have time to learn how to use that thing!’ That is the problem, and as long as this is going on, Change Management would be a burning issue for all the progressive organizations. In today’s scenario even in the corporate world, executives strive to survive and are busy in fire fighting regularly, instead finding ways to improve. We are unable to identify the exact challenge because we are too busy. We are busy in our regular day-to-day routine work and so we don’t have time to identify the opportunities and to improve upon them. We don’t have time to make improvement part of our daily work. Another reason we are busy, ‘cos we don’t have time to learn new tools and it is the biggest barrier to innovate. The individual who acts the busiest may not be the most productive. Daily routines, improper prioritization or unfocused tasks ‘act like leeches’ on the efficiency – making unproductive busyness perhaps the most critical behavioral problem. In the end, though it may sound counterintuitive, dedicating time to daily process improvement is the only way out of the trap of feeling like you have no time. The only way to free up time to do more important work is to begin to chip away at the sources of firefighting. Contributed by: Raveena Rathi Image courtesy: Hakan Fross
- [Leadership an Art of Association](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-an-art-of-association/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! What employees want from their leaders? Is it just direction or appreciation or guidance? Majority of leaders are not able to understand what employees actually want from them. Many a times a simple Thank You may work for some employees, while for some it is pat on back or appreciation in public that matters most. Expectations varies from employee to employee. A good leader always considers to meet their employee’s expectations in various ways. Leaders many a times has to choose between Achievement and Connection. Leader who can do both in better way is preferred leader. Leaders has to learn art of association. A good Leader is ladder for the employees’ success. I have come across an interesting article on top complaints employees have about their leaders. Below is graphical representation of the key issues highlighted in a survey.
- [Creating Learning Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/creating-learning-culture/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! What is culture? A simple definition is “the way we do things around here”. If you want a more complex definition that, in essence, means the same thing, you can define it as “The values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization”. Culture is not made out of products but it is made out of people. It is the people who actually make organisational culture valuable. It is upto organisation how they want to promote improvement oriented culture within organisation. Focus is now shifting from reducing costs to maximising values. Culture majorly depends on Behaviour/actions of people, Motivators and Rewards which people get. Organisations are creating learning culture which can sustain benefits for the longer period. Companies are now moving from Planned Activity to Proactive to Strategic Activity which gives them edge than any other company. Following are some insights on Proactive and Performance driven culture:
- [Insights on Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/insights-on-leadership/): ‘Any continuous improvement journey cannot succeed without top management commitment. It is rightly said people improve processes but right people at right position is equally important. Along with people, leadership is most critical for success. Right leadership can create miracles and make things happen for any organisation. Following file provides some insights on Leadership and its impact:
- [Solution for Water Solution Provider!](https://faberinfinite.com/solution-for-water-solution-provider/): Faber Infinite has been associated with engineering major, which specialises in high purity water treatment plants. Since inception of the journey, several actions have been taken to ramp up the operations significantly. The 30 year old company has now grown many folds through expansion of the product lines and entering in to new market segments for water treatment like power generation, oil & gas, automobiles, manufacturing process plants, sugar mills, captive power plants and many other such markets. Today, it is technically well equipped to handle all types of water and wastewater treatment solutions for the industry. With vision to be the preferred Water and Waste Water Solution provider to the industry, the client engaged team Faber Infinite to build on the Operational Excellence journey. The objectives of the journey were: –        To redesign the existing facility for the optimum utilization of the resources available –        To inject the Operational Excellence principles to ensure the Customer satisfaction –        Pitching forward one step ahead to retain the customer by producing a WOW effect Implementable Solution: Post design phase and implementation of novel ‘work-pack system’ (more about it later), the internalization phase was rolled out. To inculcate the changes, the culture building process was initiated by Five S implementation. Five S implementation is a necessity for promoting organization, safety and efficiency at workplace. The organization team was oriented to implement the Five S to enable workplace improvement & setting up the foundations for sustainable improvements. Following structured steps were followed for the same: –        Tailored training package on Operational Excellence was developed to suit the operational needs of the business and –        Training sessions with all key stakeholders, –        Followed by practical implementation of Five S & Visual Management –        Initiating Daily Work Management practices Glimpse from the Daily Work Management meeting at the client site Contributed and adapted by: Rahul Desai & Raveena Rathi
- [Insights on Kaizen](https://faberinfinite.com/insights-on-kaizen/): As a human being, everyone prefers to work in their comfort zone. People don’t want to taste new water unless they are compelled to do so. As a person, everyone face the challenges but the question here is, are we challenging the challenges? We all work to improve ourselves. Do we really challenge ourselves to do the impossible? We can challenge any problem if we improve in whatever small activity we do. As per Kaizen Philosophy, we need to change for good/better. We can challenge anything only if we change. Following are some insights on Kaizen:    
- [Insights on Waste in Office](https://faberinfinite.com/insights-on-waste-in-office/): We all spend majority of our time out of 24 hours at office. Isnt’ it?  Do we actually maintain high level of cleanliness at our workplace or we consider it job of housekeeping people? We come across lots of waste in our office knowingly or unknowingly. It may be anything like any document, brochure, file, stationery which is not in use. We are contributing to waste in office rather than reducing or waste. Above are some insights on Waste in the Office and why should we focus on Waste?
- [Accelerating 'Make in India'](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerating-make-in-india/): India, in the past in spite of having a nascent market, had favorable circumstances to establish itself as a global manufacturing centre for decades. Since then there have been a few spurs of actions such as the LPG movement in 1991 that made the Indian economy more resilient and robust. Moreover it is constituted by a diversified set of established industries across both manufacturing and service sectors. Yet again we find ourselves in a similar situation with the launch of the government driven ‘Make In India’ campaign, which deemed to give a boost to the manufacturing ecosystem by providing infrastructural and policy level support. This campaign promises a lot but the effectiveness on Indian Manufacturing will take some time to be noticed given the complexity of problems in the business scenario including skilled workforce, capital, land and labor laws and technological advancements. With launch of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, India has also set for itself an ambitious target of increasing the contribution of manufacturing output to 25 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025, from 16 per cent currently. India’s economy is expected to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2014-15 as per a Government forecast. According to a new formula which uses 2011-12 as the new ‘base year’, the revised statistics showed inflation-adjusted economic growth rate for October-December 2014 at 7.5 per cent, making India one of the fastest growing major economy in the world. The Indian manufacturing industry is at the threshold of becoming a ‘Global Manufacturing Hub’. Operational Excellence here has to play a major role to accelerate the ‘Make in India’ campaign and help Indian economy to grow. India has demonstrated its leadership capabilities with unmatched examples like Cost leadership at Orbit Shift Mission Mars amongst others. Considering that competitiveness of Indian manufacturing industry is 71 out of 144 countries and has declined over the last year, industry can change this and jump-start the road to profitable growth only by focusing on Operational Excellence and Innovation. The need to improve efficiencies which has clear linkages with growth, gain from best-in-class technology absorption and deploying effective change management framework are key drivers for accelerating the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Operational Excellence should not be taken as one off initiative and must be pursued as a journey.  Organizations that have nurtured Operational Excellence have been able to leverage their strengths and overcome weaknesses. Operational Excellence delivers compelling business outcomes when pursued correctly. Watch out this space for forthcoming insights on each of the accelerator (driver)! Adapted by: Raveena Rathi
- [Industrywise Spend on Process Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/industrywise-spend-on-process-excellence/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! Continuous Improvement journey starts with No one, Nowhere to Somebody, Somewhere and it goes to Everybody, Everywhere. In this process, many people are involved and they contribute equally for the growth and success of organisation. At Faber Infinite, we continue our Knowledge sharing initiative Transforming Tuesday with some industry insights which may be of interest to you. Below file talks about Average Budgets various industries spend for Process Excellence. Hope you will like it! Your suggestions to make it better will be really appreciated! Have a Transforming Tuesday!!            
- [Ingredients for Change Management](https://faberinfinite.com/ingredients-for-change-management/): According to Dr. Knoster, there are five elements required for effective change: vision, skills, incentives, resources and an action plan.  If any of these five things are missing, there is a corresponding ‘symptoms’. In this blog, we will discuss about Ingredients of Change Management. It may seem simple, but the model is powerful. For example, if a leader senses a high level of frustration from the followers regarding a change he/she wants to implement. This chart could help to realize that the followers may need more resources.  If the followers are confused, then the vision may not have been clearly articulated. The other most challenging experiences in management is developing a sense of ‘buy in’ from all the stakeholders. Many change initiatives may yield less than optimal results. Several projects cannot be completed in an efficient manner without everyone working towards the same goal and believing in its success. People resist change for a myriad of reasons. A lot of these reasons are emotional, such as anxiety about the unknown; fear that the change will result in a loss of control or status; stress that the change will result in a greater workload or new adaptations; worry about appearing inept or having to learn new things; and memories of previous change experiences that caused an upheaval. This things to know for Successful Change Management How do you get all the stakeholders to gain a sense of satisfaction and ownership? How do you use the vast body of research and resources available on change management to help you influence and inspire your employees to adopt your vision for change? How do you address their feelings and make them see the change is beneficial? Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Ready to lead successful change management initiatives? Discover the essential ingredients for driving transformative change. Fill out the form below to gain access to expert insights and strategies that will empower you to navigate change with confidence. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to become a change catalyst! Contributed by: Faber Raveena Rathi & Aakash Borse
- [Lean Manufacturing and its Benefits](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing-benefits/): Every person is unique in his/her own way and his thinking decides the way he wants to grow. Growth can be achieved if things are done in right way and in right manner using right resources. One’s creative and analytical thinking helps them to grow and complete any task in faster and better way. Our week starts with some planned activities. Do we really complete all those tasks which we decide to complete in a time frame? Answer would be NO. Reason being we don’t plan well and that is why most of our tasks remain uncompleted. We need to make ourselves operationally efficient. Efficiency will not come until we decide how much useful any task or activity is. Tuesday is best day to plan our activities for rest week as on Monday we generally complete all those uncompleted tasks of last week and Tuesday transforms our whole week if we plan our activities in better way. To support your journey of achievement, we would like to be part of your progress by sharing some insights which may help you to focus on new areas or untouched areas. We are glad to start “Transforming Tuesday”. Faber means Craftsman. We all are craftsman of our own success. At Faber Infinite, we would like to be part of your infinite growth and success. Above file Lean Manufacturing talks about Lean Manufacturing and its benefits. It gives some glimpses on various tools which can be implemented and few obstacles in implementation of Lean Manufacturing. Hope you will like it! Your suggestions to make it better will be really appreciated!
- [Business Adventures: Excerpts](https://faberinfinite.com/business-adventures-excerpts/): As part of Fab Faber Series, we are glad to share few excerpts from another wonderful book, Business Adventures by John Brooks. Happy Reading! Business Adventures (by the late John Brooks, originally published in 1969) is Bill Gates’ favorite all-time business book and even better, it came recommended to him from none other than Warren Buffett! What hooked me was considering when Bill Gates received the book from Warren Buffett with his imprimatur, in 1991, and that nearly 25 years later Gates can say this is also his favorite business book is impressive, and no doubt Gates must have read it with great interest having come with the highest of recommendation from Buffett at that time. The stories in the book might be old and the names unfamiliar, but Brooks’ retelling is superb – a near perfect balance of breadth and depth to the stories. From Wall Street to Main Street, John Brooks, longtime contributor to the New Yorker, brings to life in vivid fashion twelve classic and timeless tales of corporate and financial life in America. What do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety; these notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life, as they were when the events happened. Business Adventures details 12 critical moments in American industry, including the rise of Xerox and Piggly Wiggly, the Ford Edsel fiasco, and the GE and Texas Gulf Sulphur scandals. Perhaps above all, Business Adventures teaches lessons about people – how they act, what makes them thrive and flounder, and what devilry they’re likely to get up to if left to their own devices. Business Adventures’ lessons are about human nature in the context of business, and though technologies and best practices change, people never do. We can take 7 key lessons from this John brook’s Business Adventure. 1. A lesson from the 1962 Flash Crash: At their core, humans are basically emotional, irrational beings. Over the course of only three days, fear and panic led the stock market to plummet $20 billion only to boomerang back up a day later. Facts are a lot less compelling than the dictates of the lizard brain. 2. A lesson from the Ford Edsel fiasco: Pay close attention to your market. Customers’ wishes can change very quickly and it’s important to keep a finger on the collective pulse. When Ford wasn’t looking, mid-sized dropped off of their buying radar. 3. A lesson from the income tax system: Sometimes, the best solution is to scrap it. Over the years, the US tax system became so convoluted, corrupt, and loophole laden that it now encourages inefficiency. The only real recourse would be a do-over. 4. A lesson from the Texas Gulf case of 1959: Just as people are inherently irrational, you can also count on them to be pretty self serving, too. In summary: when Texas Gulf executives found out about mineral-rich ground the company had just struck, they slowly began buying up stock shares and telling their families to follow suit – all the while denying the find to the public. Thus, insider trading laws were born. 5. A lesson from Xerox’s rollercoaster success: Never trust a rapid success. Nobody expected copy machines to take off when Xerox launched its product in 1959, but by 1964, revenue was so good that the company could afford to drop $4 million to support the UN. By 1965, however, Xerox was in trouble: while they’d been busy philanthropizing, competitors had caught up fast. 6. A lesson from Piggly Wiggly’s investment debacle: Revenge isn’t actually so sweet – and it certainly doesn’t pay. To teach them a lesson, incensed Piggly Wiggly owner Clarence Saunders sought to buy back all of his stock from tricky prospectors. What he got instead was near bankruptcy. 7. A lesson from the Bretton Woods Conference of ‘64: A small group of determined individuals can prevail against a bigger, stronger foe. When a collective of savvy prospectors believed Britain couldn’t keep up the currency exchange rates, they started betting against the pound in the market. Despite odds (and a strong central bank alliance against them) they won. In closing, the current reprinting of Business Adventures is yet another, timely, reminder that “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” — Mark Twain. Adapted by: Raveena Rathi
- [Nasik bonds with Faber Infinite again!](https://faberinfinite.com/nasik-bonds-with-faber-infinite-again/): Further to success and overwhelming response of the past programs in Nasik, a training program on Value Stream Mapping is organized by Faber Infinite and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Western region. This training is open to all the members as well as non-members in the western region. It is one of its kind training on Value Stream Mapping (VSM) at Nasik, India on February 24th, 2015. Value stream mapping is a Lean process-mapping method for understanding the sequence of activities used to produce a product. Value stream maps serve as a critical tool during the review process and can reveal substantial opportunities to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, reduce inventory, and improve overall performance. Program Details: – Training Programme on “Value Stream Mapping” – Tuesday, 24th February 2015 – 09.30 am to 5.30 pm – Venue: Nashik Engineering Cluster, C-10, MIDC, Ambad, Nasik India Objective: To build understanding of the power of VSM tools and the use of the same in cross-functional way to improve production and reduce the cost. Methodology:  Training will be conducted through interactive lectures supported by case studies and experiential learning. Target Audience:  Engineers, Team leaders and personnel who are involved in various planning, design, marketing, quality, tooling, process, procurement and production activities. Contents: – Meaning of Value Stream Mapping – Why use value stream mapping – How to create a value stream maps – Initial activity of VSM – Current State Map – How to find out waste – Type of Waste – Seven types – How organizations save cost – Elimination of MUDA – waste Do join us for this learning experience. Please connect with Prashant on prashantj@faberinfinite.com for further details.
- [Partners in Building Competitive India](https://faberinfinite.com/partners-in-building-competitive-india/): Faber Infinite is a proud partner of the Government of India for implementing Lean Management practices across 500 manufacturing clusters in India. Faber Infinite team is empanelled consultant by National Productivity Council (NPC) (www.npcindia.gov.in), India for implementation of Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme. We are glad to join hands with government to enhance Manufacturing Competitiveness and foster Operational Excellence across India. National Productivity Council has been appointed by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India for implementation of Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme. India being one of the fastest growing economies, manufacturing sector has major contribution to the growth. Also with the flagship ‘Make in India’ campaign, it is exceedingly crucial to build the competitiveness across MSME in varied sectors to make the dream come true. We are feeling truly honored to be part of the movement launch by Government of India. Along with large organizations, Faber Infinite will support MSMEs of India in the operational excellence journey to craft the success of ‘Make in India’ campaign. We are keen to join hands in skill development and thereby in growth of the economy by helping organizations reduce their costs and improve profitability by best Operational Excellence practices throughout the value chain. Faber Infinite will work hand in hand with Government of India to boost manufacturing and to project India as a Global Manufacturing destination of the world, to enhance global competitiveness of the Indian Manufacturing Sector and to ensure sustainability of growth. Contributed By: Faber Prashant Joshi
- [Crafting Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-transformation-journey/): Organizational transformation is about organizational change which goes to the depths of what an individual feels and will affect what people feel about the organization and what they do in the organization. In this article, we will talk about the key points of Crafting Transformation Journey. Organizational Transformation Journey Organizational Transformation is more than just changing the way business is done. It is about changing the organizational culture in one or more ways. Transforming the organization refers to any significant change made to an organization such as, restructuring an organization or reengineering an organization and/or there is a significant change in the way business is done. The question is, of course, what is significant is relative to a given organization. Transformation at any place is huge step, requires strong commitment and dedication. As part of team Faber Infinite, we have been involved in making the transformation journey simple yet beneficial to the client. More than anything else, the key ingredient required is the top management commitment. Transformation journey faces resistance and hold up in the implementation, where the role consultant is to constantly and successfully keep the ball rolling. As blue collared consultants, we are not mere providers of resources but coach teams to implement the tools and achieve the desired results. Swift rotation of the PDCA cycle is the prime responsibility as a consultant, as it helps to improve, confirm the outcomes and to draw future steps of implementation. At one of the client locations, a leading modular kitchen brand, the growth has been in exceptionally good measurable terms. Implementation of various projects; Layout Design (to improve the overall material flow and throughput), Inventory Management (to manage and control inventory, reduce shortages from 14 to zero), Problem Solving (to reduce the dispatch errors) and others; have helped in transforming the company to a different trajectory. As it is said, ‘journey is the destination’, the journey has been eventful. By: Faber Anand Bhattad
- [Transformation Journey: Lesson One](https://faberinfinite.com/transformation-journey-lesson-one/): Thriving organization in the turbulent 21st century economy share one common denominator: an uncommon need to evolve. While no two organizations are alike, businesses can be aided by the Faber Infinite’s 360-degree organizational transformation. We have embarked on a transformation journey at India’s largest bone china crockery manufacturer and I would like to share brief yet key lessons learned on what it takes to transform an organization. Going back to the title of the post, lesson one of the transformation journey is: Start a movement! At the outset, along with confidence building and creating awareness, it was flagged off as ‘Sankalp – A Vow’ to transform the organization towards better tomorrow. It helped us to internalize the complete transformation process. SANKALP transformation journey is primarily aimed at culture building process. Being part of the core team, I experienced the initial fruits of the implementation outcome on GEMBA – the real workplace while working. The journey is effective only when the results are sustained after deployment. This is can be achieved by a robust process oriented system and systematic review mechanism which is rapid with specified frequency. It also enforced onto me, learning like, “Quality cannot be achieved without an objective” and “Quality policy has to be documented and supported by the top management”. PS: I promise to share further lessons in due course. Would appreciate your feedback! By: Faber Rahul Desai
- [Develop Key Assets: People!](https://faberinfinite.com/develop-key-assets-people/): It’s hard to think of an important aspect of management more neglected than people development.  Yet for a variety of reasons, this valuable activity is often ignored or handled as a bureaucratic exercise or an afterthought.  Due to this, organizations pay a high price in terms of the loss of talented people. We at Faber Infinite appreciate that people are the pivotal success factor in the value creation process and for organization’s development into a true high performance company. Faber Infinite offers a gamut of customized people development programs for varied requirements organizations. Our teams work on “Change Management” and “Learning and Development” themes together with the client’s senior management and have implemented numerous programs. Workshops held at all levels and in all areas ensure that tangible improvements are initiated in the various departments and teams. In one of the people development program conducted at a textile machine manufacturing industry, involved a management conclave with the objective to build a high performance leadership team, improve team building, co-operation and refining the team vision and mission with the intent to achieve the goals. Various experiential learning sessions were conducted to drive key messages; few of which are listed below: – Dealing with uncertainty – Coordination across the teams – Role clarity – Link between communication process and decision making – Understand functionality or dysfunctional and impact on the group – Organizational discipline – Diversity and its impact on relationship – Goal orientation Faber Infinite has been involved with a variety of such people development offerings, which helps client to achieve their goals and grow. In another engagement, Faber Infinite conducted a comprehensive program with reputed textile manufacturing organization in Kenya. Along with mapping the organizational climate in terms of teamwork and source of motivation, the aim of the program was improving the leadership practices. One final thought: People Development planning doesn’t have to be elaborate or costly.  If it’s done well, the payoff can be substantial in terms of long-term loyalty.  If it’s not, the costs can be substantial in terms of long-term talent. By: Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Emerging SMAC Practices – Unlocked](https://faberinfinite.com/emerging-smac-practices-unlocked/): Faber Infinite shared views on emerging Social media, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud computing (SMAC) Technologies specifically from B2B marketing standpoint at a ‘Marketing Conclave’ organized by Amrut Mody School of Management, part of the Ahmedabad University (AU) promoted by the Ahmedabad Education Society (AES). The Marketing Conclave 2014 was a platform to discuss the importance of SMAC, their relevance for businesses and the practices that impact these very important areas. Businesses of India are looking towards new avenues of customer investments around the Social media, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud computing (SMAC) Technologies. As several industries including products and services look to provide a uniform experience across all communication channels, the need for SMAC technologies is likely to increase. Changing market dynamics at India today clubbed with the advancement in technology bring significant opportunities for businesses to market their products and services to a larger group of customers. At the same time, monitoring customer movements and their preferences with the help of technology has made it possible for companies to develop target-specific communications and offerings. With the fast-changing technological developments, customers and marketers have found a common platform to stay connected, which is the mobile and/or virtual platform. Faber Infinite is glad to associate with AES. AES has remained a benchmark for high academic standards for more than seven decades. It is the largest education society in Western India, which has spread the light of knowledge, and wisdom in diverse fields of education and established new benchmarks of excellence. Amrut Mody School of Management, has sought to continuously enhance the quality and delivery of the programmes and the capabilities of the students.
- [Learn Value Stream Mapping](https://faberinfinite.com/learnvsm/): Faber Infinite is organizing a training program in association with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Western region. This training is open to all the members as well as non-members in the western region. It is one of its kind training on Value Stream Mapping (VSM) at Ahmedabad on December 23, 2014 and December 24, 2014. Details of the training program: Training program on VSM from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday Dec 23, 2014 to be conducted in Gujarati Wednesday Dec 24, 2014 to be conducted in English Objective: To build understanding of the power of VSM tools and the use of the same in cross-functional way to improve production and reduce the cost. Methodology: Training will be conducted through interactive lectures supported by case studies and experiential learning. Target Audience: Engineers, Team leaders and personnel who are involved in various planning, design, marketing, quality, tooling, process, procurement and production activities. Contents: Lean Basics, Understanding 3Ms What is Value and Value Stream Why use VSM PQ Analysis Levels of VSM Current State Map Tutorial on Current State Map Introduction to Future State Map Key Elements of Future State Map Benefits of VSM Do join us for this learning experience. Please revert on prashantj@faberinfinite.com for further details.  
- [Celebrating Failure: Excerpts](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-failure-excerpts/): One our mentors pointed us towards this wonderful book, Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes, and Thinking Big  by Ralph Heath As part of Fab Faber Series, we are glad to share few excerpts with you. Happy Reading! Failure and high performance go hand-in-hand Companies and employees with the highest performance have the lowest fear of failure—and a high failure rate. Surprised? They have a high failure rate because they are comfortable with failure as a vehicle for growth. Rather than be embarrassed by failure, they wear it as a badge of honor. They are always experimenting, trying to find the next great idea that will take them or their clients out of their comfort zones, to reach new highs of business success. – From Chapter 11: Pushing Yourself to Fail Why I acknowledge my own mistakes and failures I had an interesting conversation with one of my associates that I would like to share. He said, “Ralph, why are you so quick to point out your mistakes to the entire company?” An excellent question and it is indeed a planned part of my management philosophy. I do it because I cannot keep repeating that it is perfectly acceptable for the people around me to make mistakes in their work, yet pretend that I never make mistakes. Or conversely, what better way to send a message to our organization that it is okay to make mistakes than to point out my own? I should clarify that I am talking here about bold mistakes, mistakes that come from taking risks, not about failing to do your job professionally. – From Chapter 10: Learn From Your Mistakes How can leaders empower their people? Leading from the back empowers your workforce to take responsibility and lead. If your co-workers are out front providing solutions, they are far more apt to take ownership in those ideas—and owning an idea, believing it is your own, greatly increases an idea’s chances of succeeding. Unfortunately, it is not the way most parents or leaders are taught to manage. Management gurus make you think you’ve got to be out front charging the hill in front of the troops or you are somehow diminished or not doing your job. Leading from the front is a testosterone-driven philosophy that is appropriate in some battles, but not all. – From Chapter 4: Leading From the Back Champion new ideas New ideas need protectors and champions. Ideas need a shepherd to guide them through the difficult processes that are most often set up for the sole intent and purpose of ”killing“ anything new. Committees and focus groups are often the sworn enemies of new ideas. You have to do all you can to slow the attackers who are waiting to pounce and kill new ideas with phrases such as, “We tried that before.” Or, “The client won’t like that.” Or, “We don’t have enough time.” – From Chapter 2: Resistance to Change You cannot go far with a small idea There is a temptation in the advertising business to propose the safe concept. Some of the reasoning is based on fear. Fear that the client will not approve a risky or edgy approach (and many will not), as they fear change and losing their jobs. However, risky and edgy creative approaches are the ones that cut through the advertising clutter and get results for the client. Sometimes big ideas cause big change. Change that disturbs the safe status quo and forces a journey into the unknown. It is a challenge to train people to embrace change, take risks, think big, and work outside their comfort zones. – From Chapter 3: Think Big New ideas require a change in thinking Why are people so eager to cling to the past and so quick to kill new ideas? Accepting a new idea requires a “change” in thinking. When a person has been doing something a certain way for so long and someone else tries to enter their world that they control and suggests something that is counter to their established thinking, something they perceive as a threat, their first reaction is to attack the idea. – From Chapter 2: Resistance to Change Sincere praise for a job well-done If you pass out compliments too easily, simply for the sake of inspiring those who work for you, it may have unintended negative consequences: It can lower the quality of work because people will say to themselves, “Hey, that was easy. I didn’t even do my best work, but if that’s what the boss likes, I’ll give him more of the same.” So now when I tell people they’ve done a nice job, which is often, I make certain they have, indeed, done a nice job. People know when you are sincere and appreciate it that much more. If you compliment people when it is truly deserved, the kind words have their intended effect and the radio station, or the advertising agency, performs at a much higher level. – From Chapter 7: Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, and Herb Lee
- [Unlock Success: The Light House Framework](https://faberinfinite.com/the-lighthouse-exercise-in-action/): “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where and how you’re going, because you might not get there.” – Yogi Berra Organizations cannot survive and flourish for a very long time without some basic goals. Goals give an organization a purpose and direction to move towards. Several organizations have declared goals and few others don’t have explicitly set goals. Organizations invest energies in SMART goal setting and yet end up not achieving it. For a very simple reason, you think, if you want to reach a destination but are unclear of directions to the destination; will you be able to reach? And even if you succeed, it may come at cost of efficiency and higher risks. The same applies to organizations! To address the issue, we at Faber Infinite Consulting have crafted an effortless yet robust framework called as LightHouse Exercise. What is The LightHouse Exercise? It is an exercise to determine/ develop organizational goals and also to define suitable directions to achieve those goals. Like the lighthouse; this exercise by means of focussing on comprehesive business dimensions provides directions, to set the organizational journey on correct track and achieve the set goals. One of our esteemed clients, reputed door manufacturer sought Faber Infinite assistance to discover untapped business potential via The LightHouse Exercise. An all-inclusive workshop on the LightHouse Exercise was scheduled and successfully conducted along with the client team. The exercise was flagged off with Faber Infinite’s unique Fun – Learn – Fun approach. The lessons from the interactive simulation games were discussed with all the participants from the top management. The transformation journey was launched with all new vigor and excitement as ‘Mission 15K by 15’. Detailed exercise for creating ‘Blue Ocean’ along with novel ERCR (Eliminate, Reduce, Create and Raise) technique was conducted as well. It culminated with the future value curve for the organization. Further the team was introduced to the Goal Book with guidelines, action points and detailed projects for all layers within the organization, from senior management till the frontline associates. Following a proven and structured framework, the detailed activity entailed various sub-groups to identify broad themes, specific tasks, improvement steps and a scale to measure the same. The outcome of the entire workshop was set of directions focusing towards achieving targets of ‘Mission 15K by 15’. Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad
- [6 Basic Principles of Production Planning](https://faberinfinite.com/6-basic-principles-of-production-planning/): The planning for any organization forms the backbone of the production process. Planning of productions helps organizations to understand the situation at the Gemba better. Principles of Production Planning facilitates to book the entire capacity and also assists in committing accurate delivery time frames to the customers. At its core, production planning represents the beating heart of any manufacturing process. Its purpose is to minimise production time and costs, efficiently organise the use of resources, and maximise efficiency in the workplace. Production planning incorporates a multiplicity of production elements, ranging from the everyday activities of staff to the ability to realise accurate delivery times for the customer. With an effective production planning operation at its nucleus, any form of manufacturing process has the capability to exploit its full potential. 6 Principles of Production Planning: Customer Demand Before you can plan to assign resources, you have to know how much to produce. Production Planning focuses on the principle of meeting the targeted customer demand rate in the most efficient way possible while keeping open the capability to respond to variations in demand. Materials To fulfill your production target, the materials needed to produce should be ensured. The most efficient production planning keeps the minimum materials as standard inventory. Planners should evaluate how much material the company needs, the lead times for orders, the delivery times for suppliers, and the reliability of the supply. Equipments The production planner takes into account the capabilities of the equipment used to produce the output. The basic stability of equipment comprising of availability (A), performance (P), and quality (Q) parameters can be determined by Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Manpower Manpower planning requires accurately estimating the number of employees required to do the work. The capacity of the workforce has to match the capabilities of the equipment to plan for the highest efficiency. Processes Effective production planning makes sure that the processes used for the output continue to operate efficiently and safely. Often, the normal operation of a process requires occasional testing and adjustments. Controls A final production planning principle puts in place controls that detect problems as soon as they occur. Verification of inventory, use of qualified suppliers and personnel, and standardization where possible. When controls are in place, it enables to take possible corrective actions to minimize the effects and return production to the required levels. After the analysis of each aspect at the client’s place, the modular kitchen manufacturer, the overall plant capacity was ascertained. The next step was to assist the client with a proper production plan. The Faber Infinite team worked over the best possible alternatives to provide the client with a user-friendly, simple yet powerful module that will cater to all the basic requirements and also keep room for the surprise elements. The solution module was developed to encompass the order receipt process, capacity booking, production to dispatched,s and even installations at the client sites. Making it a comprehensive solution. It also consisted of provisions to calculate the delivery performance by measuring the On Time In Full ratio (OTIF) and also highlighting the reasons for failure, if any. The production planning solution was designed to cater to all the issues related to production and hiccups in the planning process. Benefits of Production Planning Overall production planning made simpler and easy to manage Proper, logical, and achievable delivery dates can be promised to customers No back logs in order No delay in delivery leading to customer WOW!  Unlock the power of effective production planning! Dive into the 6 basic principles that will revolutionize your business. Fill out the form below to gain instant access and start optimizing your production processes for maximum efficiency and profitability. Don’t wait; take the first step towards success today! Written & Adapted by Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse Check other consulting services on Faber Infinite: Operational Excellence Consulting | Strategic Excellence Consulting | Supply Chain Consulting | Design Thinking & Excellence Consulting
- [Faber Infinite - Finalist at Red Herring Global Award](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-finalist-for-the-2014-red-herring-100-global-award/): Faber Infinite has been selected as a finalist for Red Herring’s 2014 Top 100 Global award, a prestigious recognition honoring the year’s most audacious and far-reaching private technology companies and entrepreneurs from across the globe. The Red Herring editorial team selected the companies demonstrating the most innovative technologies and business models originating from over 1,000 companies from more than 40 nations. These companies, representing past Red Herring Asia, Europe and North America awards, are judged on a range of qualitative and quantitative metrics, including but not limited to, technology innovation, financial performance, growth criterion, management’s execution standards, potential globalization of the strategy, and market share improvement. “Growing companies are becoming the bright spot in the economic outlook based on their increasing role within macro-economic environments,” stated Alex Vieux, Red Herring chairman. “2014 has demonstrated vibrant activity and its contribution to the global economic recovery. An unprecedented number of entrepreneurs are jumping ahead of the competition and making a difference. Constant breakthroughs make recent developments obsolete faster than ever before. Faber Infinite is performing exceptionally well in its field and strongly deserves to be singled out as one of the Red Herring Global finalists. At this stage, we are left with the daunting task to select the best qualified companies for the 2014 Top 100 Global Award.” The finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Global forum at Los Angeles in November 2014. About Red Herring Red Herring is a global media company that unites the world’s best high-technology innovators, venture investors and business decision-makers in a variety of forums, including print, online and exclusive events worldwide. Red Herring provides an insider’s access to the global innovation economy, identifying new and innovative companies and entrepreneurs. Its Red Herring 100 awards for North America, Europe, Asia and Global have recognized more than 5,000 companies in their early stages, including Baidu, Google, eBay and Skype.
- [Transformation Launch: A Glimpse](https://faberinfinite.com/transformation-launch-a-glimpse/): Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent. – Martin Luther King, Jr. There is no correct day or date to initiate change. Its setting in is inevitabile. However, one has to be prepared and keep the back straight to manage the change.  Recently team Faber Infinite launched the initial stage of change management journey at one of the largest textile machine manufacturer in Gujarat. The organization is into business for more than five decades now. After thoughtful deliberation, the launch of transformation journey was planned and executed. A detailed evaluation to gauge the basic health of the organization was conducted. It presented details on the current situation of organization, benchmark with world class standards and potential to improve along with ballpark benefit estimates. The exercise is a comprehensive evaluation of the organization which includes functions like finance, operations, marketing, supply chain and others. Each segment being a stakeholder in progress of the organization, contributes to the smooth functioning. Along with several on the job analysis and exercises, for capturing the pulse of the organization, more than 20 parameters/ ratio relating to Costs, Delivery, Quality, Capacity, Productivity, Efficiency, Breakdowns, Inventory Ratios, Safety and others were captured and analyzed in detail. Also, the Faber Infinite team invested time on the shop-floor to identify the gaps and meet managers/ team members individually. The exercise pinpointed at the areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the tools to be deployed for improvement. It resulted in a detailed report with implementation road and ballpark estimates of potential benefits. The launch exercise paved way for a continuous journey – a mission to support organizational development and prosperity.  All the stake holders and top management showed commitments by planting and adopting a tree in the factory premise as symbol of growth. We have already made progress in crafting growth opportunities for the client. I will share the details in the next post. Growth Tree Plantation  “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”   Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad
- [Eat That Frog..! by Brain Tracy - Book Summary](https://faberinfinite.com/eat-that-frog/): Book Summary – Eat That Frog By Brian Tracy The book helps readers understand the importance of managing our priorities and contains many highly practical and easy to implement suggestions for improving our effectiveness and ultimately to achieve our goals. In particular it focuses on the need to eliminate procrastination when completing key tasks. The title of the book is inspired by Mark Twain who once said that if you start the day by eating a frog you would have the satisfaction of knowing that this was probably the worst thing you had to do that day. The frog is a metaphor for your biggest and most important task. It encourages us to develop a habit of starting and completing important tasks. Although the author warns us that there is never enough time to do everything on our lists there is always enough time to complete the important tasks. He provides techniques to help us set clear priorities and implement plans to achieve these. Overall the book includes 21 key suggestions – 1 per chapter and this summary briefly explains each one. Our team has picked up following 12 out of 21. 1. Set the Table Before you begin working it is vital that you decide exactly what you want to achieve. Clarity is essential for prioritizing tasks and eliminating procrastinating. Remember goals are considered the furnace of achievement. “There is one quality that one must possess to win and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants and the burning desire to achieve it” – Napolean Hill 2. Plan every day in advance Your ability to set goals, make plans and take action on them determines the quality of your life. Taking action without planning is the cause of every failure and yet very few do it. 3. Apply 80/20 rule to everything The 20% tasks are often our “frogs” – the ones we tend to procrastinate on. Often we focus on the 80% tasks instead. Therefore don’t be tempted to start on low values tasks. There is great satisfaction gained from completing high value tasks. 4. Consider the consequences of each task on your list One of the best ways of prioritising tasks is to consider the consequences of doing or not doing each task on your list. Ask yourself – what can I do that, if done well, can make a real difference. Keep asking yourself what is my most valuable task and discipline yourself to do these tasks. 5. Practice Creative Procrastination This is the art of deciding to procrastinate on your low value tasks. That is deliberately deciding to postpone or eliminate these tasks. Review your current work activities and select one that you could abandon with little or no consequences. 6. Practice A, B, C, D & E Method of Prioritising This is a simple method used to prioritise your list of tasks that need to be completed to ensure the most important ones are done. This is a very powerful and yet simplistic method for transforming your efficiency. 7. Focus on Key Result Areas Every job we do can be broken down into 5-7 key areas. These are the areas we need to focus on to succeed. These can be defined as areas that you are completely responsible for and that are within your control. 8. The Law of 3 This law is basically that there are usually 3 key tasks that will give you 90% of the results you want. Make a list of all of the tasks you need to complete. Decide on your 3 key tasks and do them. For the other tasks you can look to delegate, outsource or look for support (where possible) 9. Prepare thoroughly begin you begin It really pays to prepare before you begin working each day or before you begin working on a specific task. To thoroughly prepare you should clear your desk of anything not required to complete this specific task, gather all the materials etc that you will need so that you don’t even have to get up for say a file and then start doing it. 10. Take it one oil barrel at a time The famous Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said “the journey of 1,000 leagues begins with a single step”. When a task just appears to be too big to achieve then it is very useful to break in down (often referred to “Chunking it down”) to get started. 11. Create large chunks of time Most of the really important work you do requires large chunks of unbroken time to complete. Your ability to carve out these blocks of high value, highly productive time is central to your ability to make a significant contribution to your work. And to your life. 12. Develop a sense of urgency One of the most outwardly identifiable quality of a highly successful person is action orientation – they are in a hurry to get their key tasks completed. When you are working on your key tasks you should develop a sense of urgency to motivate yourself to get them completed.
- [Inventory Management - Delivered!](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-delivered/): Faber Infinite and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Indore conducted a training workshop for the industry managers on Materials/ Inventory Optimization and Management, to learn best practices toward achieving effective inventory management. The objectives of the program: – Understanding of Materials/ Inventory management; the need, drivers & the factors weighing it down – To establish the systematic framework of Materials/ Inventory management with different models and guidelines – Strengthening Inventory Management Practices It was attended by more than 30 participants from different organizations and varied sectors. The audience very well received the program and methodology was appreciated. Simulation games to drive the inventory management concepts made the session all the very interactive and interesting, engaging all the participants till the end. Few glimpses of the program are as follows:  Participants in Action: Simulation Game   Participants in Action: Simulation Game   Faber Infinite & Indore Participant Fraternity In today’s highly competitive environment and in these uncertain times, to survive organizations must implement world class practices. Part of this process is to get the “fat” out of your inventories, to be sure that every piece of every product you stock leads to profitable sales. This is where inventory/material management plays a major role. The copy of the presentation and the material is available on request. Join us for many more programs and sessions. Reported by: Mayuri Pandya
- [Training program on "Reduce Cost, Not Margins"](https://faberinfinite.com/training-program-on-reducing-cost-not-margins/): Faber Infinite is glad to announce first of its kind training program on “Reduce Cost, Not Margins” – Advance Lean Tools for Engineering Industry at Baroda on 21 August, 2014. Details of the Training Program: One-Day Training Program “Reduce Cost, Not Margins” Advance lean tools for Engineering Industry Does your organization face following problems during your daily Operations? – High Lead time – Frequent delays in supply of material – Uncertainty during planning stage – Material stock out at one end and high inventory at another end Is the exceeding budgeted cost of production eating into the margins? Is it creating unsatisfied customers and adversely affecting future sales? Faber Infinite’s one-day sensitization workshop on “Advance Lean Tools for Engineering Industry” is high-quality guide to take charge over the above problems. Faber Infinite’s innovative “Fun & Learn” methodology helps employees to understand: – How Lean Management can help Engineering Industry? – Advance tools of Lean Management for Engineering Industry – Designing continuous flows using work pack system – Introduction to Window Planning & Unichro methodology Who can attend? : Planning Managers, Operations Manager, Head of Departments, General Managers and Line Managers Do join for unmatched learning experience and significant take away. Please revert on prashantj@faberinfinite.com for further details.
- [Franchisee Audits: Lever for Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/franchisee-audits-lever-for-growth/): The success of any franchised business depends largely on the ability of the franchise system and the franchisees to each meet the important responsibilities placed on them. For the system, those responsibilities include perfecting the concept, running the system, and promoting concept growth. There is no doubt that franchisees typically keep a close eye on how their franchisor runs the system, to ensure that proper investments are being made into the concept and that the concept is being properly run and promoted. Likewise, franchise systems need to be able to monitor their franchisees for system compliance to ensure brand protection. However, compliance with operational and store appearance standards are only part of what the system must monitor. Franchisee Audit a powerful tool to monitor franchisee compliance. Faber Infinite supported and successfully rolled out a comprehensive audit program for a franchisee chain of one of its prestigious client recently. After the detailed audits were conducted across different franchisees in Pune, a day-long workshop was organized to share the finds of the audit. The workshop was designed on the same lines of Faber philosophy of ‘fun – collaborate – create’. The philosophy of ‘fun – collaborate – create’ enables to make the workshops more interesting and enjoyable. The basic purpose of ingraining the concepts and message in mind of each and every participant is achieved via experiential learning – which has been the highlight of all Faber Infinite sessions. The workshop was designed to make franchisee owners understand their roles and responsibilities to develop the franchisee as well as to provide a platform to seek support required from the factory. The workshop started with specially designed group work focusing on 1. Goal setting as a group, 2. Power plan for realization, and 3. Communication with constraints The audit focused on the current processes and methodology, sales analysis, client feedbacks, lost customer analysis, levers to enhance marketing and branding. The report also included customized set of recommendations for respective franchisee on opportunities to improve. Each franchisee had a detailed one to one discussion with Team Faber to prepare customized goal book and power plan with more thrust on brand building and develop better customer relationship. Team Faber is committed to assist them in all phases to achieve desired results. Sharing ‘Renewed Vigour for Growth’ with all Franchisee The highlight of the franchisee audit is to bring all stakeholders on one platform fostering growth and mutual benefits. As the franchisor ensures set standards for the brand, franchisees can reap multiple advantages from franchise audits. Franchisees get to understand their weaknesses, which they can overcome through the recommendations and benchmarking inputs from the audits. Franchisees may come to know of certain (not known) facts, through the direct interaction with the customers during the audits, conducted with sheer objective of improvements! Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse
- [Lean Facility Design: Benefits Plenty!](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-facility-design-benefits-plenty/): While taking a Gemba (real workplace) Walk at India’s largest bone china manufacturer, huge scope of improvement was foreseen by the transformation project team. Having said that, it is noteworthy that the client has massive space, excellent products and some big names in the kitty to cater in the bone china market. As a part of the transformation journey towards world-class setup, the project team rolled out the Lean Facility Design exercise. What is Lean Facility Design (LFD)? 1. Unique toolkit (methodology) developed by Faber Infinite Consulting, which supports organizations to build Best In Class factory layout. This methodology if implemented, assures that the new plant becomes most efficient from Day Zero. 2. This methodology is applicable for organizations, which are coming up with new plants, revising layouts or expanding current setup. Why Lean Facility Design (LFD)? To prevent all inefficiencies from entering in to new plant To get best in class manpower productivity To lower the total throughput time (time taken for raw material receipt to finished goods delivery) To achieve optimum space utilisation To work with optimum inventory levels (ensuring no overstocking as well as zero shortages) Team Faber Infinite initiated the 14 – Step LFD rollout with value stream identification and value stream mapping. Value Stream Mapping a step-by-step paper & pencil tool that helps you to see and understand the flow of material and information as a product or service makes its way through the value stream. Value stream mapping is basically a visual snapshot of the operations. It is the preferred methodology for identifying the inherent waste and losses within an operation. The LFD rollout further focuses on optimal layout design considering aspects like flow design, capacity calculations, manpower and equipment planning, material (and scrap) handling. The design phase concludes with visualization and risk assessment exercise. Snapshot of Benefits Delivered: The manpower productivity was one of the major benefits where production per person per month improved by 112%, other parameters like throughput times and value adding ratio showed significant improvements of almost 80%. In addition, the inventory at various stages was reduced from 90 days to as low as 15 days. The application of Lean Facility Design (LFD) principles easily integrates the traditional approach to designing a Lean facility. Lean will help to set clear performance metrics at the outset of the exercise to ensure that the facility is capable of meeting the needs of the organization as it grows and evolves. Moreover, in so doing the challenges associated with culture change can be avoided. It will enable the move to make best practice as standard practice. Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse
- [7 Keys to Daily Work Management (DWM)](https://faberinfinite.com/7-keys-to-daily-work-management/): No improvement is complete without sustenance! Implementing projects, improving the current situation, conducting audits for monitoring improvements and changes are not effective unless you start the Daily Work Management meetings. What is Daily Work Management? The concept of Daily Work Management meeting is basically regularly reaching out to each & every person working at various levels so that a structured review mechanism where a formal discussion is facilitated related to details and communication. Daily Management is the system that provides the ability to manage departments, functions, and processes, wherein processes are defined, standardized, controlled, and improved by the process owners. The important aspect is that the management should be done on a day-to-day basis. This ensures that daily jobs and daily objectives are accomplished strictly on daily basis. There is a perfect control system built into daily management, which does not ordinarily allow any slip up on daily plans, activities and results. Business, we know, is now so complex and difficult, the survival of firms so hazardous in an environment increasingly unpredictable, competitive, and fraught with danger, that there continued existence depends on the day-to-day mobilization of every ounce of intelligence. 7 Keys to Daily Work Management: Planning and execution of daily plans on a day-to-day basis by everyone in the organization at each level from top to bottom. A set of tasks and activities to be executed during the day as per a decided sequence on a timeline. The daily plan should be derived from the organization’s vision and mission and the long-term/annual objectives and departmental objectives. These get translated into the department’s key performance areas (KPA) or key result areas (KRA) as well as the job/position descriptions. In turn, each KPA/KRA is expressed in terms of measurable objectives in that area. Since an organization’s annual plans are driven by the external customers’ requirements, ultimately each department’s plan also is focused to fulfil customer requirements. The daily deliverables of each department must fulfil the daily requirements of its next internal customer departments. Therefore, the daily plan of each department and each individual in the department should satisfy this condition. Day’s plan thus arrived at is then the basis for executing the daily tasks and activities. Each activity thus decided must, therefore, be executed in accordance with the daily plan. In doing so, continuous improvements will have to be effected to ensure that higher performance is achieved within the existing resources and with high productivity. Unlock the Power of Effective Work Management Through Daily Work Management The daily work management meetings start with forming tiers, and the same was initiated at one of our clients, a renowned modular kitchen manufacturer. These meetings are scheduled at a fixed time and fixed location and have fixed members to participate in the meetings. The agenda for each tier is fixed, and each one has to adhere to the pre-fixed agenda. The purpose of Daily work management is to make everyone come at a common platform, take charge and ownership of each and every aspect. For example, improving production, productivity, material availability etc, and most important is the increasing communication. Unlock the power of effective work management! Discover the 7 essential keys to streamline your daily tasks and skyrocket productivity. Take the next step to streamline your entire supply chain with our expert consulting services – explore Supply Chain Solutions to drive efficiency and growth for your business. Contact us Written & Adapted by Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse
- [Workshop on Supply Chain Management](https://faberinfinite.com/workshop-on-supply-chain-management-2/): Supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to manage the movement of material in and out of the organisation towards the end-consumer. In today’s highly competitive environment and in these uncertain times, to survive organizations must implement world-class practices. Part of this process is to get the “fat” out of your supply chain, because in today’s world, ‘Organisations don’t compete, supply chains do’. Faber Infinite along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conducted training workshop on ‘Supply Chain Management – Competitive Advantage to Improve Service Levels While Driving Down Costs’ on 17th April 2014 in Vadodara, India. The objective of the intensive sessions was to facilitate understanding of best practices toward achieving effective supply chain management with thorough understanding of Bull Whip Effect. The industry experts from Faber Infinite trained more than 20 participants on details of logistics and supply chain management. It was an experiential learning with combination of live case studies from the industry, group-work along with the classroom sessions. The workshop gave emphasis to traditional core issues as well as modern best practices in supply chain management. The participants appreciated sound understanding of core issues such as process management, inventory management, and supply chain integration by end of the session. The program was very well received by all the participants from varied industry domains. To learn more about the supply chain management program and similar other programs, feel free to reach us on consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Inventory Management: Savings up to 40% Delivered](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-savings-up-to-40-delivered/): Managing inventories can get really challenging. In today’s competitive era, inventories in the supply chain pipeline can make or break the situation for any business. Hence tracking and maintaining optimum inventories is critical and also it is difficult to estimate where, what, how much is required. Overstocking has issues with blocking the working capital and under stocking has huge risks of opportunity loss attached to it. Recently at Faber Infinite, we worked closely with a client struggling with inventory management and implemented. Accurate and fitting Inventory Management Module based on scientific calculations developed by the team Faber Infinite. The system is capable of equipping the client to understand the current inventory situations. The future state of inventory details, proposed savings in each component, what needs to stored and most important in what quantities. It also assists in deciding how much to order and when to order. The system takes care of inherent delays attributed to either supply uncertainties or demand variations up to 2 sigma levels. With the Kanban system implemented at the client site, the system gets more flexible, responsive and agile now.  Reduction in wasted efforts / wasted time, the unnecessary time wasted in searching and managing excess inventory comes as the cherry on the cake. The scientific inventory management module is industry neutral and has capability to resolve supply chain and inventory issues from the root in any organization. The overall savings in inventory value for the said engagement (after implementation of inventory management module) is estimated to be approximately 41%. This saving is a mix of positive and negative savings. Positive saving is achieved by controlling over stocking while negative savings results are to avoid under stocking. Unlock massive savings of up to 40% with effective inventory management. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to streamline your operations and boost your bottom line. Fill out the form below to discover the secrets of efficient inventory management and start saving today! By Anand Bhattad Anand works as an Associate Consultant at Faber Infinite. He holds Masters a degree in Business Administration with majors in Operations and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering being his first degree.
- [Go Green: Sustainable Yet Viable](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green-sustainable-yet-viable/): To decide to go green isn’t just about the present state of the planet, it’s also about the ever-unfolding future. It’s about the limited resources of the planet. In 1800 there were 1 billion people populating the earth, which doubled by 1922. That 2 billion tripled to 6 billion by 2000, and conservative estimates are that there will be 9 billion people inhabiting our little planet by 2050. Considering how many people are homeless and starving at present, what will that future be like if ways to go green and sustaining the planet and its population are not put into place before that future arrives? Apart from the small things people can do on a daily basis to ‘go green’ with a positive impact on ‘life on earth’, if we want a sustainable and economically viable future, we need to ensure that our industry also does not harm the environment. Faber Infinite strives to help organizations to secure resource-efficient green growth. These initiatives are economically viable while protecting the environment. Team Faber Infinite provides services and expertise to promote & implement ‘Green thinking’ and sustainable yet efficient patterns of production. Faber Infinite addressed the CII interaction on sustainability at ‘Victoria India Sustainability Dialogue’ on 6th March 2014 at Vadodara. The objective of the session was to showcase the capabilities in the Sustainability Sector and concurrently to interact with industry stalwarts of Gujarat, India and Victoria, Australia. For further details on ‘Going Green’ from the industry perspective, please feel free to reach us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Productivity Improvement via Time and Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study/): Recently at one of our esteemed client in Pune, India to arrive at a defined production planning system and for the want of determining the capacities of the plant, Time and Motion Study was conducted. Though basic in nature, Time and Motion study outlines the groundwork and facilitates to arrive at better capacity awareness and robust planning system. Each machine, every operation involving human intervention was studied for hours together. Minute details were diligently noted to understand the current situation. The study was conducted over a period of few days, where the team focused on the methodology to provide scientific and reliable solution to the client. The back end calculations were done, were each and every operator involved in study was rated for his/her current working capabilities. Soon after the study, it was presented to the client to ascertain current capacities and plan for future. The time study exercise indicated that overall productivity for each operation was nearly 40-45%. Various improvement projects are identified and implementation will yield into overall productivity improvement up to 30%-40%. Productivity Improvement via Time and Motion Study Going back to the history and traditional definition of Time and Motion Study reveals it as “Method for establishing employee productivity standards in which a complex task is broken into small, simple steps, the sequence of movements taken by the employee in performing those steps is carefully observed to detect and eliminate redundant or wasteful motion, and precise time taken for each correct movement is measured. From these measurements, production and delivery times and prices can be computed and incentive schemes can be devised. Generally appropriate only for repetitive tasks, time and motion studies were pioneered by the US industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) and developed by the husband and wife team of Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924) and Dr. Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972). However, traditional or basic, it forms a basis for further improvements in productivity and operations! Want to supercharge your productivity? Discover the power of Time and Motion Study to optimize your work processes. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to proven techniques for boosting efficiency and maximizing output. Take the first step towards unparalleled productivity improvement now! By Anand Bhattad Anand is an Associate Consultant at Team Faber Infinite. He holds Masters a degree in Business Administration with majors in Operations and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering being his first degree.    
- [Resolve the Mystery: Organizational Turn Around](https://faberinfinite.com/resolve-the-mystery-organizational-turn-around/): In the recent times, due to tough market dynamics and organizational decline, the need for turnaround/ transformation has become very decisive; however, guidelines on this phenomenon remains empirically and theoretically fragmented. Various global researches, lately, have incorporated managerial cognition, strategic leadership, and stakeholder management and have identified many simultaneous and complex resource-based actions. Faber Infinite has been working extensively in the domains related to organizational turnaround/ transformation, developing a descriptive model of 360-degree transformation. In doing so, Faber Infinite has assisted several organizations in different sectors across various geographies in their transformation journeys. Faber Infinite is delivering a session on ‘Organization Turnaround/ Transformation’ for Maharashtra Solar Manufacturers Association (MASMA) on 21st March 2014 at 1830 hours at MCCIA, Moolgaonkar hall, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune.
- [Faber Infinite partners with CII](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-partners-with-confederation-of-indian-industries/): On the occasion of annual day celebrations (22nd February, 2014) of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Central Gujarat Zone, CII and Faber Infinite came together for cause of visioning ‘Inclusive Vadodara: Vision 2020’. Faber Infinite was engaged for as Knowledge Partner. Faber Infinite and CII released a report on “Inclusive Vadodara – Vision 2020” during the event. To understand the city’s future road map and developing awareness on industry innovation, broadening the knowledge base, skill & technology up gradation and encompassing the needs of youth & society, this will lead to a competitive edge for industries and also generating employment opportunities for the city making Vadodara more ‘Inclusive’. The report comprises of a. Demographics of Vadodara b. Results of online survey c. Expert views of industry stalwarts from different sectors The report was released by Honorable Member of Parliament, Mr. Balkrishna Shukla; the collector of Vadodara Mr. Vinod Rao and other eminent figures from the industry. The event saw participation from industry, academia and press with around 200 delegates. It was followed by panel discussion on the theme topic. Few glimpses of the event:       Change, and the massive opportunities it brings, only increases in pace as time goes by. Ability to manage change provides the opportunity to make smarter choices and provide with the tools to maximize potential. Let’s be open. The world will not stand still. We can neither prevent nor control change. What we can do, however, is position ourselves to maximize the opportunities it brings. The opportunity is to construct a coherent and viable future, out of the many materials change will throw at us. We must integrate, collaborate, pool resources, share information, and work together with the widest range of partners, to make the most of the opportunities. The copy of the report is available on request.
- [The Story Behind Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/what-is-faber-infinite/): “What is Faber Infinite?”, “What is a meaning of Faber?”, “Why Faber Infinite Creative Solutions?” these are very common question I face every time I meet new people. On behalf of my team, I am tempted to share with you story behind the company name and thinking process behind the name “Faber Infinite”. As a team, we always dreamt of creating value for our clients, stake holders and the community around us. We are always passionate about crafting culture that fosters transformation and innovations. The craftsmen inside us was growing larger than us, and then we decided to set up this endeavor, we were sure that the name should highlight our emotions. After lot of deliberation “Faber” was finalized, which meant craftsman in Latin. Of course, we engage in creating sustainable transformation infrastructures for organizations by actually making solutions work at real places than just providing customized solutions in the board rooms. The solution should not only work once but client should be expert to make it work on sustainable basis. Everything should “Just Work”. That’s the simple philosophy which we follow. And there are infinite opportunities to continue on the transformation journey; one has to fuel the creative self. So we needed something which reflects all these elements. Hence, came up “Infinite Creative Solutions”. And, Faber + Infinite = Faber Infinite was born! www.faberinfinite.com Everyone likes the name; every time it generates curiosity in the minds and each time we stand up to our name! We are proud to be Faber Infinite. Aakash Founding Partner & Director
- [Training Sessions on ‘Low Cost Automation’](https://faberinfinite.com/training-sessions-on-low-cost-automation/): Faber Infinite along with The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) (http://acma.in/) conducted “Training Programme on Low Cost Automation” for productivity enhancement on 18th November 2013 in Gujarati & on 19th November 2013 in English in Ahmedabad, India. Participants were trained on details of Low Cost Automation (LCA) as well as Lean Principles by the industry experts from Faber Infinite. It was an experiential learning with combination of live case studies from the industry, Group Work along with the classroom sessions. The objective of the sessions was to facilitate participants utilize LCA to enhance productivity and understand following details: Why Continual Improvement? Focus on customer need Understanding of Value Adding activities Understanding of key ingredients of LCA LCA around the existing equipment, tools, methods and people Areas to deploy LCA Benefits of LCA Participants from varied industry attended the sessions and were highly satisfied with the program. One of the participants said, “The training session was excellent, nice learning with good examples and simulations. The methodology to develop LCA was also one of the few key take away.” While other said, “It was mind opener which will help to improve and implement many things in our organization. It was conducted with very good examples.” To learn more about the LCA program and similar other programs, feel free to reach us on consulting@faberinfinite.com  
- [The Fab Faber Series: I](https://faberinfinite.com/the-fab-faber-series-i/): Book Summary Power of Less by Leo Babauta 10 Big Ideas from the book #1: Simplicity means identifying what’s essential, then eliminating the rest. #2: Focusing on the essential produces the most results for the least effort. #3: You must set limits – they don’t set themselves. #4: Focus on only one thing at a time. #5: Limit your active goals and projects to no more than 3-4 at a time. #6: Establish three Most Important Tasks (MITs) every day, and do those before working on anything else. #7: Batch similar tasks together to preserve your focus. #8: Installing positive habits is easiest when you start small, then build on your early success. #9: Consciously minimize your active commitments, and don’t be afraid to say “no” to new ones. #10: Slow down, pay attention, and enjoy the process.
- [Customer First, Always!](https://faberinfinite.com/customer-first-always/): How often have we seen posters in organizations shouting messages such as ‘Customer First’ or the ‘Customer is King’ How often, as a customer, have you actually experienced this claim? Here is a story of an expatriate, in India, who actually made it happen. In the mid-1990’s, India had graduated from a license raj regime to becoming a relatively more liberal economy. Policies had changed that permitted foreign organizations to hold more than 50 per cent shares in the pharmaceutical sector. This is a classic story of an organization that had been led by Indian executives for decades but was now to be led by an expatriate, since the multi-national European parent had opted for 51 per cent foreign ownership in India. The person appointed to lead was of South American origin, who had had earlier postings in North Africa and South East Asia. He had never before set foot in India. The mandate given to him by his HO was “Transform the Indian operations into a customer-focused one in 1000 days” Let’s call him Victor Fernandez. In his second week on the job, Victor looked relaxed in his office that overlooked the Arabian Sea. Torrential monsoon rain lashed the windows. By then, he had already accomplished his goal! ? How? Victor showcases the importance of execution. He also highlights the power of simplicity. His prescription was: 1. Victor called all the senior executives to the board room on his second day at work. 2. Next, he asked each executive to take a foolscap sheet of paper and to list their customers on the left of the sheet. Of course, each executive listed the dealers, chemists, etc 3. He corrected their perception of customers and defined it as the person who receives the output of the work one does. Each executive listed more customers than the others in the room. It seemed a status symbol. 4. A moment of truth followed…”What do you deliver to your customers?” There was silence in the room. “How do you measure your performance with your customers?” Not a clue. 5. “When did you last meet your customers?” Prompt came the answer…”Daily! In the car pool and cafeteria!” “No, no” He said, “when did you last meet your customers proactively?” Heavy silence. 6. “Never mind”, he said, “let’s make a simple plan. I would like you to list your ‘A’ category customers. I would then like you to proactively meet each customer for 10 minutes at their desk, weekly. The agenda for each meeting will be: How can I improve my offerings to you? Next, I would like you to log what you have agreed. I, Victor, will come and audit the log and action, weekly.” The first round had been completed by week 2 of his joining. He was going to execute the second round that week. And the next week he would request the executives to cascade the same process down to the next level. He would request them to audit the performance of their respective managers, and he, in turn would audit their ability to audit! Quite simple! Victor underlined the simplicity of his process. He focussed on the Plan-Do-Check-Act theory underlying his approach. But that was not all. There was another by-product to this approach. The whole organization learned from the grapevine that Victor spends his time reviewing deliverables to customers. He is customer-focused and walks his talk. Victor had faith in the grapevine for communication – efficient and effective. Lessons 1. Leaders walk their talk. 2. Strategic goals should be simple and clearly articulated. 3. CUSTOMER FOCUS is no longer a choice. 4. Measurement is required in order to control and improve. 5. Get commitment of your people first. Behaviour will change thereafter and, hopefully, attitude too. 6. A robust process can be simple, but must follow “PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT”. “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- [Healthcare Reforms: Yet another step towards Fab World..!](https://faberinfinite.com/healthcare-reforms-yet-another-step-towards-fab-world/): It was yet another day of challenges for Dr. Surana, the head of a Super Speciality hospital which is located in Ahmednagar district. About 290 Km from Mumbai, on the Ahmednagar – Manmad State highway, the hospital is developed as a super-specialty institute with special emphasis on services to the poor and non-affluent classes of the society. Even though Dr. Surana and his experienced team are committed to give their best of service to the patients, like any other hospital or any organization for that matter, this hospital had its own share of issues.  The waste or inefficiencies were all around. One had to identify the root cause, with focussed effort to come down to the solution and then implement the solution in real hurry. Several tools & concepts of Operational Excellence (OE) like Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Inventory Management, 5S, Visual Management, Standardised Work, Poka Yoke – Error Proofing in Hospitals comes in handy. The concepts remains same, the application changes..! The hospital team was quick enough to grasp the theme and benefits behind it. Some of the above mentioned concepts were deployed to realize fantastic benefits. The partial depiction is as follows: As a part of the VSM project conducted at the hospital; 40% reduction was noted in average time spent at the OPD 20% reduction in average distance covered by the patients Space Utilization was increased by 66% The typical hospital environment sees lot of crowd of patients, the relatives, the staff, trainees, doctors, etc. and the new proposed layout will address the critical issue and help in proper crowd management. Implementation of OE concepts had reduced number of issues concerning arrangement and management in the hospital such as: Improvement in medicine management Space allocation reduced by 40% Reduction in search time from around 5 minutes to less than a minute Reduction in stock taking time High standard in house keeping Huge savings in inventory carrying cost; inventory of INR 40 Millions ~ 1 MN USD was proposed to be reduced by 50% based on the scientific inventory management module The transformation projects have shown several tangible benefits and have opened doors for many improvement avenues for the future. The team strongly feels that these above mentioned tangible benefits have paved the road for cultural change and will further improve the team morale, discipline and patient centric efforts. Faber Infinite has been supporting hospitals in the transformational journey to drive sustainability and improvement culture. ‘Cos at Faber we strongly believe that transformation is the way to go to make a better and efficient healthcare system. Considering in country like India or any developing nation, even today the healthcare is not affordable and distant delusion for the needy. Today operational excellence is not just a toolset used in manufacturing industry but it is a management system – a philosophy that can change the way hospitals and healthcare industries are managed and organized. ‘Cos for every penny saved, more patients can be treated..! (Names changed to protect client privacy.)  
- [Faber Infinite - Finalist for Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia Awards](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-finalist-for-red-herrings-top-100-asia-awards/): We are glad to share that Faber Infinite has been selected as a Finalist for Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia Awards, a prestigious list honoring the year’s most promising private ventures from the Asian business region. The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of thousands of companies from across Asia. The nominees are evaluated on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries. This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the actual track record and standing of a company, which allows Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list a valuable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry. Faber Infinite has done a great effort building value and strategic partnerships, therefore it deserves to be among the Finalists. The Finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Asia Forum in Hong Kong, later this year 2013. Faber Infinite is a management consulting and training organization which enables clients to achieve exponential value growth by leveraging the 360 degree transformation philosophy, with key focus on Operations & Strategy solutions. Fabers are the Craftsmen of Transformation journeys “Creating a Fab World”. Faber Infinite has worked with several clients across different sectors like Automotive, Construction, Chemical,  Health Care, Machinery, Industrial Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Plastics, Farms and others.
- [Faber Infinite getting social..!](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-getting-social/): It is the time which says, ‘you don’t exist, if you are not on social media’..! Faber Infinite appreciates the fact and we are revamping our Social Media universe. Please visit the Faber Infinite pages on both Facebook and Twitter (“Like” our page of Facebook and “Follow us” on Twitter). Follow the company page on Linkedin. We will be updating you with the latest information, training opportunities and services for both public and private sector organizations from Faber Infinite.
- [Mastering Operational Excellence: A Bane Called Cost Cutting](https://faberinfinite.com/the-bane-called-cost-cutting/): On a simple note, companies can be classified into two categories, namely, good or bad. Good companies are proactive, bad companies are reactive. One builds muscles, while the other builds fat! Recession or no recession, good companies who have focused on cutting fat & strengthening their muscles (read as internal processes). This they do by sustaining a structured program focused on building operational excellence. On the other hand, reactive companies are left clueless in dealing with the slow down. The general tendency is to react to the ever changing environment. However, being reactive will be less helpful than being responsive. If any company which is stock rich and fat (instead of being fit), it losses the ability of responding and in turn compulsorily has to react to the changing markets. This dynamic behavior can be attributed to the amount of stocks lying in the supply chain. Essential point to appreciate here is that companies don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the slowdowns in the past, that all those manufacturing companies, who had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains, survived or emerged stronger. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the companies are. In contrast, manufacturing companies that had not worked on LEANing their supply chain, witnessed more intense problems. During the tough times they had to drive immediate change in the prices and orders deliveries, which inevitably forced the companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. Operational Excellence: The Cornerstone of Organizational Success Those companies which managed to adapt to the change survived. Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirement. Readers will appreciate that concept of Just in Time (JIT) is very glitzy. However, to reach the stage of Leanness parameters quoted earlier should be considered. And one can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world class companies have different names for the structure. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world class performance. And, at the cost of repetition, I would like to mention that world class performance was necessary just to survive the storm of the situation. Many organizations resorted to cost cutting initiatives and in turn cut the muscles and not the waste. What we intend to say is rather than attacking the muscles, one should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost – benefit and time – benefit analysis of the problem solution holds key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. Now is not the time to get lost in semantics, one has to identify where the value is lost, identifying their causes and rapidly acting to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems which lead to improving the current situation. To conclude, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin. As he rightly said “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly even in stormy weather.
- [Five S Methodology : Implement 5s Methodology to Optimize Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/five-s/): What is 5S Methodology? 5S (five s methodology) is a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity through maintaining an orderly workplace. Also using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational results. The term refers to five steps sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. that are also sometimes known as the 5 pillars of a visual workplace. In this article, we will discuss implementing the 5s Methodology to Optimize Productivity. 5S programs are usually implemented by small teams working together to get materials closer to operations, right at workers’ fingertips. They organized and labelled to facilitate operations with the smallest amount of wasted time and materials. The 5S system is a good starting point for all improvement efforts aiming to drive out waste from the manufacturing process. Ultimately improves a company’s bottom line by improving products and services, and lowering costs. Many companies are seeking to make operations more efficient, and the concept. This is especially attractive to older manufacturing facilities looking to improve the bottom line by reducing their costs. “A place for everything, and everything in its place” is the mantra of the 5S method. The Five s methodology is a simple and universal approach that works in companies all over the world. It is essentially a support to such other manufacturing improvements as just-in-time (JIT) production, cellular manufacturing, total quality management (TQM), or six sigma initiatives, and is also a great contributor to making the workplace a better place to spend time. What type of business benefits from the 5S program? Everyone and all types of business benefit from having a Five S program. Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as those are the businesses that can realize the greatest benefits. However, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant from hospitals to television stations All types of businesses. All areas within a business will realize benefits from implementing a Five S program. Benefits to the company from using the 5S methodology include raising quality, lowering costs, promoting safety, building customer confidence, increasing factory up-time, and lowering repair costs. Ready to optimize your workspace and boost efficiency with the Five S (5s) methodology? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to a step-by-step guide on implementing this powerful productivity framework with Faber Infinite. Take the first step towards a more organized and streamlined work environment! Boost efficiency with the 5S Methodology: Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. This simple system keeps workspaces clean, organized, and productive. Ready to level up your operations? Explore Supply Chain Solutions to drive growth and efficiency. Contact us
- [What is Lean Manufacturing? key points of Lean Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing/): What is Lean Manufacturing? Lean manufacturing is a continuous way of producing what the customer wants, when they want it, at a price they are prepared to pay and using the least amount of resources. The core idea behind lean is minimizing waste, therefore creating more value for customers with fewer resources. A company can reduce costs and keep prices low without adversely affecting profits or quality by controlling the amount of waste generated during production. Estimates suggest that on an average 95 per cent of manufacturing activities fall either under non-value adding time or non-value adding cost. Lean manufacturing tries to minimize this waste and benefit consumers in the form of lower prices. Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer, was the first company to successfully adopt this model. The company’s steady growth from a small company to the world’s largest automaker has made the Japanese carmaker an acknowledged benchmark in lean manufacturing. Thus, the lean manufacturing process is sometimes also referred to as the Toyota Production System. Key Features of Lean production are as follows: Lean Manufacturing Flexible Manufacturing Just In Time Outsourcing Lean Supply Chain Virtual Integration IT Solutions Total Quality Management Companies Going Lean in India Indian manufacturing companies have been increasingly restructuring operations and implementing world-class practices. The companies range from Bharat Forge, Bajaj and Tata in the auto sector to Larsen & Toubro, and Godrej & Boyce in the specialist engineering space as well as Ballarpur Industries in paper, and others in the pharmaceutical and textile sectors. These practices help companies become globally competitive, especially in sectors such as auto and auto components. By adopting lean manufacturing practices, Indian companies have been able to significantly cut down costs. For example, Sundaram-Clayton Limited, one of the country’s largest auto component manufacturers, has been able to reduce 2.5–5 per cent of costs and product prices by going lean. Through the adoption of lean manufacturing practices, the company significantly boosted employee productivity and was ranked by Lean Enterprise in the US as one of the leanest companies in the world. The world’s largest forging factory is based in the industrial city of Pune, Maharashtra. The state-of-the-art factory belongs to Bharat Forge, which is rapidly placing India on the world map for manufacturing. It has embraced a strategy that includes heavy investment in technology, a scientifically skilled workforce, and aggressive overseas acquisitions. Also, the company recalibrated its business strategy and put an emphasis on streamlining operations to create a leaner and more cost efficient enterprise. Thus the Indian manufacturing sector is striving for operational excellence. Companies are restructuring operations and adopting world class practices in their bid to expand profits and become competitive globally. The implementation of lean manufacturing practices in the automotive sector has helped cut costs and improve employee productivity. Consequently auto companies were able to offer reduced prices to enhance competitiveness. Curious about Lean Manufacturing? Discover the key points and unlock the power of this transformative approach. Fill out the form below to gain valuable insights and practical strategies that will revolutionize your manufacturing processes. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to streamline your operations and boost efficiency!
- [Operational Excellence Management and Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence/): Operational excellence is the pursuit of conducting business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, increases speed and enhances flexibility to achieve competitive superiority. From a core manufacturing point of view, there are three pillars of operational excellence; they are production planning & control, manufacturing execution and operational effectiveness of people, processes and assets. Tight coordination among these three pillars is required in order to achieve overall operational excellence. Global competitiveness is placing tremendous pressure on cost, quality and responsiveness to customer demands. Some of the key challenges in the process industry are lack of visibility and control into manufacturing exceptions and events in real time and the inability to fulfill customer orders and carry out production operations in a predictable manner. Managers and production personnel cannot measure, monitor, and control performance in real time across people, processes, assets and plants. Reports and surveys have identified following key pressures for process manufacturers: Need to reduce operating costs Need to reduce process operations variability Global competition from low-cost sources Regulatory compliance (FDA, EPA, OSHA, EU) Inability to meet market demands Need to improve brand value Environmental impact Operational Excellence in Manufacturing Industry Operational Excellence is a systematic approach to attaining world class performance in productivity, quality and delivery of services and/or goods. It is the goal of achieving superior yields, lead time and through-put while eliminating waste. Op. Ex. is surrounded around three main pillars: Production Planning and Control Monitor Demand Monitor Inventory Perform Material and Capacity Checks Plan Orders Align Production Supplier Quality Checks Track Deliveries against customer orders Manufacturing Execution Shop Floor Visibility Shop Order Sequencing and Execution Real Time Data Acquisition Data Mining Alarms and Alert Orders Operational Effectiveness of people, processes and assets Operational Excellence is not a destination it is a journey. Faber Infinite’s focus on Operational Excellence empowers clients to build high-performance teams, foster a culture of continual improvement, and deliver value to customers. Ready to revolutionize your operations and manufacturing processes? Fill out the form below and unlock the secrets to achieving operational excellence and maximizing productivity. Don’t wait, take the first step towards transformative success today!
- [OE the Only Way to World Class Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/is-operational-excellence-the-only-way-to-world-class-performance/): Today all the organizations are faced with a volatile economy, intense competition and rising energy/material costs. Improving performance has become a necessity not just for margin purposes, but also for long term success. Cost reduction and quality/productivity improvement have now become key levers for gaining competitive advantage. It is very evident that today’s race has no finish line it has a constantly moving target. What was world class the past is no longer world class! In fact, it might not even exist in the consideration any more. It is ever evolving target. Similarly all the organizations have to strive for world class performance to excel, in order to survive. It is the pursuit of conducting business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, increases speed and enhances flexibility to achieve competitive superiority. World class performance is not a standalone function but it is a blend of strategic excellence, operational excellence and design excellence. Your organizational performance is rested on these 3 legs of the tripod. So you need to manage all three pillars; equally for the stability and continuous improvement in business. Several organizations focus only on one aspect, leading to a lopsided or handicapped approach. The disproportionate focus harms the organizational transformation/ evolution journey in the long run. It has to be just right for the healthy evolution process which, in turn, affects all the stakeholders positively. All the pillars go hand in hand; example OE will not be achieved unless there is a strategic plan. Strategic plan would be useless without proper execution. Designing the right offering (product/ service) based on what the customer expects is critical and comes before strategy or operations. However, the focus on design aspect is diminished (in most cases) and organizations seek excellence in strategy and operations, only after the offering is ready or conceptualized. To summarize the complete transformation/ evolution / world class performance journey in true holistic manner for any organization is based on the three pillars of the tripod; Strategic Excellence Operational Excellence Design Excellence World class performance is not a destination; it is a journey that never ends…! And as the wise men say – “Journey is the destination..!”
- [Towards greener pastures](https://faberinfinite.com/towards-greener-pastures/): Written by Faber Jalay Pandya: Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a master’s degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on AfternoonDC. Original link available – here
- [Daily Management – The Toyota Way](https://faberinfinite.com/daily-management-the-toyota-way/): Starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur is exciting as well as terrifying. While starting a new business, entrepreneurs face so many challenges; such as instability, stress, negative mindset, overwhelming feelings, lack of support, growing the business, problems of 4Ms (man, method, material, machines), problems relating to marketing, outdated technology, lack of infrastructural facilities, etc. An entrepreneur has to constantly organize, operate and assume various risks in a business venture. The intensity of the challenge to promote an entrepreneurship culture as well as to evolve new enterprises in a sustainable and competitive manner varies on the daily management. Robust management of routine activities efficiently avoids firefighting and daily surprises for the entrepreneur to focus on growth! In order to conduct business efficiently, an entrepreneur must overcome these challenges. Toyota has been working on system based on lean principles that can be a solution to these routine challenges faced by entrepreneurs. Daily Management is the system that provides the ability to manage departments, functions and processes, wherein processes are defined, standardized, controlled, and improved by the process owners. It focuses on process and not people. It is a very reliable problem solving and sustenance technique. Goals of Daily Management Methodology: Regularly reaching out to each & every person working at various levels so that a structured review mechanism where a formal discussion is facilitated related to details and communication. The management should be done on a day-to-day basis; ensuring daily standard jobs and daily standard objectives are accomplished strictly on daily basis. Make everyone come at a common platform, take charge and ownership of each and every aspect. Steps of Daily Management Methodology: -Prepare and visualize standards for Man, Machine, Material and Methods Define Leader Standard Work Have visual controls for standards and results Focus on process stabilization Record abnormalities for rolling out Structured Problem Solving Have a daily accountability process Daily Management works based on SDCA cycle:   The Standardize – Do – Check – Act (SDCA) cycle is a follow up cycle for sustenance ensuring that the improvements that have been achieved via Plan – Do – Check – Act (PDCA) cycle, do not slide back. SDCA and PDCA cycle are part of Deming’s improvement formulae where, PDCA leads to improvement and SDCA prevents the deterioration, respectively. Hence, it is extremely important that both the SDCA & PDCA cycles are well established. Benefits of Daily Management: -Provides data on where you are (actual) compared to where you want to go (planned) -Assists with meeting customer demand -Improves process quality -Reduces process variation -Ensures effective problem solving -Helps standardize the way organizations manage their facilities -Ensures sustainability for improvement efforts Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. This article was originally published on Entrepreneur.com. Original link available – here
- [To Achieve More, Rethink How to Invest Your Efforts](https://faberinfinite.com/to-achieve-more-rethink-how-to-invest-your-efforts/): Most people are ignorant of the fact about investing in the proper direction. You can achieve more success by fully leveraging your fortes instead of constantly trying to shore up your weaknesses. It is necessary to realize the importance of deciding where you will invest more time and energy to produce significant quality work and where less-than-perfect execution has a higher remuneration. This has a profound impact on the approach to success and ability to empower clients who feel overwhelmed. Think of a Holistic Approach Investment is about time, effort and expertise. Take small steps and do not invest in large amounts in one thing which has an unclear return on investment. Start by investing smaller amounts in things which you expect will generate a return for your business (whether it is creating better manufacturing or operations management), and then keep records on what is working, and where you can, reinvest these returns too. Get the Right coach If you’re in a business channel or you’re having trouble taking your business to the next level, you need to reach out and connect with someone who can help. Even the most successful people take help from a coach to improve and perform better. Seek help from an expert in operations. It makes a difference and it can impact your business in tangible ways. Also it’s probably a safe and smart investment of your own time. Have a Robust Vision It’s important to have a clear vision. This will help you in deploying and executing proper methodology for implementation and continual improvement. Generally speaking you should start off by mapping the requirements of defining a clear vision and then invest accordingly such as employee skills and training and the operational side of getting the product or service together. However, think before you spend or invest, ask yourself what you are expecting to achieve. Engage your Employees Think of an apt plan and strategy to engage your employees as they are the major workforce bringing incremental progress in your organization. Engage them in the areas where you need help and ask for solutions. For instance, implementing a strategy is easy as compared to sustaining it, brainstorming sessions will increase the total employee engagement and this keeps your business fresh and geared up for growth. In order to determine if your efforts are being directed in the proper direction you need to ask yourself some hard questions and do some risk assessment. A good assessment will enhance and improve your methodology. This will eventually help you move your business forward at the right pace and increase your visibility.
- [To Achieve More, Rethink How to Invest Your Efforts](https://faberinfinite.com/to-achieve-more-rethink-how-to-invest-your-efforts-2/): Most people are ignorant of the fact about investing in the proper direction. You can achieve more success by fully leveraging your fortes instead of constantly trying to shore up your weaknesses. It is necessary to realize the importance of deciding where you will invest more time and energy to produce significant quality work and where less-than-perfect execution has a higher remuneration. This has a profound impact on the approach to success and ability to empower clients who feel overwhelmed. Think of a Holistic Approach Investment is about time, effort and expertise. Take small steps and do not invest in large amounts in one thing which has an unclear return on investment. Start by investing smaller amounts in things which you expect will generate a return for your business (whether it is creating better manufacturing or operations management), and then keep records on what is working, and where you can, reinvest these returns too. Get the Right coach If you’re in a business channel or you’re having trouble taking your business to the next level, you need to reach out and connect with someone who can help. Even the most successful people take help from a coach to improve and perform better. Seek help from an expert in operations. It makes a difference and it can impact your business in tangible ways. Also it’s probably a safe and smart investment of your own time. Have a Robust Vision It’s important to have a clear vision. This will help you in deploying and executing proper methodology for implementation and continual improvement. Generally speaking you should start off by mapping the requirements of defining a clear vision and then invest accordingly such as employee skills and training and the operational side of getting the product or service together. However, think before you spend or invest, ask yourself what you are expecting to achieve. Engage your Employees Think of an apt plan and strategy to engage your employees as they are the major workforce bringing incremental progress in your organization. Engage them in the areas where you need help and ask for solutions. For instance, implementing a strategy is easy as compared to sustaining it, brainstorming sessions will increase the total employee engagement and this keeps your business fresh and geared up for growth. In order to determine if your efforts are being directed in the proper direction you need to ask yourself some hard questions and do some risk assessment. A good assessment will enhance and improve your methodology. This will eventually help you move your business forward at the right pace and increase your visibility. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Improve Top Line, 'Cos That's The Lifeline!](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-top-line-cos-thats-the-lifeline/):   This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of SME World magazine. Original link available here – click here.
- [Failure Of Direction](https://faberinfinite.com/failure-of-direction/): To be a successfulenterprise or to learn a new skill, the fundamental lesson is to stick to it rather than leaving it half done, work half done is equal to being not done. Also sticking to it, when the plan has no purposeful action is impractical. So you need to tweak the working strategy accordingly. Like there are two sides of a coin similarly, to progress it is necessary to have more than one strategy in place. Here are the types of directional failures we bring to your notice and also solutions regarding how to fix them: Failure of Tactics Having a clear vision and a good strategy alone won’t do the job for you, if you lack proper execution. This failure of schemes examines the “how” parameter which indicates how you have failed to build tough systems and forgot to measure systems carefully and being lethargic towards fine detailing. To fix these criteria’s start with recording your processes followed by measurement of outcomes and eventually review the process to adjust the tactics accordingly. Failure of Strategy This will be your answer to “what” was the flaw in deploying your basic strategy that fails to give you the ultimate results. Having a strategy is not a breakthrough but the crux lies in having a correct one. This will help you scrutinize the underlying problem. If the idea doesn’t seem to be of any good, discard it rather than sticking to it. To fix it quickly launch better ideas and revise the existing mistakes. Failure of Vision It happens because your vision or goal for what you want to become doesn’t align with the actions you are taking. If you are ignorant of setting a clear vision, how will the employees understand the motive? Eventually, both employees and you will be unable to understand what to do and what not to do. Think critically and navigate through the disapproval to come up with a robust vision. Failure of Opportunity Although, this is an indirect action element, but it still has a strong influence on the proper execution of a plan.Thus, focusing on the “who” element will provide the answer. It happens when an organization fails to provide equal opportunity for all people. Failures of opportunity are the result of many complex factors: age, race, gender, income, education, and more. To conclude, it is not necessary that you may be following the wrong path but it may be the circumstances, because of which you are unable to locate the right path. It can be due to various distractions surrounding you. Be focused, stay focused and the vision will unveil itself.
- [Failure of Direction](https://faberinfinite.com/failure-of-direction-2/): To be a successful enterprise or to learn a new skill, the fundamental lesson is to stick to it rather than leaving it half done, work half done is equal to being not done. Also sticking to it, when the plan has no purposeful action is impractical. So you need to tweak the working strategy accordingly. Like there are two sides of a coin similarly, to progress it is necessary to have more than one strategy in place. Here are the types of directional failures we bring to your notice and also solutions regarding how to fix them: 1)    Failure of Tactics Having a clear vision and a good strategy alone won’t do the job for you, if you lack proper execution. This failure of schemes examines the “how” parameter which indicates how you have failed to build tough systems and forgot to measure systems carefully and being lethargic towards fine detailing. To fix these criteria’s start with recording your processes followed by measurement of outcomes and eventually review the process to adjust the tactics accordingly. 2)    Failure of Strategy This will be your answer to “what” was the flaw in deploying your basic strategy that fails to give you the ultimate results. Having a strategy is not a breakthrough but the crux lies in having a correct one. This will help you scrutinize the underlying problem. If the idea doesn’t seem to be of any good, discard it rather than sticking to it. To fix it quickly launch better ideas and revise the existing mistakes. 3)    Failure of Vision It happens because your vision or goal for what you want to become doesn’t align with the actions you are taking. If you are ignorant of setting a clear vision, how will the employees understand the motive? Eventually, both employees and you will be unable to understand what to do and what not to do. Think critically and navigate through the disapproval to come up with a robust vision. 4)    Failure of Opportunity Although, this is an indirect action element, but it still has a strong influence on the proper execution of a plan. Thus, focusing on the “who” element will provide the answer. It happens when an organization fails to provide equal opportunity for all people. Failures of opportunity are the result of many complex factors: age, race, gender, income, education, and more. To conclude, it is not necessary that you may be following the wrong path but it may be the circumstances, because of which you are unable to locate the right path. It can be due to various distractions surrounding you. Be focused, stay focused and the vision will unveil itself. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Constructive construction!](https://faberinfinite.com/constructive-construction/): The productivity of the construction industry worldwide has been declining over the past 40 years. One approach for improving the situation is using lean construction. As reported by the Ministry of Statistics, more than 295 infrastructure and construction projects have been delayed with overrun of more than INR 1 lakh crore. It can be reasonably presumed that time overrun would lead to cost overrun which in turn would lead to disputes. ‘Lean’ can deliver significant benefits as well as being a key tool in supporting the organization to deliver its strategic objectives. Let’s talk about fundamental cultural prerequisites to bring in lean in construction domains. Evaluate the organizational culture Construction requires new tools to assess the performance and gauge factors such as waste, value, cycle time or variability. It is important to understand the current mindsets and behaviors of your workforce. What is required here is to device a culture by asking the leaders what they think and act accordingly. It is important to obtain feedback from a representative cross-section of the organization to deploy standards and enact. Identify and incentivize Identifying the right attitudes and behaviors as well as appraisal for their performance is critical to motivation and engagement. It is equally important to get these incentives at the right time. If you are paying attention towards short term initiatives and wasting money and energy then the reward and recognition will not be having the desired long-term impact. It is essential to understand what essentially motivates your employees and triggers them to work. Clear Vision coupled with innovation Self-actualization essentially requires leaders to understand the inherent motivating factors for their employees.  Promoting a culture of feedback, analysis, and collaborative planning is important for variation and responding to puzzling market situations. A consistent involvement of employees in the loop at all levels when strategizing will not only provide a breadth of insight and ideas to innovation, but by and large these ideas will be amplified. Working towards a progressive path Start prominently by an example. The communicable nature of behaviors in the office is very influential. Demonstrating positive behavior will have a spontaneous impact on the vibe of the organization. Even a small change can stimulate people and ultimately they will acclimatize to the changing scenario, but changing your organization’s culture is not an instant overnight process, it takes continued persistence, approach and leadership. Thus, it is imperative to clarify the challenges that exists in construction industry and also disputes to resolve issues efficiently and economically. We shall talk about the nuts and bolts of Lean in Construction industry in the coming articles. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published on AfternoonDC. Original link available – here
- [If you are too busy for these five things, then your improvement journey is off the course](https://faberinfinite.com/if-you-are-too-busy-for-these-five-things-then-your-improvement-journey-is-off-the-course/): The present decade has been dramatic in terms of the changes occurring dynamically. But all too often companies are their own worst enemies when it comes to process improvement. As it can be difficult to identify which processes should be given more priority for improvement. A successful implementation journey is preceded by meticulous approach. Measures should be taken to avoid common pitfalls: avoid over-delegation, focus on staff issues rather than egos, appropriate staff to complete project concepts and design, and understand the realities of the particular project. Here are the five pointers which will indicate you are off the course or on track: Lack of organizing the processes You should have a clear goal so that the process can be organized accordingly. A properly implemented and organized process should result in a work environment where all team members are aware of their responsibilities. If the organizing process is not conducted well, the results may yield confusion, frustration, loss of efficiency, and limited effectiveness. Absence of succession planning for the future Succession planning is ignored as there may be other organizational challenges on board. One of the prime reasons to focus on planning is the changing realities of workplaces. Of course, we rely on team members to carry out our missions, provide services and meet our organization’s goals. We need to think about what would happen to those services or our ability to fulfill the organization’s mission if a key staff member leaves the team. Are you tracking important metrics? The metrics are biggies which you need to be assured about. A sure sign of improvement is growth in the number of contributors you have and the return of investment year-over-year. This is true vice versa for lack of improvement. Poor performance with respect to investment growth is a major problem that should be tackled on multiple fronts. If you are ignoring these metrics, it will be difficult to move from one arena to the next. Have you eliminated the waste/ inefficiencies? The cause of amplified waste or inefficiencies in organizations is excessive lead times resulting in high storage costs, and makes it difficult to detect defects. You need to ask the question “Is the activity transforming the goods or service for better?” If the activity is not done right in the first place, all subsequent activities done to correct it are waste. Absence of movement towards the goal every single day Lack of strategic plans will be reflected in lack of direction which will reduce the organization’s potential for a competitive advantage. As a result the organization will be on the back foot to compete against its competition and loss of control over its financial standpoint and start moving away from the purpose of accomplishing its goal. It is really easy to go off-course. You need to constantly make course corrections. As an organization ensure you get where you want by organizing processes, proper planning, tracking progress, eliminating waste and working towards the goal every single day. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Adding more steam to Make in India](https://faberinfinite.com/adding-more-steam-to-make-in-india/): By building competitiveness via various skill development programs, Faber Infinite takes pride in adding more steam to the Make in India campaign. Worthy training and skill development programs help organizations to develop people and grow profitability. As it is proven that knowledge is not the only pre-requisite to qualify for an excellent training faculty but it runs parallel with the combination of delivery methodology which gives excellent results. By understanding the requirement of organization, Faber Infinite has been delivering great results from small to large businesses. We have been conducting training sessions at esteemed organizations, with assured high-end training environment. We bring some of the recent successful training workshops conducted with feedback rating of more than 90%. Sharing insights from Training Session on 7 Quality Control tools at Chief Heavy engineering equipment manufacturer with Global Operations catering to Process Plant Industries, Nuclear Power, Defense & Aerospace sector: Participants were given clear understanding on 7 QC Tools and training was conducted to achieve following objectives: -To understand the foundations of quality -To understand the 7 QC tools and its importance -To understand the methods of implementing 7 QC tools and its benefits Learnings via Origami Exercise Members from different departments were a part of the training workshop. It is conducted effectively through various experiential learning exercises and practicality of implementing these tools on the shop floor.  Participants said “There was constant interaction with participants during whole training session as well as fabulous examples were given which made understanding easy.” While other said, “Real life examples perfectly matched with 7QC tools.” The overall feedback of the training program came out to be whopping figure of 96%. Glimpses of Training Workshop on Lean in Software Development at one of the largest locomotive manufacturer based in Vadodara, India: Training on Lean Management Foundations and Lean in Software Development was conducted to achieve following objectives: -To understand the foundations of lean management -To understand the wastes/ inefficiencies in software development -To understand the importance of lean management along with proper understanding of Operational excellence and Six S in business -To know how lean can be applied in software development Learnings via Simulated Factory Participants were extremely satisfied with the methodology adopted for training and various simulation modules planned for training. One of the participants said, “Practical sessions/ factory simulations were the best part of training because it is the only source which helps us to differentiate between practical and theoretical knowledge.” While other member said, “The training was fabulous; I enjoyed it and learned many things.” According to the feedback obtained about the session the rating was again 96%. Reported by: Faber Devna and Faber Mayuri
- [Right People in Right Position !](https://faberinfinite.com/right-people-in-right-position/): Equipping your organization with the right people to get the work done is the most basic and essential requirement. It’s important not only to have the right people in the right positions, but also to continually analyze whether or not your organization is keeping up with the latest advances in technology and knowledge. 58 percent of global CEOs fear this alleged gap in workforce talent could hinder their company’s ability to grow. One of the direct ways for your organization to achieve peak performance is through a systematic evaluation of your employee skills in relation to business operations. What is Skill Gap Analysis? Skills gap analysis is an important business tool that measures the difference between the current skills of an individual and the required skill set. This evaluation tool helps organizations decrease the gap between current skills and skills actually required in the near future. Significance: The skills gap analysis tool allows organizations to identify and suggest improvements points in terms of employee skills to meet the present and future requirements of the organization in addition to improving work performance. Performing a skills gap analysis can benefit employees and the organization since it enables both to professional development needs. This procedure involves the measurement of employee skillset and comparing the gaps with the desired skills. It culminates in strategy formulation aimed at refining and adding skills to close the gap. Effects: A skills gap analysis is beneficial for the organization as well as employees since it identifies the goals needed for workplace progress. It further recognizes deficiencies that can hamper the growth of a company. A successful skills gap analysis will provide a clear path for professional improvement, and increase chances of promotion for the concerned employee. This overall helps the organization, increases productivity, increases employee retention and boosts bottom-lines. Further Benefits: – Comprehensive Overview about the organization – This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the organization or a particular department, to determine whether that particular department has the resources to meet company goals and objectives. – Establish Priorities – This analysis helps an organization to make informed decisions and then create efficient budgets.  Process: The first step is to conduct a skills gap analysis, which is basically an inventory of skills you need versus skills you already have. It’s simple math: Skills needed – skills possessed = skills gap Once the gaps are clearly defined there needs to be a plan to close those gaps. How will you identify specific development opportunities? How will you equip employees to grow? How will you track and incentivise progress? These are some of the questions that we need address to further. Watch out this space or reach us to know more about our detailed process to conduct a scientific skill analysis exercise. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Farm Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/farm-transformation/): Floriculture is one of Kenya’s top foreign exchange earners. Flower farmers however face numerous challenges that have affected the sector’s competitiveness. It is one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors of Africa. Since 1990 flower exports have increased by approximately 20% per year. Flower farming has surpassed coffee and tourism as a source of foreign exchange. According to the Kenyan figures there are 150 registered companies which collectively produce about 120,000 tonnes of flowers per year. More than 500,000 people in the country depend on the trade according to the Kenya Flower Council, with roughly half of the country’s 127 flower farms concentrated around Lake Naivasha, around 90 kilometers northwest of Nairobi. Kenyan growers are now lending their floral expertise to neighboring country Rwanda. Out of Kenya alone, 3,300 tonnes on average per week of flowers are exported. Kenya leads in the export of cut flowers to the European Union (EU) with a 38 per cent share, according to statistics from the Kenya Flower Council (KFC). Faber Infinite with its expertise has created a niche and emerged to be one of the crucial role players to improve the productivity of flower farms in East Africa. It has been working with a huge landscape of clients delivering excellent world class quality of flowers. While working with clients in East Africa, it was successful in streamlining various developments to improve the overall costs and productivity of the farms. Team Faber Infinite identified four significant areas for improvement: – Improving the yield Scientific approach of Design of Experiments has been deployed with great results for developing planting standards. The aim was to extract maximum yield from optimal utilization of finite resources. While working at client sites in East Africa which are leading exporters of flowers, a remarkable improvement of 33% was obtained in terms of productivity. – Reduction in Field and Pack House Rejections Projects to reduce rejections are initiated during analysis phase, and plans for maintaining workplace are devised and rolled out. Also dedicated steering teams with clear guidelines help to improve the processes, initiate actions and monitor progress. The core objective is to find the exact root cause and take appropriate countermeasures to prevent waste generation. As a result of which, rejection has been reduced by 41%. – Developing people skill set Floriculture is a labor intensive business. It requires people to be trained for particular skill sets and develop certain standard procedures to be followed. Deployment of these standards provides the suitable set of skills required and also improves the quantity of yield. – Improving the maintenance of cold chain The scientifically developed modules by Team Faber helped the client in maintaining the exposure time of flowers which further helped in sustaining the quality of flowers. By deploying appropriate standards, the team has been successful in reducing exposure time of flowers and has also proved helpful to increase the exports by more than 40%. The scope of progress in terms of cost and productivity improvement is tremendous and can be further enhanced by sustaining the existing methodology. By deploying appropriate standards for inventory management, taking appropriate countermeasures to prevent waste generation and implementation of planting standards, overall farm performance can be increased. Faber Infinite’s unique Farm Transformation methodology is helping people grow more flowers per square meter, month on month! Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Why Resist Change?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-resist-change/): The most baffling and intractable problem which business executives face is employee resistance to change. Such resistance may take a number of forms—persistent reduction in output, increase in the number of “quits” , delaying change, inertia to disruption, or to be outright rebellions. The best tool for implementing change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then maneuver around them. Below are the five reasons why people resist change: Loss of Autonomic Control Change will interfere in the autonomy and can also make employees feel that they’ve lost control over their territory. It’s not just about who has the power. Their sense of self-determination is often the first thing to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else. Smart Organizations should leave room for those affected by change to make choices. They invite others into the planning, giving them ownership. Fear of Excess ambiguity If change feels like something unwarranted along with uncertain outcomes, then employees will reject it. People will often avoid heading towards an unknown situation. It is evident that in many organizations, people tend to stay in the existing state of reality and to overcome this inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision. So creating a certainty of process, with clear, simple steps and timetables is indispensible. Out of the blue Revelation! Decisions imposed on people suddenly, are generally resisted and tend to be a blocker. Saying No is more evident and easy answer rather than embracing the change by saying yes. Organizations should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then announce them all at once. It is better to give hints about the upcoming developments instead of giving a sudden jolt. Feeling Incompetent? Change is resisted by people, because the most common question which arises is ‘Am I competent enough to do it?’ Employees might express skepticism about whether the newly deployed method or standard will turn out to be fruitful version or not. So organizations should invest in structural reassurance and provide abundant information, education, training, mentors, and support systems. This will enable smooth transition towards new methodology. The undulated effects The ripples created by introducing change may disrupt functioning of other departments, important customers, people well outside the project, and they start to push back, rebelling against changes they had nothing to do with that interfere with their own activities. All affected parties must be considered, however distant, and also it is imperative to work harmoniously with them to minimize disruption. Although, necessarily it cannot be guaranteed whether the change will be accepted or not, but organizations can work towards minimizing the discomfort. Also take steps to diagnose the problem so that a palpable solution can be designed based on the feedback obtained from resistors.
- [Why Resist Change ?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-resist-change-2/): The most baffling and intractable problem which business executives face is employee resistance to change. Such resistance may take a number of forms—persistent reduction in output, increase in the number of “quits” , delaying change, inertia to disruption, or to be outright rebellions. The best tool for implementing change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then maneuver around them. Below are the five reasons why people resist change: Loss of Autonomic Control Change will interfere in the autonomy and can also make employees feel that they’ve lost control over their territory. It’s not just about who has the power. Their sense of self-determination is often the first thing to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else. Smart Organizations should leave room for those affected by change to make choices. They invite others into the planning, giving them ownership. Fear of Excess ambiguity  If change feels like something unwarranted along with uncertain outcomes, then employees will reject it. People will often avoid heading towards an unknown situation. It is evident that in many organizations, people tend to stay in the existing state of reality and to overcome this inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision. So creating a certainty of process, with clear, simple steps and timetables is indispensable. Out of the blue Revelation! Decisions imposed on people suddenly, are generally resisted and tend to be a blocker. Saying No is more evident and easy answer rather than embracing the change by saying yes. Organizations should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then announce them all at once. It is better to give hints about the upcoming developments instead of giving a sudden jolt. Feeling Incompetent? Change is resisted by people, because the most common question which arises is ‘Am I competent enough to do it?’ Employees might express skepticism about whether the newly deployed method or standard will turn out to be fruitful version or not. So organizations should invest in structural reassurance and provide abundant information, education, training, mentors, and support systems. This will enable smooth transition towards new methodology. The undulated effects The ripples created by introducing change may disrupt functioning of other departments, important customers, people well outside the project, and they start to push back, rebelling against changes they had nothing to do with that interfere with their own activities. All affected parties must be considered, however distant, and also it is imperative to work harmoniously with them to minimize disruption. Although, necessarily it cannot be guaranteed whether the change will be accepted or not, but organizations can work towards minimizing the discomfort. Also take steps to diagnose the problem so that a palpable solution can be designed based on the feedback obtained from resistors. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Building a transparent culture for high performance teams](https://faberinfinite.com/building-a-transparent-culture-for-high-performance-teams/): In the present times of globalization and modernization, no company can hope to get the best out of its employees unless it has a well-defined performance management system in place. It is a holistic tool that helps in uplifting the overall development of an organization. The Indian workplace is composed of extremely complex and diverse habitats. Performance management is one of the most contested practices that organizations undergo on a regular basis. While there is not much debate on the value of performance management, the effectiveness of the process and how organizations can use it for building a high performance workforce are of supreme concern. Listing key elements for building high performance teams via Performance Management Systems. Develop a culture of transparency To develop a transparent culture within an organization means to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of employees within an organization. It also emphasizes to safeguard this information within the walls of the company and transparency can play a valuable role inside the company walls. The organizational culture has a potential strength of making or breaking business. It highlights on how to develop a sense of ownership among the employees. By sharing numbers with employees and not only just executives; leaders can increase employees’ sense of ownership. Goal setting with clear understanding It is quite essential for every employee to have a clear understanding of the goals and how to integrate it with the existing work pace of the organization. Organizations need to work thoroughly on this aspect which aims to set clear and explicit opportunities and goals across distance and boundaries to furnish the geographically dispersed workforce in today’s organization. Furthermore, the expectations and goals set should be active enough to respond to the frequent changes as a result of external factors. A mechanism should be available for effective and regular feedback among all team members. Managing the Employee skill set Although various organizations have well defined set of goals but they lack in its proper implementation. It may be the case that some goals need adjustments; other times employees just may not have the skills to achieve the target goals. Performance appraisals for employees had the main motive of identifying the gaps in skill sets of employee but nowadays however, it is defeating the overall purpose of improvement. Well defined improvement is clearly visible when there is a consistent and active feedback loop. Hiring should be done on the basis of potential and not solely on experience. Further, proper training and development programs should be conducted, that informs about the performance and skill gaps to be inculcated. Fostering a optimistic environment Celebrating the achievements of an organization together helps to acknowledge people’s hard work, boosts morale and keeps up the momentum. Apt goals help the employee to understand the set of roles and responsibilities they need to perform. In addition to this, appreciation for their role and positive feedback can lead to excellence of an organization. Also, this trend is being practiced consistently within various organizations to motivate the employees. High performance ratio and success are neither dependent on one or two simple factors nor the result of one or two things. The entire context depends on how an organization operates which greatly impacts the results. Performance Management system should be a well planned, clearly communicated, embraced by leadership, effectively administered and should have a positive impact on productivity, performance, employee engagement and customer relations. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published on Entrepreneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Leadership - Unlocking People's Potential to Become Better](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-unlocking-peoples-potential/): Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Leadership is not only about focusing on the day to day work; which by the way does not go away. It’s about focusing on the softer side of development of People’s Potential which enables them to deal with various expected situations. Here are three vital elements to unlock people’s potential: Lead By Example When it comes to superior leadership – don’t ask your people to do anything you are not willing to do yourself. People appreciate a leader who is willing to get their hands dirty. They want someone to mentor them and lead them by example, someone who ‘walks the talk!’ Know Your People Well Instead, of talking about all of your accolades and what makes you so great. Make it about the people who are ultimately going to lead you to further success. Ask them things about them, why they chose your company, what do they enjoy most about their position, and what are their challenges and how you can help. Ask them what motivates them and what gets them going. Don’t make it about you make it about them. Invest in growth and development of your people Investing in people and their development will lead to an extensive growth of an organization. Also make sure that you are directing the efforts in the right direction, so that a good majority of your time is spent on people that are producing results and are giving leverage to the organization. Don’t subscribe to a “Do-It-For-You” methodology of talent management, rather lead, mentor, coach and develop team members by getting them to buy-into a “Do-It-Yourself” work ethic. This helps in keeping the group focused on its vision over the long term. Lift a person’s vision to higher sights, raise his/ her performance to a higher standard, and build a personality beyond his/ her normal limitations. Thus improve your organizations performance through leadership. Successful leaders never stop learning. They learn from their mistakes and they learn from their triumphs, and they’re always changing themselves and mentoring others for the better.
- [Leadership - Unlocking People's Potential](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-unlocking-peoples-potential-2/): Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Leadership is not only about focusing on the day to day work; which by the way does not go away. It’s about focusing on the softer side of development of people which enables them to deal with various expected situations. Here are three vital elements to unlock people’s potential: Lead By Example When it comes to superior leadership – don’t ask your people to do anything you are not willing to do yourself. People appreciate a leader who is willing to get their hands dirty. They want someone to mentor them and lead them by example, someone who ‘walks the talk!’ Know Your People Well Instead, of talking about all of your accolades and what makes you so great; make it about the people who are ultimately going to lead you to further success. Ask them things about them, why they chose your company, what do they enjoy most about their position, and what are their challenges and how you can help. Ask them what motivates them and what gets them going. Don’t make it about you make it about them. Invest in growth and development of your people Investing in people and their development will lead to an extensive growth of an organization. Also make sure that you are directing the efforts in the right direction, so that a good majority of your time is spent on people that are producing results and are giving leverage to the organization. Don’t subscribe to a “Do-It-For-You” methodology of talent management, rather lead, mentor, coach and develop team members by getting them to buy-into a “Do-It-Yourself” work ethic. This helps in keeping the group focused on its vision over the long term. Lift a person’s vision to higher sights, raise his/ her performance to a higher standard, and build a personality beyond his/ her normal limitations. Thus improve your organizations performance through leadership. Successful leaders never stop learning. They learn from their mistakes and they learn from their triumphs, and they’re always changing themselves and mentoring others for the better. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Operational Excellence Do's and Don’ts](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-dos-and-donts/): One of the keys to the implementation of Operational Excellence principles is to become a learning Organization through persistence and continuous improvement. Implementing any change initiative is difficult.  If it wasn’t, each person would be doing it, but they are not. Although many organizations begin with their journey to bring about a change in the organization, only 5% organizations are successful in implementing and sustaining it. In this blog, we will talk about Operational Excellence Do’s and Don’ts. The following parameters of do’s and don’ts aim at keeping Organizations focused on the facts thing rather than indulging in unwanted waste. Do’s  of Operational Excellence Communicate: As in every part of life, communication across the entire supply chain network is essential. Implementation strategy: Every Organization has limitless improvement opportunities and potential along with the challenges. The opportunities, if correctly identified and properly realised can transform the Organization. Identify the implementation strategy to achieve transformation. Coaching and Training: A good coaching program is essential and could increase productivity leaps and bound. Training and validation of training assures that all associates understand the “steps for success.” If people don’t know the proper processes, they create inefficient steps gradually chipping away at productivity numbers. Know your operations: A beneficial step is to go through a process flow mapping. Initially this is challenging but a great tool for the future and should be maintained ongoing with any changes occurred over time. Employee Engagement: Employee buy in is a key component for the success of transformation initiatives. The focus should be to dive into the key strategies, training, and programs that increase employee engagement, align operational and financial goals and metrics, and improve performance through effective leadership and processes. Implementation: During the implementation phase, the drivers for improvement are rolled out along with appropriate training/ orientation for the employees involved in the transformation journey. Don’t’s of Operational Excellence Don’t just set it and forget, don’t blindly copy: Don’t just set it and forget it. It is important to continually reevaluate your transformation efforts. Even when you take the long-term into consideration, changes in your plan, dynamic changes in demand levels and industry trends can create possibilities to further improve your Organization. Operational Excellence Operational Transformation is not a quick fix and you cannot pick and choose the tools you want to use: The key to ongoing success is to embed transformation as a philosophy, and a requirement in everybody’s role; safeguarding the right levels of line-management responsibility and accountability for gradually implementing the various tools and techniques that support it. Operational Transformation, in fact, is hard work and it’s a challenge to keep it going.Companies that are leading the way with their ability to effectively drive it in their production operations have aligned their people, processes, and supporting technology to do so. Experience has shown that it is critically important to address the leadership and people issues as a first priority. Once these issues are addressed, it facilitates the ability to build deeper Organizational capabilities and use proven process methodologies to make continuous improvements.
- [Operational Transformation Do's and Don’ts](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-dos-and-donts-2/): One of the keys to the implementation of Operational Transformation/Excellence principles is to become a learning organization through persistence and continuous improvement. Implementing any change initiative is difficult.  If it wasn’t, each person would be doing it, but they are not. Although many organizations begin with their journey to bring about a change in the organization, only 5% organizations are successful in implementing and sustaining it.  The following parameters of do’s and don’ts aim at keeping organizations focused on the facts thing rather than indulging in unwanted waste. Operational Transformation, in fact, is hard work and it’s a challenge to keep it going. Companies that are leading the way with their ability to effectively drive it in their production operations have aligned their people, processes, and supporting technology to do so. Experience has shown that it is critically important to address the leadership and people issues as a first priority. Once these issues are addressed, it facilitates the ability to build deeper organizational capabilities and use proven process methodologies to make continuous improvements. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Small Steps, Great Results!](https://faberinfinite.com/small-steps-great-results/): Great things are done by a series of small steps. Best illustration to support the improvement drive is the Olympics. It clearly depicts how to improve by creating a thought process encapsulating small, not big, and adopt a philosophy of continuous improvement through the aggregation of marginal gains. Not discounting perfection; yet focus on progression, and compound the improvements! Below are some powerful measures which can assist you to create an efficient improvement drive: Establish a Clear Vision When your organization is starting a new initiative or project, or is going to begin work in a new direction it requires clarity of goals. Vision statement defining your organizational journeywill speed up the incremental improvement process. It will invigorate an older initiative that has lost its focus or momentum or cultivate a new one. Focus and cultivate a single theme It’s important for companies to choose a program or theme that works for the size and maturity of the company. Everyone often turns to Toyota, but programs that work at a company of that nature don’t always transfer as well to other set ups. Organizations should be judicious while planning their focus on or around a single theme. Introspect to bring out the best You need to build enough success with a theme that produces great results to provide you the opportunity to find your next cash cow. This involves focusing all your efforts around the available resources.  Good plans look at this constant change as part of the success formula. To be successful and to thrive, teams need to shift from initial plan as and when required. Power of Iterations Olympics clearly define the power of practice and continuous improvement approach.  One may not yield groundbreaking results immediately, but that doesn’t mean the team has lost its innovative edge.Creating a charismatic value is not about striving for the breakthrough, the novelty, or the headline. It’s often about the obsession, persistence, and focus to keep things simple, improving them and working on finer details. Learning by doing or iterating has super power! Celebrate the ‘big – small’ victories: The outcome of being recognized for an achievement is a feeling that makes your team members motivated to put in extra effort when they know it is valued. The team members will have the confidence that these small victories are noticed and cherish the celebrations! Look for ways to reward your best members by keeping them stimulated with new growth  opportunities and project challenges. As it is rightly said that practice makes a man perfect and this holds true even for organizations. Learning is a process which can be achieved by engaging the employees to find solutions so that the reiteration of mistakes can be nullified resulting in downfall of unexpected outcomes.
- [Patient Safety – A New Healthcare Discipline](https://faberinfinite.com/patient-safety-a-new-healthcare-discipline/): Recent advancement in the technology has created an immensely complex healthcare system. This complexity brings many challenges for healthcare staff in continuing to keep the patient safe. Every day, more than a million people are treated safely and successfully in the hospitals, but there are times when things can go wrong. Patient safety includes a gamut of initiatives which includes empowering consumers, engaging patient (and their families) in their own care; healthcare professionals training; health services improvement; and bolstering the health system. Thousands  of  patients  die  due  to  medical  error  and  improper  treatment  every  year.  The main cause is human factor, medication error, and system failure. In a recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), To Err Is Human, found out that  the  number  of  death  from  medical  errors  in  hospitals  is  more  than  that  by  automobile  accidents. Indian hospitals are vigorously working on improving the safety conditions in hospitals, fire safety being of utmost importance. Fire  can  be  devastating,  especially  in  a  hospital where  a  large number of people which need to  be  evacuated  may  be vulnerable – immuno compromised, on life support, and incapable of moving on their own. There are special requirements that  must  be  met  with  while  evacuating  such  people in  case  of  fire  emergencies.  But before that – “fires must be prevented”. National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers (NABH) has provided a series of guidelines to ensure safety and security to healthcare workers, which encircles the safety of patients. Section 2 in NABH focuses on Facilities Management and Safety (FMS). NABH has incorporated patient safety performance in its standards (Chapter 1, 5 and 6) which focuses on how hazards should be identified within the organization. The hospitals should implement processes for sorting, handling, storage, transporting and disposal of hazardous material. Hospitals need to appoint a safety committee to identify the potential safety and security risks. This committee coordinates development, implementation, and monitoring of the safety plan and policies. A safety plan and health management system can provide following benefits: -Fewer injuries, illnesses, and infections -Reduced costs for workers’ compensation claims and lower health insurance premiums -Less absenteeism and higher return-to-work rates following injury or illness -Improved work practices, leading to increased efficiency and greater patient safety and satisfaction. Higher job satisfaction, morale, and employee retention -Enhanced reputation Hospitals are finding that the practices they adopt under a management system to improve worker safety help them adopt and reinforce practices that improve patient safety as well. They see the costs from injuries and illnesses to both patients and employees decrease. Improving patient safety should be among the highest priorities of healthcare leaders and managers. There is a need to create safety culture in the hospitals. This can be done with following initiatives: -Patient safety improvement activities should be led by committed leadership and supported by dedicated resources. -A healthcare culture of safety should be an integrated part of individual and organizational philosophy and values that identifies hazards and risk that result from the process of care. -Healthcare providers should routinely conduct self-assessments, or audits, to identify error-prone or high-risk processes, systems, or settings. -Safe practices are published and shared by National and International accreditation agencies which should be implemented and practiced by organizations to ensure an error proof process. -Healthcare providers should educate their Staff , Visitors , Patient and Family A systematic approach, where health and safety objectives are accomplished in the same way as financial services or quality objectives, will help to achieve a high standard of health and safety performance. About Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a master’s degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here
- [Good Consulting Organizations - Get companies off consulting and not on consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/good-consulting-organizations-get-companies-off-consulting-and-not-on-consulting-2/): Management Consulting is a domain, which works in parallel with the organization. It aims to assist organizations in terms of specialist advisory, professional knowledge & skills and implementation support to the clients. Hiring consultants to get industry best practices is quite common. The value in hiring management consultant’s lies in broadly three (overlapping) areas: Expertise – industry or functional expertise Best practices Excellent analytics skills Management consulting includes a broad range of activities, and many firms along with their members often define these practices quite differently. These differences may keep on changing depending on the expertise of the consultants and requirement of the organizations. One of the key signs of good management consulting organization is to get clients off consulting and not on consulting. Few of the key pointers to bring best management consultants on board are as follows: Diagnosing the problem and Making recommendations: For a firm to achieve its long-term goals, it must know the areas that it needs to focus on and why. This is the key area where the consultants will help to ascertain the goals, be responsible for giving honest advice and opinion. They will chalk out detailed information, necessary in making well-informed decision. Assisting with implementation of recommended solutions:While implementing the recommendations on shop floor it is necessary to engage people in the work place. Consultants should not only focus on implementing changes but how it can help to transform the workplace forever. Management consultants should strive to drive its clients in a progressive direction since the first intervention. Permanently improving organizational effectiveness: Permanent improvisation is the marker of satisfaction achieved from the consulting intervention. It will gauge the effectiveness of the learning that has taken place, and the success of application as the new process or system is implemented. Consultants should track what people are doing differently and how well it is working, because to bring improvement is an easy job but its sustenance is difficult. Return on Investment:  ROI is only one of the most essential elements on the Scorecard measures and tracks the chain of impact for a consulting project. Management consultants are expected to deliver higher return of Investment. Consultants should be upfront and commit to assure Return on Investment. ROI on the consulting fee is highly effective. The increasing trend is that management consulting firms not only define objective by just recommending solutions but also help and engage clients in effective management processes. This new development is significant to managers who don’t just need expert advice but also need help in improving the organization’s performance. Written by Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Good Consulting Organizations - Get companies off consulting and not on consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/good-consulting-organizations-get-companies-off-consulting-and-not-on-consulting/): Management Consulting is a domain, which works in parallel with the organization. It aims to assist organizations in terms of specialist advisory, professional knowledge & skills and implementation support to the clients. Hiring consultants to get industry best practices is quite common. The value in hiring management consultant’s lies in broadly three (overlapping) areas: -Expertise – industry or functional expertise -Best practice -Excellent analytics skills Management consulting includes a broad range of activities, and many firms along with their members often define these practices quite differently. These differences may keep on changing depending on the expertise of the consultants and requirement of the organizations. One of the key signs of good management consulting organization is to get clients off consulting and not on consulting. Few of the key pointers to be considered to bring best management consultants on board are as follows: Capabilities of diagnosing the problem and making recommendations: For a firm to achieve its long-term goals, it must address the required focus areas. This is the key area where consultants help to ascertain the goals and takes lead for giving authentic advice and recommendations. The consulting strength in terms of implementing recommendations along with diagnosis is equally important. Assistance with implementation of recommended solutions: Going further, while implementing the recommendations on shop floor, it is necessary to engage the real people on the work place. Consulting engagement should not only focus on implementing changes but how it can help to transform the workplace forever. Recommendations coupled with demonstrations and implementation support is an essential element. Permanently improving organizational effectiveness: Permanent improvisation is the mark of satisfaction achieved from the consulting intervention. It will gauge the effectiveness of the learning that has taken place, and the success of application as the new process or system is implemented. Consulting solution should track what people are doing differently and how well it is working, because to bring improvement is an easy job than sustenance. High Return on Investment: ROI is only one of the most essential elements on the scorecard measures and tracks the chain of impact for a consulting project. Consulting engagements are expected to deliver high return on investment. However, very few consulting outfits commit to assured return on investment. High ROI for the consulting intervention should be key parameter to be considered. Making Clients Experts: Finally, with all these points, the consulting engagement should strive to build internal capacity to take the transformation journey forward without the external assistance. It can only happen when appropriate knowledge / skills transfer happens and client teams are equipped with appropriate expertise. These key pointers should be considered while getting the consulting organizations on board which should lead to improving the organization’s performance. The final aim should be to get clients off consulting and not on consulting. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [How to Build a Patient Centric Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-build-a-patient-centric-culture/): Building a strong corporate culture is a vital component for most businesses. An optimistic environment filled with positivity, support, and innovation typically leads to better job satisfaction, which in turn often translates into greater profits, happier clients, and improved overall workplace rankings. Similarly, in the healthcare sector where patient’s health and lives are the centre theme of the system, the benefits of a positive and clear workplace culture cannot be understated. Healthcare is an industry where employee satisfaction is closely linked to patient satisfaction. Healthcare sector should adapt a corporate culture that places emphasis on teamwork in order to best serve patients—and ultimately save lives. The primary step is to cultivate a vision mindset in the employees for an amicable environment. It’s important to define the mission and values, but the crucial step is finding people committed to those principles. Getting started is rarely complicated, however—usually needed is a shared vision, strong communication, and committed leadership. Another important aspect is maintaining motivation in healthcare. It is not just about money, it’s about recognition and making sure that people feel valued. We need to do more building an engaged culture where people are coming to work for a purpose and not just for a paycheck. Recommendations for successfully embedding patient agenda into organizational culture: – Shaping a new culture by defining the purpose and expected behaviors within an organization, and setting up reinforcing systems that are patient centric – Hiring and training people with shared values by orienting employees how to find win-win situations for patients and the healthcare organization, rewarding and incentivizing based on improved patient outcomes, training in ethical engagement through partnerships, attuning employees to the challenges of patients, and fostering diversity – Patient-Centred Leadership that is transformative, purpose-driven, empathic, and based on a foundation of trust, with leader selection being around competencies and attributes. – Measuring Patient-Centred Focus based on retention; relationships; referrals; returning customers, KPIs (external and internal impact factors), and cultural measurements such as patient/ employee satisfaction and leadership outcomes. – Decline Prevention through strategies such as cross-functional teams to prevent silos, removing de-motivating factors, and maintaining momentum of change, among other recommendations. Real change towards patient centricity is only possible with a top-down approach that drives the new patient agenda and allocates the necessary resources and talents to drive patient centric performance within the organization. Most of the time, change management focuses on how to build a positive culture. But there are certain blockers who are hesitant to change. The Healthcare industry should be focusing on those people who are eager to embrace change and are considered as early adopters. They are open to newer avenues and never fear the consequences of change. What is important is understanding patients’ experiences of their condition – what the individual patient values and needs, as well as what is most likely to result in positive healthcare outcomes. Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here
- [Media Coverage - ET NOW](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage-et-now/): It is great to be acknowledged. Team Faber Infinite wants to thank ET NOW (one of the leading financial news channel in India) for covering the Faber Infinite Saga. We are glad to be covered in ‘LEADERS OF TOMORROW’ series that puts the spotlight on India’s most promising enterprises and leaders of tomorrow. The programme, apart from covering insights from our leaders Mr. Jalay Pandya and Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, also focused on challenges faced by Indian and African businesses.
- [Overall Equipment Effectiveness: Improve quality and Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/improving-quality-and-performance-through-oee/): Improving productivity in the current global competitive environment has created a need for thoroughly defined performance measurement systems in a manufacturing process. OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), a vital KPI of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) is used to evaluate performance and productivity of the machine. OEE is one of the performance evaluation methods that is most common and popular in the production industries also that is Improve quality. Today various innovative techniques and management practices such as Total Productive Maintenance, TQM have been adopted by organizations. Total Productive Maintenance is a methodology which involves maintaining performance across the plants along with equipment performance. Successful Total Productive Maintenance implementation is an effort where the entire organization works together to maintain and improve the equipment. As an initial initiative it is critical to measure even a small change, because as Druker says ‘if you cant measure it, you cant improve it!’. OEE is a metric originally developed to measure the success of Total Productive Maintenance by associating the six big losses segregated within three measurable criteria’s: Availability, Performance, and Quality (APQ). Improve Quality and Performance through OEE Worldwide, OEE implementation has been significantly effective in improve quality, performance rate and quality rate. While reducing unscheduled breakdown time and wastage that twigs from the equipment. Looking  at  machine  operation,  basically there are  six  types  of  waste  which can be referred  to  as  losses,  because  they  reflect  lost effectiveness of the equipment. These six big losses are grouped in three major categories: downtime, speed losses, and quality losses. The major goals of OEE are to reduce and eliminate the most common causes of efficiency loss in the manufacturing process. Team Faber Infinite rolled out OEE improvement project at a leading textile machine manufacturer, with significant reach and market share in India. Following issues were bothering the people on Shop floor. – Overall equipment availability was 78%. – Average Mean Time between Failure (MTBF) was 2112 mins. – Average Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) was 100 mins. – No visuals on Machine. – Training of new operators was difficult. A structured analysis was conducted to ascertain the current scenario of the workplace and measure the equipment effectiveness. Following parameters were used to gauge the existing conditions of workplace: – It started with data collection and analysis of all historical breakdowns and stoppages of equipment. – Measurement and tracking of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). – Rollout of Autonomous Maintenance Step 1 – Preparation of Cleaning Oiling Tightening Inspection (COTI) sheet – Verifying COTI time by stop watch – Make machine visual to ease the process of training and operating. Remarkably visible results were achieved which are as follows: – Machine availability increased from 78% to 98% – Autonomous Maintenance time reduced from 30 min to 10 min – Training new operators was easier with help of visual indicators – Helps manager & other team members to understand the current situation of the machine. The scope of improvement in terms of equipment performance is tremendous and can vary depending on the industry. With application of Total Productive Maintenance principles and implementation,  actions can be taken to  improve  the  OEE, and thereby  increasing  the output and APQ parameters of the machine. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Media Coverage - ET Now - Leaders of Tomorrow](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage-et-now-leaders-of-tomorrow/): It is great to be acknowledged. Team Faber Infinite wants to thank ET NOW (one of the leading financial news channel in India) for covering the Faber Infinite Saga. We are glad to be covered in ‘LEADERS OF TOMORROW’ series that puts the spotlight on India’s most promising enterprises and leaders of tomorrow. The programme, apart from covering insights from our leaders  Mr. Jalay Pandya and Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, also focused on challenges faced by Indian and African businesses. To watch the video please click Here.
- [Smart Manufacturing: The road to World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/smart-manufacturing-the-road-to-world-class-manufacturing-2/): Smart Manufacturing is an entirely new concept coming up steadily these days. It’s renovating the entire idea of manufacturing. World Class Manufacturing concept has been present since, the inception of manufacturing but was merely a concept. But now it has been used widely and the definition changes based on the type of industry and its use can be tweaked accordingly. It has been positioned as an international manufacturing excellence technique achieved by developing a culture based on factors such as continuous improvement, problem prevention, zero defect tolerance, customer driven just in time production, and total quality management. Here are some of the actions points to plan the path of smart manufacturing: Revive Traditional Machinery One of the major gains for manufacturers with investments in aging but still operating machinery has been the plunging cost of sensors. Just two decades ago, not everyone was eager to embrace the change and there were only handful of early adopters eager to invest hundreds of thousands to connect the sensors and controllers and analyze the results. But this is becoming comparatively easier as retrofitting sensors to older machinery is surprisingly doable. It’s possible to successfully add one sensor at a time. Collection of Digital data to find the existing bottlenecks Organizations tend to have a data collection system in place. The question which arises is about the use and purpose of storing this data. Is the data used for record-keeping or being used aggressively to decrease the downtime?  The key purpose it serves is to objectively discover what warrants attention and remove the bottlenecks of the system. It also helps in developing a solution to the existing problem. Sophisticated software can assist to catch up with the flood of data, find meaning, and, as times goes by, leverage that meaning. Streamline a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) To build a smart manufacturing system an organization needs to start with manufacturing execution system. This can be initiated by collection of data from the plant floor machinery. This is followed by analysis of data to identify problems and money-saving opportunities which is the driving force behind the fundamental operational improvements. Smart Manufacturing is concerned with the logistics and the supply chain to fulfill the order on time and in the most efficient way.  The reality check It is not a compulsion for everyone to upgrade and attain the unsteady levels of digital automation. However even the smallest of a manufacturing firm competing in today’s market should adapt to the latest advances in technology. Also it should try to be up to date to get its share of market. This will enable the manufacturers to fit in the advanced system of its neighbors to fulfill the outsourced orders. As it is quite evident, the organizations are witnessing convergence of technologies and process improvement initiatives with the potential to radically improve the way manufacturers thread processes and systems in the entire product value chain in order to deliver more options and new service models to customers. By each passing day the world of manufacturing is getting smarter and raising the bar, on the road to world class manufacturing. Written By Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Smart Manufacturing: The road to World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/smart-manufacturing-the-road-to-world-class-manufacturing/): Smart manufacturing is an entirely new concept coming up steadily these days. It’s renovating the entire idea of manufacturing. World class manufacturing concept has been present since, the inception of manufacturing but was merely a concept. But now it has been used widely and the definition changes based on the type of industry and its use can be tweaked accordingly. It has been positioned as an international manufacturing excellence technique achieved by developing a culture based on factors such as continuous improvement, problem prevention, zero defect tolerance, customer driven just in time production, and total quality management. Here are some of the actions points to plan the path of smart manufacturing: Apparently, the organizations are witnessing convergence of technologies and process improvement initiatives with the potential to radically improve the way manufacturers thread processes and systems in the entire product value chain in order to deliver more options and new service models to customers. By each passing day the world of manufacturing is getting smarter and raising the bar, on the road to world class manufacturing. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Establishing the Structure for Organizational Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/establishing-the-structure-for-organizational-growth/): Organizational structure is the blue print of the internal structure of an organization, which maps the workflows. As per the latest Global Human Capital Survey trends in 2016 indicate that organizations have identified organizational structure as 92% important for current business scenarios. Have we woken up suddenly? The answer is no! Organization galore, large or small, have been talking about people engagement is the key for any business. Almost all of our clients have also highlighted the same issue, as one of their key challenges. And organizational structure is particularly important for people engagement and decision-making. Most companies either have a tall or flat organizational structure. Flat structures enable companies to make quicker decisions, leading to higher responsiveness and flexibility. Companies in different industries require different mixes of talent and a relatively greater emphasis on certain management functions. This will change in each and every organization depending on its structure and offerings, because no single organizational structure can fit well for all businesses. As it is said, one size doesn’t fit all! Aspect of organizational structure is very important for young organizations, as it is always good to begin on right footing rather correcting and restructuring later. Below are the key action points for sustainable and effective organizational structure: Give a clear direction A proper structure helps in streamlining and guiding all the employees by laying out the official reporting relationships that administrate the workflow of the company. Organizational structure improves operational efficiency by providing clarity to team members at all levels by giving clear line of command. By paying mind to the organizational structure, departments can work more. Identify clear roles & responsibilities Proper communication channels within the organization help in work segregation. As soon as the person joins an organization from the day one itself, he should have the clarity of whom to report. This is possible only if the person is conveyed effectively about his roles and responsibilities and what is expected from him.  Most companies conduit their communication through department leaders. Design Value Stream based Structure, if possible Traditionally organization structures are more functional, where there are several departments like human resource, accounting, production etc. Value Stream based structure of having factory within factory concept can do wonders and create several leaders. If the structure fits correct it may lead to economies of scale. Also, several layered structures might be apt for larger organizations, however may lead to chaos in smaller organizations. Use it for evaluating employee performance Correct organization structure can help in evaluating and managing the performance of the employees. Since managers and leaders have been designated for each department they can evaluate and improve employee performance by linking organizational goals to functional goals to individuals. Right policy deployment tool coupled with effective organization structure has changed fortunes of companies. Furthermore, this analysis helps in annual appraisal and performance analysis. Align and accomplish more Organizational structure helps in building teams depending on their talent and capability to perform at work. It provides insights in determining which work is apt for employees and teams. This will further enhance the integration and alignment of teams at with various levels of the organization. Teamwork eventually helps in culture building, which is the key for any progressive organization, and more important for young organizations! Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering.  This article was originally published on Entrepreneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Continuous Improvement Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/continuous-improvement-journey-2/): For continuous improvement journey to thrive at organizations, organizational leadership must be dedicated towards development of team members and orienting change agents. Once the organization understands the philosophy, then the time is ripe to move to the next step, implementing the actual tools and engaging all the employees. The following things are required to be drawn together by the organization: Create a vision Try to create a vision for your organization based on its current position in the market and emphasize why this is the time to initiate a new operative direction for the company’s upcoming ventures.  Also, there are ever-increasing pressures in the global marketplace for cost reduction, intense international competition on similar kinds of products.  This is the chance for senior leaders to stand in front of each facility’s workforce and to communicate the path that is being planned for everyone’s involvement. Craft a Top down plan Organizations need to produce a top down plan to train the workforce according to the new strategy and understand the tasks required to accomplish within strict timelines. The organizational workforce should learn to think, work and behave differently. Moreover, furnish their needs with the necessary resources, e.g. training costs and time, to enable everyone to be successful in transitioning towards a new way. Tools Training It is recommended to start by getting the supervisors and engineers involved in tools training program first. Because, their education and training needs should begin shortly after managers, supervisors and engineers have been groomed for the upcoming development.  Also develop a training calendar with expert for equipping the team members with right tools, fundamental as well as advanced. Outcomes of tools training Start by the change leaders leading the early improvement projects and people on those teams will learn a lot by ‘learning by doing’ while they continue to receive more formal training. The leaders will finally learn the technique of implementation, which 1) It causes them to set the example of learning and applying new processes as the leader; 2) It puts them in position to coach and help their people on the shop floor. Bold objectives for improvement Improvement is most important for business/ factory issues and requires that our people take “the leap of faith” that the new way of thinking, working and behaving is better than the old way.  That simply won’t happen unless they are challenged and expected to do it. If the organization is heading towards right direction and works hard to learn the new paradigm having full support of the leadership, they will become successful. So start communicating Continuous Improvement in a broader sense, which includes everyone (especially the operators – value adders) and will give long term gains. So train, empower and engage in organizing the continuous improvement journey. Let us embark on a journey of continuous improvement. Written By Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Continuous Improvement Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/continuous-improvement-journey/): For Continuous Improvement Journey to thrive at organizations, organizational leadership. They must be dedicated towards development of team members and orienting change agents. Once the Organization understands the philosophy, then the time is ripe to move to the next step, implementing the actual tools and engaging all the employees. The following things are required to be drawn together by the organization: Start communicating Continuous Improvement in a broader sense, which includes everyone (especially the operators – value adders) and will give long term gains. So train, empower and engage in organising the continuous improvement. Let us embark on a journey of continuous improvement. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Hygiene & linkage to better realization](https://faberinfinite.com/hygiene-linkage-to-better-realization/): Hygiene refers to practices associated with ensuring good health and cleanliness. In medical contexts, the term “hygiene” refers to the maintenance of health and healthy living. The benefits of practicing hygiene in medical clinics and hospitals are well understood today. In spite of this many healthcare institutes still lack basic hygiene practices, leading to high mortality rates. Hundreds of millions of patients are affected by health care-associated infections worldwide each year, leading to significant mortality and financial losses for health systems. As per WHO report, of every 100 hospitalized patients at any given time, 7 in developed and 10 in developing countries will acquire at least one health care-associated infection. Healthcare associated infections may be caused due to inadequate environmental hygienic conditions and waste disposal, poor knowledge and application of basic infection control measures, lack of procedures and absence of local and national guidelines and policies, etc. Many infection prevention and control measures, such as appropriate hand hygiene and the correct application of basic precautions during invasive procedures, are simple and low-cost, but require staff accountability and behavioral change. The main solutions and perspectives for improvement are: -Ensuring that core components for infection control are in place at the health-care setting levels. -Implementing standard precautions, particularly best hand hygiene practices at the bedside. -Improving staff education and accountability. -Strict hospital infection control procedures and policies. One of the prime obstacles which the healthcare industry is facing right now, which is not that relevant in other sectors, is the ambiguity in maintenance of clean environment and the resulting vagueness in determining end results. Transmission of microorganisms from the environment to patients may happen through direct contact with contaminated equipment, or indirectly as a result of touching by hands. Enough has been written and said on hygiene aspects, right from the days of shift of black stained doctor coats to white coats, and importance of sterilization. Systematic and sustained improvement in clinical quality in particular needs a briefer and equally important trajectory. Over the past fifty years, a variety of approaches have been tried, with fewer successes. The work process is determined by various benchmarking factors, which measures facilities and provides benchmarks, along with quality enhancement process to ensure improvement in performance. There have been cases where progressive healthcare institutions have applied world-class hygiene standards, not only to reduce the patient stay at the hospital but also to leverage on treating more patients and in turn having more realization per day by treating the root cause and avoiding the hassle of acquired infection. To ensure quality standards and work efficiency, it is absolutely essential to design a set of guidelines, which decides the workflow of the organization. Visual standard operating procedures (SOPs) can help in determining the step-by-step routine actions of key staff members. SOPs present clear procedures, roles, and responsibilities for the healthcare providers in primary, secondary and tertiary level healthcare facilities. Most prevalent quality improvement tools such as problem solving methodology and Six Sigma (SS) claim to provide health care managers the opportunity to improve health care quality on the basis of definite and specific methodology and data. However, it is necessary to implement this quality improvement tool correctly and improves health care quality. There are significant gaps in the health care quality improvement literature and very weak evidence that quality improvement tools are being used correctly to improve health care quality. Hygiene and cleanliness are important in many areas, but are perhaps most pertinent in the healthcare industry. Places such as hospitals and clinics are constantly under public inspection and risk losing everything if they are unsuccessful to pass regular checks from the relevant authorities. There are not many other industries in which the standard of cleanliness is judged to be an integral part of the experience, but in healthcare a major portion of repeat business relies on the fulfillment of these hygiene and safety standards. Hence, maintaining healthcare hygiene is everybody’s business! Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here.
- [Eliminate the Unnecessary so that the Necessary May Speak](https://faberinfinite.com/eliminate-the-unnecessary-so-that-the-necessary-may-speak-2/): Performance metrics acts as leading indicators and as pointers to changes needed in strategic direction specially when monitored or tracked over a period of time. Focus needs to be shifted from those things which are easy to measure. Performance targets are usually set on the metrics of revenue and target. And if performance targets are not achieved, it is often too late at that stage for corrective measures. Excellence and metrics programs have an interesting relationship. Without excellence initiatives that establish the corporate culture and a common management system, it is very difficult to enable continuous improvement. Many companies are striving to institute some type of excellence or continuous improvement initiative. Below are the key excellence metrics: Customer Satisfaction Many companies use the customer satisfaction score by various metrics like VOC (Voice Of Customer), CSAT (Customer satisfaction), NPS (Net Promoter Score) etc. It is quite essential to measure customer satisfaction in each and every organization. It is applicable for both internal and external customers over a brief period of time. It helps in gauging the areas where gaps are present and helps in identifying the functions that need the most attention. Productivity This is a versatile metric which can be aligned with the strategic goals of the organization. Strategic objectives typically focus on a combination of areas, including finance, operations, quality, manufacturing, energy management, and health and safety. The goal may differ for different organizations. The possibilities of measurement are many here – it is vital to work on goals which the organization is measuring and is directly related to the business strategy and productivity improvement. Cash Flow It is the most important lifeline, the oxygen of business organization and hence one of the most critical aspects of performance management. Financial freedom can be achieved by any business if they work and spend money on revenue generating projects. There are a number of operational inefficiencies that can be pin pointed based on the trend of these two metrics which are DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) and DPO (Days Payable Outstanding). Gross Margin Gross margin is the mother of all business metrics and the best indicator of a business’s health. The higher the gross margin, the more the indication that organization is on the right track in every operational aspect. Organizations do not require waiting for the quarterly or annual financial results to determine profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction. Employee contentment score Although businesses may be moving towards a more automated manufacturing and industrial environment, but, without people at the base, all of the technology in the world would be useless. Strong leadership and executive support are critical for any excellence initiative. Attrition damages the top line and bottom line – everybody knows this now and there is increased focus to build more contented workplaces and organization culture. However the choice of key metrics needs to be reviewed periodically – as business is dynamic so why should the metrics remain constant? No metric is useful unless there is an action plan that arrives out of it and is communicated and implemented with urgency. Otherwise, a metric becomes just another number on a report that nobody pays attention to till it is too late. Written By Faber Devna chaturvedi
- [Eliminate the Unnecessary so that the Necessary May Speak](https://faberinfinite.com/eliminate-the-unnecessary-so-that-the-necessary-may-speak/): Performance metrics acts as leading indicators and as pointers to changes needed in strategic direction specially when monitored or tracked over a period of time. Focus needs to be shifted from those things which are easy to measure. Performance targets are usually set on the metrics of revenue and target. And if performance targets are not achieved, it is often too late at that stage for corrective measures. Excellence and metrics programs have an interesting relationship. Without excellence initiatives that establish the corporate culture and a common management system, it is very difficult to enable continuous improvement. Many companies are striving to institute some type of excellence or continuous improvement initiative. Below are the key excellence metrics: However the choice of key metrics needs to be reviewed periodically – as business is dynamic so why should the metrics remain constant? No metric is useful unless there is an action plan that arrives out of it and is communicated and implemented with urgency. Otherwise, a metric becomes just another number on a report that nobody pays attention to till it is too late. Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [True potential of Healthcare with OpEx](https://faberinfinite.com/true-potential-of-healthcare-with-operational-excellence/): Healthcare sector is one, is directly connected to lives of people, hence there must not be any operational issues, everything should be well organized and structured. Hence, it becomes all the more essential for healthcare sector to focus on hospital operations and improve further in order to boost patient centricity, give quality treatment, and enhance productivity. A multi-faceted approach that puts hospital and patient care at upmost importance for transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver better financially sustainable and patient oriented care. Healthcare sector should actively participate in improvement efforts and be open to changes. The continual improvement not only facilitates operational excellence but also provides quality patient care, patients’ satisfaction, and staff satisfaction. Hospital Operational Excellence deploys a variety of process improvement & change management concepts and approaches to increase operational efficiency and reduce clinical variability; ultimate objective being, to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. Team Faber has been invited to contribute in Economic Times and a series of articles published on ETHealthworld.com as a part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare series. It started with – “How Operational Excellence Can Help the Healthcare Industry” and continued to leap further with unlocking – “True Potential of Hospitals with Operational Excellence”. The need of the healthcare industry is optimization of processes and resources. Improving operations and efficiency will not only help the patients but could unlock the largest potential source of income for the organization. Efficient way to Manage Inventory through Operational Excellence One of the major challenges in the healthcare industry is to ensure that required supplies are readily available in right quantity at the right time. An effective and efficient inventory management system needs to be in place. Further there is a necessity for building up quality and safety initiatives pervading health care. Although there is an extensive expansion occurring in the healthcare industry but the expansion is not equivalent to match the appropriate standards. The effective implementation of policies and proper enforcement of standards needs to be effected. There has been a set of guidelines to maintain various operating standards at hospitals and healthcare service providers by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH). These guidelines shall aid in effective and better operations in healthcare industry or hospitals. Almost every patient accesses the laboratory, so proper streamlining of diagnostic tools and protocols is required for the smooth functioning and to avoid cluttering. Emphasis should be on Laboratory Improvement – the Operational Excellence Way. This includes physical workplace management and proper information flow for optimal process flow and clutter free work environment, leading to better availability and quality for diagnostic tests. Quality control practice is an inherent requirement of each and every sector, it applies to the healthcare domain as well to determine and channelize a proper delivery system. Quality management and error control are necessary for the hospital to devise reliable and efficient treatment procedure. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering.
- [Improvement in Engineering Industry through Operational Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-engineering-industry-through-operational-excellence/): In today’s highly competitive and dynamic environment, market competition forces organizations to improve productivity and enhance their competiveness. Consequently, the matter of assessing and improving competitiveness in different industry of several countries has received increased attention in recent times. In addition, it has been observed that engineering industries need to focus and invest more on operational improvement and optimization. Value adders/ operators play a key role in operations in spite of the application of machinery and equipment. As per challenges raised by the industry, few listed are low productivity, over staffing, poor labor relations, inefficient handling of operator challenges, high wages an d lack of trained or skilled workforce. It can be inferred that all these issues are fallouts of lower manpower productivities and scientific approach towards efficiency improvement is the need of the hour. Owing to these factors every year, companies and contractors are hit with crores of rupees in engineering sector due to inefficiency factors impacting business. A decline in productivity means an increase in costs and therefore deterioration in the competitive position of an organization. On the other hand, an improvement in productivity can lead to a decrease in cost and duration of production, an improvement in quality, and therefore a growth in the market share. Team Faber is supporting a leading organization from engineering domain situated in South Gujarat. The client is a global leader in the textile industry equipment manufacturing. The journey was initiated to improve productivity and throughput by deploying different operational excellence tools to deliver exceptional results. The benefits delivered have been phenomenal and well received by the client. The crucial challenges that required sharp focus on productivity improvement for the organization include: Inability of assembly line to meet increased market demand Rising issues of product quality Issues related to Work station design Lack of standard operating procedure in place Unbalanced operations creating Muda, Mura, Muri etc The improvement in productivity was conducted via following key drivers: Conducting a detailed Value Stream Mapping Exercise (Current State Map and Future State Map) to study all the steps, identify all wastes (Muda, Mura and Muri) in the process and devise solutions to eliminate them Defining standard times (fair days work) by conducting time and motion study for the ongoing process Considering all the factors such as environmental conditions, difficulties encountered, nature of task, as per ILO standards Apply operational excellence concepts/ tools such as line balancing, change over time reduction (SMED), and Five S, etc to eliminate waste Work station redesign exercise was extremely fruitful and well received to arrive more ergonomic workplace (and replace traditional work benches) to eliminate operator fatigue and improve productivity The exercise has helped client organization: Improve productivity from 24 spindles per shift to 64 spindles per shift Work content improved by 61% Overall Productivity improved by 167% Total 10 newly designed work station layout as per ergonomic design This exercise helped to improve the production techniques, increase labor productivity, and efficiency improvement, all of which resulted in cost and wastage reduction – building more competitiveness. These fundamental concepts like Value Stream Mapping and Time and Motion study facilitates to arrive at better capacity realization and robust planning system. The success stories and case studies are plenty, and it is here to stay for long. These concepts are answers for building competitiveness for Organizations and overall industry!   Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [LEAP Forward for Family Managed Businesses (FMB)](https://faberinfinite.com/leap-forward-for-family-managed-businesses-fmb/): Family Managed Businesses (FMB) are the lifeline of India’s economy. Almost 90% of Indian businesses are family-owned, which makes the rest of the business community largely dependent on them. Be it as their vendors, transporters, contractors or distributors; non-family corporations collaborate with family firms on various levels. There is a famous cliché, which is quoted frequently and seems to have been accepted as a universal truth: The first generation builds, the second generation consolidates, and the third generation destroys the family business. Long term sustenance of FMB depends on the smooth survival across generations. In essence the most important areas of concern for the success of FMBs are as follows: -Succession Planning -Induction & Grooming -Ownership Structure -Preserving Wealth -Conflict Resolution Mechanism -Business Vision, Strategy & Governance -Business efficiency and effectiveness -Family Vision, Strategy & Governance -Resistance to Change -Issues due to difference of opinion in Generations All the above-mentioned issues in FMB are nothing but a unique set of management related issues that stem from the overlap of family and business concerns. Strategic planning around both business and family goals is vital to successful family business. Since most of the conflict arises due to disparity in business and family goals, planning is required to align these goals and formulate a strategy to achieve the organizational goal. Resistance to change is another major roadblock that needs to be addressed. The goal should be to establish an organizational transformational framework that supports continuous improvement.  Linking the appropriate execution plan to the strategy and implementing the same, is where the core FMB team should focus as well. The ultimate goal of the family and business should be to create an improved work environment that is customer centered, flexible, efficient, and affordable. FMB should understand there is no perfect strategy to achieve growth; it has to be continuous improvement. You have to be dissatisfied with what you are doing, there has to be paranoia and you have to be introspective enough to continuously improve. FMB should adopt Total Quality Management and a continuous improvement attitude to create a partnership form of organization rather than a paternalistic one. The objective should be to create a productive organization. The principle should be – “If you cannot improve productivity, there is no reason for a business to exist.” Where does economic growth come from? It comes from improvement in productivity and that creates wealth, which, in turn, creates employment; and then those very employees buy goods creating further growth. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering.
- [Importance of Organizational Structure](https://faberinfinite.com/importance-of-organizational-structure/): Although there are various issues concerned to leadership, culture and learning, which have been ranking all-time high.  In today’s pitch various business organizations have started realizing the importance of organizational design as well, which needs to be implemented in business organizations. Globally, this is the time to change the existing monotonous norms to disrupt the existing pace and match the changing expectations of employees. This Tuesday, we want to share top 5 emerging trends for leaders like you: Operational Design is the New Structure Business operating models are continually evolving to meet the new paradigms of customer, marketplace or expense management. It provides focus, stability and clarity. Operational design is not only restricted to HR, but it extends to the entire organization. In a recent survey by Global Human Capital trends operational design topped the list. Currently, 88% organizations in India are currently either restructuring or planning to restructure their company. Awaken the Leadership Many organizations do not have a proper leadership strategy in place. Many claim to have a leadership development strategy in place which is quite essential. Organizations need to set up leadership succession plan. Leadership positions are potentially helpful for people not only at top positions but across various levels of an organization. The main task is identification of strong leaders, which requires excellent training and better ways of assessment. Building Culture of Change and Engagement Culture is an equally important component in organizational design and has a strong equation with change and engagement. Change and engagement are the most critical human capital issues. Organizations should demand collaboration of change and engagement, which should happen across various levels especially from the top. It helps in mapping areas of opportunity where improvisation can be done. Also it will locate the area necessary to communicate the values of the organization. Accelerate via Design Thinking Crafting employee experience is turning out to be a vital element and is central to all business decisions. Design thinking will help in demarcating the demands of employee to have a simplified and intuitive work environment. Moreover, it allows them to be flexible and focused in the accelerated market place and manage the demands of professional and personal life. Learning Curve is the Earning Curve The best and possibly the biggest part of organizational culture is that organizations believe in continuous learning. Organizations believe that learning curve is the earning curve. In today’s dynamic market it is absolutely essential to stay updated which necessitates the prominence to learn and continue to grow. Many companies are making strides in adopting new technologies and ease the process of learning. Videos are one of the biggest sources to make the employees learn from one another. With more and more investments pouring in organizations need to shift their role from just being enablers to those who become architects of their organization.
- [Importance of Organizational Structure](https://faberinfinite.com/organizational-structure/): Although there are various issues concerned to leadership, culture and learning, which have been ranking all-time high.  In today’s pitch various business organizations have started realizing the importance of organizational design as well, which needs to be implemented in business organizations. Globally, this is the time to change the existing monotonous norms to disrupt the existing pace and match the changing expectations of employees. Here, we have the top 5 emerging trends for leaders like you: With more and more investments pouring in organizations need to shift their role from just being enablers to those who become architects of their organization. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Errors and Quality](https://faberinfinite.com/errors-and-quality/): Even after tremendous growth of the healthcare industry in India, there are as many as 98,000 patients succumbing to death every year due to medical errors. More than 20 per cent could have led a comfortable life if not for that one gross medical negligence. Thirty seven per cent patients were children below 15 years of age while 11 per cent were senior citizens with perfect health conditions (A study by the National Board of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NBH&HP) in February 2014).Yes, medical errors are a reality and have to be rooted out of the system. We need better management and quality control. Quality control practice is an inherent requirement of each and every sector, it applies to the healthcare domain as well to determine and channelize a proper delivery system. Error specifically indicates any defect from process followed, documentation, inventory management, laboratory tests and eventually reporting and interpretation of results. These errors cumulatively result in serious consequences. Healthcare is a highly complex route. It has been striving for continuous improvement in quality and process streamlining. Growing body of evidences which have been accumulating since years suggests that quality of healthcare practices cannot be judged alone by the analytical methods used for treating and handling. The absence of focus on emergency care, missing trained nurses, lack of management capacity in health system and absence of comprehensive medical services can be attributed to severe medical negligence. Also errors in lab are very common. They mainly occur in three stages: pre-analytics, analytics and post analytics. The first one being the pre-analytical stage which involves sample collection, sample transport and sample receipt. The second phase deals with test evaluation and quality control testing. The last stage deals with record keeping and reporting. Samples can get contaminated — either in the hospital or en route to the testing facility. A breakdown in effective communication between lab facilities and medical providers results in errors in either testing or the reporting of results. So quality management and control is necessary for hospital to devise reliable and efficient treatment procedure. Hospitals should consider adopting Total Quality Management (TQM) as a framework and a way to operate with the aim for integration, consistency, and increase in efficiency and a continuous drive for improvement. TQM which encompasses various quality check protocols for example: Total quality control, total quality leadership, continuous quality improvement, and quality management science. Quality systems are undergoing tremendous transformation in present decade in Healthcare Organizations. There are various tools that are used in health care industry for quality control and quality management. Lean practices can also be used to improve the quality of service at the hospital. Lean will focus on improving quality and thus improve overall hospital performance. Organizational and structural changes such as establishment of quality-related councils and committees, empowerment of nurses and other staff, and investments in new technology and infrastructure facilitates better outcomes. Error proofing technique like Poka-yoke is an extensively used tool, which helps in the implementation of Zero Quality Errors. The Poka-Yoke technique can be applied both to prevent causes, which will result in subsequent occurrences of errors and to carry out low-cost control determining whether to adopt or reject the particular analysis method. Documentation of errors heightens the awareness of problems and offers the chance to expose and resolve recurrent sources of error. Structured Problem Solving frameworks like 8D methodology hold good for healthcare institutions as well. An effective integration of error proofing and quality management will allow the healthcare setup to identify, control and decrease error rates. This won’t stand in place until various factors like intra departmental co-operation followed by proper communication is achieved. Quality Management practices in Indian healthcare industry can not only lead to great patient care but better economics for the organization. Written by: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here.
- [People Development - 'cos People are Assets!](https://faberinfinite.com/people-development-cos-people-are-assets/): People cannot be owned. People do not depreciate. If they are assets, people are intangible assets. In the industrial age, the gross domestic product was largely driven by tangible asset investments that appear on balance sheets – equipment, buildings and land. This remained true well into the 1980s. From 1980 to 1985, 88 percent of the increase in GDP was associated with growth in tangible assets. In today’s knowledge – or information – age, the driver of GDP growth has shifted from tangible assets to intangible ones. From 2000 to 2005, only 10 percent of GDP growth was related to tangible assets. Intangible assets drove 90 percent of GDP growth. The most valuable asset of 21st century is the people in an organization. Starting from the most valuable patents to intellectual property rights, research and development and even the organizational designing is worked upon by the employees of the organization. The brainpower working behind as the backbone of the organization is the people. It is an inevitable fact, which is widely accepted by various institutions and organizations. People are the core intangible assets. According to a Global CEO Survey, 47% of company leaders forecast growth over the next few years, however only 30% believe they will have the talent necessary to accommodate that growth. It’s a concerning statistic that is unfortunately representative of a trend that has surfaced across multiple industries. The problem isn’t necessarily that there aren’t people looking for jobs – quite the opposite actually – the issue is that businesses are not finding talent with the right mix of skills, education, and experience that is necessary to support their needs. Classifying the employees as an asset By classifying the employees as an asset for an organization, it basically means to increase the value of employees and turning it to be in company’s favor. This happens when a company invests its time and money to conduct various training and development programs. It would therefore be in organizations best interest to make the investments grow and to nurture it, rather than treating employees as an expense which needs to be controlled. Organizational change The core functionality is embedded in the DNA of the organization. To bring a transformational change it is necessary to change the core DNA which regulates the entire system. Software and equipment are tangible assets, but the main workhorse responsible for its proper and apt functioning is the knowledge power of the employees and workers, as they are the core foundation stone. If the foundation isn’t strong enough the organizational structure weakens eventually.  A focus on comprehensive employee development programs can help equip your current workforce as well as future employees with the skills they need to step up to new challenges and business initiatives. And, a commitment to building an environment that encourages and supports ongoing education is also an important step toward securing a stronger future for the company as a whole. Culture Building Culture can be defined by characterizing what to do, how to behave, the way individuals treat each other, the products, the customers, etc. of a business organization. The integrated pattern of culture building encompasses human knowledge, belief, and behavior in a particular organization and that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting this knowledge further. It passes on from individual team members and eventually corroborates into team culture. It involves simple steps like providing assistance to your team member and overcoming the urge of not to offer support. Changing Habits of People Changing habits is difficult but inculcating good habits right from the inception is comparatively easier. The most effective leadership behavior in motivating change is to inspire your employees. You can encourage your employees by working with them at an individual level to find out what their goals and aspirations are which also helps in strengthening the team bond. The employees need to share the set of attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes their institution or organization to inculcate the habits accordingly. Development Development is not restricted to certain zone or region, it needs a holistic approach. It encompasses the behavioral, technical as well as the cultural aspects. With the rate of technology advancement in 21st century knowledge and skills tend to become obsolete quite soon. This entails continuous training and development in terms of operational execution, technical know-how also behavioral and soft skill elements.  Also organizations need to map the ability barriers and bring out the hidden potential of employees. The above action points are likely change the route of development causing a rapid and sustainable change increasing tenfold. Written by: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering. This article was originally published on Enterperneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Building a Sustainable Company Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/building-a-sustainable-company-culture-2/): Great performance can never come without great people and culture, and the opposite is also true – great people and culture are affiliated most with high-performing organizations. Culture building is a key element with the capability of strengthening the organization. It is necessary for the company to create such an environment for team members, which takes care of how to enable sustenance of work culture. This can be achieved by taking into consideration the need of employees, it is essential for them to have a sense of belonging for the organization. This encompasses the formal and informal values, behaviors, and beliefs practiced in an organization. These essential elements will renovate the path for creating a balanced work culture: Outcomes Outcome refers to the results which an organization wants to obtain with its pre-decided culture. What are the outcomes an organization would prefer to see? The trigger could be a theme, instance, or incident that has taken place internally to get the discussion started. When a discussion is activated implementation inside the company becomes an easy process, and the resulting conversation will yield a greater number of more detailed outcomes. Behavior It’s the most visible part of an organizational culture. It can be gauged at three different levels 1) Individual behavior which includes the passion of employees for their work, and being transparent about the work and its progress, 2) Team behavior helps in strengthening the bond between team members, and 3) Leadership behavior deals with the quality of leader to listen to people and help them grow. Enablers and blockers These are the formal or informal policies, rituals, actions, and rules that enable or block your culture—the elements that are truly intentional to achieving a desired culture. Following factors can be considered within enablers and blockers: Incentives are a basic element of doing good work. People should be paid fairly and competitively for their roles, and increases in compensation should be a predictable process. Context and rules will determine what rituals and processes allow people to do great work. If initiative is punished instead of rewarded, people will feel less compelled to push new ideas internally. The ability to make quick judgment calls and move decisions forward will outpace any lengthy or cumbersome internal approvals process. People are the core of a great organization and the processes and systems you use to hire, promote, and reward them can be both enablers and blockers. Leadership has to play a role in the culture if the whole organization is to transform. And leading by example is a pivotal component of management enablers (and blockers: leadership can lead by poor example as well, of course). If leadership exhibits the behaviors expected of teams and individuals, then people in the organization will follow suit. Companies should be as intentional about culture as they are about strategy and business innovation.  Building Company culture can be tedious; so many organizations tend to avoid it. But these small steps will help to kick start the culture building process. If you create a culture where people love coming to work and are moving in the same direction, you will land where you set your heights.    
- [Building a sustainable company culture](https://faberinfinite.com/building-a-sustainable-company-culture/): Great performance can never come without great people and culture, and the opposite is also true – great people and culture are affiliated most with high-performing organizations. Culture building is a key element with the capability of strengthening the organization. It is necessary for the company to create such an environment for team members, which takes care of how to enable sustenance of work culture. This can be achieved by taking into consideration the need of employees, it is essential for them to have a sense of belonging for the organization. This encompasses the formal and informal values, behaviors, and beliefs practiced in an organization. These essential elements will renovate the path for creating a balanced work culture: Companies should be as intentional about culture as they are about strategy and business innovation.  Building Company culture can be tedious; so many organizations tend to avoid it. But these small steps will help to kick start the culture building process. If you create a culture where people love coming to work and are moving in the same direction, you will land where you set your heights. Written by : Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Bottom-line improvements!](https://faberinfinite.com/bottom-line-improvements/): Organizations can be classified into two categories – proactive and reactive. Good organizations are proactive, and others are reactive. Proactive organizations build muscles, while the later builds fat! Tough times or good times, proactive organizations always focus cutting fat & strengthening their muscles. They do this by sustaining a structured program focused on strengthening the bottom-line of the organization. On the other hand, reactive organizations are left clueless in dealing with the tough times. The general tendency is to react to the ever-changing environment. However, being reactive would be less helpful than being responsive. Any company which is stock rich and fat (instead of being fit), it losses the ability of responding and in turn forcibly has to react to the changing markets. Dynamic nature of Supply Chains Essential point to appreciate here is that organizations don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the slowdowns in the past, that all those manufacturing organizations, which had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains and operations, survived or emerged stronger which emphasizes on bottom-line growth. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the organizations are. This dynamic behavior can be changed by giving appropriate attention to the amount of stocks lying in the supply chain. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream, that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to ‘takt’ time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirements. Stability of the work environment Bottom-line growth ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is the king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The transformation framework One can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world-class organizations may have different nomenclature for the framework. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world-class performance. Organizations that resort to cost cutting initiatives cut the muscles and not the waste. Instead, what they should do is rather than attacking the muscles, they should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of obstacles Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost effective. Benefit analysis of the problem holds the key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. One should identify where the value is lost, identify their causes and rapidly act to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above-mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems, which lead to improving the current situation. As rightly said by Benjamin Franklin: “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly even in stormy weather. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering.  This article was originally published on Enterperneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Cultivating a Problem Solving Mindset](https://faberinfinite.com/cultivating-a-problem-solving-mindset-2/): A problem solving mindset is crucial in every walk of life. When a problem solving mindset is cultivated it brings the ability to understand the difference between actually solving the problem and, merely changing the nature of the problem. A problem solving mindset encompasses a range of skills and attributes which enables to find the most appropriate solution to implement, in order to bring about the desired change. As these skills are implemented and the organization gains confidence to use them, it becomes easy to deal with any problem that may arise, quicker and more effectively. As a consequence, it will improve the quality of the results that can be achieved in all the processes. The following action points are vital for cultivating a problem solving mindset and can lay the path towards critical thinking process: Goal identification: When an organization tries to solve a problem, it must first understand the true nature of the problem. Then, it must decide what solution to achieve i.e. what is the end goal of the problem solving process. Understanding the operational and organizational implications of the technology and how it aligns with the factory and its future vision is the most crucial element. To probe and act consequently: It is listening and, supporting that listening with questions and reflections, with the purpose of gathering as much information about the problem as possible. In this process of listening, people may often get confused about something that they have heard or, they may wish to learn a little more about something which was mentioned. This is the ideal time to ask a question or two, so that the problem can be probed a little further. To work on the solution which fits the situation best: Brainstorm a list of possible solutions. Different situations call for different solutions. Quite often what works in one situation, may not work in a similar one. Take time to determine what will work best for the problem at hand. It is impossible that a single solution will work for all problems. Take action:  Implement the final solution. Every problem has a solution; even if it is to accept the situation and move on. Instead of approaching problems and challenges as insurmountable obstacles, it can be viewed as an opportunity to refine critical thinking process and problem-solving skills. Thinking critically not only helps to handle future challenges more skillfully, but it also supports to broaden the perspective. Amplifying work output: With technological advances in engineering sector it has enabled manufacturers to deliver real-time information and guidance at the point of use. They perform complex tasks on the factory floor with use of simple tools like 5S and safety and others. These tools can simultaneously assess the accuracy and timing of these tasks, and notify the operator of quality risks. Written by Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Cultivating a problem solving mindset](https://faberinfinite.com/cultivating-a-problem-solving-mindset/): A problem solving mindset is crucial in every walk of life. When a problem solving mindset is cultivated it brings the ability to understand the difference between actually solving the problem and, merely changing the nature of the problem. A problem solving mindset encompasses a range of skills and attributes which enables to find the most appropriate solution to implement, in order to bring about the desired change. As these skills are implemented and the organization gains confidence to use them, it becomes easy to deal with any problem that may arise, quicker and more effectively. As a consequence, it will improve the quality of the results that can be achieved in all the processes. The following action points are vital for cultivating a problem solving mindset and can lay the path towards critical thinking process: Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [5 High Performance Management points for Problem Solving](https://faberinfinite.com/high-performance-management-for-problem-solving/): To run an organization perfectly without even facing a trivial problem or difficulty is a null hypothesis which never happens and is rather an exception. Problems keep mounting so fast that organizations try to take short cuts and find a temporary solution. On the contrary they should deal with everlasting solutions and implement it at the grass root level. This will help in solving the core problem permanently. The goal should be to minimize the occurrence of problems – which means the organization must be courageous enough to tackle them head-on before circumstances force our hand. Below are some action points craft a high performance management for problem solving: Clearly defining the problem As it is rightly said ‘A problem clearly stated is a problem half-solved’. Defining the problem is a primary and most important step. It simplifies the downstream process and conserves excessive time wastage occurring in cause identification. If not identified properly it may lead to predisposing the team to a particular solution without implementing root cause remedy. Collecting evidence and identifying Identifying the problem not only gives a clear path for implementation but also helps in gauging the benefits of solving it. It aids in analyzing the impact in terms of dollars, time, “product”, rework, processing time. Also it is followed by the activity of collecting evidences. Which helps to illustrate that whether the problem exists, its size and the enduring nature of it. Methodology to be used It encompasses a three step process which includes formulating an approach, when should the implementation be done and what should be the design. The best tool to facilitate a directional thinking is the Cause and Effect Diagram done by the people most knowledgeable and closest to the problem. Carry out the experimental test In the case of carrying out experimental test of action plans, where solutions have been worked up and agreed to by the organization, the “trial and error” techniques will be required to verify that the solutions are appropriate and effective. To trail this strategy, the prerequisite is to identify the dependent variable – the variable that the team is trying to impact through changes in cause factors. Measure effectiveness of action plan After all changes have been made and sufficient time has passed, the results of these changes should be analyzed, the team needs to go out and gather data on all of the measures of effectiveness. The data then calls for an analysis to check if a significant shift has occurred. This helps in reviewing the measure of effectiveness in alignment to organizational objectives. Precise, direct and clear communication is the key to dealing with most organizational problems. Once you discover a problem, it’s critical to take action instead of letting it get worse. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Crafting High Performance Management For Problem Solving](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-high-performance-management-for-problem-solving/): To run an organization perfectly without even facing a trivial problem or difficulty is a null hypothesis which never happens and is rather an exception. Problems keep mounting so fast that organizations try to take short cuts and find a temporary solution. On the contrary they should deal with everlasting solutions and implement it at the grass root level. This will help in solving the core problem permanently. The goal should be to minimize the occurrence of problems – which means the organization must be courageous enough to tackle them head-on before circumstances force our hand. Below are some action points craft a High Performance Management For Problem Solving: Precise, direct and clear communication is the key to dealing with most organizational problems. Once you discover a problem, it’s critical to take action instead of letting it get worse. Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Goal setting and policy deployment: Set it right from the start!](https://faberinfinite.com/goal-setting-and-policy-deployment-set-it-right-from-the-start/): Diversity of competitiveness in today’s market scenario makes it difficult to become an all-rounder in all facets of business. And with new ventures that is a requirement to wear multiple hats! However, the focus should be targeted towards creating your own niche without compromising on key factors. We shall be touching upon critical aspects for setting the correct goals and further translating it into actionable points for all the team  members on ground. 1)      Shifting the Business Paradigm The most important part is creating breakthrough experience, which allows the organization to shift from the current business paradigm and embrace a beneficial change. The concept of Blue Ocean Strategy, which involves creating an uncontested market space and makes the competition irrelevant, can throw good insights on the same. The identification of an opportunity which will help in adding value to the organization and demarcating how its offerings will be unique for the customers. Negating the competition gives a massive scope for continuous improvement. 2)      Identify the True Potential It helps in identifying and lining up the organization’s strategic goals (short term as well as long term). This step helps in prioritizing the focus directed towards a particular direction. Identifying true potential can mean defining the organizational value proposition in terms of the customers’ needs and wants. This is crucial not only to avoid another Kodak and Nokia of future but also to be of relevance in current scenarios. This path would be in alignment with the vision and mission of the organization. 3)      Goal Setting Exercise Goal setting in an organization acts as a key driver to motivate the team members and stake holders as well building a healthy culture. It acts as a light house guiding organizations to steer well against the tide and emerge as market leader to achieve exponential growth. The process of goal setting is a preliminary step and requires thinking of a company on a journey toward a specific destination. It will align all the key stakeholders and facilitate organization to find ‘The True Path’. 4)      Getting the Linkages Right Policy deployment acts as a foundation stone and ensures that all the three layers (strategic, tactical and operational) of any organization are in proper alignment with the goals. It helps in determining objectives of an organization and cements all functions together. To deploy the policies in an organization, it should be able to define broad level strategies and micro plans to achieve these goals. These steps gives clarity in terms of objectives for the real value adder on the ground and linkages can be built within various layers. The concept of LightHouse exercise is a simple yet powerful tool for getting the linkages right! 5)      Regular reviews Due to the changing dynamic forces of market place, the goal setting & deployment process should be accompanied with a robust review mechanism. It assists in assessing if the teams are progressing and moving in the right direction. This could be a potential answer to one of the most serious issues concerned to prioritizing. Asana has emerged to be an effective collaboration and task review tool. Regular reviews act as foundation for a transparent and objective performance management system for teams and individuals. These steps will help in considering all the major business aspects that affects business and helps in achieving goals. There is a necessity of a strong fabric, which bonds the team together so that they work in unison with a strong vision and mission. Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Enterperneur.com. Original link available – here
- [The One Thing required to revamp the transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/the-one-thing-required-to-revamp-the-transformation-journey/): Half of the journey is to arrive at a point from where the organizations actually begin the journey. This June Tuesday, as we have approached exactly midway of the year 2016, let us look back and take a stock of how much is achieved in this year. We are glad to share some concepts from the book “The One Thing” which will definitely boost your journey towards the goals as planned at the start of the year! Here are some action points to bring The One change for revamping the transformation Journey: Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [The One Thing required to revamp the Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/the-one-thing-required-to-revamp-the-transformation-journey-2/): Half of the journey is to arrive at a point from where the organizations actually begin the journey. This June Tuesday, as we have approached exactly midway of the year 2016, let us look back and take a stock of how much is achieved in this year. We are glad to share some concepts from the book “The One Thing” which will definitely boost your journey towards the goals as planned at the start of the year! Here are some action points to bring The One change for revamping the transformation Journey:  
- [Achieving Operational Excellence in Laboratory Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/achieve-operational-excellence-in-laboratory/): It goes without saying that, accurate clinical practices and laboratory testing services for proper output has to be standardized. It is necessary to be ensured about the quality testing as it is the base for any detailed treatment. The clinical laboratory accounts for the majority of health services in India. Though the advances in technology have kept improving in the present decade, but the delivery of those services still seems to be a debatable issue. The current developments and innovations will definitely improve the future of laboratories, but to make that transpire in future proper deployment of tools is quintessential. Laboratory practices, the medical specialty that deals with testing of specimens from patients and consulting with physicians who order the tests, has undergone major transformations during the last decade and preliminary step for all major treatments. The most challenging problem faced by the laboratories in terms of testing of specimens is timely organization and allocation of resources required to deliver apt results. A properly designed inventory management tool can help in eliminating the concerned issues. The services offered by clinical laboratories are transforming to get automated by each passing day. However, there are times when the laboratory is stuffed with samples during the time of peak loads. There are times when there are more samples to be tested in the morning shifts, but the capacity increases during other shifts during off peak hours. Enhanced efficiency, and as a consequence improved cost and quality, can be recognized through increased ‘operational excellence’ via various concepts like quick change over and load leveling tools like heijunka. Operational Excellence in Laboratory Improvement Though laboratory services occupy a small part of hospitals budget but they have a major influence in the critical decisions of the hospital. It helps in providing solutions through different tests which can avoid unnecessary hospital stay and also adds to the revenue of hospital. To ensure whether the criteria of safety and qualities have been fulfilled, NABL guidelines can definitely help. It stresses on continuous improvement and its implementation under the guideline# 4 which lays a strong emphasis on proper process improvement and management through various tools like process parameter monitoring, internal audits, quality of technical records etc. Almost every patient accesses the laboratory, so proper streamlining of diagnostic tools and protocols is required for the smooth functioning and to avoid cluttering. Guideline# 5 of NABL focuses on physical workplace management and proper information flow for optimal process flow and clutter-free work environment, leading to better availability and quality for diagnostic tests. Emphasis should be given towards reducing the process wastes (inefficiencies or Muda), quality enhancement via elimination of variability (Mura) and augmenting the usage of available material and machinery via error-proofing to reduce the chances of any accidental errors, mix ups, etc. All of the above requires a close association and culture building amongst the laboratory staff and clinical staff. The core lies in highlighting the needs and working towards patient-oriented healthcare. Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available – here
- [TRANSFORMATION via OPERATIONAL INNOVATION](https://faberinfinite.com/transformation-via-operational-innovation/): We take this opportunity to welcome our new readers and thank patron readers of Transformation Tuesday series for the overwhelming support! This Tuesday, we shall be talking about fascinating aspects of ‘Transformation via Operational Innovation.’ The prerequisite to be a progressive organization does not only include the strategy of lowering prices, because that alone would not work for sustenance of the organisation and in moving a leap forward towards higher profitability. It is an essential part to have a proper understanding and implementation of operational programs which enables the progressive section of the industry to build culture of continuous improvement, develop new ideas and better products with the help of existing resources and its optimum utilization. Its what Dell did to IBM and Toyota did to GM, finding unique operational innovation drivers. Below are few pointers for driving organizational transformation via Operational Innovation:
- [Improve top-line, because it is life-line for any business](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-top-line-because-it-is-life-line-for-any-business/): With the increasing interest of people to create their own space and to start up, it is important to pick up the key tricks of the trade. For a start-up which has just entered the market or is trying to come up with a new venture consisting of certain services or product the most important factor is not only to be of relevance but survive as well! Simple yet fundamental element for survival is sustained increase in sales and revenue. Revenues which indicates the top line growth of the organisation is the main concern of any business owner/ investor as it is the first indicator of health of the business. Revenue growth will also point towards the effectivity of various strategies deployed. Below are six actionable steps for improving and building the top-line: 1. Segment & Target Segmenting the market with target group and building a robust campaign creating awareness about the offerings of the organisation for the target group which are the prospective customers or in near future may turn out to be the most impeccable segment. Using as many mediums as possible and measuring the hit ratio for each should be the next logical step. 2. Deploy strategy deployment tool With the vision in mind and enlisting various strategies from market to technology to new offerings, checking the deployment with appropriate strategy deployment tools like LightHouse Exercise or XY matrix, etc. It shall keep you and your team in charge of things and focused on the right things to be done at right time! 3. Be nimble Customer choices are dynamic in today’s environment so the organisations need to tweak their strategies and campaigns based on the consumer’s range of demand. In the present scenario owing to the ferociously competitive market, the key to increase or maintain sales is to focus on reaching out to the buyers and customising as per consumers preferences. 4. Run the feedback loop, frequently Any innovative start up should be able to encompass a variety of offerings, it is quite necessary to increase the landscape of touch points with the customers which includes strong feedback loop, on-line technical support, others. It gives you the power to be on top of things, to be responsive and not reactive! 5. Wear the Salesman hat, all the time This requires flexibility of taking multiple roles. Having said that, don’t deny the importance of sharpness and sticking to core roles. However, the core team should not constraint themselves to work in a single domain, and should be able to permeate into different roles, specifically business creation role (which includes sales, marketing and branding)! 6. Incremental growth over long leaps It is true that growth leads to more growth, which leads to even more growth and large leaps have its importance. But it is also truer that ‘small things can turn into large things!’ Incremental growth can be aspired and achieved on daily (or hourly) basis, unlike spurts and spikes of sales which are irregular and difficult to manage. At the closing, would touch upon an additional step, ‘stay hungry, stay foolish!’ (as one of the book says). A start up should not be satisfied with borderline return of investment and experiment to scale up! Written by: Faber Aakash Borse & Faber Devna Chaturvedi Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering.  This article was originally published in Entrepreneur.com . Original link available – here    
- [Five Actionable Points to build Productive Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/five-actionable-points-to-build-productive-organizations/): For each and every business setup the importance of organising is crucial because as quoted by Benjamin Franklin, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” The most powerful trait of a successful business setup is proper organisation to increase the productivity. The only way to accomplish things in a better way is by finding ways to make the most out of the precious time. Below are five actionable points to build productive organisations: Harnessing time: In any business environment, it is quite essential to identify the amount of work done twice, so that it can be eliminated to increase the productive efficiency of the business organization. It doesn’t mean that mistakes should not be corrected because in a working environment there could be lot of double work, but it is necessary to address the number of unnecessary activities occurring. To design a plan of work for daily activities: The most brilliant activity done by productive people is to plan the activities. They create a proper plan of work required to guide them. It ensures the amount of productivity you will be able to serve the organization. This consists of three important steps pre-planning the calendar of work followed by working it out, which also requires the negation of one of the worst habits called Procrastination. Break the monotony: Assigning the same set of work to the employee, not only strengthens his/her skills but on the contrary it also becomes dull and drab in due course of time. So, it is necessary to break the monotony by rotation of people in different departments and assigning people new tasks and exposure to other divisions. This adds to their learning and helps them get a holistic view of the business. Refuse if necessary: When there are already a lot of commitments in place, you should have the ability to say no. This shows your seriousness and dedication towards existing commitments and also gives the opportunity to successfully complete them. The more difficulty a person faces in saying no, the more likely he/she will experience stress, burnout, and even depression. Continuous Improvement: Conducting meetings and discussions regarding current trends helps in expanding the horizon of understanding and helps to discover a new path to achieve remarkable results. It helps individuals to commit themselves in improving their knowledge and understanding throughout their careers also, employees are delighted when they can enhance their skills and get additional learning opportunities.      
- [7 key ingredients required for a sustainable transformation journey](https://faberinfinite.com/7-key-ingredients-required-for-a-sustainable-transformation-journey/): There has been a tremendous change in the way organization work owing to the technological changes and market dynamics. It becomes essential that the people, process, organization and other dimensions are required to align with the business goals. Changing organization systems, human behaviour, and culture takes time and requires persistent efforts. Primarily, driven by the top management and it is absolutely essential to be followed by several behaviour assessments to gauge the current standpoint and focused efforts by the team. 7 key ingredients required for a sustainable transformation journey: Aligning the transformation to business goals: It is indispensable to follow an appropriate organisational change management plan focused towards larger vision in mind. It requires the acclimatization of people to destination and their roles in the journey so it becomes easier to adapt to new attitudes and behaviours.  Keeping  a strategic approach: Operational and tactical supervising of the organizational transformation journey with the help of a strategic approach is crucial to implement new ideas and initiatives. It is necessary to map the bigger picture for understanding the flow of transition from the present state to that of future.  Learnings from the past: It’s impossible to anticipate every change or obstacle the business will face, because in today’s dynamic environment choices tend to change quite frequently. However, it might come handy for organisations to study past trends (like seasonal/ cyclic effects, shortcomings, etc.) and be prepared in advance. Framework for Transformation: Designing a robust framework requires in depth analysis as well as detailed picture to understand the implications of transformation execution. Customers are clearly the most important stakeholder for any organization, and it is essential to design the framework according to the requirements. Feedback oriented action loop: To ensure efficacy of strategy and execution plan, implementation in pilot phases and seeking feedback is helpful, before deploying it across the organization. This would provide deep insights about the challenges and functioning. The importance of feedback is to priortise the consumers and employees by engaging in interactive discussion. Anxiety redressal: Equipping the transformation agents with right skills and resources addresses deterrents like anxiety and frustration in the team. It is the anxiety which is real cause for resistance to any new concept or change. Skills and resources may refer to the elements like training on tools/ concepts and pre-allocation of resources, etc.  Motivate the players: Having the correct incentive for the key contributors in the journey, is another necessary aspect for the transformation sustenance. Linking the organizational goals to the individual performance and aspirations is real driver to overcome the resistance. Better the understanding and fit, more are the chances of successful transformation! 
- [Lets work towards a fab world!](https://faberinfinite.com/lets-work-towards-a-fab-world/): With the upsurge of concerns regarding environmental issues, organizations have started establishing sustainability targets and goals not only for sustenance but also as a moral obligation to align themselves towards their duty for the environment. Sustainability is not only restricted to reducing the impact of industrial and commercial activities on the environment, it can help businesses to become more robust, save on costs and give a distinct competitive edge to industries. Sustainable approach can help various businesses to effectively increase their triple-bottom-line growth which includes environmental, social and economic factors, which is in addition to technological variables. Technological Variables Sustainable development needs to consider the effect of technology on environment as well as the society. The technology variables seem to have contrasting affects, on one hand it is improvising the standard of living but on the contrary it leads to emission of hazardous radiations, resource depletion etc. There have been continuous efforts striving to focus on cleaning technologies rather than developing clean technology. The process technologies used currently should be regulated to reduce the amount of waste produced pertaining to raw materials and energy while the manufacturing of goods. Economic Variables Economic sustainability is an upcoming concept; it refers to market allocation of resources, sustained levels of growth and consumption. The organisation and its capacity to use the available resources optimally, so that the company functions effectively and also it is able to maximize profit returns. Economic variables should be such that it helps in regulating the present consumption levels without compromising future needs. Environmental Variables It represents the measurement of natural resources and also it reflects the potential influence to its viability. It incorporates air and water quality, to limit energy consumption and help in its preservation, proper management of solid and toxic waste which also includes electronic waste. Priority should be given to harness the available land to increase its productivity. Organisations should focus on the use of solar energy and other forms of energy rather than depleting the scantly available natural resources. Social Variables The dire need of improving standard of life followed by increased life expectancy is one of the key issues that needs to be addressed. The human rights concern is flared to include such considerations as the impact on local communities, the health and welfare of employees and a more thorough examination of a company’s supply chain. The testing of products on animals to the welfare of animals bred for the food market, concern about the welfare of animals is being contemplated extensively. At the closure, it is necessary to mention that the above four variable elements are addressed by the Lean and Green approach of Faber Infinite described here. Like the Lean wastes and tools, the Green waste and respective green concepts are need of the hour today. Team Faber Infinite is committed towards environment and supports the cause of Lean and Green! This world environment day, let us pledge to work towards creating a fab world! Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Operational Excellence Concepts paving way for NABH](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-concepts-paving-way-for-nabh/): Precise delivery of qualitative healthcare services is one of the inevitable concerns which the hospitals have been trying to deal with. There are various anomalies owing to the upsurge of population followed by various inhibitors changing disease profile/ re-emerging diseases, lack or absence of infrastructure, paucity of experts (Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics), inaccessibility of healthcare services, lack of safety measures. Further there is a necessity for building up quality and safety initiatives pervading health care.  Although there is an extensive expansion occurring in the healthcare industry but the expansion is not equivalent to match the appropriate standards. The effective implementation of policies and proper enforcement of standards needs to be effected. There has been a set of guidelines to maintain various operating standards at hospitals and healthcare service providers by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH). It has been setup with the vision to establish and operate accreditation programme for healthcare organizations. Similar framework for quality control and standard guidelines of laboratories is called the NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories). These guidelines shall aid in effective and better operations in healthcare industry or hospitals. In any hospital, having implemented operating standards shall ensure effective, safe, patient-centred, timely, efficient, and equitable functioning. The guidelines in the standard reflect on two major aspects of healthcare delivery i.e. patient centered functions and healthcare organization centered functions. One of the important cornerstones of framework is continuous improvement – to have a positive impact in improving care and service delivery, which also happens to be the foundation of Operational Excellence (OE) framework as well. OE concepts, when deployed, leads to continual improvement environment in hospitals, on top of ensuring utmost care in delivering clinical services. OE concepts addresses various guidelines such as orienting clinical staff members on operational excellence, quality management, continual improvement, manpower productivity improvement, physical workplace and process improvement. Guidline #6 of NABH, stresses on  identifying and eliminating root causes via Problem Solving Mechanisms to improve internal – external systems & processes. Further providing appropriate and timely medication is crucial to meet patients’ needs within safety and security controls. This safeguards judicious treatment and eludes any uncertain situation pertaining to medication. Medication management as discussed in the earlier posts aids in addressing Medication Management guideline #3. Quality health care ultimately encompasses the desired health outcomes and also requires consistent improvement of the existing management and infrastructure. Similarly more than half a dozen guidelines like Hospital Infection Control, Facility Management and Safety, etc can directly be addressed by proven Operational Excellence concepts. The crux lies in the proper implementation of various solutions which needs to be customized as per the requirement. Needless to mention that the patients are the biggest beneficiaries, however these tools and standards also aid in receiving desired results, higher efficiencies and returns for the institution and helps to set benchmarks for progress of the health care industry. These practices and standards are accredited by International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQ) and can further boost medical tourism as well. It is not only requirement of tomorrow but demand of today as well! Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available – here
- [KEY DRIVERS FOR SUCCESSFUL BRAINSTORMING EXERCISE](https://faberinfinite.com/key-drivers-that-lead-to-a-successful-brainstorming-exercise/): Brainstorming is one of the key drivers leading to a chain reaction of ideas. In this Tuesday article, we share 5 key drivers for leading a successful brainstorming exercise. Certainly groups are not indispensable to stimulate creative thinking. Furthermore, in a group everyone should listen to others and invest time repeating own ideas to get sufficient attention. The outlines for a successful brainstorming exercise are i) developing a central idea, ii) fleshing it, and iii) the residing idea can be revitalized with the help of other teammates. The idea has to pass through various strata so that it can turn out be an innovative one. It is always possible to newly analyse the output of a brainstorming session in a second group, to try to improve solutions even with other tools – even more conventional. It is crucial that the ideas generation phase is disjointed from the judgment phase of thinking.
- [Efficiency Improvement via Time and Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-via-time-motion-study/): As per the book definition, time and motion study is the scientific study of conservation of human resources – in the search for the most efficient method of doing a task. It helps in analyzing and improving the time taken for various operations in organizations. Though being one of the most fundamental and traditional methods, it still acts as one of the most important and effective technique of dealing with the productivity challenges of any organization. In this blog, we will talk about the Efficiency Improvement via Time and Motion Study. Faber Infinite has deployed Time and Motion study as a tool for improving situations at several client sites. It has helped organizations to deliver optimum results at minimum costs with the help of Time and Motion Study. The benefits delivered with the use of Time and Motion Study for one of our esteemed clients have been phenomenal and well received by the client. The details of it are shared further. Time and Motion Study was conducted for one of our clients dealing in the Compressors and Industrial, Mining and Rock Excavation, Construction Equipments, etc. A detailed study was conducted to get through the root cause of the problem, with the objective of improving the manpower productivity. The improvement in Manpower Productivity was conducted via following key drivers: – Analysing all activities and arriving  at standard time of each activity – Identifying NVAs (Non value adding activities)  and providing recommendations for eliminating NVAs for future practices – Providing systematic review aimed towards line balancing activities The exercise helped client organizations to improve by 33% in terms of production output. Another client in engineering sector achieved 33% savings in material flow with modified layout and 16% reduction in total work content. This study (Time and Motion study) helps to improve the production techniques with ease. And Increases labor productivity, and efficiency improvement, all of which results in cost and wastage reduction. Though elementary in nature, Time and Motion study outlines the groundwork and facilitates to arrive at better capacity realization and robust planning system. The success stories and case studies for Time and Motion Study are plenty, and it is here to stay for long. Time and motion study could be one of the answers for building competitiveness for organizations and overall industry! PS: Further details on Time & Motion Study and case studies are available on request. Ready to revolutionize your operations with enhanced efficiency? Fill out the form below and unlock the power of time and motion study to streamline your processes. Take the first step towards maximizing productivity and achieving optimal performance! Written by: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [INITIATIVES FOR ANY ORGANIZATION TO BE A CHANGE LEADER](https://faberinfinite.com/initiatives-for-any-organization-to-be-a-change-leader/): It’s no secret that business and the way that organizations operate have changed over the last two decades and is dynamic. Change is not always embraced with open arms by employees, managers or business owners. Designing strategic and operational plans for a business is an inevitable process and keeps on changing in due course of time as the external factors change and keep influencing the internal factors and vice versa. Organizations that have a formal planning process often assign a team of people to create and manage the plans. Changes in the team from its leader to any one of the participants can affect planning efforts. All teams go through standard and expected changes as they grow and mature – forming, norming, storming and performing, according to psychologist Bruce Tuckman’s business model. There should be elements differentiating an organisation from the rest, the zeal and the commitment to always come up with evolving and embracing change. Below are key initiatives for any organization to be a Change Leader:
- [Successful Medicine Inventory Management](https://faberinfinite.com/successful-patient-care-through-medicine-inventory-management/): The cost of healthcare has been increasing rapidly. Healthcare providers, clinics, hospitals are under pressure to reduce cost at the same time improve service and patient safety, reduce waiting time, minimize errors and optimize the use of available resources. A multi-pronged approach can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable and patient oriented care. One of the major challenges in the healthcare industry is to ensure that required supplies are readily available in right quantity at the right time. An effective and efficient Inventory Management system needs to be in place. Operational Excellence (OE) can be deployed in variety of process improvement & change management approaches to increase operational efficiency. The ultimate objective is to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. Several tools & concepts of OE, Inventory Management, Five S, Demand leveling (Also known as heijunka), etc can lead to dramatic improvement. The inefficiencies in the inventory management system are a major barrier to excellence. Implementation of OE concepts can help address several issues concerning inventory management in healthcare industry. Inventory Management in Healthcare Industry Scientifically calculated inventory levels can lead to improvement in medicine inventory management to avoid stock outs and over stocking Reduction in stock taking time Huge cost savings in inventory carrying costs To tackle the issues in inventory management some of the concepts of OE that can be used include: Five S (physical workplace improvement), inventory level balancing, automation and technology. Five S is a key foundation for reducing wasteful activities and one of the fundamental principles of efficient environment and effective material management system which assists in easy storage and retrieval systems also avoiding chances of mix up. Inventory Level Balancing is the process of matching stock levels to actual demand. Instead of using gut feeling to determine right amount of inventory, this method uses actual consumption data as well as projections for future demand. Historical data for 12 months is studied for identifying patterns and next 12 months demand projections are used to arrive at the right inventory levels. Based on the data analysis, the inventory levels are scientifically calculated via Inventory management modules which not only help in reducing inventory carrying costs but aids in ensuring no stock outs of life saving drugs and no over stocking to avoid expiry or near to expiry scenarios. Savings thus made, worth millions, can be utilized to treat more patients. Inventory Management Techniques/tools With efficient inventory management techniques and tools, storage space which is a critical fixed asset can be freed up. Space management can also help to reduce the controlled environment expenses associated with storage of specific medicines or drugs. Inventory can be planned and worked up to highest level of accuracies taking into consideration the variations or uncertainties in demand and supply up to 2 to 3 Sigma levels, based on the criticality of the medicine. This can also further be integrated to online modules for easy management and close controls. Proper medical inventory management within healthcare systems is crucial for successful patient care. Today what healthcare systems need is just in time inventory management systems that can achieve efficiency in the operations through adoption of technology, standards, proven Operational Excellence models and methodologies. About Jalay Pandya Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published in Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available – here
- [HOW TO MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-maintain-a-positive-attitude/): Being in business is very similar to going on a roller coaster ride; there will be plenty of ups and downs. We will all encounter bad times, success, failure etc. The key is to understand it’s not what happens to you that matters; it’s how you choose to react or respond that matters. Your attitude influences your existing and potential customers, your employees, your suppliers, your investors and all those you come into contact with. If you maintain a positive attitude, it will be infectious and those around you will pick up on your positive energy. Everyone in your organization will feel positive and customers will want to do business with you. With a positive approach you will feel in control and confident and you will perform at your best, whereas a negative approach will damage your confidence, harm your performance, paralyze your mental skills and may also impact your health. However taking a positive approach is not enough on its own. You also need to be realistic about the economic environment and market conditions. It is critical that you focus on making sure your business is in the best shape to withstand the downturn and maximize the short and longer term performance of the business. This may be by improving productivity, enhancing customer service, changing your marketing activity, maximizing your repeat business, developing a new product or service, training staff or reviewing your cost base. Following are some insights on How to maintain positive attitude in Business:
- [Business is Great](https://faberinfinite.com/business-is-great/)
- [TRICK YOURSELF INTO BREAKING A BAD HABIT](https://faberinfinite.com/trick-yourself-into-breaking-a-bad-habit/): We all have them – bad habits that we wish we did not have and we feel pessimistic about getting rid of them. Whatever bad the habit is, it takes conscious effort and smart planning to break the cycle. By consciously making an effort to create a new routine to replace the bad habit that offers no real reward, you’ll soon shift into a new habit that makes you happier and fills your brain with all the right reasons. Here are some common tactics for tricking yourself into changing: So go ahead break bad habits replace them with new and more effective habits to enjoy a more productive way of living. To read further details, please click here.  
- [LEAP Forward for Family Managed Businesses](https://faberinfinite.com/family-managed-business-challenges/): Farms are the earliest form of family managed business. Today family managed businesses (FMB) are considered as significant and important part of the world economy. Every business organization has a unique set of challenges associated with them. The FMB is no different. A well known saying about FMB states – “Father, founder of the company, son rich, and grandson poor”. Research also suggests that 13% of family business in India survives to 3rd generation and only 4% survive to 4th generation. These numbers are startling! In some FMB, control of daily operations is a problem. In others, a high turnover rate among non-family members is a problem. In still other companies, growth is a problem because some family members are unwilling to put profits back into the business. Reasons are plenty; let us look at few of the challenges prevalent in the industry: – Absence of clear policies and business standards – Lack of outsider view on operations in the business – Absence of strategic planning – Lack of long term planning – Lack of well defined organizational structure and hierarchy – Lack of skilled talent in the family – Lack of succession planning – No well defined training modules for new family members that enter business – Lack of good management practices. There is a lot of influence by certain family members and traditions – Resistance to ideas and change proposed by young members – Lack of proper vision/ mission/ goal All the above-mentioned issues in FMB are nothing but a unique set of management related issues that stem from the overlap of family and business concerns. Strategic planning around both business and family goals is vital to successful family business. Since most of the conflict arises due to disparity in business and family goals, planning is required to align these goals and formulate a strategy to achieve the organizational goal. In this planning process, the management should analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the organization in relation to its environment, including its organizational structure, culture, and resources. The next stage should involve identifying opportunities for the company to pursue, given its strengths, and threats for the company to manage, given its weaknesses. Finally, the planning process should conclude with the creation of a mission statement, a set of objectives, and a set of strategies and specific action steps to meet the objectives and support the mission. A professional framework and approach can be a tremendous asset while confronting planning issues. The need to have a robust management platform and a well-defined roadmap to reach desired goals is vital. The business goals also need to be further linked to individual tasks and targets through a performance management system. It should also include highly capable and skilled leadership from within and outside the family. A well laid out organization structure will help make an efficient decision making system thus avoiding confusion in the system. People Alignment coupled with elements of focus on aspects of Strategy, Operations and Design will drive success for FMB. Resistance to change is another major roadblock that needs to be addressed. The goal should be to establish an organizational transformational framework that supports continuous improvement.  Linking the appropriate execution plan to the strategy and implementing the same, is where the core FMB team should focus as well. The ultimate goal of the family and business should be to create an improved work environment that is customer centered, flexible, efficient, and affordable. The rewards of a family-owned business are many as are the challenges. The key to success will be having right people at right place, right implementation strategy and a robust management information system. Those who manage the family business should enjoy the business to the fullest and success will come their way.  The sense of passion for the business should be passed on when the time comes for handing over the lead. Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. Faber Infinite Consulting with its customized transformation framework has assisted and created tremendous value for Family Managed Businesses in India as well as in African region.
- [In Conversation with IIFL](https://faberinfinite.com/interview-of-aakash-borse-iifl-leader-speak/): Aakash Borse, Director, Faber Infinite Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd, holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Mechanical Engineering. Aakash brings in rich of experience working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence and Management Consulting in Asia, Africa and Middle East. Aakash has led and worked on several consulting projects at a number of organizations, including few major public sector assignments. His skills have been utilized to improve and establish new business/ operations practices across several sectors. He has also led Organizational Design solutions and rollout for businesses across various sectors and geographies. He has been engaged as Transformation Program Manager, Strategic Initiative Manager and Business Creation Director at Faber Infinite. Faber Infinite is a management consultancy based out of Pune, Ahmedabad and Baroda and operating internationally. Though it’s a startup, Faber Infinite has carved a niche and is emerging with its unique management strategies and made a substantial and profound difference in the businesses of its clients within no time. Faber Infinite, a specialist into 360 degree transformation and improvement of clients, people & communities. A specialist into Lean Management, Strategy development, People development and organization design. Replying to Yash Ved of IIFL, Aakash Borse says “Our future plan is to increase our non-consulting revenue three- fold by end of next financial year.” Brief us about your business model?  Faber Infinite Consulting (part of Faber Infinite Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd) is one of the finest global management consulting and capacity building organizations with expertise in helping our client organizations to implement Transformation (Change) Management systems in order to become more effective, efficient and flexible. Faber Infinite is closely working with clientele across India, Africa & Middle East. Team Faber Infinite is supporting clients spread across various industry segments in designing innovative strategies and improving operations. We are not mere boardroom consultants but take pride in calling ourselves at ‘Blue Collared Consultants’ and work on the real workplace to implement the solutions. What is your revenue model? The revenue comes from three major streams: A. Consulting, which has various revenue models based on the nature and scope of the work. Professional fees could be calculated on fixed project fees, milestone based, combination of fixed and performance linked or fees based on the effort (consulting input) involved In the transformation journey, the consulting services support clients in achieving benefits from designing right strategies to implementing it for leadership, improvements and sustenance. Faber Infinite takes traditional consulting a step further. Acting as more than just an advisor, we work right alongside the client team and get our hands dirty so that client receives detailed information on where to go next, how long it will take and what the ROI is. We leverage Transformation and Continual Improvement tools and processes through our ‘Model for Excellence through 360 Degree Transformation’ to drive flexibility, control and responsiveness. The goal must be, designing and doing the right things by right methods with speed and agility as well as doing more with less, starting with harnessing the intelligence and creativity of each and every employee. B. Training – In-house / Open programs, Employee Training and Development is essential to the ongoing success of every organization. Employee training and development enables employees to develop skills and competencies necessary to enhance top line & bottom-line results for the organization. We work with the leadership team to identify training needs, and to design, develop, deliver, and evaluate employee training and development programs to meet the company’s strategic objectives. C. Benchmarking Exercises for our clients is another offering in our kitty, which helps clients to determine how they are faring and what other best in class organizations are doing. Our team is also working on the Software and IoT offerings to be launched soon. What are the plans going ahead? Further to our philosophy, where People are at the core of any business, we intend to expand our consulting portfolio by focusing on “People Excellence”. Our future plan is to sharpen our offering basket in vocation training business along with touching organizational behavior elements. We have signed up MoUs with Government of Gujarat and Universities in Africa to build on the capacity development and capability building aspects. We share collective vision of Zero Defects and Zero Effects to make India competitive and assist in realizing dream of ‘Make In India’. In addition, our technology solutionsare fetching good traction from African markets. It will address the big gap in planning and execution needs of the industry and also offer emerging concepts of Internet of Things. Our next steps would be inculcating IoT into our technology offerings for better sustenance at client ends. We are working to integrate technology offerings as part of organizational transformation offerings. Our future plan is to increase our non-consulting revenue 3 fold by end of next financial year. We want to craft solutions for clients, craft teams to work on the solutions and in turn craft great organization, which offers growth solutions to our clients, and all the stakeholders. What will be your focus area going forward? Potential is huge, with developing countries as well as developed countries. There is no end to improvement and change. We intend to scale up the venture at fast pace, which includes expanding presence in Central & West Africa, Middle East and explore south East Asia. Which will also require increasing the team strength to around 50 members in the consulting team and total team of around 100 members! Prospects are good with campaigns like Make in India, Zero Defects and Zero Effect, etc call for need of expert solutions providers to support the initiatives. Market indices are promising and we look to support in building competitiveness across regions. We look to add 2 new countries to our reach every financial year. Next 3 years, our technology offerings should contribute substantially and in the core consulting offerings we foresee 10 times growth considering the robust pipeline of inquiries and leads. Currently all our hands are full with orders and
- [Making the Most from Healthcare Resources](https://faberinfinite.com/making-the-most-from-healthcare-resources/): Waits, delays and cancellations are so common in healthcare industry that patients assume that waiting is an unavoidable part of the system. For years hospitals have been responding to delays by adding more resources – more beds and building or more staff. But it is not the only way to the deal with the increasing demand. Further as long as the payment for services cover the cost, more staff and more construction lead to more inefficiency in the system. Not all healthcare organizations can afford this solution. Moreover recent research on assessing the reasons for delays suggests that adding resources is not the only answer. In several cases delays are not a resource problem but they are problems relating to efficiency and utilization. The solution is straightforward – use medical resources more appropriately. In any hospital, the Operation Theatre (OT) is said to be one of the primary source of revenue generation with around 50-60 % of the revenue earned and also represents an area of considerable expenditure in a hospital budget, which calls for maximum utilization to ensure optimum cost-benefit. Hence OT utilization is one of the areas of attention for many. Also, case cancellations on the day of surgery, due to suboptimal utilization of theatre time, is a well-recognized problem in hospitals, ranging from 10% to 40% across different health care systems worldwide, more than 50% of which could potentially be avoided. There has been increasing interest in improving turnaround time for OTs via various operational excellence practices to shorten the preparation and other non-value adding (Muda in Lean terminology) times. To assess OT utilization, a study of utilization of available resource hours via Swim Lane Process Mapping is an important tool. Such a study indicates the factors that need to be improved for optimal utilization of the available operating time. Variability (Mura in Lean terminology) of case duration also makes it difficult to predict the actual utilization. Even for routine operations, actual case time is uncertain. Each patient is different, and the actual time for a given operation cannot be predicted. If scheduling of cases is done according to the available resource hours and communication between pre-operative personnel, i.e. patients, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists etc., is improved, the efficiency of OTs can be improved. Additional audits similar to this are required to critically analyze the utilization of available resource hours, keeping in mind the variability of case-mix. Another important aspect is better utilization of the personnel resources in the hospital be it surgeons, nurses or anesthesiologists. Time is physician’s most important resource. Harnessing time by creating workflows and processes can boost physician and staff productivity, increase revenue and improve patient care. It starts with putting detailed processes in place that physicians and employees can turn to when navigating challenges, allowing each practice member to do the work they are trained to do, and freeing up the physician to do what he or she does best: treat patients. It can be improved by increasing the value adding elements. A change is needed in the way healthcare is delivered. The key in the change is process optimization. This requires a close alignment between the healthcare process, healthcare organizations and information about the patient. However, current organizational structures and information systems offer only sub-optimal support. Emphasis needs to shift from a physician-oriented, intra-departmental view towards a patient-oriented, end-to-end health chain view. The need of the industry is optimization of processes and resources. Improving operations and efficiency will not only help the patients but could unlock the largest potential source of income for the organization. Written by: Faber Mayuri Pandya Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting,with operations in Asia Pacific,Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Managementwith her 1st degree being in IT Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available here.
- [फेबर इन्फनिट... परिपूर्ण मॅनेजमेन्ट सोल्युशन](https://faberinfinite.com/%e0%a4%ab%e0%a5%87%e0%a4%ac%e0%a4%b0-%e0%a4%87%e0%a4%a8%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%ab%e0%a4%a8%e0%a4%bf%e0%a4%9f-%e0%a4%aa%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%bf%e0%a4%aa%e0%a5%82%e0%a4%b0%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%a3-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a5%85/): थ्री इंडियट या सिनेमात अभियांत्रिकी शाखेत शिकत असलेल्या तीन मित्रांची गोष्ट दाखवण्यात आलीय. सिनेमात एक संदेशही देण्यात आलाय ‘कामयाब नही, काबील बनो, कामयाबी अपने आप आपके पिछे दोडते हुए आएगी.’ रंचो शामलदास छांछड, राजू रस्तोगी आणि फरहान कुरेशी या तीन मित्रांची गोष्ट अनेकांच्या आयुष्याला कलाटणी देऊन गेली. काबील बनण्यासाठी प्रत्येकजण धडपडू लागला. आपल्या आसपास जे घड़तं तेच सिनेमातून येतं. आणि जेव्हा सिनेमात ते दिसतं त्याचा परिणाम जास्त व्यापक होतो. फेबर इन्फनिटच्या बाबतीतही असंच घडलंय. इंजिनियरींग केलेल्या तीन मित्रांनी यंत्रांच्या जगात न जाता व्यवस्थापनाचा मार्ग निवडला. जास्त ‘काबील’ बनण्यासाठी. आता फेबर इन्फनिटची व्याप्ती जगभर पसरली आणि जेव्हा हे तीन मित्र म्हणजेच विशाल कुलकर्णी, जलय पांडा आणि आकाश बोरसे मागे वळून पाहतात तेव्हा त्यांना आपण खरंच काबील बनण्याच्या मार्गावर खूप पुढे आल्याचं जाणवतं. फेबर इन्फनिट ही मॅनेजमेन्ट कन्सल्टींग कंपनी आहे. २०१२ मध्ये या तीन मित्रांनी ही कंपनी सुरु केली आणि गेल्या चार वर्षात या कंपनीनं आपले पंख जगभरात पसरवले. फेबर म्हणजे लॅटीन भाषेत कारागिरी किंवा कसब. फक्त बोर्डरुम सोल्युशन न देता कंपनीचा सर्वांगिण विकास करण्यासाठी ही कंपनी काम करते. क्लायंटची क्षमता लक्षात घेता त्याच्या व्यवस्थापनाच्या योजनांची आखणी करुन विकास आणि नव्या क्षेत्रातल्या त्याच्या वाटचालीची दिशा ठरवणं म्हणजे क्लायंटची कारागिरी करणं. आणि इन्फनिट म्हणजे अगणित… यशाच्या मार्गावर सतत कार्यरत राहण्यासाठी क्लायंटला सर्वतोपरी मदत करणे म्हणजे त्याच्या मोठ्या यशाचा मार्ग तयार करणे. फेबर म्हणजे कारागिरी आणि इन्फनिट म्हणजे अगणित या दोन्ही शब्दांना एकत्र आणून फेबर इन्फनिटची स्थापना झाली. फेबर इन्फनिटचं महत्त्वाचं कार्य म्हणजे क्लायंटची परिणामकारक, प्रभावी प्रगती साधणं आणि यात ते यशस्वीही झालेत. या तीनही मित्रांनी इंजिनियरींग संपल्यावर व्यवस्थापनाचा मार्ग पत्करला. कंपनीची स्थापना केल्यानंतर कामाची विभागणीही करण्यात आली. या तिघांपैकी दोघेजण जगभरात पसरलेल्या आपल्या क्लायंटला मार्गदर्शन  करतात तर तिसरा संयुंक्त ऱाष्ट्र संघासोबत काम करुन  पूर्व अफ्रिकेत कंपनीच्या विस्ताराची धुरा सांभाळत आहे. विशाल कुलकर्णी यांनी सांगितलं की आम्ही आमच्या क्लायंटला संपूर्ण सोल्यूशन देतो. कंसल्टंसी हा परिपूर्ण पर्याय नाही. होय तो महत्वाचा आहे. पण आजच्या जगात आमच्या क्लायंटला पूर्णपणे विस्तार करायला मदत करणं हे आमचं ध्येय आहे. आणि ते साधण्यात आम्ही यशस्वी झालोय हे महत्वाचं आहे. असं आम्हाला वाटतंय. आम्ही आमच्या कंपनीचा पुढच्या १५ वर्षांचा आराखडा बनवलाय. त्यानुसार आमची वाटचाल सुरु आहे. सध्या फेबर इन्फनिटचं लक्ष हे टीअर  टू टीअर थ्री शहरातले उद्योजक आहेत. ज्यांनी आपला व्यवसाय सुरु केला. एक ध्येय गाठलंही आता त्याचा विस्तार आणि कॉर्पोरेट मॅनेजमेन्टमध्ये फेबर इन्फनिट मदत करतेय. “ या शहरातल्या उद्योजकांमध्ये सकारात्मकता आहे. एकूणच पुढे जाण्याची धडपड आहे. ते कुठे कमी पडतायत याची पडताळणी आम्ही करतो आणि त्यानुसार त्यांच्या कंपनीच्या पुढच्या वाटचालीची आखणी करुन देतो.” जयल पंड्या सांगत होते. कंपनी छोटी असो वा मोठी तिच्या प्रगतीसाठी, सर्वांगिण विकासासाठी उद्योजक दिवसरात्र मेहनत करत असतात. त्यांची ही मेहनत थोडीशी सुकर करण्याचा फेबर इन्फनिटचा प्रयत्न आहे. कंपनीची सध्या देशात पुणे अहमदाबाद आणि बडोदा अशा तीन ठिकाणी कार्यालयं आहेत. १० जणांचा स्टाफ सतत कार्यरत असतो. कंपनीचा विस्तार भारताबाहेर केनिया, गल्फ, टांझानिया, युगांडा आणि झांबीयामध्ये झालाय. Published By YourStory. Article available here. 
- [Healthcare: Operational Excellence and Growth Strategies](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-healthcare/): A multipronged approach that puts patients and healthcare. The heart of performance transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable, patient-oriented, and physician-friendly care. Healthcare Operational Excellence uses a variety of process improvement and change management concepts.  And approaches to increase operational efficiency and improving care quality. Because waits and delays are so common in health care, patients and providers assume that waiting is unassumingly part of the care process. But studies and work on assessing the reasons for delays suggests otherwise. With enhanced patient flow, timely and efficient flow of patients through important care settings can be offered. There have been cases in India where teams have been working on typical and rampant issue of long queues and waiting times at the Outdoor Patient Departments (OPD). With concepts like Swim lane Process Mapping (another variation of Value Stream Mapping) the team was able to achieve 20 to 30% reduction in average time spent at the OPD by improving the patient turn around times. There should be strong sense of belief that healthcare exists for patient care and serving them quickly and efficiently should be the focus. Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry Concepts like functional layouts vis-a-vis process driven layouts are all the more critical in healthcare facility or hospital design. At several locations it is observed due to the functional layouts of the hospital which is not patient oriented, patients have to traverse substantial distance. In one instance, patient with fractured leg had to walk almost 1500 meters which is ‘one and half kilometers’ inside the hospital to get admitted and treated. Such scenarios can be improved by designing the layout considering the patient and process flow. Similarly, specific areas of focus to improve patient flow can include reducing waits for patient admission through emergency departments, achieving timely and efficient transfer of patients from the intensive care unit and the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) to medical/ surgical units. Hospital areas must be designed to achieve optimal flow of patients, the emergency department, intensive care unit, and operating rooms. Their related pre- and post-care areas tend to be major bottlenecks because they are non-interchangeable resources. And as per classical Theory of Constraint by Goldratt, one must focus on improving the bottlenecks. Reducing delays and unclogging bottlenecks depends on assessing and improving flow between and among these departments, and throughout the entire system, rather than in isolated departments. Improving the efficiency of delivering service and treatment is the single way forward. We all know that only the healthcare sector is directly connected to lives of people and it must be well organized. Written by: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available here.
- [16 Growth Drivers for Startups in 2016](https://faberinfinite.com/16-growth-drivers-for-startups/): The definition of growth will vary from person-to-person and situation-to-situation. From some, growth is 2X topline growth whereas for others it may mean starting and maintaining their business. For entrepreneurs, failure isn’t an option. We all want growth and here are 16 Drivers for 2016 to accelerate growth for your business. Regardless of what your specific definition of growth is, you can deploy these proven techniques! Keep Growth Mindset First things first! According to a research conducted by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, successful individuals possess a “growth mindset” that allows them to learn from their mistakes and realize that there is always potential to grow and achieve larger goals. Those with a “fixed mindset” believe that intelligence; creativity and talent cannot be changed. Unlock The True Potential Revisit the strategy canvas to unlock the true potential of your organization. Challenge the tenets of strategy and calls for a shift in focus from competing to creating new market space and hence making the competition irrelevant. With proven analytical frameworks for creating and capturing blue oceans, the blue ocean strategic approach makes a paradigm shift to unlock the true hidden potential of the organization. Goal-Setting Backed By Goal-Stepping Setting up SMART goals is well known cliché, however what I would like to stress upon is two aspects. One is having a well thought mission (steps towards vision) to achieve those goals. And secondly, as Bill Gates said it – “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” One needs to plan with long-term perspective, say perhaps three-year window! Visualize Those Goals It reminds me one of the interesting books, ‘Double Double: by Cameron Herold where the author raises very interesting questions. Could you run 5280 feet? No? But can you see yourself running four times around half a kilometer track? If you haven’t done the math, that would be the exact same distance. The later sounds easier cosits easier to achieve visualized goals than those expressed in numbers. Visualize your annual goals into monthly or quarterly targets. Not to mention power of, ‘Conceive, Visualize and Realize’ mantra! Linking Strategy To Execution This is very important step where any business, a startup or an established businesses struggle. One must keep consider all aspects; all stakeholders from customers/ consumers to employees to society, business execution methods, capabilities, technology, to name a few. There are several deployment frameworks like The LightHouse Exercise, which have been yielding tremendous results. Stability Of 3Ps The 3 Ps for any business are People – Process and Physical Workplace. Stability in terms of either skill set & attitude of team members or robust processes leading to high quality products or services are hygiene elements – mere order qualifiers, no longer order winners! Right well-organized workplace will ‘only aid in creating’ stable people and processes. Crafting An Action Plan Power of documenting anything in black and white is phenomenal for its realization. As mentioned in point 3 & 5, slicing the goals into smaller visualized themes and then to executable tasks is key to accelerating the growth. I am sure you would be reading and practicing tons of advice on improving productivity and achieving more from less! I wont spill any thoughts there! Communicate, And Communicate Well Good communication should flow top-down, bottom- up, between peers and across departments. Having open door policy and flat organization is not new for startups – what would be detrimental is not realizing the benefits of it. Concepts like simple team boards (which display right information) and standing team meetings – where capturing of key pointers – can come in handy to elevate the communication levels in the organization. Use Of Technology Today where majority of startups are driven by technology, use of technology may not be considered as one of the key drivers. However, it is equally important to make the best of available technology – whether it appropriate CRM tools which give you last mile visibility or utilizing customized yet pay as you go ‘software as service’ ERP modules are affordable and a must have for growth driven businesses. Linkages To Performance Management Systems Stability of people is also ascertained by rewards and recognition for the team members. Making it objective driven and transparent, unlike traditional set ups is another enabler, which can’t be ignored. There are several proven frameworks that will help a growth leader and business. However, having a suitable performance management system is another challenge, which should not be overlooked. Sustenance – Stepping Stones For Future By sustenance, I intend point towards sustaining the improvements achieved and making them as stepping-stones for future. As it is said, improving is easy – what is difficult is sustaining growth due to incremental/ innovation elements. Translating it into business terms could mean, higher account receivables – quality of products/ services or even transactional errors – higher attrition rates, etc. All such pitfalls should be covered with proper standards and counterchecks throughout. Build Growth Culture All leaders delve upon Right Culture! Strong business growth required a strong business culture. Considering Google’s success, ever wondered about their corporate motto? Got a guess what it might be? They came up with it 14 years ago: ‘Don’t be evil’. This mantra is the basis of a strong company culture that makes Google one of the most attractive employers worldwide. Think about your office. Is it a place people are excited to visit each day? Culture is some which binds the organization and propels it further! No Blames And Excuses As per the Japanese culture, which strongly believes in no blaming and excuses, business scenarios strongly, demands following it in routines. As an entrepreneur, you should be prepared for the roller coaster – realize that the unknown will always be a part of your life! Staunch Leadership Having a great idea, and assembling a team to bring that concept to life is the first step in creating a successful business venture. However, whatever your
- [How Operational Excellence can impact Healthcare Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/how-operational-excellence-can-impact-healthcare-industry-2/): Healthcare sector is one, which is directly connected to lives of people, and there must not be any operational issues, everything must be well organized. Hence, it gets all the more important for healthcare providers to devote more management focus towards hospital operations improvements in order to boost patient centricity, quality treatment and productivity enhancement. A multi-pronged approach that puts hospital and patient care at the heart of performance transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable and patient oriented care. Healthcare personnel should actively participate in performance improvement efforts and be open to changes. The continual improvement not only aids operational excellence but also quality patient care, patients’ satisfaction and staff satisfaction as well. Hospital Operational Excellence deploys a variety of process improvement & change management concepts and approaches to increase operational efficiency and reduce clinical variability; ultimate objective is to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. The inefficiencies are the major barriers toward excellence. In hospital environment also the inefficiencies can be categorized into various types, which can be identified and addressed with ‘eye for inadequacies’ and ‘awareness of continual improvement’. Several tools & concepts of Operational Excellence (OE) like Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Inventory Management, Five S, Visual Management, Standardized Work, Poka Yoke – Error Proofing in hospitals can lead to dramatic results. Several hospitals across the world have adopted various operational excellence frameworks. Implementation of Operational Excellence concepts have addressed several issues concerning patient care and management in hospitals such as: • Time spent at OPD can be reduced by 40% approximately via concepts like work balancing and improving patient flow • Distance covered by patients can be reduced 20% approximately by streamlining the layout and reorganizing • Space utilization can be increased by 60% • Inventory management modules based on scientific calculations can lead to improvement in medicine inventory management to avoid stock outs and over stocking (near to expiry scenarios), reduction in stock taking time, huge cost savings in inventory carrying costs, etc • 95% reduction in the time nurses spend searching for supplies and equipment • 77% reduction in door-to-bed time • High standards of housekeeping and hygiene can be achieved through Physical workplace improvement tool Five S • Other advanced operational excellence tools can further assist in reducing patient hospital stay duration, bed occupancy improvement, operations theatre utilization and others The transformation projects have shown several tangible benefits and have wide scope for countless improvement avenues. These above mentioned tangible benefits shall pave the road for cultural change and will further improve the team morale, discipline and patient centric efforts. Considering country like India or any developing nation, even today the healthcare is not affordable for the needy. Hospital Operational Excellence is a panacea to address these challenges. Further looking at accreditations from NABH and NABL, which shall be pre-requisite and not optional; operational excellence and continual improvement shall be part and parcel of the industry. These concepts are not only applicable for manufacturing industry but also equally applicable for hospital management. Concepts remain same, application changes! It is a philosophy that can change the way hospitals and healthcare industries are managed and organized. Healthcare professionals are good at administering patient care, blending it further with operational excellence shall enhance life for all stakeholders! Its time healthcare industry takes the leap, this leap year! If not now, when? We shall delve upon various aspects (element by element) of Operational Excellence in Hospitals and Healthcare sector in coming posts. Written By: Faber Aakash Borse is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in MechanicalEngineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available here.
- [Strategic Thinking](https://faberinfinite.com/strategic-thinking-2/): Perhaps all of you must have experienced the tension of dealing with the urgency of today yet knowing that we must keep an eye on the horizon in this fast changing global economy. What opportunities or challenges lie on the horizon? Have you ever faced problems dealing with limited resources of man, money and time? Have you ever thought about how will the business be affected with changing global economy? What are the competitive threats that will arise at local as well as international level? Have you been under constant pressure to grow as an organization? What is a solution to such problems? Answer to the problem is Strategic Thinking. It is a tool that the leaders of today should employ to balance the tension of the moment with the worry of the future. It should be central element of management philosophy and should be an ongoing process it cannot be episodic. Strategic Thinking is a planning process that applies innovation, strategic planning and operational planning to develop business strategies that have a greater chance for success. Following are some insights on strategic thinking: For this strategic change to be successful it is important for every employee in the organization to fully incorporate the change in everything they do. This can be done by establishing vision and mission that will ensure that the organization is successful in achieving its strategic goals. So let us engage employees at each level to contribute to the strategic plan so that departmental strategies link to the overall corporate strategic plan. Let us strive to make strategic thinking an ongoing, year-round process to anticipate major shifts in the competitive marketplace and identify emerging opportunities.
- [Strategic Thinking](https://faberinfinite.com/strategic-thinking-3/): Perhaps all of you must have experienced the tension of dealing with the urgency of today yet knowing that we must keep an eye on the horizon in this fast changing global economy. What opportunities or challenges lie on the horizon? Have you ever faced problems dealing with limited resources of man, money and time? Have you ever thought about how will the business be affected with changing global economy? What are the competitive threats that will arise at local as well as international level? Have you been under constant pressure to grow as an organization? What is a solution to such problems? Answer to the problem is Strategic Thinking. It is a tool that the leaders of today should employ to balance the tension of the moment with the worry of the future. It should be central element of management philosophy and should be an ongoing process it cannot be episodic. Strategic Thinking is a planning process that applies innovation, strategic planning and operational planning to develop business strategies that have a greater chance for success. Following are some insights on Strategic Thinking: Trust Strategic Thinking will enable you to make more logical and confident decisions in business and make you more successful.
- [Strategic Thinking - Operational Planning to Develop Business](https://faberinfinite.com/strategic-thinking/): Perhaps all of you must have experienced the tension of dealing with the urgency of today yet knowing that we must keep an eye on the horizon in this fast changing global economy. What opportunities or challenges lie on the horizon? Have you ever faced problems dealing with limited resources of man, money and time? Have you ever thought about how will the business be affected with changing global economy? What are the competitive threats that will arise at local as well as international level? Have you been under constant pressure to grow as an organization? What is a solution to such problems? How can we manage them effectively? Answer to the problem is Strategic Thinking. Strategic thinking is the tool that the leaders of today should employ to balance the tension of the moment with the worry of the future. It should be central element of management philosophy and should be an ongoing process it cannot be episodic. Strategic Thinking is a planning process that applies innovation, strategic planning and operational planning to develop business strategies that have a greater chance for success. The purpose of Strategic Thinking is to create a strategy that is a consistent and integrated framework for decisions especially about direction of the business and resource utilization. Following are some insights on strategic thinking: For this strategic change to be successful it is important for every employee in the organization to fully incorporate the change in everything they do. This can be done by establishing vision and mission that will ensure that the organization is successful in achieving its strategic goals. So let us engage employees at each level to contribute to the strategic plan so that departmental strategies link to the overall corporate strategic plan. Let us strive to make strategic thinking an ongoing, year-round process to anticipate major shifts in the competitive marketplace and identify emerging opportunities. Written and Published By: Faber Mayuri Pandya Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting,with operations in Asia Pacific,Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering
- [Emotional Intelligence in Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership/): Many of us find it really difficult to connect with ourselves as well as with others. The reason is we lack a critical level of Emotional Intelligence (EI). EI is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. When it comes to success in relationships, career and personal goals, EI matters just as much as IQ. EI is the ability to recognize and understand what others are experiencing emotionally. This ability further influences your connect with your team. Beyond the traditional leadership roles and responsibilities, today’s workplace uncertainty requires leaders to be much more sensitive about what matters most to their employees. Many leaders assume that their team has the same urge to succeed and willingness to sacrifice in order to advance as they do.  Every individual is different and leaders must be more mindful to accept those differences and strategically leverage them to create and sustain unique opportunities within their departments and for the business. For leaders having EI is essential for success. Five Elements of Emotional Intelligence The more that you, as a leader, manage each of the above mentioned areas, the higher your emotional intelligence, better is the team performance. Bottom line is leaders must be more emotionally intelligent to be more effective and efficient at achieving the organization success. Leaders must have a firm understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with the team, the more successful he or she will be which will in turn be reflected in the success of the organization as a whole. In the business world so much emphasis has been placed on intellect. Intellect has been proven invaluable to drive success in business. Process and procedures based on maths, tools, analysis, logic, and strategy are critically important. However to get the higher level of competence in business we must blend the progress that we have made in intellect and IQ with the invaluable competencies of EI. Not only leaders but every individual for that matter should take the time to work on self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Working on these areas will help each to excel in the future!
- [10 Common Leadership and Management Mistakes](https://faberinfinite.com/10-common-leadership-and-management-mistakes/): It’s often said that mistakes provide great learning opportunities. However, it’s much better not to make mistakes in the first place! Mistakes are part of individual’s life. Mistakes in professional life may cost leaders a lot as they are the front face of the organisation and it is expected that they do least mistakes, get the things done in correct manner from team and make successful decisions. Leader has to work towards achieving organizational goals and for that he has to support his team well to achieve those goals. It will be leaders’ responsibility to shape the team and explain importance of organisation’s goal to every member of team. A smallest mistake may cost company millions so each task has to be balanced well be it delegating to your team, motivating them or guiding them for the next steps. Let us look at 10 of the most common leadership and management errors, and highlighting what you can do to avoid them.
- [What to do when your to do list is holding up your team](https://faberinfinite.com/what-to-do-when-your-to-do-list-is-holding-up-your-team/): Have you ever faced a situation where your team was waiting because of actions from your end? It might have happened that the task, which you need to assign, was in your to-do list and your team was waiting for your response to take actions on the task. Have you ever become bottleneck for your team because you were not able to complete your task and your team was waiting for you to clear your to-do list? Answer for most of us will be YES. Why such things happen? Is it because an extended to-do list every day? Is it because you don’t set priorities for your to-do list? Or is it because you have not allotted proper time for each task? Answer could be any of these. What to do when you are bottleneck for your team? Bottlenecking puts your career and reputation at risk and takes a significant emotional toll. Here are four root causes of it — and solutions for each:
- [How to Handle the Naysayer on Your Team](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-handle-the-naysayer-on-your-team/): Is opposition necessary to make successful decision? How to treat people who oppose now and then? How to handle naysayer on your team? Are naysayers required in successful team? In our day to day life we make lots of decisions. Many decisions may fail if they are not critically examined. Opposition is not always reason of conflict but it may improve decision-making as decisions are analysed from all aspects. Despite the initial reactions of dislike, discomfort, annoyance, and resistance to opposition, successful leaders and healthy teams know that disagreement and differing viewpoints are necessary for good decisions and productive teams. When you separate the behavior from the person, notice and manage your own reactions, and take explicit steps to encourage and reward opposition, you will be moving toward building stronger teams and running your business more effectively. On first Tuesday of new financial year, we are glad to share interesting article on how to handle naysayer on your team.
- [12 Things year 2015 Taught About Startups And Entrepreneurship](https://faberinfinite.com/12-things-year-2015-taught-me-about-startups-and-entrepreneurship/): Today 2016 is already 2 months old and I go back to 2015, which was a crucial year! Interestingly, as Vala Afshar of Salesforce puts it that post 2015, we will be closer to year 2030 than we were to 2000. By then, everything will seem antiquated. It makes me wonder what are our takeaways from 2015? Below are some of our insights, varied from brief to elaborate, and touch on changes in perceptions, as well as broader trends that will affect businesses. I hope these reflections will prompt you to share your own key learnings as well- let us know what your big takeaway from the year has been. Expect The Unexpected Whether it is the Snapdeal – Aamir Khan episode or the Chennai floods at home or Ebola virus in Africa or Greece Crisis in the EU; there could be several issues, which may affect your business or the way you conduct business. Hence this traditional directive stands even today, to expect the unexpected. Anticipate and mitigate risks! Being Nimble And Agile Further to earlier pointer, this insight applies to all businesses irrespective of manufacturing or technology services. One has to be lean and agile. Various appropriate frameworks apply to relevant industries. Be responsive than being reactive! Consumer Centricity It might sound cliché but stands true even today in the developing countries like ours. Not being complacent and customer/consumer centricity is the key, irrespective of your size and legacy. It is vetted by the likes of Microsoft, which shifted its focus to ‘customer love’, or Facebook that listened to its users and expanded safety features. Driving Change Effectively Taking tips from Make in India or International Yoga day, there are certain key elements to drive change, which can be picked for your business as well. Successful change initiative not only includes having clear vision and mission to achieve the same but also require a strong brand for effectively driving the change and binding teams together. Focused Improvements – Kobetsu Kaizen Business crusaders took hints from several private & public sector reforms, from the likes of world economies putting efforts to improve their business rules in the past year or technology teams working towards solving issues mattering the most via cloud computing or IoT. Leaders can address chronic problems by acknowledging room for improvement and working towards improving the same via structured approach. Small Group Activities Organisations have harnessed collective power of well-designed small group activities leads extensive financial benefit and strong cultural impact. Various crowd sourcing campaigns are classic examples of collaborative efforts that are increasingly rewriting the rules in every sector- from recruitments to technology to funding to even Swatch Bharat Campaign. Work Sampling/ Time & Motion Study However traditional, nothing beats these sets of tools in terms of results it delivers to ascertain manpower productivity and point ways to improve it. Productivity plays crucial roles in several aspects like economy, business sectors – manufacturing or services, etc. further leading to competitiveness of organisations and regions. Productivity Improvement Via Training Within Industry (TWI) Train the workforce to reach optimum skill levels, in as short as 7 days, based on the framework devised during World War II. The effective framework of TWI – evolved by the US Navy, was picked up by several industries to boost skill levels leading to productivity improvements. Zero Effects – Defects With the zero effect zero defects, also known as the ‘ZED maturity model’ campaign, the emphasis on quality (using clean technology) over quantity was evident, and thereby enabling organisations to get visibility in the manufacturing centre stage of the world. Businesses with focus on green and renewables shall lead the world market growth to 2020. We wont forget Volkswagen Emissions Scandal for long time! Respecting Standards! VW scandal or warnings issued by US FDA to pharmaceutical manufacturers again strengthens the view of respecting and following standards. Standards support customer satisfaction and experience through the requirements they lay out and through the guidance they provide in management systems. Inspiring Excellence Demanding excellence is easy work. Developing excellence is hard work. Inspiring excellence is remarkable work. As you go, so will your people. Say you want a more transparent, open and effective culture. Then be the first one who avoids politicking at all times. Don’t Let The Fear Of Losing Be Greater Than Joy Of Winning Robert Kiyosaki had put it in context long back! Fear is an incredibly personal experience. That’s why some people are afraid of flying while others fly every week. Or some people are afraid of heights and others work in skyscrapers. But there is some science behind why people are afraid of things, including losing money. While there is still a lot of research to do around the subject, observers wisely advise to focus on the journey and celebrate small victories along the journey. Finally, the last thing to remember is that you’ll always have fear in your life, and that’s okay. The most important thing to remember is to control it so it doesn’t control you. ‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. Written by: Faber Aakash Borse – one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Mechanical Engineering. Originally published by Inc42 here.
- [5 Commandments for Faster Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/5-commandments-for-faster-growth/): As the new financial year is approaching for many organisations, companies must have planned new ways to grow and to make next year better than this financial year. To support their journey of growth, we have come up with an interesting article on Commandments of Growth. In ever changing market, companies cannot rely on only one growth strategy. They need to expand in many areas and need to identify which all opportunities are available for growth. Companies can find growth along five dimensions, ranging from the most basic to the most challenging. These dimensions can either be the same as those in a company’s existing practices, or reflect new and different parameters. Five Dimensions are Customers, Geographies, Products, Capabilities and Culture. By proper analysis of these dimensions, companies can create better growth opportunities. If you want your company to grow faster, obey these five commandments: To read further details, please click here.
- [How to Really Customize Leadership Development](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-really-customize-leadership-development/): Today, as part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share outline on ‘Leadership Customization’. “Customized” has become a synonym of “good” for leadership development. As executives always ask “Will it be customized?” for leadership development initiatives. The important question is how to initiate customization. Here are some fixes: To read more, please click here.
- [7 yearly planning mistakes no one talks about](https://faberinfinite.com/7-yearly-planning-mistakes-no-one-talks-about/): As we are arriving towards April, we are glad to share article from our Transformation Tuesday series, which talks about annual planning mistakes. Many of us have carried out our Strategic Planning for the year where we insist to implement a holistic and well-proven set of simple concepts and practical tools to get what is expected from the business. By mastering this simple way of operating, leadership teams can systematically, progressively and permanently improve. Check out the 7 lessons on how to avoid 7 mistakes while planning for the year: By avoiding these mistakes, you can achieve your one-year goals. To read further, please click here.
- [4 hard facts about your organization’s ‘soft’ side](https://faberinfinite.com/4-hard-facts-about-your-organizations-soft-side/): As part of Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share a glimpse significant facets of culture building. The basic elements define the organization’s culture, and thereby define the organization itself are: its structure, vision and mission, goals, processes and people. Most leaders understand that achieving high performance in an organization requires hard work but the most important is to address  these “soft” issues that underlie organizational life. Below are four important facts about culture to get acquainted with the “soft” sides of the organization and themselves. An organization’s culture determines its ability to adapt, compete and achieve at the highest level, and therefore is a cornerstone to an organization’s successes and failures. Please click here to read further.
- [Be A Safety Hero!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-safety-hero/): ‘Every accident is a notice that something is wrong!’ Today on 4th March – National Safety Day, let us invest few minutes of our busy schedules in the most important aspect – Safety. Safety is not only focusing on reduction of the number of accidents but creating safe working environment for each stake holder. To get best out of the teams, it is necessary to ensure safe and friendly environment. The members should feel free to work without feeling any danger and unsafe situations. Organization must understand the need to consider employee, equipment and environmental safety as an integral part of sustainability program. These practices can help you support and maintain efficient production and to help provide a safe operating environment. Organizations should develop health and safety program as per their business and hazards at workplace. Let us work towards creating environment which fosters safety not only today, but for life! Let us be super safety heroes and build Safety!
- [Reigniting Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/reigniting-growth/): In today’s article we shall be talking about attitudes to reignite growth. Many businesses face a predictable crisis that can be called stall-out-a sudden large drop in revenue and profit growth. Amongst several causes, few common reasons for the same could be: lost touch with customers, drowning in process and power points, lack of decisiveness.  Most companies with sustainable growth have following 3 attitudes, which can help any company restart its growth engine. Let’s have glance on those 3 attitudes: Rediscover Your Insurgent Mission: Shed noncore assets, develop a simpler strategy for the core one and focus on what really makes most transformations successful: reducing high-level complexity and cost. View your own business insurgents and constantly emphasize what is special about you. It may be difficult to maintain an insurgent mission, but not impossible. Stick to your core mission. Make the company grow “faster, more confident, and, above all, simpler.”Convene meetings, to discuss company’s situation and its future and reignite enthusiasm for its core values. Make employees refocus on the founding principles of the company. Obsess over Your Business’s Front Line: Companies that sustain growth live and breathe the front line of their business. Losing a frontline obsession can lead to stall-out and renewing it can reignite growth. The company’s initial success could be traced to its remarkable founders, who devote themselves to building a close relationship with customers. Here are some ways to prepare your team to reignite growth. Create a “founder’s mentality” scorecard Benchmark against your most successful upstart competitors Launch a campaign against bureaucracy Get the leadership team out of the office Reexamine the precepts and practices of your founders or early leaders Look outside to help inside   Instill an Owner’s Mindset: Owner’s mindset focuses on the long term, has a strong bias toward speed and action, and embraces personal responsibility for employees’ actions and for how resources are used. It’s amazing to speed things up and increase appetite for risk. Risk is about innovation and success. Some of the biggest stock upturns occur when a company has to return to its core and redefine it in the process. An organization can reach new heights by pursuing these qualities. Please click here to read in detail.
- [Take the Leap](https://faberinfinite.com/take-the-leap-2/): The organizational fitness is recognized at a time when change is imminent or necessary. During such times, the business landscape may be more volatile than usual, and it can affect the organization’s ability to adapt every bit as much as the fitness of the business itself can affect it. Organizational fitness is assessed using various diagnostic tools that identify factors affecting ability to adapt, or the environment in which it exists. An organization is fit if it is ready at all times to handle issues or take up opportunities as they may arise. Team Faber Infinite is glad to roll out its highly acclaimed and powerful package for organizational fitness and transformation called as LEAP (Lean Enabled Accelerated Performance) on leap day of 2016. LEAP (Lean Enabled Acceleration Performance) Journey is special offering for all the organizations which aspire to grow and develop. This industry neutral offering is specifically designed based on the best and proven continual improvement or organizational transformation practices across the world. The LEAP journey framework assists for top-line (revenues) as well as bottom-line (profitability) improvements. The typical business environment has various challenges that prevent organizational transformation. These include issues arising from unclear strategies, conflicting priorities, efficiencies, effectiveness and inadequate leadership, all of which cause uncertainty in an organization. Identifying and resolving these challenges is critical to achieve organizational fitness. To achieve the fitness, LEAP is the foundation step! Let us take LEAP now for Top line and Bottom line growth!
- [5 Attitudes That Define Great Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/5-attitudes-that-define-great-leaders/): “Great leaders don’t need to act tough, their attitude, confidence and humility serve to underscore their toughness.” Recently an extraordinary 360 assessment of few leaders took placed where they were assessed on their leadership effectiveness and potential basis. There was a set of 25 questions about attitude in that assessment. Assessors found that five of the attitude questions correlated strongly with overall leadership effectiveness, since who strongly agreed with these particular attitudes had higher overall leadership effectiveness scores. In today’s note we will have a glimpse on those 5 attitudes enabling leadership effectiveness. Each of these attitudes are correlated to improve individual’s leadership effectiveness. You may want to focus on which attitude you don’t have, and cultivate it. To read in details please click here.
- [Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/how-operational-excellence-can-impact-healthcare-industry/): Healthcare sector is one, which is directly connected to lives of people, and there must not be any operational issues, everything must be well organized. Hence, it gets all the more important for healthcare providers to devote more management focus towards hospital operations improvements in order to boost patient centricity, quality treatment and productivity enhancement. A multi-pronged approach that puts hospital and patient care at the heart of performance transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable and patient oriented care. Healthcare personnel should actively participate in performance improvement efforts and be open to changes. The continual improvement not only aids operational excellence but also quality patient care, patients’ satisfaction and staff satisfaction as well. How Operational Excellence can impact Healthcare Industry? Hospital Operational Excellence deploys a variety of process improvement & change management concepts and approaches to increase operational efficiency and reduce clinical variability; ultimate objective is to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. The inefficiencies are the major barriers toward excellence. In hospital environment also the inefficiencies can be categorized into various types, which can be identified and addressed with ‘eye for inadequacies’ and ‘awareness of continual improvement’. Several tools & concepts of Operational Excellence (OE) like Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Inventory Management, Five S, Visual Management, Standardized Work, Poka Yoke – Error Proofing in hospitals can lead to dramatic results. Several hospitals across the world have adopted various operational excellence frameworks. Implementation of Operational Excellence concepts have addressed several issues concerning patient care and management in hospitals such as: Time spent at OPD can be reduced by 40% approximately via concepts like work balancing and improving patient flow Distance covered by patients can be reduced 20% approximately by streamlining the layout and reorganizing Space utilization can be increased by 60% Inventory management modules based on scientific calculations can lead to improvement in medicine inventory management to avoid stock outs and over stocking (near to expiry scenarios), reduction in stock taking time, huge cost savings in inventory carrying costs, etc 95% reduction in the time nurses spend searching for supplies and equipment 77% reduction in door-to-bed time High standards of housekeeping and hygiene can be achieved through Physical workplace improvement tool Five S Other advanced operational excellence tools can further assist in reducing patient hospital stay duration, bed occupancy improvement, operations theatre utilization and others Operational Excellence in Hospitals The transformation projects have shown several tangible benefits and have wide scope for countless improvement avenues. These above mentioned tangible benefits shall pave the road for cultural change and will further improve the team morale, discipline and patient centric efforts. Considering country like India or any developing nation, even today the healthcare is not affordable for the needy. Hospital Operational Excellence is a panacea to address these challenges. Further looking at accreditations from NABH and NABL, which shall be pre-requisite and not optional; operational excellence and continual improvement shall be part and parcel of the industry. These concepts are not only applicable for manufacturing industry but also equally applicable for hospital management. Concepts remain same, application changes! It is a philosophy that can change the way hospitals and healthcare industries are managed and organized. Healthcare professionals are good at administering patient care, blending it further with operational excellence shall enhance life for all stakeholders! Its time healthcare industry takes the leap, this leap year! If not now, when? We shall delve upon various aspects (element by element) of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry in coming posts. Find original article at : Economic Times
- [Media Coverage in India’s leading business magazine](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage-in-indias-leading-business-magazine/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that it got featured in Small Enterprise – India’s one of the leading business magazine for entrepreneurs. The feature published in Jan 16 edition talks about the organizational achievements and its team. Faber Infinite helps organizations to unlock their hidden potential. The article about the success story of Faber Infinite and its core team – Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, Mr. Jalay Pandya and Mr. Aakash Borse. Faber Infinite offers 360 transformation and improvement of clients, people and communities. It supports the organizations to improve and grow in terms of top line and bottom line with impressive clients are from India, Tanzania, Uganda, UAE, Kenya and Zambia. Faber Infinite is finest management consulting and training company specializing in business excellence. Team Faber Infinite believes that organizational success depends on aspects of strategy, operations and design along with people excellence. The team strives towards helping all client organizations for implementing real transformation solutions. The core team of Faber Infinite is always passionate about crafting culture that supports transformation and innovation. After long deliberation ‘Faber’ which means craftsman in Latin was finalized for the name of the organization. Faber Infinite Differentiators: Differentiation is not only to equip clientele with state of art management practice on strategic and operational level, but also support them for sustainable implementation and long term gains. The team focuses on the people as catalysts for the improvement journey. The focus is on easy way to deploy concepts and objectively gauging of drivers of transformation. Find original success story published in the small enterprise as below. Team Faber Infinite wishes all new entrepreneurs successful journey and we would aspire to work with organizations seeking change and transformation. Reported & Compiled by: Faber Khushboo Vyas
- [15 Surprising Things Productive People Do Differently](https://faberinfinite.com/15-surprising-things-productive-people-do-differently/): “Successful person is not different, but the way he/ she work is different.” In recent interviews of over 200 ultra-productive people including seven billionaires, 13 Olympians, 20 A-grade students and over 200 successful entrepreneurs were asked a simple, open-ended question, “What is your number one secret to productivity?” From their responses, many surprising but unique ideas came out. In today’s article we will have a look on those 13 ways to work differently and to be more productive? 1. Focus on minutes, not hours: Don’t focus on hours; don’t forget that there are 1,440 minutes in the day. “Lost money can be made again, but time spent can never be reclaimed.” Master your minutes to master your life. 2.Focus only on one thing: Identify your Most Important Task (MIT); invest the first part of your day working on it to build your business without any interruption. What task will have the biggest impact on reaching your goal? 3. Don’ t use to-do lists:  Throw away your to-do list, as undone items lead to stress and insomnia. “Schedule entire day into 15-minute blocks, will set you up in the 95 percentile.” 4. Beat procrastination with time travel Focus on – What can you do now to make sure your future self does the right thing? Anticipate how you will self-sabotage in the future, and come up with a solution to defeat your future self. 5. Use a notebook: “Always carry a notebook, Write everything down. That is a million dollar lesson that business schools don’t teach you!” Keep your mind free by writing everything down. 6. Process email only a few times a day: Don’t “check” email throughout the day. Don’t even respond to each vibration or ding. Instead, like everything else, schedule time to process your email quickly and efficiently. 7. Avoid meetings at all costs: “Never take meetings unless someone is writing a check.” Meetings are notorious time killers. You should get out of meetings whenever you can, hold fewer of them yourself, and if you do run a meeting, keep it short. 8. Follow the 80/20 principle: Known as the Pareto Principle, in most cases 80% of outcomes come from only 20% of activities. Identify which activities drive the greatest results, and focus on those and ignore the rest. 9. Delegate almost everything: Don’t think, “How can I do this task?” Instead think, “How can this task get done?” Take the “I” out of it as much as possible. Don’t have control issues and don’t be micro-managers. 10. Theme days of the week: Theme days of the week to focus on major areas. Like, “Mondays for Meetings”. Clean up unwanted items before the new week starts. Plan your work to maximize your efficiency and effectiveness. 11. Touch things only once: How often do you read an email, and leave it in your inbox to deal with later? Try to “touch it once.” It reduces stress since it won’t be in the back of your mind. 12. Practice a consistent morning routine: Most people focus on ‘doing’ more to achieve more, instead every morning focus on ‘becoming’ more so that you can start doing less, to achieve more. Nurture your mind with meditation or prayer, inspirational reading, and journaling. 13. Energy is everything: You can’t make more minutes in the day, but you can increase your energy, which will increase your attention, focus, decision-making, and overall productivity. Please Click Here to explore more.
- [Metro to 'Make in India'](https://faberinfinite.com/metro-to-make-in-india/): The Make in India campaign promises to fast-track growth trajectory by making it a manufacturing hub. Made in India, made by India but for the world, with the vision of empowering Indians by creating job opportunities, the campaign is ingenious formula to position India as the center piece of Asia’s next growth story. Bombardier – world’s leading manufacturer of both planes and trains, has built an extensive and diverse portfolio of winning mobility solution. Bombardier Transportation is a global leader in the rail industry. They cover the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from complete trains to sub-systems, maintenance services, system integration and signaling. Bombardier has taken step towards ‘Make in India’ by completing consignment of six metro coaches for the Australian government. Bombardier Baroda unit had manufactured these six metro coaches, and were shipped successfully from Mumbai to Australia. The metro coaches, built for the Australian government, was the first of its kind India has ever exported. The coaches, which measure 75 feet in length and weigh 46 tonnes each, were loaded in house by the Mumbai Port Trust. Team Faber Infinite wishes Bombardier Baroda the best, to fulfill the target of 450 ‘Made in India’ metro coaches to be exported in the next two-and-a-half years. It gives a message that ‘India is in the race and about to win’. We, at Faber Infinite take pride to support Bombardier Transportation and Make in India dream together. The goal is towards making India manufacturing hub and to create its mark in the global space. The intention is to continue the efforts towards building competitiveness and crafting growth opportunities. Reported & Complied by: Faber Khushboo Vyas
- [5 ways to close the strategy to execution gap](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-close-the-strategy-to-execution-gap/): In an ongoing global survey of senior executives, more than half of the respondents said that they think their company don’t have a winning strategy, and two-thirds think their organization don’t have the right capabilities to execute its strategy. Surprisingly, companies that are great at both strategy and execution don’t follow the prevailing practices of their industries. Instead, leaders of these companies excel at five unconventional acts — management practices that contradict conventional. Most of the companies lacks behind due to the execution of strategy, as they have good strategies. For such companies here is a solution to execute your strategies efficiently. We are glad to share 5 ways to close the strategy to execution gap. 1. Commit to an identity:  Avoid getting trapped on a growth treadmill, chasing multiple market opportunities where you have no right to win. Instead, clear your mind about what you do best, develop a solid value proposition and building distinctive capabilities that will last for the long term. Deliver what you promise. 2. Translate the strategic into the everyday: Many managers assume they should adopt the best practices of their industry and treat external benchmarking as the established path to success. But design and build your own bespoke capabilities that set you apart from other companies. Then bring those capabilities to scale in your own distinctive ways. 3. Put your culture to work: Reworking the organizational chart and rethinking incentives. The culture of the enterprise, if considered at all, is seen as a hindrance. But resist disruptive reorganizations and instead put your culture to work. Tap the power of the ingrained thinking and behavior that already exists below the surface in your company, using culture, not structure, to drive change. 4. Cut cost to grow stronger: A conventional company might try to reduce costs across the board by going lean everywhere. But cut costs to grow stronger. Marshal your resources strategically; doubling down on the few capabilities that matter most and pruning back everything else. 5. Shape your future: Companies should not try to simply become agile. Don’t respond to external change as rapidly as possible. Instead, shape your future by creating the change you want to see. Consider all questions at the same time, in the same conversations with the same teams, so that strategy and execution are closely integrated in every decision. Do all this boldly, with the confidence and acumen that comes from having earned the right to win, the ability to engage in a chosen market with capabilities that consistently outmatch competitors. To read further details please click here.
- [The 8 Self-Assessments You Need to Improve at Work This Year](https://faberinfinite.com/the-8-self-assessments-you-need-to-improve-at-work-this-year/): Approaching another Tuesday and we are delighted to share yet another interesting compilation from our Transformation Tuesday series. We all want to grow – no matter what skills we have to improve, important is where to begin? To help you out how to go about it, please find below series of 7 self-assessments, which shall point towards improvement potentials. Productivity: How can you do everything with not enough hours in a day? A range of advices is available, which presumes that one size fits all. But in fact it changes according the way one prefers to perceive information. Hence, take this assessment to understand your own style and discover productivity tips that like-minded people have found most effective. Work/ Life balance: If you think to spare time with your family and for your leisure activities, you probably need to figure out how to fit those activities in your busy schedule. Take this assessment to compare your priorities with how you actually allocate your time and energy. Cultural skill: Due to business globalization, it’s essential to collaborate with people from different culture. This assessment helps you see key differences in eight areas where cultural gaps are most common, like communicating, scheduling, trusting, and disagreeing – and shows you how you compare with the norm for your culture in each area. Emotional intelligence: Relationships matter at work, and you need emotional intelligence to be an effective leader. Take a quiz to test yourself on five critical EI skills– emotional self-awareness, positive outlook, emotional self-control, adaptability, and empathy. At the end, you’ll receive advice on how to respond more mindfully. Communication Skills: If this is an area you’d like to improve, you’re not alone. The popularity of grammar quiz shows just how many struggles with writing. Financial skills: Of course, it’s equally important to be financially literate, especially if you’re eager to advance in your organization. Take 10-question finance quiz. At the end you’ll see correct answers with explanation, so you can brush up on key concepts to become a more effective leader. Managing your stakeholders: This assessment asks what you would do in five “managing up” scenarios. After answering, you will learn which approaches experts recommend. You also receive links on how to cultivate your most important relationship at work­ — your relationship with your stake holder. We trust that the links helped you to assess yourself. To explore more, you may click here. Thank you.
- [Take the LEAP!](https://faberinfinite.com/take-the-leap/): The organizational fitness is recognized at a time when change is imminent or necessary. During such times, the business landscape may be more volatile than usual, and it can affect the organization’s ability to adapt every bit as much as the fitness of the business itself can affect it. Organizational fitness is assessed using various diagnostic tools that identify factors affecting ability to adapt, or the environment in which it exists. An organization is fit if it is ready at all times to handle issues or take up opportunities as they may arise. Team Faber Infinite is glad to roll out its highly acclaimed and powerful package for organizational fitness and transformation. LEAP Journey – Lean Enabled Acceleration Performance Journey Leap Journey is special offering for all the organizations which aspire to grow and develop. This industry neutral offering is specifically designed based on the best continual improvement or organizational transformation practices across the world. The LEAP journey framework assists for top-line (revenues) as well as bottom-line (profitability) improvements. We shall discuss the framework in subsequent articles. The typical business environment has various challenges that prevent organizational transformation. These include issues arising from unclear strategies, conflicting priorities, efficiencies, effectiveness and inadequate leadership, all of which cause uncertainty in an organization. Identifying and resolving these challenges is critical to achieve organizational fitness. To achieve the fitness, LEAP is the foundation step!
- [Celebrating Victories!](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-victories/): Victories, however small or large, are happy moments – where we take a pause to reflect on our achievements. We are excited to share few victories of 2015 from various locations across different sectors and geographies. We feel proud to share achievements of different clients and dedicated teams we have been associated with. Our heartiest compliments to all the teams and wish them many more in future! Here is a glimpse of few victories from 2015! 1. Young Leaders team at one of the world’s largest locomotive manufacturer, India   2. Enthusiastic Team members at leading fishing-flies manufacturer, Kenya 3. Launch of continual improvement journey at one of the premier education institutes, Kenya   4. Another enthusiastic team at one of the largest logistics service provider, Kenya 5. Another happy team at one of the largest plastic manufacturer in Uganda 6. Celebrating ‘Team of the Month’ at well-known red oxide manufacturer, India  7. Successful launch of organization wide transformation journey at integrated textile manufacturer, Kenya 8. Glimpse of an interesting training session at leading auto components manufacturer (tier I supplier to OEMs), India 9. Team at Uganda Management Association 10. Celebrating ‘Zone of the Month’ at a leading textile machine manufacturer, India 11. All work & no play makes a jack dull boy! Glimpse of Fab Faber Annual Meet 12. Journey declaration by committed leadership team from plastics manufacturer, Uganda 13. Glimpses from experiential learning session, Kenya Congratulations to all teams and team members who had participated in the wonderful transformation journeys across. We look forward to be of more value in future as well. Compiled by: Faber Khushboo Vyas and Faber Raveena Rathi
- [9-productivity tips from people who write about productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity/): In today’s fast pacing professional career, every leader is facing an endless barrage of distractions, from the vibrations and alerts on their smartphones to the breaking news stories and viral videos waiting at their desks. They need strategies for being productive. But where do they start? Here are 9 insights for achieving top performance: You may refer to further details here.
- [Act like Leader, Think like Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/act-like-leader-think-like-leader/): As a part of Fab Faber series here we are with few excerpts from another super book ‘Act like Leader, Think like Leader’ by Herminia Ibarra, one of the best business books of 2015. Are you a leader in your life, at your work? You aspire to lead with greater impact. The problem is you’re busy executing on today’s demands. You know you have to carve out time from your day job to build your leadership skills, but it’s easy to let immediate problems and old mind-sets get in the way. Herminia Ibarra–an expert on professional leadership and development and a renowned professor at INSEAD, a leading international business school–shows how managers and executives at all levels can step up to leadership by making small but crucial changes in their jobs, their networks, and themselves. In “Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader,” she offers advice to help you: Redefine your job in order to make more strategic contributions; Diversify your network so that you connect to, and learn from, a bigger range of stakeholders; Become more playful with your self-concept, allowing your familiar–and possibly outdated–leadership style to evolve. The way we think is a product of our past experience and so the best way of changing our mind-set is to act differently. Ibarra has three main central chapters each on a different aspect of how to act like a leader, and each involves redefinition — of your job, your network, and yourself. Firstly, your jobs. We like to do what we already do well, and because of that, we get better at it. We allocate more time to what we are good at, and so devote less time to learning other things that are also important to our development. Overtime, we have to pay more to learn those new things, we feel like trapped. Consequently, we are in trouble and we don’t act like a leader! Instead of acting like ‘a hub’, in your business you need to be ‘a bridge between your team and our external environment’ so that we gain the out-sight needed to develop the business. The networking successfully disarms your standard objections to having anything to do with networking, firstly by pointing out that we tend to network with those closest to you and most resembling yourselves – which the author terms as being ‘lazy and narcissistic’. Networking is the object, which allows your relations to do work spontaneously in case of urgency. It will benefit you and the others in form of perspective and knowledge explained. Lastly, there is the challenge to change the way you act. In part, this is to stop using being ‘authentic’ as an excuse for poor behaviors. ‘The biggest problem with the true-to-self approach is that it defines authenticity according to the past and, by consequence, defines change as a loss.’ In place of this, imitate others, and by doing so, creating a new synthesis which combines your own qualities with the qualities you are hoping to assume. Compiled by: Faber Khushbhoo Vyas
- [Train like an Athlete](https://faberinfinite.com/train-like-an-athlete/): It is observed that ‘Untrained employees take up to six times longer to perform the same task as trained employees’ To get the most out of team members, more opportunities to learn in terms of training acts as key factor. Training is essential for specific purposes related to businesses and incorporating training that develops teams toward long-term career goals can also promote greater job satisfaction. A more satisfied employee is likely to stay longer and be more productive while on your team. Recent surveys indicate that 40% of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year. It is cited that lack of skills – training and development is the principal reason for moving on. It affects productivity and effectivity adversely and to avoid such cases training team members is extremely critical. Today’s young team members are geared towards seeking employment that allows them to learn new skills. Organizations can attract good players if it can offer development opportunities. Learning and upgrading employee skills still makes business sense. It starts from day one, and becomes successive as employees grow. In addition, relevance of training is equally crucial and can be ascertained by thorough Skill Gap Analysis and arriving at appropriate training calendar. Faber Infinite has been supporting organizations not only in training and development of team members but also conducting organization wide skill gap analysis and arriving at comprehensive training plans for Operational Excellence, Technical and Behavioral aspects. As thought leaders say, it may take some time to see a return on investment, however in the long run, gains associated with training make a huge difference. In addition to custom made programs, we are glad to share year long training calendar for India below. Please feel free to reach out to us to take benefits of open programs as well as plan detailed skill gap analysis for your organization! PS: We shall roll out training calendar for other regions soon.
- [KONJO SMART - Best Improvements, to Justified Measurements](https://faberinfinite.com/konjo-smart-best-improvements-to-justified-measurements/): In this world of fast and quick moving trade, it takes a lot of patience and hard work to carry out all the excellence modules and to audit the same at regular intervals. Every organization has their own strategies to outstand themselves from others in the industry. Considering and understanding the ongoing developments and the need of the hour, Faber Infinite has devised Konjo SMART – set of standard yet configurable operational excellence intelligence modules for implementing and sustaining powerful best practices across industries. It is an intelligent fusion of different modules to help build and sustain the competitiveness. Konjo SMART is a build of cloud based modules which shall pave way for Smart Manufacturing 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT). We take the opportunity of introducing the first module – Six S. Six S is nothing, but Five S + SAFETY. To touch up briefly on Six S Module, Six S is a philosophy for an organization, a frame work for enhancement, and fundamental way of thinking for Smart Manufacturing. Five S, Six S, or Seven S as it varies from organization to organization, is applied everywhere in all the industries, but what Konjo SMART outstands in, is it has developed a software which makes Six S easy to implement and audit. Konjo SMART strongly believes that improvement in an already existing system can only be made, when it is measured justly and perfectly, this is what Konjo SMART aims to deliver to its clients, ‘Best Improvements, to Justified Measurements.’ Konjo SMART aids the leaders to analyze situation at their own convenience, as it can be accessed by them on handheld devices, which will help them to audit at equal intervals, and take timely decisions for the betterment of the organization. As the industry revolutions steps into its fourth phase, Konjo SMART will help you to make your lives at organizations easier, more systematic, and more productive. Join us, in this new era, as we add Smart to Manufacturing, with Konjo SMART. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Success Traits for the Corporate Athlete in You!](https://faberinfinite.com/success-traits-for-the-corporate-athlete-in-you/): Success starts with having the right mindset. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to qualify for regionals, start a successful business, or coach a team to a world championship; the psychological principles always remain the same. Mediocre performers quit long before they ever reach their goals and dreams. They allow fear and self-doubt to prevent them from achieving their highest potential. The common denominator amongst the failures is a lack of mental strength and a stagnant mindset. Mental resilience is not about winning; it’s about not quitting. While mental resilience may often appear to be inherent in top performers, it’s actually a set of skills and tools that anyone can learn. The best and the recent example to relate to would be Roger Federer’s stunning performance in the Wimbledon. It was an awesome display of mental resilience and determination in the face of huge psychological pressure. Roger’s mental resilience has been an exception in an otherwise mentally very strong career. Federer has combined a high level of self-belief with an ability to recover swiftly from defeat. His 2008 US Open triumph, for example, came just a few months after the toughest loss of his career against Rafa at Wimbledon. He’s also displayed formidable grit and stamina in tough matches – take his epic 2009 win over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon as a case in point. Roger’s mental strength is not a natural gift, but a learned skill. In his early career, Federer struggled with anger on the court and often lacked concentration. Temper tantrums and racket throwing were commonplace for the future great, from boyhood right up to his breakthrough year of 2001. At the Hamburg Masters event that year, Federer smashed his racket shortly after losing to Italian journeyman Franco Squillari. That loss proved a psychological turning point. Federer realized after that match; that his struggle with difficult emotions was holding him back from reaching his potential. He resolved to change. The cool, calm and collected Federer that we know today was born here. Federer says that he ‘was always trying to play the ball and not the opponent. He just told himself he has to really, really fight’. This approach worked. He stayed in present and focused, and didn’t engage with the inevitable doubts and memories he would have experienced. Federer has acknowledged that his mental progress did not come easy. He had to work really hard for this. He acknowledges whatever learning process he went through it was the catalyst that enabled him to become the truly great player he is today. What has been most impressive is his approach and his ability to maintain a positive attitude despite a nearly five-year Grand Slam drought and the heartache of losing to Djokovic in three consecutive Slam finals. These traits are equally applicable in our corporate athletism. Mental resilience combined with the not giving up attitude are two key traits to be honed by professionals for success. With these traits, you will go far in whatever you choose to do whether it’s in your personal or professional life. Being resilient can prevent or minimize the effects of demanding and challenging environments. It involves being able to recover from significant challenges, difficulties, and setbacks and then use these for learning and personal growth in the workplace. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Giving Back to the Society!](https://faberinfinite.com/giving-back-to-the-society-2/): At Faber, one of our core Faber values is giving back to the society! Today, we started supporting a government school in India to transform it into a model school! We are proud to share our very own Faber @⁨Abhishek Pandey⁩ led us as a Change Champion today! It’s a moment of pride for all of us at Faber. For living the spirit of Faber towards crafting a better tomorrow! Crafting real transformation to build a legacy of continual improvement at the grassroot levels! It’s a small step yet a giant leap, which can inspire many! We welcome you all to join hands and contribute towards taking it to places! To read more click here: Chanakya School – Transformation Initiative
- [Selling Right: Unlock the Basics](https://faberinfinite.com/selling-right-unlock-the-basics/): Selling is an art. An art that needs to be learned, practiced and sustained to survive the competition. Every person is not a born salesman, for that matter no one is. Some gradually realize their hidden talent, some learn with time, some run away from becoming a sales guy. For some reason we all are involved in selling, either on personal front or professional. Organizations are nowadays looking for the most perfect sales guy to sell their products or services, competent to achieve the targets. Having said that, many youngsters might not turn up for selling owing to the difficulties in making sales, though it varies from person to person. Hence, let’s make selling a bit easier considering its significance in the present times. Below are few points which could be considered before trying out your hands in selling or if you are not a professional sales guy for making sales or if you want to improve your selling skills: • Understand the real Selling: Selling is not about putting undue pressure on the customers. It’s about convincing and persuading people to take your services or products. For that, you must first yourself understand the real meaning of selling, its purpose and its impact on the customers. The salesperson should appear as a concerned person with genuine interest in their customers’ problems and not as the one who is incessantly praising their products or offerings. • Figure out problems of your counterpart: Once, you understand the real aspects of selling go ahead and try to figure the problems of your customers. Infact, selling turns out to be successful only when you understand the problems faced by your counterpart. In short, place yourself in your counterpart’s shoes. They would accept your offerings only if they have a problem. So try to exactly point on that and then convince them with your best of the skills and solutions. • Prepare and Practice: As said, ‘Practice makes a man perfect’, practice is a must. Prepare a sales pitch and keep practicing. Practice in front of a colleague and ask him/her to give feedbacks. The sales pitch can be modified with time depending on the situations and people encountered. Preparing yourself and practicing constantly will surely lead to building up of confidence and an increase in morale. • Stay calm: This is an important requisite to keep you going. You might go awry with your sales pitch. But do not lose your cool. This is normal. Just stay calm and relax. Do not forget to keep up the confidence on your face. Your confidence can convince the other person and your confused look can hint them to escape their way out without accepting your offer. Thus stay calm, keep up your body language and have relaxed facial expressions. • Close the deal:  This won’t be so easy. Your counterpart would think about many aspects after you present the offerings. They would think about the finance that would be involved, the strategies of their competitors, the possible outcomes due to acceptance or rejection of your services/products, etc. Anyway, make the move to close the deal by asking something like, “Are you ready to take the next step? What else can I do to help you make this decision?” If your shot was unsuccessful, don’t worry. Go back to your target in three months and ask, ‘How’s it going? Are your needs being met?’ If they are, great, but if not,” you may have another shot. Selling is a difficult task. But do remember it is the lifeline of any business and one of the most beautiful, significant part of the entire process. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [5 Essential Skills to Enhance your team](https://faberinfinite.com/5-essential-skills-to-enhance-your-team/): Team has been an integral part of any institution or organisation.Team work never fails to bring success if worked efficiently. But the significance lies in enhancing the team to perform better each day. Well, this is not very easy. A good team can surely get the organisation to the top but the  question here is how to get that perfect team? How to enhance team work? Below are some points that can help in doing the same: Leadership: A powerful leader and a great leadership can work wonders. Each team must have a designated leader who would guide, train in times of turmoil thereby taking the team forward successfully. Clarity of goals: There should he a clarity of goals. Each individual in the team and the team as a whole should have clear ideas of the goals which they need to attain over the period of time with their teamwork and combined efforts. Effective Communication: Failure in communication can lead to serious problems, to cause serious damages in the future. Communication or miscommunication has always had serious damages attached to it each time. Therefore, proper care should be taken that effective and frequent communication takes place within a team, followed by constant feedbacks. Suppression of Ego: Harns caused due to ego clashes can be irrevocable. They could lead to extremely severe problems. Well, the basic thing is, teams don’t exist in the presence of ego.Ego  in breaking the team and cordial relationships built over the course of times. Sharing Resources: Resource sharing is another crucial requisite to enhance the team skills. Resouces does not only mean money, tools, manpower but also include ideas, feedbacks, innovative approaches, insights,etc. Not sharing of these resources can lead to underperformance and failure. Making a team seems to be easy. Difficult part is sustaining the same.Much harder is enhancing the team in order to perform the best. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [One simple key to get work done: Motivation](https://faberinfinite.com/one-simple-key-to-get-work-done-motivation/): Motivation- the word that holds great importance in personal as well as professional lives.  We often say or hear people saying that they didn’t get motivation to finish a particular task; they lacked motivation to initiate something. Yes, motivation is crucial, especially in professional lives when it comes to beating the competition. Providing motivation may seem easy when heard but not practically. It is a very difficult task. What happens when a new joinee comes onboard in an organization or an existing employee looks for some light in his darkest of the job roles? It is difficult for them to start with their jobs. Why is it so?  What do they lack? The simple answer for these questions is that they lack motivation. They need that fuel (motivation) which would help them run their engine; basically carry out the tasks successfully. But motivating someone, especially the employees when talking in context of the organization is not easy. The leaders or supervisors need to be extremely sharp, creative and focused to understand their subordinates’, colleagues’ problems. Below are few pointers which would help supervisors or leaders act in accordance with motivating the employees: Highlight the importance of employees: Employees get highly motivated when they come to know how important they and their work for the organization are. They find utmost happiness when they are recognized and are involved in organizational processes. They need to be made understand the context of their work like Why is it done? For whom is it done? How would it be beneficial, etc.? This helps make them more productive. Proactive solutions for Employee challenges: As the first step suggests, the employees get motivated when they realize the importance and value of themselves and their work. But this does not solely help in keep the employees motivated. They would face certain challenges during the tenure of working. The leaders need to anticipate those possible hurdles to provide solutions for the same. Proactive solutions might be useful in avoiding the hurdles, thereby enabling employees to be more active, productive and motivated. Constant Appreciation for contributions: Appreciations, Acknowledgements and Rewards are very tempting. They are a great source of motivation. The leaders should make it a point to be aware of the contributions made by the employees. Appreciating the efforts of the employees make them feel more wanted and observed. When efforts go unnoticed it greatly hurts. Thus constant appreciation and recognitions should be made to keep the employees motivated which would further help to increase their productivity. Assess self- motivation: Last but not the least, self-assessment is an important step. To motivate others, it is very important for one-self to be motivated. If you’re not engaged and enthusiastic about your company, your team, or the work you do, it’s unlikely that you’ll be a great motivator of others. Thus a check on self-motivation and working towards being self-motivated is very important. Connect with your own motivation, and share it freely with your team. Just be actively engaged and involved with your subordinates. This will make the entire process easy for you. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Leading the Way: Faber Infinite recognized as Fastest Growing Management Consulting Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/leading-the-way-faber-infinite-recognized-as-fastest-growing-management-consulting-organization/): Faber Infinite has been recognized as India’s  fastest growing Management and Strategy Consulting organization  by ‘The CEO Magazine.’  The magazine has comprehensively covered the unique arrays of Faber Infinite, showcasing the success journey of Faber Infinite and its clients.  
- [Four Noteworthy Lessons from G.M. to mark a Successful Business Empire in India](https://faberinfinite.com/four-noteworthy-lessons-from-g-m-to-mark-a-successful-business-empire-in-india/): General Motors, popular as GM is among one of the reputed brands of automobile manufacturers. It is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan which had made its way to India in 1996. It had two manufacturing plants in India, located in Halol and Talegaon.  Lately, it had shut down its Halol plant owing to non-profitable operations. It had an unfortunate exit at the time when India, rather Gujarat is emerging as an auto-hub, with big brands keenly awaiting their turn to start a plant to attract more customers. Even though it exited, it left a valuable lesson for the C.E.Os across the world thinking about their start-up in India, Business expansion. Below are the points which need to be taken care of for a successful business growth in India: Consistency in Leadership: Leadership plays a major role in the success or ruin of any business organization. Best the leader, successful the organization, bad the leader, unsuccessful the organization. The same holds true for G.M. General Motors lacked the consistency in leadership. The short tenure of leaders or various leaders overs short period of time leads to one of the reasons for its closure. India, being a complex country in terms of diversity and culture, the short tenure could not suffice the leaders to understand the people, market and the strategy of the competitors. Building a competitive strategy for Indian Market: As said earlier, the Indian market is diverse and unique with diversity in people’s culture, religion, choices, etc. All these factors play a major role in determining the success of a product or product demand. Companies need to focus on this very aspect while designing a product for India. For Instance, Hyundai is doing a great business in India by developing cars at an economical cost and in accordance with the likes of the people. Local Autonomy and Customization: Customization and autonomy are of utmost importance when we talk about the Indian market. It’s not necessary that a product launched and being used in U.S. or Europe or any other part of the country would make its way to India successfully and if made way, would sustain for long. Hence, the products need to be customized to suit the needs of the people. Also, local autonomy is significant to cope up with the requirements of the Indian market. If provided a local autonomy, it would help to better design the products, customize them depending upon the customer needs. Patience and Persistence make way ahead: Patience and persistence is the key to business success. It should also be taken into consideration that coming from a foreign background and opening up a business in India is not easy. It requires a lot of determination and fortitude to make the way into the market, rather minds of the people successfully. Showing up their determination have thus paved the way forward for other multinational organizations in India. Though G.M. might have closed a unit in India, that doesn’t mean they cannot be an entrant again with more power to gain the supremacy over and above other giant competitors. Furthermore, the above pointers can help other companies awaiting to start their business rein in India. Compiled by Faber Ramya Pillai as per excerpts from H.B.R.   For original article click here
- [Manpower Productivity Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/manpower-productivity-improvement/): Some think reducing production hours will compromise throughput. Do you think the same? We at Faber we think DIFFERENT. Faber Infinite can help reduction in throughput time with Manpower Productivity Improvement. Faber, with its debottlenecking and productivity improvement solutions has helped a leading machine building industry to deliver a massive 80% improvement in overall throughput. It greatly influenced the profitability of the organization.    
- [NEVER GIVE UP](https://faberinfinite.com/never-give-up/): There’s a famous quote by Arianna Huffington which says, “Failure is a stepping stone to success.” How many of us actually believe this to be true? We get distressed, demotivated, deterred and there would be a rush of negative emotions after a failure. It is obvious. This is a basic human tendency and there’s nothing unnatural about it. What matters is how and how fast we overcome this phase. This is a challenge. This varies from person to person. Some people might stand up quickly with a bang while others might find it difficult to leave back the bad days of their failure and move on. Such people would tend to remain clinged to their past memories, not allowing the light of positivity to enter their lives. What they fail to realize is that their life does not end there rather there would be a way ahead lying in front of them. Well, this depends. While some would wait for luck to enhance their life, some would make a path of their own and would turn out to be lucky instead of waiting for the time to make them fortunate. There have been many live instances of some great people who have made their ways by themselves to reach the destination. One of them is Jack Ma, the famous business magnate, better known as the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group. He is the man with true standards and a living example of the best entrepreneur who made his way through a life full of failures. Ma’s life is nothing less than a typical Bollywood film with lots of distressing moments and failure throughout his childhood days, ultimately ending up to becoming one of the richest man on earth. Starting his life in a poor family he had a series of failures like failing his university entrance exams twice to getting rejected for jobs. His success did not happen overnight but it was this man’s grit, determination, positive attitude and courage which led to his success. Giving some insights of his success, his company Alibaba. com has been a tough contender for other e-retailers. Here are a few insights about the records set by his venture-Alibaba, as shared by Forbes. Its IPO had set a record as world’s biggest public stock offering in New York in 2014.Also, a record $463 billion of business transactions were conducted on Alibaba’s retail platforms in the fiscal year through March 2016. Beyond e-commerce, in October 2016 Alibaba’s film unit forged an alliance with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, giving a potential boost to a struggling effort so far in the entertainment industry. This is not a fairytale story but the story of a man who turned out to be the richest man in China with his positive attitude of never giving up. Hence the best lesson is to keep moving inspite of the challenges life throws at you. Failures are a part of success. Don’t give up your efforts but challenge the challenge in front of you, confront to become another successful being on this small planet. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Be the CHANGE you wish to see in the world !](https://faberinfinite.com/be-the-change-you-wish-to-see-in-the-world/): We have talked about change many times. Change in organization, effectiveness of change, importance of change and the list goes on. As said every time, change is a vital part of everyone’s life. Timely change is very important for growth and development on a personal as well as professional basis. Change, however big or small can bring big differences in life. Yes, change is good and it should be adopted. But before adopting it, it needs to be initiated. The question here is who would initiate the change. It is very essential to address this question. If this question would be left unanswered, there won’t be that change initiation process which is equally important. This answer can be well addressed with the famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” This quote actually adds a lot of meaning. We should be the change, initiate the change we wish to see in the world. How can we expect others to bring that change which we desire if we ourselves don’t step up for the same? Small steps can add a lot of meaning, maybe it can lead to a big transformation in the future for the betterment of the society as a whole. The best example is the ongoing ‘Seed Ball Movement.’ It was initiated with an intention to save environment by contributing to increasing the number of trees. This movement was initiated by a group of activists to increase the depleting green cover. This is an unique idea which includes making balls of seeds of plants and trees like neem, peepal, gulmohar,babool, tamarind, etc. These seeds are preferred as they are strong species and ideal to be grown on highways. The only requisites for making seedball are soil, seeds and cowdung. The step includes simply mixing these three and making small balls. These balls are then thrown randomly at places which then grow gradually, when watered- either through rains or any other mode. This is a small and simple step yet a very effective measure taken up to protect the environment and raise awareness among people to do the same. It can thus be said that small steps can bring big changes, if not immediately, gradually. This applies to organizations too which desire to initiate or adopt change. There needs to be an initiator, rather every person should initiate the change by himself/herself, setting an example for others to follow. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Increase Productivity without Incurring Extra Cost](https://faberinfinite.com/increase-productivity-without-incurring-additional-cost/): Ever thought of an increase in productivity at a low cost? Or an easy improvement in productivity with the available resources? Usually, productivity improvement in inversely proportional to cost incurred. Well, Faber Infinite knows that productivity improvement is significant for every organization and considering the same we have been successfully helping organizations in achieving productivity improvement with the existing / available resources. Faber Infinite’s process improvement capabilities and systematic elimination of bottlenecks has helped a leading FIBC manufacturer to deliver 50% improvement in overall productivity. For further details schedule an appointment with our expert : consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Pandemonium Around Paris Agreement - A Global Priority](https://faberinfinite.com/pandemonium-around-paris-agreement-a-global-priority/): Yesterday was June 5th, one of the most important days which are meant to be celebrated every year. Here, celebration does not mean making big pomp and shows, using fireworks, colors, music or cakes. It needs to be calm and silent because it is World Environment Day. A day which we might not even remember alike our birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, New Year or every other festival or day which we would be excited to celebrate. We often fail to understand the importance associated with World Environment Day, it being one of the most significant days. World Environment Day (also called as WED) has been an annual event on the 5th of June every year since 1973 in order to raise the global awareness about the importance of the healthy and green environment in the human lives, to solve the environmental issues. When talking about environment, it includes every aspect of the environment like earth, water reservoirs, forest, etc. All these factors play a vital role in sustenance of the environment and shaping the climate and weather conditions. Massive destruction of forests, increase in pollution and other destructive measures adopted by human beings has greatly contributed in an increase in global warming. This has resulted in an extreme upsurge of temperature, typically hotness across the globe. When talking about the measures taken to reduce the adverse effects of pollution and global warming, one of the notable measures includes the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris agreement is a step toward the reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions that is necessary in order to reduce the most catastrophic risks of climate change. It’s a deal signed by 195 countries committing them to lower their carbon emission levels. The goal is to lower global emissions enough to prevent average global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. This agreement was finalized in 2015 when Obama was in power. As per the latest news, the ruling President Trump wants United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. According to reports, the United States will begin a four-year process of withdrawing from the agreement, with the final date for withdrawal set for 2020. This withdrawal could cause severe impacts such as: • More Carbon Emissions: The obvious impact would be a rise in carbon emissions. As per the study conducted by University of California Berkley, U.S. emits about 20 percent of global carbon emissions. • Upsurge in Temperature: The increase in carbon emissions would obviously lead to an increase in the temperature. This could also lead to melting of ice in the polar regions resulting in an increased sea level and an adverse weather condition. • Weakening of the deal: Withdrawal of U.S. could lead to weakening of the deal. This could also result in withdrawal of other countries from the deal raising an alarming situation due to the increase in carbon emissions. This pact does not legally bind countries. But the issue being a global one, every country should be a part of the agreement to do their bit for curbing of harmful gaseous emissions. On an individual level, we should plant more trees, try to reduce pollution (air, water, land, noise) and try to do every possible bit to protect and sustain the environment for our future generations.
- [Connect with Nature this World Environment Day !](https://faberinfinite.com/connect-with-nature-this-world-environment-day/): This Earth day, play your part by making small changes around the home/shop floor. Small changes might not seem like much, but if everybody pitches in, the nation can make a big dent in its fossil fuel usage. That means less carbon released into the atmosphere, less contribution to climate change and a healthier planet. So lets connect with the Nature !
- [5 Tips to Become More Effective Consultant](https://faberinfinite.com/5-tips-to-get-the-best-consultants-on-board/): Consultants and consulting organizations are increasing over the period of time. There is being seen a massive rise in the availability of consultants parallel to the organizations hiring them. With the increase in the number of organizations, the numbers of organizational problems also tend to increase. Organizations may face various challenges with respect to employees, profit, organizational growth, resources, etc. In this article, we will discuss about 5 Tips to Become More Effective and Efficient Consulant. These uncertain problems are sure to create a headache for the companies. This is where consultants come into picture. They are looked upon as the magicians who bring effective solutions for the problems. Organizations/organizational leader start the hunt for consultants to address their organizational issues successfully. With an increase in the competition, the need for consultants is on a high. Organizations have started deploying consultants. Companies have started understanding the concept of consulting, the importance of the same and the benefits associated by availing the consulting services. However, lately with few world business leaders objecting to the role of consultants and their efficacy, you would probably be charged with a set of questions in your mind. Who is a good consultant? How to identify the best consultants? How effectively would the consultants be able to deliver the results? Below are 5 key pointers, which would help you to identify the best consulting team based on your organizational needs 5 key points of Consulting your Organizational Needs:-   They have a certain estimate of the future outcome: Best consultants make way for the best outcomes. They can actually predict the certain, possible outcomes. They would certainly make a blueprint for carrying out the tasks by which the organization/ client would get the best results. This means that the consultant would have an estimate or a ballpark idea that how much the client would benefit by their intervention. This estimate would be in terms of increase in number of clients, increase in profit or increase in the revenue fetched due to increased productivity. They follow Set Organizational values: The consultants are generally hired and may not be necessarily a part of your organization as a full time team. But since the day they are hired by your organization, they are a part of your organization and are bound to follow the rules, live by the values, work towards following the vision and mission of your company. They cannot neglect following and living by these things. A good consulting outfit would understand the due importance of the same and work to deliver the best results within the scope of the set values and norms. They determine the ‘Maximum’ duration of services: A proficient consulting team is the one which would define the Maximum phase of its engagement with the client. It would predict its disengagement period considering the organizations ability to sustain the improvements and assist in creating a framework where the client becomes self-reliant. They would think client’s benefit before they think about excess profits. They address the issues of the organization creatively: Consultants need to be well equipped with right tools and creative ideas. They should not always provide with the same monotonous solutions every time for every problem or atleast for the same problem, each time. If the problem persists even after repeated efforts, the technique may be wrong. The consultants should thus have creative and apt solution, if the issue persists. They should demonstrate remarkable results: It’s sure that if you have hired or are looking to hire one of the best consultants, they would its worth. They would have already worked with clients – organizations enabling them to present their case studies and credentials. They would have already assembled many of them making it furthermore easy for decision making. Effectual consultants are not those random people taking up consulting jobs because they can’t find anything. But they are into consulting profile by choice and chance or any other compulsions. They can actually be referred to as doctors for the organization, who would examine and come up with minutest of the problem and solutions.
- [Go Green on World Environment Day](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green-on-world-environment-day/): With World Environment Day round the corner, and all the uproar around it; let us talk about how Going Green and specifically conserving energy can make money for organizations. Energy conservation is the need of the hour all over the world, especially in Zambia. Zambia – the second largest producer of copper in Africa is in major crisis with its economic slowdown. Zambia was one of the powerful, fast growing economies in the past with real GDP growth averaging to 6.7% p.a. This declined to become just 3.6% in 2016. There are numerous factors adding to the problems of Zambian economic growth. Some of the factors contributing to economic challenges of Zambia are fall in copper prices, rising costs of commodities, low agricultural output, etc. The ongoing issue in the country is the hike in electricity prices. Energy consumption (electricity) has become a major issue with a rise in the prices. Zambia has been facing electricity scarcity since long. The electricity-supply deficit, which began in June 2015, has affected manufacturing and other businesses. It was estimated at 40-50% of baseload, requiring daily load shedding. This was followed by other problems such as an increase in operating costs, depreciation in Zambia Kwacha by 42% against the United State Dollars, giving a rise to inflation to about 21%. The problems did not end there but went ahead to cause 9000 job losses in the private sector, then. Economic conditions have slightly improved in 2017. According to World Bank, the growth rate is projected to be 4% in 2017. The measures to increase the growth rate and develop the economy have already begun. One of the important steps adopted by Zambia in this direction is 75% hike in electricity prices. First fifty percent rise has already taken place and the remaining twenty five percent is set to take place on 1st September, 2017. The move has already created a ruckus in the country. People are disappointed with the move owing to high tariffs to be paid for usage of electricity. The rates have been hiked but it can be said that the rates are still cheaper than the neighboring countries. While in Zambia, the constant energy charge at present is K0.15 per kWh. It is still low as compared to other countries. For Instance, while Zambia pays 3.8 US cents per kWh, Tanzania pays 15.1 US cents per KWh. As said earlier people are unhappy with this decision of hike in energy price but the fact cannot be denied that with the increase in price there would be less power cuts, electricity scarcity, and gradually full time energy access to people. This would rather boost the production process without the hindrance of power cuts and unavailability of electricity. Timely production would thus lead to timely sales further leading to on-time delivery and satisfied customers. This would also cut government electricity subsidies enabling to direct those resources rather surplus resources to the needy sector. This is indirectly a boost to the economy.There are also negative effects associated to it. The major drawback would be increased energy bills. High energy bills would be followed by high production cost leading to high price of goods.Undoubtedly, it is difficult to manage these problems arising due to rise of energy tariff. However, Faber Infinite has a concrete solution for it. Yes, you heard it right. Team Faber Infinite with its organizational transformation framework has a very powerful solution for energy cost reduction. Our expert team has helped several clients to reduce energy cost by means of conducting energy audit, implementing energy efficiency solutions and alternate energy solutions, Energy Management Systems development as per Standards (ISO 50001). Energy conservation and efficient utilization of energy resources play a vital role in optimizing costs for any organisation. Energy audits help to understand more about the ways energy is used in the industry, and help in identifying the areas where energy waste is occurring and where scope for improvement exists. Typically, audit covers Electrical Motors, Pumps, Lighting, Compressed Air System, Cooling Tower, Boilers, Steam Systems, Furnaces, HVAC & Refrigeration System. For further details, please get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [4 key points to Improve Manpower Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/4-key-points-to-improve-manpower-productivity/): Kenya, East Africa’s biggest economy holds the record of being the country with maximum unemployment. According to the United Nations in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2017 report, the rate of unemployment in Kenya is the highest in the East African region hitting a new high at 39.1 percent. This makes it the highest than its neighboring Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. This dubious distinction also pops up as a reason of slow economic growth. On the other hand, President Uhuru Kenyatta had made an announcement stating an increase in the minimum wage rate. Minimum Wage rate refers to the lowest amount to be legally paid to an employee for his work. As per the declaration there would be an increase of 18% to the minimum wage paid to employees in Kenya. This move came up in the midst of high cost of living in the country. Another notable point is that this wage rate has been intended after two consecutive years of no increase in salary. Kenya’s minimum wage was last changed on 1st May 2015. There are 106 countries with a higher Minimum Wage than Kenya, and Kenya is in the bottom percent of all countries based on the yearly minimum wage rate. Following this announcement, the lowest paid employee will now earn KES 14,868 up from the current salary of 12,600. This move has been planned to help people match the high cost of living in Kenya. Improve Manpower Productivity by 18% Considering this move, it seems the employers and company owners are not very pleased. This is obvious as they need to pay more to their workforce. This would have an adverse effect as the employers and organizational leaders would turn to reduce the number of employees, would increase the price of goods and services, etc. This would further lead to poverty, inflation and unemployment. Well, there should be a solution that can help solve all these problems. The solution would be improving the manpower productivity to overcome the impact of increased wage rate and build in competitiveness to stand in the global markets. Faber Infinite can help to tackle the problem effectively by improving manpower productivity by 15 to 20% with its established approaches and unique delivery methodology. Faber has proven records showing its successful delivery and the results achieved due to its efforts. Team Faber deploys fundamental tools like Time and motion study, Muda elimination and other efficiency improvement concepts to improve manpower productivity. The improvement in manpower productivity can be brought in by following key four drivers: Identify and eliminate all non-value adding steps: The first and foremost task would be to identify the non-value adding efforts. Half of the task gets done, if we successfully identify the non-value adding steps in the organization, on time. But this is usually a difficult task and identifying it consumes majority of the efforts. After identifying the wastes or non-value adding activities, work on eliminating them. Not necessarily, all wastes can be eliminated and such inefficiencies (necessary evils) can be reduced, if not eliminated, via appropriate tools. Providing systematic review aimed towards work balancing: The next step would be to review the work balancing. Maintaining proper work balance and load levelling is of utmost importance, in absence of which some resources among manpower and equipment goes unutilized. There also exists a possibility of Muda of overproduction which creates many problems such as overstocking, wastage of space and resources, inefficiencies, etc. Thus the key would be to improve material velocity. Creating and implementing standards: It’s easy to improve but it’s difficult to sustain that improvement. That is where we need to pitch in and implement standardized practices which could be brought by visual SOPs, daily work management and alike measures. These would help to improve as well as sustain the improvements, enhancing quality and efficiency. Inculcating Right First Time, Every time: The last key is to inculcate right first time, every time which refers to maintaining and developing the quality each time you produce. Quality should be at source and inbuilt. Quality at source refers to having proper, robust processes so that there won’t be any rework, reject or inspection needed. Inbuilt quality refers to maintaining the quality since the first step, a standard, accepted quality enabling to increase the delivery. Execution of these approaches successfully has led to addition of clients in the list for Faber Infinite. For Instance: Team Faber has helped the likes of Atlas Copco, one of the leading engineering companies to improve manpower productivity by 33%. There are numerous happy clients from varied sectors who have received the best results when partnered with Faber Infinite. For further details, get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Skill Building: For Better Tomorrow](https://faberinfinite.com/skill-building-for-better-tomorrow/): On one hand where we have seen heavy down-sizing in the Information Technology domains, it can also be noted that Indian economy is growing steadily and with the same, there is also sectoral growth. Further, the sectoral growth demands skills to compete with the global market. Hence, Skill Development has become an integral part of organizations. As per India Skills Report 2017, of all the students entering the job market across the country, hardly 2/5 meets the employment criteria set by the employers. There is a serious shortage of skilled people available in the country, which is a grave problem. This has led Government of India to adopt skill development as a national priority. Further, organizations around are deploying skill development tools and trainings for the employees. This is being undertaken massively by organizations to combat the existing skill problems. As shared in our past post ‘Skill Development for Unprecedented Revenue Growth’, Faber Infinite’s PriZma – Skill Analysis platform is extremely effective to gauge the skills of the employees and to help them overcome existing gaps. Skill Analysis indicates the skills and skill levels required on the job and the actual skills possessed by the employees. Apart from focusing on the gaps and coming up with the solutions for the same, PriZma also facilitates to make a training plan considering the needs and training requirements of the employees. Team Faber has been helping organizations to conduct a pertinent and customized skill analysis by deploying PriZma. Organizations are finding it exceptionally helpful and comfortable using PriZma. Moreover, it helps them to get appropriate results enabling them to design the way forward to impart training. And all this is conducted at click of buttons, eliminating all hassle and subjective feedbacks! The expert team of Faber Infinite has designed the platform considering its vast experience of dealing with various traits and skills requirement, coupled with cloud based IT systems, making it effective, efficient and error free! Recently, India’s largest paracetamol manufacturer has been one of the beneficiaries of PriZma platform, where Team Faber has helped the team in skill analysis and development initiative by rolling out PriZma. They are the largest and leading manufacturer of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Paracetamol/ Acetaminophen. Every client has different requirements and it keeps varying from time to time. Skill Gap Analysis for the above mentioned client was done with an objective to analyze the necessary skills of the employees, design a training calendar, conduct annual appraisals and to create a skill inventory for future. The skills were analyzed by identification and distribution of skills into four broad categories such as Functional/ Technical Skills, Operational Excellence Skills, Behavioral & Soft Skills. After the required skills identification, a customized questionnaire for all skills and positions covering all departments was prepared. The questionnaire was rolled out to all the participants through online platform which further helped to receive and analyze the data to analyze the skill gaps. This comprehensive analysis was conducted for more than 120 participants over 10 departments and 12 cadres. All members from the leadership, tactical and execution layers were covered and the tool helped to generate individual as well as consolidated team insights. These details were then used to identify the skill gap and design improvement plan for each employee. Skill analysis helped to identify skill gaps for each position thereby helping in identifying the training requirements. This is of utmost importance because the lack of proper identification, training and nurturing of skills can lead to frustration and employee turnover. Faber can justly help you save from such a scary organizational future and can deliver with the most appropriate results. For further details, get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com.
- [Delivering 10 times RoI Everytime](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-10-times-roi-everytime/): Everybody in the management business are aware of infamous parables about consultants. In todays’ era, maximum return on investment is one of the core objectives of every organization when it hires any consulting organization. Faber Infinite Consulting understands it thoroughly and has this objective of providing maximum return on investment as one of the core values. Faber Infinite has always lived by its values. Values sets standards and keeps the organization bonded and helps to sustain the organization culture in a right way. Faber has always held its seven core values high and has been successfully following them since its inception. All these values relate to the growth and development of clients, stakeholders and society in whole. Amongst the core values, one value which Faber lives by is ‘Fabulous is Tangible.’ By this, Faber Infinite believes to, commits to maximize Return on Investments (ROI) for clients. It has lived by its value of under committing and over performing. Faber Infinite commits minimum 10 times return on the consulting investment made by the client. Faber has actually delivered this to several its clients. One of the latest additions to the list is one of the leading Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC)/ Woven Sacks industries in India. For every INR 1 invested on consulting, client has received more than INR 10 added straight to their profitability, increasing their profitability by around 20-25%. The methodology adopted to enable returns (10 times) on investment varies from client to client, depending upon the requirements, work conditions and the problems. A brief of the successful approach adopted by Faber Infinite to help one of the client deliver 10 times ROI is as follows: Basic Stability of physical workplace and processes: Establishing and rolling out process standards across the operations and physical work place improvement were the fundamental steps initiated. Six S helps in workplace management, maintain standard work environment and foundation steps towards continual improvement culture building. Materials Waste Reduction: Material cost being one of the key cost elements and hence material wastage reduction initiative is adopted to optimize and reduce waste of resources via focused improvement projects. It helps in reduction of wastage of resources thereby saving on the costs. Problem Solving Projects: Another important step is to analyze the reasons for shortfall of resources and failure to deliver planned throughput. Post proper root cause analysis, the reasons for shortfall can be determined. Shortfall arising due to lack of skilled manpower, defects, material unavailability, etc. are resolved by structured problems solving tools and methodology of 8D to reduce and eliminate the impact. Equipment Health Management: Autonomous Maintenance is a proven approach which was adopted here to restore the basic condition of the equipment and tools etc. By a structured roll out, it helps to improve and sustain the working conditions, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It further enables to increase efficiency and quality of operation of machines and manpower.These are some of the proven methods which were adopted by team Faber to assist clients with an immense increase in profitability. These tools and approaches are implemented in such a way that it meets the clients’ needs, gifting them the maximum returns (nothing less than ten times) on the investment made. These concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed at your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Keys to deal with Multicultural Diversities](https://faberinfinite.com/keys-to-deal-with-multicultural-diversities/): A basic, known fact- man is a social animal. Yes, we are and the urge to be social, communicate with people, make friends remain a part and parcel of everyone’s life. We have been trained by our mind, our family and our society to be social. Being social doesn’t only mean interacting with a single, acquainted group of people. We would need to interact with multiple people with various cultural diversities having different backgrounds, either as a part of our personal lives or professional. The fact is many find it difficult to manage. People find it difficult to communicate to people with different cultural diversities. These barriers might be due to the difference in language, culture, for that matter any other reason. But, this is a serious problem which needs to be addressed seriously. This can lead to serious business consequences when overlooked from an organizational perspective. How to overcome this challenge? Below are the pointers which can help overcome these challenges and could create a desire to befriend a person from other culture. Urge to learn: Learning is the base. Having an impulse to learn can act as the key. Individuals should develop or should be helped to develop a need to learn. They should be eager to welcome change thereby getting ready to accept new things and welcome the new cross border/ multi-cultured friend. They should be trained to adapt to the new cultural happenings. This can happen with constant interaction with people from other culture, sharing their cultural practices, reading or learning about it. Proper training can help to make individuals comfy to deal with multi-cultured people. Team Learning: This can act as another integral step. Once, you develop the desire to learn, the next step would be to learn collectively in a group. Different teams can be formed and the group can mutually discuss and learn. Mutual give and take of advices, findings, and discussions enables to learn faster, regardless of the culture or national diversities. Shared responsibility improves the intra-team environment, allowing happier and more comfortable members to deliver improved results. Feedback session: The task does not get over by the two steps. The last but not the least, crucial step is arranging a feedback session. Individual query and problems should be addressed. If not possible in an individual manner, group session should be conducted. But it is a vital part for the success of the training or learning sessions conducted. Feedbacks act as a great source of knowledge and awareness to improve or make changes catering to the needs. This can help to formulate a strategy for organizing a learning environment for the employees. These are the traits which may not be inborn for every individual but it can be acquired or developed over the course of time. These can greatly influence the co-ordination, teamwork developing a path ahead for organizational success. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Don’t let WannaCry make you cry.](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-let-wannacry-make-you-cry/): The most obvious, known, well-accepted fact is that we live, rather living in a digital era. We are surrounded by computers, tablets, mobile phones and many many more connecting-interconnecting networks and devices. We are so much dependent on these devices and other network facilitators that we cannot imagine our life without them. We have adopted Google as our ‘Great Guru’ and Facebook, Instagram, Watsapp, Snapchat, etc. as our ‘Fab Friend.’ What remains left out is our Safety and Security. When we talk about safety, it does not only mean safety against mental and physical harm. Online safety is also as important as mental and physical protection. Not to forget, we are prone to cyber-attacks and there is an increased chance of one, no matter who you are, where you are.  For instance, the recent WannaCry Ransomware attack.  It is considered to be one of the biggest cyberattacks in history. This attack majorly hit businesses and large government organizations such as hospitals in UK, FedEx, and the Russian Interior Ministry, among others. These attacks cannot be stopped. They would happen again. What we can do to prevent such attacks from affecting us? The key is to take precautions to protect ourselves and our system from becoming victims of such attacks. Here are few precautions which can be taken for safeguarding our system. : Create Strong Passwords: Passwords should be really strong. Passwords should be set in such a way that it should not be easy to guess it. It should be a mix of alphabets, special characters, numbers, etc. Do not use your birth dates, phone numbers, names, etc. as your passwords as they appear to be very easy to guessed. Also, do not reveal your password to anyone. This could turn out to be dangerous. Install and maintain updated anti-virus: Another important measure is to have anti-virus in your system. Once you have it the task does not get over. Keep updating it on regular intervals as and when needed. Regular Updation of System: Regular updation of your system is very important to protect your system. This enables safety of your system. Make this a habit to avoid any malware from harming your valuable information. Regular Backups: The risk of being attacked anytime always prevails. Hence, the best option is to maintain regular backups. Create and maintain backup copies of all important business date, financial information and all other important documents. This would save you incase of any cyberattack and prevent from loss of data. Also, it is advisable to maintain backup on a separate device. Act Wisely: Another crucial point is to act wisely by not opening any links or e-mail attachments which seem to be suspicious, unfamiliar, sent by unknown person, containing unfamiliar file extension names, etc. Do not open links or apps that appear to be unacquainted. Cyber-attacks are meant to happen in future. There will be cyber threats. The only way out is to act wisely and your smartness can help protect from unwanted, unrecognized malware attacks.
- [4 key points to Great Management](https://faberinfinite.com/4-key-points-to-great-management/): There’s a famous saying by Paul Glen- “A good manager finds satisfaction in helping others be productive, not being the most productive person in the room.” In this article, we will discuss about 4 key points to Great Management. Managerial job is one of the most difficult tasks owing to dealing with and managing of human resources. Human behavior is very uncertain and it tends to change depending upon their moods and dispositions. But that’s what the challenge is; being a manager you should be able to deal successfully with your subordinates to get the work done. At the end of the day, proper execution and completion of work is what matters the most. The burden of getting it done properly and effectively lies on the manager. But how to do this? Here are few pointers which would help mould employees to be highly productive, motivated and enthusiastic. Great Mangers set examples: Good managers just don’t guide but also set perfect examples. He/ she would himself follow what they preach. This could be in the style of working or the time dedicated in completion of a particular task or any alike thing. This holds due importance as the employees would be motivated seeing their manager following what he/she preaches. This would enable them to follow the person and the manager would be thus successful in spreading positive energy. Equal allocation of work: Employees tend to get disengaged after a certain point of time if allocated with more work than what they are supposed to. They tend to lose their sense of motivation resulting in degrading productivity owing to overburden of work. A good manager must be aware about the working patterns, working technique, amount of work his subordinates are engaged with and how much more work they should be assigned with. There should be proper and even allocation of work considering all these factors. Effective Internal Network Access: This acts as an important phenomenon. Having and maintaining large internal networks creates a sense of trust and strength. Larger business networks can build a positive outcome. Large internal networks can improve and increase co-ordination and co-operation also leading to departmental, hierarchical interactions among each other. This would build a sense of motivation and trust to attain the organizational goals on time, effectively. One-on-One Interaction: This is very important in any organization. This is what many organizational leaders and managers miss on. One-on-One interaction is very important to keep a track of what’s going on, to keep one updated about the challenges faced by the subordinates and to come up with suitable solutions. This habit should be followed at least twice a month as it enables to foster the organizational relationship leading to a positive work environment and improved productivity. These tips would help build positive company culture, improve productivity & quality of work. But, do remember a manager would be the best person to initiate these measures because he/she would be the one who would be in constant touch with their juniors and also equally responsible and answerable to the top management for non-completion of work, non-attainment of organizational goals. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Boosting Productivity with Correct Employee Placement](https://faberinfinite.com/boosting-productivity-with-correct-employee-placement/): Have you ever been seated next to an academic scholar in your school by your teacher? Or have you ever witnessed your teacher doing the same to your classmate, placing an academically poor student besides the class topper? Well, majority of us might have witnessed, experienced or could have heard our teacher doing or saying the same during our school days. Being students we might not have understood the motto behind the same. Such a measure was adopted with an intention to improve a weak student by the influence of the other- the academically good one. Then, you might not have considered it as a very effective step. What would you say if you come to know that the organizations can also adopt the same methodology? A research was actually conducted and this measure has proven to be very effective and useful. The results of the research suggested that placing an employee next to a productive one can practically boost the former employee’s productivity. Below is the cheapest, quickest, effective, process which can help improve productivity of the employees: Opposites Influence: Scientifically speaking, opposites attract. When talking about an organization, we can say that pairing opposites work the best. The step is very simple. Place a productive employee next to a less productive employee. The more productive one would help the other one to achieve the tasks. The research highlighted that the workers with strong skills in one area would help the other lacking it. Hence there would be a mutual co-ordination, co-operation and communications helping onto build confidence. Identifying and Splitting the Negative: We would be able to pair the productive and non- productive group, align them to achieve the desired results. The process does not end there. The next important step would be to identify and separate the negative or toxic workers. Toxic (Negative), here refers to the employees or workers who end up being terminated due to their misconduct, misbehavior, violent nature, fraud, sexual harassment, breach of company policy, etc. Any employees with alike traits are dangerous to the other good part of people. They, if paired with the positive ones could negatively influence the former leading to a decline in productivity and further problems instead of increase in productivity. Thus it’s very important to identify those harmful, dangerous people and they should be removed to avoid future losses and other serious consequences. Analyze the process: Once you are done with the above two steps, don’t forget to analyze the whole process. It can help to rewind the process giving a brief about the procedure. This is important because it would help to overlook the effectiveness, success rate, difficulties, challenges, etc. to formulate a better way of introducing the same processes. Boosting productivity with quality is the dream and motto of every company. But not all are able to achieve the same. The above process would help you achieve the desired results without costing you anything that too effectively. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai.
- [Swacch Bharat - The Five S Way !](https://faberinfinite.com/swacch-bharat-the-five-s-way/): The Swacch Bhart Abhiyan is an urge and requirement of today. The program can be seen as a great medium to make nation a beautiful place to live. The hygiene and clean environment is required for betterment of human across the globe. Here the focus is to systematically and effectively utilize Five S concepts for achieving the target of Swacch Bhart Abhiyan. Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan As we know the cleanliness and waste management in an efficient manner is required for a developing nation like ours. The fact is that if we are talking about the development of world class infrastructure and facilities to change our nation, this aspect cannot be ignored at any cost. With a very bright thought a national campaign has been launched under the name The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by Honorable Prime minister on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi. The campaign will cover 40-41 statutory towns to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country in phase wise manner. Brief Introduction Five S The Five S method includes sorting out unwanted items and disposing them, setting things in an orderly fashion by allocating a right place for everything and putting back everything in its place, keeping things clean, standardization and systemization. The Swacch Bharat Abhiyan has a very close association with the Japanese Five S practices of cleanliness, systematic arrangement and other principles as well. Swacch Bharat and its parallel to Five S What is most effective in many advanced parts of the world is the adherence to Five S. Five S is a Japanese methodology which indicates different levels of cleanliness and has been recognized worldwide. To simplify these are the 5 key components of Five S • Sort • Select Place • Shine • Standardize • Self Discipline. Five S is a successfully implemented technique with exceptional results worldwide, which involves the principle of waste elimination through workplace organization. The focus lies on effective workplace organization and standardized work procedures. Five S simplifies the work environment, reduces waste and non-value-adding activity while improving quality, efficiency and safety. It provides the foundation for all quality improvement programs & improvised work culture. As it is quite evident that the corporate setup in various organizations needs to have a proper Five S implementation. If examined closely the concepts of Five S and housekeeping run parallel. Working in a clean environment will enable people to notice malfunctions such as leaks in equipment, unevenness and breakages, which if remains unnoticed can have serious consequences. The Five S program shall help to instill the habits of clean and hygienic environment at workplace alongside a greater sense of discipline. Swachh Bharat strongly attempts to sensitize people about their surroundings and also understand their perspectives on the norms of a clean mind and healthy body.
- [Uncertainty Can’t Ruin Your Certain Business Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/uncertainty-cant-ruin-your-certain-business-growth/): Businesses and Organizations often face uncertainty. Uncertainty could be in terms of government policies, political turmoil, financial crisis or any such random situations. Every organization, big or small is bound to face some uncertain situations from time to time. The organizations may not be actually ready to face those uncertainties every time. This could lead to tension and build up the pressure in the organization among individuals. As it is difficult to ascertain the outcome of the uncertain circumstances, it would be difficult to determine the mood in the organization. One could witness a variety of moods from anxiety, frustration, distress to anguish and irritation, varying from person to person. Uncertainties are sure to happen but being a manager how can you help your employees deal with the ambiguity and insecurity. It is very important to deal with these problems oneself and also to help employees deal with the same. In the absence of support and guidance those problems could lead to un-productiveness and stress. Here are few pointers which the managers, mentors, leaders could refer to, if wish to adopt to cope up with all those problems. Care for ‘You’: Before you empathize and create a ‘feel good’ factors for others, firstly create a care for your attitude. Take care of yourself before you take care of someone else. You cannot help others until you help yourselves. Try to understand the new problem, analyze it, try to come up with a practical, feasible plan that can be used as a remedial plan to overcome the wound of business uncertainties. Once you cope up with the same you can help others to deal with those problems. Understand what employees need: Try and understand what your employees need by having a one- on-one conversation with them. This would help them to look at the problem with an open mindset. Also, they would build a sense of trust for you, as the leaders who are actually concerned and trying to understand their needs. This would ultimately lead to a reduction in distractions, anxiety, stress thus making them more confident and assured. Address and Encourage: The employees might end up feeling stressed out, wondering how are you able to deal with the new and upcoming changes. This is the right time to help them open up, address their issues and make them feel normal. Make them feel that it is a part and parcel of the day to day business activities and you have also been through the same. This would help them to feel normal and calm. Also, never forget to encourage them for their capability in handling the situation smoothly. Approve Flexibility of Work: Once you understand, analyze, address and encourage the problems of your employees, let them be flexible in their work and working patterns. This would enable them to be relatively relaxed alongside completion of the tasks and coping up with the newly popped up uncertain circumstances. Just align them to the organizational goals and remind them that the work expectations remain the same. The uncertainties would vary from organization to organization. The onus lies on the managers to guide his/her team to achieve the goals along with preparing them to face the unforeseen challenges. Written By Ramya Pillai
- [World Day for Safety and Health at Work](https://faberinfinite.com/world-day-for-safety-and-health-at-work/): 28th April – World Day for Safety and Health at Work this day was declared by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally. World Day for Safety and Health at Work is an awareness-raising campaign “intended to focus international attention on emerging trends in the field of occupational safety and health and on the magnitude of work-related injuries, diseases and fatalities worldwide”. So today let us take few minutes out of our busy schedule and look into the most important aspect – Safety at Work. Safety is not only focusing on reduction of the number of accidents but creating safe working environment for each stake holder. To get best out of the teams, it is necessary to ensure safe and friendly environment. The members should feel free to work without feeling any danger and unsafe situations. Organization must understand the need to consider employee, equipment and environmental safety as an integral part of sustainability program. These practices can help you support and maintain efficient production and to help provide a safe operating environment. Organizations should develop health and safety program as per their business and hazards at workplace. Let us work towards creating environment which fosters safety not only today, but for life! Let us build Safety and Health together!
- [4 Essentials to formulate Development Strategy for Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/4-essentials-to-formulate-development-strategy-for-leaders/): Leaders-the torch bearers of companies play a very important role in the development of the organization. They inculcate the values in their organization. Organization here doesn’t just refer to a particular group of people or individuals but the organization as a whole inclusive of each and every employee. We usually say that employees act as the pillar of the organization. Yes, this is true but the foundation is the leader, constantly motivating, guiding and enabling their workforce with continuous training and development. Having said this and accepting the importance of a good leader, mentor we should not forget that with the high speed changes taking place the leader is the one who needs to adapt himself to the same, even before his employee accept and adapt to the same. Thus there need to be a strong leadership strategy as a base to cope with the upcoming challenges and initiate the process of development. Here are few key pointers which can help formulate a good development strategy for the leaders: Formulate Leadership strategy focusing on the organizational strategy: The basic step should be formulating the leadership strategy on the basis of the organizational strategy. The leaders need to be identified to execute their strategies and build recruiting approaches considering the need for the same. Implant change initiative throughout the organization: Change initiative strategy should be embedded throughout the organization. Covering the entire organization for initiating change is a must. Merely focusing on a particular part of the organization, a particular individual or just a group of individuals won’t be helpful to achieve success. Therefore the entire organization should be covered in the process to embed change. Contextual Leadership Programs based on the need: Leadership programs should be designed focusing upon the needs. Organizations should instill programs around current business and strategic issues. This would develop employee engagement and more employee involvement. Encourage by connecting to a purpose: Individuals feel more motivated when connected to the purpose or mission. When there is a purpose for doing something there occurs a sense of motivation attached to do it. On achieving the desired results there occurs a sense of satisfaction. This again steers to work better in the future. The above points can lead to successful organizational initiatives. Thus a basic strategy should be formulated depending upon the organizational goals. A strong leadership strategy can help initiate the change process for fostering growth and development. Written By Ramya Pillai
- [Go Green this Earth Day !](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green-this-earth-day/): This Earth day, play your part by making small changes around the home/shop floor to cut back on your electricity consumption? For every kilowatt hour you can knock off your meter, you’re saving coal or natural gas that gets burned to generate electricity. Small changes might not seem like much, but if everybody pitches in, the nation can make a big dent in its fossil fuel usage. That means less carbon released into the atmosphere, less contribution to climate change and a healthier planet. So sit back today to think about what you can do to use fewer natural resources, streamline a manufacturing process or improve a Green Manufacturing initiative! Lean is Green, and green manufacturing is better for Earth. Here are few examples from industry winners who have been successful in marrying Lean principles with benefits of green manufacturing: From 2005 – 2007, General Electric reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 250,000 metric tons and saved $70 million in energy costs. A Baxter International facility combined Six Sigma and energy-efficiency efforts to save $300,000 in energy costs in one year. Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America has reduced average facility energy consumption per vehicle by 30 percent since 2000. It’s interesting that these three companies, very familiar to Lean practices, are bridging the continuous improvement gap between operational performance and environmental performance. While there’s no doubt that lean manufacturing will result in lower material and labor costs and greater production revenues, what is important is to know more about the benefits of lean in relation to green manufacturing. To know more call our expert team to reduce your energy bills! Happy Earth Day 2017 !
- [Identifying the ‘Star Employees’: A key to business success](https://faberinfinite.com/identifying-the-star-employees-a-key-to-business-success/): Employee development, employee training is often considered synonymous to company growth. Needless to say, every organization has some stars among their employees who contribute majorly to the development. Unlike earlier times when hardwork and capabilities of employees went unnoticed, rather unappreciated, today due importance and appreciation is given to them. As said above, every organization consists of some stars which outshine others considering their work and commitment. Considering the competition, every company wish to have a bunch of stars in their organization. But the success depends upon their timely identification, consideration, appreciation, etc. Proper deployment of your employees for doing the right task at proper time acts as the key. For Instance: Having an employee with expertise and interest in software development if assigned the task of business development won’t work great. There would be no result as expected plus frustration on the part of employee as well the employer. So what takes to grow your company successfully? Not just mere presence of your organizational stars but also the understanding of their capabilities and interest. Below are some steps which can help you attain your organizational goals taking into consideration talents of your star players (employees.) Identify your stars: The first, important and basic step would be to identify the stars in your organization. The task should not be very tough, provided there is very less employee involvement and communication. Leaders should be able to identify the skills and talents of the employees. If you achieve success in doing the same, the rest of the task becomes relatively easy. This does not happen overnight. For identifying the true capabilities of the employees you need to know your employees thoroughly. Identify the potential: Once you successfully identify the true gems of your organization the next step would be to understand them well in terms of their potentials. If you think that your task gets over by identifying and recognizing the stars of your organization then you won’t achieve the desired results. You must be able to understand their strengths and weaknesses too. This would enable to deploy them at the right place, rather than placing them at the wrong place with wrong task on hand who would be least interested to undertake the same. Identify the most significant tasks: Till you reach this stage you might have a brief idea about where to go and which path to travel. So, the third step would be now to understand the significance of tasks which needs to be undertaken. More essential the task, more capable should be the person. There lies a direct relationship between the two. The tasks should be categorized on the basis of priority and significance, according to which they should be assigned to respective people. Ensure the accomplishment of the most significant tasks: After you identify the most important tasks and assign it to the stars of your company depending upon its priority and prominence you must ensure that it is embarked in the same way it is supposed to. The person to whom it is assigned should know its prominence and should ensure that it is carried out in the best way. Thus it’s important to have a constant, mutual co-ordination, employee involvement and employee engagement to identify the star talent, resources of your organization. This works best when you provide them with their part of motivation, appreciation and very importantly when they are NOT taken for granted. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Are you Interested or Committed?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-interested-or-committed/): There’s a famous saying by Ken Blanchard who says, “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses – only results.” Being interested would push us to initiate the journey, make the first move or take the first step. Being committed would actually act as the force behind finishing the journey successfully. Mere interest won’t lead to success unless combined with commitment to fulfill the task. For instance, a person could be interested in losing weight and looking slimmer. But that doesn’t mean that the person would be able to do so successfully unless he/she is committed to do so. This shows the difference in commitment and interest. Being just interested may not wholly solve the purpose but being committed or a mix of interest plus commitment can make wonders happen. This could be so because interest has relatively short tenure than commitment. A person can lose interest in the process and this could affect the end result, be it personal lives or professional lives. Thus there would be no excuses, no procrastination for a committed person whereas there could be delays, excuses, procrastination, frustration, etc. when a person would be interested. While we have talked much about how one would be benefited if a person would be both interested and committed, do we actually know the difference between the two? We actually often tend to get confused between the two, not able to actually sort out the difference between them. People often consider themselves as committed when in reality they would be interested. We would help you answer the question if you are actually committed or interested. Try figuring out the same with these simple differences: • Convenience: The first point is adopted from Mr. Ken Blanchard’s quotes. When you are interested you would be doing things at your convenience while when you are committed, convenience doesn’t pop up there. You would fulfill the task anyhow without procrastinating and making excuses. • Acceptance of challenges: You may not necessarily take up challenges if you are just interested in doing something. You may also opt to move back if the task is too challenging also leading to a loss of interest in the meantime. Whereas, however challenging the task would be, there would be no question of looking back or leaving the task midway. • Failures: If you are merely interested, failures would stress you out leading to an aversion in moving ahead. Whereas failures would be considered as stepping stones to success and would be looked at with a more positive approach when you would be committed. • Goals: The ultimate target is goals. The only difference would be that when you would be interested in achieving goals you would just set it but there would be a lack of effective strategies as a roadmap to achieve it. Whereas, when you would be committed you would set achievable goals and clear, definite strategies for achieving it. These are some of the key differences which would help us figure out if we are just interested or committed or if there is a mixture of interest and commitment. Having said that it should not be forgotten that the best results can only be achieved when there is a presence of both the factors¬¬- interest and commitment in personal as well as professional lives. Now it’s your turn to determine whether you are interested or committed to derive the best results. It is equally applicable in your personal as well as professional lives to bring about transformation and positive change. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Key Drivers for Successful Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/key-drivers-for-successful-organizational-change/): We have multiple times talked about organizational change, transformation, importance of adopting change and many more such aspects related to change. Today, we are going through, rather witnessing a phase of organizational transformations across industries. But how to sustain that change and make people accept the same. Mere realization of the importance of change cannot do wonders until we adopt the same open heartedly. How to welcome, embrace; sustain change along with creating a sense of acceptance among the employees. Below are three influential pointers from which would help and guide to welcome and sustain the change: • Experience speaks: As said rightly, ‘Experience is the best teacher.’ Experience speaks and is much more influential than any words or phrases. People would trust the experiences more than words. Thus the best way to make stakeholders adopt change is to make them experience the positive impacts of change. But that’s not that easy. A better option is to experience or try to understand it from stakeholder’s perception. It would enable to know what they would undergo, to build an effective management plan. Simply speaking, ‘place yourself in their shoes’ which will help you to devise an improved, effective change. • Ease in use: Anything that is easy to use tends to become favourite among people. People do not like difficult things, be it a new product, service, task or any of the kind. So must be the change. Any change which is comparatively easy, which would make life easy than earlier would be loved by the employees. Thus the top management or leaders must try to introduce a new initiative or a change that would be very effective, though challenging but initiated in such a way that it looks easy. • Complications would resist change: People often resist change because it breaks their comfort level. The process of coming out of their comfort zone to adopt new things, according to them could be very difficult which would also lead to stress, anxiety and other complications. This is true to some extent but these complications don’t prevail over the course of time. More easy is the process of adoption, further it would be easy for the employees to adopt the same. Every change is unique and complex. The onus lies on the people who introduce the same to the people in the Organization. The art of presentation would solve half of the problem. A sense of empathy and the presentation skills would make it very effective and easy for the people to accept, embrace and follow the change. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Transforming Farms](https://faberinfinite.com/transforming-farms/): Floriculture is a major global industry in both developing and developed countries. Global trade volume is estimated to be worth more than $100bn per annum. The main players are divisible into producers in developing countries and consumers in developed countries, including many in Africa. With the continuous development of greenhouse technology, and advances in plant biotechnology, transportation conditions, and marketing strategies, floriculture has reached a historical maximum hub of activity and competitiveness Europe is the biggest import and export hub. It is noteworthy that Kenya has excellent transport links to Europe, and from there, the rest of the world through Nairobi airport, which has a terminal dedicated specially to the transport of flowers and vegetables. This means that delicate floral cargo which is perishable in nature can be shifted from growers to consumers swiftly. The sector has increasingly been faced by many challenges even as the global economic fortunes seem to be getting better. Consumers are getting more concerned about the quality of what they are receiving making it fundamental to ensure quality and more importantly safety. Concerns from the UK consumers for Kenyan produce to meet high quality standards are of prime importance. In a positive note, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) reports that increased awareness through the inspectorate among farmers and traders has reduced incidences of pests in produce for export. Major Challenges faced by the industry include: 1) Transport and infrastructure-related production costs 2) Proper Utilization of Land 3) Low productivity followed by low returns on investments 4) Higher Rejection percentage of flower in green house and pack house 5) Higher rejection due to more time spent by flower in pack house in warm condition 6) Poor infrastructure and unpredictable weather 7) Obsolete technology and stringent international standards 8) Inventory of chemical and fertilizer Here we bring some of the aspects on which Faber Infinite team has been working to deliver exceptional results: 1) Change in layout to enhance productivity In pack house we have improved number of grading stems per minute by changing layout to single piece flow (We have helped clients with changes in layout to improve productivity by an average of 60%). By proper layout design of flower production block we can increase total number of beds per hectare and thus overall production can be increased (We have improved it by average of 15-20% for our clients in Kenya). 2) Increase in the number of stems planted The Faber team has been striving to improve germination by growing more plants per square meter. Recently one of the clients has successfully implemented the methodology to improve stations per square meter. 3) Optimum Utilization of Land Usually almost in every farm due to improper layout design at initial stage lots of land is not utilized which can be turned up into production land by proper layout and planning. Team Faber has been working closely with their clients to turnaround the production of flowers by identifying useful land and exploring its effectiveness, which has turned nonproductive land into productive land. 4) Quality Improvement Flower farms have 2 flashes each year and it is seen normally during 2nd flash the rejection levels are high and production is also less compared to 1st flash which is called Variation or Gap between two flashes, by working on this variation or gap between two flashes rejection can be reduced by taking prompt action and more care of blocks (Like Reducing Nematodes, conducting proper Cultural activities and Crop maintenance, doing Scouting activity more frequently) during Second flash. Finally, there are alternatives to face the challenges by using an altogether different approach, through developing proper layout and land utilization models followed by logistical improvements that lowers distribution costs of inputs. 5) Flow improvement in Pack house Usually in Packhouse, flow of flowers is very important because it impacts the quality of flowers due to warm conditions of pack house. So the target of each pack house is always to improve the flow in such a way that the flowers move in the minimum possible time from pack house to cold store after packaging. Team Faber Infinite made modifications in the flow using operational excellence tools to improve the flow of flower after packaging. Team Faber successfully helped one of the clients to reduce the flower flow time after packaging from 14 minutes to 30 seconds! 6) Inventory management Managing inventory of chemicals and fertilizers is a challenge in this industry. Sometimes it is in excess and sometimes there is stock out. Each case has its pros and cons, like in case of excess stock there are chances of expiry. Team Faber infinite used scientific methodology of inventory management and reduced inventory value of fertilizers and chemicals from 7 million to 2.4 million and average stock out also reduced from 6 to 0. 7) Rejection reduction Rejects received in pack house from greenhouses is a major concern which decreases the export and also increases the handling in pack house. Team Faber infinite applies different quality controls tools to reduce rejections. At one of our clients in Africa we have reduced rejection percentage from 3.5 % to 1.4 % which increase the exportable stems. Faber infinite toolkit specially developed for Farms helps them to increase the production, labor productivity & reduce rejects and other wastes. Exceptional results have been observed in Flower farms.  
- [Adding SMART to Manufacturing with Konjo-SMART](https://faberinfinite.com/adding-smart-to-manufacturing-with-konjo-smart/): We are in the era of technological advancement where each day we witness new developments in every field in context of machines and technological innovation. Everything is just a click away with all the latest applications, machines, innovations and developments. These developments have already become a part of our life and we are so used to them that we are unable to think our lives without them. But before being covered with these comforts there occurred some major revolutions in the history which enabled us this easy life. One cannot imagine life without these revolutions which actually transformed our lives in a better way and for better reason. There occurred three major phases of industrial revolutions and we are currently witnessing the fourth phase. • FIRST PHASE: The first phase took place at the end of the 18th Century. It involved use of hydro electricity and steam power to mechanize production. • SECOND PHASE: The second phase was witnessed in the beginning of the 20th Century. It used electric power for mass production. • THIRD PHASE: Then came the third phase wherein electronics and information technology began to be used for automation of production. • FOURTH PHASE: Currently we are witnessing the fourth phase of Industrial Revolution wherein the digital revolution has been befalling since the middle of the last century. It is a fusion of technologies. It involves networking and exchange of information between human and machines. There are billions of people around the globe connected by the latest technological advancements. There is unlimited access to knowledge. In the near future these trends will multiply with the emerging technology in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, etc. We are already in the midst of self -driving cars, drones, virtual assistants, etc. Considering and understanding the ongoing developments and the need of the hour, Faber Infinite has devised Konjo SMART – set of operational excellence intelligence modules for implementing and sustaining powerful best practices across industries. It is an intelligent fusion of different modules to help build and sustain the competitiveness. Currently, Konjo SMART consists of various different modules which is a proper mix of intelligence and set of operational excellence modules. Some of the benefits/ features of these modules can be listed as follows: • Assists in sustenance of continual improvement practices • Helps to monitor the operational excellence journey at the workplace, field, etc. though, online. • Is industry neutral • Features to create detailed online reports over a period of desired time • Aids leaders to analyze the situation as it would be accessible on handheld devices and take timely decisions • Gives remote insights on the happenings at different places. • Tracks action plans pertaining to Operational Excellence and can help raise exception reports. • Provides with the facility of reviewing the reports by just a click. The reports would be at your fingertips. • Creates a platform to engage right people with right efficiencies • Pay as you Go Model which means payment needs to be done as and when it is used or depending upon the services which are used These are some of the salient features of the Konjo SMART modules which would help organizations improve themselves in all the parameters as and when required, highlighting a fact that it is economical further facilitating to use it. With the ongoing technological revolution in this fourth phase let’s come together and adopt enhanced options to make our lives (at organizations) easier and more productive. Join us in this new era as we add Smart to Manufacturing with Konjo SMART!
- [Accelerate with Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerate-with-sales-growth-framework-by-faber-infinite/): Selling is one of the main concerns of every organization. It is the biggest challenge encountered by organizations worldwide. With the increase in competition, it is a dire need to withstand oneself in the market. In fact, it is among one of the most difficult tasks, which needs serious measures to tackle the problems associated with it. We have a solution for this problem. There’s no magical wand which can increase the sales over a period of time but Faber Infinite has come up with some magnificent techniques to create, raise demand, increase sales and enable organizations to sell better. There are various factors involved in increasing the sales in an organization which need to be studied in detail. These factors include internal as well as external factors. Some of the significant factors that affect the sales are classified into two categories for the ease of analyzing the factors, such as Internal Factors and External Factors. Internal Factors refers to the factors which operate within an organization and which can be controlled to some extent. External Factors includes those factors which are cannot be directly controlled and are those which operate outside the organization. To understand how we can sell better we need to understand each of the internal and external factors. External Factors: External factors which affect the sales include Customer Needs, Competitive Analysis and Values Delivered. 1) Customer Needs: Customers are very important for the growth of sales. Without them sales cannot take place. Their preferences and choices need to be taken care of while bringing any product to the market. 2) Competitive Analysis: The second vital task is to analyze the competition & competitors in the market. We need to know the strengths of our competitors and our weaknesses to come out with a clear, successful strategy. 3) Value Delivered: Every organization has certain values associated with them. They pass it on further to their stakeholders with their products and services. The values delivered by a product includes its benefits, advantages and features. Internal Factors: Internal factors which influence sales include Team SWOT, Team Alignment and Sales Management. 1) Team SWOT: Among the internal factors, the most important factors include the team and teamwork. A team can make it or break it. Thus it’s important to learn the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of the team working for the same. 2) Team Alignment: Team Alignment is extremely important as it can further help to clear out the confusion of who’s handling what and how. There will be no confusion regarding the same. There will be clarity of roles and responsibility. 3) Sales Management: Sales Management refers to managing the overall sales process including all the aspects such as technical, financial planning, logistics planning, customer service, etc. All these factors need to be taken care of for increasing the sales. Finally, measuring and improving is equally important. Measure the overall sales performance of the organization and the team regularly for the entire year and take measures to improve the areas which lacked proper attention. Team Faber Infinite has been proficient in providing sales training, designing and implementing sales growth strategies across various industries and sectors. The practice of the above framework, designed by Faber Infinite has helped number of happy clients willing to increase their sales growth. Please contact our expert team, for further details and sub elements of the framework to accelerate your sales growth.
- [Growth Drivers For Indian Engineering Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/webinar-indian-engineering-industry/): We are glad to present a webinar on Indian Engineering Industry as a part of iFaber-Official Newsletter of Faber Infinite. In this webinar, industry expert Mr. Jalay Pandya has shared his insights on the current scenario of the industry by sharing how Faber Infinite has been successful in weaving growth opportunities for engineering industries. Indian Engineering Sector is among one of those sectors which is growing at an amazingly fast pace. It is all set to welcome the developments and innovations to foster its growth. Being one of the dominant sectors it is very important to nurture its growth. This webinar is focused on success drivers of engineering industry in India Not only for India but engineering sector has also been among one of the overriding sector for Faber Infinite. Click HERE to watch the webinar.  
- [Skills Development for Unprecedented Revenue Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/skills-development-for-unprecedented-revenue-growth/): India is well known for its unique culture and cultural diversities. Withstanding its beauty, India is rich in heritage and is an agrarian country. Alongside this there subsists a fact that it is a developing country which is constantly in fight against poverty and unemployment among many other existing factors. These problems when zeroed down leads to one solution which is employment. With the developments there is an increase in industries and India being a labor intensive country there exist a need for training and skill development for the employees to help them perform better. As per reports, India’s formally skilled workforce is approximately 2% – which is dismally low compared to China (47%), Japan (80%) or South Korea (96%). Organizations are already facing problem in getting the suitable, skilled candidates to fill up the vacancies. Thus the importance of providing skill development training has been realized by the industries and our government. Organizations are already making an effort by making investments for skill development. Also the present government has come up with many schemes for embarking with skill development initiatives and training programs. These efforts are laid with an intention to develop the present skills of the employees, help the employees identify their potentials, to mould them in such a way that they become competent enough to use the latest technology and provide other trainings as and when required to boost the productivity. Among the many existing factors, lack of monetary investment for skill development acts as one of the major problems. Considering this the need of the hour is to improve utilization of resources and find solutions that can address the systemic and institutional bottlenecks constraining the sector. In a recent survey by leading publishing house, 6 out of 10 CEOs voiced concerns relating to training and development efficacy. In another forum, 46% of the executives admitted that their workforce does not have the necessary skills required in the next 1 – 2 years. Further to these elements, Faber Infinite has devised an exceptional approach to analyze the skills of the employees. This excellent initiative named PriZma is devised to help organizations overcome the problems related to skill development among employee. PriZma will help to analyze the opportunities associated with employees with respect to skill development, provide solutions to overcome the challenges and would enable to understand the desired skills for the employees to perform better. Apart from focusing on the problems and coming up with the solutions for the same, PriZma also facilitates to make a training schedule considering the needs and training requirements of the employees. PriZma is not just confined to facilitating Training calendars and Skill Gap Analysis but other prominent efficacies are as follows: • Devising comprehensive training calendar • Fitment Analysis • Gap Analysis • Identifying Competency Gaps • Inclusive plan to terminate the skill gaps PriZma has been a realistic and effective plan not difficult to roll out and understand, also it has been a practical approach which has proved to be extremely useful for many organizations to analyze the strengths and improvement areas of the employees and build a bridge to match the essential requirements. PriZma also helps organizations to identify the skills and talents which the employees lack and further helps to improve, build on it. Performing a skill analysis can benefit employees and the organization since it will enable to cater to development needs. Successful identification of the flaws and weakness and working towards improving it can lead to increasing productivity and efficiency of the employees in a remarkably. It also brings an employee into limelight and enables him/her to stay ahead of others and boost career prospects. 66% business organizations anticipate a loss of business to their competitors due to lack of proper employee skills. This loss eventually culminates in loss of revenue which continues to slide down affecting the growth and productivity. Skill deficiency results in dissatisfied customers and dissatisfied customers could lead to loss of customers further resulting to a decline in sales and a loss in business. Thus it’s important to take counter measures, identify the needs and deploy a tool like PriZma which can guide how to fill in the missing gaps of the employees to perform better, increase confidence, productivity, morale, leading to organizational growth along with sustenance of existing clients/customers and addition of new. Written By Ramya Pillai
- [Demystifying Manufacturing 4.0](https://faberinfinite.com/demystifying-manufacturing-4-0/): We are in the midst of technological revolution which is changing our lives each day. It has indeed changed our lives a lot. We are now used to getting things at our fingertips by just a click. Gone is the traditional era of manual, physical pains and gains. We are passing through a tech era where everything is so easy and no physical pain is actually required to get things done. But this is a much later stage which we are witnessing. There have been times of physical hardships and pain when people actually used to bear so many things and with the deprivation of so-called facilities to ease the work done. Thus to make the lives easy occurred industrial or technological revolution which can be categorized into 4 stages as follows: • FIRST PHASE: The first phase took place at the end of the 18th Century. It involved use of hydro electricity and steam power to mechanize production. • SECOND PHASE: The second phase was witnessed in the beginning of the 20th Century. It used electric power for mass production. • THIRD PHASE: Then came the third phase wherein electronics and information technology began to be used for automation of production. • FOURTH PHASE: Currently we are witnessing the fourth phase of Industrial Revolution wherein the digital revolution has been befalling since the middle of the last century. It is a fusion of technologies. It involves networking and exchange of information between human and machines. Thus operational excellence concepts cannot survive for long with the ongoing technological revolution. Industries need to come up with alternative plans to face the challenges following the fourth phase. It’s not that easy but it’s not impossible either. The solution to this problem can thus be smart manufacturing. Industries should adopt smart ways of manufacturing by going tech-savvy. Smart Manufacturing or Industry 4.0 incorporates cyber-physical systems to monitor the physical processes of the factory and make decentralized decisions. The systems become Internet of Things, communicating and cooperating both with each other and with humans in real time via the wireless web. It can thus be said that manufacturing world should be open to changes and is open to changes to much extent. As always said changes are bound to happen. So, now is the time to embrace it for the better and adopt it for our development, ease and comfort. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Three Vital Steps for Effective Selling](https://faberinfinite.com/three-vital-steps-for-effective-selling/): Two months have already passed by and financial year is round the corner. Being last month of the financial year, March is a month of planning new strategies, reviewing the revenues of the entire year and designing new policies for the growth of the company. Among all other factors one of the most important factor is sales. Majority of the organizations face the problem in increasing the sales and developing a good sales strategy. Considering the issues in sales, the hindrance in building a successful sales plan, companies try to set and experiment new methods. New targets are set overlooking the challenges for the growth of the company. We would help you with formulating an effective sales strategy. We have three pointers which would help you do the same. Understand the needs of customers: Any sales activity would be successful depending upon the customers. Understanding the customer need plays a vital role in determining and formulating the suitable strategy. Constant change in customer needs, the existing competition, the availability of substitutes, etc. affects the demand of a particular product leading to a decline in sales. Hence the first and foremost important requisite is to understand the customer needs and preferences. Providing the solution cum product as per the problem: The most difficult task is understanding the different, changing needs of the customer. Once this is done the task is comparatively easier. The second important step is to provide with the best solution/product in accordance to the need of customers. The product/service must be developed or designed keeping in mind the wants, utility and needs of the customer. It should also be feasible so that they can avail it easily. Develop a sense of confidence among the customers: The most obvious thing is that the customers would not be just left with a single option to go with. They won’t be bound to choose you over others. They would have plenty of good options to go with. Now, this is the challenge. We may be the best but our customers would be unaware of this very fact. The onus lies on us to exemplify our best and take them in confidence. They would doubt you, would be skeptical and would have lot many apprehensions regarding our products or services. We need to build a confidence among them showcasing our best, providing them with the most exceptional product of all. These are the basic, applicable, proven successful techniques to grow sales. Team Faber Infinite has been doing this commendably across all industries and sectors and has been successful in providing more than the desired results for all clients. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Positivity of Change: Captain sets the perfect example](https://faberinfinite.com/positivity-of-change-captain-sets-the-perfect-example/): We just witnessed another excellent victory by Team India against Australia. People and Media cannot stop praising the team and the captain –Virat Kohli for showcasing such an awesome performance. Yes, it’s a teamwork and team’s victory. This cannot deny the fact that there is a capable, successful captain who is leading the team towards the path of success. Now, this is the time for people to think and accept him as the captain. This is the answer to all those folks out there who considered Virat Kohli incompetent to lead the team. It’s not just Kohli’s temper issues and the past controversies associated to his anger that led people to think so but it’s also the reluctance among the people to accept that change from M.S. Dhoni to Kohli as the captain of Indian cricket team. We all were so habituated seeing Dhoni leading the team with his cool attitude and strategy leading the team to succeed, that we were not able to accept this sudden change from ‘Captain Cool’ to a so presumed ‘Aggressive Captain.’ It’s not just about Kohli or Dhoni but it’s more about human tendency to avoid change. This is not an unusual thing but a very usual, ordinary nature of human beings to avoid change, step out of the comfort zone and accept the new things. This attribute either goes unnoticed or if noticed it’s avoided intentionally. Changes are sure to happen and we need to welcome and accept those changes to make lives better. Below are few points which need to be considered while we encounter change anytime in life: Changes are inevitable and bound to happen: We cannot sit back expecting the things to be the same lifelong. We need to understand that changes are inevitable and are bound to happen. People usually find it difficult to cope up with the new changes and let go of the current things and habits. For instance: Dhoni cannot be the captain of the team for all his life. One day or the other he would have passed on this responsibility to the other person. So, it is essential for us to welcome the changes open heatedly. Changes are not always bad: Majority of the people fall in the category who believe that changes are bad. But they fail to understand that this is just a misconception due to people’s averseness to accept change. The transition can be smooth as well. Changes are not harsh always. For Instance: The change of captain- from Dhoni to Kohli was not easy for the cricket fans to accept but Kohli is time and again proving himself to be a capable captain in his own style. So, embrace the changes, ignoring them is not the solution. As always said, believe that ‘Change is always for the better.’ Believe in the positivity of change: Instead of focusing only on the problems associated with change learn to look at the more positive things associated with it. Changes can do wonders, but the problem arises when it is unrecognized, when we become unwelcoming. For Instance: Virat Kohli has proved to be a great captain, depicting his own set of skills and style. He might be aggressive but his infield aggression is leading the players to perform better and win. We just need to believe in the goodness associated with the changes instead of mocking over, trying to hold on what needs to be changed. During an interview Virat Kohli said, “I will never change myself for anyone or because anyone wants me to change. It is just these small things that I need to improve on, but that instinct of being aggressive as a captain will remain.” Indeed he doesn’t need to change for anything as he has already won many hearts with his own, unique style and mix of aggression, passion and confidence showing that changes are inevitable and for good. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [‘Visually’ unbelievable mishap at Oscar 2017](https://faberinfinite.com/visually-unbelievable-mishap-at-oscar-2017/): The most awaited award event, Oscar-2017 just ended a week back, witnessing a major goof up of the history. A major mistake took place leaving the viewers dazed, confused and shocked, failing to understand if it was a planned humor or a serious mistake. People could not believe their eyes and ears when the announcement for the ‘Best Picture’ happened twice. Giving a brief about the event for all those who missed it, there was a major goof up during the last few minutes of the event while announcing the award for the category – ‘Best Picture.’ Initially the award for the Best Picture was announced for “La La Land” only to realize later that the actual winner was “Moonlight.” It was when the crew of “La La Land” were accepting award the rectification was made by one of the film’s producer, Jordan Horowitz interrupted to announce that the winner was “Moonlight” and not “La La Land.” Now this was a clear, practical instance of lack of, rather failure of proper visual management. If expert analysis were to be done the conclusion is – had there been proper visual management in terms of the presentation of card with respect to the font, size, color, spacing, positioning, we might not have witnessed such a mistake. However big or small the organizations are, getting visuals right plays an important role. If it led to confusion and serious embarrassment at the Oscars it can also do serious damage to organizations. But what is visual management? In layman term visual management refers to using proper signals like symbols, signboards, stickers, etc. instead of written instructions or texts, to communicate better. Here are few pointers which if taken care can prevent errors like the one at Oscar: Conducting the ‘Why- Why’ Analysis: Why-Why analysis refers to a method of questioning which enables to identify the root-cause of the problem. It does not only help to identify the root cause of the problem but also help to resolve the problem along with helping to find a method to prevent repetition. Having correct visuals: The solution to the problem is most obvious – proper visuals. Proper visuals can prevent problems and can avoid confusion and embarrassment resulting from it. It was sheer lack of proper visual control in Oscars which had led to the infamous Oscar mistake. Also, having correct visuals is very important. Incorrect visuals could lead to confusion, wastage of time, misunderstanding, etc. Muda of Motion – Mother of all inefficiencies: One school of thought considers Muda of Motion as the mother of all inefficiencies and can be avoided by proper Visual Management. Muda refers to wastage of any kind. Presence of muda leads to wastage of time (by increasing the search time) and wastage, redundancy of other resources (increased cost due to unavailability of resources, decline in productivity, etc.)  Thus the key to these solutions is having proper visual control. Some of the visible, notable benefits of visual management are: effective communication, avoids confusion, and avoids wastage of time and resources also leading to enhancement of productivity. It makes the tasks easy when compared to absence of the same. To have and maintain visual control in the place is mandatory, however it depends from organization to organization. But, the fact remains that the absence of visual management can dilapidate the organization slowly. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Five Key Elements to Manage Change](https://faberinfinite.com/five-key-elements-to-manage-change-2/): Change Management is a vital part of every organization for desired achieving goals. Time has come when it is being nurtured at every level of the organization. With the increase in competition, it is inevitable to bring in and manage change. Well, how to embrace it? There should be a strong foundation to build on further. This is where the proven Knoster T model plays a crucial role. Timothy Knoster identified the conditions for successful implementation of complex change and developed a model making it easy for the leaders to identify the gaps or blocks in initiating and managing change. According to the model change will take place with the presence of these five important components: vision, skills, incentives, resources and plans. A combination of these five elements helps to bring change. Let’s have a look how the absence of any one leads to different problems, obstructing change. Vision: The lack of proper vision can lead to confusion. If there is no vision, we would lack direction. Having a proper vision helps get an idea the way we need to move, the crucial steps to be adopted for reaching the goal and the way forward. But it’s only possible when we have clear vision.\ Skills: The next level shows the importance of skills. Skills are of utmost importance without which it is not possible to attain the quality in tasks. Skills do not refer to a particular skill but it can be any skill required for the successful completion of tasks. The lack of the same would lead to anxiety. Incentives: Incentives act as a motivation to perform better than the current performance. Incentives can be anything like addition in payments, recognition, promotion, perks etc. Incentives are the primary purpose of quality work and abstaining of the same can lead to resistance to work ahead and work better. Resources: An organization cannot work by just having skills or vision. Alongside we also need resources to fulfill the work. Execution of work is only possible with the availability of proper resources in terms of manpower, money, assets, etc. The absence or unavailability of resources may lead to frustration. Plan: Plan refers to a definite plan (action plan), roadmap or measures taken for the attainment of goals. It can also be defined as the steps worked out to direct action towards future goals. In the action plan, the vision must be translated into specific, achievable goals and objectives. The plan must specify out how the goals can be attained, decide who is responsible, specify the desired results and outcomes, and lay out a timeline for achieving the goals. Lack of a definite action plan to achieve realistic, attainable goals will put participants on an unproductive “treadmill.” Knoster’s model provides a clear outline of components that are easy to remember and practice. Overcoming the resistance and the associated symptoms such as confusion, frustration, and anxiety—is the aim of successfully managing change. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Drivers for Make in India](https://faberinfinite.com/drivers-for-make-in-india/): Make in India is one of the most ambitious initiatives by Prime Minister Shree Narendra Modi. It was launched in September 2014. It is devised to make India a global manufacturing hub. It was a powerful, stimulating call to India’s citizens and business leaders rather an invitation to potential partners and investors around the world. Along with making India a global manufacturing hub, the emphasis was also on enhancement of skills and creating more job opportunities. And even after the completion of 2 successful years, it has been a fruitful and prosperous initiative, reaping results in the correct direction or even more than as expected. Companies are now looking towards India for starting of their new business or expansion of the same. Saying about all these, let’s have a quick look at the key drivers of Make in India. Along with the efforts of the Government, different organizations and everyone involved, there are some driving forces which are making the Make in India initiative a big success. 1. Building Competitiveness through Operational Excellence: Today, there is competition in each and every stage; every sector, and every industry. With the increasing competition, organizations need to develop themselves to beat the competition. With such hyper competitive market environment, the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organizations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at operational excellence (OE)/ world class manufacturing (WCM) practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chain which ultimately helps them drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers. By implementing various drivers of Total productive maintenance, it can prove to do wonders in terms of maximizing equipment effectiveness through the optimization of equipment availability, performances, efficiency and product quality. Efforts in this direction can lead to building competitiveness with operational excellence as the tool and can lead to more efficiency, least costs and enhanced productivity. 2. Zero Defect Zero Effect: While addressing the nation on 68th Independence Day, Narendra Modi had commended, “We should manufacture goods in such a way that they carry zero defect and that our exported goods are never returned to us. We should manufacture goods with zero effect that they should not have a negative impact on the environment”. It basically signifies Zero Defect in the goods manufactured and Zero Effect on the environment due to the manufacturing of goods. The ZED scheme is an integrated and holistic certification system that focuses on quality, productivity, energy efficiency, pollution mitigation, financial status, human resource and technological depth including design and IPR in products and processes. 3. Skill Development: India being a labor intensive country, the need for Skill Development plays a centre stage. In next 20 years, the labor force in the industrialized world is expected to decline by 4%, while in India it will increase by 32% as per the sources and reports. This itself is a driving force urging for skill development. Skill Development is an important aspect for which various policy initiatives have been taken by the Government of India. Also, special emphasis has been laid on women empowerment with establishment of 5 Regional Vocational Training Institutes, providing training to women across India by NSDC Training Partner. 4. Better Policies: Goods and Service Tax often referred to as GST is the biggest reform in India’s indirect tax structure. It is set to replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services and will come into effect from April 2017. Some of the anticipated benefits of GST are: Benefit to Telecom Sector, Pharma Sector, Automobile, FMCG, Real Estate, etc. Due to unification of Tax system the system of various, uneven taxes won’t prevail after the implementation of GST. This would ease the process of manufacturing also bringing down the costs. This would act as a driving force for manufacturing more and actually make the Make in India program a big success, more than what was anticipated. Under ‘Make in India,’ the country is being projected as one of the most attractive destinations in the world to set up manufacturing. According to a World Bank report, manufacturing in India accounts for about 16 per cent of GDP, a level that has remained more or less unchanged over the past two decades. This is relatively low when compared to the 20 per cent plus share in countries like Brazil, China, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia (even after taking into account differences in per capita incomes). However, if things are done right, Make in India initiative will turn the wheel for manufacturing in India. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai.
- [National Productivity Week 2017](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2017-2/): We thank and wish Gujarat Government and Shri Vijay Rupani Sir, good luck. We are obliged and inspired by his encouragement and patronage.
- [Building Excellence in Pharma Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-pharma-industry/): The Indian pharmaceuticals market increased at a CAGR of 17.46 per cent during 2005-16 with the market increasing from US$ 6 billion in 2005 to US$ 36.7 billion in 2016 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.92 per cent to US$ 55 billion by 2020.By 2020, India is likely to be among the top three pharmaceutical markets by incremental growth and sixth largest market globally in absolute size. India’s cost of production is significantly lower than that of the US and almost half of that of Europe. It gives a competitive edge to India over others. Everything looks good to the pharma industry in India. But overall pharma operations have not changed much. Yes companies have gradually cut costs, however the operations in the industry are still managed in the same way as it was 20 years ago. That needs to change. The pressure is building for fundamental change. Companies that anticipate and adapt to these changes will succeed in the years to come. Here are few opportunities that companies should cash on: 1. Free up cash from inventory Pharma companies need to work on working capital management. On an average a pharma company holds 180 days of finished goods inventory. Ideally the realistic target for the pharma company should be lesser number of days considering the category of goods and consumption. This huge opportunity is within reach only for companies that can align across functions and use their resources thoroughly. Companies will need a powerful supply chain function with a broader and deeper involvement in planning, production, distribution and purchasing. 2. Throughput Improvement One of the most effective ways to improve throughput is to carefully analyze the production process for bottlenecks. Once identified, there is a need to eliminate the bottleneck so that it no longer delays production. Throughput improvement can be done via Value Stream Mapping and improving inventory turnover ratios at various stages via Inventory Management Modules. 3. Manpower productivity improvement As competition increases in every industry, greater workforce productivity becomes essential for sustaining growth. Organizations are continually under pressure to utilize resources effectively, improve workforce productivity and reduce resource management costs. Manpower Productivity Improvement (at packing lines) can be done by concepts of Line Balancing and Time & Motion Study. Changeover Time Reduction at Packing Machines can be done via Quick Change Over concepts. 4. Improve equipment efficiency Equipments efficiency of machines in pharma industry can be improved using overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) via pillars like Autonomous Maintenance & Planned Maintenance. OEE is often a KPI for maintenance effectiveness. It’s a chance to improve existing preventative maintenance, as well as establish a measure of self-maintenance by well-trained employees. 5. Physical workplace improvement In order to improve the physical workplace and make the problems within the process more obvious tools like Five S can be used. This can be improved further by building a culture of continuous improvement in the organization. 6. Make supply chain flexible For a multi-billion industry that manufactures and distributes products to millions of people every day, supply chain is not among the top issues of concern. However it can be easily argued that good business performance is predicated on the formation of an efficient and lean supply chain. In progressive organizations, the integration of supply chain management with strategic planning is complete and irreversible. Being so vital to the success of a business, it is only natural that pharma companies should continually seek new ways to configure their supply chains to remain competitive. The emphasis of pharmaceutical industry has been on developing a pipeline of new drugs rather than on productivity improvement, supply chain optimization, and cost reduction. There is much best practice available from other industries that can be exploited but this needs to be done in a way that recognizes the specific characteristics of the pharma environment. Embarking on Operational excellence journey is the way forward for the industry. This becomes even more challenging when driving changes in a highly regulated environment which are risk averse and where process changes need to be tightly controlled. For further details please reach out to us on publishing@faberinfinite.com. Written by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [104: The crucial number which hit the record, making India Proud](https://faberinfinite.com/104-the-crucial-number-which-hit-the-record-making-india-proud-2/): ISRO is in full swing taking over others as the new emerging superstar among the space agencies. There used to be a time when PSLV- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles were not considered to be the reliable space launch vehicles. This now changed and the recent example is the success of 104 satellites by ISRO. The whole country was taken by pride on 15th February, 2017 when we succeeded in marking a precedent with the recent achievement. We have been fortunate enough to witness these achievements and accomplishments back to back after the very successful Mars Orbiter Mission in 2014. On 20th September, 1993 when ISRO had launched its first PSLV it had resulted into a failure. But we emerged successfully and did a remarkable job, creating a milestone for the entire world by the recent launch of 104 satellites in one go in spite of resource constraints. This is a true example of great leadership skills, efficient and effective management skills, teamwork and co-ordination. This might have not been possible without these essential elements. These are the pre-requisites for any business, organization, agency, individual etc. to attain success. ISRO set a new record on 15th February, 2017 by the launch of Cartosat-2 series satellite for Earth observation and 103 other co-passenger satellites from a single rocket. The launch took place from Satish Dhawan space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. This is a noteworthy and incredible achievement which has added feather to the achievements of India. The launch includes nano-satellites (weighing below 10 kg each) from five countries — the United States, Netherlands, Israel, Kazakhstan and Switzerland — along with a trio of Indian satellites. With this accomplishment India has left Russia behind which had launched 37 satellites from a single space launch vehicle. The Cartosat satellites are launched to provide remote sensing services. For Instance, images sent by it will be useful for coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, distribution of water and creation of land use maps, etc.  The Indian nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B were developed as co-passenger satellites to accompany bigger satellites. This mission has proved to be the most cost efficient project which adds to the notable remark. This has proved that we are not only emerging but also leaving our footprints and succeeding massively at a greater speed. The constraint in resources has not affected the level of determination, energy and efficiency. Infact we have overcome those factors to emerge as the best, leading and winning the race of success. This is exactly what the organizations need to adopt and learn from our ISRO team members and their achievements, which will surely bring great deal of enthusiasm leading to attainment of the organizational goals and success. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [104: The crucial number which hit the record, making India proud !](https://faberinfinite.com/104-the-crucial-number-which-hit-the-record-making-india-proud/): ISRO is in full swing taking over others as the new emerging superstar among the space agencies. There used to be a time when PSLV- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles were not considered to be the reliable space launch vehicles. This now changed and the recent example is the success of 104 satellites by ISRO. The whole country was taken by pride on 15th February, 2017 when we succeeded in marking a precedent with the recent achievement. We have been fortunate enough to witness these achievements and accomplishments back to back after the very successful Mars Orbiter Mission in 2014. On 20th September, 1993 when ISRO had launched its first PSLV it had resulted into a failure. But we emerged successfully and did a remarkable job, creating a milestone for the entire world by the recent launch of 104 satellites in one go in spite of resource constraints. This is a true example of great leadership skills, efficient and effective management skills, teamwork and co-ordination. This might have not been possible without these essential elements. These are the pre-requisites for any business, organization, agency, individual etc. to attain success. ISRO set a new record on 15th February, 2017 by the launch of Cartosat-2 series satellite for Earth observation and 103 other co-passenger satellites from a single rocket. The launch took place from Satish Dhawan space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. This is a noteworthy and incredible achievement which has added feather to the achievements of India. The launch includes nano-satellites (weighing below 10 kg each) from five countries — the United States, Netherlands, Israel, Kazakhstan and Switzerland — along with a trio of Indian satellites. With this accomplishment India has left Russia behind which had launched 37 satellites from a single space launch vehicle. The Cartosat satellites are launched to provide remote sensing services. For Instance, images sent by it will be useful for coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, distribution of water and creation of land use maps, etc. The Indian nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B were developed as co-passenger satellites to accompany bigger satellites. This mission has proved to be the most cost efficient project which adds to the notable remark. This has proved that we are not only emerging but also leaving our footprints and succeeding massively at a greater speed. The constraint in resources has not affected the level of determination, energy and efficiency. Infact we have overcome those factors to emerge as the best, leading and winning the race of success. This is exactly what the organizations need to adopt and learn from our ISRO team members and their achievements, which will surely bring great deal of enthusiasm leading to attainment of the organizational goals and success. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai.
- [National Productivity Week 2017](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2017/): At the outset, on behalf of entire Faber Infinite team, we take this opportunity to congratulate the Union Ministry for remarkable efforts put in towards growth and productivity of India in the National Productivity Week 2017. Further, we were extremely excited to know that the theme of the week is “From Waste to Profits through Reduce, Recycle, Reuse”. Faber Infinite Consulting team has been working in the domains of productivity and efficiency improvement across the world with clients across industries. We have been delivering tremendous results to uplift the competitiveness of the client. As a part of the National Productivity Week, we celebrate this initiative and take this opportunity of sharing few glimpses from the industry 1. Implementation of sensor to reduce stoppages and increase productivity 2. Why Why analysis for analyzing root cause for reduction of stoppages and increase in productivity   As a part of the initiative we will keep sharing more glimpses from the industry in the blogs to follow.
- [Skills for a Successful Career: From College to Workplace](https://faberinfinite.com/skills-for-a-successful-career-from-college-to-workplace/): As soon as we would be on the verge of completing our higher studies, attending college the most obvious question would be what next. People are often interested to know where we are going to begin our career with. But what we often misunderstand is that college and college education is the ultimate source which would lead us to get a good job. But this does not hold true. The theoretical college education does not come in handy while joining a new organization. Practical exposure is the most important requisite then. Below are few important skills required in a workplace for successful working in every organization and workplace, the skills which are not taught at college. Networking: Networking refers to communicating. Communication is the most essential thing which can build up good professional relations. Not only building relations but maintaining it is also very important. Networking also helps to improve the personality, develop a person professionally and foster the growth of the person. Set achievable and realistic goals: Setting up goals is an important aspect in any business. Realistic, achievable goals should be set with particular deadlines which would enable to not get sidetracked from attaining the tasks. Deadlines also help to gear up to perform better. College education may not teach this and thus it’s very important to perform well. Identifying and Setting Priorities: This is also one of the important things to be done. While in college, enjoying the student life, majority of us do not prioritize things. We live a haphazard life then. But that’s not acceptable in a professional life. We need to set definite goals, identify our priorities and work accordingly. Get Feedbacks: One of the crucial parts is getting feedbacks. This is very important because it helps us to improve. Feedbacks must be looked upon as a positive thing. It usually acts as a motivation when positive and but should be considered positive when negative and must be used as a revision to review our mistakes, where we went wrong. This helps us to improve to perform better than the present task. Work with a Cross-Functional Team: Cross- Functional means working with group of people having expertise in diverse fields. This gives an exposure and experience of working with different people, learning new things, developing on personal and professional front. Different people with different expertise when come together to achieve a common goal it would obviously deliver the best result. Becoming the leader: Leadership is not an easy task. It is a very difficult thing to do, rather one of the most difficult thing which involves leading people from different background, mentality, attitude, etc. Workplace is the best place to explore our leadership skills and lead people to achieve the goals. It involves listening to the people, understanding their flaws and capabilities and motivating them to give their best. Thus, the real development of skills and knowledge starts from the workplace and not college in real. Workplace is the real place where we showcase our hidden potentials, skills and competence and which helps us to develop both personally and professionally. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Six Skills which they don’t teach you at Schools!](https://faberinfinite.com/six-skills-which-they-dont-teach-you-at-schools/): It is no longer a misconception that college and college education is not the ultimate source which would lead anyone to success. The theoretical college education does not come in handy while on real fields. Practical exposure is the most important requisite then. Below are six significant skills required for successful life, the skills which are not taught at college. 1) Networking: Networking refers to communicating. Communication is the most essential thing which can build up good professional relations. Not only building relations but maintaining it is also very important. Networking also helps to improve the personality, develop a person professionally and foster the growth of the person. 2) Set achievable and realistic goals: Setting up goals is an important aspect. Realistic, achievable goals should be set with particular deadlines which would enable to not get sidetracked from attaining the tasks. Deadlines also help to gear up to perform better. College education may not teach this and thus it’s very important to learn and excel this art of setting achievable and realistic goals. 3) Identifying and Setting Priorities: This is also one of the important things to be done. While in college, many do not prioritize things. But that’s not acceptable in a professional life. You need to set definite goals, identify priorities and work accordingly. 4) Get Feedback: One of the crucial parts is getting feedback. This is very important because it helps us to improve. Feedback must be taken in good spirit. It usually acts as a motivation when positive. But negative feedback should be considered positive and must be used as a revision to review mistakes and understand where one went wrong. This helps to improve to perform better than the present task. 5) Work with a Cross-Functional Team: Cross – Functional means working with group of people having expertise in diverse fields. This gives an exposure and experience of working with different people, learning new things, developing on personal and professional front. Different people with different expertise when come together to achieve a common goal it would obviously deliver the best result. 6) Becoming the leader: Leadership is not an easy task. It is a very difficult thing to do, rather one of the most difficult thing which involves leading people from different background, mentality, attitude, etc. Workplace is the best place to explore your leadership skills and lead people to achieve the goals. It involves listening to the people, understanding their flaws and capabilities and motivating them to give their best. Thus, workplace is the real place where we showcase our hidden potentials, skills and competence and which helps us to develop both personally and professionally. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Be Responsive and Not Reactive](https://faberinfinite.com/be-responsive-and-not-reactive-2/):   About the Author: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Plastic & Ploymers Engineering. This article was originally published in the February issue of SME world.
- [Relook at the Ditched Resolutions](https://faberinfinite.com/relook-at-the-ditched-resolutions-2/): Welcome to the first Tuesday of February, 2017. The first month of 2017 has already passed by and we are now in the second month, busy with our old and new tasks- reviewing the old ones and completing the new ones. But, before the days and months further pass by let’s have a look at our New Year Resolutions, achieved and unachieved both personal and professional. Some of them might have been followed or being followed while others might be kept untouched, procrastinated. Majority of the times we fail to follow them. So let’s gear up and get back again to the right track, follow the resolutions to achieve success personally and professionally with the help of the below pointers. Find out the Reason of unattainment of goals: The first step would be a self-introspection to find out what went wrong and the reason for unattained goals. Also, introspect why the goal was set or resolution made, in the first place. Try to find out the basic reason of setting the target. It would help realize the importance and would help to plan accordingly. When you set a goal and are driven by an authentic reason that you want to accomplish it, that combination can keep you doing the things you need to do for success Make the steps smaller and attainable: We time and again set goals which would be difficult to achieve, which might look too overwhelming to achieve. This causes a tendency to ignore the same or procrastinate it. The goals set must be smaller, easy to achieve. Goals must be realistic. This makes it look more practical and achievable. It does not mean that every goal should be set considering one’s comfort zone. Success does not come easily and we need to step out of the comfort zone to achieve it. Make considerable time: One of the most important things is to prioritize your targets. Make time to accomplish your goals. Time is of utmost importance without which goals cannot be achieved easily. Proper allocation of time enables to prioritize the tasks adding to the productivity. Find yourself a coach: A coach does not necessarily mean a tutor or a strict trainer. Here, it refers to a friend, a mentor, a counselor or any such person who can analyze the problems, support you and can help you find the solution. A person to whom you can be accountable and will show you the correct track when you divert from the way to your goal. Allocate Resources and celebrate success: The last but not the least step would be to allocate the needful resources. Proper allocation of resources for achieving the goals is a must. It cannot happen overnight. We need to understand the gaps and the requirements wherein we need to fill in with the appropriate resources. Following all these steps takes us closer to the goals. Now, it’s time to celebrate the success. We all often forget to follow or keep procrastinating the tasks. This is not something very usual. But the problem occurs when it goes unnoticed and unrealized. So let’s make the Resolutions which can be followed and if missed out let’s be ready with the countermeasures. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [3 Steps to Transform Weaknesses into Strengths](https://faberinfinite.com/3-steps-to-transform-weaknesses-into-strengths-2/): Every person existing on this planet is bound to have weakness and strength within them. These strengths and weaknesses could either be in personal life or professional life. There’s nothing abnormal if a person is weak in a particular task in a professional environment or if he has a weakness attached to his personal life. The problem pops up when those strengths and weaknesses go unnoticed. Failing to realize the positives and negatives, what we can achieve and the countermeasures to not lose something valuable results in a big failure over the period of time. Weakness is negative but the challenge is overcoming that weakness and instead turning it into our strength. The question arising would be how to do the same? Below are 3 crucial pointers to help us transform our weakness into strength. Ascertain decisive and crucial moments: The first and basic step is to identify our weaknesses. Until we realize our weakness we cannot work towards transforming it into our strength. The way to make progress is to identify the nature of the moments that provoke ineffective responses. Pay attention to the times, places, social circumstances, moods, physiological states, or risk perceptions that incite you to act in ways that lead to bad results. Thus the sooner we identify these moments, it becomes easier to act accordingly. Formulate thoughtful practices: The second step must be concentrating on learning or practicing a particular technique to overcome the challenges. Once you identify your crucial moments, identify moderately challenging situations where you can practice the target skill. These skills when practiced over a period of time can effectively help overcome the problems. Develop Emotional Competence: The last step is to develop emotional competence. It means overcoming the emotions and confronting the weakness.  We must be mentally ready to accept an uncomfortable behavior, provoking these unpleasant emotions will simply reinforce that this is an act to be avoided. We must seek out tactics we can use to make the unpleasant act more pleasant, or at least manageable. The above pointers, if followed effectively can help turn and transform our weakness into strengths, which is very important today to succeed at every step. The challenge lies in identifying the weakness, failing which can lead to serious consequences. Thus, let’s identify our weaknesses, work towards overcoming it and climb the ladder of success holding on all our strength. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [3 steps to transform weaknesses into strengths](https://faberinfinite.com/3-steps-to-transform-weaknesses-into-strengths/): Every person existing on this planet is bound to have weakness and strength within them. These strengths and weaknesses could either be in personal life or professional life. There’s nothing abnormal if a person is weak in a particular task in a professional environment or if he has a weakness attached to his personal life. The problem pops up when those strengths and weaknesses go unnoticed. Failing to realize the positives and negatives, what we can achieve and the countermeasures to not lose something valuable results in a big failure over the period of time. Weakness is negative but the challenge is overcoming that weakness and instead turning it into our strength. The question arising would be how to do the same? Below are 3 crucial pointers to help us transform our weakness into strength. Ascertain decisive and crucial moments The first and basic step is to identify our weaknesses. Until we realize our weakness we cannot work towards transforming it into our strength. The way to make progress is to identify the nature of the moments that provoke ineffective responses. Pay attention to the times, places, social circumstances, moods, physiological states, or risk perceptions that incite you to act in ways that lead to bad results. Thus the sooner we identify these moments, it becomes easier to act accordingly. Formulate thoughtful practices The second step must be concentrating on learning or practicing a particular technique to overcome the challenges. Once you identify your crucial moments, identify moderately challenging situations where you can practice the target skill. These skills when practiced over a period of time can effectively help overcome the problems. Develop Emotional Competence The last step is to develop emotional competence. It means overcoming the emotions and confronting the weakness.  We must be mentally ready to accept an uncomfortable behavior, provoking these unpleasant emotions will simply reinforce that this is an act to be avoided. We must seek out tactics we can use to make the unpleasant act more pleasant, or at least manageable. The above pointers, if followed effectively can help turn and transform our weakness into strengths, which is very important today to succeed at every step. The challenge lies in identifying the weakness, failing which can lead to serious consequences. Thus, let’s identify our weaknesses, work towards overcoming it and climb the ladder of success holding on all our strength. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Crafting Operational Excellence in Engineering Sector](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-operational-excellence-in-engineering-sector/): This post is a prelude to our research paper on ‘Growth Drivers for Engineering Industry. Background The Indian Engineering sector has witnessed a remarkable growth over the last few years driven by increased investments in infrastructure and industrial production. The engineering sector, being closely associated with the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors of the economy, is of strategic importance to India’s economy. While large scale production in the segment is organized, the sector in India is also home to a vast, unorganized, mid-scale operations setup, which feeds this large scale production. However, the next couple of years may remain challenging for the engineering and construction companies. While execution pace is slowing down due to various internal as well as macro issues, margins have also come under pressure due to feeble demand, rising competition and over capacity in a few sub sectors. Thus, unless the macro-environment improves overall growth will continue to remain sluggish in the near term. Further, in the light of recent event of demonetization there are some repercussions, which are likely to hit the manufacturing sector. Furthermore, we take the various purchasing manager’s indexes as a good indication of where the economy is going. The manufacturing PMI for India which has fallen might be taken as a sign of how demonetization is affecting the Indian economy. Hence, the operational excellence in Engineering and building competitiveness are key to sustenance for the industry. Building Competitiveness in Engineering Sector The highly competitive and dynamic environment, market competition forces organizations to improve productivity and enhance their competiveness. Consequently, the matter of assessing and improving competitiveness in different industry of several countries has received increased attention in recent times. Building Competitiveness, Zero Defects and Zero Effects, Skill Analysis & Development is a three pronged approach required to bring about a holistic development. While implementing efficiency improvement solutions at several leading engineering manufacturing companies in India, Faber Infinite created breakthroughs in building competitiveness and leveraging the hidden potential of the organization. The focus was on implementing various drivers of building competitiveness. It also encompassed the study of all activities to find out non value adding activities (NVA) e.g. search time, material availability, setup change time, etc. To eliminate all NVAs various fundamental tools such as SMED, Kanban, 5S, layout design, logistics management and systemic changes in organizational design were rolled out. Implementation of Tools In addition, it has been observed that engineering industries need to focus and invest more on operational improvement and optimization. Value adders/ operators play a key role in operations in spite of the application of machinery and equipment. As per challenges raised by the industry, few listed are low productivity, over staffing, poor labor relations, inefficient handling of operator challenges, high wages and lack of trained or skilled workforce. It can be inferred that all these issues are fallouts of lower manpower productivities and, hence, scientific approach towards efficiency improvement is the need of the hour. Further implementation of focused approaches like Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Time and motion study in the existing system can give phenomenal results in domains of machine performance, material flow and manpower productivity respectively. There by addressing 3Ms of operations. Efficiency Improvement Parameters Auto industry is mature and leader in efficiency parameters across the globe and same in India as well. Reducing material cost and increasing manpower productivity is considered to be must have to survive the competition and are no longer drivers for higher profitability. However, it has now become imperative for them to look at basic stability of all 3Ms of operations and the 4th M – Methods (man – method – material – machine). The Faber Infinite framework has improvised the scope of progress in terms of cost and productivity improvement and it can be further enhanced by sustaining the existing methodology. Phenomenal results have been realized through the design, implementation and refining of systems and processes. Insights from the real experiences, solutions deployed and further research findings have been covered in the research paper. Please reach out to us on publishing@faberinfinite.com for further details. Are you ready to achieve operational excellence in the engineering sector? Take the first step towards success by filling out the form below. Gain exclusive insights and practical strategies to elevate your engineering operations and drive exceptional results. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to craft a path to excellence! Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Fostering Trust and Collaboration in the Training World](https://faberinfinite.com/fostering-trust-and-collaboration-in-the-training-world/): It is absolutely essential and there is no denying that effective collaboration is critical for business success, especially in the world of training. Teamwork is required among executives, business units, the training department and learners to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Whether across the hall or, across the ocean, true collaboration relies on having real, constructive conversations to better understand each other and build a foundation of trust. Also it’s essential to build the competencies that are most important in enhancing the employee skills. Every organization is unique and there are challenges when it comes to identifying hitches and develop people and grow profitability. Understanding the obstacles that are preventing your organization from creating a robust and dynamic talent pipeline, which is the first step where training helps in meeting the future demand. Here we bring the glimpses of some successful recent training workshops conducted by Team Faber Infinite with feedback rating of 95% and above: Preview of Training Workshop on Sales Enhancement at one of the largest Tea Farm Estate situated in Kenya. The training encompassed various components about sales pitching and basic understanding on overall sales process on the field. The key objective of the sales training was to facilitate learning to the participants about pitching in sales: -Importance of training and learning required in sales field. -What should be the attitude of salesperson? -Importance of sales executives in Sales process. -How to define sales objectives? The training session was highly appreciated. As per the feedback shared by participants one of them said, “It helped in learning how to handle objections and develop strategies to increase sales against competition”. On the other hand, other participant said, “The training helped in learning the art of questioning and active listening skills.” The overall training feedback received was 99%. Preview of Training sessions at one of the leading textile industry and another one at leading feed mill situated in Kenya on Sales Enhancement. The workshop focused on basic understanding of training and sales pitch and how it can be used for as a key factor to become a successful salesperson. The aim was to achieve the following objectives: -What steps should be followed in sales during pitching? -What are the qualities of successful salesperson? -What are the eight steps to be successful in life? -How to define sales objectives? Participants were excited on the aspect of the learning acquired which got reflected in their feedback. The participants found the entire training session to be very informative and interactive. One of the participants gave following feedback: “Interaction as well as training was very relevant”. The learning process was absorbed by the members as it kept them engrossed. The trainer received an excellent feedback of 95%. The training workshop was perceived very well by the members. It was conducted effectively through various experiential learning exercises. Trainers at Faber Infinite are successful in bringing value addition with their skills and experience. Organizations should keep their eyes on learning needs of their employees. One wave of training might not do it. It is a continuously moving target with new users and system changes. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Rejuvenate the Workplace to Win the Marketplace](https://faberinfinite.com/rejuvenate-the-workplace-to-win-the-marketplace/): Today’s work environment requires employees to be skilled in performing complex tasks in an efficient, cost-effective, and safe manner. The top management is in a constant struggle of delegating the task to the right employee. Time and again, leaders have admitted that they are not confident whether the employee will be able to do justice to the role assigned. For the aim to have right employee in the right place at the right time with right skill set, the goal should be ongoing skill gap analysis and development to enhance and upgrade the knowledge of the employee while at the same time empower the employee in terms of specific positions or progression and succession planning. PriZma by Faber Infinite is the finest tool which helps in identifying the skills required by different employees at different layers of the organization. As per several surveys, organizations yearly spending on skill analysis and trainings, plays a very crucial role in driving business growth. PriZma can help you develop a strong Performance Improvement plan that functions almost like a bond between the manager and the employee. It can act as a tool fostering agreement and understanding what is expected from the employees. If an employee is underperforming, it is obvious to understand the cause of the performance issue, determine if the employee has challenges relating to competence, capacity or motivation to overcome the issue, and establish a plan for resolving the issue. Careful preparation of training calendar on the leaders’ part can make the difference thus helping the employee achieve their goals and avoid detrimental effect on the employee. Employees will work best when they know what is expected of them. PriZma helps to identify the goals and measures in simple, understandable terms, assign responsibility unequivocally, and confirm that the information is understood by those to whom it is directed. It assists in giving corrective input to ensure that each of the employees is on the same page and working toward the same objective. Recently in a survey, 66% business organizations anticipate a loss of business to their competitors due to skills deficiency. This loss eventually culminates in loss of revenue which continues to slide down affecting the growth and productivity. Since, untrained employees cannot produce high-quality products. They also lack adequate knowledge and skills to provide satisfactory customer service. This combination results in dissatisfied customers. The company will experience declining sales if dissatisfied customers choose competitors who can provide quality products and appropriate service. Training and development initiatives would not just improve employee skills—it would also make the company a more attractive place to work. Based on our experience Team Faber has identified these challenges at various organizations in Asia as well as Africa. The answer to this crucial concern is PriZma, which our expert team has devised, a unique approach to analyze the workforce skills. PriZma can help in addressing the key issues related to appropriate skill development. PriZma allows organizations to identify weak spots of an employee and suggest improvements to meet the present and future requirements of the organization in addition to improving work performance. Performing a skills gap analysis can benefit employees and the organization individuals since it will enable both to professional development needs. It also brings and employee into limelight, enables him/her to stay ahead of others and boost career prospects. It further recognizes deficiencies that can hamper the growth of a company. A successful skills gap analysis will provide a clear path for professional improvement, and increase chances of promotion for the concerned employee. This overall helps the organization, increases productivity, increases employee retention and boosts bottom-lines. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Giving Back to the Society](https://faberinfinite.com/giving-back-to-the-society/): All of us are moving at a greater pace in our day to day lives. With the technological advancements taking place, only few of us are able to take the time out of our work schedules and enjoy the life to the fullest. In our race to compete, be the best, deliver the best and become successful, we often forget to bring happiness to the people around. Whether at professional level or personal level, all of us should contribute our bit to make this planet the most beautiful place. The good thing is that organizations have realized the importance of contributing to the society, country, environment, customers, etc. and many have taken it up as their responsibility. This very part is referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in corporate language. Whatever we do, either big or small, could add meaning and happiness to life and to the society. Team Faber Infinite strongly believes in this principle and has been doing its possible bit for the country, society or environment. Faber Infinite has always held up their values on the top and has never failed to follow them. To be more specific, for Faber Infinite Consulting it is among one of our core values to bring happiness and contributing for the betterment of the society and bringing smiles on the faces of people around. It is a mutual give and take process. We believe we get many good things from this society and when we get the opportunity to give it back, we should. The recent example of Faber Infinite’s contribution is the support it had given to ‘Shreevatsa’ run by SOFOSH, a special child care centre in Pune in January, 2017. We sponsored meals for the children in Shreevatsa on account of Faber Foundation Day. Besides meal, we made contributions in the form of gifts to the children in the orphanage. Talking about Faber Infinite’s involvement also adds another recent happening wherein a government school library was equipped with books from contribution by Faber Infinite. The school was in need of books for the library and it was made possible by Faber Infinite’s contribution keeping in mind the need and importance of education for the students. As truly said, ‘Charity begins from home’, Faber Infinite follows the values it believes in and has always lives by example. These moments add another feather in the hat of Team Faber Infinite inspiring us to stay committed to our core value of crafting a fabulous world around us.  Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Delivering Tangible Benefits](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-tangible-benefits/): Team Faber Infinite is always passionate about crafting culture that supports transformation and innovation. Fabers strongly live by its values and believe in delivering maximum returns to its client. The team focuses on the people as catalysts for the improvement journey. Having similar thoughts and aligning its vision with Make in India initiatives, it strives to develop fast-track growth trajectory by bringing improvement in manufacturing sector. The Indian engineering industry has been witnessing a huge upsurge and remarkable growth over the last few years driven by increased investments in infrastructure and industrial production. The manufacturing industry is the backbone of the Indian economy and is emerging with a thriving spirit. However, there are certain challenges as well, which the manufacturing sector has been facing pre-dominantly. Industry is constantly trying to find ways to lower production costs in order to maintain or maximize profit margins to stay relevant. This goal becomes more difficult in today’s environment of fluctuating raw material costs, variable market prices, rising energy and transportation costs, and reduced consumer discretionary spending. Growing competition from emerging countries, condensed product lifecycles, an increase in the number of product configurations, and complicated supply chains all add to the complexity. Mastering these challenges means making improvements to operations, efficiencies and overall effectiveness. With such hyper competitive market environment, the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organisations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at operational excellence (OE)/ world class manufacturing (WCM) practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chains which ultimately helps them to drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers. By implementing various drivers like Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Material Velocity Improvement, it can prove to do wonders in terms of maximizing efficiencies and effectiveness through the optimization of material flow, equipment availability, performances and product quality. While delivering at one of the leading textile machine manufacturers in India, Faber Infinite created a breakthrough in building competitiveness and leveraging the hidden potential of the organization. Let us look at the robust operational excellence and world class management practices that Faber deployed at the client site for delivering phenomenal results: Improved Equipment Maintenance Practices: By implementing pillars like Autonomous and Planned Maintenance from the house of TPM at client place, an enormous amount of hidden capacity was released for heavy equipment in the workshop by improved equipment maintenance practices. This helped in saving excess hours of machine utilization, which lead to savings of manpower cost up to INR 7 Million ~ 70 lacs.  Line Balancing & Lean Layout: Eliminating the non-value adding factors from the workplace contributes in driving higher productivity. The weakest link of the entire assembly process is directly proportional to the unit absorbing maximum time. This ultimately becomes the bottleneck of the process affecting the entire chain. To reduce this combination of activities including elimination of unnecessary activities, combining different activities together, rearranging, de-bottlenecking and improving material flow proved to be a catalyst in raising the productivity with existing set of resources, also reducing the throughput time. Tremendous hidden capacity at the two assembly lines was released, which could add to the topline growth of the organization by almost INR 100 crores (~10 Million). The percentage improvement achieved is quite evident, since the number of spindles produced per day increased from 42 to 90 units and client achieved an evident rise of more than 117% in productivity. Lean Layout designing incorporated the removal of existing waste/ inefficiencies from the workplace. Waste in manufacturing is usually not about the scrap material that gets thrown away or recycled, but the most important part, which is often ignored includes all the process wastes that waste your time and resources. Working on these activities resulted in substantial improvement the productivity of client system and material velocity. Team Faber Infinite stands by its core belief to under commit and over perform. Since the inception Team Faber Infinite has been providing huge return on investment by maximizing the returns for its clients. The scope of progress in terms of cost and productivity improvement is tremendous and can be further enhanced by sustaining the existing methodology. By deploying appropriate standards for inventory management, taking appropriate countermeasures to prevent waste generation and implementation of plant standards, overall manufacturing standards, quality and performance can be improved.  Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Textile products should be kept in minimum possible tax slab under GST](https://faberinfinite.com/textile-products-should-be-kept-in-minimum-possible-tax-slab-under-gst/): The textile chemicals market in India is projected to cross US$ 2.5 billion by 2021, on account of increasing industrialization, surging consumption of textiles in engineered products and rapidly rising awareness about the benefits of using textile chemicals. Apart from this, rising disposable income and increasing living standards are expected to significantly augment demand for textile chemicals in India over the next five years. Government of India has been increasingly focusing on taking initiatives to make the country’s textile industry more competent on the global landscape. The Indian textiles industry is extremely varied, with the hand-spun and hand-woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum, while the capital intensive sophisticated mills sector at the other end of the spectrum. The decentralized power looms/ hosiery and knitting sector form the largest component of the textiles sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi  announced a war against black money and corruption. In an emboldened move, it was declared that the 500 and 1000 Rupee notes will no longer be legal tender from midnight, 8th November 2016. This measure was taken by the PM in an attempt to address the resolve against corruption, black money, terrorism and counterfeit notes. This move is expected to cleanse the formal economic system and discard black money at the same time. One of the reasons that prompted the Government to demonetize Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes is that their circulation was not in line with the Economic Growth. As per the Finance Ministry, during 2011-2016 periods, the circulation of all notes grew 40% but the circulation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes went up by 76% and 109% respectively. Relatively speaking, the economy has grown only by 30% which is way below the money circulation. The sudden decline in money supply and simultaneous increase in bank deposits has adversely impacted consumption demand in the economy, though this is considered as a short term effect. This may also have adverse impact on real estate and informal sectors thus leading to lower GDP growth. After demonetization the industry is waiting for the budget 2017-18. This budget is going to be distinct in many aspects. It will be for the first time that Railway Budget will be combined with the General Union Budget. And for the first time, the Union Budget will be announced 1 month in advance on the 1st February, 2017. The Indian economy was growing at a healthy pace of 7.6%, when the demonetization drive suddenly slowed down the pace of the economy. Liquidity issues are impacting businesses, especially FMCG Sector, Automobiles, Textile Sector and Real Estate where the cash transactions were dominant.  Let us look at the impact of this move on the pre budget expectations for textile industry in India. Current Status of the sector In the light of recent events occurring as a consequence of demonetization, consumer expenses have resulted in a slowdown in domestic demand for apparel and other end-products of textile industry. Textile industry being one of the most labor intensive industry have been facing the heat of this move. The textile industry employs about 40 million workers and 60 million indirectly. India’s overall textile exports during FY 2015-16 stood at US$ 40 billion. Challenges and Opportunities The RBI verdict of scrapping INR500 and INR1000 currency notes has received mixed responses from textile sector. The organized textile sector has welcomed the decision as it would streamline the transaction system and would result in transparent business transaction with overseas traders. The decision would increase the usage of electronic clearing system for making payments and would reduce the black transactions significantly. This move has reciprocated in the form of excess inventory accumulation. On contrary, this decision is setback for unorganized textile sector of the country that is dependent on domestic market for revenue generation. Restriction of withdrawals from bank did impact the weekly payment to contractual workers in textile sector. Additionally, constraints on cash withdrawals negatively influenced the procurement of new cotton, yarns and fabric in India. What will budget offer? With the upcoming GST bill the positive impacts of GST on overall economic growth in the next few years and it has been stated that this would make the manufacturing sector more competitive. As far as the textile sector, being an essential item for the common man, textile items should be kept under GST with the minimum possible tax slab with the special rates. Demonetization and cashless transactions are the initiatives of honorable Prime Minister of India and Smt. Smriti Irani, Union Textile Minister has encouraged digital payments in textile industry. Digital India Workshops have been coming up as an initiative to empower workers to make cashless money transactions using electronic devices and channels. These workshops are first of its kind organized in Indian textile industry. The textile ministry is promoting cashless payment within the industry by encouraging textile workers, artisans and weavers to open bank accounts following the demonetization of high currency notes. More than 5 lakh workers have opened their accounts in the last month, and a large number of them belong to textile hubs like Tirupur, Bhiwandi and Surat. The government has urged textile units to go cashless on a priority basis by opening accounts and using unified payments interface (UPI). The ministry of textiles also set up over 900 camps across the country to open bank accounts. As quoted by Textile commissioner Kavita Gupta that “the ministry aims to bring all textiles workers in India within the banking fold and enable them to use digital payment transfer apps in the next three months.” Although the Demonetization move has affected the cash flow of the textile industry and is likely to drive a constraint in the demand for the entire textile value-chain as stated in reports, but as the demand reverts back to a steady state over the next few months with expected improvement in liquidity, this impact will be neutralized. About the Author:  Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting
- [Leadership Skills: An Inspiration from Captain Cool](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-skills-an-inspiration-from-captain-cool-2/): Time and again we look up to a leader who can guide us, motivate us, understand and develop us, to grow in a better way. The best part is we do have one of the best leader-captain, rather former captain of Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has been one of the best, versatile captains of the team, who led the Indian cricket team to lift up the 2011 ICC Cricket world cup and many more such achievements. Recently, Virat Kohli took over as the captain of the Indian cricket team. The fact that Virat Kohli has been successful in leading the team after taking over charges as captain is visible by the victories Indian team has achieved under his captaincy in Test crickets and ODIs. M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli are contradicting personalities in terms of behavioral characteristics and leadership skills. While Dhoni is referred to as ‘Captain Cool’ due to his cool, calm and composed attitude, Kohli is known for his aggression. Here are a few pointers depicting the leadership traits of M.S. Dhoni which can help every leader to lead efficaciously and which Kohli can pick up as well while leading the Indian cricket team. Being confident: The foremost and utmost important quality every leader, infact every person should have is confidence in self. If the person would be confident enough about oneself, he/she would pass on that positive energy to others. That is why Dhoni has been one of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team. Likewise, every entrepreneur, manager, team leader, etc. must first cultivate the confidence and boost morale of others which will automatically open doors for victory. Competence to handle pressure: The most admired and acknowledged trait of Dhoni is his competence to handle pressure. No wonder he is known as ‘Captain Cool’, he is indeed the coolest player with the competence to handle pressure and this is indeed an essential trait for every leader. Every leader should pick up this attribute from Dhoni as it’s very important that the leaders do not buckle under pressure. A leader should stay calm under every situation so that his descendants or employees can tackle the pressure and perform well. If the leader himself will defy tackling the pressure, entire team led by him won’t be able to do well and would lead to failure instead of victory. Proficient to handle failure: Another most visible trait of Dhoni is his capability to handle the failure. The first two traits are somehow linked to this characteristic of handling failure. If a person is confident enough and is competent to handle pressure then he can surely handle failure. A good leader must take the failure in the true spirit and must consider it as the stepping stone to success- an opportunity to understand what went wrong, what and how to improve and to excel further instead of going haywire over the failure. Connect individually: Dhoni has not just been a good captain but has also been a mentor to young and new players who had joined the team. This should definitely be espoused by all the leaders. Playing a leader is undoubtedly very difficult but to understand the flaws and weakness of each of the team mates and to guide them is the toughest task. Knowing the best and the capabilities might lead to success but not understanding the flaws to overcome it can definitely lead to failure. Leading a group of people with different interests, nature, characteristics, etc. is actually a very difficult task but the onus lies on how the leader gets the work done to attain the organizational objectives. Considering the above points could steer every team towards success and each one can become a good leader to keep the team going. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [4 Key Leadership Skills: An Inspiration from Captain Cool](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-skills-an-inspiration-from-captain-cool/): Time and again we look up to a leader who can guide us, motivate us, understand and develop us, to grow in a better way. The best part is we do have one of the best leader-captain, rather former captain of Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has been one of the best, versatile captains of the team, who led the Indian cricket team to lift up the 2011 ICC Cricket world cup and many more such achievements. Recently, Virat Kohli took over as the captain of the Indian cricket team. The fact that Virat Kohli has been successful in leading the team after taking over charges as captain is visible by the victories Indian team has achieved under his captaincy in Test crickets and ODIs. M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli are contradicting personalities in terms of behavioral characteristics and leadership skills. While Dhoni is referred to as ‘Captain Cool’ due to his cool, calm and composed attitude, Kohli is known for his aggression. Here are a few pointers depicting the leadership traits of M.S. Dhoni which can help every leader to lead efficaciously and which Kohli can pick up as well while leading the Indian cricket team. Being confident The foremost and utmost important quality every leader, infact every person should have is confidence in self. If the person would be confident enough about oneself, he/she would pass on that positive energy to others. That is why Dhoni has been one of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team. Likewise, every entrepreneur, manager, team leader, etc. must first cultivate the confidence and boost morale of others which will automatically open doors for victory.  Competence to handle pressure The most admired and acknowledged trait of Dhoni is his competence to handle pressure. No wonder he is known as ‘Captain Cool’, he is indeed the coolest player with the competence to handle pressure and this is indeed an essential trait for every leader. Every leader should pick up this attribute from Dhoni as it’s very important that the leaders do not buckle under pressure. A leader should stay calm under every situation so that his descendants or employees can tackle the pressure and perform well. If the leader himself will defy tackling the pressure, entire team led by him won’t be able to do well and would lead to failure instead of victory. Proficient to handle failure Another most visible trait of Dhoni is his capability to handle the failure. The first two traits are somehow linked to this characteristic of handling failure. If a person is confident enough and is competent to handle pressure then he can surely handle failure. A good leader must take the failure in the true spirit and must consider it as the stepping stone to success- an opportunity to understand what went wrong, what and how to improve and to excel further instead of going haywire over the failure.  Connect individually Dhoni has not just been a good captain but has also been a mentor to young and new players who had joined the team. This should definitely be espoused by all the leaders. Playing a leader is undoubtedly very difficult but to understand the flaws and weakness of each of the team mates and to guide them is the toughest task. Knowing the best and the capabilities might lead to success  but not understanding the flaws to overcome it can definitely lead to failure. Leading a group of people with different interests, nature, characteristics, etc. is actually a very difficult task but the onus lies on how the leader gets the work done to attain the organizational objectives. Considering the above points could steer every team towards success and each one can become a good leader to keep the team going. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Leading Organizational Change: Through Organizational Alignment](https://faberinfinite.com/organizational-change-through-organizational-alignment/): Human Beings are often proud of themselves. We believe ourselves to be the most creative creatures. But we also tend to forget that we are often reluctant to step out of our comfort zone. Majority of us have a tendency to avoid change, either personal or professional and this makes it more difficult to adapt with the change. Also, we need to understand, failure- big or small is part and parcel of the change in the short run but it can also lead to immense success and growth, thereafter. Well, the question here is how can we bring the required change in the organization? The answer or key to the question is organizational alignment. Well defined, specific goal, clear responsibilities and accountability is the base and plays a crucial role in incorporating the organizational change. We have the below pointers for leading the change: Clarity of organizational goals: The base to lead organizational change should be to have clarity of organizational goals. Organizational goals act as the foundation to the development of the company, considering which the roadmap to accomplish it is formed. These goals should be communicated to the employees. Clear definition of objectives is very important for the growth and development of the organization as well as the employees. Shared Responsibility: Merely identifying the goals does not end the process of organizational alignment. The next step is sharing the organizational responsibilities. Proper delegation of responsibilities should be done to avoid confusion. Clarity in roles and responsibility also helps to increase the productivity. Thus to bring change, there should be precision, co-ordination, transparency among the employees and within the organization. Clarity of Accountability: Responsibility and Accountability are interlinked. One does not stand independent of the other as responsibility comes with accountability and accountability comes with responsibility. Although it exerts pressure, being accountable increases the productivity, improves the quality and improves the efficiency. Only thing to be considered is that accountability should not lead to undue pressure and stress but should lead to development of oneself. Eventually, it will lead to organizational change and alignment in the long run with the co-operation of all. Organizational Change is not just a word but has become the most important part of organizations which needs to be attained- whether the change be in technical  aspect, financial aspect or any other aspect of the organization. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Key to Sustenance: Profit Maximization](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-sustenance-profit-maximization/): About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in the January issue of SME world.
- [Impact of Demonetization on Manufacturing Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/impact-of-demonetization-on-manufacturing-industry/): About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Prabhat newspaper.
- [4 pointers to improve your profitability by 44%](https://faberinfinite.com/4-pointers-to-improve-your-profitability-by-44-2/): As per a survey, by Gallup – Poorly managed work teams are on average 50% less productive and 44% less profitable than well-managed teams. Team building is an extremely important functional aspect of employee engagement, often ignored. In today’s workplace with extremely competitive and dynamic environment building excellent teams need hard core vision as well as practice. Growth and improvement are the two most crucial drivers enhancing the growth of the team as well as the organization. Here we bring the four most important key elements essential for refining the progress of the team: Communication and working together:  There is no surprise in accepting the fact that, communication and working better together is the top reason why people choose team building. It helps in filling up the lacunas left by other members, thereby creating perfection. Every team member in your organization would look forward to foster a friendly work environment, where they are comfortable and happy to talk to and work with anyone. It takes a significant amount of understanding to anticipate both the ways in which the person you’re directing that information to will receive it and how they perceive it against their career goals and the overall company goals. Result oriented Goal Setting: Set your goals in a direction to make sure, that the organization can match the pace of achieving tangible and attainable goals and desired results. S.M.A.R.T a well-adapted formula to achieve success is just exactly the need of an organization to understand and analyze specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals. This will help you build a team together and help teams better understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Collaboration and the fostering of innovation and creativity:  Working in a team not only reduces the work, but acts as a catalyst to expand your horizon by brainstorming different ideas and coming up with effective solutions. People tend to have a larger imagination when they are around people they are comfortable with. So, successful team building events not only bring people closer together but they also lead to more successful and creative workplace ideas. Also, everyday workplace collaboration is a guaranteed key to a successful business. For example, a coach always has assistants to help out when needed. Creating and broadening the horizon for more opportunities: The most crucial role of a leader is to keep team members engaged which clearly indicates that each member is having evidently defined roles for each person. Whether it’s project-based or defining someone’s role within the larger context of the company, it’s essential to be clear what success looks like for short-term as well as for long term goals. If you give a team member a clear path to progress, they’re more likely to experience fulfillment. It’s important to align this advancement with the career goals of the individual whenever possible. Team building exercises and activities emphasize on skills like communication, delegation, and organization around a common goal, which can help your team realize their potential. Considering these reasons can make team building a central focus of your team engagement strategy. Written  by Faber Ramya Pillai    
- [4 pointers to Improve your Profitability by 44%](https://faberinfinite.com/4-pointers-to-improve-your-profitability-by-44/): As per a survey, by Gallup – Poorly managed work teams are on average 50% less productive and 44% less profitable than well-managed teams. Team building is an extremely important functional aspect of employee engagement, often ignored. In this blog, we will discuss about 4 key points to Improve Profitability. In today’s workplace with extremely competitive and dynamic environment building excellent teams need hard core vision as well as practice. Growth and improvement are the two most crucial drivers enhancing the growth of the team as well as the organization. Here we bring the four most important key elements essential for refining the progress of the team: 4 key Elements to Improve Profitability Communication and working together There is no surprise in accepting the fact that, communication and working better together is the top reason why people choose team building. It helps in filling up the lacuna’s left by other members, thereby creating perfection. Every team member in your organization would look forward to foster a friendly work environment, where they are comfortable and happy to talk to and work with anyone. It takes a significant amount of understanding to anticipate both the ways in which the person you’re directing that information to will receive it and how they perceive it against their career goals and the overall company goals. Result oriented Goal Setting Set your goals in a direction to make sure, that the organization can match the pace of achieving tangible and attainable goals and desired results. S.M.A.R.T a well-adapted formula to achieve success is just exactly the need of an organization to understand and analyze specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals. This will help you build a team together and help teams better understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Collaboration and the fostering of innovation and creativity Working in a team not only reduces the work, but acts as a catalyst to expand your horizon by brainstorming different ideas and coming up with effective solutions. People tend to have a larger imagination when they are around people they are comfortable with. So, successful team building events not only bring people closer together but they also lead to more successful and creative workplace ideas. Also, everyday workplace collaboration is a guaranteed key to a successful business. For example, a coach always has assistants to help out when needed. Creating and broadening the horizon for more opportunities The most crucial role of a leader is to keep team members engaged which clearly indicates that each member is having evidently defined roles for each person. Whether it’s project-based or defining someone’s role within the larger context of the company, it’s essential to be clear what success looks like for short-term as well as for long term goals. If you give a team member a clear path to progress, they’re more likely to experience fulfillment. It’s important to align this advancement with the career goals of the individual whenever possible. Team building exercises and activities emphasize on skills like communication, delegation, and organization around a common goal, which can help your team realize their potential. Considering these reasons can make team building a central focus of your team engagement strategy. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Crafting Operational Excellence in Plastic Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-operational-excellence-in-plastics-industry/):   The Indian plastics market is comprised of around 25,000 companies and employs 3 million people. The domestic capacity for polymer production was 5.72 million tonnes in 2009. Gujarat in Western India is the leading plastics processing hub and accounts for the largest number of plastics manufacturers, with over 5,000 plastics firms. The growth rate of the Indian plastics industry is one of the highest in the world, with plastics consumption growing at 16 percent per annum (compared to annual 10 percent in China and around 2.5 percent annually in the UK). With a growing middle class (currently estimated at 50 million) and a low per capita consumption of plastics, currently 8 kg per head, this trend is likely to continue. Despite India having a population of 1.15 billion and a work force of 467 million, plastics companies have reported problems with labour shortages. This has led to increased investment in technology such as automation and conveyor belt systems. Apart from the shortage of a skilled labour, the plastics industry is also facing the problem of a nationwide power deficit. The electricity demand deficit is 12-13 per cent. This provides excellent opportunities for firms offering energy saving solutions, power saving machines and ancillary equipment. Operational Excellence in Plastic Industry Industry is constantly trying to find ways to lower production costs in order to maximise profit margins. But this goal becomes more difficult in today’s environment of fluctuating raw material costs, variable market prices, rising energy and transportation costs, and reduced consumer discretionary spending. Growing competition from emerging countries, condensed product lifecycles, an increase in the number of product configurations, and complicated supply chains all add to the complexity. Mastering these challenges means making improvements to production and productivity. With such hyper competitive market environment, the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organisations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at operational excellence (OE)/ world class manufacturing (WCM) practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chain which ultimately helps them drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers. The expertise behind operations excellence implementations is not a core competency for most companies, nor should it be. It makes good business sense for most companies to use consultants for implementation of these systems. Most of these consultant-delivered programs deliver quick productivity improvements. Unfortunately, however, most of these programs are not sustainable for long after the consultant leaves. There are many operational excellence programs that the consulting companies implement in the plastic industry. While TPM, as per Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM), can be very powerful yet several times TPM is partially understood and deployed. The results are normally related to overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)/ mean time to repair (MTTR)/ mean time between failures (MTBF) improvements while it has impact on throughput time and inventory, nevertheless it’s indirect. Let us look at the classical operational excellence (OE) and world class management (WCM) practices. Classical OE/WCM OE focuses on efficiency improvement and waste elimination while TPM focuses more on higher asset utilisation. This is debatable; however, the need for classical LEAN/OE in plastic industry is high. This results in shorter manufacturing throughput time and, thus, reducing inventory in pipeline related benefits. Typical actions include: Current state analysis will enable you to see the complete door-to-door flow in your facility and to identify and prioritize areas for improvement. It should be followed by setting goals for future state. The future value stream map has as its main aim, the identification of improvements to the value stream that will lead to a shorter ‘lead’ time. In lean thinking this is the time taken from the raw materials being brought into the business, until the time they leave the facility destined for the customer. Balance the line so as to create smoother throughput Find approaches to eliminate temporary storage, staging, holding vessels Eliminate redundancies in equipment by improving reliability Identify potential areas for reduction in cleaning/ changeover/ startup time Once the fundamentals of the current value stream map and the future map are ready, there is a strong need to ensure that the implementation of improvements is carried out in a structured and methodical fashion. Without someone driving forward the improvements, they are unlikely to happen and the improvements to performance will be negligible. Numerous plastic manufacturing organizations have been transformed by implementing such operational excellence practices. Typical improvement areas in the plastic industry include improvement in OEE & labour productivity, yield improvement through waste reduction, inventory management through Kanban, low cost automation, manpower optimisation through productivity improvement, workplace improvement, reduction in change over times, and equipment & mould breakdown reduction. In conclusion OE/WCM practices have a tremendous scope in plastic manufacturing environment. The first visible change is to create a dust/dirt free work environment. It has been observed, over and above TPM, WCM/classical lean in the improvement program of plastic industry results in approximately 30 percent reduction in cost of production/ conversion. It also helps in predicting customer demand better, reducing inventory levels, streamlining & standardising business processes, improving on-time & complete shipments, and increasing access to data for faster decision-making. All these directly adds to the bottom-line while simultaneously customers receive on time delivery and high quality products. Operational excellence means adopting best practices, having a culture of continuous improvement, and utilising the latest technologies in products and production methods. These are the guidelines that any organisation needs to follow to achieve operational excellence. About the Author:  Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. Ready to craft operational excellence in the plastic industry? Fill out the form below to gain exclusive insights, strategies, and expert guidance on optimizing your plastic manufacturing processes. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take your plastic industry operations to the next level! This article was originally published on Business-standard.com. Original link available – here
- [Plan Ahead for 2017 !](https://faberinfinite.com/plan-ahead-for-2017-2/): The previous year may have brought different kinds of emotions from being happy, excited, and elated to sad, disappointed or frustrated. But everything is all under the bridge and it is time to move forward. What ever happened for the past year, the coming year should be a lot better. And how do you make this happen? By making a good set of plan that works out in making your business grow further. A well planned strategy can act as a supporting system to face the challenges in a better way, even if it cannot solve the problem fully. But the critical part is deciding and formulating the strategy based upon the needs of the business. Some useful points to consider while planning the strategy are: Focus on the points which contributed to company’s success in the last year: The basic thing should be identifying the strengths or points which contributed in the success of the company, last year. It can be anything such as: proper management of production process, finance, employee well-being and satisfaction leading to the success or any other reason. By ascertaining those points and the consideration to improve, maintain or sustain it further can definitely lead to success. Identify the unsolved snags: The first step of identifying the factors which acted as a positive force is comparatively easy in relation to identifying the points which acted as a barrier or challenges. Once it is ascertained half of the problem gets solved. The identification of the challenges needs great sense of observation and knowhow of each of the minute details of the organization. Formulating strategy for the unsettled challenges: After identification of the problems, the important part is formulating the strategy to resolve the pending, unresolved issues, acting as a hindrance to the company’s growth. Each subject needs to be addressed in detail depending upon the nature and depth of the problem. Implementing the adopted plans and policies to test the success: The last step should be implementing the formulated plans and policies on a ground level and not in entire organization. This can be done on a temporary basis to check the success rate and the acceptance of the same. If found to be helpful, it can be adopted, else we should move on to modify or look for other strategies, which suits the requirements and problems of our organization. While we only wish for good things to happen we should also be ready to accept the bad. Not all planned thoughts may produce positive results but being able to see through different angles of a specific plan may generate a much bigger possibility of eliminating failures. On this note, let us all work for the best, accept the worst and move on with brave hearts, valiant minds to challenge the challenges and succeed in our journey. Happy 2017! Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Plan Ahead for 2017 !](https://faberinfinite.com/plan-ahead-for-2017/): The previous year may have brought different kinds of emotions from being happy, excited, and elated to sad, disappointed or frustrated. But everything is all under the bridge and it is time to move forward. What ever happened for the past year, the coming year should be a lot better. And how do you make this happen? By making a good set of plan that works out in making your business grow further. A well planned strategy can act as a supporting system to face the challenges in a better way, even if it cannot solve the problem fully. But the critical part is deciding and formulating the strategy based upon the needs of the business. Some useful points to consider while planning the strategy are: Focus on the points which contributed to company’s success in the last year The basic thing should be identifying the strengths or points which contributed in the success of the company, last year. It can be anything such as: proper management of production process, finance, employee well-being and satisfaction leading to the success or any other reason. By ascertaining those points and the consideration to improve, maintain or sustain it further can definitely lead to success.  Identify the unsolved snags The first step of identifying the factors which acted as a positive force is comparatively easy in relation to identifying the points which acted as a barrier or challenges. Once it is ascertained half of the problem gets solved. The identification of the challenges needs great sense of observation and know how of each of the minute details of the organization. Formulating strategy for the unsettled challenges After identification of the problems, the important part is formulating the strategy to resolve the pending, unresolved issues, acting as a hindrance to the company’s growth. Each subject needs to be addressed in detail depending upon the nature and depth of the problem.  Implementing the adopted plans and policies to test the success The last step should be implementing the formulated plans and policies on a ground level and not in entire organization. This can be done on a temporary basis to check the success rate and the acceptance of the same. If found to be helpful, it can be adopted, else we should move on to modify or look for other strategies, which suits the requirements and problems of our organization. While we only wish for good things to happen we should also be ready to accept the bad. Not all planned thoughts may produce positive results but being able to see through different angles of a specific plan may generate a much bigger possibility of eliminating failures. On this note, let us all work for the best, accept the worst and move on with brave hearts, valiant minds to challenge the challenges and succeed in our journey. Happy 2017!
- [New Year Resolution - Retrospect & Reevaluate](https://faberinfinite.com/new-year-resolution-retrospect-reevaluate-2/): Yet another year draws to a close and it’s time to bring out our report card, to help assess our performance and to identify areas for improvement.This is the time when people enlist their Resolutions for the next year. Resolutions are not just meant for personal lives and personal attainment of goals but are equally applicable in an organization. Make a resolution to attain all or atleast majority of the organizational objectives. Make the most of it this New Year by knitting the employee goals to the goals of the company. Below are some pointers which may help to focus on alignment of employee goals and success for organizational success. Conveying the organizational objectives: The base towards employee development for organizational development is clearly defining the organizational goals. It individually helps them to gauge and predict their success rate in relation to the development of the organization. Employees who understand organizational objectives are much more likely to be engaged and actively working toward making a way for accomplishment of the company mission. For instance- According to a report, 71 percent of respondents ranked employee engagement as very important to achieving overall organizational success, whereas only 24 percent of respondents said employees in their organizations are highly engaged. Set specific deadlines: Deadlines act as a motivator for employees to complete the work on time. Deadlines can either be set by the manager or by the employees themselves. But in the first case, the employees might feel the pressure and might not have the motivation to work. In the latter case the targets set by them would make them feel more motivated to work. But Deadlines set must be more realistic and achievable and not vague and tough to achieve. Creating Opportunities for Development: Employee Development is also an important aspect that needs to be considered for development of an organization. Effective training and development tools need to be introduced, workshops be organized for effective achievement of company goals. Training should be provided in relation to the tasks or departments handled by the employees. For instance- Sales Training for sales department, Financial Training for Accounts and Finance Department. Analyze Progress: Reviewing progress achieved by employees towards achievement of goals and how it bonds to company-wide progress is an essential part of the performance review.Constant review and feedback of employee performance is essential. This can also enable or create a platform for them to open with the managers, discuss the challenges faced by them and to come out with an effective solution for attaining their set targets. Also, maintaining transparency is very important to help the employees to know how successful they have been in attaining the set goals and how far they need to walk to accomplish the unaccomplished. So, let these above pointers help all the managers out there make practical, attainable New Year Resolutions for the upcoming year and let all the employees gear themselves up to attain these set goals and lead their company to the path of success. Happy New Year!! Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [New Year Resolution - Retrospect & Reevaluate](https://faberinfinite.com/new-year-resolution-retrospect-reevaluate/): Yet another year draws to a close and it’s time to bring out our report card, to help assess our performance and to identify areas for improvement.This is the time when people enlist their Resolutions for the next year. Resolutions are not just meant for personal lives and personal attainment of goals but are equally applicable in an organization. Make a resolution to attain all or at least majority of the organizational objectives. Make the most of it this New Year by knitting the employee goals to the goals of the company. Below are some pointers which may help to focus on alignment of employee goals and success for organizational success. Conveying the organizational objectives  The base towards employee development for organizational development is clearly defining the organizational goals. It individually helps them to gauge and predict their success rate in relation to the development of the organization. Employees who understand organizational objectives are much more likely to be engaged and actively working toward making a way for accomplishment of the company mission. For instance- According to a report, 71 percent of respondents ranked employee engagement as very important to achieving overall organizational success, whereas only 24 percent of respondents said employees in their organizations are highly engaged. Set specific deadlines Deadlines act as a motivator for employees to complete the work on time. Deadlines can either be set by the manager or by the employees themselves. But in the first case, the employees might feel the pressure and might not have the motivation to work. In the latter case the targets set by them would make them feel more motivated to work. But Deadlines set must be more realistic and achievable and not vague and tough to achieve.  Creating Opportunities for Development Employee Development is also an important aspect that needs to be considered for development of an organization. Effective training and development tools need to be introduced, workshops be organized for effective achievement of company goals. Training should be provided in relation to the tasks or departments handled by the employees. For instance- Sales Training for sales department, Financial Training for Accounts and Finance Department. Analyze Progress Reviewing progress achieved by employees towards achievement of goals and how it bonds to company-wide progress is an essential part of the performance review. Constant review and feedback of employee performance is essential. This can also enable or create a platform for them to open with the managers, discuss the challenges faced by them and to come out with an effective solution for attaining their set targets. Also, maintaining transparency is very important to help the employees to know how successful they have been in attaining the set goals and how far they need to walk to accomplish the unaccomplished. So, let these above pointers help all the managers out there make practical, attainable New Year Resolutions for the upcoming year and let all the employees gear themselves up to attain these set goals and lead their company to the path of success. Happy New Year!! Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [A brewing feud tarnishes Tata](https://faberinfinite.com/a-brewing-feud-tarnishes-tata/): Contributed by: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in The National’ a mainline daily from Abu Dhabi. Original link available here: Click here.
- [Continual Improvement Key to Success](https://faberinfinite.com/continual-improvement-key-to-success-2/): Every organization today focuses on Improvement. Improvement, rather Continual Improvement stands parallel to Growth and Development in today’s competitive business environment. The good part is that the organizations have realized the importance of continuous improvement. But it’s not easy until it is initiated in the organization. This very important process of realizing the importance of continuous improvement and the step of instigating the same starts with the leader. A leader should emphasize on bringing in continual improvement by not only concentrating on the tools or philosophy used for the same but by emphasizing on the end results by using the tools. Basically, any tool- Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma, the practice of any of these should help in progression of the business. The tools are of utmost importance but what actually plays a major role is what results the usage of the tools brings in. Below are the pointers for getting the best results at the end with the use of the correct tools: Understanding the type of change required: Numerous organizations try to adopt a method, philosophy or a tool such as Lean, Six sigma, Kaizen, etc. just because they see other organizations adopting the same. They fail to understand that if adopting Lean worked positively for a company, it won’t be the same for them too or if adopting Six Sigma helped their competitor develop, the adoption of the same won’t reap benefits for them. Mere adoption of any tool cannot do wonders until the root cause and type of problem is not understood well Identification of the right philosophy: The next step is identifying the right philosophy for developing the organization. Identification of the right tool plays a very important role for the progress of any organization. The core would be the appropriate tool for Continual Improvement. The selection of the exact tool should be done which could deliver the best result at the end. For Instance- A doctor prescribes right medicine for his patients looking at the overall symptoms. Any medicine won’t work and such is the case with organizations which tend to develop. Constant efforts to maintain the development and improvement journey: The journey towards growth and development won’t sustain until constant steps to maintain it are embraced. One time implementation of tools doesn’t bring success for a long run. It only withstands when constant efforts are put in by identifying and understanding the problems, working constantly for continual improvement and transformation. The clue to successful continuous improvement is in the name. It must becontinuous so that opportunities for progression can be highlighted, improvement made and measured and evaluated. Let us make transformation the theme for the next year alike Faber Infinite which has always been crafting success stories for its clients by justly focusing on the needs of different organizations and the adoption of the suitable tools for delivering the best results. Written By  Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Continual Improvement: Key to Success](https://faberinfinite.com/continual-improvement-key-to-success/): Every organization today focuses on Improvement. Improvement, rather Continual Improvement stands parallel to Growth and Development in today’s competitive business environment. The good part is that the organizations have realized the importance of continuous improvement. But it’s not easy until it is initiated in the organization. This very important process of realizing the importance of continuous improvement and the step of instigating the same starts with the leader. A leader should emphasize on bringing in continual improvement by not only concentrating on the tools or philosophy used for the same but by emphasizing on the end results by using the tools. Basically, any tool- Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma, the practice of any of these should help in progression of the business. The tools are of utmost importance but what actually plays a major role is what results the usage of the tools brings in. Below are the pointers for getting the best results at the end with the use of the correct tools:  Understanding the type of change required Numerous organizations try to adopt a method, philosophy or a tool such as Lean, Six sigma, Kaizen, etc.  just because they see other organizations adopting the same. They fail to understand that if adopting Lean worked positively for a company, it won’t be the same for them too or if adopting Six Sigma helped their competitor develop, the adoption of the same won’t reap benefits for them. Mere adoption of any tool cannot do wonders until the root cause and type of problem is not understood well.  Identification of the right philosophy The next step is identifying the right philosophy for developing the organization. Identification of the right tool plays a very important role for the progress of any organization. The core would be the appropriate tool for Continual Improvement. The selection of the exact tool should be done which could deliver the best result at the end. For Instance- A doctor prescribes right medicine for his patients looking at the overall symptoms. Any medicine won’t work and such is the case with organizations which tend to develop. Constant efforts to maintain the development and improvement journey The journey towards growth and development won’t sustain until constant steps to maintain it are embraced. One time implementation of tools doesn’t bring success for a long run. It only withstands when constant efforts are put in by identifying and understanding the problems, working constantly for continual improvement and transformation. The clue to successful continuous improvement is in the name. It must be continuous so that opportunities for progression can be highlighted, improvement made and measured and evaluated. Let us make transformation the theme for the next year alike Faber Infinite which has always been crafting success stories for its clients by justly focusing on the needs of different organizations and the adoption of the suitable tools for delivering the best results. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Equip your organization with the right set of skills](https://faberinfinite.com/equip-your-organization-with-the-right-set-of-skills/): Surveys show that companies are having a hard time finding employees with the right skills. Organizations invest 3 – 5 % of the budget on training, learning and development. But the main concern is, whether these efforts are being invested in the right direction. There is a dire need for skills training in various areas. The training requirements should be as per the skill levels of the workers to develop abilities in vital specialties. Progressive organizations invest in people development. Employees need new skills to keep up as technology evolves and new ways of doing work. What will happen if compensation turns out to be only a temporary fix for retaining talent? How important is personal satisfaction with work when the excitement over creative perks and compensation wanes? Executives are concerned that their workforce does not have the skills needed in the next 2 years, or the existing set of skills would soon become obsolete. Training and development initiatives would not just improve employee skills—they would also make the company a more attractive place to work. Based on our experience Team Faber has identified these challenges in India as well as Africa. The answer to this crucial concern is PriZma, which our expert team has devised, a unique approach to analyze the workforce skills. PriZma can help in addressing the key issues related to appropriate skill development. PriZma will allow organizations to identify weak spots of an employee and suggest improvements to meet the present and future requirements of the organization in addition to improving work performance. Performing a skills gap analysis can benefit employees and the organization individuals since it will enable both to professional development needs. It also brings and employee into limelight, enables him/her to stay ahead of others and boost career prospects. It further recognizes deficiencies that can hamper the growth of a company. A successful skills gap analysis will provide a clear path for professional improvement, and increase chances of promotion for the concerned employee. This overall helps the organization, increases productivity, increases employee retention and boosts bottom-lines. So come book a free PriZma demo with our experts. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [3 Ways Demonetization Is Fueling India's Digital Transformation and Boosting the Economy](https://faberinfinite.com/4327-2/): Indian Economy, traditionally referred to as cash based economy, is cashless nowadays. On November 8, 2016 the most popular and most circulated- Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes were declared to have lost its status as legal tender. The revolutionary movement was adopted by the Prime Minister of India- Narendra Modi to weed out the evils of black money in the country.  With this move, came up many opinions in favor and also against the crusade highlighting the pros and cons of the same. But a notable transformation that is taking place gradually is Digitalization. India has suddenly seen an enhancement in online transactions, usage of mobile wallets, card transactions to meet their day to day needs.  Below are some instances which show that demonetization has opened up doors for digitization. India’s first ‘Digital and Cashless Village’: India is a cash based economy. This sudden idea of Demonetization has surely popped out difficulties for the common men. But it didn’t actually sway some people at some places. The village named Akodara, 60 miles from the northern city of Ahmedabad which was adopted last year by ICICI bank under ‘Digital India’ program has set a perfect example. Most of the 1200 people living there have heartily welcomed demonetization by embracing online transaction. They have adopted mobile banking as their perfect mate for all their daily dealings. Massive upsurge in Online Traffic: India is more depend on cash unlike other developed economies, using online and cashless mode of payments. But with the recent act of demonetization, the online rush has amplified. As per the reports, Paytm experienced a 1000 percent growth in money added to wallet and a 400 percent growth in transaction value of offline payments. Whereas, Ola Money reported over 1500 percent increase in recharges across the 102 cities of its operation since 8:30 PM on 8th November 2016 till 12:00 pm. Razorpay witnessed a 150 percent spike on the morning after the decision was announced, which by afternoon, shot up to 200 percent. Offline Retailers going digital: Not only online platforms like Paytm, Olamoney and Razorpay are encouraging people to adopt the online mode of transactions but also the offline retailers are encouraging the people. The move is supported by many of the big retailers by arranging cashless payment mode for the customers. For instance, Kishore Biyani Future Group CEO which operates Big Bazaar, the largest retail chain in India is encouraging people to make payment through cards. They are also planning to introduce cheque, debit cards, digital payments and gift cards to support the movement and encourage the people to ‘Go Digital.’ Demonetization should not be looked as a roadblock but instead as a fuel accelerating towards Digitalization, an opportunity which is opening up the ways to go digital and boost the progress of the economy. There are only advantages of demonetization in the long term. The government is taking all the necessary steps and actions to meet the currency demand and ensure the smooth flow of new currency. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Demonetization: New Digital spark for India](https://faberinfinite.com/demonetization-new-digital-spark-for-india/): Indian Economy, traditionally referred to as cash based economy, is cashless nowadays. On November 8, 2016 the most popular and most circulated- Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes were declared to have lost its status as legal tender. The revolutionary movement was adopted by the Prime Minister of India- Narendra Modi to weed out the evils of black money in the country.  With this move, came up many opinions in favor and also against the crusade highlighting the pros and cons of the same. But a notable transformation that is taking place gradually is Digitalization. India has suddenly seen an enhancement in online transactions, usage of mobile wallets, card transactions to meet their day to day needs.  Below are some instances which show that demonetization has opened up doors for digitization. India’s first ‘Digital and Cashless Village’ India is a cash based economy.  This sudden idea of Demonetization has surely popped out difficulties for the common men. But it didn’t actually sway some people at some places. The village named Akodara, 60 miles from the northern city of Ahmedabad which was adopted last year by ICICI bank under ‘Digital India’ program has set a perfect example. Most of the 1200 people living there have heartily welcomed demonetization by embracing online transaction. They have adopted mobile banking as their perfect mate for all their daily dealings.  Massive upsurge in Online Traffic India is more depend on cash unlike other developed economies, using online and cashless mode of payments. But with the recent act of demonetization, the online rush has amplified. As per the reports, Paytm experienced a 1000 percent growth in money added to wallet and a 400 percent growth in transaction value of offline payments. Whereas, Ola Money reported over 1500 percent increase in recharges across the 102 cities of its operation since 8:30 PM on 8th November 2016 till 12:00 pm. Razorpay witnessed a 150 percent spike on the morning after the decision was announced, which by afternoon, shot up to 200 percent.  Offline Retailers going digital Not only online platforms like Paytm, Olamoney and Razorpay are encouraging people to adopt the online mode of transactions but also the offline retailers are encouraging the people. The move is supported by many of the big retailers by arranging cashless payment mode for the customers. For instance, Kishore Biyani Future Group CEO which operates Big Bazaar, the largest  retail chain in India is encouraging people to make payment through cards. They are also planning to introduce cheque, debit cards, digital payments and gift cards to support the movement and encourage the people to ‘Go Digital.’ Demonetization should not be looked as a roadblock but instead as a fuel accelerating towards Digitalization, an opportunity which is opening up the ways to go digital and boost the progress of the economy. There are only advantages of demonetization in the long term. The government is taking all the necessary steps and actions to meet the currency demand and ensure the smooth flow of new currency. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Segmentation - Unlock the market potential](https://faberinfinite.com/segmentation-unlock-the-market-potential/): Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. This article was originally published in the December issue of SME world.
- [Ethos and Growth should be focus of next Tata Group Chief: Experts](https://faberinfinite.com/ethos-and-growth-should-be-focus-of-next-tata-group-chief-experts/): About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Free Press Journal. Original link available here: Click Here.
- [4 Steps to a Successful Business Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-successful-business-transformation/): Survival is mandatory for every organization. Whereas development alongside survival is crucial.  The organizations which tend to survive do something big while the organizations which strive to develop attain it in an extraordinary way. Transformation is the key to attain excellence and extraordinary results in business in this highly competitive world. With time, Transformation in organization needs to be adapted to cope up with the emerging challenges of the business world, to face the challenges put forward by the competitors, to attract more customers and for successful development of business. How to start this successful, important Transformation journey in business. The following four pointers indicate steps for adopting a successful business transformation. The right strategic planning The foremost step is planning the beneficial strategy for organization. One right strategy can bring massive success for business. But the identification of this need for transformation and the strategy to incorporate it takes the center stage. For example, customer’s needs change every second day. The organization can try to bring out new variants to keep the customers hooked on to them. If successful, it can attract more customers and can sustain the existing customers. Executing the idea of Transformation Mere planning is not enough. The success in execution of the idea is of utmost importance. The idea planned, is of no use until executed practically. A task or assignment planned well solves half the problem and the success in execution solves the other half, bringing success. For instance, the strategy to bring out a new product won’t succeed until the product enters the market and the customer tries it out. Once, the product is tried it can be transformed, in case of flaws to meet the customer demands. But, the foremost step should be to actually bring out a new product. An Enthused leader A leader who does not lulls himself in his past victories and present reputation, plays a very important role in success of the newly adopted business transformation. A truly motivated and stimulated leader always becomes a torchbearer for his followers. Thus it’s very important to have a leader who exactly recognizes, understands the need of the hour to transform, to execute the planned and to lead his people to attain success. If the leader respites him overlooking his past and present victories, he is sure to fall off the ladder of success. An enthused, motivated leader who understands his customers’ needs and initiates transformation in his business sets an example for his employees. Consider customer demand before embarking transformation After all, customers are the king. Businesses need to view the customers’ needs and wants before embarking business transformation. If they don’t like your products, services or other offerings you are in for a big trouble. So, the decision should be taken after considering the likings and disliking of the customers.  For example, launch of any new product will make success if only the customer likes it.  Finally, as the famous author Shiv Khera puts it ‘Winners don’t do different things. They do things differently,’ – stands true as to excel, we must do something but in an extraordinary way than other organizations. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Dealing with Crisis](https://faberinfinite.com/dealing-with-crisis/): The liquidity crisis in the market has been impacting the overall economy in endless ways. Now that we have seen the impact on prices due to changing demand, the overall demand is expected to be affected to an extent. The demand in various areas is to be impacted particularly for sectors like Consumer goods, Real Estate and Property, Gold and luxury goods where people used to use cash for transactions. The key segments of the economy where cash transactions play a vital role are real estate/construction, gold and the informal sectors. The role of cash transaction in case of real estate and gold is mostly dubious, however in case of the informal sectors it is the lifeline. Rural demand and retail outlets, which are largely cash-based, will get impacted temporarily. Their dealings distribution are largely through cash payment as India is still in the process of evolving and trying to get adapted to the new digital era. The transition is yet to take place. Since the final consumers who tend to pay cash, the withdrawal behavior has been encountered as people are trying to avoid spending cash. So there could be some sort of hiccups there for some time. Liquidity crisis and the resultant fall in demand due to lack of currency have left industrial units gasping. Diamonds, garments, chemicals, ceramic, synthetic textiles and many other industries are mulling shut downs; several units have already stopped production temporarily due to their limitations to pay daily wages in cash. To bring equilibrium in the current scenario companies will have to offset the resultant loss to it, the industry is resorting to production cut which adversely affects job situation. There is demand sluggishness in the economy leading to practically negligible private sector investment and stagnant industrial growth. Demand has been varying as in reduce and then peak due to hockey stick effect. Organizations should not panic and be prepared for these contrasting situations. Just like dehydration for athletes are too late situation, because caution was not exercised since early time. Similarly, struggling to cope with high or low demand is too delayed reaction for organizations. One should be responsive and it comes only through pertinent vision. Essential point to appreciate here is that companies don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the slowdowns in the past, that all those manufacturing companies, who had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains, survived or emerged stronger. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the companies are. In contrast, manufacturing companies that had not worked on LEANing their supply chains, witnessed more intense problems. During the tough times they had to drive immediate change in the prices and orders deliveries, which inevitably forced the companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. Those companies which managed to adapt to the change survived. Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirement. Readers will appreciate that concept of Just in Time (JIT) is very glitzy. However, to reach the stage of Leanness parameters quoted earlier should be considered. And one can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world class companies have different names for the structure. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world class performance. And, at the cost of repetition, I would like to mention that world class performance was necessary just to survive the storm of the situation. Many organizations resorted to cost cutting initiatives and in turn cut the muscles and not the waste. What we intend to say is rather than attacking the muscles, one should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost – benefit and time – benefit analysis of the problem solution holds key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. Now is not the time to get lost in semantics, one has to identify where the value is lost, identifying their causes and rapidly acting to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems which lead to improving the current situation. To conclude, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin. As he rightly said “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly even in stormy weather. Right set of targets and frameworks, lean and reliable systems, skilled and motivated team – all in all Excellence in these 3 domains is the key to a stable work environment. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Eliminating waste and inefficiencies](https://faberinfinite.com/eliminating-waste-and-inefficiencies/): The Indian auto industry is one of the largest in the world. The industry accounts for 7.1 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As of FY 2014-15, around 31 per cent of small cars sold globally are manufactured in India. The Two Wheelers segment with 81 per cent market share is the leader of the Indian Automobile market owing to a growing middle class and a young population. Moreover, the growing interest of the companies in exploring the rural markets further aided the growth of the sector. The overall Passenger Vehicle (PV) segment has 13 per cent market share. India is also a prominent auto exporter and has strong export growth expectations for the near future. In April-January 2016, exports of Commercial Vehicles registered a growth of 18.36 per cent over April-January 2015. In addition, several initiatives by the Government of India and the major automobile players in the Indian market are expected to make India a leader in the Two Wheeler (2W) and Four Wheeler (4W) market in the world by 2020. Earlier the Indian manufacturing sector was giving tough competition to other countries all over the globe in terms of labour cost and cutting edge productivity. But since other economies in the world are progressing to provide classical, traditional and highly effective labour, India needs to maintain the cutting edge in such an eco-system surrounded by a huge number of competitors. Auto industry is mature and leader in efficiency parameters across the globe and same in India as well. – Manpower productivity is considered to be must have to survive the competition and is no longer driver for higher profitability. – However, there are few tier 1 and several tier 2 & 3 suppliers where it has now become imperative for them to look at basic stability of all 4Ms (man – method – material – machine). Recently, Faber Infinite Consulting team assisted a major tier 1 automobile component supplier in India with tremendous results. Below are some of the drivers for improvement and benefits delivered to the client. Although these numbers can be referred to before the demonetization drive occurred and though demonetization may have its impacts these efficiency drivers do stand true even then. Benefits Delivered Help to identify existing bottlenecks in the system The exercise analyzed processes and inefficiencies as the operators go about their daily routine activities. It helped in determining if there are wasted efforts, that are repeated and which therefore waste time and reduce the productivity of the operators. The study helped in designing a setup for workplaces in such a way that operators can perform routine duties as quickly and effectively as possible. Decrease the cycle time for the activities performed It involves systematic examination of methods of carrying on activities so as to improve the effective use of manpower and equipment and to setup standards of performance for the activities being performed. An in-depth as well as critical examination was carried out to analyze different ways of doing things to make improvements.  Improve and enhance manpower productivity via time and motion study Since the technique of time and motion study involves investigation of existing or alternate proposed methods of work and how to improve them, it helped the client in establishing an appropriate framework for carrying out specified jobs. It estimated the effort utilized per person and took into account the duration of time taken to complete a particular task at each workstation. The manpower utilization for a particular workstation was increased to 65.80% after line balancing. The scope of improvement was found to be 35 to 36% for different workstations. Core purpose of this study is to analyze all the activities at workplace and come up with Standard time of each activity. During the study, factors such as environmental conditions, difficulties encountered nature of task, etc. were considered and evaluated as per ILO standards. This study benefited the client to provide a systematic review and analysis of the activities performed in current scenario and provided recommendations for eliminating NVA’s (Non value adding activities) for future practices. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Importance of Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/importance-of-organizational-change/): Change is the need of the hour for every individual and every organization. Engaging in the same old methodology, which is turning out to be obsolete, can lead to failure. This need to change is of the highest priority. The failure in recognizing the very urgent requirement to change heads to many serious, critical problems. Change refers to bringing a shift in the way the activities are performed, work is done, and problems are solved. A new approach to deal with everything would give a positive and successful outcome. This process of change is not easy and is time-consuming, but at the end of it, we realize that it was worth it. How would change benefit organizations and employees? Here we bring a few pointers indicating the benefits of a change culture in your organization: Build Up Competition: Change can be big or small, easy or complex in an organization.  Change does not necessarily indicate a major transformation every time. But it can seriously help to build competition, which can help organizations progress and develop themselves. Without change, organizations would struggle to lift up themselves to face the competition put forward by their competitors. Example- When a particular organization changes its way of working and if it attracts more customers, the neighbouring competitor will definitely observe the same and would try to bring a change in his usual form of working. Thus, here change plays a very positive role in building up competition which leads to a desire among organizations to develop themselves more than their competitors. Bringing Technological Advancement: Technology plays a vital role in the development of an organization. Change that results from the adoption of new technology is common in most organizations and while it can be disruptive at first, ultimately, the change tends to increase productivity and service. To beat the competition, organizations can make use of new technologies. The same old, obsolete ways of doing things would not work out when the competitors would be moving forward with new technologies. It also enables employees to adopt the new technology and indirectly helps in growth of organization. For Example Toyota – the company to emulate in the automobile industry, it has emerged to become one of the most successful organizations in terms of establishing change management. Develop Satisfied Customers: Adopting change in organizations can create a certain extent of dissatisfaction among employees and also among customers. But, once change brings in a favorable effect, customers and employees start accepting it. Eventually this change brings satisfied customers which inturn acts positively for customers. As always said, a satisfied customer is a boon for every organization. Just a mere tweak in the strategy can do wonders for you. The most famous example is Google. The Google experience is a classic example of a company committed to wowing its customers based on consistent quality and constant innovation over the years. Eventually, change plays a very positive role in building up competition which leads to a desire among organizations to develop themselves more than their competitors. Also change is an evitable, unavoidable part of any organization. Every organization strives to change and it eventually leads to business excellence. Ready to embrace the power of organizational change? Discover the transformative impact it can have on your business. Fill out the form below to unlock exclusive insights and strategies on the importance of organizational change. Take the first step towards a brighter future for your company! Organizational change is key to staying competitive, improving efficiency, and fostering innovation. It drives growth and helps businesses adapt to new challenges. Ready to transform your operations? Explore Supply Chain Solutions to boost success.   Contact us    Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Presenting PriZma](https://faberinfinite.com/presenting-prizma/): Skill development is a major concern and the problem has been analyzed by numerous experts: for a country that adds 12 million people to its workforce every year, less than 4 per cent have ever received any formal training. India’s workforce readiness is one of the lowest in the world and a large chunk of existing training infrastructure is irrelevant to industry needs. There is no sole factor responsible for lack of skill development, but lack of monetary investment is one of them. It is a difficulty about grossly inefficient execution. The need of the hour is to improve resource utilization and find solutions that can address the systemic and institutional bottlenecks constraining the sector. Faber Infinite believes it is necessary to catalyze investments from the industry and support candidates in raising resources for training and also apply the investments in an appropriate way. Time again top executives have raised concerns over the same. In a recent survey by leading publishing house 6 out of 10 CEOs voiced concerns relating to training and development efficacy. In another forum, 46% of the executives admitted that their workforce does not have the necessary skills required in the next 1 – 2 years. All these pointers are alarming and needs to be addresses. It has severe impacts on business due to lack of skills, like -Loss of business to competitors -Loss of revenue -Delay in product development -Eroding customer satisfaction And it is not that organizations are not investing in training and development. But the point is if it is done effectively and going in the correct direction. The key question which arises is where to start from, how to design an effective skill development and analysis tool? And the most important is how to execute skill analysis program. Realizing the significance and need for skilled manpower, private sector entities are taking several initiatives. Across business sectors, companies and industry associations are not only boosting their in-house training facilities, but are also taking steps to make potential employees job-ready before they join organizations. Faber Infinite Consulting has devised a unique approach to analyze the workforce skills. This will put an end to various skill related issues which sum up the major concerns of organizations. Prizma is the answer – It is a powerful result oriented tool, which will answer the core questions about which skills are required, also measures the level of skills essential for people to be coordinate with each other at the workplace. As per todays progressive world organizations need to be updated in terms of knowledge as well as workforce skills, because each and every step forward will demand a different version of your employee. Prizma will maneuver the path for leader to effectively execute the strategy. It will objectively provide an in-depth report and future action plan. Apart from Skill analysis Prizma helps in the following ways. 1)      Devising comprehensive training calendar 2)      Fitment Analysis 3)      Gap Analysis 4)      Identifying Competency Gaps 5)      Inclusive plan to terminate the skill gaps Prizma is the approach required to cut out a development plan which will be interesting, achievable, practical and realistic. What is needed now is a willingness to act, and to take the difficult decisions that can help to institute the ‘Skill India’ dream. Several organizations are getting tremendous results by rolling out Prizma. Talk to our team for your complimentary demo.
- [Case Study: Indian Auto Component Industry on Achieve Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/indian-auto-component-industry-case-study/): The Indian auto component industry has been experiencing a healthy growth over the last few decades. Some of the factors attributable to this include: a buoyant end-user market, improved consumer sentiment and return of adequate liquidity in the financial system. The auto-components industry accounts for almost seven per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs as many as 19 million people, both directly and indirectly. A stable government framework, increased purchasing power, large domestic market, and an ever increasing development in infrastructure  and adding to this the Make in India initiative is fuelling the momentum of progressing forward to make India a favorable destination for investment. Major investments are being made into the Indian auto components sector for example: MRF Ltd is planning to invest Rs 4,500 crore (US$ 660.231 million) in its two factories in Tamil Nadu as part of its expansion plan. Hero MotoCorp is investing Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 733.59 million) in five manufacturing facilities across India, Colombia and Bangladesh, to increase its annual production capacity to 12 million units by 2020. Challenges on the way Over the last few years, the automotive components industry has scaled three times to US$ 39 billion in 2015-16 while exports have grown even faster to US$ 10.8 billion. This has been driven by strong growth in the domestic market and increasing globalization (including exports) of several Indian suppliers. It has been projected that the Indian Auto Component industry is expected to grow by 8-10 per cent in FY 2017-18 which is commendable, based on higher localization by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), higher component content per vehicle, and rising exports from India, as per ICRA Limited. According to the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), the Indian auto-components industry is expected to register a turnover of US$ 100 billion by 2020 backed by strong exports ranging between US$ 80- US$ 100 billion by 2026, from the current US$ 11.2 billion. Also, as per Mr. Arvind Balaji, President, ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association Of India) 2015-16 was a challenging year, the auto component industry had registered a satisfactory growth of 8.8 per cent in 2015-16. Further, while overall exports from India witnessed de-growth of 9.58 per cent, the Indian auto component industry exports grew by 3.5 per cent. The threat of other competitive countries and the internal country policies affecting the sector directly or indirectly, the loop holes are stretching the limbs behind and withdrawing  its roots  of development.  On one side the automobile industry is flourishing, hence the Indian auto component/ parts which is a spine of Indian automobile industry should be extremely competitive and effective. 5 key points to Improvement in growth Major machine challenges are high maintenance cost, old machines and low productivity of machine which accounts for 26%, 20% and 17% respectively Some other issue faced by the organization is frequent breakdown (15%), high workforce to operate (12%) and low automation or no automation (10%) Supply Chain challenges included challenges due to Inventory management, Material handling, Customer demand and Transportation. Inventory challenges included challenges related to Demand variability, Extended response time, Lack of visibility of supply chain, Lack of collaboration between partners, -Quality level and reliability of service from suppliers. Supplier related challenges included challenges related to delayed delivery, improper Quality raw material, Non Availability, High price of product Solutions for building momentum In today’s global competitive business scenario, customer satisfaction at competitive prices and world class quality through on time delivery can provide a clear lead to the organization amongst the competitors. This competitive advantage on a continual basis will provide a platform for sustainable development. An integrated staged approach for the transformation journey can create an efficient working environment. The application will deliver more rational and optimum benefits. To achieve improvements, it is imperative that the approaches are not defined narrowly and that a cross-functional team (CFT) infrastructure should be created to ensure that benefits of the application can be exploited properly. Further implementation of focused approaches likes Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Time and motion study in the existing system can give phenomenal results in domains of machine performance, material flow and manpower productivity respectively. There by addressing 3Ms of operations. Improve Optimization of Manpower Productivity By analyzing the process into different levels, a standardized system can be devised to identify and resolve the existing bottleneck. This includes the study of customer demand, examining the external as well as internal conditions, combining different operations together to increase the productivity per person and also per station. The implementation route map provides the change process to align accountability and progressively ratchet up operational capability. Integrating these principles can help organizations, to optimize available resource and produce world class products as per changing market demand with proper optimization of manpower productivity. By implementing these set of tools a significant impact can be seen in potential of reducing working capital requirements and improve profitability. Also futile time in between the shifts and in each shift wasted by per person can be reduced. This is possible through better material flow management from upstream operations leading to greater production and enhancing better movements of operators while designing the process flow. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Business Standard. Original link available here – click here.
- [Building Delivery Excellence in Flower Farms](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-flower-farms/): Floriculture is a major global industry in both developing and developed countries. Global trade volume is estimated to be worth more than $100bn per annum. The main players are divided into producers in developing countries and consumers in developed countries, including many in Africa. In this blog, we will talk about Delivery Excellence in Flower Farms. Kenya also has excellent transport links to Europe, and from there, the rest of the world through Nairobi airport, which has a terminal dedicated specially to the transport of flowers and vegetables. This means that delicate floral cargo which is perishable in nature can be shifted from growers to consumers swiftly. The sector has increasingly been faced by many challenges even as the global economic fortunes seem to be getting better. Consumers are getting more concerned about the quality of what they are receiving making it fundamental to ensure quality and more importantly safety. Concerns from the UK consumers for Kenyan produce to meet high quality standards are of prime importance. In a positive note, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) reports that increased awareness through the inspectorate among farmers and traders has reduced incidences of pests in produce for export. Major Challenges faced -Increase in transportation costs -Rising production costs -Under Utilization of Land -Reduction in output due to pests and other factors -Low productivity followed by low returns on investments. -Poor infrastructure and unpredictable weather -Obsolete technology and stringent international standards Here we bring some of the aspects on which Team Faber Infinite has been working in this industry to deliver exceptional results: Change in Layout to enhance productivity In pack house we can improve number of grading stems per minute by changing layout to single piece flow (We have improved this by an average of 60% at one of our client). By proper layout design of flower production block we can increase total number of Beds per hectare and thus overall production can be increased (We have Improved from 72 bed per block to 81 beds per block at one of our client place). Increase in the number of stems planted The Faber team has been striving to improve Germination by growing more plants per square meter. Recently one of the clients has successfully implemented the methodology to improve number of stems and has planted 80 planting stations per square meter instead of 40. Optimum Utilization of Land Usually almost in every Farm due to improper layout design at initial stage lots of land is not utilized which is actually production land. This can be done by proper layout and planning. Team Faber has been working closely with their clients to turnaround the production of flowers by identifying useful land and exploring its effectiveness. With converting underutilized land, team Faber Infinite has successfully added 5 Million stems at one of our clients place. Quality Improvement Yield per hector is an important factor for any flower farm. There are various factors which affects the yield. Rejection during growing and rejection at time of harvesting affects the yield to a large extent. By implementing various Quality management tools and standards, yield can be improved by more than 30% There are different approaches to handle challenges at the flower farms which include developing  proper layout and land utilization models  followed by  logistical  improvements  that  lowers distribution  costs  of  inputs. Faber infinite toolkit specially developed for Farms helps them to increase the production, labor productivity & reduce rejects and other wastes. Exceptional results have been observed in Flower farms. Ready to achieve delivery excellence in your flower farm? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive insights into building efficient delivery processes that will elevate your farm’s reputation and customer satisfaction. Don’t wait, take the first step towards delivering excellence today! Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Organization Success and Transformation – Engineering Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/organization-success-and-transformation-engineering-industry-in-india/): India is on the verge of major reforms and is self-assured to become the third-largest economy of the world by 2030. It offers the three most important D’s to the world Democracy, Demography and demand. Owing to the presence of the educated population, skilled labor and robust legal practices India is turning out to be a major destination for investment which is creating its stronghold. The Indian engineering sector is of strategic importance to the economy owing to its intense integration with other industry segments. Engineering Industry is striving towards reducing cost without adversely affecting quality by controlling the amount of waste generated during production. The core idea is to create more value for customers with fewer resources. Industry is aiming for operational excellence as companies follow a range of strategies, including lean, automotive systems; they are also spending on R & D to improve operations. Organization Success and Transformation through Operational Excellence Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures stability of following parameters – health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio; that determine the competitiveness of the organization success as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is the king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. Companies have been increasingly restructuring operations and implementing world class practices. The implementation of lean manufacturing practices has helped companies to cut cost and improve productivity. Engineering industry companies are also laying more emphasis on quality. They have extensively adopted the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach. Operational Excellence is fast becoming a norm rather than an exception associated with certain company or industry. A typical lean implementation involves an initial value stream mapping (VSM) which defines the journey of improvement. Next there is the organizing of the house. This might involve flexible work systems and (especially) 5S (sorting, straightening, systematic cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining). Thereafter other specific tools can be rolled out – including standard work, single minute exchange of dies (SMED), total productivity maintenance (TPM), and mistake proofing (Jidoka). Further advancements might involve supply and demand, through just in time (JIT) pull systems and Heijunka (level scheduling). A continuous improvement mindset is essential to reach the company’s goals. The focus of the industry should be on getting the right things to the right place at the right time in the right quantity to achieve perfect work flow, while minimizing waste and being flexible and able to change. Success Story for Our clients: Client is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions. Client serves customers in more than 180 countries with products and services focused on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. Client has leading positions in Compressor Technique, Industrial Technique, Mining and Rock Excavation Technique, Construction Techniques.The key objective was to improve the productivity by implementing flow management techniques. Objective: -Improve capacity from 2 units/ shift to 3 units/ shift -Reduce the labor costs -Eliminate non-value adding activities -Reduce operator fatigue -Increase manpower productivity -Improve material flow -Establish Standard Operating Procedures -Recommend line improvements Approach: -Define standard times (fair days work) by conducting time and motion study for the ongoing process -Consider all the factors such as environmental conditions, difficulties encountered, nature of task, as per ILO standards. -Study all the wastes (Muda, Mura and Muri) in the process and find ways to eliminate them -Apply lean tools such as line balancing, SMED, 5S and 2 Bin system to eliminate waste -Work station design to eliminate operator fatigue Result: -Productivity improved from 2 compressors per shift to 3 compressors per shift -Work content reduced by 40% -Total labor cost reduced by 50% -Productivity improved by 50% -Designed total 10 work station layout as per ergonomic design Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [4 ways of Building a Constructive Environment for Employees](https://faberinfinite.com/importance-of-building-a-constructive-environment-for-employees/): In this era of ‘going digital and being digital’, organizations constantly crave for a better, hassle- free environment, full of fast- moving and cost efficient machines and equipments. We certainly tend to forget the usefulness, competence and skills of our employees. This ignorance leads to creation of a shoddier environment for the employees. This realization for the urgent need of boosting employee morale plays a very vital role in the development of any organization. Below are the points which suggest four ways of building a constructive environment for employees: Give a chance to explore: The elementary step would be to give employees a chance to identify and explore themselves. This would basically help them to identify their hidden potentials. The recognition of their unknown capabilities would greatly help them to be more productive and innovative. This will bring in more confidence that will reflect in their work.  Motivate to reflect inner strengths: Another important task is to help employees recognize their inner strength. This acts as a torchbearer for the employees to understand the responsibility that can be taken over them, the quality that they can provide, time duration they would require to complete a particular task, etc. For the organization too, it would be helpful to know which person should be or can be assigned a particular task, how many people would be required to complete the task, etc. Thus, it makes the decision making process easy with the real understanding of the inner strengths of the employees.  Encourage to unfollow the prevalent practices: Every other organization wishes to follow and make their employees follow the same old, obsolete practices. For example- Doing a work the same way, it is being done since the inception of the company. These practices keep on being followed assuming to be the set norms which acts best for the company. But many forget that these old, followed norms tend to withdraw the creativity within the employees leading to boredom, poor quality of work and lack of interest. Thus, ideally employees must be encouraged to question the set norms and practices daily, thereby giving them an opportunity to showcase their talent and creativity. Construct a Challenging Environment: In this highly competitive world, the urge to deliver the best always sustains. This may be made possible by creating a challenging environment for the employees. Employees who find their work boring lack the motivation to perform well, whereas work that is challenging enhances their engagement. This enhances employee engagement, holds on their interest and may act as a learning which would enable them to overcome these challenges successfully. Constructive work environment builds trust, innovation, positive communication, happy teams and overall happier work environment. This in turn generates happy employees and successful companies.  It acts as a gauge for organizations to break some obsolete norms and instead build a constructive environment for employees. Otherwise, it would be a warning bell for the organizations. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Build Muscles, Not Fat!](https://faberinfinite.com/build-muscles-not-fat/): Manufacturing has emerged as one of the high growth sectors in India. Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, had launched the ‘Make in India’ program to place India on the world map as a manufacturing hub and give global recognition to the Indian economy. India’s ranking among the world’s 10 largest manufacturing countries has improved by three places to sixth position in 2015. The Government of India has set an ambitious target of increasing the contribution of manufacturing output to 25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025, from 16 per cent currently. India’s manufacturing sector has the potential to touch US$ 1 trillion by 2025. There is potential for the sector to account for 25-30 per cent of the country’s GDP and create up to 90 million domestic jobs by 2025. Business conditions in the Indian manufacturing sector continue to remain positive. The manufacturing sector is an ever changing sector and each year the industry faces new challenges. To be at par with the changes in the industry, organizations need to be highly proactive. On a simple note, organizations can be classified into two categories, namely, good or bad. Good companies are proactive, bad companies are reactive. One builds muscles, while the other builds fat! Recession or no recession, good companies who have focused on cutting fat & strengthening their muscles (read as internal processes). This they do by sustaining a structured program focused on building operational excellence. On the other hand, reactive companies are left clueless in dealing with the changes. The general tendency is to react to the ever changing environment. However, being reactive will be less helpful than being responsive. If any company which is stock rich and fat (instead of being fit), it losses the ability of responding and in turn compulsorily has to react to the changing markets. This dynamic behavior can be attributed to the amount of stocks lying in the supply chain. Essential point to appreciate here is that companies don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the changes in the past, that all those manufacturing companies, who had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains, survived or emerged stronger. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the companies are. In contrast, manufacturing companies that had not worked on LEANing their supply chain, witnessed more intense problems. During the tough times they had to drive immediate change in the prices and orders deliveries, which inevitably forced the companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. Those companies which managed to adapt to the change survived. Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirement. Readers will appreciate that concept of Just in Time (JIT) is very glitzy. However, to reach the stage of Leanness parameters quoted earlier should be considered. And one can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world class companies have different names for the structure. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world class performance. And, at the cost of repetition, I would like to mention that world class performance was necessary just to survive the storm of the situation. Many organizations resorted to cost cutting initiatives and in turn cut the muscles and not the waste. What we intend to say is rather than attacking the muscles, one should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost – benefit and time – benefit analysis of the problem solution holds key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. Now is not the time to get lost in semantics, one has to identify where the value is lost, identifying their causes and rapidly acting to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems which lead to improving the current situation. To conclude, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin. As he rightly said “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Manufacturing Today. Original link available here – click here.
- [Lean Manufacturing - Proven path to success for SMEs](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing-proven-path-to-success-for-smes/): His article was originally published in the November 2016 issue of SME World magazine. Original link available here – click here
- [Why the problem with Learning is Unlearning](https://faberinfinite.com/why-the-problem-with-learning-is-unlearning-2/): Learning is a constant process of everyone’s life. Each day, comes up with a new learning experience. Well, it does not just hold true for individuals but is also applicable for organizations. In this digital era, organizations strive to continuous learning. But learning becomes tough due to the difficulty of unlearning things. Learning involves acquiring new things in addition to the existing skills. While, unlearning refers to the ability to step out of the already created and followed mental block to accept and follow the new process. The same is the case with organizations. Organizations have been following the old traditional ways and the old mental block or model of thinking sustains. As rightly said by Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” We need to unlearn the push model of marketing and explore alternative models. Instead of customers being consumers, we could have relationships with them in a variety of roles and social aspects. The process of unlearning has 3 parts: Recognition about the ineffectiveness of the old mental model or paradigm: This is the foremost method to be adopted for unlearning. We need to consider and understand the ineffectiveness of the old mental paradigm which is the greatest challenge. It becomes very trying to accept that that the old model has become obsolete and irrelevant as we already make it a habit to use this old paradigm, unconsciously to solve our problems. Look out for a better way or a new model: Once, we understand the ineptitude of the existing model, we should start looking for a new model and should gradually accept it. With the evolution of new problems, there arises new ways of solving it too. This espousal of new model gradually takes over the old and grows to be more beneficial in due course for organizations and individuals Instill the new mental habits: The last but not the least step is to ingrain the newly developed mental habits. The tendency will be to fall back into the old way of thinking and therefore the old way of doing. For example, when you are talking about your customers, catch yourself when you call them “consumers” — this corresponds to a transactional mindset. The shift in language helps to reinforce the shift in mindset. Thus, practicing unlearning will make it quicker to adapt and follow it. The place to start is by unlearning how we think about learning. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai  
- [Why the problem with learning is unlearning](https://faberinfinite.com/why-the-problem-with-learning-is-unlearning/): Learning is a continuous process. Each day, comes up with a new learning experience. Well, it does not just hold true for individuals but it is also applicable for organizations. In this digital era, organizations strive to continuous learning. But learning becomes tough due to the difficulty of unlearning things. Learning involves acquiring new skills in addition to the existing skills. While, unlearning refers to the ability to step out of the already created and followed mental block to accept and follow the new process. The same is the case with organizations. Organizations have been following the traditional ways and the old mental block or model of thinking sustains. As rightly said by Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” We need to unlearn obsolete practices and explore alternative models. The process of unlearning has 3 parts: Recognition about the ineffectiveness of the old mental model or paradigm This is the foremost method to be adopted for unlearning. We need to consider and understand the ineffectiveness of the old mental paradigm which is the greatest challenge. It becomes very difficult to accept that that the old model has become obsolete and irrelevant as we already make it a habit to use this old paradigm, unconsciously to solve our problems. Look out for a better way or a new model Once, we understand the ineffectiveness of the existing model, we should start looking for a new model and should gradually accept it. With the evolution of new problems, there arises new ways of solving it too. This adoption of new model gradually takes over the old and grows to be more beneficial in due course for organizations and individuals both. Instill the new mental habits The last but not the least step is to embed the newly developed mental habits. The tendency will be to fall back into the old way of thinking and therefore the old way of doing. For example, when you are talking about your customers, catch yourself when you call them “consumers” — this corresponds to a transactional mindset. The shift in language helps to reinforce the shift in mindset. Thus, practicing unlearning will make it quicker to adapt and follow it. The place to start is by unlearning how we think about learning. Just as we keep on evolving so does our habits, because ultimately we keep on learning something new. The problem created by a particular set of thinking is not capable enough of solving the same problem. So your thinking and learning process should be altered accordingly, based on the situation. The best part is that practicing unlearning will make it easier and quicker to oscillate as your brain adapts. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Being successful isn’t only about having the Best ideas but you have to know how to execute them.](https://faberinfinite.com/being-successful-isnt-only-about-having-the-best-ideas-but-you-have-to-know-how-to-execute-them/): It is possible to come up with brilliant ideas or a “big idea”. But it’s not just about coming up with big ideas; it’s about converting them into reality. That is what innovation is all about. It is all about execution and not mere thinking. That is how new business models, start-up’s and extraordinary things evolve. So when great ideas come up, the consideration of possible and realistic ways to execute them should not be disregarded. Here, we bring few pointers to make the execution of ideas a simpler task.  Avoid everlasting planning process You can keep on ideating and expanding your existing plan or idea but you will never know the end result until and unless the idea is being executed. It’s good to refine your idea before proposing it for action, but ultimately this process of refining may start harming and you will get stuck in a vicious circle of thinking rather than doing. Expand your capacity for growth To keep on mounting new stages of growth, you need to test your capacity for growth. Set the bar high and keep raising it—it’s how you will learn. Test assumptions, and know when to stop and shift gears. You should always be thinking strategically, as far as three to five years out.  New Ideas wont emerge unless you execute the old ones Without execution, there’s no multiplier for your idea, so even if the idea is amazing, it’s pretty much worthless without doing something with it. When you make bold moves in your business, you will end up finding new talent, meeting new business associates and forming new ideas that spring forth from the seeds of your execution.  Optimum Utilization of team resources In this era of modern technology being progressive in terms of holistic development requires an open mind to leverage the latest tools and technology to improve process flow. This encircles the entire loop of team players along with various activities such as regular team training and update sessions, bringing in outside experts, and working with partners and vendors on win-win deals. Ultimately it’s all about creating a future you desire. The aim is to transform chaos and confusion into clarity and confidence. If you want to improve the likelihood of success in execution of your business idea or model, you must be deliberate and strive for daily execution excellence and work as a team. Written by Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [4 Steps to Turn Great Ideas into Reality](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-turn-great-ideas-into-reality/): It is possible to come up with brilliant ideas or a “big idea”. But it’s not just about coming up with big ideas; it’s about converting them into reality. That is what innovation is all about. It is all about execution and not mere thinking. That is how new business models, start-ups and extraordinary things evolve. So when great ideas come up, the consideration of possible and realistic ways to execute them should not be disregarded. Here, we bring few pointers to make the execution of ideas a simpler task. Avoid everlasting planning process You can keep on improvising and expanding your existing plan or idea but you will never know the end result until and unless the idea is being executed. It’s good to refine your idea before proposing it for action, but ultimately this process of refining may start harming and you will get stuck in a vicious circle of thinking rather than doing. Expand your capacity for growth To keep on mounting new stages of growth, you need to test your capacity for growth. Set the bar high and keep raising it—it’s how you will learn. Test assumptions, and know when to stop and shift gears. You should always be thinking strategically, as far as three to five years out. New Ideas wont emerge unless you execute the old ones Without execution, there’s no multiplier for your idea, so even if the idea is amazing, it’s pretty much worthless without doing something with it. When you make bold moves in your business, you will end up finding new talent, meeting new business associates and forming new ideas that spring forth from the seeds of your execution. Optimum Utilization of team resources In this era of modern technology being progressive in terms of holistic development requires an open mind to leverage the latest tools and technology to improve process flow. This encircles the entire loop of team players along with various activities such as regular team training and update sessions, bringing in outside experts, and working with partners and vendors on win-win deals. Ultimately it’s all about creating a future you desire. The aim is to transform chaos and confusion into clarity and confidence. If you want to improve the likelihood of success in execution of your business idea or model, you must be deliberate and strive for daily execution excellence and work as a team. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Smart Way Forward for the Indian Engineering Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/smart-way-forward-for-the-indian-engineering-industry/): India is on the threshold of major reforms and is poised to become the third-largest economy of the world by 2030. India’s manufacturing sector has evolved through several phases – from the initial industrialization. And the license era to liberalization and the current phase of global competitiveness. Today, Indian manufacturing companies in several sectors are targeting global markets and are becoming daunting global competitors. Many are already amongst the most competitive ones in their sectors. In this blog, we will discuss about how to Improve Continuous Improvement in Engineering Industry. The engineering sector in India attracts immense interest from foreign players.It has a favourable environment and has an advantage in terms of manufacturing costs, technology and innovation. The above, combined with favourable regulatory policies and growth in the manufacturing sector has enabled several foreign players to invest in India. “Thanks to improved monetary and fiscal policies, as well as lower oil prices, the Indian economy has stabilized and now boasts the highest growth among G20 economies,” according to the GCI report. Total Quality Maintenance in Engineering Industry Overall these years the Indian Engineering sector has witnessed a remarkable growth. Over the last few years and has emerged to be a strong player driven by increased investments in infrastructure and industrial production. The engineering sector, being closely associated with the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors of the economy, is of strategic importance to India’s economy. Growth in the sector is driven by various sub-sectors such as infrastructure, power, steel, automotive, oil & gas, consumer durables etc. In today’s highly competitive and dynamic environment, market competition forces organizations to improve productivity and enhance their competiveness. Consequently, the matter of assessing and improving competitiveness in different industry of several countries has received increased attention in recent times. In addition, it has been observed that engineering industries need to focus and invest more on operational improvement and optimization. Value adders/ operators play a key role in operations in spite of the application of machinery and equipment. As per challenges raised by the industry, few listed are low productivity, over staffing, poor labor relations, inefficient handling of operator challenges, high wages and lack of trained or skilled workforce. It can be inferred that all these issues are fallouts of lower manpower productivities and hence scientific approach towards efficiency improvement is the need of the hour. India has come a long way and traversed the concepts of Quality Management Systems (ISO) then Total Quality Management (TQM) and now it aims to go beyond these frameworks. The situation demands for building competitiveness across sectors and specifically in the engineering sector which is pivotal growth driver for the country. Increasingly organizations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at holistic World Class Manufacturing (WCM) practices or transformational practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chain which ultimately helps them in building competitive setups. Further, few of the challenges faced by Engineering Sector can be listed as below: On Time Deliveries to customers. Flow organization from raw material receipt to finish goods dispatch. Absence of Overall Equipment effectiveness Issues in labor productivity Customer complaints and rework Absence of Inventory Management Higher Automation cost Absence of improvement oriented culture Going forward, integrating World Class Manufacturing and Smart Manufacturing practices is an effective answer to these existing problems of the engineering domain, which is coming up steadily these days. It’s renovating the entire idea of manufacturing. Smart manufacturing concept has been present since the early days, yet has merely been an ‘in concept’. However, considering the challenging scenarios now and proven results of the said combination, it is the only effective solution the engineering industry can resort to. The smart manufacturing excellence practices can be achieved by developing a culture based on factors such as continuous improvement, problem prevention, zero defect tolerance and customer driven just in time production. Following actions points can streamline the path of smart manufacturing along with world class practices and deal with the challenges in Engineering sector. 4 key points for Smart Manufacturing in Engineering Industry Revival of Traditional Machinery investments is becoming comparatively easier with implementation of foundations of Total Productive Maintenance along with retrofitting sensors to older machinery is surprisingly doable with tremendous results. Deploying Value Stream Maps and Collection of Digital data to find the existing bottlenecks – Refined software can assist to catch up with the flood of data, find meaning, and, as times goes by, leverage that meaning. Streamline a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) with robust internal and external logistics systems is key for supply chains to fulfill the order on time and in the most efficient way. ‘Cos it is said – organizations don’t compete; the supply chains do! The reality checks by getting customer demand rate and producing to the required quantities and specifications, which helps manufacturer to be up to date about the market. This will enable the manufacturers to be reactive to its customer orders. The said few practices ensure the basic stability of the working environment where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. Benefits of implementing the tools to face these challenges Improvement in On Time In Full supplies Increase in the yield and throughput Reduction in throughput time Reduction in rejection Increase in labor productivity Inventory reduction by releasing lots of hidden space Reduction in breakdown time These concept outcomes directly add to the bottom-line while simultaneously customers receive on time delivery and high quality products. Apparently, the organizations are witnessing convergence of technologies and process improvement initiatives with the potential to radically improve the way manufacturers thread processes and systems in the entire product value chain in order to deliver more options and new service models to customers. By each passing day the world
- [Become more Effective by Theming your Day](https://faberinfinite.com/become-more-effective-by-theming-your-day-2/): As leaders it is an obvious situation where you may get tied up with an array of activities. These activities may relate to issues, challenges which tend to shift your focus. As a result, you forget to focus on key job. Routine tasks can make you lose focus on the things you should be doing. For the leader in you, on first Tuesday of November, we bring to you magical three key drivers to bring in more effectiveness and efficiency! Encourage new ideas This will not only enable your team to think in an extra-ordinary manner, but also take them to a new platform. Also ask the question are you making things better for your people or are you subtracting from your people? Make it an expectation of your employees that they bring in new ideas and alternative approaches by including it in their performance objectives. To ensure this is successful, add a method of measurement or transform it to performance measurement. Slice your time effectively It’ll motivate effectiveness and efficiency as it applies to time and allows you to achieve results. Like the path from initiation to final destination has various patterns of crests and troughs, success includes a journey that is taken one lesson at a time. Improved and refined, successful people move onward and forward in facing their next challenge. Pomodoro technique can be interesting tool to adopt. Keep theme on mind Although every day will be slightly different, create a rundown of what your ideal daily schedule should include with a different theme for each day. Every morning, before you check email, determine the three most important tasks to complete for the day. Prioritize crucial tasks over those that are less urgent. This approach will keep you focused throughout the day and help you avoid time-consuming distractions. As leaders you can give theme to your day. This will offer incremental change and growth in your way of working. Our transformation/ change tool for leaders has done wonders. Just imagine if you can enlist 300 powerful and implementable actions into practice where would it take you and your team!
- [Day Theming: 3 key points to be More Effective and Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/day-theming-3-key-points-to-more-effective/): As leaders it is an obvious situation where you may get tied up with an array of activities. These activities may relate to issues, challenges which tend to shift your focus. As a result, you forget to focus on key job. Routine tasks can make you lose focus on the things you should be doing. In this article, we will discuss about Day Theming – 3 key to be more Effective and Productive. For the leader in you, on first Tuesday of November, we bring to you magical three key drivers to bring in more effectiveness and efficiency! Encourage new ideas This will not only enable your team to think in an extra-ordinary manner, but also take them to a new platform. Also ask the question are you making things better for your people or are you subtracting from your people? Make it an expectation of your employees that they bring in new ideas and alternative approaches by including it in their performance objectives. To ensure this is successful, add a method of measurement or transform it to performance measurement. Slice your time effectively It’ll motivate effectiveness and efficiency as it applies to time and allows you to achieve results. Like the path from initiation to final destination has various patterns of crests and troughs, success includes a journey that is taken one lesson at a time. Improved and refined, successful people move onward and forward in facing their next challenge. Pomodoro technique can be interesting tool to adopt. Keep theme on mind Although every day will be slightly different, create a rundown of what your ideal daily schedule should include with a different theme for each day. Every morning, before you check email, determine the three most important tasks to complete for the day. Prioritize crucial tasks over those that are less urgent. This approach will keep you focused throughout the day and help you avoid time-consuming distractions. As leaders you can give theme to your day. This will offer incremental change and growth in your way of working. Our transformation/ change tool for leaders has done wonders. Just imagine if you can enlist 300 powerful and implementable actions into practice where would it take you and your team! Written By: Faber Aakash Borse and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Join The Elite Class Of Successful Corporate Athletes](https://faberinfinite.com/join-the-elite-class-of-successful-corporate-athletes/): Many people read about them and admire them; some people get inspired by them. It’s their guidelines that many of you may be following: these are basically the mounting elite class of global business people who are helping to define today’s commerce and expanding the horizon. They have created breakthrough values for their companies and themselves and strive to continue on their path—and, in many cases, making the world a better place. We bring you the traits quite essential to join the elite class of successful corporate athletes: Keep on learning supported by effective thinking Begin to develop a broad outlook by teaching yourself to think in a holistic manner. This starts with measuring your existing frames of reference which can provide you a proper map of the organization and also tips how to plan the future of organization information. Specifically, you must observe, study and learn by working with each other in groups. Don’t stop in the middle of your journey It can be tough to stay on the path towards inclusive understanding. The impulse to retreat or surrender to cultural shock is very strong. You may need an enormous amount of reasoning energy to consistently resist your natural biases and your mental and emotional shortcuts. Staying on course requires discipline, awareness, and humility. Craft a positive progressive frame of mind You should start prominently by an example. The communicable nature of behaviors is very influential. Demonstrating positive behavior will have a spontaneous impact on the vibe of the organization. Even a small change can stimulate people and ultimately they will acclimatize to the changing scenario, but changing your organization’s culture is not an instant overnight process, it takes continued persistence, approach and leadership. Keep a track of the activities performed A sure sign of improvement is growth in the number of contributors as a result of your activities and the return of investment year-over-year. This is true vice versa for lack of improvement. Poor performance, growth parameters are major issues that should be tackled on multiple fronts. You need to track these metrics. If you are ignoring these parameters, it will be difficult to move from one arena to the next. To conclude, successful people are not risk averting people rather they accept risk as a challenge by facing the unfamiliar situations. It is all about creating a world you want to live in. It’s this attitude that makes the members of this club a rare and extremely prominent kind.
- [Join the elite class of successful corporate athletes](https://faberinfinite.com/join-the-elite-class-of-successful-corporate-athletes-2/): Many people read about them and admire them; some people get inspired by them. It’s their guidelines that many of you may be following: these are basically the mounting elite class of global business people who are helping to define today’s commerce and expanding the horizon. They have created breakthrough values for their companies and themselves and strive to continue on their path—and, in many cases, making the world a better place. We bring you the traits quite essential to join the elite class of successful corporate athletes: Keep on learning supported by effective thinking Begin to develop a broad outlook by teaching yourself to think in a holistic manner. This starts with measuring your existing frames of reference which can provide you a proper map of the organization and also tips how to plan the future of organization information. Specifically, you must observe, study and learn by working with each other in groups. Don’t stop in the middle of your journey It can be tough to stay on the path towards inclusive understanding. The impulse to retreat or surrender to cultural shock is very strong. You may need an enormous amount of reasoning energy to consistently resist your natural biases and your mental and emotional shortcuts. Staying on course requires discipline, awareness, and humility. Craft a positive progressive frame of mind You should start prominently by an example. The communicable nature of behaviors is very influential. Demonstrating positive behavior will have a spontaneous impact on the vibe of the organization. Even a small change can stimulate people and ultimately they will acclimatize to the changing scenario, but changing your organization’s culture is not an instant overnight process, it takes continued persistence, approach and leadership. Keep a track of the activities performed A sure sign of improvement is growth in the number of contributors as a result of your activities and the return of investment year-over-year. This is true vice versa for lack of improvement. Poor performance, growth parameters are major issues that should be tackled on multiple fronts. You need to track these metrics. If you are ignoring these parameters, it will be difficult to move from one arena to the next. To conclude, successful people are not risk averting people rather they accept risk as a challenge by facing the unfamiliar situations. It is all about creating a world you want to live in. It’s this attitude that makes the members of this club a rare and extremely prominent kind. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Crafting Solutions for clients](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-solutions-for-clients/):   This article was originally published in published in Afternoon DC newspaper. Original link available here – click here
- [3 things the most creative leaders do](https://faberinfinite.com/3-things-the-most-creative-leaders-do/): As leader, you should be leading the whole organization creatively. But how can you nurture creativity all around yourself? Glad to share 3 proven ways to foster further creativity. To read further details, please click here.
- [5 Lessons from A Navy SEAL To Make Your Resolutions Stick](https://faberinfinite.com/5-lessons-from-a-navy-seal-to-make-your-resolutions-stick/): As part of first Transformation Tuesday note of 2016, we are super excited to share ‘Five Insights to make New Year Resolutions work’. Many of us pen our New Year resolutions every year, however many give up midway. But the big question today is to make those daunting resolutions or not to have, the major reason being ‘how many of us could accomplish them?’ According to the University of Scranton, 92% of people fail at these goals every year.  Why? The fear of failure eliminates most people from completing goals. Let’s have a glance on 5 key tools to help you and your organization. To explore further details, please click here.
- [12 Powerful Transformation Tools of 2015](https://faberinfinite.com/12-powerful-transformation-tools-of-2015-2/): We are approaching the new year, and as part of last Transformation Tuesday note of 2015, we are tempted to share with you 12 improvement concepts which were picked by stalwart transformation leaders and which have benefited various forward looking organizations across the world in the continual improvement journey. Old or new practices do not make much difference, what matters is solutions which delivered results! For ease of understanding, the 12 powerful tools are categorized into further 3 buckets. Details are as follows:  
- [12 Powerful Transformation Tools of 2015](https://faberinfinite.com/12-powerful-transformation-tools-of-2015/): We are approaching the new year, and as part of last Transformation Tuesday note of 2015, we are tempted to share with you 12 improvement concepts which were picked by stalwart transformation leaders and which have benefitted various forward looking organizations across the world in the continual improvement journey. Old or new practices do not make much difference, what matters is solutions which delivered results! For ease of understanding, the 12 powerful tools are categorized into further 3 buckets. Details as follows:
- [Go Green](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green/): Going green is an approach to help the earth and society while sustaining the business. In the earlier post, we talked about types of green waste, which can be avoided and improved to facilitate better processes and cost benefits as well. Faber Infinite has been working with businesses to be more sustainable by going green and targeting bottom line improvements. Further, as put across by Hon. Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi, ‘Zero Defect Zero Effect’ signifies production mechanisms wherein products have no defect and the processes through which product is made has zero adverse environmental and ecological effect. If the defects are zero, the investment in terms of material, manpower will be less, so the bottom line can be affected and the profitability is increased with savings. One of the types of seven green wastes is energy and energy conservation is also on key radar not only for private organizations but for nations! Energy conservation refers to reducing energy consumption through using less of energy services, for example driving less is energy conservation, but driving the same amount with higher mileage vehicle is an example of energy efficiency. Energy conservation and efficiency both are energy reduction techniques. Even though energy conservation reduces energy services, it can result in increased environmental quality, national security, personal financial security and higher savings. Institutes like Petroleum Conservation Research Association are engaged in promoting energy efficiency and conservation in every walk of life. Organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic and environmental sustainability. Industrial users may want to increase efficiency and thus maximize the profit. Energy conservation is important to prevent climate change and makes it easier to replace non renewable resources with renewable energy. It is applicable for developed as well as developing economies. Lately, African economy of Zambia has been facing sever power crisis. Zambia, also being exporter of electricity in the past, has faced tough times due to several reasons and unable to meet demands of growing population and their internal needs. All of Zambia’s electricity could force grid operators to cut power supplies by 30% to country’s copper mines, the key stone of it’s economy. In future, energy conservation and efficiencies are the only ways for sustainable growth and development. Contributed By:- Faber Khushboo Vyas 
- [Learn how to make your team creative](https://faberinfinite.com/do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-help-your-team-to-be-creative-in-your-organization/): Today is the generation of competencies, skills and talent. Competencies testing and training has proved invaluable in business. In the continuous improvement journey we are learning that murky human performance categories like sales ability and leadership can be broken down into skill sets that are not only measurable; they are also trainable. Creativity, like leadership, can be broken down into measurable, trainable competencies, and providing variety of training pays off both with more creative output and more money. Sharing an interesting article on “Do you have what it takes to help your team to be creative”. Following are the eight competencies that help managers elicit creativity in subordinates in any organization. You may refer to further details here.
- [Do you have what it takes to help your team to be creative?](https://faberinfinite.com/do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-help-your-team-to-be-creative/): Today is the generation of competencies, skills and talent. Competencies testing and training has proved invaluable in business. In the continuous improvement journey we are learning that murky human performance categories like sales ability and leadership can be broken down into skill sets that are not only measurable; they are also trainable. Creativity, like leadership, can be broken down into measurable, trainable competencies, and providing variety of training pays off both with more creative output and more money. Sharing an interesting article on “Do you have what it takes to help your team to be creative”. Following are the eight competencies that help managers elicit creativity in subordinates in any organization. You may refer to further details here.
- [Engaging Your Employees Is Good, but Don’t Stop There](https://faberinfinite.com/engaging-your-employees-is-good-but-dont-stop-there/): What can companies do to build satisfaction, engagement, and ultimately inspiration for their employees? Today, in this Competitive scenario companies need effective leaders who value both performance and inspiration, just as a great place to work requires both high performance and high engagement. However, some of the leaders today are unable to manage individuals to their full potential, build and lead truly great teams, and connect a team or individual’s mission to the company’s overall purpose. It’s probably unrealistic to think that you can inspire every employee in your organization—each individual works for different reasons. But many people do seek fulfillment in their jobs. If you aren’t trying to inspire these employees, you are leaving real money on the table. We have come across an interesting article on “Engaging Your Employees Is Good, but Don’t Stop There”. Following are the pyramids of the employee needs on the basis of which any organization can keep their employees engaged. You may refer to further details here
- [Faber Infinite partners with CII](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-partners-with-cii/): Team Faber Infinite has associated with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on several occasions. During the Engineering and Construction Summit 2015 – ‘Engineering – The Way Forward in Construction’ organised on October 29, 2015 in Vadodara; team Faber Infinite was called upon as Knowledge partner of this summit. Engineering and construction are vehicles for the technological and infrastructure progress. A strong infrastructural backbone is essential to sustainable economic growth. Infrastructure growth holds the key to the engineering & construction equipment industry realizing its potential in India. Investment and implementation of key projects are key concerns of the engineering and construction equipment industry. Construction and Engineering are fields, which heavily complement each other. Engineers provide both skilled manpower and trained talented human resources to the construction sector. They also develop several raw materials and provide technological inputs that further spark innovation in the same. A key driver of the economy, Infrastructure or Construction is highly responsible for propelling India’s overall development. The industry enjoys intense focus from the top officials of the government for initiating policies that would ensure time-bound creation of world-class infrastructure in the country. This sector includes power, bridges, dams, roads and urban infrastructure development. The summit focused on tabling the challenges and discussing ways to achieve accelerated growth and utilize the opportunities that lie ahead. Engineering & Construction Summit 2015 focused on the theme “Engineering – The Way Forward in Construction” and covered key areas of Engineering and Construction sector which can be improved and enhance the continuous improvement journey of India. Several industry experts had participated in the summit. The speakers were from the different industries and sectors who have deliberated their views on the Engineering and Constructions sectors and recent trends of the both the sectors. Faber Infinite captured the details of the summit in a proceeding report. This report covers key aspects of deliberations by speakers which are as follows: –   Mega Trends – Engineering & Construction –   Engineering Overview – Best practices to overcome the flaw –   Innovation in Construction Balancing Environment –   Transformation in Protection Weathering & Paint –   Re-Engineering Transformation Jugaad –   Challenges to Delivery-Proactive or Reactive –   Typical Cost Overrun & Contract Conditions –   Innovative Design Engineering & Construction –   Construction Method, Safety & Audits India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and it is continuously improving in each and every sector. Overall engineering and construction summit throws light on each and every aspect and trends of engineering and construction sector now a days. Team Faber Infinite concludes the report as ‘Though India is proceeding towards excellence however there are several areas where it needs improvement and for which we need to execute a faster, effective and efficient approach to achieve the goal of excellence.’ You may click here to download complete report. Reported by: Faber Raveena Rathi
- [Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/proof-that-positive-work-cultures-are-more-productive/): It is proven that positive work cultureimproves productivity and organizations achieve overall goal by going an extra mile. Positive organizational psychology demonstrates that not only a cut-throat environment is harmful to productivity over time, but that a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line.However there’s an assumption that stress and pressure push employees to perform more, better, and faster. This is the reason organizations fail to recognize the hidden costs incurred. One of the surveys indicates, stress led to disengagement and disengaged workers had 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and 60% more errors and defects. In organizations with low employee engagement scores, they experienced 18% lower productivity, 16% lower profitability, 37% lower job growth, and 65% lower share price over time. Importantly, businesses with highly engaged employees enjoyed 100% more job applications.Employees prefer a positive workplace culture to material benefits. As a part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share thought-provokingarticle on benefits ofpositive and healthy work culture for your team.Following are insights on 4 steps to build a positive and healthy work culture for your organization and your team. A happy and caring culture at work not only improves employee well-being and productivity but also improved health outcomes and satisfaction. You may refer to further details here.
- [Seven Leadership Keys To Resolving Mission Impossible](https://faberinfinite.com/seven-leadership-keys-to-resolving-mission-impossible/): What do you do as a leader when you’re facing mission impossible? What are the options when you simply don’t have enough resources—human, financial, or physical—to achieve the goals that you are required to achieve? Great Leaders take this as a challenge and proceed towards the solution of this ‘Mission Impossible’. To achieve excellence in this competitive scenario and for growing business, great leaders have to mobilize their resources beyond the corporate world. Just as the great leaders in history delivered extraordinary performance by mobilizing others to achieve impossible performance to succeed in their respective missions. This interesting note talks about ‘Seven Leadership Keys for Resolving Mission Impossible’. Following are 7 key elements: You may refer to further details here.
- [Seven Leadership Keys for Resolving Mission Impossible](https://faberinfinite.com/seven-leadership-keys-for-resolving-mission-impossible/): What do you do as a leader when you’re facing mission impossible? What are the options when you simply don’t have enough resources—human, financial, or physical—to achieve the goals that you are required to achieve? Great Leaders take this as a challenge and proceed towards the solution of this ‘Mission Impossible’. To achieve excellence in this competitive scenario and for growing business, great leaders have to mobilize their resources beyond the corporate world.Just as the great leaders in history delivered extraordinary performance by mobilizing others to achieve impossible performance to succeed in their respective missions. This interesting note talks about ‘Seven Leadership Keys for Resolving Mission Impossible’. Following are 7 key elements: You may refer to further details here.
- [Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-your-tolerance-for-change-tripping-you-up-2/): Today in a scenario where everyone is talking about tolerance and intolerance – What’s your change tolerance? How does it match the tolerance levels of your employees, colleagues or clients? Does it fit your business situation? Mark Zuckerberg currently holds a 99.3% approval rate from his employees, partially due to his openness and adaptability. How about yourself? For growing business, change is inevitable; the only factor you need to identify for the successful implementation of the change is up to what extent the change is tolerated in your company and among your employees. You and your team must be ready for each evolution of the market and the business. At the same time, no growing business can succeed without processes and workflows to hold it together. One study showed that 86% of employees surveyed believed that failed collaboration and communication had damaged major projects they were involved with. ‘Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up? Ask the following two questions for the successful change tolerance among your employees: Your change tolerance is a key factor in how you adapt. Match that with what the business needs — and your team’s readiness for change — to get where you want to go. You may refer to further details here.
- [Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-your-tolerance-for-change-tripping-you-up/): Today in a scenario where everyone is talking about tolerance and intolerance – What’s your change tolerance? How does it match the tolerance levels of your employees, colleagues or clients? Does it fit your business situation? Mark Zuckerberg currently holds a 99.3% approval rate from his employees, partially due to his openness and adaptability. How about yourself? For growing business, change is inevitable; the only factor you need to identify for the successful implementation of the change is up to what extent the change is tolerated in your company and among your employees. You and your team must be ready for each evolution of the market and the business. At the same time, no growing business can succeed without processes and workflows to hold it together. One study showed that 86% of employees surveyed believed that failed collaboration and communication had damaged major projects they were involved with. ‘Is Your Tolerance for Change Tripping You Up? Ask the following two questions for the successful change tolerance among your employees: Your change tolerance is a key factor in how you adapt. Match that with what the business needs — and your team’s readiness for change — to get where you want to go. You may refer to further details here.
- [Operational Excellence in Textile Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-in-textile-industry/): “We are, what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore is not an action but a Habit” – Aristotle. ‘Operational Excellence is a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving resulting in continuous improvement throughout the organization by focusing on the needs of the customer, empowering employees, and optimizing existing activities in the process.’ Operational Excellence (OE) is a critical driver for business success and a key part of Continuous improvement journey for any organization, regardless of industry/ sector. Continuous improvement is a never-ending journey, and it can lead any organization to world class performance. The Operational Excellence program provides a framework to understand why and how performance needs to improve. Textile Sector is one of the oldest sector and one of the largest contributors to economies in India and across many other countries. The textiles industry is extremely varied, with the hand-spun and hand-woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum, while the capital intensive sophisticated mills sector at the other end of the spectrum. The decentralized power looms/ hosiery and knitting sector form the largest component of the textiles sector. The close linkage of the textile industry to agriculture (for raw materials such as cotton) and the ancient culture and traditions of the country in terms of textiles make the textiles sector unique in comparison to the industries of other countries. Operational Excellence in Textile Industry With global competitive market environment the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organizations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at Operational Excellence (OE)/ LEAN to eliminate waste across their value chain which ultimately helps them drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers leading organizations to world class organizations. Lean manufacturing has traditionally been thought as being applicable mostly to the discrete manufacturing industry. However, there is considerable interest in extending lean to the textile industries due to the dramatic results in manufacturing with discrete production systems. Few lean techniques initially created for discrete usage are beneficial in textile with robust design and inflexible machines. The key focus of operational excellence in textile industry is to reduce the manufacturing throughput time from the raw material receipt till the finished fabric is ready for dispatch. It is noticed in textile industry the common challenges are as follows: Capacity imbalance between spinning, weaving, process house, finishing and dispatch which results in long throughput time which finally builds up work in process (WIP) inventory High pile up of WIP between department resulting in multiple handling and stocktaking High WIP results in stains and damages, which call for rework later Great potential for changeover/ setup time reduction at spinning, weaving and dyeing exists Setup time reduction enables small lot production with higher variety Tremendous potential for downtime reduction through TPM exists which impacts spare part consumption and quality Cost reduction through focused defect/ quality rejection projects, consumable reduction projects, etc. are often undertaken in the lean initiatives. Faber Infinite Consulting strives towards excellence and continuous improvement and has supported numerous manufacturing organizations by implementing Faber Infinite 360 Degree Transformation model. Typical Improvement areas in the Textile Industry: – Improvement in On Time In Full (OTIF) supplies to customers – Reduction in Customer complaints and returns – Creation of flow from raw material receipt to finish goods dispatch – Improvement in Overall Equipment Excellence (OEE) – Improvement in labour productivity – Rejection Reduction – Inventory Management through Kanban – Low Cost Automation – Creation of improvement oriented culture Operational Excellence enables any enterprise/ organization and its leadership to continuously improve all areas of performance, including decision-making, ongoing investment, profitability, customer and partner services and human resources capabilities. Ready to achieve operational excellence in the textile industry? Take the first step towards optimizing your processes and maximizing efficiency. Fill out the form below to unlock exclusive insights and strategies from industry experts. Start revolutionizing your textile business today! Contributed and adapted by: Faber Aakash Borse & Faber Raveena Rathi
- [Media Coverage](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that it got featured in Business India – India’s one of the leading business magazine (with readership of more than 0.6 million/ 6 lacs). The feature published in Nov edition talks about the organizational achievements and its team. Unlike other consulting firms, Faber infinite works with the management to ensure execution of the plans drawn up. Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, Founding Director of Faber Infinite says “We give a guaranteed minimum 10 times returns on investment to our clients. It is our strong belief to under commit and over perform. In many cases the returns are as high as up to 50-100 times of the investment.” Mr. Jalay Pandya, Founding Director of Faber Infinite shares, “The focus as of now is on the mid-tier companies aspiring to grow big but do not have wherewithals. There is a huge unmet gap for the small and medium enterprises in terms of consulting support which Faber Infinite is successfully delivering.” Mr. Aakash Borse, Founding Director of Faber Infinite said, “There is a lot of scope for improvement and cost management in small and medium enterprises as well (along with large organizations) which are the drivers of competitiveness for any economy. Team Faber Infinite has been striving towards building competitiveness across regions where within a short span of time, we have spread our wings in more than half a dozen countries.” We wish to thank all our clients, team members and well wishers for unconditional support and encouragement. Faber Infinite, as a team stands by its aim of ‘Creating a Fab World by Crafting Growth Opportunities!’ As Reported by: Faber Raveena Rathi
- [What Separates High Performing Leaders Fromaverage Ones](https://faberinfinite.com/what-separates-high-performing-leaders-fromaverage-ones/): Leadership is often considered as a top management approach but in actual, it is personal attribute which anyone can use in any role. Be it leading a team or handling a project. You can always use best of your skills by leading people in right way. What is actually required for good leadership? Competency to be leader or anything else? Leaders do know their competency and many times organisation also know leaders’ competency but then also leaders fail to perform. Why such things happen? Leaders have to understand social system they are working in first. Best leaders are defined by their day-to-day routines and not just based on competencies. If one wants to become a great leader, become a student of the context — understand your organization’s social system — and focus on routines. Please find interesting insights on “What separates High Performing leaders from others?” You may refer further details here.
- [Excerpts on ' Frugal Innovation'](https://faberinfinite.com/excerpts-on-frugal-innovation/): As a part of Fab Faber series here we are with few excerpts from another business book “Frugal Innovation – How to do more with less” by Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu.  “Innovation is not about saying yes to everything, it’s all about saying no to all but the most crucial features.”  – Steve Jobs Today is the era of high global competitiveness, where every organization is striving for excellence leading to success.  Innovation and change are the major tools to achieve the above goal. There has been a misconception that innovation is new idea which can be applied by adapting new resources to meet new requirements of consumers, however ‘Innovation’ refers to how to do more with the less i.e how to utilize the existing resources to create a new idea. Frugal Innovation is a way that companies can create high-quality products with limited resources. In this book, both the authors Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu identify high-impact macro changes and how they are forcing companies globally to change so that they can deliver the best-in-class, affordable, sustainable, and high-quality products and services with the use of minimal resources and in less time. ‘Frugal Innovation- How to do Better with Less’ identifies the philosophy, principles and techniques behind frugal innovation, which, if adapted in the right way, can help companies become global leaders. It is about revolutionising business and reshaping management thinking. There are 6 key takeaways, on the six principles and recommendations made by the authors which can be taken from this wonderful book. 1: Engage and Iterate: The first principle explains how innovation requires R&D to move away from an insular way of working to an approach which involves intense customer interaction – observing customer behavior in their natural environment. A better solution with high-speed innovation call for new kinds of titles and incentives. 2: Flex your assets: The second principle describes the trend towards mass customization and how through new tools and approaches such as social manufacturing and continuous production, the operations managers can extract more from production, logistics and services, and the whole value chain supporting it. 3: Create sustainable solutions: The third principle brings out the way customers are making their choices to buy a new product or service, and how companies are implementing practices like ‘cradle-to-cradle’. A new trend is also the rise of the ‘sharing economy.’ Sustainability should be built right into the R&D phase, and should be promoted as cool and aspirational. 4: Shape customer behaviour: The fourth principle gives the marketing manager new insights on how to tailor and position frugal products and services. In addition to changing their own goals and structures, companies can also actively engage with their customers to promote sustainable living. Visualization tools, self-monitoring, gamification, social comparison, social learning and storytelling are useful techniques here to motivate, nudge, inspire, and empower customers. 5: Co-create value with prosumers: The fifth principle, describes how co-creation and crowdsourcing can help harness the collective wisdom and skills of consumer communities, and the mindset shift required from R&D and marketing managers to be on top of this. Consumers today are transformed into prosumers who want meaningful brands conversations and personalized solutions. A useful categorisation of such customers is dreamers, validators, ideators, makers, evangelists, sales agents, and fixers. 6: Make innovative friends: The sixth principle brings out the strong need in the new flat world, for R&D to be highly networked, lean and flexible, and how companies can leverage the ecosystem to make this happen. Companies need innovation brokers who understand the language of the organization, its creative partners and customers. Corporations need to become more agile and not just file patents but monetise them. This is an inspiring book which is grounded in reality and can trigger new thoughts and ideas to build a frugal innovation engine, which can help companies across the world to become global leaders of products and services leading to them to excellence. At its core the book ‘Frugal Innovation’ describes how innovation is now a global endeavor involving large and small firms, mature and emerging economies, tool and talent approaches, both in the West and East. Compiled by: Faber Raveena Rathi
- [Value Stream Mapping (VSM) Consultants/Experts](https://faberinfinite.com/value-stream-mapping-vsm-delivered/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that our workshop on ‘Value Stream Mapping (VSM). A tool for Lean Process Mapping’ delivered by VSM Consultants/VSM Experts was successfully delivered in Pune, India on November 4, 2015. Core aim of the workshop was to learn how Value Stream Mapping acts as a major tool in the lean process mapping to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, reduce inventory and improve overall performance. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is an effective lean tool which serves the process of an organization to identify the substantial opportunities for process improvement, cost reduction, improve productivity and save time. Value Stream Mapping can further assist organizations to improve their performance using existing resources. Objective of the Workshop:- To visualize entire process operations To see how VSM helps in identifying the wastes along with the source of waste To have a clear understanding of the Material flow To show linkages between Information and Material Flow To understand how it helps in forming the basis for implementation plan The workshop participants represented varied sectors from eminent organizations like Atlas Copco, Mahindra Tsubaki Conveyor Systems, Indo Schottle and many more. The workshop was well received and methodology was highly appreciated. Our innovative ‘Fun and Learn’ methodology supported the workshop with simulation games engaging all the participants till the end and helping them to understand the importance of Value Stream Mapping which will drive the continual improvement journey further. Glimpses from the workshop: The workshop was rated excellent (more than 90% rating) by the participants and few excerpts from the feedback is shared below:– The Workshop was power packed because of the practical approach of it– Simulation game was very well connected with actual practices at the shop floor– Content of the training was very interesting and the way it is delivered was excellent In order to accelerate the improvement in any organization and to identify and enhance the key drivers of the continual Improvement in any organization, Value Stream Mapping is power packed tool for successful Lean implementation. The workshop shall further assist all participants towards crafting growth opportunities by improving organization bottom line leading to operational excellence!. Faber Infinite is a company known for its expertise in Value Stream Mapping. As trusted Value Stream Mapping Experts, they assist businesses in identifying and streamlining their operational processes for maximum efficiency and value delivery. With a proven track record, Faber Infinite is the go-to choice for organizations seeking to optimise their value streams and drive continuous improvement. Experience the power of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) first hand! Fill out the form below to unlock our comprehensive guide on how to implement VSM for maximum efficiency and productivity. Take charge of your operations and propel your business to new heights with this exclusive resource! Reported by : Faber Raveena Rathi Contact Us for Value Stream Mapping Consultants
- [12 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs](https://faberinfinite.com/12-characteristics-of-successful-enterpreneurs/): What are the traits of successful entrepreneurs that set them apart from everyone else? Today, the business scenario is very competitive and changing at a fast pace. You could be an innovation today and become obsolete tomorrow. To stay on course and adapt swiftly to the ever-changing trend, successful entrepreneurs keep studying and learning that will lead to success in this transformation journey. Entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or Richard Branson are iconic figures who seemed to burst from the womb with the enterprise in their DNA. We want to learn how they achieved that level of success. And, it turns out that wealthy people are leaders who share these traits. Below are the most insightful, 12 Leadership Traits of the World’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs: They don’t play the blame game. They are open-minded. They are willing to take appropriate risks. They set realistic goals. Know how to solve problems. Can empower others. They’re proactive. They are lifelong learners. They ask well-considered questions. They are willing to walk away. They collect facts before making a decision. They know their strengths and hire for their weaknesses. You may refer to further details here.
- [Identifying your Super Heroes](https://faberinfinite.com/identifying-your-super-heroes/): Today, in the era of change, every transformation and change – irrespective of it being personal or organizational or social has a super hero who leads from the front. These heroes don’t wear a cape and are in disguise! They look like anyone of us or it can be within us. We often identify superheroes as individuals with extraordinary strength, however each of us does possess something that makes us extraordinary. Whatever that something is, that’s your superpower, the source of your strength, and what defines you as a superhero. It is a challenge to identify the crusaders or change agents within an organization or work environment, amongst various leaders trying to build sustainable performance and growth. Have you identified one yet in your organization or within yourself? These people are rare indeed, and they are the most important people in your organization. One who champions the cause of change! It is must to accelerate the transformation journey! The first key ingredient for any organizational transformation are the Heroes – Value Adders (people who are running the show on the ground). Rare identification of your Super heroes is not enough you have to rather support them and encourage them to work even harder for the development of both your organization as well as they themselves. But the question is how you will support your superheroes? In any case, we are not discounting that any journey is a team journey. Super heros also need a team with whom he/ she can work and face all the challenges that comes their way to perform smoothly the transformation journey. Also you need to give them appropriate time and required resources to accomplish the targets. As there is no point in choosing the perfect heroes but not giving them the time, resources, and support to do their job. For any organization, it is necessary to keep their Super Heroes engaged. Below are some tips of how organizations can keep their heroes engaged. Support: Either from external experts, line managers, or peers. Organization can use a buddy system where inexperienced champions are matched up with experienced champions from different parts of the business. By communicating over the phone or even face to face interactions over the lunch or on the coffee table. Training: Besides support, formalized training is a great way to keep people engaged and knowledgeable. This could be training in skill development or sustainability so people know the latest research and policies, or as a way to develop transferable skills that they can use in their day job – be it leadership, strategy planning, communication, or presentation. Reward and Recognition: When they hit / succeed their goals it is important your heroes get the recognition they deserve. It is also important that this recognition comes from the top, especially if people are going above and beyond their job description. This doesn’t even need to be lavish, just knowing you are appreciated is usually enough. So there you have it; identify your heroes by recognizing their extraordinary powers and abilities, unmask them and get them to join your team, then train and support them to reach their full potential. Together you can make any initiative a super success leading your organization towards business excellence. Contributed & Adapted by: Aakash Borse & Raveena Rathi
- [The 4Ms of Manufacturing Process – Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/four-ms-of-manufacturing-process/): In our earlier article ‘Tackle Tough Times’, we had discussed about factors pulling organizations down and the need to steer clear of it during tough times. We had several encouraging views as well as requests to share insights on how to build muscles and might for world class manufacturing set ups. Like in any road expedition, a solid 4 X 4 transmission comes handy to maneuver daunting twists and tricky turns. Similarly the ‘4 X 4’ formula for manufacturing organizations helps them to see through the uncertain and dynamic scenarios in today’s world. The first 4 elements of the ‘4 X 4’ formula form the foundation or the pre-requisite for building muscles. Basic Stability of 4Ms: Assign the right Man (person) with right attitude for the job: Operator qualification and awareness of potential for waste stands critical. Taking responsibility for seeking solutions is another enabler, which cannot be ignored. Appropriate Machine for the job, both in capacity and capabilities: Equipment health is an important aspect of Asset Management.  As per the studies, basic steps of cleaning, oiling, tightening and inspection (COTI) can avoid 80% of the breakdowns and stoppages. Adequate supply of the correct Material:  On time availability of the materials, raw materials or consumables, as per the standards is essential to sustain the service or manufacturing process. Standardized work Methods:  Sequence of the steps used in the work must allow for the most efficient practice. Another aspect to be considered is the physical setup of the work area; whether a desk or a factory workstation. It should maximize the flow evenly with minimum disruption and adequate communication. The next 4 elements of the ‘4 X 4’ formula constitute the actual training for the organization to be followed rigorously to build strong muscular structure which is fit and agile. Material Velocity is indication of health of any manufacturing organization, whether discrete manufacturing or process industry. Higher material velocity ratio is sign of higher throughput leading to better inventory turns! One needs to work on the obstructions to material flow and attack the pockets of work-in-process stocks. As the expectations of customers grow day by day, we are in an era where Quality of products and services is an order qualifier and not order winner. Needless to say, high quality standard is a mere hygiene factor with byproducts like less rework, and higher productivity. The next two factors focus more on the people issues Employee Involvement is a great way to generate new ideas and harness the energy and commitment of any organization’s greatest asset — its people. Initiatives with joint employee-management committees play a pivotal role in the muscle building efforts. Time and again, top leaders across the globe have been talking about it and challenges faced due to lack of employee engagement and involvement. Designing and offering all your products and services with customer (internal or external) in mind, and exceeding his / her expectations should be the aim of any organization, which is real Customer Centricity. It is the most important exercise to build muscle! Considering these 8 aspects and working on it diligently, any organization can reach the stature of being world class. Let us not get overwhelmed by all different tools, concepts and philosophies rampant in the industry; but organizations which keep these fundamental axioms in mind, shall prosper and progress. As they say, “Only the legs that run are those that really have muscles”, it is important to practice these exercises in order to build muscles! Unlock the power of the 4Ms in your manufacturing process today! Fill out the form below to gain insider knowledge on leveraging manpower, machinery, materials, and methods for optimized production. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your manufacturing operations! Contributed by:  Faber Aakash Borse
- [7 Key Lessons on Leadership!](https://faberinfinite.com/7-key-lessons-on-leadership/): As a part of our ‘Transformation Tuesday’ Series, we are glad to share another fab article on ‘ 7 Key Lessons from the Best Leadership Books of the Past Decade’. What does it take to be a great leader? Leading a team or company is always a challenge. In any Organization, effective leader has to face this challenge to keep the team and the Organization in sync. Not only do you need to manage the roles and responsibilities of your team, but also you need to inspire them to be beneficial to the Organization and help them develop as individuals. However, the most challenging situation is that there is no ‘one size for all’ in the journey of transformation and success. Leaders have to change their approach on the basis of the personality, skill set and the composition of each and every team member. Great leaders also have to learn these types of skills regularly. Below is the insight of well-founded leadership tips which have been picked from the most popular leadership books of the past decade. 7 Key Lessons on Leadership Give people clarity about goals and the latitude to meet them Take action Lead with inspiring values Strive for level 5 leadership Fire people the right way Confront nasty facts Set the future course — but not in stone You may refer the original article here. We would appreciate your feedback.
- [What does it take to be a great leader?](https://faberinfinite.com/what-does-it-take-to-be-a-great-leader/): Leading a team or company is always a challenge. In any organization, effective leader has to face this challenge to keep the team and the organization in sync.Not only do you need to manage the roles and responsibilities of your team, but also you need to inspire them to be beneficial to the organization and help them develop as individuals. However, the most challenging situation is that there is no ‘one size for all’ in the journey of transformation and success. Leaders have to change their approach on the basis of the personality, skill set and the composition of each and every team member. Great leaders also have to learn these types of skills regularly. In this graphicbelow, the most insightful, well-founded leadership tipshave been picked from themost popular leadership books from the past decade. You may refer to further details here.
- [Can a team of B players achieve A+ success?](https://faberinfinite.com/can-a-team-of-b-players-achieve-a-success/): Research says yes – but only with an A-level leader. Effective leaders can have a variety of styles, but they share certain characteristics: superior judgment, which helps them make good decisions and learn from mistakes; high emotional intelligence, which helps them stay calm under pressure and build relationships with their teams; and high ambition, which pushes them to high performance. In order to achieve excellence and to increase the performance of their team members, good leaders will implement right strategy at the right time, gathering precise performance data, giving accurate feedback, and building and maintaining high morale. This will lead any organization towards continuous improvement by having the smooth transformation journey! Please find below interesting insights on ‘How to Manage a Team of B Players?’ Following are four important tactics any leader can use to make their teams more effective: You may refer further details here.  
- [WHY ORGANIZATIONS DON’T LEARN?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-organizations-dont-learn/): Why do companies struggle to become or remain ‘learning organizations’? All the leaders believe that to stay competitive, their organization must learn and improve day by day and manage to have a smooth transformation journey. However companies revered for their dedication to continuous learning and find it difficult to always practice what they preach. As a part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share following thought-provoking article to become or remain ‘Learning Organizations’! In this article, it discusses how deeply ingrained human tendencies interfere with learning —and how they can be countered. Following are few challenges, which become an obstacle for any organization in their learning and transformation journey and also with their antidotes in order to overcome the same. You may refer to further details here.
- [HELPING AN EMPLOYEE OVERCOME THEIR SELF DOUBT](https://faberinfinite.com/helping-an-employee-overcome-their-self-doubt/): Do your team members in the organization hold back by self-doubt? Is this self-doubt affecting the people potential in your organization? Today, many managers and mentors are facing this challenge of their employees having self- doubt. Self-doubt can seriously impair the performance of the employee at work. This can create a negative impact to the inner critic. If the employees are in self-doubt then they will shy away from leading projects or teams, or put off going for the big opportunities – new clients, new business lines, and innovative moves – that could help your business grow. To overcome this, as a manager or mentor, one of the most powerful ways you can unlock your people’s potential is to give them a toolkit for managing self-doubt. The alternative is to take the conversation up a level. Instead of arguing with your team members’ inner critics, you can introduce a conversation about self-doubt – what it is, why it shows up, and how it can impact what you achieve as a team? We have come across an interesting article which talks about ‘How you can help your employees to overcome self-doubt?’ Following are some common qualities of the inner critic’s voice to help your people identify their critics: You may refer further details here.
- [Workshop on Value Stream Mapping](https://faberinfinite.com/workshop-on-value-stream-mapping/): Do you want to accelerate the improvement journey in your organisation? Do you want to identify the key drivers to continual improvement? Team Faber infinite rolls out a power packed solution via one day workshop on ‘Value Stream Mapping – A tool for Lean Process Mapping’ at Pune, Maharashtra on November 4, 2015. ‘Value’ is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. A value stream is all the actions (both value adding and non value adding) currently required to produce a product for customer demand fulfillment. Value stream mapping is a pencil paper tool, which means improving the whole and not just the process. As drawing is the language of the engineers, Value Stream Mapping is the language of Lean practitioners. To get benefited from VSM it should be used on shop floor. Value Stream Mapping is a lean process mapping method for understanding the sequence of activities used to produce a product. Value Stream Maps serve as a critical tool during the review process and can reveal substantial opportunities to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, reduce inventory and improve overall performance. Value stream mapping includes: – All the activities for customer order fulfillment. – Includes Material flow from Supplier-Factory-Customer. – Includes Information flow from Customer-Factory-Supplier. – To get benefited from VSM it should be used on shop floor Program Details: – Training Workshop on “Value Stream Mapping” – Thursday, November 4, 2015 – Venue: Courtyard by Marriott, Bund Garden Road, Pune, Maharashtra Objectives: – To visualize entire process of Operation – VSM helps to see wastes along with the source of waste. – To have a clear understanding of the Material flow. – To show linkages between Information and Material Flow. – Helps in forming the basis for implementation plan. Training Methodology: – Simulation Games – Group Exercises – Tutorial Sessions – Interaction with experienced trainer who has successfully implemented VSM in various organization and transformed many organizations. Who should attend? – Value Stream Leaders, Managers, Executives from Production, Planning, Purchase, Quality, Maintenance. – Operational Excellence/ Lean/ Kaizen/ Continual improvement managers, leaders, coordinators. Content: Faber Infinite’s Innovative “Learn and Fun” methodology will help participants to understand: – Lean Foundations – What is Value and Value stream – Why use Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – Preparatory for VSM : PQ Analysis – Different levels of VSM – Understanding Current State Map – Tutorial on Current State Map – Understanding Current State Mapping (using Case Study) – Introduction to Future State Map – Key elements of Future State Map – Benefits of Value Stream Mapping Do join us for this learning experience. Please connect with Prashant on prashantj@faberinfinite.com / +91 – 92288 77937 for further details.
- [9 HARD EARNED LEADERSHIP LESSONS](https://faberinfinite.com/9-hard-earned-leadership-lessons/): The path to innovation is rarely smooth No matter how talented or intelligent you are, many of the greatest lessons—in business and in life—don’t come until after years of experience. There is no age for learning new lessons for the leadership. Even after getting success through years of experience, looking back to learn and improve the mistakes can help to become a Successful leader. I have come across an interesting article which talks about “Nine Hard Earned lessons of Leadership”. In this article below, nine executives like COO of Yahoo share the lessons they learned in retrospect after years of doing business and leading teams. Following are some insights of the same. You may refer further details here.
- [Manufacturing Improvement by Lean Product Development](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-of-lean-product-development-drives-manufacturing-improvement/): Today where every organization is striving towards continual improvement, organizations have to eliminate waste at every single step. However, it is very challenging to identify waste and to apply a systematic framework of LEAN for the same. In order to achieve excellence through a systematic process of improvement, organizations have to reduce the waste in their operations. This will result in increased productivity, and lessen inventory to save money and increase their bottom line. Please find excerpt from an interesting article, which talks about ‘5 Ways of Lean Product Development drives Manufacturing Improvement’ You may refer to further details here.
- [Help Your Team Agree on How They’ll Collaborate](https://faberinfinite.com/help-your-team-agree-on-how-theyll-collaborate/): “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” –Andrew Carnegie When ideas flow freely at your organization, you’ll reach even stronger solutions. This is the importance of collaboration between team members. Since everyone’s skills and experience are slightly different, each member of the organization brings a different set of thoughts and ideas to your business. However this can bring arguments in your organization, but agreeing on clear rules of conduct allows you to blend individual team members into one cohesive unit. The purpose of this is to agree on the one consistent way, which may run a particular team. Below is sample framework on Collaboration from an interesting article, which talks about “Help Your Team Agree on How They’ll Collaborate”. You may refer to further details here.
- [Improve Equipment Performance via Autonomous Maintenance - TPM](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-equipment-performance-via-autonomous-maintenance-tpm/): Faber Infinite has been working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence and Business Excellence. In order to graduate towards excellence, manufacturing organizations should work towards basic stability of 4Ms – Man, Method, Material and Machine. Its tried and tested fact, that equipment/ machine maintenance can be improved via deploying TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) methodology, which can lead the organization towards the goal of continuous improvement. One of our esteemed clients in Gujarat, India was facing challenges in terms of equipment performance which was blocking the continuous improvement journey of the organization. Hence, the client team along with team Faber Infinite introduced Autonomous Maintenance, one of the pillars of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) framework to enhance the Operational Excellence journey and continual improvement culture on the shop floor. Few glimpses of Autonomous Maintenance – Step 1: Initial Cleaning Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a Japanese framework which is globally accepted and proven. The origin of TPM can be traced back to 1951 when preventive maintenance was introduced in Japan by the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM). TPM framework involves a defined concept for maintaining plants and equipment. The goal of the TPM program is to markedly increase production while, at the same time, increasing employee morale and job satisfaction. This method further tunes up existing processes and equipment by reducing mistakes and accidents. TPM has eight pillars which focuses on proactive and preventative techniques for improving equipment reliability and stability. When companies begin to implement Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) they often start by piloting Autonomous Maintenance (AM). This is understandable as Autonomous Maintenance is one of the key distinguishing features of TPM Autonomous Maintenance is the second of the eight pillars of TPM. It is also known as JISHU HOZEN in Japanese.  It follows a structured approach to increase the skill levels of personnel so that they can understand, manage and improve their equipment and processes. The major goal is to change operators from being reactive to working in a more proactive way, to achieve optimal conditions that eliminate minor equipment stops as well as reducing defects and breakdowns. BENEFITS OF AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE: Deployment of Autonomous maintenance will bring the following benefits to any organization: – Improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) – Reduction in performance loss – Increase in equipment availability – Improvement to employee engagement – Increase in capability levels. Today, with competition in industry at an all-time high, TPM is one of the key framework which stands between success and failure of equipment/ machine/ asset management for any organization in its journey of continuous improvement. Ready to revolutionize your equipment’s performance through autonomous maintenance? Fill out the form below to gain invaluable insights and techniques that will enhance efficiency, minimize downtime, and maximize productivity. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to optimize your operations and stay ahead of the competition! Complied by :- Faber Raveena Rathi
- [LEADING CHANGE](https://faberinfinite.com/leading-change/): Organizational change management and transformation have become permanent features of the business landscape. However, organizations often fails in its change management efforts. Why organizations fail? As a part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share following interesting approach to avoid failures in any change management initiatives! By adapting to the following eight step process of ‘Leading Change’ outlined by Dr. Kotter, organizations can avoid failure and become adept at change. Create a Sense of Urgency- Identify and discuss crises, potential crises or opportunities Build a Guiding Coalition- Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives- Create a vision and develop a strategy to help direct the change effort Enlist a Volunteer Army- The guiding coalition new behaviors and leading by giving example Enable Action by Removing Barriers– Changing systems or structures that undermines the vision by encouraging risk taking activities Generate Short-Term Wins- Recognizing and rewarding employees involved in planning for visible performance improvement Sustain Acceleration- Hiring, promoting and developing employees who can implement the vision Institute Change – Creating the connections between new behaviors and corporate success You may refer further details in the book called “Leading Change” by John P Kotter.
- [Lean and Green](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-and-green/): “Continuous improvement is not about the things you do well — that’s work. Continuous improvement is about removing the things that get in the way of your work. The headaches, the things that slow you down, that’s what continuous improvement is all about” – Bruce Hamilton To sustain in this competitive market, organizations are facing today – levels of unprecedented global competition. In which the organization have to design and offer better products and services and improve their manufacturing operations. ‘Lean’ manufacturing has been used to improve operational performance of an organization leading to excellence. Operational Excellence is concerned with continuously improving the quality of goods and services, reducing the costs, increasing speed and enhancing flexibility to achieve competitive superiority and to maximize the profit of an organization. Lean is excellent at marshaling different groups and individuals into a high performing team focused on rooting out waste. That relentless focus on eradicating waste makes lean a necessary partner for green. Green manufacturing is a method of manufacturing that minimizes Environmental waste and pollution. Environmental waste is any unnecessary use of resources or a substance released into the air, water, or land that could harm human health or the environment.  Environmental wastes and pollution are often a sign of inefficient production, and they frequently indicate opportunities for saving cost and time. Lean manufacturing is the system which aims in elimination of the waste from the system with systematic and continuous approach. The obvious benefits of green and lean are energy savings, productivity savings, and savings from improved utilization of materials. They can also lead to innovations that involve creation of new products out of waste materials. Many Lean implementation efforts often overlook opportunities to prevent or reduce environmental wastes.  Following are the 5 environmental wastes with the acronym WASTE to the traditional wastes helpful: – Water: leaks, waste streams from processes – Air: evaporation of chemicals, dust, particulate – Solid Waste: filters, excess material scrap – Toxic/Hazardous Waste: solvents, process residuals – Energy: machinery on when not in use, heat loss, oversized motor As in Lean, tools are used to visualize and identify the wastes in our processes so we can eliminate or reduce them. There are eight steps which can guide any organization towards Lean and Green, which are as follows: 1. Know what Lean and Green really means. It is a process where you use more eco-friendly processes and products that help reduce or eliminate the 7 wastes in manufacturing processes plus the 8 wastes of Environmental. 2. Identify, assess and manage risks to employees, customers, suppliers, contractors, visitors and the environment. 3. Conduct operations in compliance with all relevant legislation & other requirements as a minimum condition. 4. Consult and communicate regularly with employees about Lean Environmental Health & Safety (LEH&S) issues, improvements and about individual responsibilities. 5. Develop improvement strategies and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a continual basis, with appropriate targets, which aim to eliminate unsafe conditions, reduce non-value wastes and prevent environmental pollution. 6. Prepare and provide the necessary resources in time to meet the targets. 7. Continually conduct a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) review on performance and reassess the goals. 8. Develop procedures, work instructions, and training material to assist the workforce to develop. While the pursuit of Lean & Green is not a destination, but a continuous journey. Any organization that stretches themselves, to build a culture around the values of Sustainability, Excellence, and Equity will ultimately have a big advantage those who do not. Complied By:- Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Five Paradoxes of Digital Business Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/five-paradoxes-of-digital-business-leadership/): “Leadership” is historically referred as “Industrial Leadership” – the managerial styles and structures that served industrial firms well for the century. Leadership has increasingly replaced management in modern organization, which strives to become the world-class organization. There is no organization that can expect to survive amidst fiercely competitive business scenario without leadership being provided by all the people of the organization. So today, the age of individual leadership is gradually paving the way for “Digital Leadership” in this post-industrial age. This will help organization in its transformation journey of becoming the world-class organization and leading to fully digital business from the traditional firms. I have come across an interesting article which talks about “Five Paradoxes of Digital Business Leadership”. Following are some insights of the same: You may refer further details here.
- [Training to Young Leaders at Bombardier](https://faberinfinite.com/training-to-young-leaders-at-bombardier/): Employee Training and Development is essential to the ongoing success of every organization. It enables employees to develop skills and competencies necessary to enhance top line & bottom-line results for the organization. Faber Infinite offers a broad range of training that is well received by today’s most demanding employers. Sharing glimpses of another two day Training Session on ‘Foundations of Lean and Flow Management’ conducted by Faber Infinite at Bombardier Transportation, world’s leading manufacturer of airplanes and trains. Bombardier has been doing exceptional work in the domain of Operational Excellence (Lean) and sought assistance to conduct training for its team of Young Leaders on culture of continual improvement and operational excellence. Objectives of the Training Session: – To understand the concept of  Lean and Flow Management – Power of Paradigms – To establish the foundation of lean manufacturing system – To understand the concept of Five S and key drivers for Continual Improvement – To have a clarity on World class organization Training was conducted for the young leaders who are entering into the organization so it was full of enthusiasm and energy. The two day training was combination of interactive tutorials, group work, simulation games, group exercises which helped the participants in experiential learning. Participants in action during a simulation exercise: The young leaders, who participated in the training session, appreciated the training for its delivery methodology as well as the content facilitated to them by team Faber Infinite. Following are some pointers of the feedback given by them: – The games were excellent and the training was very interactive and instrumental in relating the theory with the real industry practices. – Flow of information sharing and the way it is delivered was excellent – All the team activities and simulation games were interesting and  innovative In this competitive scenario, where Business Excellence is the only way to survive in the market, organizations like Bombardier appreciate importance of Operational Excellence and are training new employees. Team Faber infinite unlocks the concept of achieving world class performance and implementing steps in Continual Improvement Journey. Reported By:- Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Tips for implementing new manufacturing technology](https://faberinfinite.com/five-tips-for-effectively-implementing-new-manufacturing-technology/): Reducing waste, implementing efficiency-promoting practices and continuously improving manufacturing operations are the main goals of any manufacturing organization. Similarly, innovation of new technology is a new trend in most of the manufacturing firms. But to facilitate innovation, it takes a change of mindset in the organization. This is a cultural and organizational issue and is difficult to accomplish. However, for most of us, innovation doesn’t come naturally. Factory managers are no different, and that’s normal. You can still create an edge by embracing a culture of experimentation, identifying the areas of greatest need, and then leaning on employees with experience to teach others. Please find excerpts from an interesting article, which talks about “Five tips for effectively implementing new manufacturing technology”. You may refer further details here.
- [Six Practical tips for Managers to turn into Coaches Again](https://faberinfinite.com/six-practical-tips-for-managers-to-turn-into-coaches-again/): Historically, managers embraced the role of coach and mentor. Through informal conversations during the commute to work, over a coffee break, managers passed along crucial information and knowledge about the organization’s culture. However, today managers are falling into the habit of dictating to-do lists, micromanaging, or unnecessarily rolling up their sleeves to become a ‘Do For’ boss or reverse delegator because of tighter budgets flatter organizations, a heavy workload, and too many direct reports often leave managers without the time to lead their subordinates like a coach. It seems easier and more expedient to “boss” than to coach. In order to be a great manager, you need to be an effective coach with the ability to ask powerful questions, listen actively, and offer observations. You must help your employee create the shifts in their beliefs and actions that will result in the achievement of desired results. Please find below an excerpt from interesting article on “6 Ways to Turn Managers into Coaches Again”. You may refer to the original article here for further details. Hope you will like it!
- [9 key learning from this Book “The Power of Habit”](https://faberinfinite.com/9-key-learning-from-the-power-of-habit/): Yet again, as part of Faber series here we are with few excerpts from another Fab Business book “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. “Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.” – Charles Duhigg. The premise of the book is simple. we create and maintain habits to conserve mental energy so we can think about more complex and difficult issues. These habits can be good or bad or neutral, but once established. They never really leave us, but lurk, waiting to be rediscovered; and creating habits is straightforward, but choosing which habits to create isn’t. In ‘The Power of Habit’, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation. There are 9 Key Learnings, which can be taken from this wonderful book 1: The habit loop – How habits work: When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or diverts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit – unless you find new routines – the pattern will unfold automatically. 2: The craving brain – How to create new habits: Craving is what makes cues and rewards work. The craving is what powers the habit loop: –          Find a simple and obvious –          Clearly define the rewards. 3: The golden rule of habit change – Why transformation occurs: You can never truly extinguish bad habits. Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine. That’s the rule; if you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Almost any behavior can be transformed if the cue and reward stay the same. 4: Keystone Habits – Which habits matter the most: Some habits have the power to start a chain reaction, changing other habits as they move through an organization. Some habits, in other words, matter more than others in remaking businesses and lives. 5: The habit of success – When willpower becomes automatic: Willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success. Willpower isn’t just a skill. It is a muscle and it gets tired as it works harder, so there is less power left over for other things. 6: The power of crisis – Creating habits through accident and design: It may seem like most organizations make rational choices based on deliberate decision making, but that’s not really how companies operate at all. Instead, firms are guided by long held organizational habits, patterns that often emerge from thousands of employees’ independent decisions. 7: When companies predict and manipulate habits: The first things you see upon entering the grocery store are the fruits and vegetables arranged in attractive, bountiful piles. If we start our shopping sprees by loading up on healthy stuff, we´re much more likely to buy Doritos or frozen pizza when we encounter them later on. 8: How movements happen: The behaviors that occur, unthinkingly, across dozens or hundreds or thousands of people, which are often hard to see as they emerge, but which contain power that can change the world. Social habits are what fill streets with protesters who may not know one another, who might be marching for different reasons, but who are all moving in the same direction 9: The neurology of free will – Are we responsible for our habits? As our bodies move in and out of different phases of rest, our most primitive neurological structure – the brain stem – paralyzes our limbs and nervous system, allowing our brains to experience dreams without our bodies moving. At its core, “The Power of Habit” contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. Compiled By : Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Simple Tips to start a Week](https://faberinfinite.com/simple-tips-to-start-a-week/): “I’ll get that done over the weekend.” This one sentence has become a one-size-fits-all solution when we can’t fit in working on a project, answering e-mail, or simply knocking items off our to-do lists during the week. It shouldn’t be our go-to solution for the work we can’t fit in during the week. To preserve the much-needed break that the weekend offers, try frontloading your week. Since unexpected tasks will always come up, no matter how hard you try to plan your work, you want to fully book your schedule at the beginning of the week so you can leave more open space on your calendar as the week progresses. Ideally half of Friday should be reserved to tie up loose ends. You can also avoid the trap of answering emails on the weekend by blocking out designated times each day to work through your inbox. And when you commit to doing something fun on the weekend, it’s much easier to set priorities so that you can leave on Friday work-free. Successful people know that great weekends are the secret to workday success. This Tuesday we would like to share an interesting article which talks on ‘How to Plan Your Week to Keep Your Weekend Free’. Following tips will help you to start your week. Adapted from “How to Plan Your Week to Keep Your Weekend Free,” by Elizabeth Grace Saunders. You may refer to the article here for further details.
- [Productivity Improvement Tool: Points of Time and Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study-a-robust-planning-system/): What is a Time and Motion Study?  A Time and Motion Study is a systematic observation method used to analyze work processes, identify inefficiencies, and optimize productivity. It involves breaking down tasks into elements, measuring the time taken for each element, and finding ways to streamline operations. “The unexamined life is not worth living” said the great Management thinker ‘SOCRATES’. As far as operations is concerned, Time and Motion Study is one of the better ways of determining the capacity of the plant and also the particular time when the efficiency and productivity can be improved. This study is an appropriate solution to determine the ‘time’ taken to complete a certain task by a plant and machinery in a factory. Though basic in nature, Time and Motion studies outlines the ground work and facilitates to arrive at better capacity, awareness and robust planning system which will lead the operations of a plant to operational excellence. Basic study of Time and Motion includes the following 5 key points: 5 key points of Time and Motion Study Look closely at the present work/ current situation Identify the opportunities to be more efficient Modify the current process that is followed Examine if it produces the expected results Rinse and repeat Application of Time-Motion Study in Today’s Business  Time and Motion Studies have extensive applications across diverse sectors in today’s business landscape:  Manufacturing  These studies help optimize assembly lines, reduce setup times, and improve production efficiency. By analyzing workflow processes and identifying time-consuming tasks, manufacturers can streamline operations, minimize waste, and enhance overall productivity.  Healthcare  In the healthcare industry, Time and Motion Studies play a crucial role in optimizing patient care workflows. By observing and analyzing the time taken for various medical procedures, administrative tasks, and patient interactions, healthcare providers can identify inefficiencies, reduce wait times, and improve the quality of care delivered.  Service Sector  Time and Motion Studies are valuable in the service sector for enhancing customer service delivery. By studying service processes such as call handling, ticket resolution, and service interactions, organizations can identify opportunities to streamline operations, allocate resources effectively, and improve response times, leading to higher customer satisfaction levels.  Technology  In the realm of technology, Time and Motion Studies are used to streamline software development processes. By analyzing tasks such as coding, testing, and deployment, technology companies can identify bottlenecks, optimize workflows, and reduce time-to-market for new products and updates, thereby increasing competitiveness and customer satisfaction.  Retail  Time and Motion Studies are instrumental in optimizing retail operations. By studying tasks such as inventory management, checkout processes, and store layout, retailers can identify areas for improvement, reduce wait times for customers, enhance store efficiency, and ultimately, improve the overall shopping experience.    By leveraging Time and Motion Studies effectively, businesses across these sectors can drive operational efficiency, reduce costs, improve quality, and ultimately, achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage in today’s dynamic business environment.  Time and Motion Study is an observation method used to determine the timing and duration of tasks or procedures. It is a work measurement technique for recording the times and rates of working for the elements of a specified job carried out under specified conditions and for analyzing data. The study helps in reducing and controlling costs, improving working conditions, and motivating people. When the time taken to complete a task is measured, machine delays, personal needs, fatigue, and any other foreign interference is also taken into account. Effectively a job is broken down into its component parts. The time taken to complete each component is noted. And the components are ordered or rearranged, keeping in mind efficiency. A Time Standard is an important component of Time and Motion Study. A time standard takes into account three factors: qualified worker, working at a normal pace, and doing a specific task. Advantages of a Time and Motion Study  Time and Motion Studies offer a range of significant advantages that contribute to the overall success and competitiveness of businesses:  Increased Productivity   By meticulously analyzing work processes and identifying inefficiencies, Time and Motion Studies pave the way for increased productivity. Streamlining workflows, optimizing task sequences, and eliminating time-wasting activities result in employees accomplishing more in less time, ultimately boosting overall productivity levels.  Cost Reduction   The optimization of workflows and resource allocation achieved through Time and Motion Studies leads to cost savings. By identifying and eliminating non-value-added activities, reducing idle time, and minimizing resource wastage, businesses can significantly lower their operational costs and improve profitability.  Enhanced Quality  Time and Motion Studies not only focus on efficiency but also on improving the quality of work output. By identifying areas where quality may be compromised due to inefficient processes, organizations can implement measures to ensure consistent and high-quality outcomes. This, in turn, leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.  Employee Engagement  Involving employees in Time and Motion Studies can enhance their engagement and satisfaction. Employees feel empowered when they contribute ideas for process improvement and witness the positive impact of their suggestions on productivity and efficiency. This engagement can lead to a more motivated workforce and lower turnover rates.  Data-Driven Decision Making   Time and Motion Studies provide valuable data and insights that enable data-driven decision-making. Businesses can use the data collected during these studies to identify trends, measure performance metrics, set realistic benchmarks, and make informed decisions about resource allocation, process redesign, and strategic planning.  Continuous Improvement  One of the key benefits of Time and Motion Studies is their focus on continuous improvement. The data and insights gathered from these studies act as a foundation for ongoing optimization efforts. Businesses can implement iterative changes, monitor their impact, gather feedback, and make further adjustments, ensuring that processes remain efficient and effective over time.  Competitive Advantage   Efficient and streamlined operations resulting from Time and Motion Studies provide a competitive advantage in the market. Businesses that can deliver high-quality products or services efficiently are better positioned to attract and retain customers, outperform competitors, and adapt quickly to market changes, ultimately driving sustainable growth and success. 
- [Six Key Strategies for Great Leaders for Long Term Success](https://faberinfinite.com/six-key-strategies-for-great-leaders-for-long-term-success/): “To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way.” —Pat Riley. The most successful leaders envision a bold future and then make it happen. Real leaders are not just along for the ride — they shape the future by thinking big. A competitive long-term strategy is required to grow and compete in a larger market. And a leader takes this strategy forward with right execution leading to attain the Business Excellence. Please find excerpt from an interesting article, which talks about the strategies, which are used by the great leaders to achieve the long-term success. You may refer further details here.
- [Looking for Risk in all Wrong Places](https://faberinfinite.com/looking-for-risk-in-all-wrong-places/): ‘Risk’ by nature seems scary. Its uncertain and unpredictable. However, there are times in every individual’s life when they are faced with a choice that involve risk. In today’s era where business excellence is the only choice we have as far as competition is concerned, we all have to live with risks! Hence, it is essential to invest sometime on exploring – how to live with risks. In business aspects we call it managing risk or Risk Management. There are three best practises for accessing and managing risks: Strike the right balance between risk and reward. Focus on decisions, not process. Make employees the first line of defence. You may refer to the original article here for further details.
- [Cost Management via Inventory Management](https://faberinfinite.com/cost-management-via-inventory-management/): Yet again, Faber Infinite in association with CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) conducted a training workshop on “Material Handling and Inventory Management – Tools for Efficient Output & Cost Control” at Vadodara in July, 2015. The key purpose of the workshop was to learn effectively and efficiently the tools for cost management as well as Material handling and Inventory Management. 5 Key Points of Inventory Management Understanding the basic concepts of material handling and inventory management To establish key aspects of Lean framework To determine the drivers for high efficiency and productivity To establish the framework for inventories by different models of Inventory Management. To understand the process of Kanban Implementation Participants from eminent organizations like Apollo Tyres, Piramal Glass and others from in and around Vadodara participated in the workshop. The participants were from the different sectors and segments. The workshop was received well due to its interactive approach and delivery methodology. The simulation exercise via ‘The Plug Factory’ created by team Faber Infinite made the session extremely interesting and lived the Faber philosophy of ‘learning by doing’. In today’s, competitive scenario organizations strive for Operational Excellence. Team Faber Infinite unlocks the concepts of Inventory Management and Material handling as tools for efficient output and effective cost management. All the aspects of workshop will further assist towards crafting growth opportunities by improving organization bottom line leading to business excellence. Ready to unlock the power of inventory management for better cost management? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert tips and techniques. Take the first step towards efficient cost control now! Reported & Complied by: Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs](https://faberinfinite.com/the-5-strategy-rules-of-bill-gates-andy-grove-and-steve-jobs/): There is difference between a “strategy” and a “successful strategy”. This difference is unlocked by the three most popular CEOs – Bill Gates (Microsoft), Andy Grove (Intel) & Steve Jobs (Apple). These men have successfully defined the meaning of “successful strategy” which is captured in the book named “Strategy Rules” by David Yoffie and Michael Cusumano. The answer to this question is depicted by 5 Key strategies, which include the common leadership lessons from three different perspectives. This book is about strategies, principles, and skills of three of the most successful and influential figures in business—offering lessons for all managers and entrepreneurs on leadership, strategy and execution. “Strategy Rules” examines these three individuals collectively for the first time—their successes and failures, commonalities and differences—revealing the business strategies and practices they pioneered while building their firms in 5 key strategies. Please find below insights from these 5 key strategies: You may refer to the original article here for further details.
- [Are You Overlooking Inventory as a Focus for Process Improvement and Waste Reduction?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-overlooking-inventory-as-a-focus-for-process-improvement-and-waste-reduction/): What is top priority for any organisation? Profit – Obviously. Isn’t it? If an organisation is profitable, then only it can sustain and grow. Many companies focus just on improving bottom line (Profit) and they neglect other factors which are affecting in a better Bottom Line. There are several factors which any company need to consider. One amongst them is Inventory. Often organisations consider Inventory as one of the cost factor which is of less relevance but in actual it is one of the major costs in any organisation. When we think of Inventory, only finished goods comes to our mind. But inventory is not only Finished Goods but it includes Raw-Material, Work-In-Progress as well. If we calculate the total amount of all three, we can actually find how much cash flow is blocked because of improper inventory management. Inventory is one area where there are significant opportunities to improve processes and we can identify waste clearly and can reduce those waste. Proper Inventory Management can lead to improved cashflow, can release lots of space, can obsolete spares not in use and can reduce stock-outs. Proper flow of Inventory can lead to reduced lead time. Following are some insights from one of the articles “Are you overlooking Inventory as a focus for Process Improvement and Waste Reduction?”: When you see excess inventory you can be sure that processing issues are being hidden. Here are a couple of basic truths: The longer any form of inventory sits, the colder the trail becomes to find and solve problems. Early in your journey this almost always leads to finding the process failures too late to avoid excessive rework, scrap and missed customer commitments. Our objective is to know about process variation, outside the norm, as close to real time as possible. The same premise goes for the supplier base as well. [See the figure below on how inventory hides problems — we don’t know what the No. 1 issue to attack is until inventory is reduced enough to expose it.] Excess RIP (RM + WIP) always exposes poor scheduling practices and the need to substantially reduce cycle times. This is often a major contributor to No. 1 above. Reducing cycle times/inventory can be a driving force to improve plant performance; so can a bold objective to significantly increase RIP turns. You may refer further details here. Contact us
- [Communicating a corporate vision to your team](https://faberinfinite.com/communicating-a-corporate-vision-to-your-team/): What makes organisation successful? Is it Strategy or People? Answer lies within, both of them. Problem with most of the companies is not wrong strategy but lack of explaining strategy to the people who makes strategy successful. No strategy can succeed without proper explanation for People who actually implement it. Leaders have to be specific and set benchmarks and deadlines. People should feel motivated to make it successful rather than doing it as a part of  strategy. There is always gap of thinking between top management and middle management. Top Management always thinks that we don’t have right people to make strategy successful and Middle Level Management always thinks Top Management does not give clarity on actual goals to be achieved. In actual, right strategy can be successful if it is explained in right manner to the people who work on implementation. Top Management would have broader vision and results in their mind but most often they fail to cascade it down to the people working to achieve goals. Leaders have to break goals to individual benefits and make sure people work better as an individual and as a team. Real success can be achieved if every person knows why any goal is important and what can be benefit to him/her out of it. Below are few of the key points from an interesting note on ‘Communicating a Corporate Vision to your team’. You may refer further details here.      
- [Lean Innovation](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-innovation/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! Innovation is must to sustain in today’s dynamic business world. Every company has to focus on Innovation also as a crucial part of organisation. Corporate Innovation may vary with existing level of organisation. With existing business, every company has to explore new opportunities. Gone are the days when companies were focusing on profitable products only, companies have to focus on new innovations as well which can actually grow their organisation at much faster pace. Innovation is not one day job but it is more of process which every company has to follow. Continuous Innovation may differ with various business types like Mature Business, Rapidly Growing Business and Emerging Business. Companies now has to focus on Lean Innovation Management to make Corporate Innovation work. I have come across an interesting article on Lean Innovation Management. Below is graphical representation of one the key highlights of the Lean Innovation. Have a Transforming Tuesday!!
- [Are We Too Busy to Improve?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-we-too-busy-to-improve-2/): In this competitive era of business and excellence, corporate world seems busy and everyone seems busier than ever before. Even with all the technology available to us, we just seem busier with more to do. The reason we are getting too busy is it takes so long to do things the current way (which is no longer current, it’s 20 years old+). But we don’t have time to learn new yet proven tools or concepts, to step back and think about how we do things, and if there is a better way.  We just keep on relentlessly pushing.  Picture someone saying to an old generation phone user – but just use this smart phone, and they say ‘I’m too busy typing in text messages using 9 little buttons, I don’t have time to learn how to use that thing!’ That is the problem, and as long as this is going on, Change Management would be a burning issue for all the progressive organizations. In today’s scenario even in the corporate world, executives strive to survive and are busy in fire fighting regularly, instead finding ways to improve. We are unable to identify the exact challenge because we are too busy. We are busy in our regular day-to-day routine work and so we don’t have time to identify the opportunities and to improve upon them. We don’t have time to make improvement part of our daily work. Another reason we are busy, ‘cos we don’t have time to learn new tools and it is the biggest barrier to innovate. The individual who acts the busiest may not be the most productive. Daily routines, improper prioritization or unfocused tasks ‘act like leeches’ on the efficiency – making unproductive busyness perhaps the most critical behavioral problem. In the end, though it may sound counterintuitive, dedicating time to daily process improvement is the only way out of the trap of feeling like you have no time. The only way to free up time to do more important work is to begin to chip away at the sources of firefighting. Contributed by: Raveena Rathi Image courtesy: Hakan Fross
- [Leadership an Art of Association](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-an-art-of-association/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! What employees want from their leaders? Is it just direction or appreciation or guidance? Majority of leaders are not able to understand what employees actually want from them. Many a times a simple Thank You may work for some employees, while for some it is pat on back or appreciation in public that matters most. Expectations varies from employee to employee. A good leader always considers to meet their employee’s expectations in various ways. Leaders many a times has to choose between Achievement and Connection. Leader who can do both in better way is preferred leader. Leaders has to learn art of association. A good Leader is ladder for the employees’ success. I have come across an interesting article on top complaints employees have about their leaders. Below is graphical representation of the key issues highlighted in a survey.
- [Creating Learning Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/creating-learning-culture/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! What is culture? A simple definition is “the way we do things around here”. If you want a more complex definition that, in essence, means the same thing, you can define it as “The values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization”. Culture is not made out of products but it is made out of people. It is the people who actually make organisational culture valuable. It is upto organisation how they want to promote improvement oriented culture within organisation. Focus is now shifting from reducing costs to maximising values. Culture majorly depends on Behaviour/actions of people, Motivators and Rewards which people get. Organisations are creating learning culture which can sustain benefits for the longer period. Companies are now moving from Planned Activity to Proactive to Strategic Activity which gives them edge than any other company. Following are some insights on Proactive and Performance driven culture:
- [Insights on Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/insights-on-leadership/): ‘Any continuous improvement journey cannot succeed without top management commitment. It is rightly said people improve processes but right people at right position is equally important. Along with people, leadership is most critical for success. Right leadership can create miracles and make things happen for any organisation. Following file provides some insights on Leadership and its impact:
- [Solution for Water Solution Provider!](https://faberinfinite.com/solution-for-water-solution-provider/): Faber Infinite has been associated with engineering major, which specialises in high purity water treatment plants. Since inception of the journey, several actions have been taken to ramp up the operations significantly. The 30 year old company has now grown many folds through expansion of the product lines and entering in to new market segments for water treatment like power generation, oil & gas, automobiles, manufacturing process plants, sugar mills, captive power plants and many other such markets. Today, it is technically well equipped to handle all types of water and wastewater treatment solutions for the industry. With vision to be the preferred Water and Waste Water Solution provider to the industry, the client engaged team Faber Infinite to build on the Operational Excellence journey. The objectives of the journey were: –        To redesign the existing facility for the optimum utilization of the resources available –        To inject the Operational Excellence principles to ensure the Customer satisfaction –        Pitching forward one step ahead to retain the customer by producing a WOW effect Implementable Solution: Post design phase and implementation of novel ‘work-pack system’ (more about it later), the internalization phase was rolled out. To inculcate the changes, the culture building process was initiated by Five S implementation. Five S implementation is a necessity for promoting organization, safety and efficiency at workplace. The organization team was oriented to implement the Five S to enable workplace improvement & setting up the foundations for sustainable improvements. Following structured steps were followed for the same: –        Tailored training package on Operational Excellence was developed to suit the operational needs of the business and –        Training sessions with all key stakeholders, –        Followed by practical implementation of Five S & Visual Management –        Initiating Daily Work Management practices Glimpse from the Daily Work Management meeting at the client site Contributed and adapted by: Rahul Desai & Raveena Rathi
- [Insights on Kaizen](https://faberinfinite.com/insights-on-kaizen/): As a human being, everyone prefers to work in their comfort zone. People don’t want to taste new water unless they are compelled to do so. As a person, everyone face the challenges but the question here is, are we challenging the challenges? We all work to improve ourselves. Do we really challenge ourselves to do the impossible? We can challenge any problem if we improve in whatever small activity we do. As per Kaizen Philosophy, we need to change for good/better. We can challenge anything only if we change. Following are some insights on Kaizen:    
- [Insights on Waste in Office](https://faberinfinite.com/insights-on-waste-in-office/): We all spend majority of our time out of 24 hours at office. Isnt’ it?  Do we actually maintain high level of cleanliness at our workplace or we consider it job of housekeeping people? We come across lots of waste in our office knowingly or unknowingly. It may be anything like any document, brochure, file, stationery which is not in use. We are contributing to waste in office rather than reducing or waste. Above are some insights on Waste in the Office and why should we focus on Waste?
- [Accelerating 'Make in India'](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerating-make-in-india/): India, in the past in spite of having a nascent market, had favorable circumstances to establish itself as a global manufacturing centre for decades. Since then there have been a few spurs of actions such as the LPG movement in 1991 that made the Indian economy more resilient and robust. Moreover it is constituted by a diversified set of established industries across both manufacturing and service sectors. Yet again we find ourselves in a similar situation with the launch of the government driven ‘Make In India’ campaign, which deemed to give a boost to the manufacturing ecosystem by providing infrastructural and policy level support. This campaign promises a lot but the effectiveness on Indian Manufacturing will take some time to be noticed given the complexity of problems in the business scenario including skilled workforce, capital, land and labor laws and technological advancements. With launch of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, India has also set for itself an ambitious target of increasing the contribution of manufacturing output to 25 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025, from 16 per cent currently. India’s economy is expected to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2014-15 as per a Government forecast. According to a new formula which uses 2011-12 as the new ‘base year’, the revised statistics showed inflation-adjusted economic growth rate for October-December 2014 at 7.5 per cent, making India one of the fastest growing major economy in the world. The Indian manufacturing industry is at the threshold of becoming a ‘Global Manufacturing Hub’. Operational Excellence here has to play a major role to accelerate the ‘Make in India’ campaign and help Indian economy to grow. India has demonstrated its leadership capabilities with unmatched examples like Cost leadership at Orbit Shift Mission Mars amongst others. Considering that competitiveness of Indian manufacturing industry is 71 out of 144 countries and has declined over the last year, industry can change this and jump-start the road to profitable growth only by focusing on Operational Excellence and Innovation. The need to improve efficiencies which has clear linkages with growth, gain from best-in-class technology absorption and deploying effective change management framework are key drivers for accelerating the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Operational Excellence should not be taken as one off initiative and must be pursued as a journey.  Organizations that have nurtured Operational Excellence have been able to leverage their strengths and overcome weaknesses. Operational Excellence delivers compelling business outcomes when pursued correctly. Watch out this space for forthcoming insights on each of the accelerator (driver)! Adapted by: Raveena Rathi
- [Industrywise Spend on Process Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/industrywise-spend-on-process-excellence/): Greetings from Faber Infinite! Continuous Improvement journey starts with No one, Nowhere to Somebody, Somewhere and it goes to Everybody, Everywhere. In this process, many people are involved and they contribute equally for the growth and success of organisation. At Faber Infinite, we continue our Knowledge sharing initiative Transforming Tuesday with some industry insights which may be of interest to you. Below file talks about Average Budgets various industries spend for Process Excellence. Hope you will like it! Your suggestions to make it better will be really appreciated! Have a Transforming Tuesday!!            
- [Ingredients for Change Management](https://faberinfinite.com/ingredients-for-change-management/): According to Dr. Knoster, there are five elements required for effective change: vision, skills, incentives, resources and an action plan.  If any of these five things are missing, there is a corresponding ‘symptoms’. In this blog, we will discuss about Ingredients of Change Management. It may seem simple, but the model is powerful. For example, if a leader senses a high level of frustration from the followers regarding a change he/she wants to implement. This chart could help to realize that the followers may need more resources.  If the followers are confused, then the vision may not have been clearly articulated. The other most challenging experiences in management is developing a sense of ‘buy in’ from all the stakeholders. Many change initiatives may yield less than optimal results. Several projects cannot be completed in an efficient manner without everyone working towards the same goal and believing in its success. People resist change for a myriad of reasons. A lot of these reasons are emotional, such as anxiety about the unknown; fear that the change will result in a loss of control or status; stress that the change will result in a greater workload or new adaptations; worry about appearing inept or having to learn new things; and memories of previous change experiences that caused an upheaval. This things to know for Successful Change Management How do you get all the stakeholders to gain a sense of satisfaction and ownership? How do you use the vast body of research and resources available on change management to help you influence and inspire your employees to adopt your vision for change? How do you address their feelings and make them see the change is beneficial? Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Ready to lead successful change management initiatives? Discover the essential ingredients for driving transformative change. Fill out the form below to gain access to expert insights and strategies that will empower you to navigate change with confidence. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to become a change catalyst! Contributed by: Faber Raveena Rathi & Aakash Borse
- [Lean Manufacturing and its Benefits](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing-benefits/): Every person is unique in his/her own way and his thinking decides the way he wants to grow. Growth can be achieved if things are done in right way and in right manner using right resources. One’s creative and analytical thinking helps them to grow and complete any task in faster and better way. Our week starts with some planned activities. Do we really complete all those tasks which we decide to complete in a time frame? Answer would be NO. Reason being we don’t plan well and that is why most of our tasks remain uncompleted. We need to make ourselves operationally efficient. Efficiency will not come until we decide how much useful any task or activity is. Tuesday is best day to plan our activities for rest week as on Monday we generally complete all those uncompleted tasks of last week and Tuesday transforms our whole week if we plan our activities in better way. To support your journey of achievement, we would like to be part of your progress by sharing some insights which may help you to focus on new areas or untouched areas. We are glad to start “Transforming Tuesday”. Faber means Craftsman. We all are craftsman of our own success. At Faber Infinite, we would like to be part of your infinite growth and success. Above file Lean Manufacturing talks about Lean Manufacturing and its benefits. It gives some glimpses on various tools which can be implemented and few obstacles in implementation of Lean Manufacturing. Hope you will like it! Your suggestions to make it better will be really appreciated!
- [Business Adventures: Excerpts](https://faberinfinite.com/business-adventures-excerpts/): As part of Fab Faber Series, we are glad to share few excerpts from another wonderful book, Business Adventures by John Brooks. Happy Reading! Business Adventures (by the late John Brooks, originally published in 1969) is Bill Gates’ favorite all-time business book and even better, it came recommended to him from none other than Warren Buffett! What hooked me was considering when Bill Gates received the book from Warren Buffett with his imprimatur, in 1991, and that nearly 25 years later Gates can say this is also his favorite business book is impressive, and no doubt Gates must have read it with great interest having come with the highest of recommendation from Buffett at that time. The stories in the book might be old and the names unfamiliar, but Brooks’ retelling is superb – a near perfect balance of breadth and depth to the stories. From Wall Street to Main Street, John Brooks, longtime contributor to the New Yorker, brings to life in vivid fashion twelve classic and timeless tales of corporate and financial life in America. What do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety; these notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life, as they were when the events happened. Business Adventures details 12 critical moments in American industry, including the rise of Xerox and Piggly Wiggly, the Ford Edsel fiasco, and the GE and Texas Gulf Sulphur scandals. Perhaps above all, Business Adventures teaches lessons about people – how they act, what makes them thrive and flounder, and what devilry they’re likely to get up to if left to their own devices. Business Adventures’ lessons are about human nature in the context of business, and though technologies and best practices change, people never do. We can take 7 key lessons from this John brook’s Business Adventure. 1. A lesson from the 1962 Flash Crash: At their core, humans are basically emotional, irrational beings. Over the course of only three days, fear and panic led the stock market to plummet $20 billion only to boomerang back up a day later. Facts are a lot less compelling than the dictates of the lizard brain. 2. A lesson from the Ford Edsel fiasco: Pay close attention to your market. Customers’ wishes can change very quickly and it’s important to keep a finger on the collective pulse. When Ford wasn’t looking, mid-sized dropped off of their buying radar. 3. A lesson from the income tax system: Sometimes, the best solution is to scrap it. Over the years, the US tax system became so convoluted, corrupt, and loophole laden that it now encourages inefficiency. The only real recourse would be a do-over. 4. A lesson from the Texas Gulf case of 1959: Just as people are inherently irrational, you can also count on them to be pretty self serving, too. In summary: when Texas Gulf executives found out about mineral-rich ground the company had just struck, they slowly began buying up stock shares and telling their families to follow suit – all the while denying the find to the public. Thus, insider trading laws were born. 5. A lesson from Xerox’s rollercoaster success: Never trust a rapid success. Nobody expected copy machines to take off when Xerox launched its product in 1959, but by 1964, revenue was so good that the company could afford to drop $4 million to support the UN. By 1965, however, Xerox was in trouble: while they’d been busy philanthropizing, competitors had caught up fast. 6. A lesson from Piggly Wiggly’s investment debacle: Revenge isn’t actually so sweet – and it certainly doesn’t pay. To teach them a lesson, incensed Piggly Wiggly owner Clarence Saunders sought to buy back all of his stock from tricky prospectors. What he got instead was near bankruptcy. 7. A lesson from the Bretton Woods Conference of ‘64: A small group of determined individuals can prevail against a bigger, stronger foe. When a collective of savvy prospectors believed Britain couldn’t keep up the currency exchange rates, they started betting against the pound in the market. Despite odds (and a strong central bank alliance against them) they won. In closing, the current reprinting of Business Adventures is yet another, timely, reminder that “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” — Mark Twain. Adapted by: Raveena Rathi
- [Nasik bonds with Faber Infinite again!](https://faberinfinite.com/nasik-bonds-with-faber-infinite-again/): Further to success and overwhelming response of the past programs in Nasik, a training program on Value Stream Mapping is organized by Faber Infinite and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Western region. This training is open to all the members as well as non-members in the western region. It is one of its kind training on Value Stream Mapping (VSM) at Nasik, India on February 24th, 2015. Value stream mapping is a Lean process-mapping method for understanding the sequence of activities used to produce a product. Value stream maps serve as a critical tool during the review process and can reveal substantial opportunities to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, reduce inventory, and improve overall performance. Program Details: – Training Programme on “Value Stream Mapping” – Tuesday, 24th February 2015 – 09.30 am to 5.30 pm – Venue: Nashik Engineering Cluster, C-10, MIDC, Ambad, Nasik India Objective: To build understanding of the power of VSM tools and the use of the same in cross-functional way to improve production and reduce the cost. Methodology:  Training will be conducted through interactive lectures supported by case studies and experiential learning. Target Audience:  Engineers, Team leaders and personnel who are involved in various planning, design, marketing, quality, tooling, process, procurement and production activities. Contents: – Meaning of Value Stream Mapping – Why use value stream mapping – How to create a value stream maps – Initial activity of VSM – Current State Map – How to find out waste – Type of Waste – Seven types – How organizations save cost – Elimination of MUDA – waste Do join us for this learning experience. Please connect with Prashant on prashantj@faberinfinite.com for further details.
- [Partners in Building Competitive India](https://faberinfinite.com/partners-in-building-competitive-india/): Faber Infinite is a proud partner of the Government of India for implementing Lean Management practices across 500 manufacturing clusters in India. Faber Infinite team is empanelled consultant by National Productivity Council (NPC) (www.npcindia.gov.in), India for implementation of Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme. We are glad to join hands with government to enhance Manufacturing Competitiveness and foster Operational Excellence across India. National Productivity Council has been appointed by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India for implementation of Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme. India being one of the fastest growing economies, manufacturing sector has major contribution to the growth. Also with the flagship ‘Make in India’ campaign, it is exceedingly crucial to build the competitiveness across MSME in varied sectors to make the dream come true. We are feeling truly honored to be part of the movement launch by Government of India. Along with large organizations, Faber Infinite will support MSMEs of India in the operational excellence journey to craft the success of ‘Make in India’ campaign. We are keen to join hands in skill development and thereby in growth of the economy by helping organizations reduce their costs and improve profitability by best Operational Excellence practices throughout the value chain. Faber Infinite will work hand in hand with Government of India to boost manufacturing and to project India as a Global Manufacturing destination of the world, to enhance global competitiveness of the Indian Manufacturing Sector and to ensure sustainability of growth. Contributed By: Faber Prashant Joshi
- [Crafting Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-transformation-journey/): Organizational transformation is about organizational change which goes to the depths of what an individual feels and will affect what people feel about the organization and what they do in the organization. In this article, we will talk about the key points of Crafting Transformation Journey. Organizational Transformation Journey Organizational Transformation is more than just changing the way business is done. It is about changing the organizational culture in one or more ways. Transforming the organization refers to any significant change made to an organization such as, restructuring an organization or reengineering an organization and/or there is a significant change in the way business is done. The question is, of course, what is significant is relative to a given organization. Transformation at any place is huge step, requires strong commitment and dedication. As part of team Faber Infinite, we have been involved in making the transformation journey simple yet beneficial to the client. More than anything else, the key ingredient required is the top management commitment. Transformation journey faces resistance and hold up in the implementation, where the role consultant is to constantly and successfully keep the ball rolling. As blue collared consultants, we are not mere providers of resources but coach teams to implement the tools and achieve the desired results. Swift rotation of the PDCA cycle is the prime responsibility as a consultant, as it helps to improve, confirm the outcomes and to draw future steps of implementation. At one of the client locations, a leading modular kitchen brand, the growth has been in exceptionally good measurable terms. Implementation of various projects; Layout Design (to improve the overall material flow and throughput), Inventory Management (to manage and control inventory, reduce shortages from 14 to zero), Problem Solving (to reduce the dispatch errors) and others; have helped in transforming the company to a different trajectory. As it is said, ‘journey is the destination’, the journey has been eventful. By: Faber Anand Bhattad
- [Transformation Journey: Lesson One](https://faberinfinite.com/transformation-journey-lesson-one/): Thriving organization in the turbulent 21st century economy share one common denominator: an uncommon need to evolve. While no two organizations are alike, businesses can be aided by the Faber Infinite’s 360-degree organizational transformation. We have embarked on a transformation journey at India’s largest bone china crockery manufacturer and I would like to share brief yet key lessons learned on what it takes to transform an organization. Going back to the title of the post, lesson one of the transformation journey is: Start a movement! At the outset, along with confidence building and creating awareness, it was flagged off as ‘Sankalp – A Vow’ to transform the organization towards better tomorrow. It helped us to internalize the complete transformation process. SANKALP transformation journey is primarily aimed at culture building process. Being part of the core team, I experienced the initial fruits of the implementation outcome on GEMBA – the real workplace while working. The journey is effective only when the results are sustained after deployment. This is can be achieved by a robust process oriented system and systematic review mechanism which is rapid with specified frequency. It also enforced onto me, learning like, “Quality cannot be achieved without an objective” and “Quality policy has to be documented and supported by the top management”. PS: I promise to share further lessons in due course. Would appreciate your feedback! By: Faber Rahul Desai
- [Develop Key Assets: People!](https://faberinfinite.com/develop-key-assets-people/): It’s hard to think of an important aspect of management more neglected than people development.  Yet for a variety of reasons, this valuable activity is often ignored or handled as a bureaucratic exercise or an afterthought.  Due to this, organizations pay a high price in terms of the loss of talented people. We at Faber Infinite appreciate that people are the pivotal success factor in the value creation process and for organization’s development into a true high performance company. Faber Infinite offers a gamut of customized people development programs for varied requirements organizations. Our teams work on “Change Management” and “Learning and Development” themes together with the client’s senior management and have implemented numerous programs. Workshops held at all levels and in all areas ensure that tangible improvements are initiated in the various departments and teams. In one of the people development program conducted at a textile machine manufacturing industry, involved a management conclave with the objective to build a high performance leadership team, improve team building, co-operation and refining the team vision and mission with the intent to achieve the goals. Various experiential learning sessions were conducted to drive key messages; few of which are listed below: – Dealing with uncertainty – Coordination across the teams – Role clarity – Link between communication process and decision making – Understand functionality or dysfunctional and impact on the group – Organizational discipline – Diversity and its impact on relationship – Goal orientation Faber Infinite has been involved with a variety of such people development offerings, which helps client to achieve their goals and grow. In another engagement, Faber Infinite conducted a comprehensive program with reputed textile manufacturing organization in Kenya. Along with mapping the organizational climate in terms of teamwork and source of motivation, the aim of the program was improving the leadership practices. One final thought: People Development planning doesn’t have to be elaborate or costly.  If it’s done well, the payoff can be substantial in terms of long-term loyalty.  If it’s not, the costs can be substantial in terms of long-term talent. By: Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Emerging SMAC Practices – Unlocked](https://faberinfinite.com/emerging-smac-practices-unlocked/): Faber Infinite shared views on emerging Social media, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud computing (SMAC) Technologies specifically from B2B marketing standpoint at a ‘Marketing Conclave’ organized by Amrut Mody School of Management, part of the Ahmedabad University (AU) promoted by the Ahmedabad Education Society (AES). The Marketing Conclave 2014 was a platform to discuss the importance of SMAC, their relevance for businesses and the practices that impact these very important areas. Businesses of India are looking towards new avenues of customer investments around the Social media, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud computing (SMAC) Technologies. As several industries including products and services look to provide a uniform experience across all communication channels, the need for SMAC technologies is likely to increase. Changing market dynamics at India today clubbed with the advancement in technology bring significant opportunities for businesses to market their products and services to a larger group of customers. At the same time, monitoring customer movements and their preferences with the help of technology has made it possible for companies to develop target-specific communications and offerings. With the fast-changing technological developments, customers and marketers have found a common platform to stay connected, which is the mobile and/or virtual platform. Faber Infinite is glad to associate with AES. AES has remained a benchmark for high academic standards for more than seven decades. It is the largest education society in Western India, which has spread the light of knowledge, and wisdom in diverse fields of education and established new benchmarks of excellence. Amrut Mody School of Management, has sought to continuously enhance the quality and delivery of the programmes and the capabilities of the students.
- [Learn Value Stream Mapping](https://faberinfinite.com/learnvsm/): Faber Infinite is organizing a training program in association with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Western region. This training is open to all the members as well as non-members in the western region. It is one of its kind training on Value Stream Mapping (VSM) at Ahmedabad on December 23, 2014 and December 24, 2014. Details of the training program: Training program on VSM from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday Dec 23, 2014 to be conducted in Gujarati Wednesday Dec 24, 2014 to be conducted in English Objective: To build understanding of the power of VSM tools and the use of the same in cross-functional way to improve production and reduce the cost. Methodology: Training will be conducted through interactive lectures supported by case studies and experiential learning. Target Audience: Engineers, Team leaders and personnel who are involved in various planning, design, marketing, quality, tooling, process, procurement and production activities. Contents: Lean Basics, Understanding 3Ms What is Value and Value Stream Why use VSM PQ Analysis Levels of VSM Current State Map Tutorial on Current State Map Introduction to Future State Map Key Elements of Future State Map Benefits of VSM Do join us for this learning experience. Please revert on prashantj@faberinfinite.com for further details.  
- [Celebrating Failure: Excerpts](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-failure-excerpts/): One our mentors pointed us towards this wonderful book, Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes, and Thinking Big  by Ralph Heath As part of Fab Faber Series, we are glad to share few excerpts with you. Happy Reading! Failure and high performance go hand-in-hand Companies and employees with the highest performance have the lowest fear of failure—and a high failure rate. Surprised? They have a high failure rate because they are comfortable with failure as a vehicle for growth. Rather than be embarrassed by failure, they wear it as a badge of honor. They are always experimenting, trying to find the next great idea that will take them or their clients out of their comfort zones, to reach new highs of business success. – From Chapter 11: Pushing Yourself to Fail Why I acknowledge my own mistakes and failures I had an interesting conversation with one of my associates that I would like to share. He said, “Ralph, why are you so quick to point out your mistakes to the entire company?” An excellent question and it is indeed a planned part of my management philosophy. I do it because I cannot keep repeating that it is perfectly acceptable for the people around me to make mistakes in their work, yet pretend that I never make mistakes. Or conversely, what better way to send a message to our organization that it is okay to make mistakes than to point out my own? I should clarify that I am talking here about bold mistakes, mistakes that come from taking risks, not about failing to do your job professionally. – From Chapter 10: Learn From Your Mistakes How can leaders empower their people? Leading from the back empowers your workforce to take responsibility and lead. If your co-workers are out front providing solutions, they are far more apt to take ownership in those ideas—and owning an idea, believing it is your own, greatly increases an idea’s chances of succeeding. Unfortunately, it is not the way most parents or leaders are taught to manage. Management gurus make you think you’ve got to be out front charging the hill in front of the troops or you are somehow diminished or not doing your job. Leading from the front is a testosterone-driven philosophy that is appropriate in some battles, but not all. – From Chapter 4: Leading From the Back Champion new ideas New ideas need protectors and champions. Ideas need a shepherd to guide them through the difficult processes that are most often set up for the sole intent and purpose of ”killing“ anything new. Committees and focus groups are often the sworn enemies of new ideas. You have to do all you can to slow the attackers who are waiting to pounce and kill new ideas with phrases such as, “We tried that before.” Or, “The client won’t like that.” Or, “We don’t have enough time.” – From Chapter 2: Resistance to Change You cannot go far with a small idea There is a temptation in the advertising business to propose the safe concept. Some of the reasoning is based on fear. Fear that the client will not approve a risky or edgy approach (and many will not), as they fear change and losing their jobs. However, risky and edgy creative approaches are the ones that cut through the advertising clutter and get results for the client. Sometimes big ideas cause big change. Change that disturbs the safe status quo and forces a journey into the unknown. It is a challenge to train people to embrace change, take risks, think big, and work outside their comfort zones. – From Chapter 3: Think Big New ideas require a change in thinking Why are people so eager to cling to the past and so quick to kill new ideas? Accepting a new idea requires a “change” in thinking. When a person has been doing something a certain way for so long and someone else tries to enter their world that they control and suggests something that is counter to their established thinking, something they perceive as a threat, their first reaction is to attack the idea. – From Chapter 2: Resistance to Change Sincere praise for a job well-done If you pass out compliments too easily, simply for the sake of inspiring those who work for you, it may have unintended negative consequences: It can lower the quality of work because people will say to themselves, “Hey, that was easy. I didn’t even do my best work, but if that’s what the boss likes, I’ll give him more of the same.” So now when I tell people they’ve done a nice job, which is often, I make certain they have, indeed, done a nice job. People know when you are sincere and appreciate it that much more. If you compliment people when it is truly deserved, the kind words have their intended effect and the radio station, or the advertising agency, performs at a much higher level. – From Chapter 7: Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, and Herb Lee
- [Unlock Success: The Light House Framework](https://faberinfinite.com/the-lighthouse-exercise-in-action/): “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where and how you’re going, because you might not get there.” – Yogi Berra Organizations cannot survive and flourish for a very long time without some basic goals. Goals give an organization a purpose and direction to move towards. Several organizations have declared goals and few others don’t have explicitly set goals. Organizations invest energies in SMART goal setting and yet end up not achieving it. For a very simple reason, you think, if you want to reach a destination but are unclear of directions to the destination; will you be able to reach? And even if you succeed, it may come at cost of efficiency and higher risks. The same applies to organizations! To address the issue, we at Faber Infinite Consulting have crafted an effortless yet robust framework called as LightHouse Exercise. What is The LightHouse Exercise? It is an exercise to determine/ develop organizational goals and also to define suitable directions to achieve those goals. Like the lighthouse; this exercise by means of focussing on comprehesive business dimensions provides directions, to set the organizational journey on correct track and achieve the set goals. One of our esteemed clients, reputed door manufacturer sought Faber Infinite assistance to discover untapped business potential via The LightHouse Exercise. An all-inclusive workshop on the LightHouse Exercise was scheduled and successfully conducted along with the client team. The exercise was flagged off with Faber Infinite’s unique Fun – Learn – Fun approach. The lessons from the interactive simulation games were discussed with all the participants from the top management. The transformation journey was launched with all new vigor and excitement as ‘Mission 15K by 15’. Detailed exercise for creating ‘Blue Ocean’ along with novel ERCR (Eliminate, Reduce, Create and Raise) technique was conducted as well. It culminated with the future value curve for the organization. Further the team was introduced to the Goal Book with guidelines, action points and detailed projects for all layers within the organization, from senior management till the frontline associates. Following a proven and structured framework, the detailed activity entailed various sub-groups to identify broad themes, specific tasks, improvement steps and a scale to measure the same. The outcome of the entire workshop was set of directions focusing towards achieving targets of ‘Mission 15K by 15’. Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad
- [6 Basic Principles of Production Planning](https://faberinfinite.com/6-basic-principles-of-production-planning/): The planning for any organization forms the backbone of the production process. Planning of productions helps organizations to understand the situation at the Gemba better. Principles of Production Planning facilitates to book the entire capacity and also assists in committing accurate delivery time frames to the customers. At its core, production planning represents the beating heart of any manufacturing process. Its purpose is to minimise production time and costs, efficiently organise the use of resources, and maximise efficiency in the workplace. Production planning incorporates a multiplicity of production elements, ranging from the everyday activities of staff to the ability to realise accurate delivery times for the customer. With an effective production planning operation at its nucleus, any form of manufacturing process has the capability to exploit its full potential. 6 Principles of Production Planning: Customer Demand Before you can plan to assign resources, you have to know how much to produce. Production Planning focuses on the principle of meeting the targeted customer demand rate in the most efficient way possible while keeping open the capability to respond to variations in demand. Materials To fulfill your production target, the materials needed to produce should be ensured. The most efficient production planning keeps the minimum materials as standard inventory. Planners should evaluate how much material the company needs, the lead times for orders, the delivery times for suppliers, and the reliability of the supply. Equipments The production planner takes into account the capabilities of the equipment used to produce the output. The basic stability of equipment comprising of availability (A), performance (P), and quality (Q) parameters can be determined by Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Manpower Manpower planning requires accurately estimating the number of employees required to do the work. The capacity of the workforce has to match the capabilities of the equipment to plan for the highest efficiency. Processes Effective production planning makes sure that the processes used for the output continue to operate efficiently and safely. Often, the normal operation of a process requires occasional testing and adjustments. Controls A final production planning principle puts in place controls that detect problems as soon as they occur. Verification of inventory, use of qualified suppliers and personnel, and standardization where possible. When controls are in place, it enables to take possible corrective actions to minimize the effects and return production to the required levels. After the analysis of each aspect at the client’s place, the modular kitchen manufacturer, the overall plant capacity was ascertained. The next step was to assist the client with a proper production plan. The Faber Infinite team worked over the best possible alternatives to provide the client with a user-friendly, simple yet powerful module that will cater to all the basic requirements and also keep room for the surprise elements. The solution module was developed to encompass the order receipt process, capacity booking, production to dispatched,s and even installations at the client sites. Making it a comprehensive solution. It also consisted of provisions to calculate the delivery performance by measuring the On Time In Full ratio (OTIF) and also highlighting the reasons for failure, if any. The production planning solution was designed to cater to all the issues related to production and hiccups in the planning process. Benefits of Production Planning Overall production planning made simpler and easy to manage Proper, logical, and achievable delivery dates can be promised to customers No back logs in order No delay in delivery leading to customer WOW!  Unlock the power of effective production planning! Dive into the 6 basic principles that will revolutionize your business. Fill out the form below to gain instant access and start optimizing your production processes for maximum efficiency and profitability. Don’t wait; take the first step towards success today! Written & Adapted by Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse Check other consulting services on Faber Infinite: Operational Excellence Consulting | Strategic Excellence Consulting | Supply Chain Consulting | Design Thinking & Excellence Consulting
- [Faber Infinite - Finalist at Red Herring Global Award](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-finalist-for-the-2014-red-herring-100-global-award/): Faber Infinite has been selected as a finalist for Red Herring’s 2014 Top 100 Global award, a prestigious recognition honoring the year’s most audacious and far-reaching private technology companies and entrepreneurs from across the globe. The Red Herring editorial team selected the companies demonstrating the most innovative technologies and business models originating from over 1,000 companies from more than 40 nations. These companies, representing past Red Herring Asia, Europe and North America awards, are judged on a range of qualitative and quantitative metrics, including but not limited to, technology innovation, financial performance, growth criterion, management’s execution standards, potential globalization of the strategy, and market share improvement. “Growing companies are becoming the bright spot in the economic outlook based on their increasing role within macro-economic environments,” stated Alex Vieux, Red Herring chairman. “2014 has demonstrated vibrant activity and its contribution to the global economic recovery. An unprecedented number of entrepreneurs are jumping ahead of the competition and making a difference. Constant breakthroughs make recent developments obsolete faster than ever before. Faber Infinite is performing exceptionally well in its field and strongly deserves to be singled out as one of the Red Herring Global finalists. At this stage, we are left with the daunting task to select the best qualified companies for the 2014 Top 100 Global Award.” The finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Global forum at Los Angeles in November 2014. About Red Herring Red Herring is a global media company that unites the world’s best high-technology innovators, venture investors and business decision-makers in a variety of forums, including print, online and exclusive events worldwide. Red Herring provides an insider’s access to the global innovation economy, identifying new and innovative companies and entrepreneurs. Its Red Herring 100 awards for North America, Europe, Asia and Global have recognized more than 5,000 companies in their early stages, including Baidu, Google, eBay and Skype.
- [Transformation Launch: A Glimpse](https://faberinfinite.com/transformation-launch-a-glimpse/): Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent. – Martin Luther King, Jr. There is no correct day or date to initiate change. Its setting in is inevitabile. However, one has to be prepared and keep the back straight to manage the change.  Recently team Faber Infinite launched the initial stage of change management journey at one of the largest textile machine manufacturer in Gujarat. The organization is into business for more than five decades now. After thoughtful deliberation, the launch of transformation journey was planned and executed. A detailed evaluation to gauge the basic health of the organization was conducted. It presented details on the current situation of organization, benchmark with world class standards and potential to improve along with ballpark benefit estimates. The exercise is a comprehensive evaluation of the organization which includes functions like finance, operations, marketing, supply chain and others. Each segment being a stakeholder in progress of the organization, contributes to the smooth functioning. Along with several on the job analysis and exercises, for capturing the pulse of the organization, more than 20 parameters/ ratio relating to Costs, Delivery, Quality, Capacity, Productivity, Efficiency, Breakdowns, Inventory Ratios, Safety and others were captured and analyzed in detail. Also, the Faber Infinite team invested time on the shop-floor to identify the gaps and meet managers/ team members individually. The exercise pinpointed at the areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the tools to be deployed for improvement. It resulted in a detailed report with implementation road and ballpark estimates of potential benefits. The launch exercise paved way for a continuous journey – a mission to support organizational development and prosperity.  All the stake holders and top management showed commitments by planting and adopting a tree in the factory premise as symbol of growth. We have already made progress in crafting growth opportunities for the client. I will share the details in the next post. Growth Tree Plantation  “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”   Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad
- [Eat That Frog..! by Brain Tracy - Book Summary](https://faberinfinite.com/eat-that-frog/): Book Summary – Eat That Frog By Brian Tracy The book helps readers understand the importance of managing our priorities and contains many highly practical and easy to implement suggestions for improving our effectiveness and ultimately to achieve our goals. In particular it focuses on the need to eliminate procrastination when completing key tasks. The title of the book is inspired by Mark Twain who once said that if you start the day by eating a frog you would have the satisfaction of knowing that this was probably the worst thing you had to do that day. The frog is a metaphor for your biggest and most important task. It encourages us to develop a habit of starting and completing important tasks. Although the author warns us that there is never enough time to do everything on our lists there is always enough time to complete the important tasks. He provides techniques to help us set clear priorities and implement plans to achieve these. Overall the book includes 21 key suggestions – 1 per chapter and this summary briefly explains each one. Our team has picked up following 12 out of 21. 1. Set the Table Before you begin working it is vital that you decide exactly what you want to achieve. Clarity is essential for prioritizing tasks and eliminating procrastinating. Remember goals are considered the furnace of achievement. “There is one quality that one must possess to win and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants and the burning desire to achieve it” – Napolean Hill 2. Plan every day in advance Your ability to set goals, make plans and take action on them determines the quality of your life. Taking action without planning is the cause of every failure and yet very few do it. 3. Apply 80/20 rule to everything The 20% tasks are often our “frogs” – the ones we tend to procrastinate on. Often we focus on the 80% tasks instead. Therefore don’t be tempted to start on low values tasks. There is great satisfaction gained from completing high value tasks. 4. Consider the consequences of each task on your list One of the best ways of prioritising tasks is to consider the consequences of doing or not doing each task on your list. Ask yourself – what can I do that, if done well, can make a real difference. Keep asking yourself what is my most valuable task and discipline yourself to do these tasks. 5. Practice Creative Procrastination This is the art of deciding to procrastinate on your low value tasks. That is deliberately deciding to postpone or eliminate these tasks. Review your current work activities and select one that you could abandon with little or no consequences. 6. Practice A, B, C, D & E Method of Prioritising This is a simple method used to prioritise your list of tasks that need to be completed to ensure the most important ones are done. This is a very powerful and yet simplistic method for transforming your efficiency. 7. Focus on Key Result Areas Every job we do can be broken down into 5-7 key areas. These are the areas we need to focus on to succeed. These can be defined as areas that you are completely responsible for and that are within your control. 8. The Law of 3 This law is basically that there are usually 3 key tasks that will give you 90% of the results you want. Make a list of all of the tasks you need to complete. Decide on your 3 key tasks and do them. For the other tasks you can look to delegate, outsource or look for support (where possible) 9. Prepare thoroughly begin you begin It really pays to prepare before you begin working each day or before you begin working on a specific task. To thoroughly prepare you should clear your desk of anything not required to complete this specific task, gather all the materials etc that you will need so that you don’t even have to get up for say a file and then start doing it. 10. Take it one oil barrel at a time The famous Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said “the journey of 1,000 leagues begins with a single step”. When a task just appears to be too big to achieve then it is very useful to break in down (often referred to “Chunking it down”) to get started. 11. Create large chunks of time Most of the really important work you do requires large chunks of unbroken time to complete. Your ability to carve out these blocks of high value, highly productive time is central to your ability to make a significant contribution to your work. And to your life. 12. Develop a sense of urgency One of the most outwardly identifiable quality of a highly successful person is action orientation – they are in a hurry to get their key tasks completed. When you are working on your key tasks you should develop a sense of urgency to motivate yourself to get them completed.
- [Inventory Management - Delivered!](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-delivered/): Faber Infinite and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Indore conducted a training workshop for the industry managers on Materials/ Inventory Optimization and Management, to learn best practices toward achieving effective inventory management. The objectives of the program: – Understanding of Materials/ Inventory management; the need, drivers & the factors weighing it down – To establish the systematic framework of Materials/ Inventory management with different models and guidelines – Strengthening Inventory Management Practices It was attended by more than 30 participants from different organizations and varied sectors. The audience very well received the program and methodology was appreciated. Simulation games to drive the inventory management concepts made the session all the very interactive and interesting, engaging all the participants till the end. Few glimpses of the program are as follows:  Participants in Action: Simulation Game   Participants in Action: Simulation Game   Faber Infinite & Indore Participant Fraternity In today’s highly competitive environment and in these uncertain times, to survive organizations must implement world class practices. Part of this process is to get the “fat” out of your inventories, to be sure that every piece of every product you stock leads to profitable sales. This is where inventory/material management plays a major role. The copy of the presentation and the material is available on request. Join us for many more programs and sessions. Reported by: Mayuri Pandya
- [Training program on "Reduce Cost, Not Margins"](https://faberinfinite.com/training-program-on-reducing-cost-not-margins/): Faber Infinite is glad to announce first of its kind training program on “Reduce Cost, Not Margins” – Advance Lean Tools for Engineering Industry at Baroda on 21 August, 2014. Details of the Training Program: One-Day Training Program “Reduce Cost, Not Margins” Advance lean tools for Engineering Industry Does your organization face following problems during your daily Operations? – High Lead time – Frequent delays in supply of material – Uncertainty during planning stage – Material stock out at one end and high inventory at another end Is the exceeding budgeted cost of production eating into the margins? Is it creating unsatisfied customers and adversely affecting future sales? Faber Infinite’s one-day sensitization workshop on “Advance Lean Tools for Engineering Industry” is high-quality guide to take charge over the above problems. Faber Infinite’s innovative “Fun & Learn” methodology helps employees to understand: – How Lean Management can help Engineering Industry? – Advance tools of Lean Management for Engineering Industry – Designing continuous flows using work pack system – Introduction to Window Planning & Unichro methodology Who can attend? : Planning Managers, Operations Manager, Head of Departments, General Managers and Line Managers Do join for unmatched learning experience and significant take away. Please revert on prashantj@faberinfinite.com for further details.
- [Franchisee Audits: Lever for Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/franchisee-audits-lever-for-growth/): The success of any franchised business depends largely on the ability of the franchise system and the franchisees to each meet the important responsibilities placed on them. For the system, those responsibilities include perfecting the concept, running the system, and promoting concept growth. There is no doubt that franchisees typically keep a close eye on how their franchisor runs the system, to ensure that proper investments are being made into the concept and that the concept is being properly run and promoted. Likewise, franchise systems need to be able to monitor their franchisees for system compliance to ensure brand protection. However, compliance with operational and store appearance standards are only part of what the system must monitor. Franchisee Audit a powerful tool to monitor franchisee compliance. Faber Infinite supported and successfully rolled out a comprehensive audit program for a franchisee chain of one of its prestigious client recently. After the detailed audits were conducted across different franchisees in Pune, a day-long workshop was organized to share the finds of the audit. The workshop was designed on the same lines of Faber philosophy of ‘fun – collaborate – create’. The philosophy of ‘fun – collaborate – create’ enables to make the workshops more interesting and enjoyable. The basic purpose of ingraining the concepts and message in mind of each and every participant is achieved via experiential learning – which has been the highlight of all Faber Infinite sessions. The workshop was designed to make franchisee owners understand their roles and responsibilities to develop the franchisee as well as to provide a platform to seek support required from the factory. The workshop started with specially designed group work focusing on 1. Goal setting as a group, 2. Power plan for realization, and 3. Communication with constraints The audit focused on the current processes and methodology, sales analysis, client feedbacks, lost customer analysis, levers to enhance marketing and branding. The report also included customized set of recommendations for respective franchisee on opportunities to improve. Each franchisee had a detailed one to one discussion with Team Faber to prepare customized goal book and power plan with more thrust on brand building and develop better customer relationship. Team Faber is committed to assist them in all phases to achieve desired results. Sharing ‘Renewed Vigour for Growth’ with all Franchisee The highlight of the franchisee audit is to bring all stakeholders on one platform fostering growth and mutual benefits. As the franchisor ensures set standards for the brand, franchisees can reap multiple advantages from franchise audits. Franchisees get to understand their weaknesses, which they can overcome through the recommendations and benchmarking inputs from the audits. Franchisees may come to know of certain (not known) facts, through the direct interaction with the customers during the audits, conducted with sheer objective of improvements! Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse
- [Lean Facility Design: Benefits Plenty!](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-facility-design-benefits-plenty/): While taking a Gemba (real workplace) Walk at India’s largest bone china manufacturer, huge scope of improvement was foreseen by the transformation project team. Having said that, it is noteworthy that the client has massive space, excellent products and some big names in the kitty to cater in the bone china market. As a part of the transformation journey towards world-class setup, the project team rolled out the Lean Facility Design exercise. What is Lean Facility Design (LFD)? 1. Unique toolkit (methodology) developed by Faber Infinite Consulting, which supports organizations to build Best In Class factory layout. This methodology if implemented, assures that the new plant becomes most efficient from Day Zero. 2. This methodology is applicable for organizations, which are coming up with new plants, revising layouts or expanding current setup. Why Lean Facility Design (LFD)? To prevent all inefficiencies from entering in to new plant To get best in class manpower productivity To lower the total throughput time (time taken for raw material receipt to finished goods delivery) To achieve optimum space utilisation To work with optimum inventory levels (ensuring no overstocking as well as zero shortages) Team Faber Infinite initiated the 14 – Step LFD rollout with value stream identification and value stream mapping. Value Stream Mapping a step-by-step paper & pencil tool that helps you to see and understand the flow of material and information as a product or service makes its way through the value stream. Value stream mapping is basically a visual snapshot of the operations. It is the preferred methodology for identifying the inherent waste and losses within an operation. The LFD rollout further focuses on optimal layout design considering aspects like flow design, capacity calculations, manpower and equipment planning, material (and scrap) handling. The design phase concludes with visualization and risk assessment exercise. Snapshot of Benefits Delivered: The manpower productivity was one of the major benefits where production per person per month improved by 112%, other parameters like throughput times and value adding ratio showed significant improvements of almost 80%. In addition, the inventory at various stages was reduced from 90 days to as low as 15 days. The application of Lean Facility Design (LFD) principles easily integrates the traditional approach to designing a Lean facility. Lean will help to set clear performance metrics at the outset of the exercise to ensure that the facility is capable of meeting the needs of the organization as it grows and evolves. Moreover, in so doing the challenges associated with culture change can be avoided. It will enable the move to make best practice as standard practice. Written & Adapted by: Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse
- [7 Keys to Daily Work Management (DWM)](https://faberinfinite.com/7-keys-to-daily-work-management/): No improvement is complete without sustenance! Implementing projects, improving the current situation, conducting audits for monitoring improvements and changes are not effective unless you start the Daily Work Management meetings. What is Daily Work Management? The concept of Daily Work Management meeting is basically regularly reaching out to each & every person working at various levels so that a structured review mechanism where a formal discussion is facilitated related to details and communication. Daily Management is the system that provides the ability to manage departments, functions, and processes, wherein processes are defined, standardized, controlled, and improved by the process owners. The important aspect is that the management should be done on a day-to-day basis. This ensures that daily jobs and daily objectives are accomplished strictly on daily basis. There is a perfect control system built into daily management, which does not ordinarily allow any slip up on daily plans, activities and results. Business, we know, is now so complex and difficult, the survival of firms so hazardous in an environment increasingly unpredictable, competitive, and fraught with danger, that there continued existence depends on the day-to-day mobilization of every ounce of intelligence. 7 Keys to Daily Work Management: Planning and execution of daily plans on a day-to-day basis by everyone in the organization at each level from top to bottom. A set of tasks and activities to be executed during the day as per a decided sequence on a timeline. The daily plan should be derived from the organization’s vision and mission and the long-term/annual objectives and departmental objectives. These get translated into the department’s key performance areas (KPA) or key result areas (KRA) as well as the job/position descriptions. In turn, each KPA/KRA is expressed in terms of measurable objectives in that area. Since an organization’s annual plans are driven by the external customers’ requirements, ultimately each department’s plan also is focused to fulfil customer requirements. The daily deliverables of each department must fulfil the daily requirements of its next internal customer departments. Therefore, the daily plan of each department and each individual in the department should satisfy this condition. Day’s plan thus arrived at is then the basis for executing the daily tasks and activities. Each activity thus decided must, therefore, be executed in accordance with the daily plan. In doing so, continuous improvements will have to be effected to ensure that higher performance is achieved within the existing resources and with high productivity. Unlock the Power of Effective Work Management Through Daily Work Management The daily work management meetings start with forming tiers, and the same was initiated at one of our clients, a renowned modular kitchen manufacturer. These meetings are scheduled at a fixed time and fixed location and have fixed members to participate in the meetings. The agenda for each tier is fixed, and each one has to adhere to the pre-fixed agenda. The purpose of Daily work management is to make everyone come at a common platform, take charge and ownership of each and every aspect. For example, improving production, productivity, material availability etc, and most important is the increasing communication. Unlock the power of effective work management! Discover the 7 essential keys to streamline your daily tasks and skyrocket productivity. Take the next step to streamline your entire supply chain with our expert consulting services – explore Supply Chain Solutions to drive efficiency and growth for your business. Contact us Written & Adapted by Anand Bhattad & Aakash Borse
- [Workshop on Supply Chain Management](https://faberinfinite.com/workshop-on-supply-chain-management-2/): Supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to manage the movement of material in and out of the organisation towards the end-consumer. In today’s highly competitive environment and in these uncertain times, to survive organizations must implement world-class practices. Part of this process is to get the “fat” out of your supply chain, because in today’s world, ‘Organisations don’t compete, supply chains do’. Faber Infinite along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conducted training workshop on ‘Supply Chain Management – Competitive Advantage to Improve Service Levels While Driving Down Costs’ on 17th April 2014 in Vadodara, India. The objective of the intensive sessions was to facilitate understanding of best practices toward achieving effective supply chain management with thorough understanding of Bull Whip Effect. The industry experts from Faber Infinite trained more than 20 participants on details of logistics and supply chain management. It was an experiential learning with combination of live case studies from the industry, group-work along with the classroom sessions. The workshop gave emphasis to traditional core issues as well as modern best practices in supply chain management. The participants appreciated sound understanding of core issues such as process management, inventory management, and supply chain integration by end of the session. The program was very well received by all the participants from varied industry domains. To learn more about the supply chain management program and similar other programs, feel free to reach us on consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Inventory Management: Savings up to 40% Delivered](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-savings-up-to-40-delivered/): Managing inventories can get really challenging. In today’s competitive era, inventories in the supply chain pipeline can make or break the situation for any business. Hence tracking and maintaining optimum inventories is critical and also it is difficult to estimate where, what, how much is required. Overstocking has issues with blocking the working capital and under stocking has huge risks of opportunity loss attached to it. Recently at Faber Infinite, we worked closely with a client struggling with inventory management and implemented. Accurate and fitting Inventory Management Module based on scientific calculations developed by the team Faber Infinite. The system is capable of equipping the client to understand the current inventory situations. The future state of inventory details, proposed savings in each component, what needs to stored and most important in what quantities. It also assists in deciding how much to order and when to order. The system takes care of inherent delays attributed to either supply uncertainties or demand variations up to 2 sigma levels. With the Kanban system implemented at the client site, the system gets more flexible, responsive and agile now.  Reduction in wasted efforts / wasted time, the unnecessary time wasted in searching and managing excess inventory comes as the cherry on the cake. The scientific inventory management module is industry neutral and has capability to resolve supply chain and inventory issues from the root in any organization. The overall savings in inventory value for the said engagement (after implementation of inventory management module) is estimated to be approximately 41%. This saving is a mix of positive and negative savings. Positive saving is achieved by controlling over stocking while negative savings results are to avoid under stocking. Unlock massive savings of up to 40% with effective inventory management. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to streamline your operations and boost your bottom line. Fill out the form below to discover the secrets of efficient inventory management and start saving today! By Anand Bhattad Anand works as an Associate Consultant at Faber Infinite. He holds Masters a degree in Business Administration with majors in Operations and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering being his first degree.
- [Go Green: Sustainable Yet Viable](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green-sustainable-yet-viable/): To decide to go green isn’t just about the present state of the planet, it’s also about the ever-unfolding future. It’s about the limited resources of the planet. In 1800 there were 1 billion people populating the earth, which doubled by 1922. That 2 billion tripled to 6 billion by 2000, and conservative estimates are that there will be 9 billion people inhabiting our little planet by 2050. Considering how many people are homeless and starving at present, what will that future be like if ways to go green and sustaining the planet and its population are not put into place before that future arrives? Apart from the small things people can do on a daily basis to ‘go green’ with a positive impact on ‘life on earth’, if we want a sustainable and economically viable future, we need to ensure that our industry also does not harm the environment. Faber Infinite strives to help organizations to secure resource-efficient green growth. These initiatives are economically viable while protecting the environment. Team Faber Infinite provides services and expertise to promote & implement ‘Green thinking’ and sustainable yet efficient patterns of production. Faber Infinite addressed the CII interaction on sustainability at ‘Victoria India Sustainability Dialogue’ on 6th March 2014 at Vadodara. The objective of the session was to showcase the capabilities in the Sustainability Sector and concurrently to interact with industry stalwarts of Gujarat, India and Victoria, Australia. For further details on ‘Going Green’ from the industry perspective, please feel free to reach us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Productivity Improvement via Time and Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study/): Recently at one of our esteemed client in Pune, India to arrive at a defined production planning system and for the want of determining the capacities of the plant, Time and Motion Study was conducted. Though basic in nature, Time and Motion study outlines the groundwork and facilitates to arrive at better capacity awareness and robust planning system. Each machine, every operation involving human intervention was studied for hours together. Minute details were diligently noted to understand the current situation. The study was conducted over a period of few days, where the team focused on the methodology to provide scientific and reliable solution to the client. The back end calculations were done, were each and every operator involved in study was rated for his/her current working capabilities. Soon after the study, it was presented to the client to ascertain current capacities and plan for future. The time study exercise indicated that overall productivity for each operation was nearly 40-45%. Various improvement projects are identified and implementation will yield into overall productivity improvement up to 30%-40%. Productivity Improvement via Time and Motion Study Going back to the history and traditional definition of Time and Motion Study reveals it as “Method for establishing employee productivity standards in which a complex task is broken into small, simple steps, the sequence of movements taken by the employee in performing those steps is carefully observed to detect and eliminate redundant or wasteful motion, and precise time taken for each correct movement is measured. From these measurements, production and delivery times and prices can be computed and incentive schemes can be devised. Generally appropriate only for repetitive tasks, time and motion studies were pioneered by the US industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) and developed by the husband and wife team of Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924) and Dr. Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972). However, traditional or basic, it forms a basis for further improvements in productivity and operations! Want to supercharge your productivity? Discover the power of Time and Motion Study to optimize your work processes. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to proven techniques for boosting efficiency and maximizing output. Take the first step towards unparalleled productivity improvement now! By Anand Bhattad Anand is an Associate Consultant at Team Faber Infinite. He holds Masters a degree in Business Administration with majors in Operations and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering being his first degree.    
- [Resolve the Mystery: Organizational Turn Around](https://faberinfinite.com/resolve-the-mystery-organizational-turn-around/): In the recent times, due to tough market dynamics and organizational decline, the need for turnaround/ transformation has become very decisive; however, guidelines on this phenomenon remains empirically and theoretically fragmented. Various global researches, lately, have incorporated managerial cognition, strategic leadership, and stakeholder management and have identified many simultaneous and complex resource-based actions. Faber Infinite has been working extensively in the domains related to organizational turnaround/ transformation, developing a descriptive model of 360-degree transformation. In doing so, Faber Infinite has assisted several organizations in different sectors across various geographies in their transformation journeys. Faber Infinite is delivering a session on ‘Organization Turnaround/ Transformation’ for Maharashtra Solar Manufacturers Association (MASMA) on 21st March 2014 at 1830 hours at MCCIA, Moolgaonkar hall, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune.
- [Faber Infinite partners with CII](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-partners-with-confederation-of-indian-industries/): On the occasion of annual day celebrations (22nd February, 2014) of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Central Gujarat Zone, CII and Faber Infinite came together for cause of visioning ‘Inclusive Vadodara: Vision 2020’. Faber Infinite was engaged for as Knowledge Partner. Faber Infinite and CII released a report on “Inclusive Vadodara – Vision 2020” during the event. To understand the city’s future road map and developing awareness on industry innovation, broadening the knowledge base, skill & technology up gradation and encompassing the needs of youth & society, this will lead to a competitive edge for industries and also generating employment opportunities for the city making Vadodara more ‘Inclusive’. The report comprises of a. Demographics of Vadodara b. Results of online survey c. Expert views of industry stalwarts from different sectors The report was released by Honorable Member of Parliament, Mr. Balkrishna Shukla; the collector of Vadodara Mr. Vinod Rao and other eminent figures from the industry. The event saw participation from industry, academia and press with around 200 delegates. It was followed by panel discussion on the theme topic. Few glimpses of the event:       Change, and the massive opportunities it brings, only increases in pace as time goes by. Ability to manage change provides the opportunity to make smarter choices and provide with the tools to maximize potential. Let’s be open. The world will not stand still. We can neither prevent nor control change. What we can do, however, is position ourselves to maximize the opportunities it brings. The opportunity is to construct a coherent and viable future, out of the many materials change will throw at us. We must integrate, collaborate, pool resources, share information, and work together with the widest range of partners, to make the most of the opportunities. The copy of the report is available on request.
- [The Story Behind Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/what-is-faber-infinite/): “What is Faber Infinite?”, “What is a meaning of Faber?”, “Why Faber Infinite Creative Solutions?” these are very common question I face every time I meet new people. On behalf of my team, I am tempted to share with you story behind the company name and thinking process behind the name “Faber Infinite”. As a team, we always dreamt of creating value for our clients, stake holders and the community around us. We are always passionate about crafting culture that fosters transformation and innovations. The craftsmen inside us was growing larger than us, and then we decided to set up this endeavor, we were sure that the name should highlight our emotions. After lot of deliberation “Faber” was finalized, which meant craftsman in Latin. Of course, we engage in creating sustainable transformation infrastructures for organizations by actually making solutions work at real places than just providing customized solutions in the board rooms. The solution should not only work once but client should be expert to make it work on sustainable basis. Everything should “Just Work”. That’s the simple philosophy which we follow. And there are infinite opportunities to continue on the transformation journey; one has to fuel the creative self. So we needed something which reflects all these elements. Hence, came up “Infinite Creative Solutions”. And, Faber + Infinite = Faber Infinite was born! www.faberinfinite.com Everyone likes the name; every time it generates curiosity in the minds and each time we stand up to our name! We are proud to be Faber Infinite. Aakash Founding Partner & Director
- [Training Sessions on ‘Low Cost Automation’](https://faberinfinite.com/training-sessions-on-low-cost-automation/): Faber Infinite along with The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) (http://acma.in/) conducted “Training Programme on Low Cost Automation” for productivity enhancement on 18th November 2013 in Gujarati & on 19th November 2013 in English in Ahmedabad, India. Participants were trained on details of Low Cost Automation (LCA) as well as Lean Principles by the industry experts from Faber Infinite. It was an experiential learning with combination of live case studies from the industry, Group Work along with the classroom sessions. The objective of the sessions was to facilitate participants utilize LCA to enhance productivity and understand following details: Why Continual Improvement? Focus on customer need Understanding of Value Adding activities Understanding of key ingredients of LCA LCA around the existing equipment, tools, methods and people Areas to deploy LCA Benefits of LCA Participants from varied industry attended the sessions and were highly satisfied with the program. One of the participants said, “The training session was excellent, nice learning with good examples and simulations. The methodology to develop LCA was also one of the few key take away.” While other said, “It was mind opener which will help to improve and implement many things in our organization. It was conducted with very good examples.” To learn more about the LCA program and similar other programs, feel free to reach us on consulting@faberinfinite.com  
- [The Fab Faber Series: I](https://faberinfinite.com/the-fab-faber-series-i/): Book Summary Power of Less by Leo Babauta 10 Big Ideas from the book #1: Simplicity means identifying what’s essential, then eliminating the rest. #2: Focusing on the essential produces the most results for the least effort. #3: You must set limits – they don’t set themselves. #4: Focus on only one thing at a time. #5: Limit your active goals and projects to no more than 3-4 at a time. #6: Establish three Most Important Tasks (MITs) every day, and do those before working on anything else. #7: Batch similar tasks together to preserve your focus. #8: Installing positive habits is easiest when you start small, then build on your early success. #9: Consciously minimize your active commitments, and don’t be afraid to say “no” to new ones. #10: Slow down, pay attention, and enjoy the process.
- [Customer First, Always!](https://faberinfinite.com/customer-first-always/): How often have we seen posters in organizations shouting messages such as ‘Customer First’ or the ‘Customer is King’ How often, as a customer, have you actually experienced this claim? Here is a story of an expatriate, in India, who actually made it happen. In the mid-1990’s, India had graduated from a license raj regime to becoming a relatively more liberal economy. Policies had changed that permitted foreign organizations to hold more than 50 per cent shares in the pharmaceutical sector. This is a classic story of an organization that had been led by Indian executives for decades but was now to be led by an expatriate, since the multi-national European parent had opted for 51 per cent foreign ownership in India. The person appointed to lead was of South American origin, who had had earlier postings in North Africa and South East Asia. He had never before set foot in India. The mandate given to him by his HO was “Transform the Indian operations into a customer-focused one in 1000 days” Let’s call him Victor Fernandez. In his second week on the job, Victor looked relaxed in his office that overlooked the Arabian Sea. Torrential monsoon rain lashed the windows. By then, he had already accomplished his goal! ? How? Victor showcases the importance of execution. He also highlights the power of simplicity. His prescription was: 1. Victor called all the senior executives to the board room on his second day at work. 2. Next, he asked each executive to take a foolscap sheet of paper and to list their customers on the left of the sheet. Of course, each executive listed the dealers, chemists, etc 3. He corrected their perception of customers and defined it as the person who receives the output of the work one does. Each executive listed more customers than the others in the room. It seemed a status symbol. 4. A moment of truth followed…”What do you deliver to your customers?” There was silence in the room. “How do you measure your performance with your customers?” Not a clue. 5. “When did you last meet your customers?” Prompt came the answer…”Daily! In the car pool and cafeteria!” “No, no” He said, “when did you last meet your customers proactively?” Heavy silence. 6. “Never mind”, he said, “let’s make a simple plan. I would like you to list your ‘A’ category customers. I would then like you to proactively meet each customer for 10 minutes at their desk, weekly. The agenda for each meeting will be: How can I improve my offerings to you? Next, I would like you to log what you have agreed. I, Victor, will come and audit the log and action, weekly.” The first round had been completed by week 2 of his joining. He was going to execute the second round that week. And the next week he would request the executives to cascade the same process down to the next level. He would request them to audit the performance of their respective managers, and he, in turn would audit their ability to audit! Quite simple! Victor underlined the simplicity of his process. He focussed on the Plan-Do-Check-Act theory underlying his approach. But that was not all. There was another by-product to this approach. The whole organization learned from the grapevine that Victor spends his time reviewing deliverables to customers. He is customer-focused and walks his talk. Victor had faith in the grapevine for communication – efficient and effective. Lessons 1. Leaders walk their talk. 2. Strategic goals should be simple and clearly articulated. 3. CUSTOMER FOCUS is no longer a choice. 4. Measurement is required in order to control and improve. 5. Get commitment of your people first. Behaviour will change thereafter and, hopefully, attitude too. 6. A robust process can be simple, but must follow “PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT”. “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- [Healthcare Reforms: Yet another step towards Fab World..!](https://faberinfinite.com/healthcare-reforms-yet-another-step-towards-fab-world/): It was yet another day of challenges for Dr. Surana, the head of a Super Speciality hospital which is located in Ahmednagar district. About 290 Km from Mumbai, on the Ahmednagar – Manmad State highway, the hospital is developed as a super-specialty institute with special emphasis on services to the poor and non-affluent classes of the society. Even though Dr. Surana and his experienced team are committed to give their best of service to the patients, like any other hospital or any organization for that matter, this hospital had its own share of issues.  The waste or inefficiencies were all around. One had to identify the root cause, with focussed effort to come down to the solution and then implement the solution in real hurry. Several tools & concepts of Operational Excellence (OE) like Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Inventory Management, 5S, Visual Management, Standardised Work, Poka Yoke – Error Proofing in Hospitals comes in handy. The concepts remains same, the application changes..! The hospital team was quick enough to grasp the theme and benefits behind it. Some of the above mentioned concepts were deployed to realize fantastic benefits. The partial depiction is as follows: As a part of the VSM project conducted at the hospital; 40% reduction was noted in average time spent at the OPD 20% reduction in average distance covered by the patients Space Utilization was increased by 66% The typical hospital environment sees lot of crowd of patients, the relatives, the staff, trainees, doctors, etc. and the new proposed layout will address the critical issue and help in proper crowd management. Implementation of OE concepts had reduced number of issues concerning arrangement and management in the hospital such as: Improvement in medicine management Space allocation reduced by 40% Reduction in search time from around 5 minutes to less than a minute Reduction in stock taking time High standard in house keeping Huge savings in inventory carrying cost; inventory of INR 40 Millions ~ 1 MN USD was proposed to be reduced by 50% based on the scientific inventory management module The transformation projects have shown several tangible benefits and have opened doors for many improvement avenues for the future. The team strongly feels that these above mentioned tangible benefits have paved the road for cultural change and will further improve the team morale, discipline and patient centric efforts. Faber Infinite has been supporting hospitals in the transformational journey to drive sustainability and improvement culture. ‘Cos at Faber we strongly believe that transformation is the way to go to make a better and efficient healthcare system. Considering in country like India or any developing nation, even today the healthcare is not affordable and distant delusion for the needy. Today operational excellence is not just a toolset used in manufacturing industry but it is a management system – a philosophy that can change the way hospitals and healthcare industries are managed and organized. ‘Cos for every penny saved, more patients can be treated..! (Names changed to protect client privacy.)  
- [Faber Infinite - Finalist for Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia Awards](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-finalist-for-red-herrings-top-100-asia-awards/): We are glad to share that Faber Infinite has been selected as a Finalist for Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia Awards, a prestigious list honoring the year’s most promising private ventures from the Asian business region. The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of thousands of companies from across Asia. The nominees are evaluated on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries. This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the actual track record and standing of a company, which allows Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list a valuable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry. Faber Infinite has done a great effort building value and strategic partnerships, therefore it deserves to be among the Finalists. The Finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Asia Forum in Hong Kong, later this year 2013. Faber Infinite is a management consulting and training organization which enables clients to achieve exponential value growth by leveraging the 360 degree transformation philosophy, with key focus on Operations & Strategy solutions. Fabers are the Craftsmen of Transformation journeys “Creating a Fab World”. Faber Infinite has worked with several clients across different sectors like Automotive, Construction, Chemical,  Health Care, Machinery, Industrial Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Plastics, Farms and others.
- [Faber Infinite getting social..!](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-getting-social/): It is the time which says, ‘you don’t exist, if you are not on social media’..! Faber Infinite appreciates the fact and we are revamping our Social Media universe. Please visit the Faber Infinite pages on both Facebook and Twitter (“Like” our page of Facebook and “Follow us” on Twitter). Follow the company page on Linkedin. We will be updating you with the latest information, training opportunities and services for both public and private sector organizations from Faber Infinite.
- [Mastering Operational Excellence: A Bane Called Cost Cutting](https://faberinfinite.com/the-bane-called-cost-cutting/): On a simple note, companies can be classified into two categories, namely, good or bad. Good companies are proactive, bad companies are reactive. One builds muscles, while the other builds fat! Recession or no recession, good companies who have focused on cutting fat & strengthening their muscles (read as internal processes). This they do by sustaining a structured program focused on building operational excellence. On the other hand, reactive companies are left clueless in dealing with the slow down. The general tendency is to react to the ever changing environment. However, being reactive will be less helpful than being responsive. If any company which is stock rich and fat (instead of being fit), it losses the ability of responding and in turn compulsorily has to react to the changing markets. This dynamic behavior can be attributed to the amount of stocks lying in the supply chain. Essential point to appreciate here is that companies don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the slowdowns in the past, that all those manufacturing companies, who had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains, survived or emerged stronger. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the companies are. In contrast, manufacturing companies that had not worked on LEANing their supply chain, witnessed more intense problems. During the tough times they had to drive immediate change in the prices and orders deliveries, which inevitably forced the companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. Operational Excellence: The Cornerstone of Organizational Success Those companies which managed to adapt to the change survived. Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirement. Readers will appreciate that concept of Just in Time (JIT) is very glitzy. However, to reach the stage of Leanness parameters quoted earlier should be considered. And one can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world class companies have different names for the structure. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world class performance. And, at the cost of repetition, I would like to mention that world class performance was necessary just to survive the storm of the situation. Many organizations resorted to cost cutting initiatives and in turn cut the muscles and not the waste. What we intend to say is rather than attacking the muscles, one should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost – benefit and time – benefit analysis of the problem solution holds key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. Now is not the time to get lost in semantics, one has to identify where the value is lost, identifying their causes and rapidly acting to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems which lead to improving the current situation. To conclude, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin. As he rightly said “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly even in stormy weather.
- [Five S Methodology : Implement 5s Methodology to Optimize Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/five-s/): What is 5S Methodology? 5S (five s methodology) is a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity through maintaining an orderly workplace. Also using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational results. The term refers to five steps sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. that are also sometimes known as the 5 pillars of a visual workplace. In this article, we will discuss implementing the 5s Methodology to Optimize Productivity. 5S programs are usually implemented by small teams working together to get materials closer to operations, right at workers’ fingertips. They organized and labelled to facilitate operations with the smallest amount of wasted time and materials. The 5S system is a good starting point for all improvement efforts aiming to drive out waste from the manufacturing process. Ultimately improves a company’s bottom line by improving products and services, and lowering costs. Many companies are seeking to make operations more efficient, and the concept. This is especially attractive to older manufacturing facilities looking to improve the bottom line by reducing their costs. “A place for everything, and everything in its place” is the mantra of the 5S method. The Five s methodology is a simple and universal approach that works in companies all over the world. It is essentially a support to such other manufacturing improvements as just-in-time (JIT) production, cellular manufacturing, total quality management (TQM), or six sigma initiatives, and is also a great contributor to making the workplace a better place to spend time. What type of business benefits from the 5S program? Everyone and all types of business benefit from having a Five S program. Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as those are the businesses that can realize the greatest benefits. However, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant from hospitals to television stations All types of businesses. All areas within a business will realize benefits from implementing a Five S program. Benefits to the company from using the 5S methodology include raising quality, lowering costs, promoting safety, building customer confidence, increasing factory up-time, and lowering repair costs. Ready to optimize your workspace and boost efficiency with the Five S (5s) methodology? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to a step-by-step guide on implementing this powerful productivity framework with Faber Infinite. Take the first step towards a more organized and streamlined work environment! Boost efficiency with the 5S Methodology: Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. This simple system keeps workspaces clean, organized, and productive. Ready to level up your operations? Explore Supply Chain Solutions to drive growth and efficiency. Contact us
- [What is Lean Manufacturing? key points of Lean Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing/): What is Lean Manufacturing? Lean manufacturing is a continuous way of producing what the customer wants, when they want it, at a price they are prepared to pay and using the least amount of resources. The core idea behind lean is minimizing waste, therefore creating more value for customers with fewer resources. A company can reduce costs and keep prices low without adversely affecting profits or quality by controlling the amount of waste generated during production. Estimates suggest that on an average 95 per cent of manufacturing activities fall either under non-value adding time or non-value adding cost. Lean manufacturing tries to minimize this waste and benefit consumers in the form of lower prices. Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer, was the first company to successfully adopt this model. The company’s steady growth from a small company to the world’s largest automaker has made the Japanese carmaker an acknowledged benchmark in lean manufacturing. Thus, the lean manufacturing process is sometimes also referred to as the Toyota Production System. Key Features of Lean production are as follows: Lean Manufacturing Flexible Manufacturing Just In Time Outsourcing Lean Supply Chain Virtual Integration IT Solutions Total Quality Management Companies Going Lean in India Indian manufacturing companies have been increasingly restructuring operations and implementing world-class practices. The companies range from Bharat Forge, Bajaj and Tata in the auto sector to Larsen & Toubro, and Godrej & Boyce in the specialist engineering space as well as Ballarpur Industries in paper, and others in the pharmaceutical and textile sectors. These practices help companies become globally competitive, especially in sectors such as auto and auto components. By adopting lean manufacturing practices, Indian companies have been able to significantly cut down costs. For example, Sundaram-Clayton Limited, one of the country’s largest auto component manufacturers, has been able to reduce 2.5–5 per cent of costs and product prices by going lean. Through the adoption of lean manufacturing practices, the company significantly boosted employee productivity and was ranked by Lean Enterprise in the US as one of the leanest companies in the world. The world’s largest forging factory is based in the industrial city of Pune, Maharashtra. The state-of-the-art factory belongs to Bharat Forge, which is rapidly placing India on the world map for manufacturing. It has embraced a strategy that includes heavy investment in technology, a scientifically skilled workforce, and aggressive overseas acquisitions. Also, the company recalibrated its business strategy and put an emphasis on streamlining operations to create a leaner and more cost efficient enterprise. Thus the Indian manufacturing sector is striving for operational excellence. Companies are restructuring operations and adopting world class practices in their bid to expand profits and become competitive globally. The implementation of lean manufacturing practices in the automotive sector has helped cut costs and improve employee productivity. Consequently auto companies were able to offer reduced prices to enhance competitiveness. Curious about Lean Manufacturing? Discover the key points and unlock the power of this transformative approach. Fill out the form below to gain valuable insights and practical strategies that will revolutionize your manufacturing processes. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to streamline your operations and boost efficiency!
- [Operational Excellence Management and Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence/): Operational excellence is the pursuit of conducting business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, increases speed and enhances flexibility to achieve competitive superiority. From a core manufacturing point of view, there are three pillars of operational excellence; they are production planning & control, manufacturing execution and operational effectiveness of people, processes and assets. Tight coordination among these three pillars is required in order to achieve overall operational excellence. Global competitiveness is placing tremendous pressure on cost, quality and responsiveness to customer demands. Some of the key challenges in the process industry are lack of visibility and control into manufacturing exceptions and events in real time and the inability to fulfill customer orders and carry out production operations in a predictable manner. Managers and production personnel cannot measure, monitor, and control performance in real time across people, processes, assets and plants. Reports and surveys have identified following key pressures for process manufacturers: Need to reduce operating costs Need to reduce process operations variability Global competition from low-cost sources Regulatory compliance (FDA, EPA, OSHA, EU) Inability to meet market demands Need to improve brand value Environmental impact Operational Excellence in Manufacturing Industry Operational Excellence is a systematic approach to attaining world class performance in productivity, quality and delivery of services and/or goods. It is the goal of achieving superior yields, lead time and through-put while eliminating waste. Op. Ex. is surrounded around three main pillars: Production Planning and Control Monitor Demand Monitor Inventory Perform Material and Capacity Checks Plan Orders Align Production Supplier Quality Checks Track Deliveries against customer orders Manufacturing Execution Shop Floor Visibility Shop Order Sequencing and Execution Real Time Data Acquisition Data Mining Alarms and Alert Orders Operational Effectiveness of people, processes and assets Operational Excellence is not a destination it is a journey. Faber Infinite’s focus on Operational Excellence empowers clients to build high-performance teams, foster a culture of continual improvement, and deliver value to customers. Ready to revolutionize your operations and manufacturing processes? Fill out the form below and unlock the secrets to achieving operational excellence and maximizing productivity. Don’t wait, take the first step towards transformative success today!
- [OE the Only Way to World Class Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/is-operational-excellence-the-only-way-to-world-class-performance/): Today all the organizations are faced with a volatile economy, intense competition and rising energy/material costs. Improving performance has become a necessity not just for margin purposes, but also for long term success. Cost reduction and quality/productivity improvement have now become key levers for gaining competitive advantage. It is very evident that today’s race has no finish line it has a constantly moving target. What was world class the past is no longer world class! In fact, it might not even exist in the consideration any more. It is ever evolving target. Similarly all the organizations have to strive for world class performance to excel, in order to survive. It is the pursuit of conducting business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, increases speed and enhances flexibility to achieve competitive superiority. World class performance is not a standalone function but it is a blend of strategic excellence, operational excellence and design excellence. Your organizational performance is rested on these 3 legs of the tripod. So you need to manage all three pillars; equally for the stability and continuous improvement in business. Several organizations focus only on one aspect, leading to a lopsided or handicapped approach. The disproportionate focus harms the organizational transformation/ evolution journey in the long run. It has to be just right for the healthy evolution process which, in turn, affects all the stakeholders positively. All the pillars go hand in hand; example OE will not be achieved unless there is a strategic plan. Strategic plan would be useless without proper execution. Designing the right offering (product/ service) based on what the customer expects is critical and comes before strategy or operations. However, the focus on design aspect is diminished (in most cases) and organizations seek excellence in strategy and operations, only after the offering is ready or conceptualized. To summarize the complete transformation/ evolution / world class performance journey in true holistic manner for any organization is based on the three pillars of the tripod; Strategic Excellence Operational Excellence Design Excellence World class performance is not a destination; it is a journey that never ends…! And as the wise men say – “Journey is the destination..!”
- [Pull and Push in lean Philosophy](https://faberinfinite.com/pull-and-push-in-lean-philosophy/): LEAN manufacturing processes are one of the most effective tools for a continual and sustainable development. They not only help the manufacturers cope up with the increasing competition but also help in creating a more holistic operating environment along with an increase in productivity and improvement in efficiency that guides the way towards a continual and sustainable development. However, many a time, manufacturers face a lot of trouble in with resistance to LEAN. This can be overcome by pulling LEAN instead of pushing it. The term ‘pull’ has a very clear and direct meaning i.e. pulling only those things off the shelves that matters in achieving the desired goals and numbers. Analysis of the processes and controls acts as a catalyst in the entire process and adds precision to the implementation of the strategies. Under ‘pull’ a detailed study and analysis of the production processes help one in understanding the obstacles and flow of work processes. It also allows one to create a dashboard with precise data about the things that are required namely, raw materials, and workforce etc. to make the continual improvement process a success. What we do in ‘pull’ is absolutely contrasting to what we do in ‘push’. Instead of making inventories, planning services and predicting things based on the historical data of ‘push’ processes, one anchor LEAN in the manufacturing processes. It implements the concepts and its practices in the workplace rather than creating a model which would be implemented on the old staircases with weak foundations. Moreover, pushing LEAN is not people-centric while pulling resonates with the workforce motivating them to be a part of the system and steer it towards the goal. Difference between Pull and Push in Lean Manufacturing Pulling LEAN is all about knowing the facts, getting aware of the requirements, knowing where and when to implement LEAN and the technique that is required to form a precise application of LEAN tools. Pulling LEAN also helps the manufacturer stay in the run with the demands. While integrating push processes and controls, one is more likely to lose customers with demands exceeding the capacity of the manufacturing facility. On the other hand, amidst all the other benefits, pull also encourages the sigil of productivity into the manufacturing processes and helps the producer in coping up with the increasing demands. Furthermore, pulling LEAN also helps the manufacturer to focus on the efficiency of the product and keep it up with the standards. Pulling LEAN relieves the capacity constraints from the manufacturer and helps him in observing and analyzing them to observe the difference and collect the data. The data collected can act as a proof and one can motivate more and more people to believe in pulling LEAN and encourage them to integrate into the work culture and manufacturing processes. Getting the data collected, analyzing it for achieving the better and studying it for precise implementation of LEAN tools is what pulling LEAN is all about. Leadership should start understanding this and start ‘pulling’ more. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Leaders Should Talk to Achieve Collective Goals](https://faberinfinite.com/leaders-should-talk-to-achieve-collective-goals/): The world has become a difficult and competitive place to live in and it is very obvious for people to feel frustrated and annoying at times. With issues originating apart from workplace like harassment, political and caste-based divides, irrational constraints on the rise, the humane behavior is likely to be altered by emotions like anger, depression, disappointment and sadness. This is ultimately going to impact one’s work process and his thought processes subsequently as well. Leaders play a very important role in such situations in prepping the team member and pulling him out of such traumas. They can’t escape these situations even when the case and the subject are very sensitive and delicate. Many leaders today face the issue of outside factors affecting their team members and impacting the progress of the group. The only solution to this problem is to have a chat with the employee and help him out of the entire circumstantial problems and differences. The silence of the leaders in these situations can worsen the problem even more rather than creating an upstream flow of work. Instead of getting afraid of talking about these topics one should take a step forward and should initiate a discussion to help him. The same goes for an awkward situation as well. If initiated with genuine intentions for a better understandability, even an awkward conversation can be turned into a soulful conversations leading to a healthier and deeper relationship. Addressing certain issues that one might feel awkward in nature can be completely different in reality and more certain situations. Team leaders and managers have to be mature enough to get over themselves and indulge themselves in such conversations. Apparently, having these conversations openly can make both the parties feel better and clearer about the intentions and their thought processes respectively. One must be willing to become slightly vulnerable to have these kinds of conversations since they require humility and empathy in order to be initiated and continued in an efficient manner. Moreover, one should also be able to convince other to have such conversation since getting permission is the most important part of having such talks with any of the team member. Ambiguity also plays a crucial factor in having this kind of awkward chat sessions with any member or employee. By implementing this kind of approach in the work culture, leaders can also motivate and encourage the employees to do better and be more involved in the processes and deployments. Moreover, motivating them will also help the one affected shift his focus from one thing to another thus adding to the relieving factors of the entire discussion or chat session. One must be able to embrace the awkwardness and should work towards getting the best of a person out for the whole world to see. Talking is the key and the only solution with which people can come to common understandings and work in sync to achieve the collective goals. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [First Star Faber of the Year](https://faberinfinite.com/first-star-faber-of-the-year/): “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy!” Consultants are experts in their fields and play a pivoting role in helping the client organizations thrust its numbers. In a way, consultants are magicians who bring out the most optimum results with the same resources and awes the audience. As a part of iFaber, in this edition, we had a chat with another star Faber Abhijit Wakodikar, who speaks up about his experiences and shares his exciting journey as a consultant. Why Consulting? Hailing from the beautiful city of Nagpur in Maharashtra, Abhijit has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Technology and Masters in Operations and Supply Chain Management. When asked about why he chose being a consultant as a profession and not anything else, Abhijit had an intriguing yet interesting answer. “I like the profile of a consultant. I like to deal with different challenges, day in and day out. Hence, I started my career as a consultant immediately after I finished my higher education”, said Abhijit as a reply. Life as a consultant Abhijit is part of industry neutral consulting team, who has an understanding of various industries and sectors. He has delivered results across more than 30 clients spread across over a dozen industries, ranging from textiles and plastics to chemicals and FIBC sector. He believes that life of a consultant is defined by the rise in his learning curve. According to him, a consultant is never off duty and never reaches the saturation level in terms of improvements and development. “Learning is the foremost important aspect of being a consultant and it is the most interesting part that motivates one to do more,” says Abhijit proudly. “We re-introduced a proven problem solving methodology named 8-D with a customized approach at one of our client sites in Zambia. It was an extremely successful initiative in the industry and delivered tremendous results. Although, we work hard at all client locations and are able to deliver exceptional results to all our clients, this one was close to my heart and it was a great learning experience.” When asked about challenges, according to Abhijit, being versatile in various sectors and having knowledge about every other thing in the respective domain is the most challenging part of being a consultant. Moreover, aligning the management and value adders together on the same platform is another challenging aspect. Another important and interesting aspect of the consulting career of Abhijit is his strong belief in the philosophy – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Abhijit believes that integrating simulation activities along with rigorous classroom session is beneficial since the simulations are the only things that will stay in the minds of the people for a longer time frame. Abhijit also implements this within his team as well and motivates his associates by rolling out similar initiatives. Personal life? Being a focused and devoted person towards work, Abhijit makes best of every opportunity to spend time with his parents. Apart from this, he loves going on treks and involves himself in adventure sports.. He is a very avid rider and goes on rides whenever he manages to get some time off his schedule. He also sketches in his free time to relax his mind. It is a very lesser known quality about Abhijit that he is a writer at heart. He is working on his book for the past 6 months which he plans to complete and publish in the coming year. Amidst all the challenges, Abhijit has always pushed himself hard and has emerged as a winner against all odds. Abhijit was the first star of the year at Faber Infinite when we started the awards. He believes in learning and innovation and having spent a good time in management consulting domain, Abhijit has inculcated various quintessential qualities in himself which makes him stand apart from the crowd. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Delivering incredible results client after client!](https://faberinfinite.com/delivered-successful-results-yet-again/): Packaging has always been one of the most quintessential aspects in the industrial world. FIBC and woven sack sectors have been on the edge lately and have emerged as key drivers in the market. The demand of jumbo bags for packaging has been increasing exponentially. FIBC and woven sack sector is an active participant in the Indian GDP as well and will soon become an integral contributor. Faber Infinite Consulting has been an ardent supporter of the FIBC and woven sack sector and has helped various organizations in achieving a sustainable and continual growth with its structured improvement framework and tools. Faber Infinite’s experience in FIBC and woven sack sector Team Faber has been working across 3 regions and in more than 8 countries to help our clients tackle the challenges and grow profits. We have been associated with more than half a dozen clients from FIBC and woven sack sector with overall productions over 5000 tons per month and more than 500 looms in the production units. Apart from these, Faber Infinite has also helped in training the organizations’ workforce to get more efficient and optimum production which can be sustained over the period of time. Team Faber has trained more than 10,000 people from FIBC, PP woven bags, Block Bottom/ Adstar bags and has always been successful in delivering exponential results to the clients. Typical improvement areas What seems to be the most sophisticated process and control system are more prone to defects that adversely affect the progress. Team Faber Infinite has expertise in digging out these roadblocks and fuel the engines to run faster towards desired goals. In the past several years of supporting companies from FIBC and woven sector, Team Faber has brought improvement in various areas that lacked efficiency. However, some of the key improvement areas are as follows: Reduction in wastage of materials Huge potential to increase the production output (without capex investments) Inventory management Reducing changeover times Improving machine availability and performance Optimizing and increasing the manpower productivity Quality Improvement Tangible benefits delivered Faber Infinite has worked on various projects and has delivered exceptional results. With its structured framework and detailed understanding of the subjects, Team Faber has supported many organizations in achieving excellence. Some of the tangible benefits delivered by Team Faber at various client sites are as follows: An increase of more than 40% in the production with the same resources after Team Faber’s involvement with the projects Team Faber Infinite helped in redesigning the layout of the manufacturing units which resulted in 24% increase in free space 33% reduction in changeover time was witnessed with Faber Infinite’s involvement Faber Infinite also helped the FIBC and woven bags organizations to reduce the material wastage by a whopping 31%. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) i.e. increase in production with the same equipments also saw a rise by 27%. Team Faber also helped to cut down costs by reducing the manpower costs by more than 38%. Faber Infinite strongly believes in evolution and has worked towards evolving for good. We have supported the FIBC and woven bags sector and will continue to do so. We have believed that working smart is the key to achieving the most talked about aspect of 21st-century industrial world – continual and sustainable development. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [KIELIMU - Path to Progress](https://faberinfinite.com/kielimu-path-to-progress/): Transformation journey is one of the key elements in helping the organizations achieve a continual and sustainable development which ultimately helps them grow and increase revenues. Like our last edition of the newsletter, we bring you excerpts of our conversation with another client of ours, who is an inspiration for many. Dr. Jonathan Moss, Managing Director of Kisima Farm is one of the leaders and most dominant players in the Arable farming and floriculture business. Faber Infinite (FI) – Farms are the earliest form of family managed business. Today family managed businesses are considered as significant and important part of the world economy. Every business organization has a unique set of challenges associated with them. These family managed businesses are no different. Can you share few of the challenges that a typical family managed business faces? Dr. Jonathan Moss (Dr. Moss) –I’m the Managing Director of Kisima Farm which is a family owned and to a large extent family managed business and I’m not a member of the family myself. The primary challenges these kinds of businesses face are related to succession planning and to inter-generational expectation management. In the instance of Kisima Farm, the family brought in outside expertise after many years, realizing the lack of certain particular skill sets which might help the organization in growing and expanding its business. Addressing such needs is a typical challenge that affects family-run businesses. FI –We have a subscriber base of around 15000 readers across the globe; our readers would want to know more about your business. Can you tell us more about this art of floriculture that you are involved in? Dr. Moss –One of the things that we do is floriculture, mainly for the European market which accounts for around 50% of our business. It is a very important aspect of our business. We are one of the top exporters of cut flowers to the European market, mostly roses, which are of very high quality and are grown at high altitudes on the equator in the tropics. Kisima Farm is located near the equator with an altitude of 2000-3000 metres. It is because of this that we are able to grow our produce to the highest quality. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? Dr. Moss –In our industry, the primary challenge is to make sure that one is growing a very top quality product.  Agronomy has to be cutting-edge since you are dealing with a lot of potential pests and diseases. Reject rates must be kept low for the business to be profitable.  So, agronomy is always a big challenge. Another big challenge is the market. We export most of our roses to Europe, mostly for the auctions. The pricing on these auctions depends both on demand and supply. So, tackling the competition, and getting our produce ahead of others, is definitely a big challenge for us. We also run arable and potato operations which have an entirely different set challenges. Yields and productivity are very much influenced by the climate. We are also affected by the price of inputs, which has forced us to be very efficient in keeping our costs down while producing a very high-quality product at the same time to generate returns that add value to our organization. FI – Kisima is a progressive organization charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? Dr. Moss –What differentiates us from others is our commitment to ensuring a very high-quality product for our customers. We are in a unique location in terms of our altitude and the rainfall which we enjoy. It adds a competitive edge to our products and our customers can have confidence that they will only purchase high-quality products from us. We also manage the business in a very efficient manner to generate optimum returns. FI –Kisima has rolled out path-breaking transformation journey – “KIELIMU – Kisima Eliminate Muda”. We would love to understand more about it? Dr. Moss –Well, Kisima has been very fortunate to learn from other organizations in Kenya, which though not identical, have also drawn on support from your organization – Faber Infinite. Their experience has certainly led the way and has taught us the way to harness the power of every single individual employee, and to converge our thought processes towards achieving company objectives. We have also been very pleased with the support and benefit we have garnered from Faber Infinite. We recognize the huge potential to cut costs, increase efficiencies, increase productivity, and harness the power of every employee – all of whom are also a part of this journey and working towards achieving excellence. FI – Can you please share your overall feedback about team Faber and your experience so far with the organization? Dr. Moss – We certainly are very pleased with the results we have managed to achieve with the support of Faber Infinite. We are very grateful for their valuable insights which have helped us in a number of ways. We think Faber is particularly valuable because of the specific tools they have managed to teach us, and help us in sustaining, as we move forward with the journey. Consultants like Vishal Kulkarni and Abhishek Pandey have really helped us, given their experiences in similar sectors and ability to provide us with insights that were quintessential for us. We thank Dr. Jonathan Moss and team Kisima Farms for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Develop Leadership teams to craft excellence and growth!](https://faberinfinite.com/develop-leadership-teams-to-craft-excellence-and-growth/): Teams that have leadership qualities play a crucial and dominant role in creating an efficient work environment which ultimately adds value to the organization helping it to push through the diabolic dynamics of the market that keeps changing every other day. Leaders of an organization must have some sort of leadership training and coaching for a better and smooth functioning of the upper body of the company. Moreover, the managerial members should also be motivated to go through certain training programs which help them in developing people management skills and get the unconscious biases out of their system. These training programs should focus on developing the skills of the top level teams that acts as an indigenous factor in influencing the decisions of the organization as well as adds to the spirit and confidence of the team and motivates them to work hard and smart towards the collective goal. Key Strategies to Develop Leadership Skills Organizations usually have a very tough selection process and crucial training programs at the lower levels to get the best of the crop. However, when it comes to the same thing i.e. developing leadership skills at the top of the hierarchy, the companies lack the precision and the required training sets to develop the top level teams. These teams have a lot of accountability and pressure to keep the engines going and are given lots of responsibilities. Hence, these ambiguities should be treated more as a necessity instead of the luxury. Furthermore, these top-level teams consist of the same members that are responsible for talent building of other members of the organization. They play a decisive factor in getting the best out of the employees and keeping them with the pace of the organizational development. Hence, it becomes more important for the organizations to develop top quality teams to have better and more precision-driven instincts where the chances of ignorance is close to zero. Failure in developing the top level leadership teams to have the key management skills might hamper the journey of the organizations whilst achieving their goals. It is quintessential for the level teams to implement key strategies in order to gain revenues from the market and that will only be possible when one works on people management skills and leadership roles. Learning is a never-ending process. In sync with imparting learning to the lower level of the pyramid, the top level teams should also be very intuitive and motivated towards learning and other relative factors. Below are the three factored themes which upon intervention by the top team can help in the improvement processes. Personal effectiveness – Improvement in the personal effectiveness of the leadership is a crucial part that will engage more resources for better results. Here, the key is to focus on self and authenticity. Leaders have to analyze themselves and should be able to look through in order to achieve the transformational processes in the organization to achieve sustainable and continuous improvement. Alignment – Leadership has to work on the alignment of the human resources in order to optimize the workload and achieve the desired growth numbers. Working effectively in a group is always better than and more efficient than working individually or working with bad team spirit. Both behavioral and systematic approaches to the leadership and top teams should be processed and formatted before implementation to have a more clinical touch. New opportunities – The leadership should work on the ability of the workforce to create more opportunities – both for the organization as well as for the team members. The new possibilities will ultimately open the doors for the new paradigms of growth for the organizations. These key qualities in the leadership once implemented will act as a gem in the company’s arsenal. Moreover, these will add to the company’s asset value and will help them achieve more in a shorter span with the deployment of fewer amounts of resources. Faber Infinite has been involved with a variety of such leadership and people development offerings, which helps the client to achieve their goals and grow. Our teams work on “Change Management” and “Learning and Development” themes together with the client’s top / senior management and have implemented numerous programs. Workshops held at all levels and in all areas of the organization ensure that tangible improvements are initiated in the various departments and teams at all the levels. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Quality is the Best Business Plan](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-is-the-best-business-plan/): Quality has become an important and integral part of producing and manufacturing new products in the 21st century. Many organizations have upped their game in this paradigm of production and in order to survive the heat of the competition, one must comply with the quality standards of the market in the present scenario and should work consistently towards achieving a higher quality standard for the manufactured products. At the same time, manufacturers must be able to have quality in their products at cheaper costs, better productivity and prompt and faster deliveries. Moreover, it gives the organizations an insight to benchmark their quality contribution to the introduction of new products. Achieve the objectives of the introduction of new products with Quality Quality is a major characteristic that drives a lot of factors like revenues and market share in today’s dynamic market. With internet becoming one of the key influencers in today’s business, the role of quality has changed drastically in terms of the marketplace. Customers are now more likely to view and test and quality of the product and this trend is bound to grow in the coming years. Moreover, quality also plays an important role in innovation and driving it to create a more optimized and powerful product with a greater efficiency. Quality leaders should be involved more in strategic, collaborative and digital efforts to make new products that check all the four boxes i.e. cost, speed of deliveries, better quality and innovation. Strategic Effort Quality is a significant and one of the most prudential contributors to the operational and financial performance of the company and is confused with compliance perspectives and relative factors many times. A strategic effort to use the insights provided by many metrics and KPIs should be made to develop and build initiatives and processes that can guide the team to its objectives and goals. The top of the hierarchy chain can work as a catalyst in this process by embracing the change and promoting it in a healthy manner among the employees and team members. Collaborative Efforts Quality has a very different process than that of those which commits with any other processes. Introduction of new products need to have multi-role approach and which can have a positive impact on costs and particularly the late cycle changes that hinders the quality processes, especially in the procurement of new products. Encompassing quality with new products is ultimately going to add value and lead to a higher quality product. It’s not an active approach to just put products on the shelves of the stores in a hurry without having them tested and checked for quality. To establish a successful brand name, one should make a collaborative effort of all sorts that is going to impact the quality of the product. It will not only help the company commercially but will also add value in the work culture of the company. Digitalized Efforts The world is going digital and so is the marketplace in a lot of ways. It is time for the manufacturers to adapt to this to get a strong foothold in the quality data and analytics segment. The data collected through various digital platforms can be clubbed together with the analytics by the manufacturers to create a more holistic and innovative product for the market to satisfy the demands and needs of the customers. Role of Quality Leader Quality leaders are the central element that anchors the entire process and ensures that each and every brick is put in place with perfection. The combination of strategic, collaborative and digitalized efforts will have a major role in influencing the results of new products. Quality is a key influencer and manufacturers have to understand the need of producing better quality products at a cheaper cost card. Moreover, one has to keep innovation in sync with quality as well because no matter how higher the quality of the product is; innovation drives and attracts the customer base. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Are you a process driven or people driven organization?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-a-process-driven-or-people-driven-organization/): Are you a process driven or people driven organization? Before we answer that let us understand the difference between the two. A process driven organization works on the concept that is exactly opposite to people driven organizations. Process driven organization relies on the principle of corporate law that treats as a separate entity which has come in to existence. It believes that the existence of the organisation is not bound by the limitations of time, skill and its workforce. Today most growing organisations follows the process approach. It is because they are not bound by human limitations that they can operate across geographies. Such organizations grow in terms of knowledge, operations and efficiency irrespective of the influence of its workforce. It must also be understood that the organization is not independent of its workforce. Otherwise any big organization today would be mega machine and not a mega company. They need the efforts and energy of the workforce to get the work done as well as the basic mental intelligence to follow the best practices. A process organization must be a learning organization. It should have the following abilities: Ability to change as per the environment: A process driven organization will have a process to regularly examine the environment and adapt the changes in the environment. They will consult experts to examine the environment and plan it into a model. This model will then become a process. Identify threats and opportunities: There should be a process to identify the threats and opportunities from the competitor, technology and the market dynamics. Both the factors internal and external should be documented to create the model. It is a challenge here to create a model with the experts and then apply it to the workforce. Agility: The process of adaption should be quick and nimble. Many organizations are missing the opportunity to top because of their arrogance or ignorance. This is also because the examination of environment and acceptance of change is again people driven. To make is process driven is the biggest challenge. Manage the growth: It is said that it is always easy to replicate processes. But as the business grows the processes become complex and few of them become self-opposing. As a result, business is divided into functions. So, the processes will also have to ensure that they manage the complexity to make the organization more process driven and less people driven. So let us work towards making an organization which has unending succession and is not tied by constraints of time, skill and workforce mortality. As W. Edwards Deming quoted – “A bad system will beat a good person every time”, let us work towards building a process driven environment instead of people driven. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [New Financial Year - Then why OLD Bells?](https://faberinfinite.com/new-financial-year-then-why-old-bells/): “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted”. – Albert Einstein India is on the verge of entering another new financial year. With all the challenges faced in the last year, many of us have become a more optimized and crafty player in the industrial world. But progress is only noticed when one moves from one stature to a higher one with greater efficiency, more productivity and increased results. Hence, the quintessential question here that is to be answered before we enter a new financial year is if it is ok to move into a new year with the same strategies and concepts which were being used and implemented last year? The answer is obviously NOT!! One should advance with a better and practical approach towards the challenges that will ultimately guide the organization to greener stats. Replace your old bells! Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Key Result Areas (KRAs) are the most critical measurement tools that allow the organization to track the growth and efficiencies of the processes and controls. The companies should introduce programs to educate the human workforce to be aware of the term KPI/ KRA and should be affluent in decrypting the information through the same. Analysis of the data from various KPIs is a must to do the task. One should be able to note the important and effective indicators with the best results. Data collection and management is the key to success in today’s modern industrial world. Assess which elements of the entire process can be collected easily and work towards it since you will lose interest in the process if it is too difficult or tedious to handle. Make a habit of expressing KPIs in formulas since it is easy to remember and gives a sense of more comfort in implications when required. Moreover, expressing it in a formula gives you the flexibility to keep it intact and calculate in a same standard manner every time. DO CREATE A DASHBOARD! Dashboards are the easiest and most efficient method to keep a track of the data and progress achieved in a particular time frame. A dashboard can also be used to keep track of goals in sync with the numbers and growth. Discussion and feedback is the key element which takes us forward and leads to substantial improvement. Discussions also allow the organizations to gather insights of the team members and help them in keeping track of progress as per the employees’ and organizational point of view. Change your KPIs and its methods through these discussions after evaluating the progress whether it is up to the mark or not. KPIs also provide you a detailed insight which can help one in creating a framework for the future plans and processes that might play a major role in the growth numbers. Key Performance Indicators are one of the sharpest arrows companies can hone and possess in their arsenal. These can help one in a number of ways ranging from tracking data to prying on strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, these play a very important role in decision making and can be very beneficial in influencing the decisions if used precisely. It is a modern and ever-evolving world, the KPIs are one of the best elements that come out of this evolution. Team Faber Infinite has been delivering its unique Performance Management System  (PMS) across industries to improve overall performance of people and systems. This objective based performance management system eliminates all subjectivity thus removes chances of favouritism and eliminates doubts from employee minds about the performance measurement. Faber Infinite’s proven Performance Management System creates a framework to not only monitor the KPIs effectively (across the organization) but also gives 12 opportunities annually to improve the performance. This quality itself makes the framework distinctly valuable and builds high performance teams. Please reach out to our expert team for further details and case studies. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri  
- [World Water Day 2018 - The Answer is in Nature](https://faberinfinite.com/world-water-day-2018-the-answer-is-in-nature/):   March 22, has been marked as the World Water Day by the United Nations. Although the earth has 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water, only 0.001 percent of that is available for humans to consume and use. 70 % of water is used for agricultural purposes. Water supplies across the globe are facing increasing pressures from climate change and growing population. It is crucial to develop innovative water saving systems for the future. This years theme – Nature for Water – works around how we can use nature to overcome the water challenges in the years to come. The answer to this problem is in nature and how we can use nature to overcome the crisis. The objective is to work collectively on the water-related crisis that exists around the world. So let us come together and work towards harmonizing the green infrastructure with the grey infrastructure. Growing more trees, creating new forests, recoupling rivers to plains, and refurbishing wetlands will harmonize the water cycle and improve human health and living. So this World Water Day let us join hands to craft ways to save water and save the world!
- [Lean Manufacturing - Path to Success for SMEs](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing-path-to-success-for-smes/): It is a much known fact that the market is evolving today and is more competitive than ever. This has forced manufacturers to find ways to reduce costs, eliminate wastes, improve services and provide quality products to the customers. This has also added an extra burden over the manufacturers to improve efficiency of the processes and improve productivity levels. These problems have almost haywire every other manufacturers production. But what if we tell you that there is a solution that can help one in tackling all these problems? LEAN manufacturing processes can help the manufacturers all across the globe in achieving their targets and create a breakthrough in implementing and streamlining their strategies rather than opting for others. Although many organizations have often avoided integrating LEAN tools in their manufacturing processes which have led to birth of more complicated and intense problems. This can affect the entire process rundown of manufacturers and can have a drastic impact on the manufacturing processes and supply chain practices. The only alternative for SMEs is to sequentially run the feasible practices from the house of LEAN management, which has proven results. Consider holistic improvement Before implementing LEAN tools and moving towards LEAN manufacturing, one should understand the fact that LEAN is a transformation journey and not a one-time event. Implementing LEAN practices comes with a lot of challenges of which employees fearing to adapt and embrace change is the biggest and the most chronic. Organizations need to address these challenges to create a better and more holistic operating environment for the employees as well as providing enough space to the LEAN tools to grow and produce results. Again, failure to run through these challenges and discrepant implementations may lead to inefficiencies, production delay and disruption in the flow. Stability of the work environment Improvements in the basic and fundamental structure of the processes ensure stability in the manufacturing where the strength of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and exceptional quality ratio are the parameters that regulate the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. One has to get used to and respect the fact that it is all about customer and it is essential for the producer to comply with the demands about quality levels of the client. Devise a systematic approach It is very important for the organizations to map out an efficient implementation plan for Value Stream Mapping (VSM). The mapping should be done in a manner which improves the production processes by identifying the wastes and its sources. Moreover, the focus should be on improving the working and operating environment to minimize the defects occurring in the products due to impacted processes. Identify and eliminate waste It is a proven fact that LEAN manufacturing helps in identifying and reducing wastes and improve the efficiency of the processes involved in the manufacturing processes. The efficiency of the LEAN can itself be increased if the tools are optimized and implemented in a precise manner. One should be open to the fact that every other industry and every other situation needs a different methodology and customized set of tools to be efficient in that particular working environment. Also, it is strongly recommended that organization irrespective of its status should adopt lean philosophy as an improvement strategy. Demand should drive product flow Like every concept, tools and processes, LEAN also has some basic and fundamental requirements. A regular demand driven product flow by introducing the cyclic schedules for improving production quality and supply-chain coordination is one of the key aspects of LEAN. Supply chain is highly affected and altered by the inflow of raw materials along with manufacturing processes with their controls and finished goods. Implementing theses with proper measures increases the knowledge of the entire supply chain as well as the manufacturing processes along with the other relative processes. Strategic Positioning of Inventory Inventory and its management is one of the most important strata of manufacturing of any product on any scale. It decides the rate of the production and moreover, keeps the producer in check with the deadlines. It becomes a challenge for many organizations to maintain inventory at upstream levels. Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but the real requirement. Identification of obstacles Identifying the obstacles and outlining the tackling strategies is key for the production processes and cost effective at the same time. One should make a rundown of the goals and instead of gulping advanced and higher goals, should start with the simple and achievable goals which will later act as the stepping stones for the higher ones. One should identify where the value is lost, identify their causes and rapidly act to fix them. They should always remember that improving the current situation and working for it is the key and should be on top of the priority list. Address the Fear of Changing As earlier mentioned, the fear of changing should be embraced in the organization. This is a very frustrating yet an important job since it relates to major aspects of production like time, cost, interest, and involvement. This could be overcome by integrating new methodologies and trends in the original system and using challenges as an opportunity to make LEAN a familiar concept in the organization and its processes. The transformation framework The framework for the entire transformation journey is a guide which steers the journey towards success. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world-class organizations may have different nomenclature for the framework. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world-class performance. Many organizations focus on costs and its efficiency when the real problems are borne most by waste or any process and its controls. These organizations have to bring a wholesome change and in their
- [3 Golden rules to keep employee motivated](https://faberinfinite.com/3-golden-rules-to-keep-employee-motivated/): At one point or other, everyone has gone through a phase where they lose their motivation because of certain circumstances and become slightly sluggish. To be honest, it is very frustrating; both for the person as well as for the leader. Most of the times, this leads to unproductivity which makes it harder to sympathize with the member of the team. In this article, we will discuss 3 golden rules to keep Employee Motivated. As a leader of the team, managers should keep themselves open to such situations and instead of sitting back and waiting for the person to gorge upon his / her emotional infringements; he/she should dig out the reasons behind the loss of interest of the employee/s. As employees, and more importantly as humans, feeling motivated is one of the key aspects that drive the entire thought process as well productivity cycle of an individual. The feeling of being motivated makes one open to new learning and will ultimately add to his soft skills. Humans are supposed to work by Exploring, Experimenting and Learning and being motivated acts as a catalyst in this entire process. Leaders play an important role in keeping the employees motivated and passionate about what they do. Leaders can be the best solutions for the employees stuck up in something that keeps pulling them down. Motivate people to express themselves Many philosophers all around the world have reminded us again and again about the benefits of expressing oneself and show the world what they really are. Yet, many of us are still stuck up in the upper and juicy strata of the society and work in order to fit into it rather than moulding it for one’s own benefits. Everyone wants to try new things and make optimum use of their skills and talents. Leaders here can play a crucial role in helping the employees be their best selves without changing their entire job profile. Employees want to have a value for their skills and are in constant need to feel their need through evaluation and other relative factors. It is ultimately the job of the leaders/managers to keep this up with the wagon of the productivity in the work culture. Golden rule of Experimentation The second way of motivating people and keeping them passionate towards what they do is by creating a special “safe zone” that allows them to mingle and socialize with other people while keeping their focus on work as well. These zones will help the employees in creating a bond with the other members of the team and will help them in controlling their anxiety and anger. These zones created by the leaders of the team also help him in adding the creativity quotient to the entire project by increasing the flow of intrinsic motivations which uncurtains the creative aspect of the individual. This also makes the processes more fast and deterrent from obstacles and failures by providing feedbacks and responses. What is the Purpose? The purpose is the most important pillar that helps in keeping the flag up. The feeling of purpose does not come simply by putting goals on the board. It comes in existence when the employees see the impacts he created by his inputs which contributed something in the progress of the team or of the organization. This feeling of being a part of something progressive and developing helps the employee in keeping up with the developments and allows himself to create his own space and frame. Moreover, the motive of having a purpose works best when the employees get a chance to be in contact directly with the group or individuals their work is impacting on. It is a very crucial task to keep the team members passionate about their work and keep them going on it for a longer duration of time. For leaders, the priority should be to keep the emotional performance of the team balanced and help the employees explore their hidden potential. All it takes is a full-focused effort by the leaders and managers help the people tap into the energy of theirs. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Go Smart !](https://faberinfinite.com/go-smart/): Digital manufacturing is taking over the world as we talk about it. The world is getting ‘smart’ and so is the manufacturing sector all around the globe. We are going to cover the journey and important checkpoints involved in the journey of becoming a digital manufacturer in this blog of Transformation Tuesday. Cybersecurity is a must If you are getting smart, the first and foremost step to proceed is to get cybersecurity. The more you go digital, the more it increases the need for a safe platform to do business. It is really important that you provide a safe and secure platform to your clients, users, investors and suppliers on the digital platform to have a profound impact on your business. Get to know what is smart manufacturing One should know what it is before getting into it. Smart manufacturing is a subset of manufacturing that covers a broad range of aspects of manufacturing and integration of technology that correlates manufacturing to employing computer controls and adaptability. It is an aggravated use of advanced artificial intelligence to ensure a better and more efficient production session. Realize the viabilities of smart manufacturing If the latest trends are to be followed, many manufacturers all across the world have now started to use smart technologies and have integrated them into their manufacturing divisions. The investment in this sector is booming and smart manufacturing is likely to flow down through any supply chain in the coming years. Many experts are already comparing it to the likes of LEAN tools and ISO 9001 requirements and have already put smart manufacturing in the ‘crucial list’. Analyze the present scenario around you Analyze the trend of smart manufacturing around you and evaluate the results the integration is going to give for your business. However, many manufacturers have already started using advanced technologies to collect data for their businesses, basically for inventory and warehouse tracking, scheduling, purchasing, inventory control and many more. Although, all this can only turn profitable for your business if you have precisely analyzed your surroundings for the viability of these advancements. Build inventory and go smart The last and final step involves building inventory and integrating the computer controls and systems into your manufacturing units for designs, resource planning and other processes. These basic advancements are the building blocks in the journey of gong smart. Moreover, connect these systems for data access and monitoring as you move ahead on the journey. Also, benchmark your company and your products as ‘smart’ in order to gain access to the ‘smart manufacturing’ paradigm. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [RESPECT for people!](https://faberinfinite.com/respect-for-people/): Change movement is one of the most looked out concepts in today’s corporate world. With everyone rushing towards excellence and running various projects in order to achieve continual and sustainable development, change management has become a very subtle and effective notion to bring transformation in the organization. But wait! Can change management reach its fate just because of the concept and its processes? The answer is NO! There is a key component in change management that plays a very peculiar and intrinsic role in building the paths that will lead the organization towards success. RESPECT for people! Change is the immutable law of life and along with inevitability; change also brings various unprecedented effects. Many times, it becomes very difficult for people to adopt the change and embrace it throughout the transformation journey. Respect people and their opinions! Whenever we talk about change, one thing we always underrate is ‘people’. It is always the involvement of people which decides the route of the entire change management process and steers it to its destination. A leader’s job is to come up with the strategies for what to do and how to do. Although it is people who actually implement the plans and mould them to adjust to the changed environment. Hence, it is very important to respect people in any kind of change management process. Leading and managing change management processes in an organization is not an easy task. It all depends on the ability of the organization to adapt to the changes and move forward with it in sync with the change management and other relative processes. Although before implementation of any change process, it should be consulted with the employees and resources that come from different backgrounds and with diverse cultures incorporated in their daily work style. Disagreements should be welcomed and insights should be gathered from the very bottom of the organizational structure. It is a time consuming yet an effective way of finding and comparing opinions and coming out with a more optimum solution. For example, if the organization wanted to implement tools like 5S, it should be discussed with the team before acting on it. If the team members are not sold, their opinions should be respected and the reason for their disagreement should be found out by the means of healthy discussion. Investing in respect towards employees can have various consolidated collateral benefits as well. There are many global organizations that are actively embarking and encouraging practices that inculcate the basic tenets of respect in all its members. Many large companies who are very successful in the market already promote and talk globally about the concept of respect towards people and the positive impacts it has managed to generate in the workplace and among the workforce. We need to respect people and empathize with them. Respecting people and their stances on various issues and topics is the first chapter in the change management process. This quality to respect people once incorporated stays with the member even after his paths are separated with the organizations. Change management can be envisioned and cultured in a smooth and holistic environment by respecting the people as we initiate the change management process. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Change Management is Data Driven](https://faberinfinite.com/change-management-is-data-driven/): Data science is the future and is slowly becoming one of the key pillars to drive change management in any organization. Some may say that it is yet to arrive and there is a lot of time to prepare for the change, but in reality, now is the time for the companies to gear up and prepare themselves for this next big change. Companies well prepared in the next decade with a clear vision of collecting the right kind of data and an efficient analytics system will be the one leading and influencing the market in the coming days. Get to know the engagement of your employees Employee engagement is a very relevant factor that drives change mange management. In today’s digital world, real-time employee opinion tools are replacing the old-fashioned tools such as surveys and polls. Engaging your employees in feedbacks will ultimately optimize the process and help in rapid learning processes with better communication. Moreover, this will ultimately generate trust and confidence of the team members towards each other and will foster better relations. Capturing data from the ongoing change projects Every other organization is very careful and observant with even minor shifts in processes like OEE, inventory management, productivity improvement etc. However, very few keep records of different projects in order to bring or achieve a change in the organization. Projects can be anything, but there are certain similarities that drive the entire projects and in order to bring change, data from these processes are the sole driver that pumps the numbers and help the team in capturing the opportunities. Track data to choose the influencers for the change Data has been used by companies for decades now to select people for senior roles. This is a very crucial factor that influences the entire change management since it is associated with the leadership. If every team member along with the leader goes through a skill analysis process before any project, the data obtained will become the foundation that can be analyzed further to check what leads to successful change projects. This will also help the organizations optimize their search processes for selection of candidates for any other roles as well. Dashboard – A tool to bring insights Dashboards can bring important insights and inputs that can thrust the change management processes by keeping a detailed record of company’ goals, its future plans, and reflecting their priorities. Many companies do not collect this data though it is already available. Dashboards can come very handy in simplifying sophisticated projects and using the collected data to provide the right information to the right people to make more informed decisions. Collecting data will enable the companies in producing a more profound and leak-proof model which will accelerate the associate programs and help the organization in achieving their goals. It is much more than kaizen and organizations have to start understanding this. It is better to sow seeds now than to worry about it ten years later. We agree that establishment of such tools will take time but precaution is always better than the cure and hence, companies should start building dashboards and implementing these tools in their organizations for change projects, because believe it or not, change management now is more data-driven. And, if you are not prepared, someone else will outrun you.
- [Building Competitiveness in Kenya - Big Four Agenda](https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-in-kenya-big-four-agenda/): The government of Kenya has launched the much talked ‘Big Four’ campaign in order to create more jobs and achieve economic prosperity. President Uhuru Kenyatta aims to shift the focus on economic development with this campaign and have already urged all the ministers to strongly support the Big Four plan. What is Big Four agenda? The Big Four – food security, affordable housing, jobs in the manufacturing sector and affordable healthcare – are the pillars on which President Kenyatta’s vision to transform Kenya economically rests on. The campaign is an initiative by the Kenyan government which focuses on creating a richer and prosper economy of the country in this new term of their administration. It aims to create more than 1.3 million jobs in the manufacturing sector by the year 2022. The Uhuru Kenyatta administration wants to achieve this with the expansion of the Blue economy, Agro-processing, Leather and textiles. The government also plans to achieve a 100 percent health and medical coverage for every Kenyan by expanding NHIF in this term of governance. Also, the government wishes to ensure food security and provide affordable housing facilities to the Kenyan public. Organizational Transformation and its role in achieving these targets Organizational Transformation has a very important and major role to play in helping the government of Kenya achieve these targets and fulfill the ‘Big Four’ agenda as well as grow at the same time. All these targets have a common aspect that needs to be addressed before the Kenyan public starts seeing any kind of progress in the campaign – which is efficiency. The need to improve the efficiency of various processes with relations and linkages to growth, subsequent gains from technological advancements with simultaneous absorption and deployment of effective change management frameworks are some of the key drivers that will act as a pillar in the entire process and will influence the results of the entire campaign. To make this campaign accelerate and become accessible by every Kenyan, these points must be touched and explored while making optimum use of resources. Organizational Transformation is a journey that helps one achieve continual and sustainable development. It should never be mixed with an off initiative and people should embrace the journey of transformation to achieve eminence and transcendence. Organizations that have pursued this journey and have nurtured Organizational Transformation and have been able to leverage their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. Organizational Transformation delivers compelling business outcomes when pursued correctly. Faber Infinite has been a very active participant in promoting Organizational Transformation to bring out the optimum efficiency of the organizations and its resources. We have helped a number of organizations in creating a very holistic and comprehensive work environment with its copyrighted structured Organizational Transformation Framework©. At Faber Infinite, we believe in ‘Big Four Agenda’ and will always support the dream of making Kenya more competitive. Let us take a pledge to make Kenya more competitive and support the Big Four agenda. We believe in the vision of honorable President and support the sole motive of making Kenya a leader on the map of Africa. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Let Us Reinforce Safety!](https://faberinfinite.com/let-us-reinforce/): “Safety is Gainful, Accident is Painful!” Safety has been one of the most underrated aspects of today’s industrial world. However, safety is the key component that drives the organization towards development and excellence. Safety is not only limited to preventing mishaps and accidents but, also covers the entire paradigm of protecting the human workforce that works in sync with the machines towards creating a sustainable and green environment. Safety promotes efficiency and the feeling of being protected motivates the team members and brings out the optimum results. Organizations need to understand how quintessential role safety measures play in the transformation processes to achieve a continual and sustainable development. On this National Safety Week, let us take a pledge to promote safety measures and to inculcate them at our workplaces to minimize the dangers and health hazards. Let’s learn safety and be a Safety Apprentice! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Multitasking is a Myth](https://faberinfinite.com/multitasking-is-a-myth/): In this modern world with bustle, agitation and urgency, multitasking has become a very common way to respond to the increasing demands of people. With the increasing competition, people tend to multitask more in order to optimize efficiency and improve productivity believing that multitasking is necessary in order to achieve success in life. However, the reality is, there is no such thing as multitasking. The human mind is indeed capable of doing two or more things at the same time. But what it is not capable of is to concentrate on both the tasks at the same time. Many neuroscience researches suggest that human brain is not programmed to do multiple tasks simultaneously as we all think it did. Switching to other tasks quickly is a rough process for the brain and rather than saving time, we end up spending more time while multitasking with more mistakes and depleting more energy than what was required. One might argue the fact that the quality of the work one does decrease with multitasking and he/she ends up making more and more mistakes. Multitasking also reduces the capability of the human mind to remember the details and compresses the human capability for optimum productivity and growth. The Next Step – Find your principle task Performing multiple tasks at one time does not produce better results and in a shorter span of time. Doing one thing at a time with precise measures is something that produces quality and better results. One has to understand this and have to be consistent and accurate in choosing his principal tasks and anchor the rest of his work around it. Choosing a principal task here does not mean that one cannot do any other thing, it just means that one has to dedicate oneself to that one task and should focus and concentrate on it to get it done on non-negotiable terms. Choosing one principal task and anchoring the subordinate tasks around it is important because it helps the planner and the performer manage his work more efficiently while concentrating on one task at a moment thus driving in the right direction towards achieving the desired goal. Busy? What does that even mean? The competition is growing with each passing day and so is the hectic lifestyle of people nowadays. We have actually fallen into a trap where without being overworked we will have a hard time to survive. This has subsequently forced us to multitask thinking we are doing something really productive and meaningful. Many people might say that they are adding value to their life by being busy and are actually doing something worth with all the hectic lifestyle they have incorporated into their daily routine. Although, we must think about it twice and believing it is nothing more than assuring ourselves and finding an escape from the joke that we are actually doing something. People who do the best of the work and who are the leaders in their respective fields have not mastered multitasking but have developed their ability to craft one task to perfection and will say no to the distractions that might force them to pivot from their goal. One must learn to avoid the busy lifestyle and instead work on the processes on how he can develop the skills to create a more sustainable and procuring craftsman in oneself. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [The Key to Productivity - Work Smarter not Harder!](https://faberinfinite.com/the-key-to-productivity-work-smarter-not-harder/): Productivity has been one of the major concerns for manufacturers all across the globe. Countries all across the globe claim to be the best in one thing or another, be it Germany and their cars, Japan and their electronics or United States of America and their technology. It is completely agreeable that work has a direct correlation with productivity but, the question that arises here is: does more work needs to be done in order to achieve more productivity? Although, in an analysis of most productive countries like Luxemburg ($68.47 productivity per person per hour), Norway ($52.50 productivity per person per hour) and Switzerland ($50.08 productivity per person per hour), it was found that workers in these countries worked relatively a lower amount of time at work but came up with a higher amount of productivity, which means a relatively higher amount of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita.[Source: https://howmuch.net/articles/worlds-most-productive-countries] Why! The 40-hour week rule is definitely overrated and has been criticized over the years by many. This slowly eradicates the work-life balance of the employees rather than preserving it. Unorganized work hours are another reason why productivity takes a dip on the charts for many countries. This also forces the employees to take leaves in order to meet their outside commitment and goals or targets. Lower levels of infrastructural development and lack of access to technology is another major reason why productivity falls down. The absence of proper infrastructure hinders the work processes. Furthermore, the lack of access to technology also slows down the controls and processes. Work Smarter, not harder! The prejudice of working longer for better productivity has slowly started going down the drain. Many might believe in overtimes and long working hours for improved productivity, however, according to a research, working longer may be doing more harm than good to the productivity. It gives air to the already claimed stats that working long hours deteriorates the health of the worker and thus acts as a setback in achieving higher productivity. Some might even say that long working hours facilitates in value addition and relative processes, but the reality is that many other business skills ranging from communication to decision making are highly impacted by the fatigue and tiredness caused by these excessive hectic working hours. Moreover, this stress and fatigue also increase the chances of errors, accidents and sickness which further incurs additional costs on the employer. Road ahead Productivity has always been considered as a vital parameter to calculate the growth and progress of a country. Whether it is a case of reducing the higher working hours for providing the much-needed relaxation period to the employees or providing enough infrastructures as per the market standards, steps must be taken to improve the productivity. Moreover, technology must not be left out here as the advancements in this sector will act as a pillar for the manufacturing sector as well as for any other sector. The opportunities are yet to be explored and in order to achieve excellence; we must start to move around this stratum. Team Faber has helped clients across industries ranging from complex engineering industry where the client is one of the largest manufacturers of cryogenic tanks to textile machine manufacturing industry to the ceramic manufacturing industry. Faber has helped them with an immense improvement in productivity without incurring any additional cost. The tools and approaches are implemented in such a way that it meets the clients’ needs, giving them the maximum returns on investment. These solutions and concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed in your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri For other articles related to productivity click here: https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-improvement-is-inversely-proportional-to-cost-incurred-a-myth/ https://faberinfinite.com/manpower-productivity-improvement/ https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study-a-robust-planning-system/ https://faberinfinite.com/rising-labour-productivity-of-india-pushing-it-to-conquer-the-modern-world/ https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-productivity-to-help-india-lead-the-world/ https://faberinfinite.com/increase-productivity-without-incurring-additional-cost/ https://faberinfinite.com/4-point-blueprint-to-improve-manpower-productivity-by-18/
- [4 Steps to Solve Tough Chronic Problems](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-solve-tough-chronic-problems/): This approach is a problem solving technique which leads the team to the core issue of the problem and determines a precise and particular way to get it off the road and prevent its recurrence. This approach is an exceptional way of adding quality and reliability to the products, if there are any defects. This methodology has now become very popular in the market among the manufacturers because of its ease in approach, reliability and effectiveness. It is a team-oriented problem-solving approach which facilitates the organization in solving critical issues that hinder the footsteps of the company in achieving excellence. Why apply this approach? The approach offers a very consistent and easy-to-learn approach that subsequently assists in solving the problems that might arise in any part of the manufacturing process. Moreover, it assists the familiarity with the structure of problem-solving and improves the understanding of basic statistical tools for problem-solving processes. It also increases the communication and trust among the team and enhances the co-operative behavior in the team. How to apply this approach? When it comes to implementation, many people will have this question banging the doors of their heads. Below is the list of 4 steps to solve chronic problems. Problem definition Initially, focus on defining the entire problem and attaining the data to for future comparisons and analysis. An adequate definition of a problem itself is equal to half of the solution of the problem. It helps the team in understanding the nature of the problem, both internally as well as externally.  Temporary countermeasure Temporary countermeasure or Interim containment action is a correction plan implemented on a temporary basis to protect the interests of the customer before it gets too late. The countermeasures are the systematic search and the process of fencing the core from suspected and non-conforming products and processes throughout the supply and delivery chain. This problem-solving methodology is used to report/track holds and containments in action. Temporary containment is more than just getting the products safe. It also assists in sorting, layered inspection or rework that helps in creating a detailed outline of the possible systems and controls which might have gone south. Moreover, the temporary counter measure has to last until a permanent action plan is implemented in place. Permanent counter measure It is always necessary that we maintain the gain. A permanent corrective action has to address the root cause of the problem and should be able to clear it at any cost. Moreover, for a successful implementation and validation of a permanent counter measure, a whole lot of precise planning is required. To follow up, a suitable candidate for Quality Manager should be picked up with interests in the project who was not a part of it during implementation and validation of the entire counter measure. Recognize the team and celebrate Every team requires motivation and encouragement to boost their confidence Recognize the team and celebrate and morale that ultimately helps them in working more efficiently and effectively. After a successful implementation, it is the job of the management to provide a feedback for satisfactory closure of the team. Also, recognizing the team for its achievements and rewarding them for their work will only push them and other members to work more and work hard, which will sooner or later help the organization in garnering their interests. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Do's and Dont's of Quality Circle](https://faberinfinite.com/dos-and-donts-of-quality-circle/): Quality circles are a part of the growing trend that enables the organizations to identify, analyze and resolve work-related problems. Also creating small groups of employees of the same field participating in almost similar kind of activities. Quality circles have many benefits ranging from an array of field like cost reduction, improved productivity, better quality of the product. And make the work environment healthy thus, promoting trust and communication among the authorities and workforce. In this blog, we will discuss about Do’s and Dont’s of Quality Circle. Participating in a quality circle not only enlightens the team but also provides them a platform to be recognized. However, in order to achieve excellence and win quality circle competitions. One must follow some of the basic do’s and don’ts for a better integration of the circle in the organization. Below are some of the do’s and don’ts Team Faber has compiled from the experience it garnered in helping various quality circles. here we talk about Do’s and Dont’s of Quality Circle. Do’s of a Quality Circle While deciding quality circle projects after considering the customer’s point of view, be it internal or external customers, one must establish the objectives and should be clear on what kind of value the project will add to the end product. In order to do so, one must outline a value stream map and identify the elements which are important for the customer. Engagement of employees in the entire transformation journey is very important to achieve the desired results in the given time frame. Employee engagement should not be lopsided. Both the operators and management should take equal initiatives and should be active with the participation in the activities like discussions and analysis. An initiative with complete employee involvement is bound to push the team towards the goal. The most important factor that drives the entire project and plays a crucial role in the entire work process and approach is ‘coach’. One must find a coach who can train themselves in a different yet very viable manner. Even players like Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer needed a coach even when they were at the top. Faber Infinite has been an active participant in training many quality circles of various organizations and has also assisted in organizing quality circle competitions. Don’ts of a Quality Circle One has to understand the fact that tools are just a medium to achieve the goals. Many times, people are fascinated by the tools and slowly loses their focuses in the goals. However, one should stick to the goals and should constantly try to make the most of the tools to get the optimum results. In simple words, one should understand the initiative and its end results. Stop looking at the local initiatives. In order to achieve your desired target, one must learn to look at the bigger picture. One must understand the fact that improving just one project is not going to help. All the projects should be identified from a holistic perspective. Do not blindly copy others. Anything that worked for some other company in a completely different situation might not work for you. Start optimizing the processes as per your needs and design them to tackle your problems in a certain manner that is compatible with the local needs. Negativity is only bound to worsen the situation rather than improving it. Hence, stop reacting negatively to the others and try your best to jeep negativity to the minimum. Faber Infinite has been a strong supporter of Quality circles and has helped many organizations in tackling their problems by the means of Quality Circles. We have an excellent record of successfully achieving the desired numbers by creating small cross-functional teams and providing them with quality and precise training to push the teams to become the driving force and make the arrows on the graphs move upstream. Ready to revolutionize your change management approach? Unlock the key ingredients for effective change management. Fill out the form below to access exclusive insights and strategies that will empower you to drive successful transformations. Don’t wait, take action now and pave the way for organizational growth and success! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri To read other related blogs click here: https://faberinfinite.com/unlocking-the-doors-of-development-with-quality-circle/ https://faberinfinite.com/acma-quality-circle-competition/ https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-competitiveness/ https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-exponential-results-yet-again/ https://faberinfinite.com/another-feather-in-saurer-peass-cap/      
- [A beneficial epidemic – Positivity!](https://faberinfinite.com/a-beneficial-epidemic-positivity/): “The Positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible!”  Positive and negative thoughts are the two opposite poles that are known to influence almost everything, be it decisions or thought processes. Thoughts are bound to affect and influence our actions. At an unconscious level, whatever we do in any certain situation is a result of what we think in that particular moment. Positivity in the surrounding plays a key role in which direction we push ourselves. It is the driving force that constantly keeps us believing in our goals and pushes us one step further to keep moving towards it, irrespective of the obstacles and problems that may come in the way. It is actually very interesting how positive thoughts can firmly take control over the life and guide the mind towards the goal, ultimately procuring happiness and peace. Positivity is literally contagious and spreads like an epidemic. The same goes with negativity as well. However, it is the positivity that we should focus more on instead of letting our mind feed upon the latter, procuring unnecessary pivoting situations along with distraction and disturbance. A positive approach to any person can also help in establishing a more profound impression on the person. It can come very handy while building a great rapport with either clients or prospects that will come back to you in due time. Spread Positivity Positivity can create a very optimistic environment and could influence the people making them believe in you. It helps you in bringing out the best of any person. Moreover, a surrounding where everyone feels positive and optimistic will subsequently drive the entire team to work more and work hard towards the desired goal. Thus, casting out the marginalizing factor of failure and disappointment. Positivity is infectious and can move other people around you. By being enthusiastic and optimistic one can often make other people follow the suit. It is one of the ways by which one can lead by an example. Moreover, a positive, encouraging and enthusiastic leadership can help one in fostering a profound and holistic environment for the team to move towards the numbers that will turn out to be green on the charts and graphs. If results and numbers are to be achieved, a positive and growing environment has to be provided for the team to work more efficiently and effectively. No one likes to work with a person or in an environment contaminated with negative thoughts since it dulls out the spirit and blocks the flow of energy required to keep the arrows on the graphs green and move upstream. It is all about your attitude and your perseverance for the goal. Failures are bound to come, but what defines your character is the attitude you carry even after facing defeat. Positivity is the precise and more appropriate way of thinking process to make decisions or choose the course for the journey as it helps you start on a high note and stay abreast of the negativity that might pull you down again on the ground. Believe in yourself that you can do it, keep yourself on the right path and you will reach your goal, no matter what! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Time to Celebrate Change !](https://faberinfinite.com/time-to-celebrate-change/): It is time to celebrate Change! Change is the immutable law of life – the only constant! We continue to strive for change. For us, at Faber, Change is synonymous with Growth! It is time to cherish and celebrate another growth milepost. We have moved to new offices in Pune and Ahmedabad. We invite you to visit us and discover our new coordinates located at the addresses below Kindly note the change in our point of operations. Although our association and mission still stand atop, unchanged. Crafting Growth Opportunities!
- [Tariffs on imported goods! A completely ‘fair trade’ practice by India](https://faberinfinite.com/tariffs-on-imported-goods-a-completely-fair-trade-practice-by-india/): Import of automobiles such as bikes and cars have been on the rise lately with the increasing zeal of bike enthusiasts to own superbikes from all around the country. This brings a fair amount of trade to both the exporter and importer country, which in this case is India. In a recent lawmaking session at the White House, US President Donald Trump accused India of using ‘unfair trade’ practices by levying heavy taxes on the import of United States’ motorcycles brand (Harley Davidson and Triumph) in the country. He has been talking about it since he got seated on the president’s chair back in February 2017, but did not name India and was less coy then. “We pay a tremendous tax to get into their countries — motorcycles, Harley-Davidson, it goes into a certain country. I won’t mention the fact that it happens to be India, in this case,” Trump said in the same session. He went on claiming that Indian brands sell thousands of bikes every year in the States without an additional burden of tariffs and duties implied on them and threatened to impose ‘reciprocal taxes’ on India motorbikes and products if the Indian government does not remove the import duties on America made bikes. On the other hand, if looked at the Indian perceptive, the accusation of ‘unfair trade’ practices is completely baseless as there is not any law book which suggests that imposing taxes on imported goods is unfair towards the exporting country. The claim by Donald Trump of Indian companies selling ‘thousands of motorcycles’ in US itself seems a bit contradicting to what the numbers suggest. People who have closely monitored Indo-US relationships and trade practices have already many times made it clear that United States is not one big promoter of importing Indian motorcycles in the state. Furthermore, high-end brands like Harley Davidson sell more than 3,700 units every year in the India which actually is a very respectable number is considering the leisure of the brand and its limited portfolio of selling luxury cruiser bikes. India indeed had a 100% tariff on motorcycles encompassing an engine more than of 800cc but has made a subsequent decrease in the tariff rates to 75% first and to 50% in the third quarter last year. Moreover, it is India’s right to imply taxes on imported goods in the country. Every country in this modern world levies taxes on imported goods to gain revenue; even the United States of America itself collects import duties on goods that are imported in America. This new reform of slashing down the tax rates is obviously going to attract more amounts of goods, especially bikes being imported in India. It will also pave the way for foreign brands who considered India as a potential market for them. It will also help the Indian government garner revenues that will be ultimately used in optimizing the Indian market which will come back as an opportunity to these brands again. India is a developing country and is promoting investments in the Indian market to manufacture the goods that will cater to the demands of the customers under the umbrella campaign “Make in India”. Many foreign brands like KTM and Benelli have started joint ventures in India and have started manufacturing in India itself to serve the local segment. Other brands can also take advantage of this campaign and start their own manufacturing units in India. It will not only provide them a better understanding of the market because of its proximity but will also help the companies in strengthening their foothold in the Indian subcontinent. Photo Credit: Reuters Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Rising labour productivity of India](https://faberinfinite.com/rising-labour-productivity-of-india-pushing-it-to-conquer-the-modern-world/): Labour Productivity has been one of the major topics of discussion in this evolved age of globalization and cut-throat competition. It has always been one of the major parameters of defining the potential and efficiency of an organization/company. In basic terms, it measures the amount of goods and services produced in one hour of labour. India has been one of the most looked out country all around the globe when it comes to productivity, since the nation has the youngest population and the largest workforce than any other country. India’s Labour productivity has been on the rise lately and has improved by 5.32% YoY in December 2017, which was at 4.90% in the year 2016. It was calculated by using the annual Gross Domestic Product per person employed. Growth in labour productivity depends on three major factors. They are mentioned below: Investment and savings in physical capital Evolution in technology Human capital Physical capital refers to the amount of money people have in savings and in investments. New technology links to the evolution of technology and advancements such as robots, artificial intelligence and assembly lines. While human capital means the increase in education and improvements in skills of laborers and workforce. An increase in labor productivity is directly linked with improvement in the above three factors. Indian labor productivity has seen a paradigm shift in the recent years, especially in the last decade. It grew at an astounding annual rate of 5.52% which is much higher than what the country saw in the 1990s which were about 3.05%. The increase in India’s labor productivity is a good sign for the manufacturing industry as it implies a greater production potential. A better production potential implies to a greater amount of yield and more suffixed and quality products which will be offered by the Indian market to its customers and prospects. One of the peculiar characteristics of the Indian manufacturing industry is the dominance of small-scale production units which also includes household entities. Though they are limited to produce in small qualities at the moment, the ‘Make in India’ campaign has infused technology and advancements in this unorganized sector which is bound to increase the labor productivity of the country in the near future. Moreover, as a result of this, unorganized sector’s access to credit has also been improved and is bound to gain from the recent developments. On the other side, large production units have been on the brim and the numbers suggest that it has managed to take advantage of these improvement factors and might lead the global peer in production planning, supply chain management, quality maintenance, talent management and capability building with the subsequent increase in labour productivity of the country. Measuring labor productivity provides a very important and useful insight into understanding an economy and analyzing its trends. It is also important to measure and analyze the cyclical changes in the economy. If the current scenario is to be analyzed, the facts and data clearly indicate that India has evolved to be a more mature market for investments and has shown exceptional potential for better revenues and quality products. At the moment, much of India’s success and emergence in the global market is credited to the increased productivity of the country. Team Faber has helped clients across industries complex engineering industry where the client is one of the largest manufacturers of cryogenic tanks to textile machine manufacturing industry to the ceramic manufacturing industry with an immense improvement in productivity without incurring any additional cost. The tools and approaches are implemented in such a way that it meets the clients’ needs, gifting them the maximum returns. The solutions are applicable across industries and sectors. These concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed in your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Secrets to become an Outstanding Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/secrets-to-become-an-outstanding-organization/): In today’s era of cut-throat competition, every organization is racing with the other to sideline them in the market. However, many of these companies lack the four basic fundamental qualities that will help them stay in the race. Yeah! It is a race today. Transformation Tuesday has always been about how you can help yourself transform into a better and efficient organization. We will continue the same agenda in this blog as well by addressing those four fundamental traits missing in most companies. Clarity Clarity is one of the biggest problems in any organization. It revolves around many factors. For example clarity about the vision and the purpose of doing the things and making everyone join vision with the same purpose to ensure that everyone is working to move in the same direction. Clarity in language is another factor that affects the floor. People should be comfortable in conversing and understanding the information. It is as simple as that. Another paradigm is clarity about your performance. You might be visioning some extraordinary numbers but getting a clear stand on how are you actually performing is a very crucial aspect of the success of the organization. In simple terms, it is always beneficial to pay attention to the bright, lit upside than playing in the dark corners. Focus Focus is another vital factor that plays a key role in an organizations success. It is highly unlikely that all the managerial levels of an organization will have the same priorities and thus has a lot of chances creating conflicts among the organization. Hence, focus on the priorities is an important factor to keep the workflow of the organization uninterrupted. Focus is all about concentrating on the goals and sticking to the plan unless you have to move a bit to give attention to something else hindering your motive. The key thing about focus is not to multitask and avoid a lot of movements and change of plans. Discipline Discipline is a very interesting term in today’s era. Many people misunderstand the concept of discipline as being handcuffed and that sticking to the same routine every day will slowly kill their versatility. However, discipline is an entirely different concept. Discipline is more like an approach to problem solving and acumen and making others use the same discipline to practice in their problem-solving analytics. Not everyone is born a problem-solver, but it can be taught through discipline so that the organization can have a consistent method to get a good solution. It also emphasizes on deploying a standard work method to avoid chaos and the hassle of navigating every other day. Engagement Engagement is a new, modern world lullaby that everyone is talking about. However, engagement is a more fundamental and core value than what is being chirped around the globe. It is more about providing the employees with the skill set and authority to control the environment around them. It gives them the authority to solve problems and master the changes in their own ways. It motivates the turning around approach and promoting those experts to bring any kind of improvement that they can in their expertise to benefit the organization. Moreover, it also brings the employees out of their shell of disengagement. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri 
- [Safety – the most underrated segment of any process](https://faberinfinite.com/safety-the-most-underrated-segment-of-any-process/): Air travel has been one of the safest means of transport in the modern world and has brought the world a lot closer. Safety of passengers and staff has been one of the major concerns for the airlines. To concreter the safety of air transport, several rules and regulations have been established in a place to keep things in order. The airlines also follow high sigma levels to ensure that wheels land on runways every time after they take off. However, recently an airline mishap was avoided in Mumbai skies when two flights of Air India and Vistara breached the minimum distance limit between two aircraft and came as close as 100 feet vertically. The misadventure was avoided by the efficiency of the pilots. This is not the first time when an ‘airprox’ situation emerged in the skies. But the shocking fact that is the previous one was reported in a mere time span of 15 days and in the same state, Maharashtra. Earlier, another ‘near miss’ was avoided a couple of days after Republic Day when an IndiGo and Emirates Boeing 777 came dangerously close to each other above Nagpur. The above incidents teach us a very important lesson to report the ‘near misses’ and reinforce the value of safety in any process. Reporting near misses is an extremely important thing that needs to be done on a regular basis to create a database that might be used in future to avoid the misadventures. Identifying and analyzing the near misses and the reasons for their occurrence is the key stratum to help the company/organization build a solid foundation – a platform that flourishes. Being proactive is a basic quality that drives the train out of the darkness of the scrapes and reporting near misses is nothing but displaying the proactivity to reduce the risks that can potentially harm the implementation of processes. The concept of 300:29:1 Herbert William Heinrich explained the concept of 300:29:1 which exemplifies the safety norms and talks about the unsafe behaviors that might lead to mishaps as a result of ‘near misses’. He explained the workplace accidents and those unsafe behavioral displays that for everyone fatal accident there 29 minor accidents and 300 near misses. The main motive behind presenting this hypothesis was to make the people understand that one cannot directly avoid all the 29 minor incidents and one serious accident with the same routine being followed every day at the workplace. However, one can work on reducing the number of unsafe behaviors – near misses in order to reduce the number of minor and major accidents. Safety is one of the integral parts of any process and needs to be on point at every turn to avoid obstacles and bumps. Encompassing safety measures not only improves the workplace environment but also helps in reducing the imposed time burden on the workforce and prevents them from pivoting to any other factor that may result in discrepancies. Moreover, financial benefit is another factor that should motivate the leaders to implement safety measures in the units. Faber Infinite has been a leading organization in helping the organizations to introduce and embed various safety measures in their sites and processes to avoid the can of worms that might crunch the entire crop of hard work and perseverance in a snap. We have also helped many firms in upgrading their safety controls at their sites and production units which ultimately motivated the workforce to focus entirely on processes thus, improving the yield. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri Image Source : https://www.cntraveller.in/story/air-india-vistara-aircraft-seconds-collision-mumbai/
- [Heartiest Congratulations to Team Strongpak!](https://faberinfinite.com/heartiest-congratulations-to-team-strongpak/): Excellence is not a destination, it is a journey! And Team Strongpak is already set on this wonderful journey of continual improvement, Buyantanshi as they call it.  We congratulate them for winning yet another award. On behalf of Team Faber Infinite, our heartiest wishes to team Strongpak on winning the first, second and national championship at Kaizen Competition at Lusaka, Zambia. Working with team Strongpak has been a real honor and we value our association with them. We wish them all the success as they represent Zambia on an international platform in the domain of operational excellence. About Buyantanshi journey: Buyantanshi means “going forward”. Team Strongpak is on the journey of ‘going forward’ with culture of continual improvement. Team Faber Infinite has been closely working with teams on the ground on various initiatives like skill analysis and development, equipment performance improvement, maintenance improvement, wastage reduction, inventory management and many others. About Strongpak: Strongpak Ltd a member of multinational SVG Group, is now one of the largest manufacturers of PP woven and block bottom bags in Zambia and neighboring countries, catering to the packaging needs of various industries. The company’s sophisticated plant is located in the city of Kitwe – the heart of Copperbelt region of Zambia. With the application of continual improvement principles in the plant production process, Strongpak is able to continuously improve the production efficiency and quality of products. It caters to customers from a variety of segments like commercial farmers; fertilizer & seed industries, stockfeed manufacturers, milling companies, sugar manufacturers, agricultural lime producers, mining companies and cement manufacturers. Strongpak takes pride in being the only Zambian manufacturer producing block bottom bags used for packaging of cement and hydrated lime. Strongpak supplies bags to all the major manufacturers of cement and lime in Zambia, Zimbabwe and other neighboring countries. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Promoting productivity to help India lead the world !](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-productivity-to-help-india-lead-the-world/): Manufacturing industry is one of the most looked upon industry in the country. Manpower productivity improvement is mature in this industry and is led by various MNCs around the world. Team Faber Infinite was there to support one of the largest players in this industry and was able to deliver phenomenal productivity results. As a part of the series cherishing the productivity improvement stories, this time we bring you a saga from the air compressor and mining equipment manufacturer. About the Client The client is one of the leading manufacturers and sellers of industrial gas and air compressors and mining equipment. They are a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions all around the globe. They cater to demands in more than 180 countries with products and services that are designated to focus on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. What were the challenges? Low productivity was one of the major issues that kept the client on their toes at all the time. The client faced some other major issues in the form of the union of the laborers in the manufacturing plant. Moreover, it was clarified that the issue of the productivity also affected the well-being of operators. At the same time, non-value adding activities also added to the costs of the client without adding any kind of value to the products or the processes. The assembly lines were not able to meet the increased demands of the market. High labor cost was one the other problems faced by the client. Team Faber Infinite’s Approach Team Faber conducted various types of study, implemented various tools and analyzed the results to get to the bottom of the pertaining issues in the manufacturing units. We conducted Time and Motion Study at the client site to define the standard time for work based on the ILO norms for ongoing processes. We worked on assembly line and performed line balancing at the client site by calculating the TAKT time for the assembly line based on the demands of the customer. Moreover, we assisted the client in redesigning the workstation to eliminate the fatigue from the processes and improve ergonomics to increase the efficiency of the operators. Non-value adding activities such as search time, material availability, setup change time etc. were eliminated by using tools such as SMED, Kanban, 5S, 2 Bin system, layout designing, incentive scheme and logistics management. Results? Yes, we delivered them! The entire project led by Faber Infinite improved the throughput of the manufacturing plant by 50% while the manpower productivity of the unit was improved by more than 33%. The work content of the workplace was reduced by 40% as a result of the implementation of tools by Team Faber. Labor costs also saw a decline of more than 50% after the transformation journey was completed. We helped the client in designing a total of 10 workstation layouts per assembly line as per the ergonomic designs. Half a dozen assembly lines were redesigned to improve the manpower productivity. Faber Infinite has been one of the very firm supporters of ‘Make in India’ and has always promoted the concept of producing in India, more competitively. During this 21st National Productivity Week, let us all take a pledge to make India more productive and the most sort after country when it comes to quality produce all around the globe. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Faber Infinite promoting productive India](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-a-more-productive-india-to-lead-the-global-market/): Ceramic industry has now become an integral part of the Indian industry. It has managed to bring a huge difference in the economy of the country. During the last two decades, the Indian ceramic industry has seen a phenomenal growth in product profile, geographical spread and value-added products. India is also the third largest consumer of ceramic tiles in the world. In this series of bringing out productivity improvement stories, as a part of applauding the National Productivity Week, we are extremely happy to share a tale from ceramic industry in this blog. About the Client The client is one of the leading bone china crockery manufacturers in the country and leads the charts in terms of manufacturing ceramic products like bone china crockery. The client has made its own space in the ceramic industry with its perseverance and persistence. Challenges faced by the client Ceramic industry is a highly labor-intensive industry where the manpower cost is as high as 40 to 50% from the normal costs. Thus, the biggest challenge in the industry is manpower productivity apart from being energy intensive. The client faced several issues and a lot of inefficiencies corrupted the entire production system. Traditional layout of two floors also posed difficulties and the client faced a tough time in producing despite having a considerable demand for its products. How Team Faber handled and emulsified the processes for smoother production Team Faber Infinite analyzed the entire plant and redesigned it by converting it into a single floor production unit by the means of Value Stream Mapping. We also conducted a Time and Motion Study at the client site to assist in their plant expansion program. This was further facilitated and improved by using the LEAN Facility design. Team Faber worked on various other improvement projects like Manpower improvement and Culture Building to remove the blockers from the road that were stopping the client from reaching its target and achieving excellence. Results delivered, Once again! The manpower productivity improvement project led by Team Faber helped the client in improving the productivity of the plant by more than 100%. This further helped the client in committing and complying with the incoming orders. Also, the in-depth study and analysis of processes through Time and Motion Study at the client site has helped the organization in sustaining the continual development and the improved productivity. Moreover, apart from all these, we also helped the organization in improving the layout of the production unit, preparing Standard Timesheet, Line Balancing and Manpower allocation to further improve and enhance the effectiveness of the existing processes and controls in the manufacturing unit. Team Faber Infinite supports the dream of making India more productive. We believe that India can become the leader of the global market and can achieve through the improved and better productivity. India is the future and at the 21st National Productivity Week, let us vow to make India a more productive nation. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Supporting ‘Make in India’ to make India a first world country](https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-make-in-india-to-make-india-a-first-world-country/): Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container is a growing industry in the country and the demands for jumbo bags are on the rise lately. The FIBC market is growing at a rate of 7.3% and will soon become an indigenous contributor to the GDP of the country. Faber Infinite has been associated with several clients dealing in FIBC and woven sacks industry, assisting in building competitiveness and productivity. About the Client Client is one of the leading manufacturers of a number of packaging solutions including PP Woven Fabrics, PP woven sacks, FIBC Bags, BOPP Bags, Block Bottom Bags, Bale Wrap Fabrics, Woven GeoTextiles, Woven GroundCovers, Slit Fence and many more. Besides these, the client also deals and manufacture PP Wrapping Fabric, Low GSM PP Baling Fabric, PP Clear Sheets and Polylined Woven Sacks. Packaging Solution is a need of the modern and constantly evolving industry and is being currently used in various industries including fertilizer, cement, sand, food grains, sugar, cattle feed, fish meal, pulses, spices, dates, agro products, minerals, resin, polymers, rubber, etc. Challenges faced To increase productivity, manpower efficiency and retention are one of the major factors that drive this entire substratum. Also, training plays a vital role in improving the productivity numbers. Besides this, the company also faced problems in reducing the time span for implementing the changes. Furthermore, the processes also needed to be quick and nimble to increase the manpower productivity. How Team Faber approached the problems? Team Faber has been an active participant and has been known to solve problems like these with its uniqueness and specially designed framework of Operational Excellence. One of the challenges in the value stream was the inability to cater to the downstream requirements. There were inefficiencies at a bottleneck department feeding to one of most labor-intensive finishing function. When the bottleneck section was itself was facing a lot of complications, the manpower was not able to deliver in two shifts. Team Faber identified all the wastes/ inefficiencies that had crept in and actually affecting its efficiency. Moreover, the focus was shifted to upstream input materials and its regular inflow in the manufacturing units. Also, the waste of waiting was eliminated with the help of Faber Infinite solutions. Besides this, Team Faber also worked in the assembly section (stitching section) where layout change and implementation of time and motion study led to phenomenal manpower productivity improvement. Results delivered Team Faber helped the client to bring whopping 40% improvement in bottleneck section production per day. Also, the number of shifts were reduced by 50% and hence the organization was able to save around 30% on manpower costs per kilogram of production. Moreover, the wastages were reduced by more than 30% in the production plant. The company was benefitted with the implementation of designs and plans arranged by Team Faber and also gained financial benefits. Overall, Team Faber delivered a massive 50% improvement in the entire throughput. At Faber Infinite, we believe in ‘Make in India’ and have always supported the dream of making India more productive. This National Productivity Week, let us take a pledge to make India more productive and support make in India. We believe in the concept of ‘Make in India’ and support the sole motive of making India a better place to operate and making India a first world country.
- [Faber Infinite crafting productive India day after day, year on year!](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-crafting-productive-india-day-after-day-year-on-year/): Faber Infinite crafting productive India day after day, year on year! Faber Infinite has been active in promoting productivity improvement and stepping forward to envisage it proactively. National Productivity Week (12th to 18th Feb) is one of the major events organized by the Indian government with the objective of stimulating and promoting productivity all over the country. It is an apt moment for us to share various stories of building productivity and competitiveness from our clients across the country and various industry sectors. At the first thought of productivity improvement, in this post, we are glad to bring forward special story from a leading manufacturer of textile machinery. About the Client One of the leading manufacturers of textile machinery with branches spread all across India with the manufacturing plant located in Gujarat.  It has been one of the leading companies in the industry with clients varying from different geographies. Client teams have also participated in various competitions and have won many accolades at National and International level (Quality and Productivity improvement). Challenges on hand In today’s fast-moving and competitive corporate world, productivity has been one of the most faced challenges by the companies. Client team also faced the same and were needed to focus on the increasing the capacity of their production units to commit to the orders in hand and for the orders coming in as well. Team Faber Infinite and its role Team Faber Infinite has worked on resolving a lot of Operational Challenges and improving the productivity is one of them. Team Faber complied with the requirements of the client and delivered the results with the implementation of its copyrighted Operational Excellence framework. Objectives and the results When Team Faber Infinite joined the frame, the objective was to improve the material flow, throughput improvement and subsequently increase the manpower productivity in the journey so that the new incoming orders can be accepted and the in hand consignments could be delivered on time. Team Faber worked through structured Organizational Transformation and Productivity Improvement Framework and was successful in delivering the desired results. Some of the achievements are mentioned below. Team Faber brought a huge 167% improvement in Unit Production per day (from 24 units a day to 64 units a day) and Manpower productivity (1.84 Eq. Units/ Man-day to 4.92 Eq. Units/Man-day) after it got working with the client teams. Space-saving also saw a 21% improvement after the implementation of the new layout designed by Team Faber Infinite. 26% improvement was seen in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Team Faber also helped the organization in improving the per day production (spindles) by more than 114%. Production by a person per day (for assembly line 2) was also improved by more than 115%.   Along with the staggering improvements in the throughput, Team Faber also delivered other financial benefits to the organization. Few glimpses of the achievements below.   Team Faber helped in increasing its OEE by ~20% per CNC machine. With the focussed implementation of equipment management practices, Faber Infinite delivered financial savings in excess of INR 5 million annually. The organization was also benefitted by savings in manpower costs to the tune of more than INR 8 million annually. Team Faber Infinite has been an active participant of ‘Make in India’ and believes in the dream of making India more productive. This National Productivity Week, let us take a pledge to make India more productive and a better place to operate. Let us together build competitive India to make India a first world country in our lifetime! Note: Please reach out to our expert team on consulting@faberinfinite.com for further details. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Productivity Crunch – How to strive?](https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-crunch-how-to-strive/): Deadline! A word that not only scares but also freights the souls of even the best planners. You have all the resources and manpower required to deliver at a time at your disposal yet, you want the workflow to explode to increase productivity, and you want it now. Well, welcome to one of the most popular conceptual terms in productivity ‘Productivity Crunch’. In this blog of Transformation Tuesday, we are going to enlighten you with the concept of Productivity Crunch and how to thrive in it. One can strive in a productive crunch by following these steps: Create pieces and plan accordingly Work in a smart manner and break your huge list in a small part and commit to them in the allocated time frame. This way, not only you will be able to reduce the workload of the entire task but will also be able to focus on the smaller core sections and excel in it. Also, try to be realistic while planning this entire layout. Incorporate digital tools Hard work is well complemented with digital tools and technology. Advancements will not only reduce the amount of the work the carrier has to do but will also facilitate in automating the production processes. This will consequently provide you with an edge over your competitors. Delegate Pull in the reinforcements when required in an emergency. Push fresh and more capable hands to work. Be the task leader or taskmaster when required and capitalize on it to get the work done. Optimize processes and minimize freights wherever possible An optimized process is the best option to get the results quickly in a shorter time frame. Optimizing can be very helpful in avoiding the pitfalls of production crunch. Moreover, since optimization might require detailed analysis of data, digital tools can come in handy at this point of your production crunch. Work to complete the task efficiently Work to complete the task in an efficient manner providing the best quality. The goal is not just to race the time and complete the work in time. Instead, the focus should be to provide quality and showcase timeliness to the clients. This approach will also help one in client retention in the future endeavours. Focus and Focus Crunch mode in simple terms is defined as a race with time to provide quality work and deliver on time. This requires a lot of attention and focus. Applying only a part of you will limit your capabilities with distractions and things might go out of hand in the final moments. Step out of the box You tend to become very comfortable in your specific modes of processes. These will not challenge you while crunching through the production processes. Instead, step out of your comfort zone and try to experiment and innovate on a parallel notion. This will not only help you learn but will also provide you with new options and paradigms. Promote Green Fuel costs can also contribute to production crunch. Reducing your fuel cost by applying the “Go Green” principle in the unit can facilitate cash flow in other chains like logistics and manpower. With a clear mind, discipline and encouragement, crunch – be it in production or any other chain can help you in reaching your goals and escalate the process rate and control module functionality. Although, one should definitely not make a habit of crunching processes and exercises, instead work on time and avoid delays and hassle. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Plastic Industry needs to pull up its socks!](https://faberinfinite.com/plastic-industry-needs-to-pull-up-its-socks/): Plastic is one of the fastest growing industries in India. It has been one of the top contributors to the Indian economy and plays a very vital role in influencing it. After making a promising start in the year 1957, the plastic industry in India has grown and diversified rapidly. Analyzing the current scenario of the Indian plastic industry, the numbers are bound to witness an unprecedented and explosive growth in the next two decades in all the sectors of plastic industry – the demands, long term constructive goals and a time-bound action program. As we witness 10th edition of PlastIndia Exhibition, lets take a pause to reflect on the future of the plastics industry and excellence in plastic industry. Improvement Overview in the Plastic Industry There are several areas in plastic industry that are overlooked when talked about improvement and transformation. Improvement in productivity with reduction in wastes is one of the noisiest problems that ring the ears of the authorities. Apart from this inventory management and improvement in OEE are some other problems which are affecting the plastic industry on a very broad level. The plastic industry also needs a persuasive and compatible designing along with improvement at workplace. Equipment are the backbone of any manufacturing process and reduction in mould and breakdown of theses equipments must be worked on. Furthermore, the manpower operating these equipments and other processes should also be optimized through productivity improvement to increase efficiency and quality. How Operational Excellence can help in tackling the challenges of Plastics Industry The market is constantly evolving and diversifying. As a result, the competition has increased tenfold and so are the challenges. Operational Excellence (OE) and World Class Manufacturing (WCM) are some of the tools and practices that help one in eliminating the inefficiencies across the value chain. This ultimately leads to a significant drop in costs and improvement in the quality of the product. Operational Excellence means adopting best practices, having a culture of continuous improvement and utilizing on the latest technologies in products and production methods to captivate on the maximum efficiency and deliver the optimum results. Classical Operational Excellence (OE)/ World Class Manufacturing (WCM) Journey Operational Excellence focuses on efficiency improvement and waste elimination in sync with higher asset utilization. Plastic industry is in dire need of Operational excellence to overcome the most problems surrounding it. In order to achieve a paradigm shift, LEAN manufacturing and Operational Excellence are the most important and vital tools for the transformation process. Typical Steps to be inculcated by the Plastic Industry: Current state analysis and setting goals for future state Balancing the line so as to create smoother throughput Finding approaches to eliminate temporary storage, staging, holding vessels Eliminating redundancies in equipment by improving reliability Potential for reduction in changeover/ startup time Closing Remark Operational Excellence is the way forward in the plastic industry. It is mature state in the auto industry but the plastic industry is no where behind. These practices have a very profound effect and a tremendous scope in the plastic manufacturing environment. The first visible change is the inception of a dust and dirt free work environment. It also helps in planning production better, reducing inventory levels, streamlining & standardizing business processes, improving on-time & complete shipments, and increasing access to data for faster decision-making. This directly adds to the bottom-line while simultaneously customers receive on time delivery and high quality products. Faber Infinite has been actively involved with woven sack industry, blow moulding and injection moulding and other parts of the plastic industry and is constantly providing clients its services and is assisting them in adapting and evolving with the changing industry standards and demands. We have also been providing assistance to our clients with our copyrighted Organizational Transformation Framework© and are very consistent in adding value to the clients’ projects and organization.
- [Change Management - Challenge to Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/change-management-challenge-to-leadership/): Transformation journey is a gigantic challenge in the internal affairs of a company and requires a great amount of discipline and dedication to make it work. Many times people have this question in mind that why some companies climb the ladders of success while sitting in the driver’s seats of these transformations while others fail to incur the same results. In this article, we will talk about the Challenge to Leadership. The answer to this question and many other related questions has a common link to the factor – Leadership. It is the leaders who drive the entire process and provides thrust to it in the form of motivation and encouragement. The thinking processes of the leaders along with their acts have a huge impact on the entire learning process that facilitates the transformation of an Organization. It is the mindset and approach that will steer the wheel of the journey. Moreover, the only way to lead a successful transformation at any place lies in the key i.e. being open to learning and growing in order to solve problems. Lean Leaders and their ethos Struggle, Learn and Evolve! Lean leaders believe in this and constantly follow this routine until they achieve what they had set out to achieve. Personal involvement and engagement of leaders in these processes are directly proportional to the positive and good outcomes of the process. Also promoting growing mindset is another factor that plays a crucial role in transformation. While people with fixed mindsets get frustrated when they stumble upon failures, people with growing mindsets realise their mistakes and learn from them and are enthralled to learn from their mistakes. Reason why fixed mindsets results in failures The personality of a person matters the most when it comes to leadership. People with fixed mindsets have a lot of problems regarding their ego and cares more about their personality than anything else. This kind of approach and attitude does not help in lean transformation, even if the person has a very high knowledge of it. The road to success unarguably depends on the ability of a leader to help diagnose and overcome a problem. For a successful transformation, the company requires teamwork and encouragement, which turns out to be a sour deal with fixed minded people. Can a transformation be brought in fixed minded people? The answer to this question is a very obvious YES. People can transform themselves by acquiring new habits – encouraging the whole community. Below are the pointers on which if worked on, people can ambiguously start seeing changes in themselves. Your position and role in the team – Instead of carrying the attitude of your position, start indulging on the ground floor and contribute and encourage your team in finding the solution for the obstacles. Lean can’t be implemented, it is learned – You can’t just implement lean system in your organization and expect the complex problems to solve on its own. Instead, Lean is a learning process that includes experimenting and evaluating and continuing to learn new practices to solve them and deliver value to the customers. Start with ‘I don’t know’ – Start things with something ‘Oh! I don’t know about it’. This thinking process will make you open to learn new aspects and new things that will provide you the extra push to search for greater countermeasures to solve the problems. Next steps in the journey of transformation “Changing your thought process is not hard, believing that I can’t is” This is the first step in order to sow seeds for the new thinking process. The next step involves enriching yourself with new thoughts and making yourself realize that a failure is not the end of the world, it’s just the wrong approach and you need to take a new stand on it. No one learns new things without any failures and no one ever will. Stuck maps and roads with fixed mindsets do not have success at the end. Lean transformation is a challenge and the leadership needs to adopt a different approach towards it. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri 
- [A Peak into Star Faber's Life](https://faberinfinite.com/vishal-singh-star-faber/): Interview – Vishal Singh 3 regions, 8 countries, more than a dozen clients, 26 projects and 10,000 people Consultants are the backbone of the entire transformation processes and play a crucial role in bringing out the best from a limited amount of resource in the quickest possible time span. Despite having a hectic and packed schedule, they are always on time and makes sure to deliver at any location. In this edition of iFaber – ‘A Day in the life of a Consultant’, we had a chat with Faber Vishal Singh who happens to be an expert in what he does best, consulting. Early Life Born and brought in the Oxford of the East – Pune, Vishal is the youngest in his family. With a Bachelor’s in Engineering in Electronics, Vishal started off his career with one the leading Indian conglomerate, C.K. Birla group. While setting up a facility from the ground for the Birla Group for full-fledged production, Vishal developed an interest in Operational Excellence and LEAN tools. He also pursued his Master’s in Production and Management in parallel notion to build scope and space for himself in the industry. After completing his Master’s, there was no looking back. Life as a Consultant Managing clients from more than 3 regions, Vishal has done some tremendous job in managing his projects. He provides assistance to more than 9 clients at the moment and has successfully completed more than 25 projects in the last 2 years after joining Faber Infinite. Moreover, working on so many projects has only made him more versatile and creative in his work. He has consulted companies from various fields ranging from textile, manufacturing, chemical industry to agriculture and fishery industries. In fact, he is currently handling more than 11 sectors and has been delivering exceptional results at all places. When asked about the secret, he said, “It’s all about homework and how deeply you research on the segment before implicating yourself on it. Moreover, you have to think one step ahead of other corporates, because that is what our job is, to think about the future and innovate to reach there.” When asked about the challenges, dealing with the different sector at a different location every other week tops Vishal’s list. According to him, managing the different levels of authorities in sync and getting to know the labor force is also one of the biggest challenges he faces while doing his job. “Hectic schedule has become a part of my life and has actually become a driving force that makes me work with more focus and efficiency, making me realize how important the job of a consultant is in a transformation journey” adds Vishal. “While in Kenya last year, I was heading a project for a food company which had three subsidiaries to conduct the entire manufacturing and trading processes and we had to assist all the three companies in the transformation journey in a limited period of time. It was really a very challenging task because there are a lot of permutations and combinations that have to be tested out before finding out the perfect one. In search of this, I and my team worked for more than 14 hours a day for 28 days and delivered the expected results to the clients in the desired amount of time for all the three companies”, describes Vishal from his recent experiences. Professional and Personal Life Unlike every other corporate personnel, Vishal has a bit more of a sorted lifestyle. Being the youngest in the family, he had more freedom to pursue towards his goals than anyone else. “I didn’t have to stress much about staying at my native place and taking charge in my own hands. Although, I do take out some time whenever I’m not at home, touring some plane or is on-site” said Vishal. “I would rather compromise on my sleep than compromising on the time I give to my family or work”, adds the Star Faber of the Year. However, amidst the physical pressure to cope up with work demands, Vishal flexes in Yoga and intends to it every morning, no matter how packed his schedule is, irrespective of the location. He also carries packed bottles of water and a medical kit with him at all times for emergency situations. Being, in the industry for such a shorter period of time, Vishal has vested his interests in advancing with innovations and creating value by the means of ethical consultancy. Vishal has been a lead consultant for Faber Infinite and has lead as many as two teams in Kenya and Zambia in the journey of LEAN Facility Design. In the journey, he has not only worked with client teams from all the hierarchies in the management but also considered and coordinated with other entities like Vastu consultants, architects and City Council members and has still managed to deliver to the clients. He also won Star Faber of the Year Award last year and continued to get the trophies this year as well for leading Lean facility design exercise at the client side. He is our quality expert and believes that quality is always a result of sincere efforts, intellectual direction and smart and skillful execution. He believes and preaches what Aristotle has to say – “Quality is not an Act but a Habit” Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Faber Infinite announces copyright for Lean Facility Design](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-announces-copyright-for-lean-facility-design/): A 200% improvement in productivity, 100% reduction in production throughput times – Sounds too good to be true? We can deliver these results through Lean Facility Design© exercise. Faber Infinite is glad to announce the issuance to it of a copyright that covers the unique methodology for Lean Facility Design. Lean Facility Design© (LFD) is a unique toolkit (methodology) devised by Faber Infinite Consulting, which supports organizations to build ‘Best in Class’ facility layout. This methodology assures that the new facility becomes most efficient since inception or day zero. This methodology is applicable for organizations that are coming up with new facilities, revising layouts, shifting or expanding current setup. The team Faber Infinite follows a process called LFD that systematically applies Operational Excellence (OE)/ Lean principles and concurrently integrates the expertise of all stakeholders—to achieve breakthrough improvements when compared to traditional design. During the LFD process, the team Faber Infinite applies its deep expertise in Operational Excellence and Industrial Engineering principles by focusing on following aspects: Guiding principle development aligns all stakeholders to OE principles such as line-of-sight, continuous flow, work cells, point-of-use, and others. Value Stream Mapping / Workflow analysis for Muda, Mura and Muri elimination/ reduction. Cycle time and takt time analysis determining the optimal capacity, reducing costs compared to typical design estimates. Five S (workplace organization) and Safety aspects determining the optimal layout Standardized work establishing optimal work sequences and timing, so value adders can make the most efficient use of the new layout once the facility opens. Visual management principles defining locations and content for the essential elements for practicing Operational Excellence once the new facility opens. Typical Coverage Streamlining the manufacturing flow (from Raw material receipt to finished goods delivery) Capacity analysis & Ramp up plans Manpower planning Inventory design for Raw Material, WIP & Finished Goods Warehouse (stores) space Optimization Design of material handling systems within factory Design for material storage using FIFO (First In First Out) racks Guidelines for storage location for each part (using golden rules of storage) Visual management of information/ data Early Equipment Management, if applicable  Typical Benefits and Deliverables Best in class flow design that includes the right space and right location, which is not over-built to accommodate ineffective processes Reduced capital investments (in certain areas) Reduced Throughput time (time taken from Raw material receipt to finished goods delivery) Best in Class Manpower productivity Right-sized logistics equipment planning Prevents inefficiencies from entering into new facility Optimum space utilization / reduced floor space Optimum inventory levels (ensuring no overstocking as well as zero shortages) Staff and design team’s involvement to assure the design decisions support improved workflow Real-time OE orientation and application for team members Documentation of the current state using Value Stream Maps & Identification of opportunities for improvement Development of ‘Future State Maps’ for the facility to guide evaluations of design Action plan for process improvement of key issues Identification of additional critical points for further decision Approach Based on the background and objectives, team Faber Infinite along with the client team moves through the LFD process from organization’s goals and principles down to smallest of the nut & bolts through following approach and tentative implementation plan: It covers project planning, conceptual design at the systems level, functional design at the value stream level, and detailed design at the operational level, standard work development for operating in the new design. It is achieved by rolling out following steps: One might think that this LEAN Facility design is just like any other design framework and what unique agenda it offers to the customers. Well, the answer to this lies in the processes in which this copyrighted LEAN Facility Design of Faber Infinite is implemented. Any facility design usually starts on a paper and is worked over for creating an efficient framework. Although, Faber’s LEAN Facility Design is a framework that is highly efficient and has been proven in projects that were carried out at our client sites in India, Middle-East and in African countries like Zambia and Kenya. Furthermore, to make it extremely effective, instead of focusing on the design in the initial stages, the process starts with detailed planning and analysis, while approaching the layout in step 11 and 12. Moreover, LFD is not focused only on manufacturing units but has also proven to be highly effective in Hospitals, Hotels, Service Industry and many more domains. For further details about Lean Facility Design© get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com / publishing@faberinfinite.com Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Client Speak - Unnati – The Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/unnati-the-transformation-journey/): Transformation can be brought only by hard work and innovation. In the evolving canvas of today’s industry and market, transformation has become one of the key factors to lead the market. In this first edition of iFaber for the year 2018, we bring to you another tale of transformation and excellence from the Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) industry. Our client, Umasree Texplast is one of the leading producers in the competitive FIBC industry. We were glad to talk to the Director at Umasree Texplast Mr. Manish Jain. He shared his valuable insights on key topics related to challenges in the FIBC industry and the role of Faber Infinite in the transformation journey. Faber Infinite (FI) – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to FIBC industry? Mr. Manish Jain (MJ) – FIBC industry is the backbone of the prime industries all across the world. Developing countries like India, China and Turkey are the leading producers of FIBC bags. However, in this industry, technology plays a role only to a certain level. The work in this industry is labor-centric. By the means of technology, one can create fabric, but to make to make a bag one needs a skilled and trained labor force. Hence, one of the key challenges this industry face is manpower training, retention and other manpower oriented sophistication. Another challenge the industry faces is the processes inside the organization. Since most of the work is dependent on manpower; it becomes important to create a system of robust processes to deliver quality and sound consignments on deadline. FI – Umasree Texplast is a progressive organization charting its own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates UT from others? MJ – We are an entrepreneurial organization. There are three core principles in which we believe in. The first core principle is Ethics. We believe in fair dealings with our clients as well as with the human resource we have because human capital is an asset to us. Without our employees, we wouldn’t have reached where we are today. The second principle in which we believe is Quality. We emphasize on the quality, in fact, the rejection ratio of our organization is minimal as per the industry standards. The third principle Umasree Texplast believes in is timeliness. We value the time of our clients and deliver our best and on time. Our 90-95% of consignments are delivered on time. FI – Umasree Texplast has rolled out path-breaking the transformation journey – as Unnati. We would love to understand more about it. What role has Team Faber played in the Unnati journey? MJ – Team Faber Infinite has been the driving force for Umasree Texplast in the transformation journey ‘Unnati’. They have helped us in nurturing the self-replicating qualities along with the highly valuable human capital of our organization. To be short and precise, we along with Faber Infinite are trying to put the processes together and in their places so that we can finally transform and lead to ‘Unnati’. Team Faber has helped us drive the change and imbibe that culture of continuous improvement in the organization at all the levels of hierarchy. FI – Can you please share your overall feedback about team Faber and your experience so far? MJ – Team Faber has been an excellent partner for our transformation journey. They are very hard working, co-operative and highly understanding. I am very happy with Faber and how they have led the team. It has been a great journey with Faber Infinite. Faber has been with us for last one and a half year. In this period we have transformed the attitude of our workforce, we have put policies in place and have thus become a leaner organization. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership Umasree Texplast has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views about Faber’s role in the growth numbers? MJ – I’m not much worried about results and numbers. We have trust and confidence in the whole team who is driving this entire journey and the results are bound to come. In fact, we can see the difference and I’m 200% sure that Faber will achieve the desired numerical values. We are very happy working with Faber Abhishek and Faber Nikhil. Team Faber has always worked as being part of Umasree Texplast. We appreciate their hard work and co-operation in the journey. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Winning It Together](https://faberinfinite.com/winning-it-together/): “Vidarbha keeps tryst with destiny. Wins their first ever Ranji Trophy!” In a history of 61 years, Vidarbha Cricket team has finally achieved the ultimate goal they have been working on for so many years. Vidarbha waited for more than six decades to win the Ranji trophy. However, this achievement did not come easily. The team underwent a rigorous routine of transformation to reach here. The same is needed in today’s corporate world as well – a disciplined and effective transformation to reach the desired goals. Wait, but what made Vidarbha the champion side they could not be in the last six decades? Let’s have a look. Leadership The 15-men team was led by Faiz Fazal who is one of the most underrated players in the Ranji Trophy. He was never looked upon as an international talent despite having a very rich and favourable numbers in the sack. Although, he never let these factors create an impact on his game and ticked all the boxes when it came to winning games and was also the lead run scorer for the team. This shows that a capable, clever and calm-minded leadership plays a crucial role in leading the task and the team to success. Old War Horse Who could have a thought that a 39-year old player who was forced to leave his home team to continue his career would be a part of a champion side at the end of the season? Wasim Jaffar, who holds the record for most runs in first-class Indian cricket, was left out of his home team Mumbai. It is a very noteworthy fact that Wasim played 8 Ranji finals for Mumbai and won all 8 of them, playing a crucial role in all the matches. He subsequently had no option other than joining Vidarbha to keep doing what he likes – playing cricket and winning finals. Experience played a very important role in Vidarbha’s victory and guided them through tough times when the team was in trouble. It is always the sheer determination that encourages and motivates the team to work towards their goal and achieve it. Responsibilities on young and capable shoulders In absence of front-line bowlers, the young Rajneesh Gurbani took the charge in his own hands and led the bowling attack of the team from the front. He played a crucial role in leading the team against the rivals and performed exceptionally well against them. Young shoulders have the energy and the gist to keep going and grudging with the obstacles until they are tackled. Such kind of energy and perseverance can fill the souls of the team with motivation and optimism. Coaching and Transformation The last and the most important name that comes up in this historic win of Vidarbha Cricket team is Chandrakant Pandit, the lodestar who guided the ship to its course, facing storms and bouncers. It was Pandit, who outlined the sketch of Vidarbha’s victory by designing a strict and disciplined routine for training hours. He even set up various committees to look after the other various activities of the team ranging from entertainment to travel to food to encourage the bonding between the team members and increase their trust on each other in the entire season. Simple stuff really works. The way Pandit rallied his boys to victory is an exceptional example of how training can bring a great degree of transformation that can change the entire course of your journey as well as your graphs and pie charts. The victory of Vidarbha is an outstanding and amazing lesson to all of us who are working towards transformation to achieve the desired numbers. Every team member needs to understand its role and responsibility and work towards the common goal with a clear mind and sheer focus. Moreover, the team should believe in themselves and should be determined to achieve their goal, no matter what obstructs their way. Furthermore, the strict routine and discipline must be followed to step towards excellence. In order to achieve the ultimate, even a slight pivoting against the road can entirely change the roads of your journey. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Aditya Gupta Image Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/vidarbha-win-their-first-ever-ranji-trophy/article22343554.ece
- [7 Habits of Highly Effective People](https://faberinfinite.com/7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/): As a part of the Faber series, we are here again with excerpts from another leadership book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey. Being effective and efficient is a real excellence in the world that can’t be separated from right and disciplined living. In today’s highly competitive and busy world, people have to strive to achieve some degree of success and recognition. This can only be achieved if you have a right and precise composure of your living habits to make you effective enough in the competitive market. In this blog, we will cover the seven surreal habits that can make instigate effectiveness in an individual. Proactive approach Do not sit and wait in a reactive manner waiting for problems to happen before taking an action. Instead, work from the centre of your influence and constantly try to expand it. You should understand that you are in charge of writing the scripts of your life. Use this self-awareness to be proactive and implement them in making the choices for you. Proactive approach develops a sense of responsibility in an individual which ultimately leads to the enhancement of the ability to choose how one will respond to a given situation. Envision the results and the destination you want to reach Work on your project in future and envision the climax you want to give it. Understand that you are the programmer and have the power to remotely decide the direction of your assignments to steer to. Stay focused towards the clear destination and develop your conscience to decide the factors that are going to guide you to achieve your goals. Setting your goals in the beginning also helps in creating robust strategic that is going to compliment your journey. This will also subsequently evolve one on an individual level, making him rescript and assert his own personal values. Prioritize your things according to the needs For effective management, one should prioritize his work and put the important thing on the top of the list. Organize your list by placing your to-do’s in categories: Urgent and Not Urgent. Implementing discipline in our day-to-day actions by prioritizing them is one of the key factors that can improve your influence and grip on the structure if the hierarchy as well as in your life. Moreover, remember, things you don’t want to, are the things you have to. Willpower plays an important role in keeping the focus on track towards the goal. Envisage a mutually beneficial paradigm Start understanding people and respect their opinions for mutually beneficial solutions. You should focus on creating an individual relationship that provides a win-win situation for both the parties; you and your client. Put yourself in other people’s shoes and critically examine the key issues and work on their solutions. Many people misunderstand win-win as being nice and polite. However, it does not actually mean that. It is a basic character code human interaction and collaboration to achieve a profitable conclusion. Understand others to be Understood Before jumping to conclusions or assumptions, interact homogenously with the other members and listen to them. Empathetic listening is very effective in compelling other to reciprocate and listen to you with an open mind, thus increasing you influence area. Before getting to the solution, it is important to evaluate and analyze the problem and that can only be done by understanding the people’s concerns and working on it together. In order to be understood, one must learn to listen to other people. Unfortunately, we are not able to apply this to our daily lifestyle. This is more the reason for one to build the skills of empathetic listening on a base of character that inspires openness and trust. Promote unanimity Try and create synergy by understanding and valuing the difference in other person’s point of view to explore a whole new paradigm of openness and creativity. Synergy allows one to create a holistic environment that recourse our thought processes to consider alternative and new possibilities. To be short and precise, it motivates one to dump the old scripts and write new ones. Prepare yourself for the push Rejuvenating yourself physically, mentally and socially is also one of the key factors in making one effective. Continuous refilling also helps people in fulfilling their wishes and enables them to practice all these habits in a nurturing and effectuate manner. The more we see people in terms of their unseen potential, the more we can use our imagination rather than our memory. Furthermore, it maintains a balance between your resources and means and your desired results. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Analyze the Shortcomings](https://faberinfinite.com/analyze-the-shortcomings/): Today continuous improvement is the focus of every organization. In today’s competitive business growth and development need to be parallel. Organizations across the globe have realized the importance of continuous improvement. Continuous Improvement teams are responsible for gathering out the defects in the controls and systems and eliminate them with proper measures. However, many times, these teams fail in their tasks and lack of efficiency and effectiveness. It is easy to initiate the journey of continuous improvement, but it is difficult to sustain. In this blog for Transformation Tuesday, we have covered the most common reasons for the failure of these Continuous Improvement initiatives: Inadequate Influence over systems Continuous Improvement teams have to have information about the entire organization. They should have their eyes and ears everywhere. They should also keep the leadership in check and must be given a chair in the discussions carving out the future of the organization. Moreover, the professionals involved in the continuous improvement team must have a profound knowledge and understanding about company’s strategies and the way the leadership wants to carve out a niche for the organization in order to be able to analyze and solve problems as per the needs of the company. Lack of Practice and knowledge Apart from support from the management, the team members of the continuous improvement teams should support themselves by constantly revising their knowledge and practising them at the required place at the appropriate time. One should be expert and confident on a particular subject before preaching them to others. They should lead by setting an example for others and should be aware of the latest industry trends and standards. Inability to accept Instead of deploying continuous improvement teams at a certain level in the organization, the system should be employed at all the levels of the company to achieve the best results in the longer run. An isolated continuous improvement program might seem to be working on some issues for a shorter duration of time. However, this inability to accept the skill at all levels will not be able to contribute fruitful results for the company after a certain period of time. Gorging on today, neglecting tomorrow A typical human mind always gorges upon the easy savings of today. However, this is a very dilute approach and will never prove to leave a profound impact on the company’s success. Instead of focusing on instant success, one should look at the bigger picture and start concentrating on it. The larger goal should be broken down into smaller targets and the skill set should be applied to achieving them. It’s not a bad thing to enjoy instant, short-term success, but to reach the top of the mountain; you have to focus on the larger goals and takeaways. Easy wins on the top of your list Easy wins might create a great record for you on papers but would never contribute to creating a bigger change. Continuous improvement is a unique skill set which should be used to set an example for others by clearing out the biggest stone lying on the road to success. Push for the change you want to bring, if you think that’s the right to do even if nobody advocates you in this journey. If you won’t, no one will. Don’t rely on your resume and papers to tell the tales of your success, instead let the public victories narrate the saga. In the journey of continuous improvement, don’t just identify what makes a team successful but also look at where the team fails. Since the real learning comes from analyzing the shortcomings. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Operational Excellence Checklist 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/craft-better-growth-opportunities-2018/): 2017 has come to an end and we have set foot in 2018. We believe that Operational Excellence shall be the key to sustainable productivity and continual development even in 2018. It manifests the entire process through integrated performance across revenue, cost and risk. In this note, we want to put across key points that shall bind the beads in a single string in case of Operational Excellence in this new year. Below is the much-talked checklist for Operational Excellence. Value Adding Ratio – Measure of Costs Cost is far most one of the major concerns of the manufacturers. It plays a major role in determining the Operational Excellence of the entire system. Keeping a better track of costs by closing monitoring the VAR is the key. VAR which is the function of non-value adding activities and value-adding activities can be improved by eliminating inefficiencies or wastes in the process. Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) – Quality Measure In this cut-throat competition, quality is something which is order qualifier and cannot be neglected. However, quality should be built in the process instead of reworking. Keeping a close track of the cost of poor quality will help improve processes and its throughput by drawing more sensitivity towards the same. Cost of Poor quality is any cost that the company will incur if the quality of the product or service is not perfect. This will further lead to unhappy customers. CoPQ leads to: Identifying and quantifying quality cost Effective use of resources Robust measurement system Breakthrough improvements On Time – In Full – Error Free (OTIFEF) Delivery Ratio A checklist of Operational Excellence cannot be completed without delivery parameters. Timeliness is like an ace in the deck of cards when it comes to operational excellence. It can be achieved through an efficient system and right metrics. On Time In Full Error Free Delivery ratio is one of the key measurement metrics. This ratio measures how the client gets what they want at the right time, in right quantities and error free. To reach a high level of OTIFEF delivery ratio all the functions in the supply chain must work at their finest levels. It must be noted that it is a function of three aspects time, quantity and transactional errors. We shall discuss it in details in next articles. Value Added Per Employee – Manpower Productivity Productivity is the ultimate result one wants to achieve through operational excellence. Hence, it has got be on the checklist. Higher productivity is what motivates the workforce as well as encourages the clients to put more trust in you. Moreover, operational excellence along with high productivity leads to continual improvement culture in any organization. It would be good to translate manpower productivity to value addition ‘cos that is something determines the impact on bottom line, a key for any business. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) – Measure of equipment health Equipment is the fuel of the manufacturing industry. Hence, a regular and precise tracking of the equipment and measuring Overall Equipment Effectiveness can help in planning the entire production routine and improving performance, thus, gaining operational excellence. OEE is an effective tool to benchmark, analyze, and improve the equipment health. It is a function of availability, performance and quality. Structured implementation of OEE improvement practices can lead to remarkably visible results like improved machine availability, reduced maintenance efforts and better awareness of equipment health across all team members. Near Misses – Safety Measure Safety is one of the most underestimated factors. As stated in Heinrich’s Law: that for every accident that causes a major injury, there were 29 accidents that caused minor injuries and 300 near misses that caused no injuries. Every organization should have a system to measure near misses to further act upon the same and creating safe workplaces. Team Faber Infinite via its Organizational Transformation Framework has helped organizations across industries and geographies to create sustainable measurement systems leading to improved productivity, quality, costs, delivery, safety and most important employee morale. We hope that the above-mentioned checkpoints would help you to achieve higher degrees of success in your operational excellence journey in the year 2018 and you craft better growth opportunities. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Building Excellence in Textile Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-textile-industry/): Textile industry has made its own space over the years and has been extremely successful in contributing to the country’s GDP. The importance of the textile industry can be gauged upon by the fact that it provides around 2% to India’s GDP and doles out more than 13% of the income country generates from exporting goods annually. Textile industry is one of the largest employers of the nation and is expected to grow further at CAGR of 12% and will be valued more than $440 billion by 2025. The Indian Textile industry has evolved drastically with the passage of time due to globalization. Also, government’s interest to improve the quality and standards of the industry has brought significant change in the textile industry over the years. It now comprises of both handwoven sector and highly automated textile mills. Power looms, knitting sectors and hosiery are the key sectors of textile industry in India. The future of the prospects of this industry looks positive right now. The roof of FDI has reached 51% with the allowance of 100% FDI in single-brand retail and in multi-brand retail. However, there are still some challenges in the industry that has troubled the manufacturers a lot in the recent times. Key cost factors like higher wage costs and power costs is affecting the overall sector in the country adversely. Also, the manufacturing PMI of the industry has taken a dive and might be taken as a sign of how demonetization and other policies affected the industry. With all this piling up around the corner, operational excellence and sustainable productivity are the key bread and crumbs of the industry. Globalization – A phenomenon that has increased competition to a whole new level Globalization has influenced trade and commerce of all types. Outsourcing has become one of the many resultants of globalization that has successfully influenced the market. Textile giants of foreign countries are trying to set up their market in the country. This has forced the local manufacturers to improve their standard and quality and touch the bars set by these companies to be in the race. This increased competition has obviously benefitted the consumers but also have generated many unavoidable issues for the manufacturers. Also, to achieve these high standards, production and logistics costs have increased dramatically. With globalization and entrance of giants, machinery and technology has also been upgraded thus affecting the profitability and flexibility of this age-old industry. Analyzing current scenarios, to bring out the extended potential of the textile companies and leveraging it through the back channels by promoting “Zero Defect, Zero Effect” is required in today’s textile industry. To achieve this, and comply with the cut-throat competition, non-value adding activities and inefficiencies should be reduced/ eliminated. At Faber Infinite, we have been helping our clients to evaluate and accelerate this process rather quickly with our specially designed and proven methodologies. At one of our clients – a leading integrated textile manufacturer – our expert team analyzed and identified five key drivers. The targets the team set our course to are as following: Reduce wastages across the processes & improve quality ratio Improve employee productivity & skills Improve machine productivity Customer complaints reduction Reduce Machine Breakdown How Faber Infinite flushed these problems? Cross-functional teams were set up to improve processes, initiate actions and monitor progress. Consequently, this helped the client in implementing the project strategies efficiently and increased productivity. The teams worked on various improvement levers deploying tools like time and motion study, autonomous/ planned maintenance toolkits, quality improvement toolkit and others. Results The client saw a significant reduction in soft and hard waste by 80% and 88% respectively. Also, the manpower efficiency and production per day (units) increased exponentially by 167%. The team also managed to make better use of the space in the facility which later benefitted the production in a fruitful manner. Chances of breakdowns in machines were also reduced to half during this entire process. Similar, mind-boggling results have been delivered by our expert team at several textile manufacturing organizations across Asia Pacific & Africa. Way ahead for Indian Textile Industry From industry perspectives, the FDI seems to be in a profitable position and will surely help the traders with the entry of mega-brands in the market. Also, government initiatives like Amended Technology Up gradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS), Integrated Processing Development Scheme, National Textile Policy, simplified labour laws, IPDS and EPCG scheme are going to take the industry on the right path. Despite all these, the proper implementation is all that matters and carries value at this crucial stage. Focused approaches like Total Quality Management, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Time and motion Study can give phenomenal results in different domains of textile manufacturing. The Faber Infinite team has designed proven frameworks which have delivered results in terms of cost and productivity improvements. Amazing results have been achieved through these designs and proper implementation and refining of systems and processes. Our clients have achieved sustainable productivity with the thorough and precise contrivance of these frameworks. Ready to build excellence in the textile industry? Discover the strategies and techniques that will propel your business to new heights. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert insights, resources, and tools to achieve excellence in the textile industry. Don’t miss this opportunity to revolutionize your business! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Quality Circle : Development in Manufacturing and Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/manufacturing-and-organization-development-in-quality-circle/): Quality circles have now become one of the major segments in the manufacturing sector that determines the productivity and efficiency of a plant and its human resources. With the passage of time, quality circles have gained popularity and have now been adopted in the Indian manufacturing industry as well. Quality Circles are basically a formal, institutionalized mechanism for productive and participative problem-solving interaction among the employees of an organization. They also contribute to increasing the capabilities of the workforce whilst improving the machinery capacity. Every organization faces different challenges and has to tackle different obstacles to continue on the road of development and grow profitability. Quality circles are the most efficient and less coarse way of identifying and analyzing a rational problem for accurate and precise solutions. This works as the first and foremost step towards preventing the institution from getting rigid in places where flexibility is the key. But, to reach there, a proper training to the members of the Quality circle members should be provided to bring out the best from the Quality Circles. Team Faber Infinite recently concluded a training workshop at one of our client’s site for the members of their Quality Circle, making them aware of the working functionality as well as teaching them the modus of operation of the Quality circles in an organization, particularly a manufacturing plant. Objectives of the training session: To understand the need and role of the Quality circles in the organization for a positive growth. To adapt to the prevailing structure of the organization and work in accordance with growth and open exchange of ideas. To train the members about the functionality of a Quality Circle and guiding them through various techniques and skills that can be used while solving a particular problem. To understand what steps can be introduced in certain situations to increase productivity. To have a thorough understanding that Quality Circles are meant for inducing humane values and harmony through it to keep the organization and workforce parallel to each other. Preview of the workshop: The workshop was conducted for training the employees and making them familiar with the concept and agenda of the quality circles. The two-day workshop was headed by Mr Vishal Singh which included conducting seminars and mock activities to help the trainees in experiential learning. The employees who participated in the workshop appreciated the training session and were very happy with the flow, structure and expertise of the trainer in the subject area. Some of the feedback pointers which we received are as follows: It was a great experience. Actually, the way we were taught and trained in Quality Circles was the key we learnt a lot from it. It will definitely help us in our future. The training was excellent. We learnt many things about Quality Circles which were unknown to us before. The training session has enhanced our skills and increased our confidence. Vishal provided us with various key points that will help us in the overall functionality of the Quality Circle. We now know how valuable the work of Quality Circle is in an organization. The session was quite enriching. We now know what can be the consequences of our mistakes and have learnt how to tackle problems in the initial stages. In this ever-evolving canvas of the manufacturing sector, Quality Circles are the key to increase the efficiency and productivity to keep an organization on the run. With the growing competition, training quality circles to work in a precise and efficient manner is like providing fuel to an engine. Faber Infinite explores the concept of Quality Circles and helps the companies implement them properly by conducting training sessions and workshops to unlock the doors of continuous improvement. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [One thing to craft a profitable 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/one-thing-to-craft-a-profitable-2018/): Another year has passed and has been a memorable one in its own way. Things have been like a roller-coaster ride in the year 2017. Many people might be happy with many might not. But one thing that is common for everyone is that we all want to make 2018 a bit worthier with better profits and higher market value. Redefining customer strategy can help one business and crafting more profits for 2018. Customer strategies are the articulation of distinctive values and experience an organization will deliver to the customers. In today’s competitive world, clients expect the quality to be good and are keener in exploring the services and offering sections of the provider. Quality of the product is just an order qualifier for any business. Good quality can no longer win order. Hence organizations are working on improving the service levels and offerings for customer acquisition and retention. What a customer expects today is that the organization walks that extra mile to give that wow impact for the offerings. Progressive organizations work on internal as well as external customer requirements to improve the service levels. Hence, redefining your customer strategy to acquire more and more clients is one of the factors that will help you in making your numbers green in the year 2018.Team Faber has been helping organizations across industries with winning customer strategy. Team Faber has worked with one of the largest engineering company in India to deliver an extremely successful customer centricity improvement program and the results have been extremely good. While working on the customer strategy, organizations should keep the customer happy and satisfied. This is what we call customer delight. It is very important. Customer needs to be treated like a kid. We should continuously keep that enthusiasm in the minds of the customers. Organizations should provide the customer with quality along with variety and engagement. A satisfied customer will stick longer with an organization. Like kids customers too have certain demands and it is the responsibility of the organization to fulfill them. It is also the provider’s responsibility to keep the kid excited and on the edge with varieties and different engaging plans and strategies. Besides the above-mentioned points, progressive organizations should have robust processes and should take care of the multiple customer requirements in shortest possible time with best quality and least cost. Today we are in the era where the customer wants variety and if we do not cater to the demands then the customer will be lost to the competition. Hence, the batch sizes are going down and the changeovers will go up irrespective of the industry. Whether it is pharma or automobile it does not matter processes need to be robust and nimble. Changeovers should be very easy and quick without any compromise on the quality aspect. Operational excellence is the key to profitable 2018. Operational excellence is the way of doing business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, reduces lead time and improves flexibility to achieve competitive advantage. Organizations to craft a profitable 2018, should go the operational excellence way as it is a systematic approach to achieving world-class performance in performance, quality and delivery. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya & Faber Kishlay Krishna
- [Strategies for India – Countries within a Country](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-for-india-countries-within-a-country/): The Indian economy has been on the rise in the recent times and has managed to gain popularity among the multinational companies for investments. According to a study, the country is moving in the paths of development and will average between 7.4% to 7.6% in the upcoming three years. Although being one of the major countries to look forward to investments, India still is a tough market for MNCs to enter. The main factors for these are the high costs and the difficulty of conducting business in the Indian markets. Inconsistent policy-making and its improper implementation along with regular interference of legislation are other obstacles that add to the headaches to the multinational firms. However, if MNCs are to succeed in the country, they have to conduct a deep study and analysis of the markets state-wise. Indian market is a fragmented and heterogeneous market that offers different hurdles as well as unique opportunities to the organizations. Amidst this, it is very important and interesting to note that Indian states are often compared to small countries, like India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh has a population equal to that of Brazil. Moreover, Maharashtra has an economy that roughly matches the economy of Iraq. Cultural variations, languages and demographic variations are some of the significant factors that decide the potential as well as the capability of the market. They play a crucial and influential role in any MNCs organizational decisions. Also, every Indian state has its policies which affect the federal structure and other factors like labor and infrastructure which consequently results in variations in business landscape across the country. Apart from studying Indian state’s markets, companies must also create a detailed performance of allocation of resources to different Indian states. Below is a four-step framework that may help organizations prioritizing markets in the country. Aligning with the risks and resulting opportunities The very first step in this difficult task for the companies should be to analyze the market of each state and determine the risk-adjusted opportunities the firm has each and every market. One may include the factors like state’s population, GDP, expected market growth and other relative fields. This allows the companies to get to know the local market and the risks associated with it along with the potential of the market. Gauging the environment to operate The operating conditions vary across every state of the country because of the decentralized policy-making nature of the state governments. Hence, analyzing and measuring the operating environment of each state comes at the second position. One can achieve this by looking at the factors like infrastructure, skilled labor, tax policies of the state etc. Companies need to get to know the operating environments necessarily to get the ease of doing business as well as to lower the cost of conducting business. Analyze the figures and results After analyzing the risk-adjusted opportunities and operating environments, it is time for evaluation. Companies should focus on the states that would offer them the highest returns on collectively analyzing the results. One may notice that different companies find different states to be more favourable. This is because of the different needs of different organizations. However, ultimately the evaluation has to be done to see which market has the most to offer to the firm. Create a list of most opportune states and prioritize them It is time to build strategies and implement them. But wait; do we need the same strategy for all the states? No! One can broadly prioritize the states and their markets in four categories and implement different strategies for achieving optimum benefits. The first group of states includes markets which have the maximum opportunities and profits to offer to the company. Many MNCs already have a presence in such states. Some states that are often included in this group are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The second category of states – those states with moderate opportunities and a good regulatory environment with geographical prominence to category 1 states. The geographic closeness helps the organizations in expanding the business in the nearby markets, thus capitalizing on cultural similarities and similar economy. The third category consists of states with moderate opportunities but the poor regulatory environment. In such states, the executives examine and explore the potential of the market by detailing the policy reforms implemented by the government to attract investments. Fourth and the last category include states with small risk-adjusted opportunities and weak operating environment. Such destinations are usually a very weak investment and companies should prefer not to invest in such environments. As I have already said, India is a country of small countries with different and difficult markets. However, once settled, India is a highly rewarding market. Adopting a state-wise approach is the key to establishing a business in India. This fact is backed up various studies and surveys conducted by various economic forums all across the world. Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya as per excerpts from H.B.R. For original article click here.  
- [Training to Adapt Evolution](https://faberinfinite.com/training-to-adapt-evolution/): Employees are the fuel of an organization, and a fine and more efficient fuel is the key to keep the company on the run with its competitors. And to make these employees more efficient, training and educating them about the latest developments and techniques is the key. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions catalogues a broad range of trainings that can be utilized by the organizations across sectors in this modern era of the competitive and demanding workforce. Below are some of the flashes of a training workshop conducted by Faber Infinite at Bombardier, world’s leading manufacturer of airplanes and trains. The workshop was conducted and headed by Mr. Abhishek Pandey. It was the second part of a workshop that Faber organized at Bombardier. The entire two-day session focused on ‘Lean Foundations and Lean in software development’. The two-day training was a combination of interactive tutorials, group work, simulation games, group exercises which helped the participants in experiential learning. Objective of the training session: To understand the concepts of lean foundations and the importance of lean in software development. Understanding the principles of lean software development Increase preciseness in deciding objectivity and delivering that as fast as possible. Amplify the learning process Clear the mind to see the holistic picture and build integrity.   The workshop enlightened the budding and young minds of the organization. The aura of the entire workshop had a very different illumination because of the high energy of these young leaders. The sessions included interactive tutorials, group work, simulation games, group exercises which helped the participants in experiential learning. Faber Infinite team received a very positive feedback after organizing the entire event. The trainees were very happy and felt more confident at the end of the session. Some of the reviews received by the team about the entire workshop are as follows: I loved the learning process and how it was incorporated with fun to help us remember the topics much more efficiently and effectively. The training was effective because of its interactive nature and the examples that were given in relevance to the topic. The activities were fun as well. The theoretical presentations were backed up by appropriate activities and videos. It is very unlikely to see such thorough homework in other training sessions. Introduction of games in between the training sessions helps us a lot in relaxing and absorbing the presentations in an efficient way. Also, the games were quite fun and were relative to the training workshop. We got to learn about Lean management and software development in a very effective manner. The training faculty made the session quite interactive by conducting games and keeping the sessions interactive.   With the evolution of technology, competition has become cut-throat in this modern world. Companies are in need to train their employees and the workforce for a better and profitable output. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped many clients in this paradigm and modules enriching training sessions for increased output and sustainable development.   Written and Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna and Faber Mayuri Pandya  
- [Faber’s Fabulous Foundation Day Celebration!](https://faberinfinite.com/fabers-fabulous-foundation-day/): “Give, even if you have little.” – Buddha Faber Family has always believed in sharing and giving back to the society from which we get so much. From its inception, Faber has always lived up to its core values, one of which is ‘Fabulous is Happiness’, which means enjoying the journey and sharing our success with the society. We, the Faber family have always tried to create a better and more sustainable paradigm and have always relished doing it. Living to our values, we tried to take a step forward, as we celebrated our Foundation Day on 7th January and made a small effort of helping little foundlings and tried to bring a smile on their faces. It was touching and soothing at the same time to spend the time with the kids, contributing a little to their lives.
- [3 Things we can Learn form the Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/learn-from-the-leaders/): Leaders are the best teachers to learn from! They are the ones to carry the entire team forward with their unique abilities and exceptional methods of instigating the team with knowledge and perception. Leaders do not become leaders just by their position, it is the collective input they put by spending time with the employees, guiding them through the trenches, providing them with the technical assistance and edging their skills, involving them in the business tactics and teaching them life lessons. All this creates a concrete impact on the spirit and energy of the team. Moreover, one does not need any kind of special training to be a good teacher. Just try to stick to the important keyframes: what to teach, when to teach, and how to teach to create an impact. Leaders teach many things, but the vital excerpts that stay in the cycle basically fall into three categories: Wisdom Lessons Integrity and Ethics:  Professionalism is the vital fluid that keeps the organization in flow and works as a pivotal fulcrum that takes the entire crew forward. It is the role of the manager to teach the employees the value of emphasizing integrity and high ethical standards. The need of putting the customer and its need upfront is the key to unlock the doors of constructive development. Attention to Details:  One might think that after reaching a certain position, leaders will focus on the management issues and leave the business in the hands of their employees. Although, exceptional leaders don’t do that. They keep themselves involved in every part of the business. They know all the processes of business in detail. They are always there to help the team if something is not working properly. They wish to have a highly disciplined approach and impart training in their teams which broadens the paradigm of knowledge and experience of the employees. Pearls of Wisdom: Leaders and their teachings are not only limited to just work and organization but also induce pearls of wisdom and lessons among the employees.  That might seem like going overboard but leaders found it very effective and helpful. Seize Opportunities On the job training: On the job lessons and teachings are vital for the leaders. Some leaders might work in a conventional office, some might work in an open one, but what remains the same is the freedom of interaction with the employees, thus giving the leaders the flexibility of observing the team, interacting with them and helping them at the same moment when required, thus enabling them to grasp it more efficiently. Out of Office: Exceptional leaders do not wait for the ‘perfect timing’. They indulge in teaching at random and unusual places thus eliminating the ‘tensed’ factor from the equation. They use the more relaxed environment to communicate efficiently with the employees and imparting fixated knowledge among the team members. They take their team out of the office to a more relaxed environment to create those valuable teaching moments. Professional Delivery Tailored instructions: Everyone has a different way of understanding and needs a different way of the things that are being taught. Great leaders know this and podcast their teachings in a tailored fashion for every other individual according to their needs and abilities. It helps him in extracting the best out of the team and keeps them motivated through the journey. Right probe: Right questions! A very important tool which goes both ways and can enhance the corporate efficiency. Asking right questions can help one in broadening their own field of knowledge and learning. Many a times, leaders themselves ask questions in order to teach the employees about something that is relevant to the topic and project. Lead by Example: Leaders need to lead the team up front and be a role model for the team. This is a very particular way of teaching, yet the simplest. It’s a great recruiting role that motivates the employees to deploy the same principles in their lives and careers as well after watching and learning them from their leader. One can just pick up the right behavioral etiquettes by just seeing the precise and correct example in front of them. The bottom line is, great leaders always remember that high-quality and one-on-one teaching can create a concrete impact on the team members. Leaders need to command their employees, take them forward with him. Hence, lessons imparted by leaders will be enriched by the factors like relevance, timing and will also cater to individual needs since the leader has a better sense of understanding about his employees. Being a teacher is not easy, but when you embrace the role of teaching; it integrates itself with a responsibility. If you are not teaching, you are not really leading. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Kishlay
- [Exclusive Book Launch by Team Faber Infinite – The Faber Book](https://faberinfinite.com/exclusive-book-launch-by-team-faber-infinite-the-faber-book/): On Faber annual awards night with great joy, team Faber Infinite launched a book: The Faber Book – For the Faber in You! Faber Infinite has been sharing a Transformation Tuesday series to its exclusive readers across geographies and sectors. The series has been published every Tuesday since 2015. It has received an overwhelming response from the readers. On great demand from the readers, we decided to compile all the transformation articles of 2017 and publish it in a book – The Faber Book.   When we started working on this book we always thought of leaders and leadership. We do not think of leaders as exceptional people with exceptional skills, but we follow a more inclusive approach where we refer to leaders at all cadres within the organization. The idea is to nurture the leader in you. As Faber always believes in crafting transformations to make a better tomorrow, this book is for the craftsman in YOU! The Faber Book will assist in the transformation of leaders, teams as well as people around you. The book is a series of transformations that will cherish the leaders in you. The idea is to create a Fabulous Tomorrow. We are thankful to Mr. Achal Rangaswamy (Author of multiple books) for writing foreword for the book. The book also gives a glimpse into the story behind Faber Infinite. Happy Reading! PS: To avail your exclusive copy (limited edition), please get in touch with us at publishing@faberinfinite.com
- [Each New Year Find a Better You!](https://faberinfinite.com/each-new-year-find-a-better-you/): Another 365 days flew, and we moved another step further in the 21st century. Yeah, the year 2018 is finally here and so is the season of resolutions. As a corporate, a single resolution just in the first month of the year is not going to work. We have said it many times earlier that always chase your goals in fragments and set small goals for a particular period. In the same way, we have made a list of some resolutions or some targets that one should set on a monthly basis. Gaze at them below: January Before you start thinking about 2018, review your 2017 goals. This will give you a sense of areas that you did well in and the areas that you need to work on in 2018. Think about the goals achieved, the success you achieved, the struggles you encountered and most important what you learned from your mistakes and what could have been done better. February Make a thorough business plan for 2018. Make sure the goals are realistic, attainable and measurable. Start with a full-proof plan rather than a loose attitude of setting up plans and fixing them at the last moment. It is always a better and a safe idea to know what you are going to do next. It helps you prepare well for it and ultimately leads to a better result. March Write down the business goals and objectives so that you don’t forget them as you progress. April If you want to remain focused create a plan to achieve your goals and objectives. The plan should be a detailed plan with the list of steps needed to reach the goals. There should be a mechanism to track the progress as well. Be as detailed as possible as it will make the journey easier May Break the goals into smaller goals. As the year passes there are chances that the goals might disappear. The best way to approach is the way we followed in the blog; think of 12 separate goals for 12 months that lead to the final goal June Since it is already a half year, this is the right time to review the goals. Review the progress and understand where you stand and what changes you need to make to be on track. July Make it a point to list small ways to keep yourself on track. You may go off track when the goals are taking too long time to achieve. Forgetting about the goal even for a short period of time may lead you to be off the track. August Keep yourself motivated along the way. It will keep you going so that you do not quit and reach the final goal. Small things like creating a vision board and keeping it somewhere that you can see all the time are very impactful. September Make reaching your goals a healthy competition. This will help you to be on track and enjoy the journey. Building teams with same goals will make the journey easier and enjoyable. October Never compromise on values when it comes to business or the brand and community the company serves. Quality is the only parameter that can help you to be in the race of today’s cut-throat competition. One must never compromise on the quality under any circumstances whatever it may be. November Empower the team to do more and make them feel even prouder about what they do. The team members should be proud of what they are doing and should enjoy doing it. Moreover, there should not be unrealistic limitations on the team members. One should empower them to do more and experiment with the tactics and use their skills in a creative manner. December Analyze, this is the good time to reflect on the business progress over the year and again plan for the next year. Through the year never forget to strike a better work-life balance and put time for yourself on the calendar. This is the most important aspect since this will help you feel better through the year as well have given you enough energy to put into the business and thus make it successful. So as Benjamin Franklin puts it – Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let each new year find you a better man. So, let’s get ready to take off on the transformation journey to attain the set goals and lead the way to success. Have a Transforming Tuesday and a Happy New Year! Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri & Faber Kishlay
- [Global Milestones - 2017!](https://faberinfinite.com/5463-2/): Year 2017 has been a lot more happening than expected and has left past its predecessor in terms of drama and sensations created throughout. Many ups and downs from different paradigms such as politics and virtuality made sure that 2017 gets a place in historian’s notebooks. It has been a roller coaster ride for the world economy. Today we will be covering some of the noteworthy milestones and happenings that created an impression on the year 2017. Blockchain technology Blockchain technology was finally able to penetrate into the mainstream market in 2017, leaving behind its previous identity of just a technology behind bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Fascinated by its beauty, many companies have started to explore it and are consciously trying to find a way to practically implement it. Many countries have even started to plan out their own cryptocurrencies to put on the blockchain to hold the information in a transparent and accountable way. The year 2017 also saw some countries like Japan and South Korea passing legislatures to establish a regulatory environment for blockchain technology as well. Political turmoil in Kenya and Zimbabwe The year 2017 saw some of the major political dramas and conflicts, especially in the African region. Manufacturing and Industrialization are two of the key pillars of Kenyan Vision of 2030. However, the vision seemed to be a bit a blurry in 2017 after the political turmoil that erupted in the country. Businesses in Kenya have lost almost $7 billion in the past few days because of the violence and controversies created due to presidential elections. The condition is no better in Zimbabwe either and the economy is still struggling to attain stability, almost a year after the general elections. The country is almost facing de-industrialization with the companies and local merchants wrapping up their businesses at an alarming pace. The same goes for the manufacturing industry as well with factories being depleted of the raw materials to continue production. GST implementation in India Year 2017 was a roller coaster for India. With the country still coming up with the lack of cash in the market because of demonetization, government’s decision to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the month of July was highly criticized and slammed by various sections of the country. However, the step was appreciated and supported by many economists and financial houses considering its forthcoming benefits under the tag ‘one nation, one tax’. Trump as US President The world was shaken when Donald Trump won the US presidential elections. Defying everyone’s expectations, Trump won the US Presidential elections to become the 45th President of United States. He also headlined the newspapers by a number of times, either because of his policies against Muslim nations or his attitude towards North Korea. His election was even more radicalized by the rumors of Russia hacking into US servers to turn votes in Trump’s favor. Overall, it might not be wrong to say that 2017 saw a drastic transition of power and position with the election of Donald Trump. Hurricanes affecting the globe The year 2017 was terrorized by the implosions of hurricanes in different parts of the world. The world saw the strongest hurricane in the human history ‘Irma’ almost completely devastating the American continent and tourist islands like Puerto Rico and St. Martin. Other hurricanes like Maria and Katia also threatened the land and consistently hampered the business through sea routes. Also, the damages caused by these hurricanes paralyzed the national economy and forced the people to move to relocate themselves to safer places. Effects of Brexit on economy 2016 saw the United Kingdom leaving the European Union after the referendum was passed. The impacts of Brexit were clearly seen in the year 2017 and the year saw a major turnaround in the trade and manufacturing of the United Kingdom. It was highly favorable that a mutually beneficial trade agreement would be put in place to the advantage of both sides. However, Brexit also hampered its ‘MFN’ status with the exit. Also, the manufacturing industry saw a decline in the charts, diminishing UK’s presence in the global market, thus reducing the overall exports of the country. With so many events happening throughout the year, the economy has seen major ups and downs. 2017 has been a memorable year in its own way. But one thing is for sure, may the year 2018 be worthier with better profits and higher returns. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Wonders with Time and Motion Study!](https://faberinfinite.com/wonders-with-time-and-motion-study/): “Analysis and Study is the critical starting point of Strategic Thinking” – Kenichi Ohmae The same goes for the manufacturing industry. Time and Motion study provides one with the outline of the needed work and assists in making precise use of the resources to be on the desired timeline. It is the scientific study of the conservation of human resources. In the search for the most efficient method of doing a task. A well analyzed and prefaced data will allow the manufacturer or the board to know the capacity and capabilities of their manufacturing plants and factories. Some might consider this as orthodox, time-consuming and old-fashioned, but remember “Old is Gold”. Time and Motion study and analysis can help the organization in planning their upcoming projects and avoid getting hitched on to problems. Operational Excellence and Sustainable Productivity are some of the most basic advantages of Time and Motion study. The basic process of Time and motion study basically comprises of five key points that govern the entire process. They are as follows: Look closely at the present work and get an insight of the current situation. Look out for opportunities and chances that can enhance and identify them. Bring in changes for good in the current processes that are being followed. Analyze if the desired results are being produced or not after updating the processes. Shrug off your shoulder and repeat. Time and Motion Study helps in Manufacturing Time and motion study is undoubtedly one of the best techniques to find out the time and duration of the task and production procedures. It helps the organization in minimizing waste, precise use of resources, cutting costs, improving workplace environment and motivating the labor force for high and sustainable productivity. It divides the whole task in its subsequent parts and thus also reduces the paradox of pressure a complete task creates on the workforce. A Time Standard is one of the key components of Time and Motion study. It is calculated by taking note of three key factors, i.e., qualified worker, working at normal pace, and doing specified tasks. Determining the number of tools and equipments required for the process. Determining the amount of workforce required to complete the production on time. Determining the cost of the entire manufacturing and selling processes. Assigning equipment and manpower to tasks and jobs. Determining performance, assembly line and speed of conveyor belts. Pay structures for workers doing over-time. Assisting in cost reduction processes. Analyzing the new equipment purchases. Assisting in creating budgets. Below is a pictorial representation of how Time and Motion Study affects the production and operation of any manufacturing plant. Faber Infinite has helped several of its clients by implementing Time and Motions Study at the client’s site and production units. The implementation worked pretty well and the desired benefits were achieved in a short span of time with the precise analysis of the data collected. Moreover, the manpower productivity was improved and overall production of each operation was increased by 30%-40%. Following drivers were used in bringing out the significant change in Manpower productivity. Significant Change in Manpower Productivity Analyzing all activities and arriving at a standard time of each activity. Identifying NVAs (Non-value adding activities) and providing recommendations for eliminating NVAs for future practices. Providing systematic review aimed towards line balancing activities Our module helped the client in improving its efficiency by more than 30% and the same was reflected in the production units. We helped one another client of ours and implemented a suitable module at his site and achieved around 33% savings. Also with a modified layout and 16%reduction in total work content. With the appropriate implementation of modules and studying. The data gathered from such practices production and delivery timeline along with costs summary can be determined. which will consequently help the manufacturer in planning more efficiently for future projects. Competence and Production improvement are some of the most important improvements that can be brought into the system with the application of this ‘so-called insignificant seeming processes’. If one is really finding it hard to cope up with the growing competitiveness of the market and is struggling in operating through it, Time and Motions Study can be the answer to all his problems. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri Similar articles : Time and Motion Study – Robust Productivity Improvement Tool Building Competitiveness Via Time and Motion Study 4 Point Blueprint to Improve Manpower Productivity by 18%  
- [Swachh China on the way after Swachh Bharat! The Five S way...](https://faberinfinite.com/swachh-china-on-the-way-after-swachh-bharat-the-five-s-way/): Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has already created a lot of buzz in the Indian Sub-continent and now has already started to ring bells in the neighboring nations as well. Xi Jinping, the Prime Minister of China seems to be very impressed with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and has taken the cleanliness mission to his country now. He has launched a ‘toilet revolution’ in China to improve the sanitary infrastructure at tourist sites with the focus being on rural areas. All about Swachh China movement As we all know, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by Modi government to enhance the waste management system efficiently and promote cleanliness. According to Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, Xi Jinping’s government has also started a program on the same foundations. The initiative is started to cement the country’s steps towards revitalization strategy and to improve the quality of life of the population. After building toilets at the tourist spots, the focus has now shifted to rural areas. Moreover, if the reports are to be believed, the Chinese government has already built around 68,000 toilets until October 2017, which is around 20% more than the devised target. Moreover, Xi’s government now focuses to build more than 64,000 toilets at the tourist spots in the time span of 2018 to 2020. A similar example can be seen in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as well, when Modi government in 2014 set course on an ambitious journey of building 65.82 lakh household toilets and five lakh community and public toilets by the end of the year 2019.  In a surprising turn of events, about 35.81 lakh household and 2.2 lakh community toilets have already been built. Most of the states have even surpassed their given targets in the year 2018 itself. What is Five S? The Five S method is an age-old method where the unwanted and wasteful items are picked out and disposed of the system to help the system move in an orderly fashion by allocating the right items and ideas at the correct and needed positions. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan had a very close relationship with the Japanese Five S practice of cleanliness, systematic arrangement and other arrangements. The same is being observed in the Swachh China movement as well and is being used to improve and increase efficiency and productivity respectively. Five S and Swachh China Movement Five S is a Japanese method to demonstrate different levels of cleanliness and its effect and benefits has made it a recognized theory all over the world. The basic five components of Five S are as follows: Sort Select place Shine Standardize Self-discipline Five S technique have been used worldwide into curate and improve one field or the other. The focus of this principle lies in effective workplace organization and standardized work procedures. It eases the work process with effective controls and reduces and eliminates the waste. Moreover, it also increases quality, efficiency and safety. Swachh Bharat and Swachh China is largely based on Five S and takes an initiative to aware the people about cleanliness and hygiene around their surrounding and also attempts to understand the perspectives of masses about hygiene, cleanliness and a healthy body. Because of its huge number of benefits, the Five S method is widely used all around the world; be it in corporate organizations or in housekeeping. Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, however, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant — from hospitals to television stations etc and all areas within a business, will gain benefits from implementing a structured Five S movement. Team Faber Infinite has launched Five S implementation initiatives at various clients across sectors and geographies. Within a short time of implementation, the client team has seen tremendous benefits. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Safety Comes First!](https://faberinfinite.com/safety-comes-first/): Safety in many corporate meetings is considered as a less important topic and does not adhere enough space on the papers. Although, subordinating safety is same as subordinating production efficiency and cost factors. A mutual balance between safety and production is vital in the manufacturing industry. Giving more importance will not only hamper the efforts of the employees but may also create collateral damages in the other sections of the organization. One might be achieving small gains by looking over the safety measures. However, a single accident due to lack of safety measures is enough to create a ruckus and compensate the gains. Sometimes, the numbers also roll downhill and the company might incur losses as well. Lacks in safety measures are also responsible for the spike in costs. Moreover, the medical care, insurance policies and indirect costs such as less production and low morale of the employees are some other factors that bring s additional load on the firm and bring a very bad PR among the agencies. Obviously, there are some occupational hazards that cannot be completely removed. However, for such systems, a certain control with a considerable tolerance level can be introduced to keep it in check and provide assistance to safety systems on a parallel notion. Safety Vs. Production There is a feeling that inducts the mind of employees of many organizations that safety will hinder their efficiency and will reduce their production abilities. This hindrance usually arises from either one of the following sources: Lack of Strategy: Strategies direct the flow of work and decide the methods to deal with a problem. Lack of strategies is bound to create confusion and distress in the entire system. Without strategies, even the manpower would fail to sync the resemblance between the parallel boats of safety and productivity. Conflicting organizational and safety strategies: Safety strategies are usually designed and implemented by the safety department while the corporate leaders build the business with business strategies. The whole system lacks the simple concept of coordination and creates a situation of conflict and confusion at certain instances. If anyone of the two is given preference, the other is bound to suffer which will ultimately strike the business. Hence, a proper balance and coordination must be maintained while introducing the safety and business strategies at the workplace. The disconnect between strategy and practice in the workplace: It is very rarely seen in organizations that a safety and business strategies are implemented and aligned in a proper way. However, such kind of organization faces a different problem i.e. improper or negligible practice of strategies by workers in the workplace. This problem can arise from many sources like poor communication and lack of accountability.  Safe Production Among all the strategies and plans, the idea of safe production must not be left out. There are only few organizations who precisely define the roles. Responsibilities and results (RRRs) when it comes to production and safety. This is what makes them excellent and rare at the same time. Other organizations either do not take these RRRs into consideration or enforce them poorly. Many organizations nowadays, start believing that their safety system is full-proof due to lack of accidents for some months. Although this can mislead the leaders and might confuse them in adding and utilizing the leading metrics of safety. Leaders should interact with the manpower and try to know their perceptions of importance between production and safety. At the same time, they must also keep this in mind that the workplace is already giving them some performance now and in order to change the numbers, they must also change the factors that revolve around safety and production. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Faber Infinite-Promoting Competitiveness](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-competitiveness/): Quality Circle is a group of workers or employees, who meet on a regular basis to identify, analyze and resolve work-related issues. Originally, the concept of Quality Circle emerged in the United States but now has become an integral part of the industry of every country all around the globe. They are usually small formal groups formed by voluntary engagement of employees, generally coming from the same area. The objectives of forming a quality circle are as follows: Improve the quality of products that are being manufactured by the organization in the manufacturing plants. Improve the methods and ways of production. Development of employees and individual taking part in the Quality Circle. Aggravating morale of the employees and motivate them. Respect the human resources and humanity and create a positive and cheerful environment at the workplace. Another important feature of Quality circle is its flexibility of independent agendas with its own terms of reference. Also, the group works exclusively towards improving the quality of the products by any means and takes core steps to achieve the desired goals. Quality Circles build trust and understanding between the management and the workers. Co-operation is the key element of production and operation, and not confrontation; quality circles achieve this with successful and precise implementation. It also encourages the sense of belongingness among the members of the circle, making them realize that they have an important job and needs to work hard towards bringing out the optimum efficiency of the organization. This entire concept provides the opportunities to its members to showcase their wisdom, creativity and experience in bringing out the improvements by converting the challenges into opportunities. Moreover, Quality Circles have the advantage of continuity which means that the circle in action remains intact, undisturbed and unchanged from project to project. Faber Infinite and its indigenous relationship with Quality Circles. Faber Infinite has a very long and successful record of helping organizations by the means of Quality Circles. We are actively involved in engaging with the quality circles by creating small cross-functional teams and training them to achieve the targets set by the organization and helps them become the driving force to thrust the engines to those numbers. Faber Infinite has provocatively supported and encouraged Quality Circles and Quality Circle Competitions. It was also the sponsor of the recently conducted 3rd Quality Circle Competition (Western Region), which was organized by ACMA (Automobile Component Manufacturers Association). We have also helped and trained various groups who have moved a step further and has been able to bag medals at Quality Circle Competitions ranging from regional and state levels to international levels. Our client Peass recently bagged Gold Medal at International Convention for Quality Control held at Manila, Philippines. Our several other clients including Inox, Strongpak and many others have been able to leave their marks in such competitions. Moreover, with the training Faber provided to the team members, the circles have managed to achieve the desired growth and reached the favorable numbers. The growth was sustainable and hence the productivity of the organizations was improved significantly. The impacts were clearly seen on the energy and morale of the workers as well. Faber Infinite has always been a sincere supporter of continuous improvement and is a well-recognized name. It has a very successful record of helping companies facing problems in the manufacturing department and has provided assistance to roughly 1000 companies. Quality circles have been an integral part of the modern industry and its collective benefits can provide the organizations with optimum results.       Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Strategies to Survive changing in Business Environment](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-to-survive-the-changing-business-environment/): In today’s constantly changing business environments, many business firms still like to implement strategies on a yearly basis to hit the core of the plans and strategically improve the planning and processes. Unfortunately, these processes might not help in achieving the desired results as this basically focuses on solutions that will provide a ‘tested and used’ outcome. Traditional planning put forth a sheet that already defines how the industry will be in the upcoming years, but the reality is exactly the opposite. In this, fast running world, firms need to be nimble, innovative and entrepreneurial to survive the changing dynamic environment. Rational thinking might benefit the organization if the environmental conditions (market need, economic conditions and demographic factors) are stable. But, this strategy won’t help the business organizations if they are looking to achieving long-term benefits. In this situation, Entrepreneurial thinking is what that will increase the productivity of the organization. Entrepreneurial thinking is defined as a process of conceiving non-standard approaches by entrepreneurs and teams thinking through opportunity discovery and opportunity creation while chasing the ultimate goal of creating value. Many academic firms argue if opportunities are discovered or created. This argument can be clearly and profoundly sidelined by taking the example of Apple. Apple incorporation embraced the opportunities by developing a series new age devices like Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iTunes and a series of technological advancements when people didn’t even think of combining an electrical typewriter, with a gaming console and calculator. The industrial world is filled with examples like these when associations started to focus on training, resources and energy to achieve corporate entrepreneurship and changed the approaches to their businesses to create demands and achieve success in an organized way. We are talking about Opportunity Creation and Opportunity Discovery in our entire article. Don’t you want to know what these actually mean? Let’s have a look at the exact and precise meaning of what these terms showcase explicitly. Opportunity Discovery: Efficient understanding of the market is the key to discovering opportunities in the constantly running corporate world. In this case, the market doesn’t limit itself to the customer market only, but covers a broader area including supply markets, sales markets, complementary markets, and even unrelated markets. The roads to unearth the new market spaces for inside the corporate world are as follows: Alternative Industries Strategic Groups Customers Complementary Offerings Functional or Emotional Appeal, and Organized Timelines By exploring these untouched roads, organizations can find new ways, new approaches to satisfy and fulfill customer needs. Also, combining strategies can differentiate the customer specific product from the rest of the products of the industry. It is a systematic process that requires constant innovation for the generation of new ideas and combines them to form out beneficial potentials – and all of this does not come out of thin air. Opportunity Creation: Opportunities are what define the success of any business organization. Creating opportunities is as important as grabbing them. It is basically foreseeing of the market trends and predicting what the customers will want and which products will satisfy those desires despite of the current market polarisation. Moving ahead with this strategy will obviously create fore casted risks for the entrepreneur since he is presenting the market with something new, which at first, might not be taken handy by the typical orthodox customers. The integrated models of the same – old techniques might prove to be successful until threatened by the external factors. A well designed Opportunity Creation process ensures a steady flow of high-quality opportunities that drive long term growth above and beyond the baseline. To understand this better, let’s take the example of consumer electronics giant NOKIA. Many won’t know the fact that NOKIA in its early days was started as Pulp, Cable and Rubber mill in the year 1865. But, the way the organization molded it business and created its own name in communication, information technology and electronic goods is a great example of corporate entrepreneurship and opportunity creation. One can say in simple terms that Opportunity Creation is the lifeblood of the innovation journey. To Conclude: Companies and organizations should be able to adapt to the threatening factors that keep shaking the foundation of ‘following the herd’ system that is quite dangerous in today’s competitive market. Innovation through discovery and creation of opportunities is a must required tool to be implemented during the transitional period to avoid fatal consequences. Reinvention must be kept as a highly prioritized mark with the entrepreneurial thinking to achieve success whilst going through a transformation. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [ACMA Quality Circle Competition](https://faberinfinite.com/acma-quality-circle-competition/): Quality is not a new concept. It has always been around since the inception of the industrial age. It is the quality that defines the character of a particular brand and impacts its brand value. To keep this quality standard throughout the production and see after external work factors that might affect the quality of the product, Quality Circles are formed. In simple terms, it is a group of workers who do the similar work and meets regularly to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems. Moreover, it has emerged as a mechanism to develop and utilize the tremendous potential of people for improvement in product quality and productivity. Quality Circle Competitions works as a platform for the employees of an organization providing them with exposure and building their problem-solving skills and confidence. It also provides an opportunity to recognize the efforts of the employees who have shown exceptional problem tackling skills. Faber Infinite partners with ACMA for the Quality Circle Competition Team Faber has been promoting competitiveness across geographies and sectors. The auto industry has been a leader in Operational Excellence concepts. Faber Infinite has been valuing this and nurturing it further by promoting such competitive events. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions in association with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) was a lead partner for the third Quality Circle Competition (Western Region). The event was organized in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat on the 1st day of the month December. The motive of organizing this event was to consolidate and bring the auto component industry together on one platform to build competency by learning through sharing of experiences. The event also focused on bringing organizational development through Total Employee Involvement and to promote Quality Circle movement within the organization in a systematic manner. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions was the partner of the event who associated with ACMA and contributed in organizing the event. Faber Infinite was also the sponsor of the entire event. 20 plus teams 100 plus participants participated in this event, making it successful and again proving the importance of Quality, Quality Circles and the need for such competitions to unlearn and learn collectively. This Quality Circle Competition is another addition to the list of ‘successfully completed achievements’ of Faber Infinite. Team Faber wishes auto industry in India and Gujarat so that we can together realize the dream of Make in India. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Manufacturing Industry gains pace, reaches 13 months high!](https://faberinfinite.com/manufacturing-industry-gains-pace-reaches-13-months-high/): Last year, the country saw a start of a revolution that entirely changed the course of Indian economy for good. The Government of India took a bold step by banning the currency notes of ₹500 and ₹ 1000. However, manufacturing industry saw a dip after its rollout due to lack of cash but started gaining soon in the second quarter of the year 2017. It was speculated that the implementation of GST in July 2017 might again create a trough in the graph but the effect was almost negligible. Instead, manufacturing industry of the country has reached its highest in November 2017 in the past 13 months. According to a private survey after the release of GDP data on 30th November, the economy of the nation is strengthening in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2017. From 50.3 in October, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 52.6 in the month of November. The major reason behind this improvement is the constant increase in the rate of placement of new orders and high production rates. Moreover, India’s automakers showed a double-digit growth in the recent months thus, concreting the fact that the dip seen in the past few months was just because of the panic and was only incidental and momentary. The GDP was consequently benefitted and showed a rebound with a gradual yet stable improvement from the July-September quarter and reached 6.3%. The recent reduction in GST rates is an underlying notion that has helped the manufacturer from the disruptions caused in the small-scale industries by its implementation in the month of July. The mid-range and high scale faced a negligible impact and thus, now along with the fresh orders from small-scale industries are paving the way for the manufacturing industries to particulate smoothly and advance on its path. Growth in outputs and new orders has reached its highest since October 2016 because of the constant support. Rate of growth in new orders! The data shows a significant growth in rate of new orders that are being placed and have reached its highest mark in the past 13 months. The manufacturing industry was able to take a leap forward in almost all categories except one, i.e. capital goods. However, the acceleration in the outlined production rate has been phenomenal and even the sales number has joined the boat. The purchasing of raw materials and semi-finished items was more on the sonic side in the month of November since the manufacturers have started to buy the materials in a greater quantity. This can be attributed to the factors like increase in demand for consumer and intermediate goods and a positive response by the market that has led to an upturn in the investment activities. The market has slowly healed itself and is getting back on the road. The export orders have also been pushed beside the green arrows on the charts and shown an improvement after three years. The industry has also expanded itself and the data collected through the surveys are a proof of the fact that the rate of expansion has been the highest since October 2016. Amidst all these, the Input cost inflation also accelerated to a very high speed in the past three months causing a marginal inflation in the output charge with chemical, steel and petroleum sectors contributing the most to this. A fulfilling growth in November has finally brought a full stop to the critiques of the economists criticizing the government’s decision to rollout two important bills in such quick successions. With all these going on, the Indian manufacturing industry has finally started gaining on the bumps that were supposedly hampering the industry’s vegetation over the past few months. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Maggi Fails Lab Test Again!](https://faberinfinite.com/maggi-fails-lab-test-again/): India’s favorite instant noodles brand Maggi has come under the scanner again after its samples failed lab test in Uttar Pradesh last week because of excess ‘ash’ content. This is the second time in the last couple of years that the Nestlé’s most popular product has failed in quality checks, the first one being in the year 2015 when Maggi failed to pass the tests because of excessive lead content. Interestingly, both times the instant noodles brand was found using ingredients above the permissible limit in Uttar Pradesh. The brand will be hoping to counter this controversy and end it soon for good especially at a time when it has spent huge amounts of money and resources to recover the lost ground after the ban in the year 2015 which has cost the company a whopping Rs. 1000 crores. Maggi has already lost a considerable amount of its share in the market despite its return dipping to 60% market share in 2017 from 75% in 2015. Quality has turned out to be a major factor that has affected the brand value and sales of Maggi in the past few months. The label of ‘unsafe’ by the government of India also hampered its brand value. This leads us to the fact that no matter what happens or how big the brand is, Quality Control is the basic tool that can help one in identifying the problems in a process. At Faber Infinite, we help our clients to constantly have a check on the quality controls and assist them with a module encompassing all the necessary elements that are required to keep the flow going in the right direction. We help our clients by implementing the basic seven tools of Quality that ultimately help and aid in process control. These basic tools are as follows: Flowchart Check Sheet Pareto Chart Histogram Cause and Effect (Ishikawa/Fishbone diagram) Scatter diagram Control Chart The above tools help one in identifying the critical process points that need to be controlled and assists in implementing preventions and ground controls to contain the same. Let’s understand the Quality Control tools in detail. Flowchart A flowchart is basically a diagram that uses graphic symbols to depict the nature and flow of the steps in a process. It describes a process in as much detail as possible by graphically displaying the steps in proper sequence. A flowchart also provides tools for training, promotes process understanding and identifies the problems and improvements required. Check Sheet Checksheet is a data collecting device that helps in organizing the data by category. It helps in showcasing the frequency of occurrence of a particular entity or value and further helps in acquiring more data for precise analysis. Check sheet also provides historical data and introduces data collection process in the system. Pareto Chart These are basically bar charts with bars placed in descending order of their importance from left to right. It is used to identify the vital elements in the processes. Also, the factors that have the largest cumulative effect on the system can be determined by this. Better use of resources is another advantage of analyzing data with Pareto Charts. Histogram A histogram is a bar graph that shows the frequency and distribution of variable or continuous data. It reveals the variations in a particular system and compares measurements to specifications. It can be used to summarize large amounts any kind of measurable data in graphs. Furthermore, the data analysis from histograms can help in making decisions for the betterment of situation. Cause and Effect diagram It is a graphics tool that helps identifying, sorting, and displaying possible causes of a problem or quality characteristic. It is also known as Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram. It helps to identify the root cause and compares the relative importance of each cause. The collective benefit of using this is that it improves team performance and effectiveness and encourages group participation. Scatter diagram It is a chart that pictorially depicts the relationship between two data types. These are used to study the possibility of a relationship between two variables. This devised correlation can later be used to identify the problem areas and optimize them for better productivity. Control chart They are process-behavior charts that determine if the manufacturing processes are in a state of control or not. The main purpose is to allow simple detection of events that showcases actual process change. This makes the control limits very important decision aids. We have applied these at several of our client sites who were facing troubles in maintaining the quality parameters of their products and have achieved significant improvements. Also, Faber Infinite has assisted them in devising the outlines of the basic groundwork that needed to be done to ensure that the recurrence of the problems can be avoided. Quality can be the considered as the basic parameter that can increase or decrease the brand value and at Faber Infinite, we have always believed that to move the cycle in the forward direction only, the best time to plant seeds for Quality Control was either 10 years back or it is NOW! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya The opinions of third-party set out in this blog are not necessarily the opinions of Faber Infinite or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were expressed. This blog is based on the following news: http://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/maggi-samples-fail-lab-test-nestle-distributers-fined-rs-62-lakh-fsda-fssai/story/264964.html  
- [Cryptocurrency - 21st Century Unicorn](https://faberinfinite.com/cryptocurrency-21st-century-unicorn/): Cryptocurrency, the 21st-century unicorn, or should we say the money of the future? Cryptocurrency has recently gained a lot of popularity among the people of the world and has taken the financial sector by storm. Today, it will be hard to find a bank or a financial organization that has not done any research or posted a thesis on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It has turned into a phenomenon that has changed the way of payment and has colored the evolving canvas of the digital world in its own colors. For those who are still having a hard time understanding the concepts and the basic meaning of Cryptocurrency – it is a medium of exchange, created and stored electronically in the blockchain, using encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds. In simple words, it can be defined as limited entries in a database that no one can change without fulfilling some specific conditions. Bitcoins, Litecoins, Ethereum (ETH), ZCash and Ripple are some of the types of cryptocurrencies that are currently being used in the market. Bitcoin, however, is the most popular form of Cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is the first decentralized form of currency and was developed in the year 2009. Unlike its name, Bitcoin is not a coin, but a code or a virtual token that can be freely transferred from one person to another through a secured network.  Cryptocurrencies are consistently touching new marks and recently moved past $11,000 in terms of cost per unit. In Indian rupee, the amount turns up to around 8.6 lakh rupees per unit. However, a Bitcoin can be purchased in parts as well for as low as Rs. 1000. One will be shocked to know that in India alone, an approximate of Rs. 250 crore trades are done in cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin) per month. The legality of cryptocurrencies still varies from country to country and keeps changing as we move across the globe. While some countries allow and promote the usage of cryptocurrencies, others like Indonesia and China have strictly banned the trade of cryptocurrencies. There are some hitches in using the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. For example, the technology used in the entire process is very complex and is not easy to understand in the firsthand experience. Moreover, blockchain and Cryptocurrency are still not legalized and centralized in many countries. Hence, one might feel prone to frauds while dealing with such transactions. The technology also has many fundamental issues in the setup and faces many challenges in proper implementation. At the same time, Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins and Litecoins have various potential applications in today’s market. Furthermore, the increased usage of cryptocurrencies helps in increasing transparency and precise tracking of the transactions whilst marking positions in the permanent ledger. Using blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies through it also has a significant impact on the cost and are considered as a cheaper medium of transactions. The power and effectiveness of using cryptocurrencies can be understood by the fact that a man in the USA bought a Tesla Model S in the year 2013 by paying only 92 bitcoins while the actual cost of the car was over $100,000. There are many such incidents that indicate the growing use of cryptocurrencies in the modern world. The number of cryptocurrencies enthusiasts is increasing exponentially with time insinuating towards making cryptocurrencies the currency of future. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [India - the Rising Star!](https://faberinfinite.com/india-the-rising-star/): India maintains its position as the most competitive country for business and manufacturing in South Asia in 2017 as well in the latest released rankings by World Economic Forum (WEF). Although, India has slipped down the rankings by two spots from last year, the two rankings are not comparable since the changed methodology for assigning ranks by the World Economic Forum. The rankings have come amidst the country’s efforts to gain 40 spots and reach 90th position in the World Bank’s annual survey for ease of doing business. According to the reports, India has achieved its highest ever score in terms of competitiveness in this year’s rankings and have shown continued signs of improvement with the other developing nations in the region, mainly China and Indonesia despite of countries like Brazil and Turkey losing their control and position in the world economy in the past few years. The gain is credit to the new policies that has been introduced by the Government of India for the betterment of infrastructure in manufacturing and industrial sectors. If the reports are to be believed, India rose a couple of positions in infrastructural development in industrial sector which has consequently resulted in improved rankings of the country. The rankings can be viewed as how India has evolved in the manufacturing industry over the years. At the grass root level, this is the result of rehabilitated and enriched Operational excellence and improved labor market efficiency. Moreover, India’s efforts to bring in foreign investments in the Indian manufacturing industry will see a bright light with such reports and rankings. The Indian manufacturing industry has been on the crest in the recent times. Although, it was slightly affected by the rollout of decisions like demonetization and GST but the train has returned to its tracks lately in the last quarter of the fiscal year 2017. There are obviously some risks in the Indian market like other markets and the same is instigated by the World Economic Forum’s report when the quote . However, it must not be ruled out of sight that India have still sustained its position and has rather improved it despite the global financial crisis. The manufacturing sector of the country has already added to the country’s GDP significantly, but its contribution towards the growth and recovery in the economic strata in defiance of the failures of the policy and reform makers to support the Indian economy is remarkable. The manufacturing sector has currently stabilized itself with the leap it made in the last couple of months as analyzed by Nikkei Manufacturing Index. The gain is bound to make its impact in the first quarter of the year 2018 and the market might start growing under green lights. World Economic Forum’s comment on India’s position! “India has made significant progress on infrastructure, one of the pillars where it ranked worst”, said WFE in a statement. The report further mentioned, “India (40th) stabilizes this year after its big leap forward of the previous two years. The score improves across most pillars of competitiveness, particularly infrastructure (66th, up by two), higher education and training (75th, up by six), and technological readiness (107th, up by three), reflecting recent public investments in these areas.” The WEF’s stand is surely going to influence the Indian manufacturing market scenario and will sublime the Indian industry. As a developing country, the nation’s market will look forward to achieving the untouched in the next few years and with the constant efforts of the Indian government with subtle motives is going to revolutionize how the world sees the Indian economy. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Learning – The only Process to keep you in the Race!](https://faberinfinite.com/learning-the-only-process-to-keep-you-in-the-race/): Jim Womack, Peter Senge, Daniel Kim and many other thought leaders have propagated the importance of learning organizations integrated into the mainframe system of an organization. Although people might have objected to these over the basis of rising inconsistencies in the recent period, the application of lean and learning organizations remains unquestioned because of its pure benefits such as standardization and waste elimination. Moreover, it is not about the attitude that we invest, but the actions we inculcate during the processes to make our intentions a reality. Below are some of the key actions that can make learning a sincerer part of your organization. Experimentation – Regular testing and changing the way of preparing and presenting plays an important role in the learning organization. It helps the company to get a better insight of what will really work with the customers, despite external factors like value, technical failures and inconsistency in equipment capacities.The customer in the 21st century is real and evolving at the same time. Hence, the targets of the entire process should be kept dual-faced. First, the organization should set up the step by step module of the entire process they want to implement and should make a list of the results they are expecting to achieve soon. Also, a regular study and research to bring out the analysis of the things happening around can blend a strong knockout. Second, the test should be as fast, cheap and risk-free as possible. Also, in this ever-evolving scenario, some experiments might be able to hit the target points, some might not. These results should be properly examined and before giving out the final answer and entering the stages of learning. Reflection – Reflection is somewhat the opposite of what we discussed earlier in Experimentation. It is also based on reality but doesn’t take the road on to testing specific changes. Reflection is basically deliberate pauses that are implicated in the processes to get a closer look at what and why. It may be introduced either to an event or a series of event occurring at the same time as found convenient. It is meant to be an academic exercise and its vitality i.e. changes to practices and processes in the form of updated standards should always be given high priority Learning Objectives–Learning objectives in a process defines how important learning process is in bringing out the best of a project. Learning in an assignment is usually thought in the later stages which is a basic conceptual problem in many organizations and firms. Establishing learning objectives will not only increase the paradigm of benefits but will also increase the performance objectives. All these processes might seem heavy considering its package nature but will produce an appeal to the desired segments when spread on the floor precisely. Captured and Reused Knowledge-A sustainable performance is a very important entity that defines the success of any company. To achieve so, the basic steps; include keeping a record of previous note and following them up with suitable tracks to minimize the risks of fragmentation. Precise implementation of ground levels of control systems for this is required to attract profits. Also, making use of captured and used knowledge also provides you with a set of already tried notes that will prove handy while implementing them in a coming project. So, keep learning and keep moving as learning is a passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. Learn and transform. Have a transforming Tuesday! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Change - Where Does it Go Wrong?](https://faberinfinite.com/change-where-does-it-go-wrong/): In today’s fast running corporate world, transformation has become a quintessential part of the business. It is said that the more the opportunity, the greater is the chance to succeed. But, despite having a huge ground, corporate transformation has a very poor rate of success despite tons of involvement of experts and consultants. Every three out of four efforts fail to produce the desired results. What goes wrong in the process? Well, the answer is very simple; the defects in the system controls and the flawed implementation are the factors that sink the boat in the middle of the sea. Teams in command of bringing out the change processes should focus on the execution, but before working on the so called plan of ‘how to change’, they should focus on ‘what to change’. A poorly chosen field of transformation will definitely create an impact on the performance. The age old problems will worsen instead of being cured. Prioritizing changes is a very important factor that can serve as a vital support to bring out the changes efficiently. A proper understanding and interpretation of the situation will lead the team to three key factors. They are – Catalyst required for the transformation, Underlying probe the organization is trying to commute to, Qualities and capabilities needed to be introduced in the leadership to be able to see through this entire quest. Let’s have a look at these factors in detail: Role of Catalyst (towards the desired goal) Every transformation is implemented to achieve a desired goal, mainly to increase productivity by streamlining the business through outsourcing, building efficiency and gathering investments for growth. But, usually these efforts fall straight on the ground due to inefficiency in carrying out the processes and lack in focus. This brings to the larger picture, i.e. what opportunities should be captured to bring the transformation change in action. The Hunt for the direction A particular direction for the change to begin with must be chosen to ensure a solid path in the initial stages. Basically, in the global market, the changes are introduced as a branched example or prototype of the below five factors: Global Presence Customer Focus Nimbleness Innovation Sustainability It is a very common habit – or you can say an inclination of the executives to try to agree to handle various quests at the same time, but it is a very diluted approach towards the goal. Hence, it is better to focus on one step at one time and slowly inch towards the ultimate goal that will keep you in the race of this evolving corporate world. What Can Leaders do? Every journey requires a support and in this transformational journey, leaders are the pillars that keep the entire thing stable, intact with the planned procedures and directions. Any defect or lack in the leadership will directly affect the conquest. A qualified leadership will extend the distance the engine is going to cover with the limited amount of fuel. Hence, to avoid degradation in value generation, building a talented and focused leadership is the key. Apart from all these, the team leading this entire process should also keep an eye and avoid the deceiving factors that hover around. To give you an insight, we have listed some of them below: Ignoring the hunt for the gold. Trying to divide your focus with some other tasks Leaving the task midway thinking some other is more attractive and fruitful. How to initiate the journey that will lead to your ambitions? Get to know the reality – Competitive market keeps changing the environment thus disturbing the equilibrium in which the flatplan was prepared. Hence, a detailed study and research about the market over the factors such as cost, logistics, polarization, demands etc. should be done thoroughly before setting out for the sail. Debating Priorities – I’ve said it again and again in this article that do not divide your focus while pursuing your goal. A single minded approach to your objectives will always fruit you more benefits than doing multiple things ever will. Instead of trying many things, map out different tasks of one particular project and focus on the sub- parts. This way, you will be able to make better and efficient use of resources. Communicating Choices – ‘Choices create difference’. A particular path to lead the action is very important to be decided by the leader and should be communicated clearly to the sub-divisions. It is better to agree on a particular decision rather than carving out a hole in the ship with different opinions during this transformational change. With growing curiosity about how to make plans and strategies to create a suitable environment for the transformational changes to flourish, I believe this article might have answered the boggling questions that have been crossing your mind. Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Building Excellence in Kenyan Tea Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-tea-farms/): “Kenya has a love affair with their land and takes great pride in farming” – David Walker Kenyan tea is considered as one of the best qualities of tea all across the globe and is widely acclaimed for its unique aroma and taste. It is a major cash crop grown in Kenya, providing most of the foreign exchange earnings of the country through tea exports. Small-scale tea farmers of Kenya have seen a gradual increase in the line of the graph defining their income. According to a report, revenues of these farmers increased by more than one-third in the year 2015-2016. Although a gradual increase might have been noticed a parallel rise in production and labor costs have already started to make the Kenyan tea uncompetitive in the international market. With the companies now trying their hands in various niches like producing white matcha and purple tea has also shown a significant rise in the production costs. Reviewing objectives and reforms Stakeholders of various multinational tea manufacturing countries are already troubled by the increased wage demands of the workers involved in the tea industry – which if accepted will bring a steep downfall to a sector dealing in billions annually. If reports are to be believed, accepting the 30% hike in wages will consequently increase the cost for MNCs by 54%. In this critical time, the focus of such companies should shift to promoting the consumption of the beverage in local markets and search for opportunities in other markets such as China to compensate with the heavy losses that will be incurred to the companies after accepting the wage demands of the workers. The objective should be to standardize the system and work for a streamlined improvement while monitoring the individual performances using the key performance indicators. Also, increasing revenue, optimizing costs and eliminating customer issues should be seen as a new paradigm for the billion-dollar industry. At Faber Infinite, we helped one of our clients which is a leading tea manufacturer in East Africa in achieving transformational revenue and cost results. We analyzed these problems by emphasizing on re-imagining growth strategies and eliminating wastes in all forms and creating predictable, reliable workflow. We also tried to bring objectivity in the Performance Management System by building an internal training team for all major improvement drivers. Approach Approach to such critical obstacles needs a clinical touch to be crossed and ensuring rectification. We approached these problems by with a detailed Light House Exercise (a powerful Strategy Framework by Faber Infinite) with all top management and working out a way forward for key focus areas. Also, we ensured that every department had a unique strategy to get a broader surface covered in a quick span of time. Strategies Strategies play a very important role in bringing down the impacts of the damages caused. A well designed and conceptualized strategy will never fall short of the line in the long run. LightHouse Exercise by Faber Infinite covers approaches focusing on Market, Product and Application, Excellence of processes and assets and others. We conceptualized on these basic parameters and built a strategic module encompassing these factors to gain the desired growth. It helped in exploring new opportunities and markets that further led to profitable openings in the neighboring countries’ markets. This entire module also built and improved processes excellence like Cost leadership, Quality leadership, Safety leadership, Delivery leadership and Customer Service leadership. Moreover, the implementation of tools also showed a considerable decline in project time, costs, materials and efforts. But what is the use of all these planning and strategies if they don’t produce desired results and fails to comply with the marked target. But wait? Did we succeed? Well, the answer is a big YES! With the proper implementation and monitoring, the graph rose and showed a 30% increase in the revenues. The productivity also increased by 34% with the standardized system for performance measurement. A drastic reduction of about 73% was seen in customer complaints, despite the company launching new products over the same period of time. A detailed customer research has also helped the organization to focus on the target customers and avoid audience fragmentation. Other benefits are delivered are as follows: Description UoM Before After % Improvement On Time In Full Deliveries % 35% 95% 171% Inventory kg 21,000 9,049 56% Production kg 58,278 128,920 121% Cost Per Kg Ksh 117.5 69.6 41% At the moment, Kenyan Tea Market faces serious competition from tea grown in India and Sri Lanka. Without regular checks and deployments, the Kenyan tea industry is supposed to lose its marketplace in the upcoming years and might reach its unwanted bottom. The uncontrollable inflation level because of the current demands is likely to shake the return of labor in the industry and will also affect the retention of the present workforce.  Hence, a proper and detailed customer research with the sustainably monitored implementation of strategies is required to expand the market and minimize the losses incurred over the past two years, supposedly to follow in the upcoming years as well. Ready to drive excellence in Kenya’s tea industry? Fill out the form below and gain invaluable insights on building a successful tea business. Take the first step towards achieving greatness in the Kenyan tea industry today! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Manufacturing Review - One Year After Demonetization](https://faberinfinite.com/manufacturing-review-one-year-after-demonetization/): 8th November 2016; a day etched in the history books on the nation when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 in his 40-minute long speech. This decision not only caught the industrial giants off-guard but also affected the daily life of ordinary people as well. The reasons behind this hard-hitting decision were as follows: To eliminate black money sweeping in the economy To eliminate fake currency and reduce opportunities for funding of terror organizations To encourage ‘cashless’ economy and reduce corruption consequently But, was it effective enough? Was it hard-hitting? Is demonetization really a mishap for the industries, especially manufacturing, as it is being propagated by the politicians in opposition or is just propaganda to gain support? Are the media houses’ arguments over the fluctuating economy because of demonetization true? Or, demonetization has really been a successful decision which has helped the manufacturing industry and will continue to be beneficial in the long run? Well, in this blog, we are going to analyze these points thoroughly and will map out the effects of demonetization on the manufacturing industry. Before and After… According to a report, the manufacturing industry was getting its chin up before demonetization but due to cash ban, it hit the bottom in the November-December 2016. The manufacturing industry was affected very badly immediately after the “notebandi”. Yeah! Demonetization did create a downfall in the manufacturing industry when it was introduced. More than 1.5 million people lost their jobs. Manufacturers were forced to stop production midway because of the hike in prices of raw materials and services. The number of jobs created almost reached the floor. But the decision was taken to help the industries achieve benefits, in the long run, to increase the productivity and transparency of the policies the government will introduce in support of demonetization. And Yes! The decisions were right. If the facts were to be believed it shows that the decisions were taken for good. According to a global research organization, the Nikkei Manufacturing PMI showed a regular increase in the heights of the graphs in the year 2017. The improvement can be estimated by the fact that the PMI reached above 52 in April 2017, since it was even below 50 at the start of the year. Also, in a survey conducted by a leading daily of the country, the results cemented this fact – a clear, white lie for many that the decision of cash ban was taken to give fruits in the longer period of time. According to the survey, though there was a mild decline in the manufacturing production in the last month of the fiscal year 2016, the average reading for the October-December quarter remained in the growth terrain. This clearly suggests that the contribution by the manufacturing sector to the GDP was in a positive stratum. In Conclusion FICCI analyzed the situation and in its latest quarterly survey assessed the expectations of the manufacturers for the first quarter of FY18. The survey had responses from more than 300 companies from eleven major sectors. The results of the survey declared by the analysts are to be believed, manufacturing companies from Electronics and machine tools along with leather industry are going to be in a strong foothold in the near future. It is an undeniable fact that there was a structural break in the sector during demonetization. But, it was all created by the panic that entered in the black money holders’ mind. The media reports creating a hoax added to this along with the baseless comments by the opposition for their political agenda. The researchers are clearly indicating towards the fact that there is a significant improvement in the manufacturing sector and it cannot and should not be falsified. It is time now to start gazing upon and enjoy the positive, the beneficial and fruitful side of this historic decision. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Operational Excellence in Plastic Industry- Need of the Hour!](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-need-of-the-hour/): Indian plastic and resin industry has a very high and developing trajectory over the past few years and has proved to be instrumental in the country’s improved GDP by reaching a total Market Capital of 1.7 lakh crores in 2016. With consumption of plastic increasing by a heavy margin of 16% annually, the manufacturing industry has a tremendous scope of expanding in this sector soon. The in-built capabilities of most segments of the industry coupled with inherent capacities have now also opened the doors of overseas markets for the Indian industries. However, in growth with limited resources comes hardships which later results in degradation and hampers the overall growth. The plastic industry has also faced such catches in the recent times. Labor shortages have become a very common problem for manufacturing facilities nowadays involved in this sector. Both skilled and unskilled labor has become hard to find for the companies. This has led to more and more investments in technologies and up gradation of the machineries which has increased the cost of the production. The profit margins of the companies have also reduced due to the fluctuating market prices of raw materials, rise in process of transportation, energy costs and reduced consumer discretionary spending. With the growing competitiveness in the industry caused by globalization, the task of mastering these challenges by the means of Operational Excellence and increasing and improving the productivity and production has become quintessential for the manufacturing leads and companies. At Faber Infinite, we provide services to the companies to jump through these obstacles and achieve a smooth on-flow of the manufacturing processes. Through our sustainable programs, we have seen the manufacturer achieving quick productivity improvements. Also, the implementation of these drivers helped in eliminating inefficiency across all chains thus, resulting in reduced costs and improved quality services to the customers. About Operational Excellence and what benefit can be achieved through it Operational excellence (OE) or World Class Management (WCM) helps in efficiency improvement, overall equipment effectiveness and waste elimination. It can also be debated that Operational Excellence helps in achieving higher asset utilization. Operational excellence means adopting best practices, having a culture of continuous improvement, and utilizing the latest technologies in products and production methods. Team Faber set on a journey with one of the companies involved in the manufacturing of plastics and resins and explored deeply hidden opportunities. After thorough analysis of the facility and records, we concluded that uniformity has to be brought in the system. Also, a monitoring system was established by the team members at the initial stages of the entire process to bring out the positives and negatives. The focus was shifted to OTIF (On Time in Full) delivery system as the facility failed to keep a proper track record of both supply and delivery schedule. Manpower distribution according to the skills of an individual also plays a major role in bringing Operational Excellence and sustainable development. Also, it’s not always about going through theoretically. Proper Workplace management is also a key player in the game of high productivity and improved efficiency. Once properly implemented, these factors will directly create an impact on the typical areas marked for improvements like labor productivity, yield improvement through waste reduction, inventory management, low cost automation, manpower optimization through productivity, reduction in change over times, and equipment and mould breakdown reduction. Roadmap to the future Operational Excellence has a very vast ground open in the current plastic manufacturing industry to cover and grow exponentially. The very first visible change will start to appear once the workspace is freed of dirt and dust. We, at Faber Infinite provide services to the companies and looks over if the guidelines are followed religiously to achieve the desired goal – Operational Excellence and Sustainable Development. Results have been delivered by our modules, reducing the production/conversion cost by more than 30%. Scooping of projects and processes and application of  Six S aids and visual management techniques have proved themselves time and again and has improved communication system as well as reduced the variation in processes. The graph was maintained to stay in a linear position facing upward with the modules we applied at client location. The Plastic and Resin industry is becoming more mature and competitive with the passage of time. With FDI in play now, the game has already reached a new level. Hence, achieving higher quality and productivity (a crucial part of Operational Excellence) is the key which will decide who is going to lead the race in the near future. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Production Planning Principles: Key to Efficient Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/production-planning/): What is production planning?   Many of you might have come across these questions as a manufacturer. Some of you might have got to know about it, some of you might have not. So let’s have a look at one of the most important aspects of manufacturing or production process; Production Planning. In this article, we will discuss Six Basic Principles of Production Planning. What are the objectives of production planning and control? Planning is the key process in any manufacturing process. A properly and precisely planned schedule helps the manufacturers understand the situation in a better manner and helps them in creating a timely delivery of the orders. Production planning is a term that covers all the aspects of manufacturing, be it workforce, requirements of raw materials, costs, time management or any other aspect. Its purpose is to arrange the resources ingeniously to reach the full potential of the manufacturing process. How to make a production plan? Different companies use different strategies for creating their production plan. But every production plan has six basic principles that play a pivotal role in the entire production process. Well, in this article, we are going to discuss these basic principles and how they can help in bringing out the best of your entire production process. 6 Basic Principles of Production Planning Customer Demand Customer demand is the first Principle of Production Planning. One must know what quantity of the product must be manufactured for the customer. The production should be planned in a way so that the requirements of the customer are met evenly, considering the market demand rates. Also, the manufacturer should be ready to comply with the variations in demand of the targeted customer and should be able to efficiently manage the production process during this period. The entire focus of this is to give a forecast to the manufacturer about the multiple situations that may arise during the production process. Materials Raw materials must be available in adequate quantity with the manufacturer to ensure the timely and complete production of the client’s orders and demands. A clever and efficient production planner keeps the minimum materials required in his store as his inventory. People responsible for designing the entire production plan should be able to evaluate the amount of materials that will be required in the production of the product for its timely delivery. Though many times, planners arrange for the precise and timely delivery of goods, one should design the production process taking into account that the production might have to be stopped due to unmanageable circumstances. Equipments The production planner considers the capabilities of the equipment used to produce the output. The actual capabilities of the equipment can be predicted by considering the previous production rates and combining it with the safety factors that are required. Basic stability of equipment comprising of availability (A), performance (P) and quality (Q) parameters can be determined by Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). In case, the capacity requirements are more than the production capacity of the machines, the manufacturer must consider the market, either for acquisition or for the leasing of the required machinery. Manpower Manpower planning is also the key elements of production planning. The estimation of the amount of workforce required to complete the production process on time is one of the most important forecasts the planner must make. It also includes the requirement of workers to do overtime or laying them off to assure the variations that might fall upon in the midway of the production process. One must also keep in mind that the competence of workforce should match the capabilities of the machinery to achieve the highest efficiency during production. Manpower planning can make use of previous projects’ data to calculate the capabilities of the workforce. Processes Effective production planning makes sure that the processes used for the output continue to operate efficiently and safely. It takes care of the facts that a new process does not affect the ongoing production processes. It also keeps a check on the processes and assists them with any requirements ranging from labor to resources. Often the normal operation of a process requires occasional testing and adjustments. This ensures that the new operation has a floor ready to roll when the process starts. Controls Including this principle in production, planning is very important. Keeping this on the list puts controls on various platforms that detects the problems or any obstacles that might arise at any moment during the manufacturing process. Verification of inventory, use of qualified suppliers and personnel, standardization wherever possible and regular tests of products and processes can help the manufacturer in containing the defects and delays. It also allows the people responsible for production planning take a holistic approach towards the problems and deploy precise corrective measures to minimize the damage and bring the production back on track.  Such inclusion of controls can really prove to be beneficial to the producers. At Faber Infinite, we assist our clients in designing the production plan and work day and night to provide the best possible alternatives on the unavoidable issues. We created a solution module for one of our clients encompassing order receipt process, capacity booking, production of dispatches and even installations at the client sites. It also consisted of a provision to calculate the delivery performance by measuring On Time In Full ratio (OTIF) and also highlighting the reasons for failure, if any. The production planning solution was designed to cater all the issues related to production and hiccups in the planning process. The overall benefit to the client can be summarized as captured below: From the above reports, it is very clear that – Overall production planning can be made simpler and easy to manage. Proper, logical and achievable delivery date can be promised to the customer. Backlogs in orders can be easily avoided. Delay in delivery can be put aside during the production processes. Thus an effective production plan can help the manufacturing process to exploit its full
- [Meet Faber Superhero - Manjunath Powar](https://faberinfinite.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-consultant/): Its 6 a.m. Start of another day, another quest for a consultant. Many a times, consultants are asked, what do they exactly do all day. Well, a day in the life of every consultant differs, but stays the same is their unquenched thirst and hectic schedule that starts from around 6 in the morning to 11 at night or probably even after that. We had a chat with our last month’s Faber of the Month, Manjunath and tried to have a little sneak peek inside the daily life of a consultant. Start of Manju’s day! Manjunath has some large clients under his belt and has always to be on toes for any kind of action that needs to be carried out. Managing clients from African countries like Kenya, Zambia and from India as well, his day is usually packed with variety of experiences – though a very difficult yet interesting lifestyle. While in India, Manju’s day starts around six in the morning, when his alarm sweeps his dreams to give him a wakeup call. Followed by the old habit of checking emails before even getting out of the bed, Manju describes the ritual as a vital part of his morning routine. Manju, which friends and team members call him, shares that ‘‘After being lagged due to time difference, getting updated with the latest stories-incidents at other locations and addressing them is necessary part of my morning routine.’’ As he quips, “After a long, tiring journey from one location to another, you might not be in a good mood and would just want to wrap yourself in the blanket. However, you must be alert and at your best while interacting with senior client executives and top officials. Keeping yourself aware about recent happenings and news not only helps you to be updated but definitely helps to strike a chord with people. Finally, what we work with is people and teams!” Challenges, Lifestyle, Vacations? As management consultant, there are several basic challenges which have to be tackled by the consultant at each and every segment of the day. Starting with managing demanding schedules to handling different projects at the same time after travelling over weekends. Speaking of which, Manju describes some of the most basic challenges he faces in his daily life. The very first one is being able to mingle with a completely new workforce at the clients’ site and motivating them to do more. “It is always a difficult task to change or modify the daily mindset of the operators and encourage them to produce two more units than their usual daily productivity”, adds Manju. Another big challenge according to him is to create balance between the different divisions of the organization and operators by working as a bridge between them to achieve the desired goal. “The projects are always typically result oriented, and since I have to meet everybody’s expectations in the organization, from MD and Chairman to middle management and operators; aligning the mindsets of all these parties towards a common goal under the same circumstances is obviously a challenging job yet a satisfying one, that a consultant has to do in his everyday life” as quoted by our Faber of the Month. He adds that it is the value addition for all involved stakeholders is what keeps him going to achieve more. A consultant must always try to be creative and innovative. “Clients expects us to be magicians and thinks we should be able to create something out of the box when required and should be able to deliver the same in a very short span of time. These obviously creates an impact on our lifestyles – in a better way and differentiates us from other corporate personnel. We plan our work schedules as well as personal development activities a whole month in advance and hence must convince the client teams to come together and follow the schedules as planned.” After an entire day of checking-in, grinding with the problems, coming up with solutions and most importantly implementing it on the floor along with client teams, attending client meetings, debriefing, planning, responding to mails and a lot of work, a consultant is none other than a Superman of the corporate world. In his last question of the interview, Manjunath mentioned that a consultant works 24*7, which after the session seemed astonishingly true to me. Considering the human nature of a consultant, even he needs sleep, and needs to log off for the day. Manju usually leaves the office around 7 in the evening when in India and around 6 while working in the African Countries. It is then when he hops back in the cab and returns to his place, again checking emails for any further updates, managing different sites and planning for the next client engagement. Upon inquiring about his reasons for opting consulting life, Manju very passionately, mentions that he is a consultant by choice. “What brings joy to me is sense of achievement each day, being part of non-routine endeavors each day, it is a kind of expedition which enables me to create value for different industries, different segments of people, different geographies!” adds Manju as we were wrapping up. However, in midst this expedition, Manju makes it a point to catch up with family over series of phone calls and goes for a swim once in a while to keep fit for everyday demands. Manju, who originally hails from relaxed land of Goa, is completely opposite himself and wants to make most out of every minute. And it is tempting for him to create value, connect dots on different client shores! Faber Manjunath Powar is one of the lead consultants at Faber Infinite Consulting with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations (Major) and Finance (Minor) with his 1st degree being in Mechanical Engineering. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Delivering exponential results, yet again!](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-exponential-results-yet-again/): Heraclitus very well said that ‘Change is the only constant’. In the last edition of iFaber, we brought to you a success saga from Zambia. Similarly, this time, we are bringing another extraordinary tale from the Textile capital of India, Gujarat. We are glad to announce and would like to congratulate Peass for winning the Gold at “International Convention of Quality Control Circle” held at Philippines. Peass is one of the leading manufacturers of textile machinery with various branches across India and plant located in Navsari Gujarat, India. We got an opportunity to have a talk with Mr. RG Yadav, Plant Head, Peass and would love to share the enriching conversation on growing trends, effects of demonetization and GST on the textile machine manufacturing industry of the nation and much more. Faber Infinite (FI) – What are your views and opinions on the impacts that demonetization and GST implementation had on the Indian economy and Textile industry? Mr. RG Yadav (RGY) – What I believe is that to establish and control the Indian economy, there was a need of removing black money from the mainstream market. Again, demonetization was a very good step taken by the Government of India, and I strongly support the decision. I understand that there were some initial glitches created by the decision, but these can always be solved by the Government organizations by reviewing the amendments. Coming to GST, to be honest, it was a need for the Indian market. There is always room for improvement and so is the government doing post its implementation by monitoring it closely. Hence, at Peass, we strongly support both of initiatives taken by our government.   FI – The manufacturing PMI index fell after the implementation of demonetization last November and GST this year in July. What is your take on this and how it has affected the textile machine manufacturing industry? RGY – As I already said, that these two were wise decisions taken by the government. It may have been a wrong decision to implement both the bills in such quick successions, but these are going to benefit the Indian economy in the longer run. Coming to textile machinery manufacturing industry, we are associated with all segments of buyers, be it small, medium range or big corporate groups. Implementation of these two bills did influence the purchasing by small and medium size organizations. However, it is slowly picking up and we are very hopeful that it will be back on track by the end of this year or by early 2018.  FI – What are the challenges textile machinery manufacturing industry is facing in terms of manpower, skills and cost in manufacturing? RGY – There are always cyclic disturbances in the textile machinery manufacturing industry. Changing and fluctuating economy of neighboring markets, cost cutting in purchase or reducing the manpower. So, these cyclic disturbances have always been present in the industry. However, coming to labor, I do not think that there is any shortage of labor in India. Industries are getting enough manpower to carry out their production processes in the country. FI – Faber Infinite has been associated with Peass for a very long time and the transformational journey has been termed as ‘Gati se Pragati’. Can you please brief us about how this journey has been for you and how Faber has helped team Peass? RGY – Before availing the services of Faber Infinite we were involved in many activities like cultural or attitude improvements in plants etc. However, we were not able to reach our desired goals. I must say that Faber has done extremely good job and after associating with Faber, the pace of improvements in all the directions accelerated tremendously. The initiative not only delivered desired exponential results but led to the culture of continual improvement on the floor where last person on the ground is sensitive and appreciative about the growth and improvement, which in true sense meaning of ‘Gati Se Pragati’. As a result, our two teams from workshop and assembly respectively have won several national and international competitions, including Gold at the International Convention recently. So, yes, Faber Infinite has helped us in achieving a lot over the past few years. FI – What comes to your mind when you hear the name Faber Infinite? RGY – Well, to be short and simple, Faber Infinite and its team is very knowledgeable, supportive and vey committed towards their objective. Their endeavors shall definitely help progressive organizations which look for growth and improvement to achieve their goals. We at Faber Infinite would like to thank our client Peass and Mr. RG Yadav for sharing his thoughts on this entire transformational journey along with demonetization and GST. We really honor our association with them and wish them good luck for the upcoming journey in the years to come. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya  
- [Want to Be a Better Leader?](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-be-a-better-leader/): “A leader is a person, who just does not direct his team on how to conduct the work, but also walks the journey with the team supporting, guiding and encouraging them as per the situation.” When you are a leader for the team, you have proved yourself to be better than the other in the organization. Being a leader does not mean that your efficiency and your creditability is for a day, or the duties are for a limited time. Rather, being a leader is a consistent job, where you just don’t have to prove yourself but you have to prove the accountability and creditability of the team as well. To be a better leader, the best thing can be to be a good self-reflector, and the reflection should be mainly of yourself. You don’t have to spend your entire day on reflecting upon yourself and trying to understand what are you exactly up to? All you have to do is spend 15 minutes of your evening time in isolation contemplating and reflecting upon yourself. Following are the points that you need to reflect upon: 1. Organise yourself: Every individual has his own set of work to do and his own to-do lists to complete, and apart from that he has to see to his team’s task, assign them work accordingly, and even manage to take feedback and updates from his team with regards to their work. This all needs to be done within the stipulated time period of the office hours. So keeping all the tasks in mind, it is very important, that the leader should organize himself first, as per the priorities and plan his day in advance so that his working can get organized. 2. Discipline Yourself: Every individual always organizes himself and plans his tasks for the next day at work. But what outstands a good leader is that he disciplines himself enough, that he follows his plan for the day at work. Like any employee, there are many urgent tasks and activities that come up on the said day. For being a good leader, the leader should be disciplined enough to stick to his organized plan for the day. More importantly being disciplined means doing one thing at a time, and focusing upon it completely till it isn’t complete and perfect. 3. Accept Your Short Fallings: No one is perfect always, but what is important is an employee accepting his mistakes. Acknowledging your shortcomings, and working on improving it, are the attributes of a good leader. No leader is born a leader, and no leader knows everything, but what outstands them from others is that they are acknowledging their shortcomings and working on them to improve so that they attend perfection. 4. Know the kind of Example you want to be: Every individual in life looks up to his role model for inspiration. In the same way, in an organization, the employees look up to their leader for not just inspiration but encouragement too. So it becomes the sole responsibility of the leader as to what kind of example do you want to set to your team. If you as a leader decides upon what kind of example do you want to set for your team, you will behave accordingly towards your team, and based upon your behavior will the success or failure of your team will depend. So, it is very important to keep a check, whether what kind of leader do you wish to become, and whether you are working upon the same. 5. Make your Team Stronger: Once, you have reflected upon yourself and found out as to how you can make yourself better, you then need to reflect upon your team as well, to try and understand, as to how can you make your team better and stronger. This is never a one day process, but a leader, can try to touch one attribute or quality of the group, and help them in developing it, and making it stronger. Thus, gradually the leader can help in making his team stronger and better step by step, one at a time. Don’t burden yourself with how to develop yourself to be a better leader, rather just spend 15 minutes of your day on reflecting on yourself, and work towards your reflection. Have a Transforming Tuesday!! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Work Beyond Boundaries!](https://faberinfinite.com/work-beyond-boundaries/): A recent survey says the number of people in the global workforce will reach 3.5 billion by 2030 — and still, there will be a shortage of skilled workers. This will result in increased global competition for talent. Organizations & teams will need new skills, attitudes, and behaviors that help to work in a global environment. One shall need to become more flexible and adaptable and think beyond boundaries. To embrace globalization following four key factors can make a huge difference: Ability to adapt differences:  It means the ability to adapt work practices that may seem culturally foreign. This is an important one because global work will bring employees in contact with cultural differences and culturally diverse practices. However, the ability to adapt smartly to these differences could be the difference between success and failure. And two, ability to adapt difference makes work life easier in a global organization because employees are open to learning and exploring new territories. Looking for common factors among cultures:  This makes it easier for the employees to accept the differences in the culture. For example, a French employee would find similarity with a Japanese co-worker by understanding that both the cultures are result oriented and focus on continual improvement of processes. Looking for common factors is very important for a global workplace because it brings employees from diverse cultures closer, which in turn renders to be more effective and efficient collaboration and teamwork.  Share a sense of belonging to the global organization: Share a sense of belonging to the global organization, as this will make it easier for you to relate to the values and goals of the organization. For nurturing job satisfaction, commitment, and better performance you need to be one with the organization globally. Global Interaction: Research says that when interactions are high, there is a greater ability to develop trust and shared vision among international co-workers. Interactions are also an important factor for sharing knowledge across locations. As such, knowledge sharing across boundaries can become more explicit; sharing information or best practices can become more advantageous, and learning from one another’s common experiences can quicken the spread of business competencies across the global organization. The above-mentioned attitudes and behaviors are what make a successful global corporate player. However, you might have already adopted few, or all, in your current job role. Or maybe you’re looking for ways to advance yourself and your team members. In either case, we can pick up from above pointers and become global players, thus helping our organizations to strengthen their global presence. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Another feather in Saurer Peass’ Cap!](https://faberinfinite.com/another-feather-in-saurer-peass-cap/): We have always believed that winning is the only option and our client Saurer Peass has achieved what we believe in. On behalf of the entire Team Faber Infinite, our heartiest congratulations to Saurer Peass for winning the Gold at ‘International Convention of Quality Control Circle, Philippines’. It has always been a pleasure to work with Saurer Peass; believing in each other and sharing the same goal of achieving the untouched limits. Our client Saurer Peass participated and presented two projects: Equipment Effectiveness Improvement via Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Manpower Productivity & Throughput Improvement via Line Balancing and Layout Improvement This feat holds a special place in the name of Saurer Peass as the whoppers beat companies participating from 26 countries including industrialist nations like Japan, China and South Korea to win the Gold. About the Conference: International Convention of Quality Control Circle, is an International level quality conference which is organized by The Quality and Productivity Association of the Philippines (QPAP). This year the conference was organized in Manila, Philippines. About Saurer Peass: Saurer Peass is one of the leading manufacturers of machinery used in textile industry. Founded in 1962, the Peass industries have grown to be a well-recognized name in the industry. They have also collaborated with manufacturing giants like Scheller GMBH, Germany and FR Mettler Sons, Switzerland. We wish Saurer Peass a wonderful journey ahead and hope that our mutual goal of limiting the unlimited is achieved soon. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [4 Steps to embark on a Continuous Improvement Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-embark-on-a-continuous-improvement-journey/): In every organization there comes a point, where we want the employees of the organization, not just to improve but also to be consistent with their improvements. Lean Improvement is a continuous improvement philosophy which helps organizations to sustain long-term and achieve operational excellence. An organization that is stagnant towards changes and who believes that they don’t need any outside help to improve leads nowhere, rather an organization that believes they have to work to become better and looks for a source to who can help them, not just become better but sustains longer. This Tuesday let us look at ways to become lean and walk on the path of improvement and growth: Create a vision In today’s competitive world there is always pressure on cost reduction, manpower productivity improvement, increasing market share, increasing profits, becoming more efficient and effective, etc. What is the demand of the hour is – Change? Every organization needs to change to cope with the changing global scenario. When an organization decides to change for improvements, it doesn’t happen just one fine morning. It is a gradual process and well-planned process. The employers need to explain their employees as to why the change is happening. This can be done if the employers share a vision with their employees, and explain them the importance of change. The employer should share facts and figures with their teams, as to how these changes, will help the organization to stand in the global competition. It will be even better if the seniors show a different picture to each department in a way that would convince them to accept the change. A training Program is Must In every department for every employee when a change is being introduced, everyone might not accept them. Thus a training program needs to be created, to understand what the employees think about the change, and how to exactly prepare them so that they work and behave accordingly and thus the new strategies are implemented successfully. This time period is even the best time, to set up bold objectives for the employees and the organization. As the employees are being trained on how to accept the new strategies and how to follow it, during this time, the employers should set bold objectives, that will give a right route to the training programs, thus helping the organizations to grow. Use Lean tools for creating Short-term Wins It is very important for the employers to create some short-term wins for the employees. This can be better done by using various training tools for the employees. Lean management provides various training tools, such as Pareto Analysis, 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagramming, 5S, Value Stream Mapping and various Kaizen events. This will help to keep the employees learn better. Set bold objectives for improvements The employees need to buy into the idea of change. If it has not been well accepted by them then there will be no improvement. They will not work towards the change, and also They need to accept that the new way of working is the better and superior to the older way, and also they need to be challenged and expected to work in a new way. They will fail otherwise. What is expected of the leadership team is persistence and commitment to the new way of thinking. It is a journey. Short terms improvements can happen quickly, but to transform the business you need to go a long way. So start the continuous improvement journey, keep improving and thus keep growing. Have a Transformation Tuesday!!
- [Purposes Aren’t Found we need to Build them](https://faberinfinite.com/purposes-arent-found-we-need-to-build-them/): In today’s world, we cannot live without any purpose or aim in life. No matter where we are, as an individual or as an organization, nothing can sustain without an aim or a purpose to it. A life without a purpose, and an organization without an aim is like, one walking in the far of dense forest, walking till the forest leads you. There are many organizations and companies coming up today. They are unique in their own way, and just like them, their aims are different. An organization should always have their aim and goals which are unique, and which outstands them from the others. Here are a few ways, of how we focus ourselves, in deciding the goals and purpose of our organization, and in achieving the same: Find your own aim:  No Organization is in the market without any aim. Everything is done for a cause, and all we need to do is find that cause. From the organizational perspective, when the leaders of the organization come together, to start the organization, they come together with an aim/goal/vision to achieve and thus change. After many combinations the organization zeros down on one aim which becomes the goal of the organization, and thus it is how the aims, and purpose of the organization comes into existence. Your purpose will build a roadmap:  An organization once started, plan up small steps called as purpose. The purpose is their small stepping stones, which act as targets to the employees and the leaders of the organization. These small purposes are then distributed to every employee. The purpose then penetrates down to each employee thus becoming the KPI for an individual employee. This will help them to develop themselves as well as the organization. With the completion of these small purposes, the leaders build a roadmap for their individual employees, which in turn builds a roadmap to achieving the goals of the organization. The roadmap changes as we achieve:  As the organization starts achieving their departmental purposes, the roadmap that is set for the individual departments keeps changing, depending upon the speed of the employees of the team achieving their individual purposes. Every employee is given their individual purpose, followed by their departmental purposes. With the speed, the employees fulfill their individual targets and their departmental targets, the leaders of the organization are likely to change the roadmap that has been set for the entire department. Thus, find the aim for yourself and the organization, build a roadmap, and walk the path to achieve the goals of the organization. Have a Transformation Tuesday!
- [IS BEING PROACTIVE DIFFICULT?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-being-proactive-difficult/): Every organization carries out certain changes which they feel are needed for achieving the goals and aim of the organizations. Those changes are then carried regularly, and the evaluation of those changes or new strategies are carried out at equal intervals, and gradually it becomes the culture of our organization. Keeping that culture into continuity is what becomes a responsibility and duty of not just of the organization but of its employees. Steve Olsen defines the cultural change in the best manner, he says, “When an organization attempts a cultural change, it ends up becoming a cultural war, but don’t get discouraged, that cultural war is a good war!” Any change, no matter how big or small it may be, the changes take a while to show its results. A change once brought needs to be continued always, and to maintain the continuity, the employees along with their organization need to become proactive in implementing those changes and continuing them. How can you help your organization in being proactive? This Tuesday, we share some of the actionable pointers to be proactive: Request for help:  Every organization tries to bring about some strategic changes in their organization, but they are unaware of which strategic change is righteous for them. So rather than taking decisions on their own, it is better to request for help, from the people who are willing to help. Find out the best fit: After getting help over the strategies, the next step that the organization should do is to get the best fit from all the alternatives. When a third party gives solutions, they give options, only the organization can decide, which technique fights best for their organization. Reason with continuity: Any change in the first instance is never accepted by anyone, and even after the change is accepted, it is very important, to explain the organization as to why is it important to maintain continuity with those changes. Simplicity at its best: When a change is being introduced, it is always better to keep the change simple. As everyone might not accept the change wholeheartedly, it is always better to keep those changes simple and less complicated so that it is accepted. Encourage people: It is always not necessary that all the employees accept the change with the same enthusiasm. Many times it even happens that the employees might be against those changes, so it is always better that the organization should encourage the employees who are against the changes and help them see the benefit of the changes. Openness is desirable: Every employee working in the organization works thinking it to be their own, and they have all the rights to know as to what is exactly happening in their organization. The organization should be open and transparent to their employees, as much as to the clients. Being Creative: Every change needs to be different and creative, if the same change is followed in the same monotonous way, no one accepts it or shows it with the same enthusiasm. The change needs to be defined in a more creative and different way, that the employees look forward to the changes. Be appreciative: The organization should appreciate the employees at an equal interval, to let them being acknowledged, and make them feel good, that the hard work of the employees is showing results. This will encourage the employees to work better. Let us be proactive and build a culture of continual continuous in the organization to become more efficient and profitable. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Cost Management: 5 ways to Transformation Effectively](https://faberinfinite.com/cost-management-5-ways-to-transformation-effectively/): Cost management practices have been prevalent in both big and small organizations over the years. The reasons why organization suffers, is because according to them this is an initiative they have taken for transforming their organization to better productivity and profitability. Organisations go cost cutting across all the boards, and level employees, but they fail to do it strategically, and make the cost cutting effective for the organization rather than just a transformation. Every organization which implements the cost management initiative, have their own reasoning behind it, some say that they do it to make the right trade for long term plans, while as other believe it to be a part of their strategy for achieving futuristic goals and fuel up their growth. Once organization decides upon cost management process for their organization, many underestimate that it may go wrong as well. We here bring to you 5 mindset shifts which can help to organise the cost management initiative effectively for your organization: Build a connecting link to the cost and strategies: As the organization decides upon cost management, don’t frame it as a loss to the organization, or a major issue for the organization, rather than look at it as an opportunity towards increasing the value of the company and all stakeholders. Every cost need not be an expense to the organization. It is better, to actually link all the expenses that you do with the strategies. Re-define your cost, in terms of your strategies: Every organization, has their own goals to accomplish and for those goals they have their own strategies to follow. So as per your strategies link your costs to them. Carry out the process of cost management not to just sustain your present year expenses, but aim for multi-year investments as well. This will help the organization in deciding as to what is the organization needs to do, to win the market. Create a Parking Lot: Creating a parking lot means, to creating a section in which you list down all your expenses as you follow them. Once you list your expense, tally each expense to your strategy, and accordingly categorise them. This will help in clearly deciphering all cost heads. Differentiate between Good cost and Bad costs: Once you link upon all your expenses to your strategies, create a balance system or a cost management account. Which you specify all the costs, and differentiate them as per the good cost and bad cost, and spread awareness among your team towards to the good cost, so that they understand them and follow it. This will lead your team, in focusing on the good cost, which indirectly focuses on the costs related to your strategies. Develop continuity: Keep a continuity in what you do. As you develop a cost management, keep revising the concept to your team at equal interval. This will keep the concept fresh, and the team will be directed in focusing on the cost related to the strategies, and thus help to curb the unnecessary expenses. The organization needs to be proactive, and needs to keep following the process that they took up to manage the cost effectively. No process can be a one time process, and no results can be accomplished within a day. Keep continuing in what you started, as a onetime process. Cut fat & not muscles! Have a Transformation Tuesday!
- [Connecting the Dots – Leaders to Strategic Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/connecting-the-dots-leaders-to-strategic-leaders/): In today’s scenario, it is extremely important for every organization to have leaders who are expert with strategic excellence and have a holistic view. An organization, should try to develop their existing leaders into strategists. Every organization has leaders for various functions, so it is always advantageous to develop those leaders into strategic leaders. This will act as an advantage to the organization, cause every function leader knows, exactly what their teams are capable of doing, and they know the strengths of the organisation very well. They are best to analyse which strategies will enhance their organization, and they are the best people to know, how to put those strategies into actions, which will help them reach their respective goals. This Tuesday let us look at how leaders can become strategists? Below are the 4 steps, as to how can we make our leaders as strategist: Build a connection between the business strategies and leadership strategies:  ‘Leaders are not born, they are created!’, this phrase is what needs to be followed. The organization should first select the kind of leader they want. There should be number of shortlisted candidates for the strategic leadership position Let the change seep in the whole organization: Imbibe the culture of change management in the whole organization. Align all the employees in the organization with the news goals and metrics. Engage all the employees in the change initiatives. Only when all are aligned then can we achieve success in the change initiative. Train the leaders with relevant programs: Every leader needs to be trained with the duties that they are supposed to do, or the strategies they have to plan and implement. They just cannot be put on field to bring the changes. They need to be given information and training both theoretical and practical, such that it helps them to understand and decide exactly which strategies to implement for growth. Develop in the leaders a higher aim and goal: Any organization or individual works better when they are given a higher aim to reach. Like the quotes go, ‘Aim for the stars you will at least reach the sky.’ So, if every leader is given an aim which is higher than their personal aim, they will make it their mission to achieve the aim, thus enable strategies such that they work for the growth and development of the organization. Lets work towards making leaders who will face the challenges in this fast changing global economy and respond effectively to the constantly evolving business opportunities and challenges and thus pave a path to sustainable growth. So let’s embrace the opportunities and challenges strategically to sustain growth. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [How to Deal with Crisis?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-deal-with-crisis/): Change is not welcomed by the majority. Change brings in a feeling of uncertainty, whether it is political change or change in the organization structure; team members tend to lose focus and become inefficient. What should the manager/leader do in such cases? How will he/ she manage to keep the team focused? How can the manager help to cope up with such situations that bring distraction? This Tuesday, sharing proven pointers that can help you overcome the feeling of uncertainty in difficult times: Manage yourself: The manager will be better able to help the team if he/she is first able to manage his/her stress and apprehension. The manager needs to start with himself/herself. As goes a famous saying – Everything starts with you. Accept the uncertainty: Empathize with your team member feelings and worries. Do not ignore their worries and emotions. Though you want them to be focused, ignoring their feelings can prove to be dangerous. Go talk to them, discuss how you can work together as a team to overcome the crisis. Accept that stress is normal: Some of your team members might be calm and organized, while others might be stressed and ineffective. Make your team members understand that stress and apprehension are very normal and help them overcome it by sharing your experiences so that they feel they are not alone. Understand what your team wants: Talk to people personally and understand what are their issues or concerns. Understand their point of view. Try to understand what they think or feel even if you don’t feel the same or you don’t agree with the same. Make them feel you are together in the problem. Make them feel you really care for them and want to help them. Help them and advise them, it will make them feel better. Encourage them to take care of themselves: Encourage the team to sleep well, eat well, exercise well to kill stress and improve efficiency. Help them balance work life. Meditation or mindful breathing helps to calm worries and keep the mind at peace. Keeping the above mentioned points in mind, lead your team to be focused and more efficient during tough times and deal with the crisis. Transform yourself for better results and have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya  
- [The Five S Way Never Fails](https://faberinfinite.com/the-five-s-way-never-fails/): Time and again, it has been said and agreed that Five S is a fundamental tool for all the improvements. It is a Japanese philosophy that is based on waste elimination through workplace organization. The focus is on effective workplace organization and standard procedures and processes at the workplace. Five S eliminates waste, reduces non-value adding the activity with the aim to improve quality, effectiveness, and safety at work. These are five words starting with S in Japanese and same in English. The Five S are as follows: 1. Sort 2. Select 3. Shine 4. Standardize 5. Self Discipline “A place for everything, and everything in its place” is the mantra of the 5S method. Some of the benefits of Five S are as follows: 1. Improve Quality 2. Lower Costs 3. Promote Safety 4. Build Customer confidence 5. Increase equipment effectiveness and efficiency 6. Reduce Downtime Team Faber Infinite launched a Five S implementation initiative at one of the largest HDPE and PVC pipes manufacturer in India. The objectives of the initiatives are: Roll out the 5S program for entire Client Unit Create the organization structure for Five S journey Strengthen the review mechanism of Five S through steering committee mechanisms Train the member and create champions for Five S implementation Create model zones in the area of implementation Demonstrate the best way to deliver PEEP in model zone Prepare a detail action plan for all zones with target date and responsibility So far, within short time of implementation, client team has seen tremendous benefits. Some of which are mentioned below: Space saving after removing ~100 Red tag items from model sub zone Searching time has been reduced from average 3 mins to 20 sec Layout has improved Space saving of 750 sq.ft (approx.) after scrapping 45% of items identified in the red tag registers covering 80% of the plant area. Everyone and all types of organizations can benefit from rolling out a structured Five S initiative. Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as those are the business that can realize the greatest benefits. However, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant — from hospitals to television stations — all types of businesses, and all areas within a business, will realize benefits from implementing a structured Five S movement. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Faber at CAYE 2017 Summit - China](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-at-caye-2017-summit-china/): We are glad to share that Faber Infinite is one of the seven business ventures from India invited for the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAYE 2017) Summit in China. We are humbled to represent India amongst 52 Commonwealth nations. Jalay Pandya representing Faber Infinite is one of the youngest leader from India. The Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAYE) works to strengthen and support the ambitions of young entrepreneurs in Commonwealth regions. These regional networks ensure they have a combined voice and representation at forums to influence policy development on youth entrepreneurship. These coalitions seek to champion the cause of young entrepreneurs at the local, national, regional and international level, through its engagement with governments, the media, the public, and other relevant stakeholders. They are committed to achieving measurable progress towards the development of youth entrepreneurship and innovation within Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Canada and the wider Commonwealth. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Fundamentals of World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/fundamentals-of-world-class-manufacturing/): It could be known by different terminologies. Some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN and some call it Operational Excellence. Finally, to sum it up, all world-class organizations have different frameworks or structures. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world-class performance. World Class Manufacturing is a management philosophy. That helps to eliminate waste, improve efficiency and effectiveness of man and the machine, streamline the process, optimize inventory levels and the most important improve employee morale. It aims to inculcate the culture of continual improvement in the employees. WCM trains the employees to accept change and imbibes the thought Change is Permanent. It is based on the principle that there is always room for improvement and we as an organization should continuously work towards it. Team Faber strongly believes that World Class Manufacturing (WCM) practices. otherwise as we call it Operational Excellence (OE) practices always help organizations to be more effective and efficient and in turn helps them to perform better. In this field of WCM / OE, team Faber has several modules that can be customized to build and sustain high-performing teams. 5 Principles of World Class Manufacturing: • Operational Excellence Foundations : The focus here is to work on elimination of waste and non-value adding activities in the organization. Physical workplace improvement is also part of OE Foundation and tools like Five S can be deployed to strengthen it. As a part of OE foundations, Team Faber looks at the basic stability of man, machine, material, and methods. • Flow Management : Material or information flow improvement can be achieved via traditional yet powerful Value Stream Mapping (VSM) tool. The aim is to identify every non-value adding activity and all inefficiencies in the process and to reduce/ eliminate it. It is done using Current and Future State maps. It also involves maintaining optimum inventory levels by various inventory management modules, Kanban implementation, supply chain management, milk runs and other tools. • Equipment Management : Machine health is as important as managing the human resource. Equipment management ensures that the machines are up and running and are performing at rated capacity and quality levels. Team Faber Infinite delivers this through deploying elements from the house of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM): Autonomous Maintenance (AM), Planned Maintenance (PM), Kobetsu Kaizen (KK), and measurement matrices like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). • Lean Six Sigma : Lean Six Sigma is Quality Management framework which aims at the elimination of waste along with the reduction of defects in the process. It can be achieved by using tools like Total Quality Management (TQM), 7 QC Tools, Low-Cost Automation, Poka Yoke, Six Sigma Achievement (DMAIC) and others as applicable. • Sustenance Management :  All the above can be achieved, but what is important and difficult is making Operational Excellence (OE) a part of organization’s culture. As the organizations start reaping gains with OE practices, it needs to understand that it is not a one-time process, it needs to be a continuous activity. 90% of the organizations which start structured improvement initiative complain that they do implement OE tools but sustenance has always been an issue. To solve this issue of sustenance, Team Faber Infinite Consulting helps client teams with Daily work Management (DWM) framework. DWM is a methodology that focuses on preserving and improving the performance of an organization’s productivity, quality, cost, delivery, safety, and morale. To conclude I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin- “Whenever you are finished Changing, you are finished”. So watch out for the change, accept it, work on it and sail smoothly in this competitive world. Ready to take your manufacturing to the next level? Unlock the secrets of world class manufacturing and drive operational excellence. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to the fundamentals that will revolutionize your production processes. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your manufacturing operations! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Gamification: Shift in Training Trend](https://faberinfinite.com/gamification-shift-in-training-trend/): As the famous quote goes – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Just imagine if fun or play element is embedded in the workplace training and learning experiences. The same has been incorporated by Faber in its unique fun learn fun technique as well. As the organization needs to upgrade the skills needed for various individuals, Faber Infinite content development and delivery team have evolved several simulation exercise and games to enhance the learning experiences and improve the efficacy of the training modules. This, in turn, helps the employee to develop skills by fun method yielding to higher retention and leading to improved performance for the organization. Faber Infinite offers a wide range of training programs across industries and sectors as well as across functions and positions via combination of simulation games, group exercises, group activities, class room tutorials coupled with experiential learning. Below are glimpses of training sessions conducted by Team Faber Infinite 1. Preview of the training session at world’s leading locomotives manufacturer: Power packed training modules on Lean Principles & Application in Software Development were conducted for Young Leaders at world’s leading locomotives manufacturer in India. Objectives of the training session were: • To understand the foundations of lean management via simulated factory • To understand the wastes/ inefficiencies in software development and manufacturing as well • To understand the importance of lean management along with proper understanding of Operational excellence and Six S in business • To know how lean can be applied in software development Participants who represented various streams were delighted by the outcomes and learnings. Some of the feedback shared by the participants: Participants who represented various streams were delighted by the outcomes and learnings. Some of the feedback shared by the participants: • Fun learn & fun concept of training makes the training extremely effective • Real life example reference helps to understand the topic easily 2. Preview of the training session at one of the leading Bearing manufacturing organization: As part of a 12-month training plan, yet another training workshop with the objective of highlighting Importance of Operational Excellence Skills via simulated games was conducted at a leading bearing manufacturing organization in India. The key takeaways of the workshop were: • To understand the foundations of Operational Excellence (OE) via simulation exercises • To understand the OE Foundations, 8 Wastes in Lean and its importance • To understand how to identify different Wastes on Shop floor • To understand 6S and its importance • To understand the method of implementing 6S and its benefits                 The training program was extremely well accepted and highly appreciated with overall training program feedback of 98%. Few feedbacks shared by the participants is as follows: The training program was extremely well accepted and highly appreciated with overall training program feedback of 98%. Few feedbacks shared by the participants is as follows: Points very well delivered with simulation games with a lot of ease and details All topics are helpful for growth of the company and many such training programs should be done 3. Preview of the training session at one of the established textile manufacturers: Yet another training session was successfully delivered on Good Manufacturing Practices at one of the established textile manufacturers. The objectives were delivered via group exercises and simulating real situation by means of games. Some key elements touched during the session are as follows: What is Lean or Operational Excellence? How Lean Works? How can it be applied to your place of work?  What is Six S? How to cultivate Total Employee Involvement? Faber Infinite has rich experience in the field of training and development. We have been successfully delivering training programs at clients from different industries and sectors across the globe. Training and development should be a continuous process in the organization. It should be a journey as every phase will need a newer version of the employee and the organization. And this shift in the training trend has been yielding extra ordinary results across the globe. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Do Organizations Really Need Consultants?](https://faberinfinite.com/do-organizations-really-need-consultants/): There always has been debate and jokes on getting consultants on board from various domains. Most of the times the organizations are in a dilemma on hiring a consultant. They are bewildered about the value a consultant will bring to their organization. Let us look at the top 5 reasons why should organizations hire consultants? 1. Building Momentum in the Thought Process: In most organizations, there are employees who assigned to work on a certain set of problems. Considering the routine tasks, the team may reach a point beyond which they are unable to drive it further, and that is where a good consultant comes into the picture. A good consultant questions you and challenges the status quo in such a way that it aligns your thought process, pushes you beyond your boundaries. Thus, a consultant helps you, in building the momentum in the thought process by asking you the right questions and providing the pointers of the solutions. He/ she ensures that the thought process never stops but rather helps in building a culture of continuous improvement in the organization. 2. Bringing common sense into actions: In any organization, the solution to most of the problems is the usage of one’s common sense. That’s where a third eye always helps and that’s what a consultant does. He applies the philosophy and gets solutions to most of the problems. So by implementing changes, which might appear insignificant, one can get larger results and achievements. 3. Find the most fitting solutions: Many times, there are solutions provided for the problems in the organization but the team members fail to justify or miss some aspect of the action and looking at the larger picture. A consultant connects the dots and acts like a coach, he understands the problems from the team members, he analyses problems, verifies the problem from the management’s point of view, customer’s point of view, supplier’s point of view, employees’ point of view, thus taking into account aspects of all the stakeholders. He then tries to figure out what solutions can be deployed to resolve the problem. He analyses and finds the missing links in solution and thus designs a full proof solution which is accepted by everyone. In Japanese, it is called Poka-Yoke. 4. Safety first: It is often said, that good consultant prevents an organization from heading towards mishaps. It usually happens that the organization is aware of the problems, and it also knows about the severity of the problem, but at times they either tend to ignore it or avoid it from disturbing the routines of the employees as well as the organization. It eventually becomes a norm and way of living. What good consultants do is they alert organizations with the forthcoming problems, and helps them in taking preventive action. Thus helping the organization from accidents that may happen in future which can be dangerous to the organization. 5. Lastly, consultant acts as a catalyst: Catalyst is a chemical agent which does not take part in the reaction but speeds up the reaction. Many times, organizations are driving some improvement initiatives since years. However, time and again, the top management or the members of the organization, all of them have shared their apprehensions pertaining to the speed of the journey. They have opinionated that the pace of these improvement programs is not fast enough. That is where a consultant will add value. He/ she will act like a catalyst to ensure that the improvement process speeds up substantially. He/ she will thoroughly analyze the initiative and will figure out reasons for slow speed and, thus identifying the gaps between the implementation of the program and redesigning the program and re-implementing it. So, what an organization can achieve in five years, a good consultant can help in achieving it in a year. In today’s competitive environment speed is the name of the game. To win the race you don’t have to be slow and steady, but fast and consistent. A good consultant not only motivates you in becoming fast and consistent but creates systems for you to become a reliable, proactive and progressive organization. To sum it up I would share insights of an interview of a famous player, he was asked a question, “You are no. 1, I can see you have a coach who is not even no. 10, then why do you need a coach?” The player answered, “I need a coach not to tell me what I am doing right, but to point out my mistakes.” And that’s the role of the consultant for the organization – the value addition a Good Consultant can bring into any organization. Have you engaged right set of consulting outfit for your organization?   Written By Faber Vishal Kulkarni – Director Faber Infinite
- [Excellence is not an act, but a habit](https://faberinfinite.com/excellence-is-not-an-act-but-a-habit/): As Aristotle puts it, excellence is not an act, but a habit. We are glad to bring similar such saga of resilience from Zambia. Zambia as known as one of the leading producer of copper in the world. Although the market has not been stable over the years, due to varied reasons, there is a spirited manufacturer – Strongpak Ltd which lived excellence in true spirits. Strongpak is now one of the largest manufacturers of Plastic Polymer woven bags in Zambia and the neighboring countries. The manufacturing unit of Strongpak is located in Kitwe, the Copperbelt Region of Zambia. Faber Infinite Consulting is proud to be associated with Strongpak over the last 2 years now. We are glad to share glimpses of our discussion with Mr. Ruben, Country Head of Strongpak Ltd. on how the Zambian economy is doing, and how is the manufacturing industry coping with the changes, sustaining and how Strongpak has been growing despite all odds. Faber Infinite (FI): Mr. Ruben, we understand that Zambia has been going through lots of ups and downs. What are your views on the Zambian economy? Mr. Ruben GS. (RGS): The economy of Zambia was weak in 2015-16 as there was a crash in the prices of the commodities, due to factors like the decrease in oil prices, elections around the corner, and the copper industry not doing so well. The year 2017 is on the road to recovery, it is trying to gain momentum as prices are trying to stabilize and conditions of the market are improving. With the improving conditions, there are hopes that the year of 2018 will be much better over the past 3 years. FI: What are the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector of Zambia? RGS: Zambia is a landlocked country. The manufacturing sector has a smaller market share in Zambia, the reason being, high cost of manufacturing cost when compared to many other countries. FI: How is Strongpak managing to overcome the challenges faced in the Manufacturing Industry? RGS: With the higher production cost, the customers of Strongpak get an opportunity to shift to the alternative products. This being the major challenge, Strongpak focuses on improving its Operational Efficiency. It may be related to reducing the cost or increasing the productivity. Strongpak has successfully improved in terms of productivity. Strongpak successfully managed the wastage parameters as compared to the competitors in other countries. This way we are able to provide our customers prices of products which are at par with the global prices and at good quality. Operational Excellence is the reason for the survival and progress of Strongpak. We have been applying operational excellence principles and working on operational excellence projects, not only in terms of manpower, material, management, productivity, but also in terms of technology we use. We have always selected the best possible technology which will give the best operational excellence, in terms of better efficiency, cost and quality. FI: The transformational journey at Strongpak is termed as Buyantanshi. How has Faber helped you in your Transformational Journey? RGS: Team Faber has been associated with Strongpak, and they have very well understood the business challenges for Strongpak as well as challenges related to Zambian economy. Like in every relationship, both parties should be on the same page. Faber has expert resources and skills in the domain of operational excellence, which gets them to pick the right tool for the issues being faced. Faber has applied the Operational Excellence tools and techniques as per Strongpak requirements and along with Strongpak Team, they tried to solve the exact issue faced by the company. This turned out to be a win-win situation to both, Strongpak and Faber as well. FI: What does Strongpak think of Faber? RGS: The methodology recently introduced at Strongpak for involving maximum employees for multiple small projects has benefited the employees and the organization as well. Faber has tried to use the methodology which best fit the issues, thus avoiding the usual constraints faced when imitating the operational tools applied at other companies. Faber has been a partner in the journey of continuous improvement. This engagement has been mutually beneficial to Strongpak as well as Faber. For Faber, this journey has helped understand the challenges in a new economy. For Strongpak they have seen many business improvements in the domain of operational excellence. We at Faber thank our esteemed client Mr. Ruben for sharing his insights on the transformation journey. Working with Strongpak has been a real honor and we value our association with them. We congratulate and wish Mr. Ruben, Mr. JP, and Strongpak team all the success for many more years to come.
- [96 Days to Go - Make them Count !](https://faberinfinite.com/96-days-to-go-make-them-count/): New Year comes every year and so do our new year resolutions, but how many times have we stood by those resolutions and fulfilled them?  Have you realized that more than half year has passed by and our new year resolutions are still on the first page of the book or pinned on the pin-boards? Research says that out of all the population only 8% people succeed in fulfilling their new year resolutions. While as 80% of people forget their resolutions by February. On reality check, we just realized that only 96 days remain for the year to end, and where are we? But as famous people and their quotes have gone by: “it is never too late than never.” There are proven facts which say that 90 days are enough to restart and achieve maximum momentum. How can we fulfill our resolutions in the next 96 days, something that we haven’t completed in last more than half a year? Here there are 7 steps that one can do to achieve and live up to the  resolutions: 1. Take one step at a time We wish to do a lot many things or want to accomplish everything on our resolution lists. It is not always possible to achieve everything, but we can shortlist the things based on priority. According to its importance, we can try to achieve one thing at a time. Rather than trying to climb the ladder quickly, and then slipping, it is better to take one step at a time and achieve one resolution as per our priority. 2. Every act has a reason Everything that is done in the organization or every decision taken in the organization is done for a reason. In any organization, nothing is done suddenly, it is done to accomplish something, and there are a proper research and reason behind that action. At the same time, when certain decisions were taken don’t give the required results. Find its reason as to why was the decision was taken, and then decide, whether the reason is righteous for the decision, or could there be something else. 3. Know your draw-backs When a tool fails, or a decision is proved wrong, it doesn’t mean that it is the end, it is a stepping stone of trial and error. At that time, rather than giving up, the organization can come together, and try to analyze the incident, and then accordingly list down the drawbacks form the incident. This will give a clear idea to the employees as to what to pay attention while trying something new, and help the employer to decide criteria before beginning something new. 4. Pull your socks Pulling up your socks doesn’t mean doing everything hurriedly, it means taking up the responsibility of your own work and duties, and being accountable to be same. This will help everyone in the organization may it be small or big, to know who is responsible for which work, and assign it accordingly, thus systematizing the work. 5. Learn to say ‘NO’ No two individuals in one organization are same, and nor can they work in the same manner. If one can complete all the work quickly it doesn’t mean that the other too is capable of doing it. Just overloading yourself with the work which cannot be completed by you doesn’t make any sense. Rather it is better that we learn to say ‘NO’, and accept only that much work, which you know can be done by you. 6. Get feedback from your employees The employees always are the better person to get feedback from. They know exactly what sort of changes would be required to help them perform well in the organization, in turn improving the performance of the organization. It is better to take feedback from the employees occasionally. 7. Celebrate your achievement Every organization keeps achieving a few awards of recognition for their performance. These awards and recognition should be celebrated not just with the top management, but will all the employees, as they are equally involved in bringing this success to the organization. When the achievements are celebrated with everyone, the employees feel acknowledged and in turn, get motivated to perform better. 96 days more to go, pull up your socks to gain maximum momentum in achieving your goals. Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo.
- [Nine Moves to Build a Dream Team !](https://faberinfinite.com/nine-moves-to-build-a-dream-team/): Do you find your employees inefficient at work? Are you planning to provide some form of motivation so that they can be more productive? Planning to give them any form of monetary or non-monetary motivation? But do understand that only monetary motivation cannot be a key factor to improve employee performance and productivity. Rather they would prefer non-monetary motivations such as acknowledgement for their work, appreciation for their efforts, a bit of flexible timings for their work and growth opportunities or prospects in the organization. Let us look at the fundamental aspects of employee motivation that will help them perform efficiently at their work: 1. Empathise, Empower and Assure Progress A boss is always a boss no matter where he is. It is easier for a boss to be influential and take decisions, but it is motivating for the employees if at equal intervals the employees are given the chance to take a few decisions. Apart from empowering them to make decisions, a boss should also empathize with his employees. He / She must give them assurance that he is there not just for the growing organization but equally takes responsibility for employee growth. It is encouraging for the employee when the boss guides them and shows them the path that they are progressing on. 2. Praise with Sincerity The employees don’t wish for huge praises and acknowledgments from their boss. Just a small ‘Thank you’ from them, encourage the employees and boosts their morale. They tend to perform better and efficiently, waiting to receive more small acknowledgments and appreciation from their boss. 3. Build a Community Building a community just doesn’t mean to build a team for the growth of the business, or for a project, but rather building a family. The team in the organization should be made as a family. Like in any family, when the interactions are done face to face, over a gathering, or lunch. An outing together, or going out for lunch with the employees, act as icebreakers between the employees and the boss. 4. Create an incentive Plan for the Employees It is better to ask your employees, to choose their own incentive plans. The employees like to be involved in the decisions which are being done for them. So while preparing incentive plans for the employees, it is better if the employees are asked for the type of incentives they wish for, and accordingly, prepare the incentive plan and their criteria for achieving those incentives. 5. Know your employees as person Every employee is different, both professionally and personally, and so is their behavior. They don’t behave the same at all the places. Every boss will know its employees as the employee of the organization, as their subordinate to achieve the vision of the organization, but the boss should try to know his employee as a human being, try to talk to him as a friend, this will make the employee feel wanted and known to his boss. 6. Provide Flexibility to your employees An employee feels blessed to be a part of any organization, where the comfort of the employees is thought of. If the organization or the boss provides flexibility to their employees to work at their convenience once in a while, this will not just boost the employees, but also help them to perform more efficiently than the organization expects them to do. 7. Always try to be connected No matter where the boss is, he should try to stay connected to his employees, in one way or other. In the era of emails and WhatsApp, where staying connected is just a click away, the boss should try to stay connected to his team and employees. This will help the boss to guide his employees on the right path, train his team in the right direction, and help them perform better. 8. Provide prerequisite to the employees Providing different types of perquisites, like work from home options, helping them to provide time for the work they like, or the giving them the opportunity to choose their own projects as they would like to work upon. This will motivate the employees to perform better, and deliver the necessary results required. 9. Encourage the employee to learn desired skills Every employee wishes to gain some skills, they desire to achieve some unique skill to make themselves unique. A boss should always try to encourage their employees to achieve what they desire to learn and achieve. This will encourage the employee as this shows that the boss thinks about the growth of the employees as well. So appreciate your team, connect often with them, empathize, encourage, empower, laugh and perform better with each day! Thanks and have a Transforming Tuesday.
- [Assertiveness Formula: ‘Cos what you allow, will continue!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-assertive-speak-up/): We all like to put forth our opinions over everything, irrespective whether we need to speak or not. If it had been a perfect corporate world, we would have openly shared our opinions about how much your co-worker is bothering you? How much has your patience being tested? You could also express that part of you that feels underappreciated and marginalized. But sadly all this cannot be done since we might end up in to conflicts. It feels pushy and overly aggressive to be assertive in the organization, especially if you are shy, or timid, or from a background where you are trained to be quiet, as it is inappropriate to talk back. At the same time; it might feel awkward and unnatural if you aren’t inclined to voice your opinions. Speaking up might sound hard but it is not impossible. Voicing your opinions with an “assertiveness formula” can help. Let us chalk out this “Assertiveness Formula” into three steps 1. Start with a compact and objective Statement Your statement should be short, and to the point. It should not be emotional and should be even handed. It should be such that you are just trying to draw the attention of the other person, in a way that minimizes his defensiveness. Keeping the subject line as short and to the point, it leaves you with an advantage for the opposite person to not to discontinue immediately or not to disagree. 2. Describe the side effect of an act or incident The next step, you should try to explain as to what problem were you facing, or what behaviour of the opposite person offended you, or what is the issue that you are facing. The goal here is to build a cause-and-effect reasoning, linking an objective statement of their action to the impact that the action has on you. 3. End with an Expressive Statement Once you explain how a particular action has offended you, you can end the conversation with an expressive statement saying, how you have felt with the action or what issues you are facing after the incident. So you being assertive in your statement should end with an expressive statement, where you are trying to express your feelings over the action or issue that happened with you. A thoughtfully drafted assertive statement is most effective and impactful when mentioned on the spot, or at the end of the conversation. Keeping it to the end, or at the beginning of the conversation will likely get it to be pushy, and the opposite person to whom you aim to speak at will feel uncomfortable to discuss over it, no matter how well it is framed. In spite of having the above formula to be assertive in hand, it might not always be easy to explain your point of view to others, nor is it necessary that the person to whom you wish to speak to will react positively to it. To talk assertively, you will need to accumulate as much as evidence as possible to prove your statement of the negative effect it has had over you. Your main motive is not to offend or have an argument, but rather to provide a clarity and specificity over the issue that is being faced. Assertive statement should never be used as a harp to harm the other, but rather should be used positively, so as to solve the differences. Everyone may not see in the same way as you see it, but that doesn’t mean you are wrong. Everyone just has a different way of seeing a particular picture. One can put forth its statement, and let the other decide how he would want to react over it. Every reaction may be positive, or may not be positive, and there are chances, that the decision doesn’t come in your favour too. What is more important, is that you drawing the courage to voice your opinions and concerns without being adamant or arrogant. Be assertive, speak up, without being forceful, and have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Solving the Succession Puzzle !](https://faberinfinite.com/solving-the-succession-puzzle/): Infosys has been back in headlines. The news has been about the difference of view between the co-founder and the current leadership on how to run things. We will avoid taking any names since this article is not about people but it is about leadership and succession planning as the name of the title suggests. It is the responsibility of the board to develop processes to address significant decisions such as leadership and succession management. It is not a one-time event. It is a continuous process that goes beyond the appointment and entry of a new leader. Some people might think succession planning is waste of time and efforts. But it is the most important aspect of the business. This will involve reviews at regular intervals and polish the way the game is played by the board and the CEO. This is of more importance if the CEO is an outsider as in case of Infosys. He might have a different way of operating. There are companies who have implemented this mechanism and benefited. Succession planning also involves clear delegation in a phased manner especially in the areas that form the foundation of the organization i.e. value system and culture. It is the ultimate capability that any CEO should have – the ability to preserve organizations values that are fundamental building blocks of the organization. Board governance also plays a major role in succession planning and management. Recent events show that companies such as Infosys who have been the epitome of governance too have encountered failure in major events. Having seen the crisis at Infosys where besides the CEO, other senior managers left the organization, succession planning is vital. It need not be done for every position. The advantages of succession planning are as follows: Ready availability of trained, experienced people who are ready to take over and step into key positions Candidates are completely aware and abide by company values and culture Availability of resources from within the company so that it becomes easy to cope with future needs Encouragement for the employee which will keep them with the organization Well defined career goals and objectives will keep the employee motivated and focused Succession Planning Methodology: Engage senior management: Both the CEO and senior leadership team should actively collaborate towards succession planning. They should collectively set the expectations and plan the process and make it happen Design a roadmap for the future leaders: Understand the leadership skills needed to achieve organizations strategic goals. Assess the potential of the current employees to meet the future needs and emerge as leaders Develop future talent: Identify budding future talent/leaders, then identify their development needs and follow a systematic approach to nurture that development Search for new talent to fill gaps: There will be instances when you will not be able to fill the gap with the current resources. So have an effective hiring and on boarding process to assimilate new talent in the organization Review and Improve the process of developing leaders/talent: Like any other process, this is also not a one-time event. It is a continuous and repetitive process. Collect data regularly to understand and improve the process of leadership development. So succession planning should be part of every organization/function/team. It should be the vision of the organization. Without a succession plan, it is difficult for the company to grow and cherish its human capital. The company will not be able to assure a continuous availability of well equipped and trained employees who will smoothly take over when the current managers and key personnel retire or move on. Thus succession planning is much more important than the time many companies allocate to it. So plan well for a better future of your company and have a transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Why is Change so Hard?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-is-change-so-hard/): Whether the change involves diet, exercise, habits, dependencies, organizational change or anything else, change is one of the hardest things any of us will ever try for. Across industries and sectors, the record for organizational change is unimpressive. Research says that 50-75% of change efforts fail. The only constant in any business is change, change has an interesting way of affecting people that can often result in resistance. The biggest stumbling block to successful organizational change is people. Before making any changes it is important for any organization to think through following: • What is the change? • How important is the change? • Whom will the change impact? • How will it impact them? • How will they react to the change? Understanding the above aspects will make the process of implementing the change easier and smoother. There will always involve resistance to change and it will be from people in the organization. Let us look at why people resist: 1. Fear of the unknown: When the change happens without prior intimation, then there will be resistance from the people. They need to be helped through the process of understanding how will change impact their work. If this is not done they will push back against the change due to the fear of unknown 2. Trust in leadership: The leader needs to build the feeling of trust in the team/workgroup. The team will be more accepting to any changes if they trust the leader who is the catalyst of change. If there is lack of trust in the leader then this lack of trust itself can manifest into resistance to change. 3. Insecurity: This type of resistance occurs when companies are making a change in the organizational structure or if there is any sort of restructuring or downscaling. People are always insecure of their stability and fear the same. 4. Timing matters the most: Putting too much change on the employees over a short span of time can cause a lot of friction and resistance. Timing is very important. Change needs to be implemented at right time with the right level of insight and understanding. 5. Individual’s perception of change: Different people have different level of tolerance when it comes to accepting change. Some of them enjoy as they feel it is challenging and gives them the opportunity to explore and learn new things and thus grow professionally and personally. Others avoid change since they are happy with the set routine cycle. Now that we have understood why people resist change, let us look at how we manage this resistance: 1. Identify the source of resistance: Identify which individual or group has the biggest potential to oppose positive change. Then you have to separate them. Doing so begins with understanding their perspectives. They might be doing this because either they don’t agree with your analysis of the problem or they think they have unique experience, expertise, or information that hasn’t been sufficiently considered. Another reason people might resist is that they feel rushed. They don’t have enough time to assimilate the new road or manage with the situation emotionally. 2. Talking with the resistors: As you talk to people who resist change, keep in mind the below pointers • Forget efficiency: Change cannot be hurried into. It needs to be introduced subtly. It does not happen over email or webcasts. You need to personally talk to your people about it. If an individual or a work group is of importance to your organization, and they are resisting change then you need to talk to them in person, show to them the reason behind that change and give them the time they need to accept it. • Focus on listening: Being a good listener is the first step, to introducing the change to the people. However great your business plan is, you must make everyone feel understood. • Be open to change yourself: Have an open attitude. Be ready to learn something new and edit your plans if needed. If a resistor senses you are listening only to get what you want then he/she would not open up and definitely won’t get involved in the change. Make the resistor feel that their opinions/feelings matter when making decisions related to change • Have multiple conversations: In the first conversation, listen to the reason of resistance and understand it. In the second conversation, your goal is to make clear that you have reflected on what you heard; to summarize what will be different, or not, in your approach to the change based on that conversation; and to explain why. Do not respond immediately in between the two conversations, as the resistor would feel that you have not fully analyzed their point of view. But do not wait too much as well, since at that point the person feels ignored and elapsed. Effective change management is critical to the vitality and progress of every organization. Where most people trip up is in failing to manage resistance effectively. Doing so requires an ability to listen to your resistor, analyze their aversion, consider their thoughts and feelings, and explain how it has changed your thinking, if not your plan. This is a time-consuming but effective process. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Want to Lead in Today’s complex World? Here’s How…](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-lead-in-todays-complex-world-heres-how/): The challenges in today’s world are extremely complex. We need leaders who can think clear, fast and act decisively within the complex systems. We have leaders in every field, like Warren Buffet who is the leader in financial market, Bill Gates who is a leader in computer software, and Late Steve jobs who has proved himself a leader in electronic gadgets. Leadership in today’s volatile and complex world is about deeply listening to a diversity of voices and then taking action. Below are 4 effective ways, to help yourself and your organization become a leader, irrespective of the sector/industry: Keep a true commitment to change in the face of challenges and Uncertainty: When we come to terms with the fact that change is needed in the organization, it is not that we realize and implement the change. To make a systematic change, we need to first understand the need for that change, and then accept that the road to that change will be challenging. Apart from that, the road to the implementation of change will be filled with a number of drawbacks and a lot of patience to build the ladder of change. A change can never happen within a day or a week, nor will the results of change, be seen any soon after implementation. What is important is not to introduce the major change, but rather break down the major change into short-term enforcements which won’t be resisted and further help in leading to the success of the implementation of the major change. Ability to listen and a capacity to understand other’s viewpoint: In any organization, or in any group, the leader should always be a better listener than a speaker. Listening just does not mean to hear what the person is saying, rather hear, understand and empathize with the speaker. With the skill of being a good listener, the leader is gifted with the capacity to understand other’s viewpoint too. With being a good listener, it helps the leader or an individual to take better and efficient decisions. Listening helps to analyze, and make corrective decisions. Although listening may consume a lot of patience initially, but it helps to carry out work easily in latter stages. It helps to map out and understand the context in order to generate and implement the decided strategies and actions for the organization. Inspire commitment at all levels, not just the top. Address the root cause of the incidents, not the incident as a standalone: An organization is not made of the top-level management alone, rather an organization is that pyramid, which is strengthened from the bottom level of the organization. Thus, if some strategies are being implemented in the organization, or changes being introduced, it should not just be done for the top-level alone. The changes should be done justly at all the levels of the organization. Along with that, the top level should be open to accept and acknowledge the changes from the bottom and middle level as well. This will make the other levels feel important in the organization, and the top level will get to witness results quickly, as the other levels, accept their commitments wholeheartedly. When there are problems and incidents in the organization, rather than looking at the incident and trying to solve it temporarily, it is better to take out some more time, and invest a bit more, and try to find the root cause of the incident, and solve it such that the incident is permanently resolved, and there are no chances of any such incident occurring again. Be open to new ways of working, and show the willingness to innovate, adapt, and take risks: Never be satisfied with what you have achieved, and at the same time never compare yourself with others, Until and unless, we don’t take risks, there is no scope of growth for us as an individual or an organization. Just by taking the risk doesn’t mean that we indulge ourselves in everything, taking the risk, means to first decide, whether the risk is worth indulging in, and second; whether it will help us in becoming better. Always take a calculative risk. For every organization it is very important, to keep getting better, and to set new short-term goals for itself, to reach its vision. To do this, the organization should compare with itself, and try to improvise in their own strategies and become better than they were, thus stepping up to become leaders in their fields. Thus improve your organization’s performance through leadership. Successful leaders never stop learning. They learn from their mistakes and they learn from their success. They are always adapting themselves and mentoring others for the better. Written  By Faber Ancita Lobo.  
- [Congratulations to Team Strongpak !](https://faberinfinite.com/congratulations-to-team-strongpak/): Excellence is a habit and our client Stronpak has this habit of winning. We congratulate them for winning another award.On behalf of Team Faber Infinite, our heartiest wishes on winning the company of the year award from the Kitwe Chamber of Commerce & Industry on the consumer manufacturing category and the second price for industrial manufacturing category. Working with Strongpak has been a real honor and we value our association with them. We wish them all the success for many more years to come.
- [What is Important – Attitude Or Intelligence?](https://faberinfinite.com/what-is-important-attitude-or-intelligence/): We usually find people climbing the ladders of success, and we admire them saying that they all are intelligent personalities and that is what leads them to success. A new research carried out at Standford will change not just your mind, but your attitude too. Research suggests, “A person’s attitude is a better predictor of his/her success than his/her IQ” According to the research, a person’s attitude falls into two categories: 1. Fixed Mindset 2. Growth Mindset A Fixed Mindset is a person who believes that they know themselves the best and agree that if they are challenged with something more than they are capable of, they tend to feel hopeless and overwhelmed. While for a person with Growth Mindset; although knowing their limitations well, they believe they can improve with efforts. They outperform those with a fixed mindset, even if they have low IQ. Where a Fixed Mindset prefers to take the road most commonly traveled and prefer a smooth going life, while keeping the obstacles at bay, a Growth Mindset, on the other hand, embraces challenges, find a route through obstacles, and learn from their criticism. There are a few strategies that will help you develop a growth mindset: Don’t Stay Helpless: In our life, we all have faced such situations where we are helpless and no matter how much efforts we put, we cannot come out of it. At this juncture, we have two roads, either learn from it and move forward, or let it drag you and consume you completely. In situations as such, one must give oneself time to understand the situation and try to find ways to deal with it, rather succumb to the feeling of helplessness. In the world history, there are many personalities who have fought this situation, Steve Jobs the founder of Apple Inc., was thrown out of his own firm for ‘his idea of launching Apple electronic devices’, Walt Disney known for Mickey Mouse, was fired from Kansa City Star, saying that ‘he lacked imagination and had no good idea.’ Had these people succumbed to rejections there wouldn’t have been Apple devices and no Mickey Mouse Club House in our childhood. Be Passionate: Passion is what makes you outstanding. Everyone is not blessed with the same quality, but what we lack in talent, can be complimented through passion. Having a passion and zeal to achieve something in life will take you to different levels, even if we have less IQ. The best example of passion is Late Dhirubhai Ambani the owner of Reliance started from a pump attendant but his determination, passion, and zeal made Reliance what it is today. Take Action: It is not that the people with a growth mindset are born with some super power, they are born just like any normal being, but they never let setbacks and fears affect them, rather they sort actions to overcome it. They do this because they know that there is no perfect moment to move ahead or for the things to happen, rather they sort ways and take actions to empower their failures and worries into positive focused energy. Walk an EXTRA Mile: It is not in literal sense, that they walk an extra mile to be successful, rather they try to differentiate themselves from others. Martial Art fame Bruce Lee had once said, “Quit and you might as well be dead. If you always put limits on what you can do physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are no plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his levels and break his limits.” Expect Results: People with a growth mindset attitude, know that they will keep failing from time to time, but they won’t stop trying with the fear of failure or with the results that actually motivate them and gives them a chance to try and rectify their mistakes. Be Flexible: Being flexible is a lot important for an organization. Being flexible means accepting the change, living by the change, and trying to differentiate themselves from the competitors. Everyone encounters unanticipated adversity. People with an empowered growth oriented mindset embrace adversity as a mean for improvement, as opposed to something that holds them back. Being flexible is to face the unexpected challenges and flex until they get the results. Don’t Complain: Complaining and giving excuses is a sign of fixed mindset. Never complain when things don’t go your way. A person with a growth mindset looks for opportunities in everything, so there is no room for complaining. So go bring it all together. Transform your attitude and grow leaps and bounds personally and professionally. Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Is AI going to change lives for the better?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-ai-going-to-change-lives-for-the-better/): Technology is transforming by the day and so is Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is a big play field and is growing leaps and bounds. AI is a technological advancement that makes the machine do a task that otherwise requires human intervention. Some of the activities with AI are designed includes Speech recognition, Learning, Planning, and Problem-solving. Facebook’s AI Experiment: Abandoning Chatbots and the Unintended Consequences There are experiments conducted and experiments are all about trial and errors. One such headline that grabbed attention was Facebook abandoning their chatbots. Facebook has been working with AI in its chatting features. Researchers at Facebook built a chatbot earlier this year that was meant to learn how to negotiate by mimicking a human. But when the social network paired two of the programmed robots nicknamed Alice and Bob to trade against each other they started to learn their own bizarre form of communication. The bizarre discussion came as Facebook challenged its chatbots to try and negotiate with each other attempting to sell hats, books each of which were given a value. But they quickly broke down as they started to chat with each other in a language only they understood. Since all this was incomprehensible to humans, Facebook had to abandon the experiment. The Phenomenal Promise of AI: Simplifying, Accelerating, and Improving Our World It is as concerning as it is amazing – simultaneously a glimpse of both the awesome and horrifying potential of AI. Scientists and tech luminaries, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Steve Wozniak have warned that AI could lead to unforeseen consequences. Machine learning and artificial intelligence have phenomenal potential to simplify, accelerate, and improve many aspects of our lives. Computers can consume and process massive quantities of data and extract patterns and useful information at a rate exponentially faster than humans, and that potential is being explored and developed around the world. You like it or not, it is a change that will come sooner or later but we need to proceed with caution though. We need to closely monitor and understand the self-perpetuating evolution of an artificial intelligence and always maintain appropriate checks and balances. What is your take? Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Three Crucial Tips for Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/three-crucial-tips-for-employee-engagement/): Employee Engagement is a major problem for most of the companies.  It plays a crucial role in keeping the employees hooked onto a particular company. Here, hooked on does not refer to being clinged to the company just for the sake of staying or because of the challenges encountered in getting a new job. It means that they stay with that company because they want to because of the emotional connect and positive approaches they have developed for the company over the period of time. In real sense, what is Employee Engagement? In simple words, employee engagement refers to the type of relationship any employee has with the organization in terms of emotional attachment and a positive and enthused approach towards work which keeps them engaged with the organization. This keeps him on his toes to work the best for his beloved organization. Having said that, organizations are facing challenges in sustaining their best employees. Many organizations lack employee engagement. In thi article, we will talk about some Tips for Employee Engagement. Below are few pointers which would help you to sustain your employees, to keep them motivated and to keep them engaged: Focus on Employee Performance: One common mistake that we often make is that we focus only on outcomes. We await the final outcome and its result. Obviously the end result is important but also the process undertaken to achieve those results are equally important. Hence employee performance is an important parameter that needs to be taken because the outcomes depend on the performance. Performance metrics tell managers how employees stack up to expectations, where they are succeeding and struggling and what changes in behavior are most effective. Guide with the help of visual tools: Once performance is gauged the next step involves guiding the employees wherever they would be making mistakes. Mere judging without guiding won’t bring any results.  Guiding needs to be very effective. To make it impactful, visual tools can be the right aide. Visuals impact more than words or numbers. Thus use visuals to explain the performance, the flaws and the areas of improvements which would make the process easy to understand and remember. Reassessing the set expectations: Once the employees are given guidance and feedbacks about their performance. The last step would be to reassess the set expectations alongside the employee roles in achieving the same. This step is very important to assess the achievements with reference to the expectations. This exercise of involving employees in and reassessing employee roles is perfect for reminding employees of the value they bring to the company and for helping them understand how much they can learn and grow. Employee engagement holds extreme significance today. Hence measures should be taken to help Improve employee engagement with the help of proper trainings, discussions and employee involvements for the development of the organization. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Productivity improvement is inversely proportional to Cost incurred – A Myth?](https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-improvement-is-inversely-proportional-to-cost-incurred-a-myth/): Ever thought of an increase in productivity at a low cost? Or substantial improvement in productivity with available resources? Ever thought of an increase in productivity at a low cost? Or substantial improvement in productivity with available resources? Well, Faber Infinite knows that productivity improvement is significant for every organization and considering the same we have been successfully helping organizations in achieving productivity improvement with the existing/available resources. Amongst the core values, one value which Faber lives by is ‘Fabulous is Tangible.’ By this, Faber Infinite believes to, commit to maximizing Return on Investments (ROI) for clients. It has lived by its value of under committing and over performing. A brief of the successful approach adopted by Faber Infinite to help one of the clients is as follows: • Basic Stability of physical workplace and processes: This involved identifying all the inefficiencies in the system. The inefficiencies or wastes in the system include overproduction, waiting, transporting, inappropriate processing, unnecessary inventory, unnecessary/ excess motion, and defects. This was followed by establishing and rolling out process standards across the operations. This helped in workplace management, maintained a standard work environment and these were the foundation steps towards building continual improvement culture. • Materials Waste Reduction: Material cost being one of the key cost elements and hence material wastage reduction initiative was adopted to optimize and reduce waste of resources via focused improvement projects. It helped in reduction of wastage of resources thereby saving on the costs. • Problem Solving Projects: Another important step was to analyze the reasons for the shortfall of resources and failure to deliver planned throughput. Post proper root cause analysis, the reasons for the shortfall was determined. Shortfall arising due to lack of skilled manpower, defects, material unavailability, etc. were resolved by structured problems solving tools and methodology of 8D to reduce and eliminate the impact. • Equipment Health Management: Autonomous Maintenance is a proven pillar of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) which was adopted here to restore the basic condition of the equipment and tools etc. By a structured roll out, it helped to improve and sustain the working conditions, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It further enabled to increase efficiency and quality of operation of machines and manpower. These were some of the proven methods which were adopted by team Faber to assist the client with an immense improvement in productivity (by almost staggering 40-45%) without incurring any additional cost. These tools and approaches were implemented in such a way that it met the clients’ needs, gifting them the maximum returns. Faber has taken such initiatives at multitudes of its clients across industries including complex engineering industry where the client is one of the largest manufacturer of cryogenic tanks to textile machine manufacturing industry to the ceramic manufacturing industry. The solutions are applicable across industries and sectors. These concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed at your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Why Leaders Eat Last! - 8 Key Learnings from this book](https://faberinfinite.com/why-leaders-eat-last/): As a part of the Faber series, we are here again with excerpts from another leadership book – ‘Why Leaders Eat Last?’ the sequel of ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek. The core purpose of this book is not to help others become better leaders so that they can jump up the corporate ladder, motivate subordinates, or increase productivity. The message of this book is that we need better leaders so we can have a better world; empathy is at the heart of his argument. Leadership is not a position you have, but the person you are. When leading an organization, you don’t want a team of dedicated followers ready to do your every whim, you want people who can lead themselves and those around them to accomplish the tasks. This book is more of a biological view than of a management view which shows the acts of great leaders sacrificing their own comfort for the good and betterment of those in their care. It reveals the hidden dynamics that inspire leadership and trust. When danger is present, the group expects the leader to mitigate all threats even at the expense of their personal well-being. Understanding this deep-seated expectation is the key difference between someone who is just an “authority” versus a true “leader”. Below are the 8 Key Learnings from this book: 1. Cultivate a Circle of Safety Use the Circle of Safety to invest time and energy to guard against the dangers outside. This will be helpful to freely exchange information and ideas to move the organization forward. 2. EMPATHY is a Crucial Commodity To develop and cultivate the Circle of Safety the Biggest habit to develop within us is EMPATHY. Empathy to treat the employees with equal respect and dignity. It is a core tenet of Workplace Management. 3. Autonomy Matters Lack of control at Work = Stress + Emotional Strain. The best solution to over autonomy matters is to give employees more control. 4. Environment is Everything The environment of work should be encouraging. And meet the basic human needs to live, to learn, to feel valued and signify so that the employees thrive to work. The leader has the rights and responsibilities to set up the environment that he wishes to see in the organization. 5. Get to know Your ‘HAPPY CHEMICALS’ The 4 ‘Happy Chemicals’ in your Brain + Body Endorphin: The pain-masking chemical• Dopamine: The goal achieving chemical Serotonin: The leadership chemical Oxytocin: The chemical of love the main chemicals in our body ‘Selfish Chemical’ and ‘Selfless Chemical’ depend upon us with what to react. 6. Become a Long Term Leader The impact of leadership is best judged when one compares pictures of themselves over a period of week or month, and there is a stark difference. 7. The ‘Welch Way’ is the ‘Wrong way’ Sinek solidifies his argument that leading for long-term is better than leading for the short-term by comparing two such leaders. Two large organizations both of which you’ve probably heard of: The short-term leader: Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric The long-term leader:  Jeff Sinegal, former CEO of Costco Sinek compares GE vs Costco by measuring profits via the rise and fall of their stocks and then connecting those ebbs and flows to the decisions made by the leadership. 8. Short Term Vs Long-term Leadership The best difference between a short term leadership and long term leadership. When any CEO holds their position for more than few years, they end up taking decisions on their OWN PERSONAL INTEREST than as a LEADER FOR THE ORGANIZATION. The book shows us the real meaning of a leader, and what is the difference between a leader and a boss. It gives us an insight into thoughts to ponder upon, whether we wish to be a leader in the organization or just a boss. It demonstrates the depth and breadth of leadership cascades from the executive board to management, which in turn cascades down the daily basis shaping of the culture of the organization. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Essential Skill Analysis to Improve Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/skill-analysis-driver-to-improve-employee-engagement/): Lot has been said about employee engagement. A recent survey by a leading analytics organization says that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. This study was conducted across 142 countries. The survey means that about 1 in 8 workers roughly 180 million employees in the countries studied. They are committed to their jobs and likely to be making positive contributions to their organizations. In this article, we will discuss about some Important Essential Skill Analysis to Improve Employee Engagement. The bulk of employees worldwide — 63% — are “not engaged,” meaning they lack motivation and are less likely to invest cautious effort in organizational goals or profits. And 24% are “actively disengaged,” indicating they are unhappy and unproductive at work and accountable to spread negativity to coworkers. In rough numbers, this translates into 900 million not engaged and 340 million actively disengaged workers around the globe. Such alarmingly low levels of engagement among global workers continue to hinder gains in economic productivity and life quality in much of the world. Some Factors to Improve Employee Engagement The findings also reveal differences among employees with different job types and at different skill levels within countries. Recognizing these differences can help managers understand how these factors could affect workplace characteristics. And help them identify specific barriers they must overcome to build more engaged workforces. Regardless of region or industry, businesses seeking to adapt to rapidly changing global economic conditions must learn how to maintain high-productivity workplaces. Also grow their customer bases in widely varying social, cultural, and economic environments. Skill gap analysis and further training/ sensitization the employees and better fitment are couple of key drivers for better employee engagement. Team Faber Infinite has rolled out an exceptional proven approach to analyze the skills of the employees. This skill analysis platform PriZma is devised to help organizations overcome the challenges relating to skill development and engagement among employees. PriZma aids to analyze the opportunities associated with employees with respect to skill development, provide solutions to overcome the challenges and would enable to understand the desired skills for the employees to perform better. Apart from focusing on the gaps and coming up with the solutions for the same, PriZma will also facilitate to make a learning plan considering the needs and training requirements of the employees. Faber helps Organization to Improve Engagement Team Faber has been helping organizations to conduct pertinent and customized skill analysis by deploying PriZma. Organizations are finding it exceptionally helpful and comfortable using PriZma. Moreover, it helps them to get appropriate results enabling them to design the way forward to impart training. And all this is conducted at a click of buttons, eliminating all hassle and subjective feedbacks! The expert team of Faber Infinite has designed the platform considering its vast experience of dealing with various traits and skills requirement, coupled with cloud based IT systems, making it effective, efficient and error free! Since people spend a substantial part of their lives working. As a result, the quality of their workplace experience is undoubtedly reflected in the quality of their lives. If as the research says 1 in 8 employees are fully engaged or active, so a majority of them display negative experience at work, then the global economy will continue to remain sluggish. Hence increasing workplace engagement is vital to achieving sustainable growth for companies, communities, and countries — and for putting the global economy back on track to a more prosperous and peaceful future. Team Faber can justly help you save from such a distressing future and can deliver the most appropriate results. For further details, get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Grow Your Topline Multifolds!](https://faberinfinite.com/grow-your-topline-multifolds/): Selling is one of the core concerns of several organizations worldwide. With the increase in competition, it is a dire need to withstand oneself in the market. In fact, it is among one of the most difficult tasks, which needs serious measures to tackle the problems associated with it. There’s no magic wand which can increase the sales over a period of time, however, Faber Infinite has devised a remarkable approach to create and raise demand, increase sales and enable organizations to sell better. One of our clients – a leading FMCG player in Africa, was able to achieve a significant increase in sales with the Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite.  Below are few of the key drivers of the approach: • Customer Needs: Customer needs are at the focal importance for the growth of sales, without which sales cannot take place. Customer preferences and choices need to be taken care of while designing and rolling out any sales plan for the market. As a part of the project, the team conducted a thorough market study and understood the customer demands and trends. Traditionally, the client has been into frozen segment, however, the market study revealed that demand is for fresh products and is one of the key changes to be incorporated in the product mix. • Competitive Analysis: The second vital task is to analyze the competition & competitors in the market. One needs to know the strengths of competitors and weaknesses of self to come out with a clear, successful strategy. On same lines, a thorough study was conducted to understand how the client fares in terms of distribution and pricing in comparison to the competition. • Value Delivered: Every organization adds value and passes it on further to their stakeholders with their products and services. The values delivered by a product include its benefits, advantages, and features. These factors need to be critically identified and communicated to the customers in an appropriate way. • Team SWOT: The most important factor that can make or break an organization is its team. Hence, it is extremely important to understand the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the team. Team Faber conducted SWOT analysis for the client sales team and assisted them via sales training, assessment, and recruitment. The sales team structure of client team was improved to suit the requirements. • Team Alignment: Team Alignment is yet another important aspect, as it can further help to clear out the confusion of who’s handling what and how. There will be no confusion regarding the same and also will bring in • Sales Management: The standards for overall sales process management including all the aspects such as financial planning, logistics planning, and customer service were established/ improved for smooth order processing. All these factors need to be addressed for increasing the sales. Today, almost after six months of engagement; the sales have almost doubled and sustained at improved levels. Needless to mention, that it positively impacts profit margins. Along with revenue growth, the consulting team has initiated working on operational excellence parameters as well for the client. Similar exercise has been conducted for a dairy industry client as well, with phenomenal results. Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite is industry neutral and can be deployed across sectors/ geographies. Team Faber Infinite has been proficient in providing sales training, designing and implementing sales growth strategies across various industries and sectors. The practice of the above framework, designed by Faber Infinite has helped a number of happy clients willing to increase their sales growth. Please contact our expert team, for further details and sub elements of the framework to accelerate your sales growth. Written by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [See how our Inventory Management Module helped](https://faberinfinite.com/how-inventory-management-module-by-faber-infinite-helped-our-clients-during-recent-gst-roll-out/): GST seeks to unify the entire country into a single market with only one value-added tax levy on all the goods and services across states at the point of consumption, subsuming up to 16 different taxes and levies that were imposed. This is expected to make the movement goods across the state borders smoother, faster and easier, though some experts have raised concerns over the complications that could arise out of a multiple tax-slab structure. However, managing inventories during this moment of change has got real challenging. In today’s era of changes in the tax system, inventories in the supply chain pipeline can make or break the situation for any business. As it is said, it the supply chains which compete and not the organizations! Hence tracking and maintaining optimum inventories is critical and also it is difficult to estimate where, what, how much is required. Over stocking has issues with blocking the working capital and under stocking has huge risks of opportunity loss attached to it. Inventory Management Consultants of Faber Infinite Consulting has worked closely with a client struggling with inventory management and implemented an accurate and fitting Inventory Management Module based on scientific calculations developed by the team Faber Infinite. This system is capable of equipping the client to understand the current inventory situations, future state of inventory details, proposed savings in each component, what needs to stored and most important in what quantities. With this inventory management system in place, the impact of GST on the distribution business has been minimum. It can be attributed to having right and optimum stocks in the pipeline. The scientific inventory management module is industry neutral and has capability to resolve supply chain and inventory issues from the root in any organization. It also assists in deciding how much to order and when to order. The system takes care of inherent delays attributed to either supply uncertainties or demand variations upto 2 sigma levels – which is capable to cover 95% of the variations. With the Kanban system implemented, the system gets more flexible, responsive and agile now. Reduction in wasted efforts / wasted time, the unnecessary time wasted in searching and managing excess inventory comes as cherry on the cake. The overall savings in inventory value for the said engagement (after implementation of inventory management module) is a mix of positive and negative savings. Positive saving is achieved by controlling over stocking while negative savings results are to avoid under stocking. Team Faber can help the clients across industries and geographies to have systems in place that are futuristic. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Towards greener pastures](https://faberinfinite.com/towards-greener-pastures/): Written by Faber Jalay Pandya: Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a master’s degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on AfternoonDC. Original link available – here
- [Daily Management – The Toyota Way](https://faberinfinite.com/daily-management-the-toyota-way/): Starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur is exciting as well as terrifying. While starting a new business, entrepreneurs face so many challenges; such as instability, stress, negative mindset, overwhelming feelings, lack of support, growing the business, problems of 4Ms (man, method, material, machines), problems relating to marketing, outdated technology, lack of infrastructural facilities, etc. An entrepreneur has to constantly organize, operate and assume various risks in a business venture. The intensity of the challenge to promote an entrepreneurship culture as well as to evolve new enterprises in a sustainable and competitive manner varies on the daily management. Robust management of routine activities efficiently avoids firefighting and daily surprises for the entrepreneur to focus on growth! In order to conduct business efficiently, an entrepreneur must overcome these challenges. Toyota has been working on system based on lean principles that can be a solution to these routine challenges faced by entrepreneurs. Daily Management is the system that provides the ability to manage departments, functions and processes, wherein processes are defined, standardized, controlled, and improved by the process owners. It focuses on process and not people. It is a very reliable problem solving and sustenance technique. Goals of Daily Management Methodology: Regularly reaching out to each & every person working at various levels so that a structured review mechanism where a formal discussion is facilitated related to details and communication. The management should be done on a day-to-day basis; ensuring daily standard jobs and daily standard objectives are accomplished strictly on daily basis. Make everyone come at a common platform, take charge and ownership of each and every aspect. Steps of Daily Management Methodology: -Prepare and visualize standards for Man, Machine, Material and Methods Define Leader Standard Work Have visual controls for standards and results Focus on process stabilization Record abnormalities for rolling out Structured Problem Solving Have a daily accountability process Daily Management works based on SDCA cycle:   The Standardize – Do – Check – Act (SDCA) cycle is a follow up cycle for sustenance ensuring that the improvements that have been achieved via Plan – Do – Check – Act (PDCA) cycle, do not slide back. SDCA and PDCA cycle are part of Deming’s improvement formulae where, PDCA leads to improvement and SDCA prevents the deterioration, respectively. Hence, it is extremely important that both the SDCA & PDCA cycles are well established. Benefits of Daily Management: -Provides data on where you are (actual) compared to where you want to go (planned) -Assists with meeting customer demand -Improves process quality -Reduces process variation -Ensures effective problem solving -Helps standardize the way organizations manage their facilities -Ensures sustainability for improvement efforts Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. This article was originally published on Entrepreneur.com. Original link available – here
- [To Achieve More, Rethink How to Invest Your Efforts](https://faberinfinite.com/to-achieve-more-rethink-how-to-invest-your-efforts/): Most people are ignorant of the fact about investing in the proper direction. You can achieve more success by fully leveraging your fortes instead of constantly trying to shore up your weaknesses. It is necessary to realize the importance of deciding where you will invest more time and energy to produce significant quality work and where less-than-perfect execution has a higher remuneration. This has a profound impact on the approach to success and ability to empower clients who feel overwhelmed. Think of a Holistic Approach Investment is about time, effort and expertise. Take small steps and do not invest in large amounts in one thing which has an unclear return on investment. Start by investing smaller amounts in things which you expect will generate a return for your business (whether it is creating better manufacturing or operations management), and then keep records on what is working, and where you can, reinvest these returns too. Get the Right coach If you’re in a business channel or you’re having trouble taking your business to the next level, you need to reach out and connect with someone who can help. Even the most successful people take help from a coach to improve and perform better. Seek help from an expert in operations. It makes a difference and it can impact your business in tangible ways. Also it’s probably a safe and smart investment of your own time. Have a Robust Vision It’s important to have a clear vision. This will help you in deploying and executing proper methodology for implementation and continual improvement. Generally speaking you should start off by mapping the requirements of defining a clear vision and then invest accordingly such as employee skills and training and the operational side of getting the product or service together. However, think before you spend or invest, ask yourself what you are expecting to achieve. Engage your Employees Think of an apt plan and strategy to engage your employees as they are the major workforce bringing incremental progress in your organization. Engage them in the areas where you need help and ask for solutions. For instance, implementing a strategy is easy as compared to sustaining it, brainstorming sessions will increase the total employee engagement and this keeps your business fresh and geared up for growth. In order to determine if your efforts are being directed in the proper direction you need to ask yourself some hard questions and do some risk assessment. A good assessment will enhance and improve your methodology. This will eventually help you move your business forward at the right pace and increase your visibility.
- [To Achieve More, Rethink How to Invest Your Efforts](https://faberinfinite.com/to-achieve-more-rethink-how-to-invest-your-efforts-2/): Most people are ignorant of the fact about investing in the proper direction. You can achieve more success by fully leveraging your fortes instead of constantly trying to shore up your weaknesses. It is necessary to realize the importance of deciding where you will invest more time and energy to produce significant quality work and where less-than-perfect execution has a higher remuneration. This has a profound impact on the approach to success and ability to empower clients who feel overwhelmed. Think of a Holistic Approach Investment is about time, effort and expertise. Take small steps and do not invest in large amounts in one thing which has an unclear return on investment. Start by investing smaller amounts in things which you expect will generate a return for your business (whether it is creating better manufacturing or operations management), and then keep records on what is working, and where you can, reinvest these returns too. Get the Right coach If you’re in a business channel or you’re having trouble taking your business to the next level, you need to reach out and connect with someone who can help. Even the most successful people take help from a coach to improve and perform better. Seek help from an expert in operations. It makes a difference and it can impact your business in tangible ways. Also it’s probably a safe and smart investment of your own time. Have a Robust Vision It’s important to have a clear vision. This will help you in deploying and executing proper methodology for implementation and continual improvement. Generally speaking you should start off by mapping the requirements of defining a clear vision and then invest accordingly such as employee skills and training and the operational side of getting the product or service together. However, think before you spend or invest, ask yourself what you are expecting to achieve. Engage your Employees Think of an apt plan and strategy to engage your employees as they are the major workforce bringing incremental progress in your organization. Engage them in the areas where you need help and ask for solutions. For instance, implementing a strategy is easy as compared to sustaining it, brainstorming sessions will increase the total employee engagement and this keeps your business fresh and geared up for growth. In order to determine if your efforts are being directed in the proper direction you need to ask yourself some hard questions and do some risk assessment. A good assessment will enhance and improve your methodology. This will eventually help you move your business forward at the right pace and increase your visibility. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Improve Top Line, 'Cos That's The Lifeline!](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-top-line-cos-thats-the-lifeline/):   This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of SME World magazine. Original link available here – click here.
- [Failure Of Direction](https://faberinfinite.com/failure-of-direction/): To be a successfulenterprise or to learn a new skill, the fundamental lesson is to stick to it rather than leaving it half done, work half done is equal to being not done. Also sticking to it, when the plan has no purposeful action is impractical. So you need to tweak the working strategy accordingly. Like there are two sides of a coin similarly, to progress it is necessary to have more than one strategy in place. Here are the types of directional failures we bring to your notice and also solutions regarding how to fix them: Failure of Tactics Having a clear vision and a good strategy alone won’t do the job for you, if you lack proper execution. This failure of schemes examines the “how” parameter which indicates how you have failed to build tough systems and forgot to measure systems carefully and being lethargic towards fine detailing. To fix these criteria’s start with recording your processes followed by measurement of outcomes and eventually review the process to adjust the tactics accordingly. Failure of Strategy This will be your answer to “what” was the flaw in deploying your basic strategy that fails to give you the ultimate results. Having a strategy is not a breakthrough but the crux lies in having a correct one. This will help you scrutinize the underlying problem. If the idea doesn’t seem to be of any good, discard it rather than sticking to it. To fix it quickly launch better ideas and revise the existing mistakes. Failure of Vision It happens because your vision or goal for what you want to become doesn’t align with the actions you are taking. If you are ignorant of setting a clear vision, how will the employees understand the motive? Eventually, both employees and you will be unable to understand what to do and what not to do. Think critically and navigate through the disapproval to come up with a robust vision. Failure of Opportunity Although, this is an indirect action element, but it still has a strong influence on the proper execution of a plan.Thus, focusing on the “who” element will provide the answer. It happens when an organization fails to provide equal opportunity for all people. Failures of opportunity are the result of many complex factors: age, race, gender, income, education, and more. To conclude, it is not necessary that you may be following the wrong path but it may be the circumstances, because of which you are unable to locate the right path. It can be due to various distractions surrounding you. Be focused, stay focused and the vision will unveil itself.
- [Failure of Direction](https://faberinfinite.com/failure-of-direction-2/): To be a successful enterprise or to learn a new skill, the fundamental lesson is to stick to it rather than leaving it half done, work half done is equal to being not done. Also sticking to it, when the plan has no purposeful action is impractical. So you need to tweak the working strategy accordingly. Like there are two sides of a coin similarly, to progress it is necessary to have more than one strategy in place. Here are the types of directional failures we bring to your notice and also solutions regarding how to fix them: 1)    Failure of Tactics Having a clear vision and a good strategy alone won’t do the job for you, if you lack proper execution. This failure of schemes examines the “how” parameter which indicates how you have failed to build tough systems and forgot to measure systems carefully and being lethargic towards fine detailing. To fix these criteria’s start with recording your processes followed by measurement of outcomes and eventually review the process to adjust the tactics accordingly. 2)    Failure of Strategy This will be your answer to “what” was the flaw in deploying your basic strategy that fails to give you the ultimate results. Having a strategy is not a breakthrough but the crux lies in having a correct one. This will help you scrutinize the underlying problem. If the idea doesn’t seem to be of any good, discard it rather than sticking to it. To fix it quickly launch better ideas and revise the existing mistakes. 3)    Failure of Vision It happens because your vision or goal for what you want to become doesn’t align with the actions you are taking. If you are ignorant of setting a clear vision, how will the employees understand the motive? Eventually, both employees and you will be unable to understand what to do and what not to do. Think critically and navigate through the disapproval to come up with a robust vision. 4)    Failure of Opportunity Although, this is an indirect action element, but it still has a strong influence on the proper execution of a plan. Thus, focusing on the “who” element will provide the answer. It happens when an organization fails to provide equal opportunity for all people. Failures of opportunity are the result of many complex factors: age, race, gender, income, education, and more. To conclude, it is not necessary that you may be following the wrong path but it may be the circumstances, because of which you are unable to locate the right path. It can be due to various distractions surrounding you. Be focused, stay focused and the vision will unveil itself. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Constructive construction!](https://faberinfinite.com/constructive-construction/): The productivity of the construction industry worldwide has been declining over the past 40 years. One approach for improving the situation is using lean construction. As reported by the Ministry of Statistics, more than 295 infrastructure and construction projects have been delayed with overrun of more than INR 1 lakh crore. It can be reasonably presumed that time overrun would lead to cost overrun which in turn would lead to disputes. ‘Lean’ can deliver significant benefits as well as being a key tool in supporting the organization to deliver its strategic objectives. Let’s talk about fundamental cultural prerequisites to bring in lean in construction domains. Evaluate the organizational culture Construction requires new tools to assess the performance and gauge factors such as waste, value, cycle time or variability. It is important to understand the current mindsets and behaviors of your workforce. What is required here is to device a culture by asking the leaders what they think and act accordingly. It is important to obtain feedback from a representative cross-section of the organization to deploy standards and enact. Identify and incentivize Identifying the right attitudes and behaviors as well as appraisal for their performance is critical to motivation and engagement. It is equally important to get these incentives at the right time. If you are paying attention towards short term initiatives and wasting money and energy then the reward and recognition will not be having the desired long-term impact. It is essential to understand what essentially motivates your employees and triggers them to work. Clear Vision coupled with innovation Self-actualization essentially requires leaders to understand the inherent motivating factors for their employees.  Promoting a culture of feedback, analysis, and collaborative planning is important for variation and responding to puzzling market situations. A consistent involvement of employees in the loop at all levels when strategizing will not only provide a breadth of insight and ideas to innovation, but by and large these ideas will be amplified. Working towards a progressive path Start prominently by an example. The communicable nature of behaviors in the office is very influential. Demonstrating positive behavior will have a spontaneous impact on the vibe of the organization. Even a small change can stimulate people and ultimately they will acclimatize to the changing scenario, but changing your organization’s culture is not an instant overnight process, it takes continued persistence, approach and leadership. Thus, it is imperative to clarify the challenges that exists in construction industry and also disputes to resolve issues efficiently and economically. We shall talk about the nuts and bolts of Lean in Construction industry in the coming articles. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published on AfternoonDC. Original link available – here
- [If you are too busy for these five things, then your improvement journey is off the course](https://faberinfinite.com/if-you-are-too-busy-for-these-five-things-then-your-improvement-journey-is-off-the-course/): The present decade has been dramatic in terms of the changes occurring dynamically. But all too often companies are their own worst enemies when it comes to process improvement. As it can be difficult to identify which processes should be given more priority for improvement. A successful implementation journey is preceded by meticulous approach. Measures should be taken to avoid common pitfalls: avoid over-delegation, focus on staff issues rather than egos, appropriate staff to complete project concepts and design, and understand the realities of the particular project. Here are the five pointers which will indicate you are off the course or on track: Lack of organizing the processes You should have a clear goal so that the process can be organized accordingly. A properly implemented and organized process should result in a work environment where all team members are aware of their responsibilities. If the organizing process is not conducted well, the results may yield confusion, frustration, loss of efficiency, and limited effectiveness. Absence of succession planning for the future Succession planning is ignored as there may be other organizational challenges on board. One of the prime reasons to focus on planning is the changing realities of workplaces. Of course, we rely on team members to carry out our missions, provide services and meet our organization’s goals. We need to think about what would happen to those services or our ability to fulfill the organization’s mission if a key staff member leaves the team. Are you tracking important metrics? The metrics are biggies which you need to be assured about. A sure sign of improvement is growth in the number of contributors you have and the return of investment year-over-year. This is true vice versa for lack of improvement. Poor performance with respect to investment growth is a major problem that should be tackled on multiple fronts. If you are ignoring these metrics, it will be difficult to move from one arena to the next. Have you eliminated the waste/ inefficiencies? The cause of amplified waste or inefficiencies in organizations is excessive lead times resulting in high storage costs, and makes it difficult to detect defects. You need to ask the question “Is the activity transforming the goods or service for better?” If the activity is not done right in the first place, all subsequent activities done to correct it are waste. Absence of movement towards the goal every single day Lack of strategic plans will be reflected in lack of direction which will reduce the organization’s potential for a competitive advantage. As a result the organization will be on the back foot to compete against its competition and loss of control over its financial standpoint and start moving away from the purpose of accomplishing its goal. It is really easy to go off-course. You need to constantly make course corrections. As an organization ensure you get where you want by organizing processes, proper planning, tracking progress, eliminating waste and working towards the goal every single day. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Adding more steam to Make in India](https://faberinfinite.com/adding-more-steam-to-make-in-india/): By building competitiveness via various skill development programs, Faber Infinite takes pride in adding more steam to the Make in India campaign. Worthy training and skill development programs help organizations to develop people and grow profitability. As it is proven that knowledge is not the only pre-requisite to qualify for an excellent training faculty but it runs parallel with the combination of delivery methodology which gives excellent results. By understanding the requirement of organization, Faber Infinite has been delivering great results from small to large businesses. We have been conducting training sessions at esteemed organizations, with assured high-end training environment. We bring some of the recent successful training workshops conducted with feedback rating of more than 90%. Sharing insights from Training Session on 7 Quality Control tools at Chief Heavy engineering equipment manufacturer with Global Operations catering to Process Plant Industries, Nuclear Power, Defense & Aerospace sector: Participants were given clear understanding on 7 QC Tools and training was conducted to achieve following objectives: -To understand the foundations of quality -To understand the 7 QC tools and its importance -To understand the methods of implementing 7 QC tools and its benefits Learnings via Origami Exercise Members from different departments were a part of the training workshop. It is conducted effectively through various experiential learning exercises and practicality of implementing these tools on the shop floor.  Participants said “There was constant interaction with participants during whole training session as well as fabulous examples were given which made understanding easy.” While other said, “Real life examples perfectly matched with 7QC tools.” The overall feedback of the training program came out to be whopping figure of 96%. Glimpses of Training Workshop on Lean in Software Development at one of the largest locomotive manufacturer based in Vadodara, India: Training on Lean Management Foundations and Lean in Software Development was conducted to achieve following objectives: -To understand the foundations of lean management -To understand the wastes/ inefficiencies in software development -To understand the importance of lean management along with proper understanding of Operational excellence and Six S in business -To know how lean can be applied in software development Learnings via Simulated Factory Participants were extremely satisfied with the methodology adopted for training and various simulation modules planned for training. One of the participants said, “Practical sessions/ factory simulations were the best part of training because it is the only source which helps us to differentiate between practical and theoretical knowledge.” While other member said, “The training was fabulous; I enjoyed it and learned many things.” According to the feedback obtained about the session the rating was again 96%. Reported by: Faber Devna and Faber Mayuri
- [Right People in Right Position !](https://faberinfinite.com/right-people-in-right-position/): Equipping your organization with the right people to get the work done is the most basic and essential requirement. It’s important not only to have the right people in the right positions, but also to continually analyze whether or not your organization is keeping up with the latest advances in technology and knowledge. 58 percent of global CEOs fear this alleged gap in workforce talent could hinder their company’s ability to grow. One of the direct ways for your organization to achieve peak performance is through a systematic evaluation of your employee skills in relation to business operations. What is Skill Gap Analysis? Skills gap analysis is an important business tool that measures the difference between the current skills of an individual and the required skill set. This evaluation tool helps organizations decrease the gap between current skills and skills actually required in the near future. Significance: The skills gap analysis tool allows organizations to identify and suggest improvements points in terms of employee skills to meet the present and future requirements of the organization in addition to improving work performance. Performing a skills gap analysis can benefit employees and the organization since it enables both to professional development needs. This procedure involves the measurement of employee skillset and comparing the gaps with the desired skills. It culminates in strategy formulation aimed at refining and adding skills to close the gap. Effects: A skills gap analysis is beneficial for the organization as well as employees since it identifies the goals needed for workplace progress. It further recognizes deficiencies that can hamper the growth of a company. A successful skills gap analysis will provide a clear path for professional improvement, and increase chances of promotion for the concerned employee. This overall helps the organization, increases productivity, increases employee retention and boosts bottom-lines. Further Benefits: – Comprehensive Overview about the organization – This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the organization or a particular department, to determine whether that particular department has the resources to meet company goals and objectives. – Establish Priorities – This analysis helps an organization to make informed decisions and then create efficient budgets.  Process: The first step is to conduct a skills gap analysis, which is basically an inventory of skills you need versus skills you already have. It’s simple math: Skills needed – skills possessed = skills gap Once the gaps are clearly defined there needs to be a plan to close those gaps. How will you identify specific development opportunities? How will you equip employees to grow? How will you track and incentivise progress? These are some of the questions that we need address to further. Watch out this space or reach us to know more about our detailed process to conduct a scientific skill analysis exercise. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Farm Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/farm-transformation/): Floriculture is one of Kenya’s top foreign exchange earners. Flower farmers however face numerous challenges that have affected the sector’s competitiveness. It is one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors of Africa. Since 1990 flower exports have increased by approximately 20% per year. Flower farming has surpassed coffee and tourism as a source of foreign exchange. According to the Kenyan figures there are 150 registered companies which collectively produce about 120,000 tonnes of flowers per year. More than 500,000 people in the country depend on the trade according to the Kenya Flower Council, with roughly half of the country’s 127 flower farms concentrated around Lake Naivasha, around 90 kilometers northwest of Nairobi. Kenyan growers are now lending their floral expertise to neighboring country Rwanda. Out of Kenya alone, 3,300 tonnes on average per week of flowers are exported. Kenya leads in the export of cut flowers to the European Union (EU) with a 38 per cent share, according to statistics from the Kenya Flower Council (KFC). Faber Infinite with its expertise has created a niche and emerged to be one of the crucial role players to improve the productivity of flower farms in East Africa. It has been working with a huge landscape of clients delivering excellent world class quality of flowers. While working with clients in East Africa, it was successful in streamlining various developments to improve the overall costs and productivity of the farms. Team Faber Infinite identified four significant areas for improvement: – Improving the yield Scientific approach of Design of Experiments has been deployed with great results for developing planting standards. The aim was to extract maximum yield from optimal utilization of finite resources. While working at client sites in East Africa which are leading exporters of flowers, a remarkable improvement of 33% was obtained in terms of productivity. – Reduction in Field and Pack House Rejections Projects to reduce rejections are initiated during analysis phase, and plans for maintaining workplace are devised and rolled out. Also dedicated steering teams with clear guidelines help to improve the processes, initiate actions and monitor progress. The core objective is to find the exact root cause and take appropriate countermeasures to prevent waste generation. As a result of which, rejection has been reduced by 41%. – Developing people skill set Floriculture is a labor intensive business. It requires people to be trained for particular skill sets and develop certain standard procedures to be followed. Deployment of these standards provides the suitable set of skills required and also improves the quantity of yield. – Improving the maintenance of cold chain The scientifically developed modules by Team Faber helped the client in maintaining the exposure time of flowers which further helped in sustaining the quality of flowers. By deploying appropriate standards, the team has been successful in reducing exposure time of flowers and has also proved helpful to increase the exports by more than 40%. The scope of progress in terms of cost and productivity improvement is tremendous and can be further enhanced by sustaining the existing methodology. By deploying appropriate standards for inventory management, taking appropriate countermeasures to prevent waste generation and implementation of planting standards, overall farm performance can be increased. Faber Infinite’s unique Farm Transformation methodology is helping people grow more flowers per square meter, month on month! Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Why Resist Change?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-resist-change/): The most baffling and intractable problem which business executives face is employee resistance to change. Such resistance may take a number of forms—persistent reduction in output, increase in the number of “quits” , delaying change, inertia to disruption, or to be outright rebellions. The best tool for implementing change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then maneuver around them. Below are the five reasons why people resist change: Loss of Autonomic Control Change will interfere in the autonomy and can also make employees feel that they’ve lost control over their territory. It’s not just about who has the power. Their sense of self-determination is often the first thing to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else. Smart Organizations should leave room for those affected by change to make choices. They invite others into the planning, giving them ownership. Fear of Excess ambiguity If change feels like something unwarranted along with uncertain outcomes, then employees will reject it. People will often avoid heading towards an unknown situation. It is evident that in many organizations, people tend to stay in the existing state of reality and to overcome this inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision. So creating a certainty of process, with clear, simple steps and timetables is indispensible. Out of the blue Revelation! Decisions imposed on people suddenly, are generally resisted and tend to be a blocker. Saying No is more evident and easy answer rather than embracing the change by saying yes. Organizations should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then announce them all at once. It is better to give hints about the upcoming developments instead of giving a sudden jolt. Feeling Incompetent? Change is resisted by people, because the most common question which arises is ‘Am I competent enough to do it?’ Employees might express skepticism about whether the newly deployed method or standard will turn out to be fruitful version or not. So organizations should invest in structural reassurance and provide abundant information, education, training, mentors, and support systems. This will enable smooth transition towards new methodology. The undulated effects The ripples created by introducing change may disrupt functioning of other departments, important customers, people well outside the project, and they start to push back, rebelling against changes they had nothing to do with that interfere with their own activities. All affected parties must be considered, however distant, and also it is imperative to work harmoniously with them to minimize disruption. Although, necessarily it cannot be guaranteed whether the change will be accepted or not, but organizations can work towards minimizing the discomfort. Also take steps to diagnose the problem so that a palpable solution can be designed based on the feedback obtained from resistors.
- [Why Resist Change ?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-resist-change-2/): The most baffling and intractable problem which business executives face is employee resistance to change. Such resistance may take a number of forms—persistent reduction in output, increase in the number of “quits” , delaying change, inertia to disruption, or to be outright rebellions. The best tool for implementing change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then maneuver around them. Below are the five reasons why people resist change: Loss of Autonomic Control Change will interfere in the autonomy and can also make employees feel that they’ve lost control over their territory. It’s not just about who has the power. Their sense of self-determination is often the first thing to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else. Smart Organizations should leave room for those affected by change to make choices. They invite others into the planning, giving them ownership. Fear of Excess ambiguity  If change feels like something unwarranted along with uncertain outcomes, then employees will reject it. People will often avoid heading towards an unknown situation. It is evident that in many organizations, people tend to stay in the existing state of reality and to overcome this inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision. So creating a certainty of process, with clear, simple steps and timetables is indispensable. Out of the blue Revelation! Decisions imposed on people suddenly, are generally resisted and tend to be a blocker. Saying No is more evident and easy answer rather than embracing the change by saying yes. Organizations should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then announce them all at once. It is better to give hints about the upcoming developments instead of giving a sudden jolt. Feeling Incompetent? Change is resisted by people, because the most common question which arises is ‘Am I competent enough to do it?’ Employees might express skepticism about whether the newly deployed method or standard will turn out to be fruitful version or not. So organizations should invest in structural reassurance and provide abundant information, education, training, mentors, and support systems. This will enable smooth transition towards new methodology. The undulated effects The ripples created by introducing change may disrupt functioning of other departments, important customers, people well outside the project, and they start to push back, rebelling against changes they had nothing to do with that interfere with their own activities. All affected parties must be considered, however distant, and also it is imperative to work harmoniously with them to minimize disruption. Although, necessarily it cannot be guaranteed whether the change will be accepted or not, but organizations can work towards minimizing the discomfort. Also take steps to diagnose the problem so that a palpable solution can be designed based on the feedback obtained from resistors. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Building a transparent culture for high performance teams](https://faberinfinite.com/building-a-transparent-culture-for-high-performance-teams/): In the present times of globalization and modernization, no company can hope to get the best out of its employees unless it has a well-defined performance management system in place. It is a holistic tool that helps in uplifting the overall development of an organization. The Indian workplace is composed of extremely complex and diverse habitats. Performance management is one of the most contested practices that organizations undergo on a regular basis. While there is not much debate on the value of performance management, the effectiveness of the process and how organizations can use it for building a high performance workforce are of supreme concern. Listing key elements for building high performance teams via Performance Management Systems. Develop a culture of transparency To develop a transparent culture within an organization means to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of employees within an organization. It also emphasizes to safeguard this information within the walls of the company and transparency can play a valuable role inside the company walls. The organizational culture has a potential strength of making or breaking business. It highlights on how to develop a sense of ownership among the employees. By sharing numbers with employees and not only just executives; leaders can increase employees’ sense of ownership. Goal setting with clear understanding It is quite essential for every employee to have a clear understanding of the goals and how to integrate it with the existing work pace of the organization. Organizations need to work thoroughly on this aspect which aims to set clear and explicit opportunities and goals across distance and boundaries to furnish the geographically dispersed workforce in today’s organization. Furthermore, the expectations and goals set should be active enough to respond to the frequent changes as a result of external factors. A mechanism should be available for effective and regular feedback among all team members. Managing the Employee skill set Although various organizations have well defined set of goals but they lack in its proper implementation. It may be the case that some goals need adjustments; other times employees just may not have the skills to achieve the target goals. Performance appraisals for employees had the main motive of identifying the gaps in skill sets of employee but nowadays however, it is defeating the overall purpose of improvement. Well defined improvement is clearly visible when there is a consistent and active feedback loop. Hiring should be done on the basis of potential and not solely on experience. Further, proper training and development programs should be conducted, that informs about the performance and skill gaps to be inculcated. Fostering a optimistic environment Celebrating the achievements of an organization together helps to acknowledge people’s hard work, boosts morale and keeps up the momentum. Apt goals help the employee to understand the set of roles and responsibilities they need to perform. In addition to this, appreciation for their role and positive feedback can lead to excellence of an organization. Also, this trend is being practiced consistently within various organizations to motivate the employees. High performance ratio and success are neither dependent on one or two simple factors nor the result of one or two things. The entire context depends on how an organization operates which greatly impacts the results. Performance Management system should be a well planned, clearly communicated, embraced by leadership, effectively administered and should have a positive impact on productivity, performance, employee engagement and customer relations. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published on Entrepreneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Leadership - Unlocking People's Potential to Become Better](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-unlocking-peoples-potential/): Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Leadership is not only about focusing on the day to day work; which by the way does not go away. It’s about focusing on the softer side of development of People’s Potential which enables them to deal with various expected situations. Here are three vital elements to unlock people’s potential: Lead By Example When it comes to superior leadership – don’t ask your people to do anything you are not willing to do yourself. People appreciate a leader who is willing to get their hands dirty. They want someone to mentor them and lead them by example, someone who ‘walks the talk!’ Know Your People Well Instead, of talking about all of your accolades and what makes you so great. Make it about the people who are ultimately going to lead you to further success. Ask them things about them, why they chose your company, what do they enjoy most about their position, and what are their challenges and how you can help. Ask them what motivates them and what gets them going. Don’t make it about you make it about them. Invest in growth and development of your people Investing in people and their development will lead to an extensive growth of an organization. Also make sure that you are directing the efforts in the right direction, so that a good majority of your time is spent on people that are producing results and are giving leverage to the organization. Don’t subscribe to a “Do-It-For-You” methodology of talent management, rather lead, mentor, coach and develop team members by getting them to buy-into a “Do-It-Yourself” work ethic. This helps in keeping the group focused on its vision over the long term. Lift a person’s vision to higher sights, raise his/ her performance to a higher standard, and build a personality beyond his/ her normal limitations. Thus improve your organizations performance through leadership. Successful leaders never stop learning. They learn from their mistakes and they learn from their triumphs, and they’re always changing themselves and mentoring others for the better.
- [Leadership - Unlocking People's Potential](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-unlocking-peoples-potential-2/): Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Leadership is not only about focusing on the day to day work; which by the way does not go away. It’s about focusing on the softer side of development of people which enables them to deal with various expected situations. Here are three vital elements to unlock people’s potential: Lead By Example When it comes to superior leadership – don’t ask your people to do anything you are not willing to do yourself. People appreciate a leader who is willing to get their hands dirty. They want someone to mentor them and lead them by example, someone who ‘walks the talk!’ Know Your People Well Instead, of talking about all of your accolades and what makes you so great; make it about the people who are ultimately going to lead you to further success. Ask them things about them, why they chose your company, what do they enjoy most about their position, and what are their challenges and how you can help. Ask them what motivates them and what gets them going. Don’t make it about you make it about them. Invest in growth and development of your people Investing in people and their development will lead to an extensive growth of an organization. Also make sure that you are directing the efforts in the right direction, so that a good majority of your time is spent on people that are producing results and are giving leverage to the organization. Don’t subscribe to a “Do-It-For-You” methodology of talent management, rather lead, mentor, coach and develop team members by getting them to buy-into a “Do-It-Yourself” work ethic. This helps in keeping the group focused on its vision over the long term. Lift a person’s vision to higher sights, raise his/ her performance to a higher standard, and build a personality beyond his/ her normal limitations. Thus improve your organizations performance through leadership. Successful leaders never stop learning. They learn from their mistakes and they learn from their triumphs, and they’re always changing themselves and mentoring others for the better. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Operational Excellence Do's and Don’ts](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-dos-and-donts/): One of the keys to the implementation of Operational Excellence principles is to become a learning Organization through persistence and continuous improvement. Implementing any change initiative is difficult.  If it wasn’t, each person would be doing it, but they are not. Although many organizations begin with their journey to bring about a change in the organization, only 5% organizations are successful in implementing and sustaining it. In this blog, we will talk about Operational Excellence Do’s and Don’ts. The following parameters of do’s and don’ts aim at keeping Organizations focused on the facts thing rather than indulging in unwanted waste. Do’s  of Operational Excellence Communicate: As in every part of life, communication across the entire supply chain network is essential. Implementation strategy: Every Organization has limitless improvement opportunities and potential along with the challenges. The opportunities, if correctly identified and properly realised can transform the Organization. Identify the implementation strategy to achieve transformation. Coaching and Training: A good coaching program is essential and could increase productivity leaps and bound. Training and validation of training assures that all associates understand the “steps for success.” If people don’t know the proper processes, they create inefficient steps gradually chipping away at productivity numbers. Know your operations: A beneficial step is to go through a process flow mapping. Initially this is challenging but a great tool for the future and should be maintained ongoing with any changes occurred over time. Employee Engagement: Employee buy in is a key component for the success of transformation initiatives. The focus should be to dive into the key strategies, training, and programs that increase employee engagement, align operational and financial goals and metrics, and improve performance through effective leadership and processes. Implementation: During the implementation phase, the drivers for improvement are rolled out along with appropriate training/ orientation for the employees involved in the transformation journey. Don’t’s of Operational Excellence Don’t just set it and forget, don’t blindly copy: Don’t just set it and forget it. It is important to continually reevaluate your transformation efforts. Even when you take the long-term into consideration, changes in your plan, dynamic changes in demand levels and industry trends can create possibilities to further improve your Organization. Operational Excellence Operational Transformation is not a quick fix and you cannot pick and choose the tools you want to use: The key to ongoing success is to embed transformation as a philosophy, and a requirement in everybody’s role; safeguarding the right levels of line-management responsibility and accountability for gradually implementing the various tools and techniques that support it. Operational Transformation, in fact, is hard work and it’s a challenge to keep it going.Companies that are leading the way with their ability to effectively drive it in their production operations have aligned their people, processes, and supporting technology to do so. Experience has shown that it is critically important to address the leadership and people issues as a first priority. Once these issues are addressed, it facilitates the ability to build deeper Organizational capabilities and use proven process methodologies to make continuous improvements.
- [Operational Transformation Do's and Don’ts](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-dos-and-donts-2/): One of the keys to the implementation of Operational Transformation/Excellence principles is to become a learning organization through persistence and continuous improvement. Implementing any change initiative is difficult.  If it wasn’t, each person would be doing it, but they are not. Although many organizations begin with their journey to bring about a change in the organization, only 5% organizations are successful in implementing and sustaining it.  The following parameters of do’s and don’ts aim at keeping organizations focused on the facts thing rather than indulging in unwanted waste. Operational Transformation, in fact, is hard work and it’s a challenge to keep it going. Companies that are leading the way with their ability to effectively drive it in their production operations have aligned their people, processes, and supporting technology to do so. Experience has shown that it is critically important to address the leadership and people issues as a first priority. Once these issues are addressed, it facilitates the ability to build deeper organizational capabilities and use proven process methodologies to make continuous improvements. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Small Steps, Great Results!](https://faberinfinite.com/small-steps-great-results/): Great things are done by a series of small steps. Best illustration to support the improvement drive is the Olympics. It clearly depicts how to improve by creating a thought process encapsulating small, not big, and adopt a philosophy of continuous improvement through the aggregation of marginal gains. Not discounting perfection; yet focus on progression, and compound the improvements! Below are some powerful measures which can assist you to create an efficient improvement drive: Establish a Clear Vision When your organization is starting a new initiative or project, or is going to begin work in a new direction it requires clarity of goals. Vision statement defining your organizational journeywill speed up the incremental improvement process. It will invigorate an older initiative that has lost its focus or momentum or cultivate a new one. Focus and cultivate a single theme It’s important for companies to choose a program or theme that works for the size and maturity of the company. Everyone often turns to Toyota, but programs that work at a company of that nature don’t always transfer as well to other set ups. Organizations should be judicious while planning their focus on or around a single theme. Introspect to bring out the best You need to build enough success with a theme that produces great results to provide you the opportunity to find your next cash cow. This involves focusing all your efforts around the available resources.  Good plans look at this constant change as part of the success formula. To be successful and to thrive, teams need to shift from initial plan as and when required. Power of Iterations Olympics clearly define the power of practice and continuous improvement approach.  One may not yield groundbreaking results immediately, but that doesn’t mean the team has lost its innovative edge.Creating a charismatic value is not about striving for the breakthrough, the novelty, or the headline. It’s often about the obsession, persistence, and focus to keep things simple, improving them and working on finer details. Learning by doing or iterating has super power! Celebrate the ‘big – small’ victories: The outcome of being recognized for an achievement is a feeling that makes your team members motivated to put in extra effort when they know it is valued. The team members will have the confidence that these small victories are noticed and cherish the celebrations! Look for ways to reward your best members by keeping them stimulated with new growth  opportunities and project challenges. As it is rightly said that practice makes a man perfect and this holds true even for organizations. Learning is a process which can be achieved by engaging the employees to find solutions so that the reiteration of mistakes can be nullified resulting in downfall of unexpected outcomes.
- [Patient Safety – A New Healthcare Discipline](https://faberinfinite.com/patient-safety-a-new-healthcare-discipline/): Recent advancement in the technology has created an immensely complex healthcare system. This complexity brings many challenges for healthcare staff in continuing to keep the patient safe. Every day, more than a million people are treated safely and successfully in the hospitals, but there are times when things can go wrong. Patient safety includes a gamut of initiatives which includes empowering consumers, engaging patient (and their families) in their own care; healthcare professionals training; health services improvement; and bolstering the health system. Thousands  of  patients  die  due  to  medical  error  and  improper  treatment  every  year.  The main cause is human factor, medication error, and system failure. In a recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), To Err Is Human, found out that  the  number  of  death  from  medical  errors  in  hospitals  is  more  than  that  by  automobile  accidents. Indian hospitals are vigorously working on improving the safety conditions in hospitals, fire safety being of utmost importance. Fire  can  be  devastating,  especially  in  a  hospital where  a  large number of people which need to  be  evacuated  may  be vulnerable – immuno compromised, on life support, and incapable of moving on their own. There are special requirements that  must  be  met  with  while  evacuating  such  people in  case  of  fire  emergencies.  But before that – “fires must be prevented”. National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers (NABH) has provided a series of guidelines to ensure safety and security to healthcare workers, which encircles the safety of patients. Section 2 in NABH focuses on Facilities Management and Safety (FMS). NABH has incorporated patient safety performance in its standards (Chapter 1, 5 and 6) which focuses on how hazards should be identified within the organization. The hospitals should implement processes for sorting, handling, storage, transporting and disposal of hazardous material. Hospitals need to appoint a safety committee to identify the potential safety and security risks. This committee coordinates development, implementation, and monitoring of the safety plan and policies. A safety plan and health management system can provide following benefits: -Fewer injuries, illnesses, and infections -Reduced costs for workers’ compensation claims and lower health insurance premiums -Less absenteeism and higher return-to-work rates following injury or illness -Improved work practices, leading to increased efficiency and greater patient safety and satisfaction. Higher job satisfaction, morale, and employee retention -Enhanced reputation Hospitals are finding that the practices they adopt under a management system to improve worker safety help them adopt and reinforce practices that improve patient safety as well. They see the costs from injuries and illnesses to both patients and employees decrease. Improving patient safety should be among the highest priorities of healthcare leaders and managers. There is a need to create safety culture in the hospitals. This can be done with following initiatives: -Patient safety improvement activities should be led by committed leadership and supported by dedicated resources. -A healthcare culture of safety should be an integrated part of individual and organizational philosophy and values that identifies hazards and risk that result from the process of care. -Healthcare providers should routinely conduct self-assessments, or audits, to identify error-prone or high-risk processes, systems, or settings. -Safe practices are published and shared by National and International accreditation agencies which should be implemented and practiced by organizations to ensure an error proof process. -Healthcare providers should educate their Staff , Visitors , Patient and Family A systematic approach, where health and safety objectives are accomplished in the same way as financial services or quality objectives, will help to achieve a high standard of health and safety performance. About Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a master’s degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here
- [Good Consulting Organizations - Get companies off consulting and not on consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/good-consulting-organizations-get-companies-off-consulting-and-not-on-consulting-2/): Management Consulting is a domain, which works in parallel with the organization. It aims to assist organizations in terms of specialist advisory, professional knowledge & skills and implementation support to the clients. Hiring consultants to get industry best practices is quite common. The value in hiring management consultant’s lies in broadly three (overlapping) areas: Expertise – industry or functional expertise Best practices Excellent analytics skills Management consulting includes a broad range of activities, and many firms along with their members often define these practices quite differently. These differences may keep on changing depending on the expertise of the consultants and requirement of the organizations. One of the key signs of good management consulting organization is to get clients off consulting and not on consulting. Few of the key pointers to bring best management consultants on board are as follows: Diagnosing the problem and Making recommendations: For a firm to achieve its long-term goals, it must know the areas that it needs to focus on and why. This is the key area where the consultants will help to ascertain the goals, be responsible for giving honest advice and opinion. They will chalk out detailed information, necessary in making well-informed decision. Assisting with implementation of recommended solutions:While implementing the recommendations on shop floor it is necessary to engage people in the work place. Consultants should not only focus on implementing changes but how it can help to transform the workplace forever. Management consultants should strive to drive its clients in a progressive direction since the first intervention. Permanently improving organizational effectiveness: Permanent improvisation is the marker of satisfaction achieved from the consulting intervention. It will gauge the effectiveness of the learning that has taken place, and the success of application as the new process or system is implemented. Consultants should track what people are doing differently and how well it is working, because to bring improvement is an easy job but its sustenance is difficult. Return on Investment:  ROI is only one of the most essential elements on the Scorecard measures and tracks the chain of impact for a consulting project. Management consultants are expected to deliver higher return of Investment. Consultants should be upfront and commit to assure Return on Investment. ROI on the consulting fee is highly effective. The increasing trend is that management consulting firms not only define objective by just recommending solutions but also help and engage clients in effective management processes. This new development is significant to managers who don’t just need expert advice but also need help in improving the organization’s performance. Written by Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Good Consulting Organizations - Get companies off consulting and not on consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/good-consulting-organizations-get-companies-off-consulting-and-not-on-consulting/): Management Consulting is a domain, which works in parallel with the organization. It aims to assist organizations in terms of specialist advisory, professional knowledge & skills and implementation support to the clients. Hiring consultants to get industry best practices is quite common. The value in hiring management consultant’s lies in broadly three (overlapping) areas: -Expertise – industry or functional expertise -Best practice -Excellent analytics skills Management consulting includes a broad range of activities, and many firms along with their members often define these practices quite differently. These differences may keep on changing depending on the expertise of the consultants and requirement of the organizations. One of the key signs of good management consulting organization is to get clients off consulting and not on consulting. Few of the key pointers to be considered to bring best management consultants on board are as follows: Capabilities of diagnosing the problem and making recommendations: For a firm to achieve its long-term goals, it must address the required focus areas. This is the key area where consultants help to ascertain the goals and takes lead for giving authentic advice and recommendations. The consulting strength in terms of implementing recommendations along with diagnosis is equally important. Assistance with implementation of recommended solutions: Going further, while implementing the recommendations on shop floor, it is necessary to engage the real people on the work place. Consulting engagement should not only focus on implementing changes but how it can help to transform the workplace forever. Recommendations coupled with demonstrations and implementation support is an essential element. Permanently improving organizational effectiveness: Permanent improvisation is the mark of satisfaction achieved from the consulting intervention. It will gauge the effectiveness of the learning that has taken place, and the success of application as the new process or system is implemented. Consulting solution should track what people are doing differently and how well it is working, because to bring improvement is an easy job than sustenance. High Return on Investment: ROI is only one of the most essential elements on the scorecard measures and tracks the chain of impact for a consulting project. Consulting engagements are expected to deliver high return on investment. However, very few consulting outfits commit to assured return on investment. High ROI for the consulting intervention should be key parameter to be considered. Making Clients Experts: Finally, with all these points, the consulting engagement should strive to build internal capacity to take the transformation journey forward without the external assistance. It can only happen when appropriate knowledge / skills transfer happens and client teams are equipped with appropriate expertise. These key pointers should be considered while getting the consulting organizations on board which should lead to improving the organization’s performance. The final aim should be to get clients off consulting and not on consulting. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [How to Build a Patient Centric Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-build-a-patient-centric-culture/): Building a strong corporate culture is a vital component for most businesses. An optimistic environment filled with positivity, support, and innovation typically leads to better job satisfaction, which in turn often translates into greater profits, happier clients, and improved overall workplace rankings. Similarly, in the healthcare sector where patient’s health and lives are the centre theme of the system, the benefits of a positive and clear workplace culture cannot be understated. Healthcare is an industry where employee satisfaction is closely linked to patient satisfaction. Healthcare sector should adapt a corporate culture that places emphasis on teamwork in order to best serve patients—and ultimately save lives. The primary step is to cultivate a vision mindset in the employees for an amicable environment. It’s important to define the mission and values, but the crucial step is finding people committed to those principles. Getting started is rarely complicated, however—usually needed is a shared vision, strong communication, and committed leadership. Another important aspect is maintaining motivation in healthcare. It is not just about money, it’s about recognition and making sure that people feel valued. We need to do more building an engaged culture where people are coming to work for a purpose and not just for a paycheck. Recommendations for successfully embedding patient agenda into organizational culture: – Shaping a new culture by defining the purpose and expected behaviors within an organization, and setting up reinforcing systems that are patient centric – Hiring and training people with shared values by orienting employees how to find win-win situations for patients and the healthcare organization, rewarding and incentivizing based on improved patient outcomes, training in ethical engagement through partnerships, attuning employees to the challenges of patients, and fostering diversity – Patient-Centred Leadership that is transformative, purpose-driven, empathic, and based on a foundation of trust, with leader selection being around competencies and attributes. – Measuring Patient-Centred Focus based on retention; relationships; referrals; returning customers, KPIs (external and internal impact factors), and cultural measurements such as patient/ employee satisfaction and leadership outcomes. – Decline Prevention through strategies such as cross-functional teams to prevent silos, removing de-motivating factors, and maintaining momentum of change, among other recommendations. Real change towards patient centricity is only possible with a top-down approach that drives the new patient agenda and allocates the necessary resources and talents to drive patient centric performance within the organization. Most of the time, change management focuses on how to build a positive culture. But there are certain blockers who are hesitant to change. The Healthcare industry should be focusing on those people who are eager to embrace change and are considered as early adopters. They are open to newer avenues and never fear the consequences of change. What is important is understanding patients’ experiences of their condition – what the individual patient values and needs, as well as what is most likely to result in positive healthcare outcomes. Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here
- [Media Coverage - ET NOW](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage-et-now/): It is great to be acknowledged. Team Faber Infinite wants to thank ET NOW (one of the leading financial news channel in India) for covering the Faber Infinite Saga. We are glad to be covered in ‘LEADERS OF TOMORROW’ series that puts the spotlight on India’s most promising enterprises and leaders of tomorrow. The programme, apart from covering insights from our leaders Mr. Jalay Pandya and Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, also focused on challenges faced by Indian and African businesses.
- [Overall Equipment Effectiveness: Improve quality and Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/improving-quality-and-performance-through-oee/): Improving productivity in the current global competitive environment has created a need for thoroughly defined performance measurement systems in a manufacturing process. OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), a vital KPI of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) is used to evaluate performance and productivity of the machine. OEE is one of the performance evaluation methods that is most common and popular in the production industries also that is Improve quality. Today various innovative techniques and management practices such as Total Productive Maintenance, TQM have been adopted by organizations. Total Productive Maintenance is a methodology which involves maintaining performance across the plants along with equipment performance. Successful Total Productive Maintenance implementation is an effort where the entire organization works together to maintain and improve the equipment. As an initial initiative it is critical to measure even a small change, because as Druker says ‘if you cant measure it, you cant improve it!’. OEE is a metric originally developed to measure the success of Total Productive Maintenance by associating the six big losses segregated within three measurable criteria’s: Availability, Performance, and Quality (APQ). Improve Quality and Performance through OEE Worldwide, OEE implementation has been significantly effective in improve quality, performance rate and quality rate. While reducing unscheduled breakdown time and wastage that twigs from the equipment. Looking  at  machine  operation,  basically there are  six  types  of  waste  which can be referred  to  as  losses,  because  they  reflect  lost effectiveness of the equipment. These six big losses are grouped in three major categories: downtime, speed losses, and quality losses. The major goals of OEE are to reduce and eliminate the most common causes of efficiency loss in the manufacturing process. Team Faber Infinite rolled out OEE improvement project at a leading textile machine manufacturer, with significant reach and market share in India. Following issues were bothering the people on Shop floor. – Overall equipment availability was 78%. – Average Mean Time between Failure (MTBF) was 2112 mins. – Average Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) was 100 mins. – No visuals on Machine. – Training of new operators was difficult. A structured analysis was conducted to ascertain the current scenario of the workplace and measure the equipment effectiveness. Following parameters were used to gauge the existing conditions of workplace: – It started with data collection and analysis of all historical breakdowns and stoppages of equipment. – Measurement and tracking of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). – Rollout of Autonomous Maintenance Step 1 – Preparation of Cleaning Oiling Tightening Inspection (COTI) sheet – Verifying COTI time by stop watch – Make machine visual to ease the process of training and operating. Remarkably visible results were achieved which are as follows: – Machine availability increased from 78% to 98% – Autonomous Maintenance time reduced from 30 min to 10 min – Training new operators was easier with help of visual indicators – Helps manager & other team members to understand the current situation of the machine. The scope of improvement in terms of equipment performance is tremendous and can vary depending on the industry. With application of Total Productive Maintenance principles and implementation,  actions can be taken to  improve  the  OEE, and thereby  increasing  the output and APQ parameters of the machine. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Media Coverage - ET Now - Leaders of Tomorrow](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage-et-now-leaders-of-tomorrow/): It is great to be acknowledged. Team Faber Infinite wants to thank ET NOW (one of the leading financial news channel in India) for covering the Faber Infinite Saga. We are glad to be covered in ‘LEADERS OF TOMORROW’ series that puts the spotlight on India’s most promising enterprises and leaders of tomorrow. The programme, apart from covering insights from our leaders  Mr. Jalay Pandya and Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, also focused on challenges faced by Indian and African businesses. To watch the video please click Here.
- [Smart Manufacturing: The road to World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/smart-manufacturing-the-road-to-world-class-manufacturing-2/): Smart Manufacturing is an entirely new concept coming up steadily these days. It’s renovating the entire idea of manufacturing. World Class Manufacturing concept has been present since, the inception of manufacturing but was merely a concept. But now it has been used widely and the definition changes based on the type of industry and its use can be tweaked accordingly. It has been positioned as an international manufacturing excellence technique achieved by developing a culture based on factors such as continuous improvement, problem prevention, zero defect tolerance, customer driven just in time production, and total quality management. Here are some of the actions points to plan the path of smart manufacturing: Revive Traditional Machinery One of the major gains for manufacturers with investments in aging but still operating machinery has been the plunging cost of sensors. Just two decades ago, not everyone was eager to embrace the change and there were only handful of early adopters eager to invest hundreds of thousands to connect the sensors and controllers and analyze the results. But this is becoming comparatively easier as retrofitting sensors to older machinery is surprisingly doable. It’s possible to successfully add one sensor at a time. Collection of Digital data to find the existing bottlenecks Organizations tend to have a data collection system in place. The question which arises is about the use and purpose of storing this data. Is the data used for record-keeping or being used aggressively to decrease the downtime?  The key purpose it serves is to objectively discover what warrants attention and remove the bottlenecks of the system. It also helps in developing a solution to the existing problem. Sophisticated software can assist to catch up with the flood of data, find meaning, and, as times goes by, leverage that meaning. Streamline a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) To build a smart manufacturing system an organization needs to start with manufacturing execution system. This can be initiated by collection of data from the plant floor machinery. This is followed by analysis of data to identify problems and money-saving opportunities which is the driving force behind the fundamental operational improvements. Smart Manufacturing is concerned with the logistics and the supply chain to fulfill the order on time and in the most efficient way.  The reality check It is not a compulsion for everyone to upgrade and attain the unsteady levels of digital automation. However even the smallest of a manufacturing firm competing in today’s market should adapt to the latest advances in technology. Also it should try to be up to date to get its share of market. This will enable the manufacturers to fit in the advanced system of its neighbors to fulfill the outsourced orders. As it is quite evident, the organizations are witnessing convergence of technologies and process improvement initiatives with the potential to radically improve the way manufacturers thread processes and systems in the entire product value chain in order to deliver more options and new service models to customers. By each passing day the world of manufacturing is getting smarter and raising the bar, on the road to world class manufacturing. Written By Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Smart Manufacturing: The road to World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/smart-manufacturing-the-road-to-world-class-manufacturing/): Smart manufacturing is an entirely new concept coming up steadily these days. It’s renovating the entire idea of manufacturing. World class manufacturing concept has been present since, the inception of manufacturing but was merely a concept. But now it has been used widely and the definition changes based on the type of industry and its use can be tweaked accordingly. It has been positioned as an international manufacturing excellence technique achieved by developing a culture based on factors such as continuous improvement, problem prevention, zero defect tolerance, customer driven just in time production, and total quality management. Here are some of the actions points to plan the path of smart manufacturing: Apparently, the organizations are witnessing convergence of technologies and process improvement initiatives with the potential to radically improve the way manufacturers thread processes and systems in the entire product value chain in order to deliver more options and new service models to customers. By each passing day the world of manufacturing is getting smarter and raising the bar, on the road to world class manufacturing. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Establishing the Structure for Organizational Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/establishing-the-structure-for-organizational-growth/): Organizational structure is the blue print of the internal structure of an organization, which maps the workflows. As per the latest Global Human Capital Survey trends in 2016 indicate that organizations have identified organizational structure as 92% important for current business scenarios. Have we woken up suddenly? The answer is no! Organization galore, large or small, have been talking about people engagement is the key for any business. Almost all of our clients have also highlighted the same issue, as one of their key challenges. And organizational structure is particularly important for people engagement and decision-making. Most companies either have a tall or flat organizational structure. Flat structures enable companies to make quicker decisions, leading to higher responsiveness and flexibility. Companies in different industries require different mixes of talent and a relatively greater emphasis on certain management functions. This will change in each and every organization depending on its structure and offerings, because no single organizational structure can fit well for all businesses. As it is said, one size doesn’t fit all! Aspect of organizational structure is very important for young organizations, as it is always good to begin on right footing rather correcting and restructuring later. Below are the key action points for sustainable and effective organizational structure: Give a clear direction A proper structure helps in streamlining and guiding all the employees by laying out the official reporting relationships that administrate the workflow of the company. Organizational structure improves operational efficiency by providing clarity to team members at all levels by giving clear line of command. By paying mind to the organizational structure, departments can work more. Identify clear roles & responsibilities Proper communication channels within the organization help in work segregation. As soon as the person joins an organization from the day one itself, he should have the clarity of whom to report. This is possible only if the person is conveyed effectively about his roles and responsibilities and what is expected from him.  Most companies conduit their communication through department leaders. Design Value Stream based Structure, if possible Traditionally organization structures are more functional, where there are several departments like human resource, accounting, production etc. Value Stream based structure of having factory within factory concept can do wonders and create several leaders. If the structure fits correct it may lead to economies of scale. Also, several layered structures might be apt for larger organizations, however may lead to chaos in smaller organizations. Use it for evaluating employee performance Correct organization structure can help in evaluating and managing the performance of the employees. Since managers and leaders have been designated for each department they can evaluate and improve employee performance by linking organizational goals to functional goals to individuals. Right policy deployment tool coupled with effective organization structure has changed fortunes of companies. Furthermore, this analysis helps in annual appraisal and performance analysis. Align and accomplish more Organizational structure helps in building teams depending on their talent and capability to perform at work. It provides insights in determining which work is apt for employees and teams. This will further enhance the integration and alignment of teams at with various levels of the organization. Teamwork eventually helps in culture building, which is the key for any progressive organization, and more important for young organizations! Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering.  This article was originally published on Entrepreneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Continuous Improvement Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/continuous-improvement-journey-2/): For continuous improvement journey to thrive at organizations, organizational leadership must be dedicated towards development of team members and orienting change agents. Once the organization understands the philosophy, then the time is ripe to move to the next step, implementing the actual tools and engaging all the employees. The following things are required to be drawn together by the organization: Create a vision Try to create a vision for your organization based on its current position in the market and emphasize why this is the time to initiate a new operative direction for the company’s upcoming ventures.  Also, there are ever-increasing pressures in the global marketplace for cost reduction, intense international competition on similar kinds of products.  This is the chance for senior leaders to stand in front of each facility’s workforce and to communicate the path that is being planned for everyone’s involvement. Craft a Top down plan Organizations need to produce a top down plan to train the workforce according to the new strategy and understand the tasks required to accomplish within strict timelines. The organizational workforce should learn to think, work and behave differently. Moreover, furnish their needs with the necessary resources, e.g. training costs and time, to enable everyone to be successful in transitioning towards a new way. Tools Training It is recommended to start by getting the supervisors and engineers involved in tools training program first. Because, their education and training needs should begin shortly after managers, supervisors and engineers have been groomed for the upcoming development.  Also develop a training calendar with expert for equipping the team members with right tools, fundamental as well as advanced. Outcomes of tools training Start by the change leaders leading the early improvement projects and people on those teams will learn a lot by ‘learning by doing’ while they continue to receive more formal training. The leaders will finally learn the technique of implementation, which 1) It causes them to set the example of learning and applying new processes as the leader; 2) It puts them in position to coach and help their people on the shop floor. Bold objectives for improvement Improvement is most important for business/ factory issues and requires that our people take “the leap of faith” that the new way of thinking, working and behaving is better than the old way.  That simply won’t happen unless they are challenged and expected to do it. If the organization is heading towards right direction and works hard to learn the new paradigm having full support of the leadership, they will become successful. So start communicating Continuous Improvement in a broader sense, which includes everyone (especially the operators – value adders) and will give long term gains. So train, empower and engage in organizing the continuous improvement journey. Let us embark on a journey of continuous improvement. Written By Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Continuous Improvement Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/continuous-improvement-journey/): For Continuous Improvement Journey to thrive at organizations, organizational leadership. They must be dedicated towards development of team members and orienting change agents. Once the Organization understands the philosophy, then the time is ripe to move to the next step, implementing the actual tools and engaging all the employees. The following things are required to be drawn together by the organization: Start communicating Continuous Improvement in a broader sense, which includes everyone (especially the operators – value adders) and will give long term gains. So train, empower and engage in organising the continuous improvement. Let us embark on a journey of continuous improvement. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Hygiene & linkage to better realization](https://faberinfinite.com/hygiene-linkage-to-better-realization/): Hygiene refers to practices associated with ensuring good health and cleanliness. In medical contexts, the term “hygiene” refers to the maintenance of health and healthy living. The benefits of practicing hygiene in medical clinics and hospitals are well understood today. In spite of this many healthcare institutes still lack basic hygiene practices, leading to high mortality rates. Hundreds of millions of patients are affected by health care-associated infections worldwide each year, leading to significant mortality and financial losses for health systems. As per WHO report, of every 100 hospitalized patients at any given time, 7 in developed and 10 in developing countries will acquire at least one health care-associated infection. Healthcare associated infections may be caused due to inadequate environmental hygienic conditions and waste disposal, poor knowledge and application of basic infection control measures, lack of procedures and absence of local and national guidelines and policies, etc. Many infection prevention and control measures, such as appropriate hand hygiene and the correct application of basic precautions during invasive procedures, are simple and low-cost, but require staff accountability and behavioral change. The main solutions and perspectives for improvement are: -Ensuring that core components for infection control are in place at the health-care setting levels. -Implementing standard precautions, particularly best hand hygiene practices at the bedside. -Improving staff education and accountability. -Strict hospital infection control procedures and policies. One of the prime obstacles which the healthcare industry is facing right now, which is not that relevant in other sectors, is the ambiguity in maintenance of clean environment and the resulting vagueness in determining end results. Transmission of microorganisms from the environment to patients may happen through direct contact with contaminated equipment, or indirectly as a result of touching by hands. Enough has been written and said on hygiene aspects, right from the days of shift of black stained doctor coats to white coats, and importance of sterilization. Systematic and sustained improvement in clinical quality in particular needs a briefer and equally important trajectory. Over the past fifty years, a variety of approaches have been tried, with fewer successes. The work process is determined by various benchmarking factors, which measures facilities and provides benchmarks, along with quality enhancement process to ensure improvement in performance. There have been cases where progressive healthcare institutions have applied world-class hygiene standards, not only to reduce the patient stay at the hospital but also to leverage on treating more patients and in turn having more realization per day by treating the root cause and avoiding the hassle of acquired infection. To ensure quality standards and work efficiency, it is absolutely essential to design a set of guidelines, which decides the workflow of the organization. Visual standard operating procedures (SOPs) can help in determining the step-by-step routine actions of key staff members. SOPs present clear procedures, roles, and responsibilities for the healthcare providers in primary, secondary and tertiary level healthcare facilities. Most prevalent quality improvement tools such as problem solving methodology and Six Sigma (SS) claim to provide health care managers the opportunity to improve health care quality on the basis of definite and specific methodology and data. However, it is necessary to implement this quality improvement tool correctly and improves health care quality. There are significant gaps in the health care quality improvement literature and very weak evidence that quality improvement tools are being used correctly to improve health care quality. Hygiene and cleanliness are important in many areas, but are perhaps most pertinent in the healthcare industry. Places such as hospitals and clinics are constantly under public inspection and risk losing everything if they are unsuccessful to pass regular checks from the relevant authorities. There are not many other industries in which the standard of cleanliness is judged to be an integral part of the experience, but in healthcare a major portion of repeat business relies on the fulfillment of these hygiene and safety standards. Hence, maintaining healthcare hygiene is everybody’s business! Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here.
- [Eliminate the Unnecessary so that the Necessary May Speak](https://faberinfinite.com/eliminate-the-unnecessary-so-that-the-necessary-may-speak-2/): Performance metrics acts as leading indicators and as pointers to changes needed in strategic direction specially when monitored or tracked over a period of time. Focus needs to be shifted from those things which are easy to measure. Performance targets are usually set on the metrics of revenue and target. And if performance targets are not achieved, it is often too late at that stage for corrective measures. Excellence and metrics programs have an interesting relationship. Without excellence initiatives that establish the corporate culture and a common management system, it is very difficult to enable continuous improvement. Many companies are striving to institute some type of excellence or continuous improvement initiative. Below are the key excellence metrics: Customer Satisfaction Many companies use the customer satisfaction score by various metrics like VOC (Voice Of Customer), CSAT (Customer satisfaction), NPS (Net Promoter Score) etc. It is quite essential to measure customer satisfaction in each and every organization. It is applicable for both internal and external customers over a brief period of time. It helps in gauging the areas where gaps are present and helps in identifying the functions that need the most attention. Productivity This is a versatile metric which can be aligned with the strategic goals of the organization. Strategic objectives typically focus on a combination of areas, including finance, operations, quality, manufacturing, energy management, and health and safety. The goal may differ for different organizations. The possibilities of measurement are many here – it is vital to work on goals which the organization is measuring and is directly related to the business strategy and productivity improvement. Cash Flow It is the most important lifeline, the oxygen of business organization and hence one of the most critical aspects of performance management. Financial freedom can be achieved by any business if they work and spend money on revenue generating projects. There are a number of operational inefficiencies that can be pin pointed based on the trend of these two metrics which are DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) and DPO (Days Payable Outstanding). Gross Margin Gross margin is the mother of all business metrics and the best indicator of a business’s health. The higher the gross margin, the more the indication that organization is on the right track in every operational aspect. Organizations do not require waiting for the quarterly or annual financial results to determine profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction. Employee contentment score Although businesses may be moving towards a more automated manufacturing and industrial environment, but, without people at the base, all of the technology in the world would be useless. Strong leadership and executive support are critical for any excellence initiative. Attrition damages the top line and bottom line – everybody knows this now and there is increased focus to build more contented workplaces and organization culture. However the choice of key metrics needs to be reviewed periodically – as business is dynamic so why should the metrics remain constant? No metric is useful unless there is an action plan that arrives out of it and is communicated and implemented with urgency. Otherwise, a metric becomes just another number on a report that nobody pays attention to till it is too late. Written By Faber Devna chaturvedi
- [Eliminate the Unnecessary so that the Necessary May Speak](https://faberinfinite.com/eliminate-the-unnecessary-so-that-the-necessary-may-speak/): Performance metrics acts as leading indicators and as pointers to changes needed in strategic direction specially when monitored or tracked over a period of time. Focus needs to be shifted from those things which are easy to measure. Performance targets are usually set on the metrics of revenue and target. And if performance targets are not achieved, it is often too late at that stage for corrective measures. Excellence and metrics programs have an interesting relationship. Without excellence initiatives that establish the corporate culture and a common management system, it is very difficult to enable continuous improvement. Many companies are striving to institute some type of excellence or continuous improvement initiative. Below are the key excellence metrics: However the choice of key metrics needs to be reviewed periodically – as business is dynamic so why should the metrics remain constant? No metric is useful unless there is an action plan that arrives out of it and is communicated and implemented with urgency. Otherwise, a metric becomes just another number on a report that nobody pays attention to till it is too late. Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [True potential of Healthcare with OpEx](https://faberinfinite.com/true-potential-of-healthcare-with-operational-excellence/): Healthcare sector is one, is directly connected to lives of people, hence there must not be any operational issues, everything should be well organized and structured. Hence, it becomes all the more essential for healthcare sector to focus on hospital operations and improve further in order to boost patient centricity, give quality treatment, and enhance productivity. A multi-faceted approach that puts hospital and patient care at upmost importance for transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver better financially sustainable and patient oriented care. Healthcare sector should actively participate in improvement efforts and be open to changes. The continual improvement not only facilitates operational excellence but also provides quality patient care, patients’ satisfaction, and staff satisfaction. Hospital Operational Excellence deploys a variety of process improvement & change management concepts and approaches to increase operational efficiency and reduce clinical variability; ultimate objective being, to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. Team Faber has been invited to contribute in Economic Times and a series of articles published on ETHealthworld.com as a part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare series. It started with – “How Operational Excellence Can Help the Healthcare Industry” and continued to leap further with unlocking – “True Potential of Hospitals with Operational Excellence”. The need of the healthcare industry is optimization of processes and resources. Improving operations and efficiency will not only help the patients but could unlock the largest potential source of income for the organization. Efficient way to Manage Inventory through Operational Excellence One of the major challenges in the healthcare industry is to ensure that required supplies are readily available in right quantity at the right time. An effective and efficient inventory management system needs to be in place. Further there is a necessity for building up quality and safety initiatives pervading health care. Although there is an extensive expansion occurring in the healthcare industry but the expansion is not equivalent to match the appropriate standards. The effective implementation of policies and proper enforcement of standards needs to be effected. There has been a set of guidelines to maintain various operating standards at hospitals and healthcare service providers by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH). These guidelines shall aid in effective and better operations in healthcare industry or hospitals. Almost every patient accesses the laboratory, so proper streamlining of diagnostic tools and protocols is required for the smooth functioning and to avoid cluttering. Emphasis should be on Laboratory Improvement – the Operational Excellence Way. This includes physical workplace management and proper information flow for optimal process flow and clutter free work environment, leading to better availability and quality for diagnostic tests. Quality control practice is an inherent requirement of each and every sector, it applies to the healthcare domain as well to determine and channelize a proper delivery system. Quality management and error control are necessary for the hospital to devise reliable and efficient treatment procedure. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering.
- [Improvement in Engineering Industry through Operational Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-engineering-industry-through-operational-excellence/): In today’s highly competitive and dynamic environment, market competition forces organizations to improve productivity and enhance their competiveness. Consequently, the matter of assessing and improving competitiveness in different industry of several countries has received increased attention in recent times. In addition, it has been observed that engineering industries need to focus and invest more on operational improvement and optimization. Value adders/ operators play a key role in operations in spite of the application of machinery and equipment. As per challenges raised by the industry, few listed are low productivity, over staffing, poor labor relations, inefficient handling of operator challenges, high wages an d lack of trained or skilled workforce. It can be inferred that all these issues are fallouts of lower manpower productivities and scientific approach towards efficiency improvement is the need of the hour. Owing to these factors every year, companies and contractors are hit with crores of rupees in engineering sector due to inefficiency factors impacting business. A decline in productivity means an increase in costs and therefore deterioration in the competitive position of an organization. On the other hand, an improvement in productivity can lead to a decrease in cost and duration of production, an improvement in quality, and therefore a growth in the market share. Team Faber is supporting a leading organization from engineering domain situated in South Gujarat. The client is a global leader in the textile industry equipment manufacturing. The journey was initiated to improve productivity and throughput by deploying different operational excellence tools to deliver exceptional results. The benefits delivered have been phenomenal and well received by the client. The crucial challenges that required sharp focus on productivity improvement for the organization include: Inability of assembly line to meet increased market demand Rising issues of product quality Issues related to Work station design Lack of standard operating procedure in place Unbalanced operations creating Muda, Mura, Muri etc The improvement in productivity was conducted via following key drivers: Conducting a detailed Value Stream Mapping Exercise (Current State Map and Future State Map) to study all the steps, identify all wastes (Muda, Mura and Muri) in the process and devise solutions to eliminate them Defining standard times (fair days work) by conducting time and motion study for the ongoing process Considering all the factors such as environmental conditions, difficulties encountered, nature of task, as per ILO standards Apply operational excellence concepts/ tools such as line balancing, change over time reduction (SMED), and Five S, etc to eliminate waste Work station redesign exercise was extremely fruitful and well received to arrive more ergonomic workplace (and replace traditional work benches) to eliminate operator fatigue and improve productivity The exercise has helped client organization: Improve productivity from 24 spindles per shift to 64 spindles per shift Work content improved by 61% Overall Productivity improved by 167% Total 10 newly designed work station layout as per ergonomic design This exercise helped to improve the production techniques, increase labor productivity, and efficiency improvement, all of which resulted in cost and wastage reduction – building more competitiveness. These fundamental concepts like Value Stream Mapping and Time and Motion study facilitates to arrive at better capacity realization and robust planning system. The success stories and case studies are plenty, and it is here to stay for long. These concepts are answers for building competitiveness for Organizations and overall industry!   Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [LEAP Forward for Family Managed Businesses (FMB)](https://faberinfinite.com/leap-forward-for-family-managed-businesses-fmb/): Family Managed Businesses (FMB) are the lifeline of India’s economy. Almost 90% of Indian businesses are family-owned, which makes the rest of the business community largely dependent on them. Be it as their vendors, transporters, contractors or distributors; non-family corporations collaborate with family firms on various levels. There is a famous cliché, which is quoted frequently and seems to have been accepted as a universal truth: The first generation builds, the second generation consolidates, and the third generation destroys the family business. Long term sustenance of FMB depends on the smooth survival across generations. In essence the most important areas of concern for the success of FMBs are as follows: -Succession Planning -Induction & Grooming -Ownership Structure -Preserving Wealth -Conflict Resolution Mechanism -Business Vision, Strategy & Governance -Business efficiency and effectiveness -Family Vision, Strategy & Governance -Resistance to Change -Issues due to difference of opinion in Generations All the above-mentioned issues in FMB are nothing but a unique set of management related issues that stem from the overlap of family and business concerns. Strategic planning around both business and family goals is vital to successful family business. Since most of the conflict arises due to disparity in business and family goals, planning is required to align these goals and formulate a strategy to achieve the organizational goal. Resistance to change is another major roadblock that needs to be addressed. The goal should be to establish an organizational transformational framework that supports continuous improvement.  Linking the appropriate execution plan to the strategy and implementing the same, is where the core FMB team should focus as well. The ultimate goal of the family and business should be to create an improved work environment that is customer centered, flexible, efficient, and affordable. FMB should understand there is no perfect strategy to achieve growth; it has to be continuous improvement. You have to be dissatisfied with what you are doing, there has to be paranoia and you have to be introspective enough to continuously improve. FMB should adopt Total Quality Management and a continuous improvement attitude to create a partnership form of organization rather than a paternalistic one. The objective should be to create a productive organization. The principle should be – “If you cannot improve productivity, there is no reason for a business to exist.” Where does economic growth come from? It comes from improvement in productivity and that creates wealth, which, in turn, creates employment; and then those very employees buy goods creating further growth. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering.
- [Importance of Organizational Structure](https://faberinfinite.com/importance-of-organizational-structure/): Although there are various issues concerned to leadership, culture and learning, which have been ranking all-time high.  In today’s pitch various business organizations have started realizing the importance of organizational design as well, which needs to be implemented in business organizations. Globally, this is the time to change the existing monotonous norms to disrupt the existing pace and match the changing expectations of employees. This Tuesday, we want to share top 5 emerging trends for leaders like you: Operational Design is the New Structure Business operating models are continually evolving to meet the new paradigms of customer, marketplace or expense management. It provides focus, stability and clarity. Operational design is not only restricted to HR, but it extends to the entire organization. In a recent survey by Global Human Capital trends operational design topped the list. Currently, 88% organizations in India are currently either restructuring or planning to restructure their company. Awaken the Leadership Many organizations do not have a proper leadership strategy in place. Many claim to have a leadership development strategy in place which is quite essential. Organizations need to set up leadership succession plan. Leadership positions are potentially helpful for people not only at top positions but across various levels of an organization. The main task is identification of strong leaders, which requires excellent training and better ways of assessment. Building Culture of Change and Engagement Culture is an equally important component in organizational design and has a strong equation with change and engagement. Change and engagement are the most critical human capital issues. Organizations should demand collaboration of change and engagement, which should happen across various levels especially from the top. It helps in mapping areas of opportunity where improvisation can be done. Also it will locate the area necessary to communicate the values of the organization. Accelerate via Design Thinking Crafting employee experience is turning out to be a vital element and is central to all business decisions. Design thinking will help in demarcating the demands of employee to have a simplified and intuitive work environment. Moreover, it allows them to be flexible and focused in the accelerated market place and manage the demands of professional and personal life. Learning Curve is the Earning Curve The best and possibly the biggest part of organizational culture is that organizations believe in continuous learning. Organizations believe that learning curve is the earning curve. In today’s dynamic market it is absolutely essential to stay updated which necessitates the prominence to learn and continue to grow. Many companies are making strides in adopting new technologies and ease the process of learning. Videos are one of the biggest sources to make the employees learn from one another. With more and more investments pouring in organizations need to shift their role from just being enablers to those who become architects of their organization.
- [Importance of Organizational Structure](https://faberinfinite.com/organizational-structure/): Although there are various issues concerned to leadership, culture and learning, which have been ranking all-time high.  In today’s pitch various business organizations have started realizing the importance of organizational design as well, which needs to be implemented in business organizations. Globally, this is the time to change the existing monotonous norms to disrupt the existing pace and match the changing expectations of employees. Here, we have the top 5 emerging trends for leaders like you: With more and more investments pouring in organizations need to shift their role from just being enablers to those who become architects of their organization. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Errors and Quality](https://faberinfinite.com/errors-and-quality/): Even after tremendous growth of the healthcare industry in India, there are as many as 98,000 patients succumbing to death every year due to medical errors. More than 20 per cent could have led a comfortable life if not for that one gross medical negligence. Thirty seven per cent patients were children below 15 years of age while 11 per cent were senior citizens with perfect health conditions (A study by the National Board of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NBH&HP) in February 2014).Yes, medical errors are a reality and have to be rooted out of the system. We need better management and quality control. Quality control practice is an inherent requirement of each and every sector, it applies to the healthcare domain as well to determine and channelize a proper delivery system. Error specifically indicates any defect from process followed, documentation, inventory management, laboratory tests and eventually reporting and interpretation of results. These errors cumulatively result in serious consequences. Healthcare is a highly complex route. It has been striving for continuous improvement in quality and process streamlining. Growing body of evidences which have been accumulating since years suggests that quality of healthcare practices cannot be judged alone by the analytical methods used for treating and handling. The absence of focus on emergency care, missing trained nurses, lack of management capacity in health system and absence of comprehensive medical services can be attributed to severe medical negligence. Also errors in lab are very common. They mainly occur in three stages: pre-analytics, analytics and post analytics. The first one being the pre-analytical stage which involves sample collection, sample transport and sample receipt. The second phase deals with test evaluation and quality control testing. The last stage deals with record keeping and reporting. Samples can get contaminated — either in the hospital or en route to the testing facility. A breakdown in effective communication between lab facilities and medical providers results in errors in either testing or the reporting of results. So quality management and control is necessary for hospital to devise reliable and efficient treatment procedure. Hospitals should consider adopting Total Quality Management (TQM) as a framework and a way to operate with the aim for integration, consistency, and increase in efficiency and a continuous drive for improvement. TQM which encompasses various quality check protocols for example: Total quality control, total quality leadership, continuous quality improvement, and quality management science. Quality systems are undergoing tremendous transformation in present decade in Healthcare Organizations. There are various tools that are used in health care industry for quality control and quality management. Lean practices can also be used to improve the quality of service at the hospital. Lean will focus on improving quality and thus improve overall hospital performance. Organizational and structural changes such as establishment of quality-related councils and committees, empowerment of nurses and other staff, and investments in new technology and infrastructure facilitates better outcomes. Error proofing technique like Poka-yoke is an extensively used tool, which helps in the implementation of Zero Quality Errors. The Poka-Yoke technique can be applied both to prevent causes, which will result in subsequent occurrences of errors and to carry out low-cost control determining whether to adopt or reject the particular analysis method. Documentation of errors heightens the awareness of problems and offers the chance to expose and resolve recurrent sources of error. Structured Problem Solving frameworks like 8D methodology hold good for healthcare institutions as well. An effective integration of error proofing and quality management will allow the healthcare setup to identify, control and decrease error rates. This won’t stand in place until various factors like intra departmental co-operation followed by proper communication is achieved. Quality Management practices in Indian healthcare industry can not only lead to great patient care but better economics for the organization. Written by: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com. Original link available – here.
- [People Development - 'cos People are Assets!](https://faberinfinite.com/people-development-cos-people-are-assets/): People cannot be owned. People do not depreciate. If they are assets, people are intangible assets. In the industrial age, the gross domestic product was largely driven by tangible asset investments that appear on balance sheets – equipment, buildings and land. This remained true well into the 1980s. From 1980 to 1985, 88 percent of the increase in GDP was associated with growth in tangible assets. In today’s knowledge – or information – age, the driver of GDP growth has shifted from tangible assets to intangible ones. From 2000 to 2005, only 10 percent of GDP growth was related to tangible assets. Intangible assets drove 90 percent of GDP growth. The most valuable asset of 21st century is the people in an organization. Starting from the most valuable patents to intellectual property rights, research and development and even the organizational designing is worked upon by the employees of the organization. The brainpower working behind as the backbone of the organization is the people. It is an inevitable fact, which is widely accepted by various institutions and organizations. People are the core intangible assets. According to a Global CEO Survey, 47% of company leaders forecast growth over the next few years, however only 30% believe they will have the talent necessary to accommodate that growth. It’s a concerning statistic that is unfortunately representative of a trend that has surfaced across multiple industries. The problem isn’t necessarily that there aren’t people looking for jobs – quite the opposite actually – the issue is that businesses are not finding talent with the right mix of skills, education, and experience that is necessary to support their needs. Classifying the employees as an asset By classifying the employees as an asset for an organization, it basically means to increase the value of employees and turning it to be in company’s favor. This happens when a company invests its time and money to conduct various training and development programs. It would therefore be in organizations best interest to make the investments grow and to nurture it, rather than treating employees as an expense which needs to be controlled. Organizational change The core functionality is embedded in the DNA of the organization. To bring a transformational change it is necessary to change the core DNA which regulates the entire system. Software and equipment are tangible assets, but the main workhorse responsible for its proper and apt functioning is the knowledge power of the employees and workers, as they are the core foundation stone. If the foundation isn’t strong enough the organizational structure weakens eventually.  A focus on comprehensive employee development programs can help equip your current workforce as well as future employees with the skills they need to step up to new challenges and business initiatives. And, a commitment to building an environment that encourages and supports ongoing education is also an important step toward securing a stronger future for the company as a whole. Culture Building Culture can be defined by characterizing what to do, how to behave, the way individuals treat each other, the products, the customers, etc. of a business organization. The integrated pattern of culture building encompasses human knowledge, belief, and behavior in a particular organization and that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting this knowledge further. It passes on from individual team members and eventually corroborates into team culture. It involves simple steps like providing assistance to your team member and overcoming the urge of not to offer support. Changing Habits of People Changing habits is difficult but inculcating good habits right from the inception is comparatively easier. The most effective leadership behavior in motivating change is to inspire your employees. You can encourage your employees by working with them at an individual level to find out what their goals and aspirations are which also helps in strengthening the team bond. The employees need to share the set of attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes their institution or organization to inculcate the habits accordingly. Development Development is not restricted to certain zone or region, it needs a holistic approach. It encompasses the behavioral, technical as well as the cultural aspects. With the rate of technology advancement in 21st century knowledge and skills tend to become obsolete quite soon. This entails continuous training and development in terms of operational execution, technical know-how also behavioral and soft skill elements.  Also organizations need to map the ability barriers and bring out the hidden potential of employees. The above action points are likely change the route of development causing a rapid and sustainable change increasing tenfold. Written by: Faber Mayuri Pandya Faber Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering. This article was originally published on Enterperneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Building a Sustainable Company Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/building-a-sustainable-company-culture-2/): Great performance can never come without great people and culture, and the opposite is also true – great people and culture are affiliated most with high-performing organizations. Culture building is a key element with the capability of strengthening the organization. It is necessary for the company to create such an environment for team members, which takes care of how to enable sustenance of work culture. This can be achieved by taking into consideration the need of employees, it is essential for them to have a sense of belonging for the organization. This encompasses the formal and informal values, behaviors, and beliefs practiced in an organization. These essential elements will renovate the path for creating a balanced work culture: Outcomes Outcome refers to the results which an organization wants to obtain with its pre-decided culture. What are the outcomes an organization would prefer to see? The trigger could be a theme, instance, or incident that has taken place internally to get the discussion started. When a discussion is activated implementation inside the company becomes an easy process, and the resulting conversation will yield a greater number of more detailed outcomes. Behavior It’s the most visible part of an organizational culture. It can be gauged at three different levels 1) Individual behavior which includes the passion of employees for their work, and being transparent about the work and its progress, 2) Team behavior helps in strengthening the bond between team members, and 3) Leadership behavior deals with the quality of leader to listen to people and help them grow. Enablers and blockers These are the formal or informal policies, rituals, actions, and rules that enable or block your culture—the elements that are truly intentional to achieving a desired culture. Following factors can be considered within enablers and blockers: Incentives are a basic element of doing good work. People should be paid fairly and competitively for their roles, and increases in compensation should be a predictable process. Context and rules will determine what rituals and processes allow people to do great work. If initiative is punished instead of rewarded, people will feel less compelled to push new ideas internally. The ability to make quick judgment calls and move decisions forward will outpace any lengthy or cumbersome internal approvals process. People are the core of a great organization and the processes and systems you use to hire, promote, and reward them can be both enablers and blockers. Leadership has to play a role in the culture if the whole organization is to transform. And leading by example is a pivotal component of management enablers (and blockers: leadership can lead by poor example as well, of course). If leadership exhibits the behaviors expected of teams and individuals, then people in the organization will follow suit. Companies should be as intentional about culture as they are about strategy and business innovation.  Building Company culture can be tedious; so many organizations tend to avoid it. But these small steps will help to kick start the culture building process. If you create a culture where people love coming to work and are moving in the same direction, you will land where you set your heights.    
- [Building a sustainable company culture](https://faberinfinite.com/building-a-sustainable-company-culture/): Great performance can never come without great people and culture, and the opposite is also true – great people and culture are affiliated most with high-performing organizations. Culture building is a key element with the capability of strengthening the organization. It is necessary for the company to create such an environment for team members, which takes care of how to enable sustenance of work culture. This can be achieved by taking into consideration the need of employees, it is essential for them to have a sense of belonging for the organization. This encompasses the formal and informal values, behaviors, and beliefs practiced in an organization. These essential elements will renovate the path for creating a balanced work culture: Companies should be as intentional about culture as they are about strategy and business innovation.  Building Company culture can be tedious; so many organizations tend to avoid it. But these small steps will help to kick start the culture building process. If you create a culture where people love coming to work and are moving in the same direction, you will land where you set your heights. Written by : Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Bottom-line improvements!](https://faberinfinite.com/bottom-line-improvements/): Organizations can be classified into two categories – proactive and reactive. Good organizations are proactive, and others are reactive. Proactive organizations build muscles, while the later builds fat! Tough times or good times, proactive organizations always focus cutting fat & strengthening their muscles. They do this by sustaining a structured program focused on strengthening the bottom-line of the organization. On the other hand, reactive organizations are left clueless in dealing with the tough times. The general tendency is to react to the ever-changing environment. However, being reactive would be less helpful than being responsive. Any company which is stock rich and fat (instead of being fit), it losses the ability of responding and in turn forcibly has to react to the changing markets. Dynamic nature of Supply Chains Essential point to appreciate here is that organizations don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the slowdowns in the past, that all those manufacturing organizations, which had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains and operations, survived or emerged stronger which emphasizes on bottom-line growth. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the organizations are. This dynamic behavior can be changed by giving appropriate attention to the amount of stocks lying in the supply chain. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream, that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to ‘takt’ time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirements. Stability of the work environment Bottom-line growth ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is the king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The transformation framework One can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world-class organizations may have different nomenclature for the framework. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world-class performance. Organizations that resort to cost cutting initiatives cut the muscles and not the waste. Instead, what they should do is rather than attacking the muscles, they should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of obstacles Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost effective. Benefit analysis of the problem holds the key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. One should identify where the value is lost, identify their causes and rapidly act to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above-mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems, which lead to improving the current situation. As rightly said by Benjamin Franklin: “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly even in stormy weather. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering.  This article was originally published on Enterperneur.com. Original link available – here
- [Cultivating a Problem Solving Mindset](https://faberinfinite.com/cultivating-a-problem-solving-mindset-2/): A problem solving mindset is crucial in every walk of life. When a problem solving mindset is cultivated it brings the ability to understand the difference between actually solving the problem and, merely changing the nature of the problem. A problem solving mindset encompasses a range of skills and attributes which enables to find the most appropriate solution to implement, in order to bring about the desired change. As these skills are implemented and the organization gains confidence to use them, it becomes easy to deal with any problem that may arise, quicker and more effectively. As a consequence, it will improve the quality of the results that can be achieved in all the processes. The following action points are vital for cultivating a problem solving mindset and can lay the path towards critical thinking process: Goal identification: When an organization tries to solve a problem, it must first understand the true nature of the problem. Then, it must decide what solution to achieve i.e. what is the end goal of the problem solving process. Understanding the operational and organizational implications of the technology and how it aligns with the factory and its future vision is the most crucial element. To probe and act consequently: It is listening and, supporting that listening with questions and reflections, with the purpose of gathering as much information about the problem as possible. In this process of listening, people may often get confused about something that they have heard or, they may wish to learn a little more about something which was mentioned. This is the ideal time to ask a question or two, so that the problem can be probed a little further. To work on the solution which fits the situation best: Brainstorm a list of possible solutions. Different situations call for different solutions. Quite often what works in one situation, may not work in a similar one. Take time to determine what will work best for the problem at hand. It is impossible that a single solution will work for all problems. Take action:  Implement the final solution. Every problem has a solution; even if it is to accept the situation and move on. Instead of approaching problems and challenges as insurmountable obstacles, it can be viewed as an opportunity to refine critical thinking process and problem-solving skills. Thinking critically not only helps to handle future challenges more skillfully, but it also supports to broaden the perspective. Amplifying work output: With technological advances in engineering sector it has enabled manufacturers to deliver real-time information and guidance at the point of use. They perform complex tasks on the factory floor with use of simple tools like 5S and safety and others. These tools can simultaneously assess the accuracy and timing of these tasks, and notify the operator of quality risks. Written by Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Cultivating a problem solving mindset](https://faberinfinite.com/cultivating-a-problem-solving-mindset/): A problem solving mindset is crucial in every walk of life. When a problem solving mindset is cultivated it brings the ability to understand the difference between actually solving the problem and, merely changing the nature of the problem. A problem solving mindset encompasses a range of skills and attributes which enables to find the most appropriate solution to implement, in order to bring about the desired change. As these skills are implemented and the organization gains confidence to use them, it becomes easy to deal with any problem that may arise, quicker and more effectively. As a consequence, it will improve the quality of the results that can be achieved in all the processes. The following action points are vital for cultivating a problem solving mindset and can lay the path towards critical thinking process: Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [5 High Performance Management points for Problem Solving](https://faberinfinite.com/high-performance-management-for-problem-solving/): To run an organization perfectly without even facing a trivial problem or difficulty is a null hypothesis which never happens and is rather an exception. Problems keep mounting so fast that organizations try to take short cuts and find a temporary solution. On the contrary they should deal with everlasting solutions and implement it at the grass root level. This will help in solving the core problem permanently. The goal should be to minimize the occurrence of problems – which means the organization must be courageous enough to tackle them head-on before circumstances force our hand. Below are some action points craft a high performance management for problem solving: Clearly defining the problem As it is rightly said ‘A problem clearly stated is a problem half-solved’. Defining the problem is a primary and most important step. It simplifies the downstream process and conserves excessive time wastage occurring in cause identification. If not identified properly it may lead to predisposing the team to a particular solution without implementing root cause remedy. Collecting evidence and identifying Identifying the problem not only gives a clear path for implementation but also helps in gauging the benefits of solving it. It aids in analyzing the impact in terms of dollars, time, “product”, rework, processing time. Also it is followed by the activity of collecting evidences. Which helps to illustrate that whether the problem exists, its size and the enduring nature of it. Methodology to be used It encompasses a three step process which includes formulating an approach, when should the implementation be done and what should be the design. The best tool to facilitate a directional thinking is the Cause and Effect Diagram done by the people most knowledgeable and closest to the problem. Carry out the experimental test In the case of carrying out experimental test of action plans, where solutions have been worked up and agreed to by the organization, the “trial and error” techniques will be required to verify that the solutions are appropriate and effective. To trail this strategy, the prerequisite is to identify the dependent variable – the variable that the team is trying to impact through changes in cause factors. Measure effectiveness of action plan After all changes have been made and sufficient time has passed, the results of these changes should be analyzed, the team needs to go out and gather data on all of the measures of effectiveness. The data then calls for an analysis to check if a significant shift has occurred. This helps in reviewing the measure of effectiveness in alignment to organizational objectives. Precise, direct and clear communication is the key to dealing with most organizational problems. Once you discover a problem, it’s critical to take action instead of letting it get worse. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Crafting High Performance Management For Problem Solving](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-high-performance-management-for-problem-solving/): To run an organization perfectly without even facing a trivial problem or difficulty is a null hypothesis which never happens and is rather an exception. Problems keep mounting so fast that organizations try to take short cuts and find a temporary solution. On the contrary they should deal with everlasting solutions and implement it at the grass root level. This will help in solving the core problem permanently. The goal should be to minimize the occurrence of problems – which means the organization must be courageous enough to tackle them head-on before circumstances force our hand. Below are some action points craft a High Performance Management For Problem Solving: Precise, direct and clear communication is the key to dealing with most organizational problems. Once you discover a problem, it’s critical to take action instead of letting it get worse. Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Goal setting and policy deployment: Set it right from the start!](https://faberinfinite.com/goal-setting-and-policy-deployment-set-it-right-from-the-start/): Diversity of competitiveness in today’s market scenario makes it difficult to become an all-rounder in all facets of business. And with new ventures that is a requirement to wear multiple hats! However, the focus should be targeted towards creating your own niche without compromising on key factors. We shall be touching upon critical aspects for setting the correct goals and further translating it into actionable points for all the team  members on ground. 1)      Shifting the Business Paradigm The most important part is creating breakthrough experience, which allows the organization to shift from the current business paradigm and embrace a beneficial change. The concept of Blue Ocean Strategy, which involves creating an uncontested market space and makes the competition irrelevant, can throw good insights on the same. The identification of an opportunity which will help in adding value to the organization and demarcating how its offerings will be unique for the customers. Negating the competition gives a massive scope for continuous improvement. 2)      Identify the True Potential It helps in identifying and lining up the organization’s strategic goals (short term as well as long term). This step helps in prioritizing the focus directed towards a particular direction. Identifying true potential can mean defining the organizational value proposition in terms of the customers’ needs and wants. This is crucial not only to avoid another Kodak and Nokia of future but also to be of relevance in current scenarios. This path would be in alignment with the vision and mission of the organization. 3)      Goal Setting Exercise Goal setting in an organization acts as a key driver to motivate the team members and stake holders as well building a healthy culture. It acts as a light house guiding organizations to steer well against the tide and emerge as market leader to achieve exponential growth. The process of goal setting is a preliminary step and requires thinking of a company on a journey toward a specific destination. It will align all the key stakeholders and facilitate organization to find ‘The True Path’. 4)      Getting the Linkages Right Policy deployment acts as a foundation stone and ensures that all the three layers (strategic, tactical and operational) of any organization are in proper alignment with the goals. It helps in determining objectives of an organization and cements all functions together. To deploy the policies in an organization, it should be able to define broad level strategies and micro plans to achieve these goals. These steps gives clarity in terms of objectives for the real value adder on the ground and linkages can be built within various layers. The concept of LightHouse exercise is a simple yet powerful tool for getting the linkages right! 5)      Regular reviews Due to the changing dynamic forces of market place, the goal setting & deployment process should be accompanied with a robust review mechanism. It assists in assessing if the teams are progressing and moving in the right direction. This could be a potential answer to one of the most serious issues concerned to prioritizing. Asana has emerged to be an effective collaboration and task review tool. Regular reviews act as foundation for a transparent and objective performance management system for teams and individuals. These steps will help in considering all the major business aspects that affects business and helps in achieving goals. There is a necessity of a strong fabric, which bonds the team together so that they work in unison with a strong vision and mission. Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Enterperneur.com. Original link available – here
- [The One Thing required to revamp the transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/the-one-thing-required-to-revamp-the-transformation-journey/): Half of the journey is to arrive at a point from where the organizations actually begin the journey. This June Tuesday, as we have approached exactly midway of the year 2016, let us look back and take a stock of how much is achieved in this year. We are glad to share some concepts from the book “The One Thing” which will definitely boost your journey towards the goals as planned at the start of the year! Here are some action points to bring The One change for revamping the transformation Journey: Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [The One Thing required to revamp the Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/the-one-thing-required-to-revamp-the-transformation-journey-2/): Half of the journey is to arrive at a point from where the organizations actually begin the journey. This June Tuesday, as we have approached exactly midway of the year 2016, let us look back and take a stock of how much is achieved in this year. We are glad to share some concepts from the book “The One Thing” which will definitely boost your journey towards the goals as planned at the start of the year! Here are some action points to bring The One change for revamping the transformation Journey:  
- [Achieving Operational Excellence in Laboratory Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/achieve-operational-excellence-in-laboratory/): It goes without saying that, accurate clinical practices and laboratory testing services for proper output has to be standardized. It is necessary to be ensured about the quality testing as it is the base for any detailed treatment. The clinical laboratory accounts for the majority of health services in India. Though the advances in technology have kept improving in the present decade, but the delivery of those services still seems to be a debatable issue. The current developments and innovations will definitely improve the future of laboratories, but to make that transpire in future proper deployment of tools is quintessential. Laboratory practices, the medical specialty that deals with testing of specimens from patients and consulting with physicians who order the tests, has undergone major transformations during the last decade and preliminary step for all major treatments. The most challenging problem faced by the laboratories in terms of testing of specimens is timely organization and allocation of resources required to deliver apt results. A properly designed inventory management tool can help in eliminating the concerned issues. The services offered by clinical laboratories are transforming to get automated by each passing day. However, there are times when the laboratory is stuffed with samples during the time of peak loads. There are times when there are more samples to be tested in the morning shifts, but the capacity increases during other shifts during off peak hours. Enhanced efficiency, and as a consequence improved cost and quality, can be recognized through increased ‘operational excellence’ via various concepts like quick change over and load leveling tools like heijunka. Operational Excellence in Laboratory Improvement Though laboratory services occupy a small part of hospitals budget but they have a major influence in the critical decisions of the hospital. It helps in providing solutions through different tests which can avoid unnecessary hospital stay and also adds to the revenue of hospital. To ensure whether the criteria of safety and qualities have been fulfilled, NABL guidelines can definitely help. It stresses on continuous improvement and its implementation under the guideline# 4 which lays a strong emphasis on proper process improvement and management through various tools like process parameter monitoring, internal audits, quality of technical records etc. Almost every patient accesses the laboratory, so proper streamlining of diagnostic tools and protocols is required for the smooth functioning and to avoid cluttering. Guideline# 5 of NABL focuses on physical workplace management and proper information flow for optimal process flow and clutter-free work environment, leading to better availability and quality for diagnostic tests. Emphasis should be given towards reducing the process wastes (inefficiencies or Muda), quality enhancement via elimination of variability (Mura) and augmenting the usage of available material and machinery via error-proofing to reduce the chances of any accidental errors, mix ups, etc. All of the above requires a close association and culture building amongst the laboratory staff and clinical staff. The core lies in highlighting the needs and working towards patient-oriented healthcare. Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available – here
- [TRANSFORMATION via OPERATIONAL INNOVATION](https://faberinfinite.com/transformation-via-operational-innovation/): We take this opportunity to welcome our new readers and thank patron readers of Transformation Tuesday series for the overwhelming support! This Tuesday, we shall be talking about fascinating aspects of ‘Transformation via Operational Innovation.’ The prerequisite to be a progressive organization does not only include the strategy of lowering prices, because that alone would not work for sustenance of the organisation and in moving a leap forward towards higher profitability. It is an essential part to have a proper understanding and implementation of operational programs which enables the progressive section of the industry to build culture of continuous improvement, develop new ideas and better products with the help of existing resources and its optimum utilization. Its what Dell did to IBM and Toyota did to GM, finding unique operational innovation drivers. Below are few pointers for driving organizational transformation via Operational Innovation:
- [Improve top-line, because it is life-line for any business](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-top-line-because-it-is-life-line-for-any-business/): With the increasing interest of people to create their own space and to start up, it is important to pick up the key tricks of the trade. For a start-up which has just entered the market or is trying to come up with a new venture consisting of certain services or product the most important factor is not only to be of relevance but survive as well! Simple yet fundamental element for survival is sustained increase in sales and revenue. Revenues which indicates the top line growth of the organisation is the main concern of any business owner/ investor as it is the first indicator of health of the business. Revenue growth will also point towards the effectivity of various strategies deployed. Below are six actionable steps for improving and building the top-line: 1. Segment & Target Segmenting the market with target group and building a robust campaign creating awareness about the offerings of the organisation for the target group which are the prospective customers or in near future may turn out to be the most impeccable segment. Using as many mediums as possible and measuring the hit ratio for each should be the next logical step. 2. Deploy strategy deployment tool With the vision in mind and enlisting various strategies from market to technology to new offerings, checking the deployment with appropriate strategy deployment tools like LightHouse Exercise or XY matrix, etc. It shall keep you and your team in charge of things and focused on the right things to be done at right time! 3. Be nimble Customer choices are dynamic in today’s environment so the organisations need to tweak their strategies and campaigns based on the consumer’s range of demand. In the present scenario owing to the ferociously competitive market, the key to increase or maintain sales is to focus on reaching out to the buyers and customising as per consumers preferences. 4. Run the feedback loop, frequently Any innovative start up should be able to encompass a variety of offerings, it is quite necessary to increase the landscape of touch points with the customers which includes strong feedback loop, on-line technical support, others. It gives you the power to be on top of things, to be responsive and not reactive! 5. Wear the Salesman hat, all the time This requires flexibility of taking multiple roles. Having said that, don’t deny the importance of sharpness and sticking to core roles. However, the core team should not constraint themselves to work in a single domain, and should be able to permeate into different roles, specifically business creation role (which includes sales, marketing and branding)! 6. Incremental growth over long leaps It is true that growth leads to more growth, which leads to even more growth and large leaps have its importance. But it is also truer that ‘small things can turn into large things!’ Incremental growth can be aspired and achieved on daily (or hourly) basis, unlike spurts and spikes of sales which are irregular and difficult to manage. At the closing, would touch upon an additional step, ‘stay hungry, stay foolish!’ (as one of the book says). A start up should not be satisfied with borderline return of investment and experiment to scale up! Written by: Faber Aakash Borse & Faber Devna Chaturvedi Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering.  This article was originally published in Entrepreneur.com . Original link available – here    
- [Five Actionable Points to build Productive Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/five-actionable-points-to-build-productive-organizations/): For each and every business setup the importance of organising is crucial because as quoted by Benjamin Franklin, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” The most powerful trait of a successful business setup is proper organisation to increase the productivity. The only way to accomplish things in a better way is by finding ways to make the most out of the precious time. Below are five actionable points to build productive organisations: Harnessing time: In any business environment, it is quite essential to identify the amount of work done twice, so that it can be eliminated to increase the productive efficiency of the business organization. It doesn’t mean that mistakes should not be corrected because in a working environment there could be lot of double work, but it is necessary to address the number of unnecessary activities occurring. To design a plan of work for daily activities: The most brilliant activity done by productive people is to plan the activities. They create a proper plan of work required to guide them. It ensures the amount of productivity you will be able to serve the organization. This consists of three important steps pre-planning the calendar of work followed by working it out, which also requires the negation of one of the worst habits called Procrastination. Break the monotony: Assigning the same set of work to the employee, not only strengthens his/her skills but on the contrary it also becomes dull and drab in due course of time. So, it is necessary to break the monotony by rotation of people in different departments and assigning people new tasks and exposure to other divisions. This adds to their learning and helps them get a holistic view of the business. Refuse if necessary: When there are already a lot of commitments in place, you should have the ability to say no. This shows your seriousness and dedication towards existing commitments and also gives the opportunity to successfully complete them. The more difficulty a person faces in saying no, the more likely he/she will experience stress, burnout, and even depression. Continuous Improvement: Conducting meetings and discussions regarding current trends helps in expanding the horizon of understanding and helps to discover a new path to achieve remarkable results. It helps individuals to commit themselves in improving their knowledge and understanding throughout their careers also, employees are delighted when they can enhance their skills and get additional learning opportunities.      
- [7 key ingredients required for a sustainable transformation journey](https://faberinfinite.com/7-key-ingredients-required-for-a-sustainable-transformation-journey/): There has been a tremendous change in the way organization work owing to the technological changes and market dynamics. It becomes essential that the people, process, organization and other dimensions are required to align with the business goals. Changing organization systems, human behaviour, and culture takes time and requires persistent efforts. Primarily, driven by the top management and it is absolutely essential to be followed by several behaviour assessments to gauge the current standpoint and focused efforts by the team. 7 key ingredients required for a sustainable transformation journey: Aligning the transformation to business goals: It is indispensable to follow an appropriate organisational change management plan focused towards larger vision in mind. It requires the acclimatization of people to destination and their roles in the journey so it becomes easier to adapt to new attitudes and behaviours.  Keeping  a strategic approach: Operational and tactical supervising of the organizational transformation journey with the help of a strategic approach is crucial to implement new ideas and initiatives. It is necessary to map the bigger picture for understanding the flow of transition from the present state to that of future.  Learnings from the past: It’s impossible to anticipate every change or obstacle the business will face, because in today’s dynamic environment choices tend to change quite frequently. However, it might come handy for organisations to study past trends (like seasonal/ cyclic effects, shortcomings, etc.) and be prepared in advance. Framework for Transformation: Designing a robust framework requires in depth analysis as well as detailed picture to understand the implications of transformation execution. Customers are clearly the most important stakeholder for any organization, and it is essential to design the framework according to the requirements. Feedback oriented action loop: To ensure efficacy of strategy and execution plan, implementation in pilot phases and seeking feedback is helpful, before deploying it across the organization. This would provide deep insights about the challenges and functioning. The importance of feedback is to priortise the consumers and employees by engaging in interactive discussion. Anxiety redressal: Equipping the transformation agents with right skills and resources addresses deterrents like anxiety and frustration in the team. It is the anxiety which is real cause for resistance to any new concept or change. Skills and resources may refer to the elements like training on tools/ concepts and pre-allocation of resources, etc.  Motivate the players: Having the correct incentive for the key contributors in the journey, is another necessary aspect for the transformation sustenance. Linking the organizational goals to the individual performance and aspirations is real driver to overcome the resistance. Better the understanding and fit, more are the chances of successful transformation! 
- [Lets work towards a fab world!](https://faberinfinite.com/lets-work-towards-a-fab-world/): With the upsurge of concerns regarding environmental issues, organizations have started establishing sustainability targets and goals not only for sustenance but also as a moral obligation to align themselves towards their duty for the environment. Sustainability is not only restricted to reducing the impact of industrial and commercial activities on the environment, it can help businesses to become more robust, save on costs and give a distinct competitive edge to industries. Sustainable approach can help various businesses to effectively increase their triple-bottom-line growth which includes environmental, social and economic factors, which is in addition to technological variables. Technological Variables Sustainable development needs to consider the effect of technology on environment as well as the society. The technology variables seem to have contrasting affects, on one hand it is improvising the standard of living but on the contrary it leads to emission of hazardous radiations, resource depletion etc. There have been continuous efforts striving to focus on cleaning technologies rather than developing clean technology. The process technologies used currently should be regulated to reduce the amount of waste produced pertaining to raw materials and energy while the manufacturing of goods. Economic Variables Economic sustainability is an upcoming concept; it refers to market allocation of resources, sustained levels of growth and consumption. The organisation and its capacity to use the available resources optimally, so that the company functions effectively and also it is able to maximize profit returns. Economic variables should be such that it helps in regulating the present consumption levels without compromising future needs. Environmental Variables It represents the measurement of natural resources and also it reflects the potential influence to its viability. It incorporates air and water quality, to limit energy consumption and help in its preservation, proper management of solid and toxic waste which also includes electronic waste. Priority should be given to harness the available land to increase its productivity. Organisations should focus on the use of solar energy and other forms of energy rather than depleting the scantly available natural resources. Social Variables The dire need of improving standard of life followed by increased life expectancy is one of the key issues that needs to be addressed. The human rights concern is flared to include such considerations as the impact on local communities, the health and welfare of employees and a more thorough examination of a company’s supply chain. The testing of products on animals to the welfare of animals bred for the food market, concern about the welfare of animals is being contemplated extensively. At the closure, it is necessary to mention that the above four variable elements are addressed by the Lean and Green approach of Faber Infinite described here. Like the Lean wastes and tools, the Green waste and respective green concepts are need of the hour today. Team Faber Infinite is committed towards environment and supports the cause of Lean and Green! This world environment day, let us pledge to work towards creating a fab world! Written by: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Operational Excellence Concepts paving way for NABH](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-concepts-paving-way-for-nabh/): Precise delivery of qualitative healthcare services is one of the inevitable concerns which the hospitals have been trying to deal with. There are various anomalies owing to the upsurge of population followed by various inhibitors changing disease profile/ re-emerging diseases, lack or absence of infrastructure, paucity of experts (Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics), inaccessibility of healthcare services, lack of safety measures. Further there is a necessity for building up quality and safety initiatives pervading health care.  Although there is an extensive expansion occurring in the healthcare industry but the expansion is not equivalent to match the appropriate standards. The effective implementation of policies and proper enforcement of standards needs to be effected. There has been a set of guidelines to maintain various operating standards at hospitals and healthcare service providers by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH). It has been setup with the vision to establish and operate accreditation programme for healthcare organizations. Similar framework for quality control and standard guidelines of laboratories is called the NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories). These guidelines shall aid in effective and better operations in healthcare industry or hospitals. In any hospital, having implemented operating standards shall ensure effective, safe, patient-centred, timely, efficient, and equitable functioning. The guidelines in the standard reflect on two major aspects of healthcare delivery i.e. patient centered functions and healthcare organization centered functions. One of the important cornerstones of framework is continuous improvement – to have a positive impact in improving care and service delivery, which also happens to be the foundation of Operational Excellence (OE) framework as well. OE concepts, when deployed, leads to continual improvement environment in hospitals, on top of ensuring utmost care in delivering clinical services. OE concepts addresses various guidelines such as orienting clinical staff members on operational excellence, quality management, continual improvement, manpower productivity improvement, physical workplace and process improvement. Guidline #6 of NABH, stresses on  identifying and eliminating root causes via Problem Solving Mechanisms to improve internal – external systems & processes. Further providing appropriate and timely medication is crucial to meet patients’ needs within safety and security controls. This safeguards judicious treatment and eludes any uncertain situation pertaining to medication. Medication management as discussed in the earlier posts aids in addressing Medication Management guideline #3. Quality health care ultimately encompasses the desired health outcomes and also requires consistent improvement of the existing management and infrastructure. Similarly more than half a dozen guidelines like Hospital Infection Control, Facility Management and Safety, etc can directly be addressed by proven Operational Excellence concepts. The crux lies in the proper implementation of various solutions which needs to be customized as per the requirement. Needless to mention that the patients are the biggest beneficiaries, however these tools and standards also aid in receiving desired results, higher efficiencies and returns for the institution and helps to set benchmarks for progress of the health care industry. These practices and standards are accredited by International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQ) and can further boost medical tourism as well. It is not only requirement of tomorrow but demand of today as well! Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available – here
- [KEY DRIVERS FOR SUCCESSFUL BRAINSTORMING EXERCISE](https://faberinfinite.com/key-drivers-that-lead-to-a-successful-brainstorming-exercise/): Brainstorming is one of the key drivers leading to a chain reaction of ideas. In this Tuesday article, we share 5 key drivers for leading a successful brainstorming exercise. Certainly groups are not indispensable to stimulate creative thinking. Furthermore, in a group everyone should listen to others and invest time repeating own ideas to get sufficient attention. The outlines for a successful brainstorming exercise are i) developing a central idea, ii) fleshing it, and iii) the residing idea can be revitalized with the help of other teammates. The idea has to pass through various strata so that it can turn out be an innovative one. It is always possible to newly analyse the output of a brainstorming session in a second group, to try to improve solutions even with other tools – even more conventional. It is crucial that the ideas generation phase is disjointed from the judgment phase of thinking.
- [Efficiency Improvement via Time and Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-via-time-motion-study/): As per the book definition, time and motion study is the scientific study of conservation of human resources – in the search for the most efficient method of doing a task. It helps in analyzing and improving the time taken for various operations in organizations. Though being one of the most fundamental and traditional methods, it still acts as one of the most important and effective technique of dealing with the productivity challenges of any organization. In this blog, we will talk about the Efficiency Improvement via Time and Motion Study. Faber Infinite has deployed Time and Motion study as a tool for improving situations at several client sites. It has helped organizations to deliver optimum results at minimum costs with the help of Time and Motion Study. The benefits delivered with the use of Time and Motion Study for one of our esteemed clients have been phenomenal and well received by the client. The details of it are shared further. Time and Motion Study was conducted for one of our clients dealing in the Compressors and Industrial, Mining and Rock Excavation, Construction Equipments, etc. A detailed study was conducted to get through the root cause of the problem, with the objective of improving the manpower productivity. The improvement in Manpower Productivity was conducted via following key drivers: – Analysing all activities and arriving  at standard time of each activity – Identifying NVAs (Non value adding activities)  and providing recommendations for eliminating NVAs for future practices – Providing systematic review aimed towards line balancing activities The exercise helped client organizations to improve by 33% in terms of production output. Another client in engineering sector achieved 33% savings in material flow with modified layout and 16% reduction in total work content. This study (Time and Motion study) helps to improve the production techniques with ease. And Increases labor productivity, and efficiency improvement, all of which results in cost and wastage reduction. Though elementary in nature, Time and Motion study outlines the groundwork and facilitates to arrive at better capacity realization and robust planning system. The success stories and case studies for Time and Motion Study are plenty, and it is here to stay for long. Time and motion study could be one of the answers for building competitiveness for organizations and overall industry! PS: Further details on Time & Motion Study and case studies are available on request. Ready to revolutionize your operations with enhanced efficiency? Fill out the form below and unlock the power of time and motion study to streamline your processes. Take the first step towards maximizing productivity and achieving optimal performance! Written by: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [INITIATIVES FOR ANY ORGANIZATION TO BE A CHANGE LEADER](https://faberinfinite.com/initiatives-for-any-organization-to-be-a-change-leader/): It’s no secret that business and the way that organizations operate have changed over the last two decades and is dynamic. Change is not always embraced with open arms by employees, managers or business owners. Designing strategic and operational plans for a business is an inevitable process and keeps on changing in due course of time as the external factors change and keep influencing the internal factors and vice versa. Organizations that have a formal planning process often assign a team of people to create and manage the plans. Changes in the team from its leader to any one of the participants can affect planning efforts. All teams go through standard and expected changes as they grow and mature – forming, norming, storming and performing, according to psychologist Bruce Tuckman’s business model. There should be elements differentiating an organisation from the rest, the zeal and the commitment to always come up with evolving and embracing change. Below are key initiatives for any organization to be a Change Leader:
- [Successful Medicine Inventory Management](https://faberinfinite.com/successful-patient-care-through-medicine-inventory-management/): The cost of healthcare has been increasing rapidly. Healthcare providers, clinics, hospitals are under pressure to reduce cost at the same time improve service and patient safety, reduce waiting time, minimize errors and optimize the use of available resources. A multi-pronged approach can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable and patient oriented care. One of the major challenges in the healthcare industry is to ensure that required supplies are readily available in right quantity at the right time. An effective and efficient Inventory Management system needs to be in place. Operational Excellence (OE) can be deployed in variety of process improvement & change management approaches to increase operational efficiency. The ultimate objective is to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. Several tools & concepts of OE, Inventory Management, Five S, Demand leveling (Also known as heijunka), etc can lead to dramatic improvement. The inefficiencies in the inventory management system are a major barrier to excellence. Implementation of OE concepts can help address several issues concerning inventory management in healthcare industry. Inventory Management in Healthcare Industry Scientifically calculated inventory levels can lead to improvement in medicine inventory management to avoid stock outs and over stocking Reduction in stock taking time Huge cost savings in inventory carrying costs To tackle the issues in inventory management some of the concepts of OE that can be used include: Five S (physical workplace improvement), inventory level balancing, automation and technology. Five S is a key foundation for reducing wasteful activities and one of the fundamental principles of efficient environment and effective material management system which assists in easy storage and retrieval systems also avoiding chances of mix up. Inventory Level Balancing is the process of matching stock levels to actual demand. Instead of using gut feeling to determine right amount of inventory, this method uses actual consumption data as well as projections for future demand. Historical data for 12 months is studied for identifying patterns and next 12 months demand projections are used to arrive at the right inventory levels. Based on the data analysis, the inventory levels are scientifically calculated via Inventory management modules which not only help in reducing inventory carrying costs but aids in ensuring no stock outs of life saving drugs and no over stocking to avoid expiry or near to expiry scenarios. Savings thus made, worth millions, can be utilized to treat more patients. Inventory Management Techniques/tools With efficient inventory management techniques and tools, storage space which is a critical fixed asset can be freed up. Space management can also help to reduce the controlled environment expenses associated with storage of specific medicines or drugs. Inventory can be planned and worked up to highest level of accuracies taking into consideration the variations or uncertainties in demand and supply up to 2 to 3 Sigma levels, based on the criticality of the medicine. This can also further be integrated to online modules for easy management and close controls. Proper medical inventory management within healthcare systems is crucial for successful patient care. Today what healthcare systems need is just in time inventory management systems that can achieve efficiency in the operations through adoption of technology, standards, proven Operational Excellence models and methodologies. About Jalay Pandya Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. This article was originally published in Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available – here
- [HOW TO MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-maintain-a-positive-attitude/): Being in business is very similar to going on a roller coaster ride; there will be plenty of ups and downs. We will all encounter bad times, success, failure etc. The key is to understand it’s not what happens to you that matters; it’s how you choose to react or respond that matters. Your attitude influences your existing and potential customers, your employees, your suppliers, your investors and all those you come into contact with. If you maintain a positive attitude, it will be infectious and those around you will pick up on your positive energy. Everyone in your organization will feel positive and customers will want to do business with you. With a positive approach you will feel in control and confident and you will perform at your best, whereas a negative approach will damage your confidence, harm your performance, paralyze your mental skills and may also impact your health. However taking a positive approach is not enough on its own. You also need to be realistic about the economic environment and market conditions. It is critical that you focus on making sure your business is in the best shape to withstand the downturn and maximize the short and longer term performance of the business. This may be by improving productivity, enhancing customer service, changing your marketing activity, maximizing your repeat business, developing a new product or service, training staff or reviewing your cost base. Following are some insights on How to maintain positive attitude in Business:
- [Business is Great](https://faberinfinite.com/business-is-great/)
- [TRICK YOURSELF INTO BREAKING A BAD HABIT](https://faberinfinite.com/trick-yourself-into-breaking-a-bad-habit/): We all have them – bad habits that we wish we did not have and we feel pessimistic about getting rid of them. Whatever bad the habit is, it takes conscious effort and smart planning to break the cycle. By consciously making an effort to create a new routine to replace the bad habit that offers no real reward, you’ll soon shift into a new habit that makes you happier and fills your brain with all the right reasons. Here are some common tactics for tricking yourself into changing: So go ahead break bad habits replace them with new and more effective habits to enjoy a more productive way of living. To read further details, please click here.  
- [LEAP Forward for Family Managed Businesses](https://faberinfinite.com/family-managed-business-challenges/): Farms are the earliest form of family managed business. Today family managed businesses (FMB) are considered as significant and important part of the world economy. Every business organization has a unique set of challenges associated with them. The FMB is no different. A well known saying about FMB states – “Father, founder of the company, son rich, and grandson poor”. Research also suggests that 13% of family business in India survives to 3rd generation and only 4% survive to 4th generation. These numbers are startling! In some FMB, control of daily operations is a problem. In others, a high turnover rate among non-family members is a problem. In still other companies, growth is a problem because some family members are unwilling to put profits back into the business. Reasons are plenty; let us look at few of the challenges prevalent in the industry: – Absence of clear policies and business standards – Lack of outsider view on operations in the business – Absence of strategic planning – Lack of long term planning – Lack of well defined organizational structure and hierarchy – Lack of skilled talent in the family – Lack of succession planning – No well defined training modules for new family members that enter business – Lack of good management practices. There is a lot of influence by certain family members and traditions – Resistance to ideas and change proposed by young members – Lack of proper vision/ mission/ goal All the above-mentioned issues in FMB are nothing but a unique set of management related issues that stem from the overlap of family and business concerns. Strategic planning around both business and family goals is vital to successful family business. Since most of the conflict arises due to disparity in business and family goals, planning is required to align these goals and formulate a strategy to achieve the organizational goal. In this planning process, the management should analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the organization in relation to its environment, including its organizational structure, culture, and resources. The next stage should involve identifying opportunities for the company to pursue, given its strengths, and threats for the company to manage, given its weaknesses. Finally, the planning process should conclude with the creation of a mission statement, a set of objectives, and a set of strategies and specific action steps to meet the objectives and support the mission. A professional framework and approach can be a tremendous asset while confronting planning issues. The need to have a robust management platform and a well-defined roadmap to reach desired goals is vital. The business goals also need to be further linked to individual tasks and targets through a performance management system. It should also include highly capable and skilled leadership from within and outside the family. A well laid out organization structure will help make an efficient decision making system thus avoiding confusion in the system. People Alignment coupled with elements of focus on aspects of Strategy, Operations and Design will drive success for FMB. Resistance to change is another major roadblock that needs to be addressed. The goal should be to establish an organizational transformational framework that supports continuous improvement.  Linking the appropriate execution plan to the strategy and implementing the same, is where the core FMB team should focus as well. The ultimate goal of the family and business should be to create an improved work environment that is customer centered, flexible, efficient, and affordable. The rewards of a family-owned business are many as are the challenges. The key to success will be having right people at right place, right implementation strategy and a robust management information system. Those who manage the family business should enjoy the business to the fullest and success will come their way.  The sense of passion for the business should be passed on when the time comes for handing over the lead. Written by: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Engineering. Faber Infinite Consulting with its customized transformation framework has assisted and created tremendous value for Family Managed Businesses in India as well as in African region.
- [In Conversation with IIFL](https://faberinfinite.com/interview-of-aakash-borse-iifl-leader-speak/): Aakash Borse, Director, Faber Infinite Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd, holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Mechanical Engineering. Aakash brings in rich of experience working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence and Management Consulting in Asia, Africa and Middle East. Aakash has led and worked on several consulting projects at a number of organizations, including few major public sector assignments. His skills have been utilized to improve and establish new business/ operations practices across several sectors. He has also led Organizational Design solutions and rollout for businesses across various sectors and geographies. He has been engaged as Transformation Program Manager, Strategic Initiative Manager and Business Creation Director at Faber Infinite. Faber Infinite is a management consultancy based out of Pune, Ahmedabad and Baroda and operating internationally. Though it’s a startup, Faber Infinite has carved a niche and is emerging with its unique management strategies and made a substantial and profound difference in the businesses of its clients within no time. Faber Infinite, a specialist into 360 degree transformation and improvement of clients, people & communities. A specialist into Lean Management, Strategy development, People development and organization design. Replying to Yash Ved of IIFL, Aakash Borse says “Our future plan is to increase our non-consulting revenue three- fold by end of next financial year.” Brief us about your business model?  Faber Infinite Consulting (part of Faber Infinite Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd) is one of the finest global management consulting and capacity building organizations with expertise in helping our client organizations to implement Transformation (Change) Management systems in order to become more effective, efficient and flexible. Faber Infinite is closely working with clientele across India, Africa & Middle East. Team Faber Infinite is supporting clients spread across various industry segments in designing innovative strategies and improving operations. We are not mere boardroom consultants but take pride in calling ourselves at ‘Blue Collared Consultants’ and work on the real workplace to implement the solutions. What is your revenue model? The revenue comes from three major streams: A. Consulting, which has various revenue models based on the nature and scope of the work. Professional fees could be calculated on fixed project fees, milestone based, combination of fixed and performance linked or fees based on the effort (consulting input) involved In the transformation journey, the consulting services support clients in achieving benefits from designing right strategies to implementing it for leadership, improvements and sustenance. Faber Infinite takes traditional consulting a step further. Acting as more than just an advisor, we work right alongside the client team and get our hands dirty so that client receives detailed information on where to go next, how long it will take and what the ROI is. We leverage Transformation and Continual Improvement tools and processes through our ‘Model for Excellence through 360 Degree Transformation’ to drive flexibility, control and responsiveness. The goal must be, designing and doing the right things by right methods with speed and agility as well as doing more with less, starting with harnessing the intelligence and creativity of each and every employee. B. Training – In-house / Open programs, Employee Training and Development is essential to the ongoing success of every organization. Employee training and development enables employees to develop skills and competencies necessary to enhance top line & bottom-line results for the organization. We work with the leadership team to identify training needs, and to design, develop, deliver, and evaluate employee training and development programs to meet the company’s strategic objectives. C. Benchmarking Exercises for our clients is another offering in our kitty, which helps clients to determine how they are faring and what other best in class organizations are doing. Our team is also working on the Software and IoT offerings to be launched soon. What are the plans going ahead? Further to our philosophy, where People are at the core of any business, we intend to expand our consulting portfolio by focusing on “People Excellence”. Our future plan is to sharpen our offering basket in vocation training business along with touching organizational behavior elements. We have signed up MoUs with Government of Gujarat and Universities in Africa to build on the capacity development and capability building aspects. We share collective vision of Zero Defects and Zero Effects to make India competitive and assist in realizing dream of ‘Make In India’. In addition, our technology solutionsare fetching good traction from African markets. It will address the big gap in planning and execution needs of the industry and also offer emerging concepts of Internet of Things. Our next steps would be inculcating IoT into our technology offerings for better sustenance at client ends. We are working to integrate technology offerings as part of organizational transformation offerings. Our future plan is to increase our non-consulting revenue 3 fold by end of next financial year. We want to craft solutions for clients, craft teams to work on the solutions and in turn craft great organization, which offers growth solutions to our clients, and all the stakeholders. What will be your focus area going forward? Potential is huge, with developing countries as well as developed countries. There is no end to improvement and change. We intend to scale up the venture at fast pace, which includes expanding presence in Central & West Africa, Middle East and explore south East Asia. Which will also require increasing the team strength to around 50 members in the consulting team and total team of around 100 members! Prospects are good with campaigns like Make in India, Zero Defects and Zero Effect, etc call for need of expert solutions providers to support the initiatives. Market indices are promising and we look to support in building competitiveness across regions. We look to add 2 new countries to our reach every financial year. Next 3 years, our technology offerings should contribute substantially and in the core consulting offerings we foresee 10 times growth considering the robust pipeline of inquiries and leads. Currently all our hands are full with orders and
- [Making the Most from Healthcare Resources](https://faberinfinite.com/making-the-most-from-healthcare-resources/): Waits, delays and cancellations are so common in healthcare industry that patients assume that waiting is an unavoidable part of the system. For years hospitals have been responding to delays by adding more resources – more beds and building or more staff. But it is not the only way to the deal with the increasing demand. Further as long as the payment for services cover the cost, more staff and more construction lead to more inefficiency in the system. Not all healthcare organizations can afford this solution. Moreover recent research on assessing the reasons for delays suggests that adding resources is not the only answer. In several cases delays are not a resource problem but they are problems relating to efficiency and utilization. The solution is straightforward – use medical resources more appropriately. In any hospital, the Operation Theatre (OT) is said to be one of the primary source of revenue generation with around 50-60 % of the revenue earned and also represents an area of considerable expenditure in a hospital budget, which calls for maximum utilization to ensure optimum cost-benefit. Hence OT utilization is one of the areas of attention for many. Also, case cancellations on the day of surgery, due to suboptimal utilization of theatre time, is a well-recognized problem in hospitals, ranging from 10% to 40% across different health care systems worldwide, more than 50% of which could potentially be avoided. There has been increasing interest in improving turnaround time for OTs via various operational excellence practices to shorten the preparation and other non-value adding (Muda in Lean terminology) times. To assess OT utilization, a study of utilization of available resource hours via Swim Lane Process Mapping is an important tool. Such a study indicates the factors that need to be improved for optimal utilization of the available operating time. Variability (Mura in Lean terminology) of case duration also makes it difficult to predict the actual utilization. Even for routine operations, actual case time is uncertain. Each patient is different, and the actual time for a given operation cannot be predicted. If scheduling of cases is done according to the available resource hours and communication between pre-operative personnel, i.e. patients, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists etc., is improved, the efficiency of OTs can be improved. Additional audits similar to this are required to critically analyze the utilization of available resource hours, keeping in mind the variability of case-mix. Another important aspect is better utilization of the personnel resources in the hospital be it surgeons, nurses or anesthesiologists. Time is physician’s most important resource. Harnessing time by creating workflows and processes can boost physician and staff productivity, increase revenue and improve patient care. It starts with putting detailed processes in place that physicians and employees can turn to when navigating challenges, allowing each practice member to do the work they are trained to do, and freeing up the physician to do what he or she does best: treat patients. It can be improved by increasing the value adding elements. A change is needed in the way healthcare is delivered. The key in the change is process optimization. This requires a close alignment between the healthcare process, healthcare organizations and information about the patient. However, current organizational structures and information systems offer only sub-optimal support. Emphasis needs to shift from a physician-oriented, intra-departmental view towards a patient-oriented, end-to-end health chain view. The need of the industry is optimization of processes and resources. Improving operations and efficiency will not only help the patients but could unlock the largest potential source of income for the organization. Written by: Faber Mayuri Pandya Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting,with operations in Asia Pacific,Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Managementwith her 1st degree being in IT Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available here.
- [फेबर इन्फनिट... परिपूर्ण मॅनेजमेन्ट सोल्युशन](https://faberinfinite.com/%e0%a4%ab%e0%a5%87%e0%a4%ac%e0%a4%b0-%e0%a4%87%e0%a4%a8%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%ab%e0%a4%a8%e0%a4%bf%e0%a4%9f-%e0%a4%aa%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%bf%e0%a4%aa%e0%a5%82%e0%a4%b0%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%a3-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a5%85/): थ्री इंडियट या सिनेमात अभियांत्रिकी शाखेत शिकत असलेल्या तीन मित्रांची गोष्ट दाखवण्यात आलीय. सिनेमात एक संदेशही देण्यात आलाय ‘कामयाब नही, काबील बनो, कामयाबी अपने आप आपके पिछे दोडते हुए आएगी.’ रंचो शामलदास छांछड, राजू रस्तोगी आणि फरहान कुरेशी या तीन मित्रांची गोष्ट अनेकांच्या आयुष्याला कलाटणी देऊन गेली. काबील बनण्यासाठी प्रत्येकजण धडपडू लागला. आपल्या आसपास जे घड़तं तेच सिनेमातून येतं. आणि जेव्हा सिनेमात ते दिसतं त्याचा परिणाम जास्त व्यापक होतो. फेबर इन्फनिटच्या बाबतीतही असंच घडलंय. इंजिनियरींग केलेल्या तीन मित्रांनी यंत्रांच्या जगात न जाता व्यवस्थापनाचा मार्ग निवडला. जास्त ‘काबील’ बनण्यासाठी. आता फेबर इन्फनिटची व्याप्ती जगभर पसरली आणि जेव्हा हे तीन मित्र म्हणजेच विशाल कुलकर्णी, जलय पांडा आणि आकाश बोरसे मागे वळून पाहतात तेव्हा त्यांना आपण खरंच काबील बनण्याच्या मार्गावर खूप पुढे आल्याचं जाणवतं. फेबर इन्फनिट ही मॅनेजमेन्ट कन्सल्टींग कंपनी आहे. २०१२ मध्ये या तीन मित्रांनी ही कंपनी सुरु केली आणि गेल्या चार वर्षात या कंपनीनं आपले पंख जगभरात पसरवले. फेबर म्हणजे लॅटीन भाषेत कारागिरी किंवा कसब. फक्त बोर्डरुम सोल्युशन न देता कंपनीचा सर्वांगिण विकास करण्यासाठी ही कंपनी काम करते. क्लायंटची क्षमता लक्षात घेता त्याच्या व्यवस्थापनाच्या योजनांची आखणी करुन विकास आणि नव्या क्षेत्रातल्या त्याच्या वाटचालीची दिशा ठरवणं म्हणजे क्लायंटची कारागिरी करणं. आणि इन्फनिट म्हणजे अगणित… यशाच्या मार्गावर सतत कार्यरत राहण्यासाठी क्लायंटला सर्वतोपरी मदत करणे म्हणजे त्याच्या मोठ्या यशाचा मार्ग तयार करणे. फेबर म्हणजे कारागिरी आणि इन्फनिट म्हणजे अगणित या दोन्ही शब्दांना एकत्र आणून फेबर इन्फनिटची स्थापना झाली. फेबर इन्फनिटचं महत्त्वाचं कार्य म्हणजे क्लायंटची परिणामकारक, प्रभावी प्रगती साधणं आणि यात ते यशस्वीही झालेत. या तीनही मित्रांनी इंजिनियरींग संपल्यावर व्यवस्थापनाचा मार्ग पत्करला. कंपनीची स्थापना केल्यानंतर कामाची विभागणीही करण्यात आली. या तिघांपैकी दोघेजण जगभरात पसरलेल्या आपल्या क्लायंटला मार्गदर्शन  करतात तर तिसरा संयुंक्त ऱाष्ट्र संघासोबत काम करुन  पूर्व अफ्रिकेत कंपनीच्या विस्ताराची धुरा सांभाळत आहे. विशाल कुलकर्णी यांनी सांगितलं की आम्ही आमच्या क्लायंटला संपूर्ण सोल्यूशन देतो. कंसल्टंसी हा परिपूर्ण पर्याय नाही. होय तो महत्वाचा आहे. पण आजच्या जगात आमच्या क्लायंटला पूर्णपणे विस्तार करायला मदत करणं हे आमचं ध्येय आहे. आणि ते साधण्यात आम्ही यशस्वी झालोय हे महत्वाचं आहे. असं आम्हाला वाटतंय. आम्ही आमच्या कंपनीचा पुढच्या १५ वर्षांचा आराखडा बनवलाय. त्यानुसार आमची वाटचाल सुरु आहे. सध्या फेबर इन्फनिटचं लक्ष हे टीअर  टू टीअर थ्री शहरातले उद्योजक आहेत. ज्यांनी आपला व्यवसाय सुरु केला. एक ध्येय गाठलंही आता त्याचा विस्तार आणि कॉर्पोरेट मॅनेजमेन्टमध्ये फेबर इन्फनिट मदत करतेय. “ या शहरातल्या उद्योजकांमध्ये सकारात्मकता आहे. एकूणच पुढे जाण्याची धडपड आहे. ते कुठे कमी पडतायत याची पडताळणी आम्ही करतो आणि त्यानुसार त्यांच्या कंपनीच्या पुढच्या वाटचालीची आखणी करुन देतो.” जयल पंड्या सांगत होते. कंपनी छोटी असो वा मोठी तिच्या प्रगतीसाठी, सर्वांगिण विकासासाठी उद्योजक दिवसरात्र मेहनत करत असतात. त्यांची ही मेहनत थोडीशी सुकर करण्याचा फेबर इन्फनिटचा प्रयत्न आहे. कंपनीची सध्या देशात पुणे अहमदाबाद आणि बडोदा अशा तीन ठिकाणी कार्यालयं आहेत. १० जणांचा स्टाफ सतत कार्यरत असतो. कंपनीचा विस्तार भारताबाहेर केनिया, गल्फ, टांझानिया, युगांडा आणि झांबीयामध्ये झालाय. Published By YourStory. Article available here. 
- [Healthcare: Operational Excellence and Growth Strategies](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-healthcare/): A multipronged approach that puts patients and healthcare. The heart of performance transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable, patient-oriented, and physician-friendly care. Healthcare Operational Excellence uses a variety of process improvement and change management concepts.  And approaches to increase operational efficiency and improving care quality. Because waits and delays are so common in health care, patients and providers assume that waiting is unassumingly part of the care process. But studies and work on assessing the reasons for delays suggests otherwise. With enhanced patient flow, timely and efficient flow of patients through important care settings can be offered. There have been cases in India where teams have been working on typical and rampant issue of long queues and waiting times at the Outdoor Patient Departments (OPD). With concepts like Swim lane Process Mapping (another variation of Value Stream Mapping) the team was able to achieve 20 to 30% reduction in average time spent at the OPD by improving the patient turn around times. There should be strong sense of belief that healthcare exists for patient care and serving them quickly and efficiently should be the focus. Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry Concepts like functional layouts vis-a-vis process driven layouts are all the more critical in healthcare facility or hospital design. At several locations it is observed due to the functional layouts of the hospital which is not patient oriented, patients have to traverse substantial distance. In one instance, patient with fractured leg had to walk almost 1500 meters which is ‘one and half kilometers’ inside the hospital to get admitted and treated. Such scenarios can be improved by designing the layout considering the patient and process flow. Similarly, specific areas of focus to improve patient flow can include reducing waits for patient admission through emergency departments, achieving timely and efficient transfer of patients from the intensive care unit and the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) to medical/ surgical units. Hospital areas must be designed to achieve optimal flow of patients, the emergency department, intensive care unit, and operating rooms. Their related pre- and post-care areas tend to be major bottlenecks because they are non-interchangeable resources. And as per classical Theory of Constraint by Goldratt, one must focus on improving the bottlenecks. Reducing delays and unclogging bottlenecks depends on assessing and improving flow between and among these departments, and throughout the entire system, rather than in isolated departments. Improving the efficiency of delivering service and treatment is the single way forward. We all know that only the healthcare sector is directly connected to lives of people and it must be well organized. Written by: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available here.
- [16 Growth Drivers for Startups in 2016](https://faberinfinite.com/16-growth-drivers-for-startups/): The definition of growth will vary from person-to-person and situation-to-situation. From some, growth is 2X topline growth whereas for others it may mean starting and maintaining their business. For entrepreneurs, failure isn’t an option. We all want growth and here are 16 Drivers for 2016 to accelerate growth for your business. Regardless of what your specific definition of growth is, you can deploy these proven techniques! Keep Growth Mindset First things first! According to a research conducted by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, successful individuals possess a “growth mindset” that allows them to learn from their mistakes and realize that there is always potential to grow and achieve larger goals. Those with a “fixed mindset” believe that intelligence; creativity and talent cannot be changed. Unlock The True Potential Revisit the strategy canvas to unlock the true potential of your organization. Challenge the tenets of strategy and calls for a shift in focus from competing to creating new market space and hence making the competition irrelevant. With proven analytical frameworks for creating and capturing blue oceans, the blue ocean strategic approach makes a paradigm shift to unlock the true hidden potential of the organization. Goal-Setting Backed By Goal-Stepping Setting up SMART goals is well known cliché, however what I would like to stress upon is two aspects. One is having a well thought mission (steps towards vision) to achieve those goals. And secondly, as Bill Gates said it – “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” One needs to plan with long-term perspective, say perhaps three-year window! Visualize Those Goals It reminds me one of the interesting books, ‘Double Double: by Cameron Herold where the author raises very interesting questions. Could you run 5280 feet? No? But can you see yourself running four times around half a kilometer track? If you haven’t done the math, that would be the exact same distance. The later sounds easier cosits easier to achieve visualized goals than those expressed in numbers. Visualize your annual goals into monthly or quarterly targets. Not to mention power of, ‘Conceive, Visualize and Realize’ mantra! Linking Strategy To Execution This is very important step where any business, a startup or an established businesses struggle. One must keep consider all aspects; all stakeholders from customers/ consumers to employees to society, business execution methods, capabilities, technology, to name a few. There are several deployment frameworks like The LightHouse Exercise, which have been yielding tremendous results. Stability Of 3Ps The 3 Ps for any business are People – Process and Physical Workplace. Stability in terms of either skill set & attitude of team members or robust processes leading to high quality products or services are hygiene elements – mere order qualifiers, no longer order winners! Right well-organized workplace will ‘only aid in creating’ stable people and processes. Crafting An Action Plan Power of documenting anything in black and white is phenomenal for its realization. As mentioned in point 3 & 5, slicing the goals into smaller visualized themes and then to executable tasks is key to accelerating the growth. I am sure you would be reading and practicing tons of advice on improving productivity and achieving more from less! I wont spill any thoughts there! Communicate, And Communicate Well Good communication should flow top-down, bottom- up, between peers and across departments. Having open door policy and flat organization is not new for startups – what would be detrimental is not realizing the benefits of it. Concepts like simple team boards (which display right information) and standing team meetings – where capturing of key pointers – can come in handy to elevate the communication levels in the organization. Use Of Technology Today where majority of startups are driven by technology, use of technology may not be considered as one of the key drivers. However, it is equally important to make the best of available technology – whether it appropriate CRM tools which give you last mile visibility or utilizing customized yet pay as you go ‘software as service’ ERP modules are affordable and a must have for growth driven businesses. Linkages To Performance Management Systems Stability of people is also ascertained by rewards and recognition for the team members. Making it objective driven and transparent, unlike traditional set ups is another enabler, which can’t be ignored. There are several proven frameworks that will help a growth leader and business. However, having a suitable performance management system is another challenge, which should not be overlooked. Sustenance – Stepping Stones For Future By sustenance, I intend point towards sustaining the improvements achieved and making them as stepping-stones for future. As it is said, improving is easy – what is difficult is sustaining growth due to incremental/ innovation elements. Translating it into business terms could mean, higher account receivables – quality of products/ services or even transactional errors – higher attrition rates, etc. All such pitfalls should be covered with proper standards and counterchecks throughout. Build Growth Culture All leaders delve upon Right Culture! Strong business growth required a strong business culture. Considering Google’s success, ever wondered about their corporate motto? Got a guess what it might be? They came up with it 14 years ago: ‘Don’t be evil’. This mantra is the basis of a strong company culture that makes Google one of the most attractive employers worldwide. Think about your office. Is it a place people are excited to visit each day? Culture is some which binds the organization and propels it further! No Blames And Excuses As per the Japanese culture, which strongly believes in no blaming and excuses, business scenarios strongly, demands following it in routines. As an entrepreneur, you should be prepared for the roller coaster – realize that the unknown will always be a part of your life! Staunch Leadership Having a great idea, and assembling a team to bring that concept to life is the first step in creating a successful business venture. However, whatever your
- [How Operational Excellence can impact Healthcare Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/how-operational-excellence-can-impact-healthcare-industry-2/): Healthcare sector is one, which is directly connected to lives of people, and there must not be any operational issues, everything must be well organized. Hence, it gets all the more important for healthcare providers to devote more management focus towards hospital operations improvements in order to boost patient centricity, quality treatment and productivity enhancement. A multi-pronged approach that puts hospital and patient care at the heart of performance transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable and patient oriented care. Healthcare personnel should actively participate in performance improvement efforts and be open to changes. The continual improvement not only aids operational excellence but also quality patient care, patients’ satisfaction and staff satisfaction as well. Hospital Operational Excellence deploys a variety of process improvement & change management concepts and approaches to increase operational efficiency and reduce clinical variability; ultimate objective is to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. The inefficiencies are the major barriers toward excellence. In hospital environment also the inefficiencies can be categorized into various types, which can be identified and addressed with ‘eye for inadequacies’ and ‘awareness of continual improvement’. Several tools & concepts of Operational Excellence (OE) like Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Inventory Management, Five S, Visual Management, Standardized Work, Poka Yoke – Error Proofing in hospitals can lead to dramatic results. Several hospitals across the world have adopted various operational excellence frameworks. Implementation of Operational Excellence concepts have addressed several issues concerning patient care and management in hospitals such as: • Time spent at OPD can be reduced by 40% approximately via concepts like work balancing and improving patient flow • Distance covered by patients can be reduced 20% approximately by streamlining the layout and reorganizing • Space utilization can be increased by 60% • Inventory management modules based on scientific calculations can lead to improvement in medicine inventory management to avoid stock outs and over stocking (near to expiry scenarios), reduction in stock taking time, huge cost savings in inventory carrying costs, etc • 95% reduction in the time nurses spend searching for supplies and equipment • 77% reduction in door-to-bed time • High standards of housekeeping and hygiene can be achieved through Physical workplace improvement tool Five S • Other advanced operational excellence tools can further assist in reducing patient hospital stay duration, bed occupancy improvement, operations theatre utilization and others The transformation projects have shown several tangible benefits and have wide scope for countless improvement avenues. These above mentioned tangible benefits shall pave the road for cultural change and will further improve the team morale, discipline and patient centric efforts. Considering country like India or any developing nation, even today the healthcare is not affordable for the needy. Hospital Operational Excellence is a panacea to address these challenges. Further looking at accreditations from NABH and NABL, which shall be pre-requisite and not optional; operational excellence and continual improvement shall be part and parcel of the industry. These concepts are not only applicable for manufacturing industry but also equally applicable for hospital management. Concepts remain same, application changes! It is a philosophy that can change the way hospitals and healthcare industries are managed and organized. Healthcare professionals are good at administering patient care, blending it further with operational excellence shall enhance life for all stakeholders! Its time healthcare industry takes the leap, this leap year! If not now, when? We shall delve upon various aspects (element by element) of Operational Excellence in Hospitals and Healthcare sector in coming posts. Written By: Faber Aakash Borse is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in MechanicalEngineering. This article was originally published on Economic Times – ETHealthworld.com as part of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry series. Original link available here.
- [Strategic Thinking](https://faberinfinite.com/strategic-thinking-2/): Perhaps all of you must have experienced the tension of dealing with the urgency of today yet knowing that we must keep an eye on the horizon in this fast changing global economy. What opportunities or challenges lie on the horizon? Have you ever faced problems dealing with limited resources of man, money and time? Have you ever thought about how will the business be affected with changing global economy? What are the competitive threats that will arise at local as well as international level? Have you been under constant pressure to grow as an organization? What is a solution to such problems? Answer to the problem is Strategic Thinking. It is a tool that the leaders of today should employ to balance the tension of the moment with the worry of the future. It should be central element of management philosophy and should be an ongoing process it cannot be episodic. Strategic Thinking is a planning process that applies innovation, strategic planning and operational planning to develop business strategies that have a greater chance for success. Following are some insights on strategic thinking: For this strategic change to be successful it is important for every employee in the organization to fully incorporate the change in everything they do. This can be done by establishing vision and mission that will ensure that the organization is successful in achieving its strategic goals. So let us engage employees at each level to contribute to the strategic plan so that departmental strategies link to the overall corporate strategic plan. Let us strive to make strategic thinking an ongoing, year-round process to anticipate major shifts in the competitive marketplace and identify emerging opportunities.
- [Strategic Thinking](https://faberinfinite.com/strategic-thinking-3/): Perhaps all of you must have experienced the tension of dealing with the urgency of today yet knowing that we must keep an eye on the horizon in this fast changing global economy. What opportunities or challenges lie on the horizon? Have you ever faced problems dealing with limited resources of man, money and time? Have you ever thought about how will the business be affected with changing global economy? What are the competitive threats that will arise at local as well as international level? Have you been under constant pressure to grow as an organization? What is a solution to such problems? Answer to the problem is Strategic Thinking. It is a tool that the leaders of today should employ to balance the tension of the moment with the worry of the future. It should be central element of management philosophy and should be an ongoing process it cannot be episodic. Strategic Thinking is a planning process that applies innovation, strategic planning and operational planning to develop business strategies that have a greater chance for success. Following are some insights on Strategic Thinking: Trust Strategic Thinking will enable you to make more logical and confident decisions in business and make you more successful.
- [Strategic Thinking - Operational Planning to Develop Business](https://faberinfinite.com/strategic-thinking/): Perhaps all of you must have experienced the tension of dealing with the urgency of today yet knowing that we must keep an eye on the horizon in this fast changing global economy. What opportunities or challenges lie on the horizon? Have you ever faced problems dealing with limited resources of man, money and time? Have you ever thought about how will the business be affected with changing global economy? What are the competitive threats that will arise at local as well as international level? Have you been under constant pressure to grow as an organization? What is a solution to such problems? How can we manage them effectively? Answer to the problem is Strategic Thinking. Strategic thinking is the tool that the leaders of today should employ to balance the tension of the moment with the worry of the future. It should be central element of management philosophy and should be an ongoing process it cannot be episodic. Strategic Thinking is a planning process that applies innovation, strategic planning and operational planning to develop business strategies that have a greater chance for success. The purpose of Strategic Thinking is to create a strategy that is a consistent and integrated framework for decisions especially about direction of the business and resource utilization. Following are some insights on strategic thinking: For this strategic change to be successful it is important for every employee in the organization to fully incorporate the change in everything they do. This can be done by establishing vision and mission that will ensure that the organization is successful in achieving its strategic goals. So let us engage employees at each level to contribute to the strategic plan so that departmental strategies link to the overall corporate strategic plan. Let us strive to make strategic thinking an ongoing, year-round process to anticipate major shifts in the competitive marketplace and identify emerging opportunities. Written and Published By: Faber Mayuri Pandya Mayuri Pandya is Head Research & Analytics and one of the core members of Faber Infinite Consulting,with operations in Asia Pacific,Africa & Middle East. She holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with her 1st degree being in IT Engineering
- [Emotional Intelligence in Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership/): Many of us find it really difficult to connect with ourselves as well as with others. The reason is we lack a critical level of Emotional Intelligence (EI). EI is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. When it comes to success in relationships, career and personal goals, EI matters just as much as IQ. EI is the ability to recognize and understand what others are experiencing emotionally. This ability further influences your connect with your team. Beyond the traditional leadership roles and responsibilities, today’s workplace uncertainty requires leaders to be much more sensitive about what matters most to their employees. Many leaders assume that their team has the same urge to succeed and willingness to sacrifice in order to advance as they do.  Every individual is different and leaders must be more mindful to accept those differences and strategically leverage them to create and sustain unique opportunities within their departments and for the business. For leaders having EI is essential for success. Five Elements of Emotional Intelligence The more that you, as a leader, manage each of the above mentioned areas, the higher your emotional intelligence, better is the team performance. Bottom line is leaders must be more emotionally intelligent to be more effective and efficient at achieving the organization success. Leaders must have a firm understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with the team, the more successful he or she will be which will in turn be reflected in the success of the organization as a whole. In the business world so much emphasis has been placed on intellect. Intellect has been proven invaluable to drive success in business. Process and procedures based on maths, tools, analysis, logic, and strategy are critically important. However to get the higher level of competence in business we must blend the progress that we have made in intellect and IQ with the invaluable competencies of EI. Not only leaders but every individual for that matter should take the time to work on self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Working on these areas will help each to excel in the future!
- [10 Common Leadership and Management Mistakes](https://faberinfinite.com/10-common-leadership-and-management-mistakes/): It’s often said that mistakes provide great learning opportunities. However, it’s much better not to make mistakes in the first place! Mistakes are part of individual’s life. Mistakes in professional life may cost leaders a lot as they are the front face of the organisation and it is expected that they do least mistakes, get the things done in correct manner from team and make successful decisions. Leader has to work towards achieving organizational goals and for that he has to support his team well to achieve those goals. It will be leaders’ responsibility to shape the team and explain importance of organisation’s goal to every member of team. A smallest mistake may cost company millions so each task has to be balanced well be it delegating to your team, motivating them or guiding them for the next steps. Let us look at 10 of the most common leadership and management errors, and highlighting what you can do to avoid them.
- [What to do when your to do list is holding up your team](https://faberinfinite.com/what-to-do-when-your-to-do-list-is-holding-up-your-team/): Have you ever faced a situation where your team was waiting because of actions from your end? It might have happened that the task, which you need to assign, was in your to-do list and your team was waiting for your response to take actions on the task. Have you ever become bottleneck for your team because you were not able to complete your task and your team was waiting for you to clear your to-do list? Answer for most of us will be YES. Why such things happen? Is it because an extended to-do list every day? Is it because you don’t set priorities for your to-do list? Or is it because you have not allotted proper time for each task? Answer could be any of these. What to do when you are bottleneck for your team? Bottlenecking puts your career and reputation at risk and takes a significant emotional toll. Here are four root causes of it — and solutions for each:
- [How to Handle the Naysayer on Your Team](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-handle-the-naysayer-on-your-team/): Is opposition necessary to make successful decision? How to treat people who oppose now and then? How to handle naysayer on your team? Are naysayers required in successful team? In our day to day life we make lots of decisions. Many decisions may fail if they are not critically examined. Opposition is not always reason of conflict but it may improve decision-making as decisions are analysed from all aspects. Despite the initial reactions of dislike, discomfort, annoyance, and resistance to opposition, successful leaders and healthy teams know that disagreement and differing viewpoints are necessary for good decisions and productive teams. When you separate the behavior from the person, notice and manage your own reactions, and take explicit steps to encourage and reward opposition, you will be moving toward building stronger teams and running your business more effectively. On first Tuesday of new financial year, we are glad to share interesting article on how to handle naysayer on your team.
- [12 Things year 2015 Taught About Startups And Entrepreneurship](https://faberinfinite.com/12-things-year-2015-taught-me-about-startups-and-entrepreneurship/): Today 2016 is already 2 months old and I go back to 2015, which was a crucial year! Interestingly, as Vala Afshar of Salesforce puts it that post 2015, we will be closer to year 2030 than we were to 2000. By then, everything will seem antiquated. It makes me wonder what are our takeaways from 2015? Below are some of our insights, varied from brief to elaborate, and touch on changes in perceptions, as well as broader trends that will affect businesses. I hope these reflections will prompt you to share your own key learnings as well- let us know what your big takeaway from the year has been. Expect The Unexpected Whether it is the Snapdeal – Aamir Khan episode or the Chennai floods at home or Ebola virus in Africa or Greece Crisis in the EU; there could be several issues, which may affect your business or the way you conduct business. Hence this traditional directive stands even today, to expect the unexpected. Anticipate and mitigate risks! Being Nimble And Agile Further to earlier pointer, this insight applies to all businesses irrespective of manufacturing or technology services. One has to be lean and agile. Various appropriate frameworks apply to relevant industries. Be responsive than being reactive! Consumer Centricity It might sound cliché but stands true even today in the developing countries like ours. Not being complacent and customer/consumer centricity is the key, irrespective of your size and legacy. It is vetted by the likes of Microsoft, which shifted its focus to ‘customer love’, or Facebook that listened to its users and expanded safety features. Driving Change Effectively Taking tips from Make in India or International Yoga day, there are certain key elements to drive change, which can be picked for your business as well. Successful change initiative not only includes having clear vision and mission to achieve the same but also require a strong brand for effectively driving the change and binding teams together. Focused Improvements – Kobetsu Kaizen Business crusaders took hints from several private & public sector reforms, from the likes of world economies putting efforts to improve their business rules in the past year or technology teams working towards solving issues mattering the most via cloud computing or IoT. Leaders can address chronic problems by acknowledging room for improvement and working towards improving the same via structured approach. Small Group Activities Organisations have harnessed collective power of well-designed small group activities leads extensive financial benefit and strong cultural impact. Various crowd sourcing campaigns are classic examples of collaborative efforts that are increasingly rewriting the rules in every sector- from recruitments to technology to funding to even Swatch Bharat Campaign. Work Sampling/ Time & Motion Study However traditional, nothing beats these sets of tools in terms of results it delivers to ascertain manpower productivity and point ways to improve it. Productivity plays crucial roles in several aspects like economy, business sectors – manufacturing or services, etc. further leading to competitiveness of organisations and regions. Productivity Improvement Via Training Within Industry (TWI) Train the workforce to reach optimum skill levels, in as short as 7 days, based on the framework devised during World War II. The effective framework of TWI – evolved by the US Navy, was picked up by several industries to boost skill levels leading to productivity improvements. Zero Effects – Defects With the zero effect zero defects, also known as the ‘ZED maturity model’ campaign, the emphasis on quality (using clean technology) over quantity was evident, and thereby enabling organisations to get visibility in the manufacturing centre stage of the world. Businesses with focus on green and renewables shall lead the world market growth to 2020. We wont forget Volkswagen Emissions Scandal for long time! Respecting Standards! VW scandal or warnings issued by US FDA to pharmaceutical manufacturers again strengthens the view of respecting and following standards. Standards support customer satisfaction and experience through the requirements they lay out and through the guidance they provide in management systems. Inspiring Excellence Demanding excellence is easy work. Developing excellence is hard work. Inspiring excellence is remarkable work. As you go, so will your people. Say you want a more transparent, open and effective culture. Then be the first one who avoids politicking at all times. Don’t Let The Fear Of Losing Be Greater Than Joy Of Winning Robert Kiyosaki had put it in context long back! Fear is an incredibly personal experience. That’s why some people are afraid of flying while others fly every week. Or some people are afraid of heights and others work in skyscrapers. But there is some science behind why people are afraid of things, including losing money. While there is still a lot of research to do around the subject, observers wisely advise to focus on the journey and celebrate small victories along the journey. Finally, the last thing to remember is that you’ll always have fear in your life, and that’s okay. The most important thing to remember is to control it so it doesn’t control you. ‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. Written by: Faber Aakash Borse – one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Mechanical Engineering. Originally published by Inc42 here.
- [5 Commandments for Faster Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/5-commandments-for-faster-growth/): As the new financial year is approaching for many organisations, companies must have planned new ways to grow and to make next year better than this financial year. To support their journey of growth, we have come up with an interesting article on Commandments of Growth. In ever changing market, companies cannot rely on only one growth strategy. They need to expand in many areas and need to identify which all opportunities are available for growth. Companies can find growth along five dimensions, ranging from the most basic to the most challenging. These dimensions can either be the same as those in a company’s existing practices, or reflect new and different parameters. Five Dimensions are Customers, Geographies, Products, Capabilities and Culture. By proper analysis of these dimensions, companies can create better growth opportunities. If you want your company to grow faster, obey these five commandments: To read further details, please click here.
- [How to Really Customize Leadership Development](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-really-customize-leadership-development/): Today, as part of our Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share outline on ‘Leadership Customization’. “Customized” has become a synonym of “good” for leadership development. As executives always ask “Will it be customized?” for leadership development initiatives. The important question is how to initiate customization. Here are some fixes: To read more, please click here.
- [7 yearly planning mistakes no one talks about](https://faberinfinite.com/7-yearly-planning-mistakes-no-one-talks-about/): As we are arriving towards April, we are glad to share article from our Transformation Tuesday series, which talks about annual planning mistakes. Many of us have carried out our Strategic Planning for the year where we insist to implement a holistic and well-proven set of simple concepts and practical tools to get what is expected from the business. By mastering this simple way of operating, leadership teams can systematically, progressively and permanently improve. Check out the 7 lessons on how to avoid 7 mistakes while planning for the year: By avoiding these mistakes, you can achieve your one-year goals. To read further, please click here.
- [4 hard facts about your organization’s ‘soft’ side](https://faberinfinite.com/4-hard-facts-about-your-organizations-soft-side/): As part of Transformation Tuesday series, we are glad to share a glimpse significant facets of culture building. The basic elements define the organization’s culture, and thereby define the organization itself are: its structure, vision and mission, goals, processes and people. Most leaders understand that achieving high performance in an organization requires hard work but the most important is to address  these “soft” issues that underlie organizational life. Below are four important facts about culture to get acquainted with the “soft” sides of the organization and themselves. An organization’s culture determines its ability to adapt, compete and achieve at the highest level, and therefore is a cornerstone to an organization’s successes and failures. Please click here to read further.
- [Be A Safety Hero!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-safety-hero/): ‘Every accident is a notice that something is wrong!’ Today on 4th March – National Safety Day, let us invest few minutes of our busy schedules in the most important aspect – Safety. Safety is not only focusing on reduction of the number of accidents but creating safe working environment for each stake holder. To get best out of the teams, it is necessary to ensure safe and friendly environment. The members should feel free to work without feeling any danger and unsafe situations. Organization must understand the need to consider employee, equipment and environmental safety as an integral part of sustainability program. These practices can help you support and maintain efficient production and to help provide a safe operating environment. Organizations should develop health and safety program as per their business and hazards at workplace. Let us work towards creating environment which fosters safety not only today, but for life! Let us be super safety heroes and build Safety!
- [Reigniting Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/reigniting-growth/): In today’s article we shall be talking about attitudes to reignite growth. Many businesses face a predictable crisis that can be called stall-out-a sudden large drop in revenue and profit growth. Amongst several causes, few common reasons for the same could be: lost touch with customers, drowning in process and power points, lack of decisiveness.  Most companies with sustainable growth have following 3 attitudes, which can help any company restart its growth engine. Let’s have glance on those 3 attitudes: Rediscover Your Insurgent Mission: Shed noncore assets, develop a simpler strategy for the core one and focus on what really makes most transformations successful: reducing high-level complexity and cost. View your own business insurgents and constantly emphasize what is special about you. It may be difficult to maintain an insurgent mission, but not impossible. Stick to your core mission. Make the company grow “faster, more confident, and, above all, simpler.”Convene meetings, to discuss company’s situation and its future and reignite enthusiasm for its core values. Make employees refocus on the founding principles of the company. Obsess over Your Business’s Front Line: Companies that sustain growth live and breathe the front line of their business. Losing a frontline obsession can lead to stall-out and renewing it can reignite growth. The company’s initial success could be traced to its remarkable founders, who devote themselves to building a close relationship with customers. Here are some ways to prepare your team to reignite growth. Create a “founder’s mentality” scorecard Benchmark against your most successful upstart competitors Launch a campaign against bureaucracy Get the leadership team out of the office Reexamine the precepts and practices of your founders or early leaders Look outside to help inside   Instill an Owner’s Mindset: Owner’s mindset focuses on the long term, has a strong bias toward speed and action, and embraces personal responsibility for employees’ actions and for how resources are used. It’s amazing to speed things up and increase appetite for risk. Risk is about innovation and success. Some of the biggest stock upturns occur when a company has to return to its core and redefine it in the process. An organization can reach new heights by pursuing these qualities. Please click here to read in detail.
- [Take the Leap](https://faberinfinite.com/take-the-leap-2/): The organizational fitness is recognized at a time when change is imminent or necessary. During such times, the business landscape may be more volatile than usual, and it can affect the organization’s ability to adapt every bit as much as the fitness of the business itself can affect it. Organizational fitness is assessed using various diagnostic tools that identify factors affecting ability to adapt, or the environment in which it exists. An organization is fit if it is ready at all times to handle issues or take up opportunities as they may arise. Team Faber Infinite is glad to roll out its highly acclaimed and powerful package for organizational fitness and transformation called as LEAP (Lean Enabled Accelerated Performance) on leap day of 2016. LEAP (Lean Enabled Acceleration Performance) Journey is special offering for all the organizations which aspire to grow and develop. This industry neutral offering is specifically designed based on the best and proven continual improvement or organizational transformation practices across the world. The LEAP journey framework assists for top-line (revenues) as well as bottom-line (profitability) improvements. The typical business environment has various challenges that prevent organizational transformation. These include issues arising from unclear strategies, conflicting priorities, efficiencies, effectiveness and inadequate leadership, all of which cause uncertainty in an organization. Identifying and resolving these challenges is critical to achieve organizational fitness. To achieve the fitness, LEAP is the foundation step! Let us take LEAP now for Top line and Bottom line growth!
- [5 Attitudes That Define Great Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/5-attitudes-that-define-great-leaders/): “Great leaders don’t need to act tough, their attitude, confidence and humility serve to underscore their toughness.” Recently an extraordinary 360 assessment of few leaders took placed where they were assessed on their leadership effectiveness and potential basis. There was a set of 25 questions about attitude in that assessment. Assessors found that five of the attitude questions correlated strongly with overall leadership effectiveness, since who strongly agreed with these particular attitudes had higher overall leadership effectiveness scores. In today’s note we will have a glimpse on those 5 attitudes enabling leadership effectiveness. Each of these attitudes are correlated to improve individual’s leadership effectiveness. You may want to focus on which attitude you don’t have, and cultivate it. To read in details please click here.
- [Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/how-operational-excellence-can-impact-healthcare-industry/): Healthcare sector is one, which is directly connected to lives of people, and there must not be any operational issues, everything must be well organized. Hence, it gets all the more important for healthcare providers to devote more management focus towards hospital operations improvements in order to boost patient centricity, quality treatment and productivity enhancement. A multi-pronged approach that puts hospital and patient care at the heart of performance transformation efforts can help hospitals and health systems deliver more financially sustainable and patient oriented care. Healthcare personnel should actively participate in performance improvement efforts and be open to changes. The continual improvement not only aids operational excellence but also quality patient care, patients’ satisfaction and staff satisfaction as well. How Operational Excellence can impact Healthcare Industry? Hospital Operational Excellence deploys a variety of process improvement & change management concepts and approaches to increase operational efficiency and reduce clinical variability; ultimate objective is to drive the total medical care cost down while improving care quality. The inefficiencies are the major barriers toward excellence. In hospital environment also the inefficiencies can be categorized into various types, which can be identified and addressed with ‘eye for inadequacies’ and ‘awareness of continual improvement’. Several tools & concepts of Operational Excellence (OE) like Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Inventory Management, Five S, Visual Management, Standardized Work, Poka Yoke – Error Proofing in hospitals can lead to dramatic results. Several hospitals across the world have adopted various operational excellence frameworks. Implementation of Operational Excellence concepts have addressed several issues concerning patient care and management in hospitals such as: Time spent at OPD can be reduced by 40% approximately via concepts like work balancing and improving patient flow Distance covered by patients can be reduced 20% approximately by streamlining the layout and reorganizing Space utilization can be increased by 60% Inventory management modules based on scientific calculations can lead to improvement in medicine inventory management to avoid stock outs and over stocking (near to expiry scenarios), reduction in stock taking time, huge cost savings in inventory carrying costs, etc 95% reduction in the time nurses spend searching for supplies and equipment 77% reduction in door-to-bed time High standards of housekeeping and hygiene can be achieved through Physical workplace improvement tool Five S Other advanced operational excellence tools can further assist in reducing patient hospital stay duration, bed occupancy improvement, operations theatre utilization and others Operational Excellence in Hospitals The transformation projects have shown several tangible benefits and have wide scope for countless improvement avenues. These above mentioned tangible benefits shall pave the road for cultural change and will further improve the team morale, discipline and patient centric efforts. Considering country like India or any developing nation, even today the healthcare is not affordable for the needy. Hospital Operational Excellence is a panacea to address these challenges. Further looking at accreditations from NABH and NABL, which shall be pre-requisite and not optional; operational excellence and continual improvement shall be part and parcel of the industry. These concepts are not only applicable for manufacturing industry but also equally applicable for hospital management. Concepts remain same, application changes! It is a philosophy that can change the way hospitals and healthcare industries are managed and organized. Healthcare professionals are good at administering patient care, blending it further with operational excellence shall enhance life for all stakeholders! Its time healthcare industry takes the leap, this leap year! If not now, when? We shall delve upon various aspects (element by element) of Operational Excellence in Healthcare Industry in coming posts. Find original article at : Economic Times
- [Media Coverage in India’s leading business magazine](https://faberinfinite.com/media-coverage-in-indias-leading-business-magazine/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that it got featured in Small Enterprise – India’s one of the leading business magazine for entrepreneurs. The feature published in Jan 16 edition talks about the organizational achievements and its team. Faber Infinite helps organizations to unlock their hidden potential. The article about the success story of Faber Infinite and its core team – Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, Mr. Jalay Pandya and Mr. Aakash Borse. Faber Infinite offers 360 transformation and improvement of clients, people and communities. It supports the organizations to improve and grow in terms of top line and bottom line with impressive clients are from India, Tanzania, Uganda, UAE, Kenya and Zambia. Faber Infinite is finest management consulting and training company specializing in business excellence. Team Faber Infinite believes that organizational success depends on aspects of strategy, operations and design along with people excellence. The team strives towards helping all client organizations for implementing real transformation solutions. The core team of Faber Infinite is always passionate about crafting culture that supports transformation and innovation. After long deliberation ‘Faber’ which means craftsman in Latin was finalized for the name of the organization. Faber Infinite Differentiators: Differentiation is not only to equip clientele with state of art management practice on strategic and operational level, but also support them for sustainable implementation and long term gains. The team focuses on the people as catalysts for the improvement journey. The focus is on easy way to deploy concepts and objectively gauging of drivers of transformation. Find original success story published in the small enterprise as below. Team Faber Infinite wishes all new entrepreneurs successful journey and we would aspire to work with organizations seeking change and transformation. Reported & Compiled by: Faber Khushboo Vyas
- [15 Surprising Things Productive People Do Differently](https://faberinfinite.com/15-surprising-things-productive-people-do-differently/): “Successful person is not different, but the way he/ she work is different.” In recent interviews of over 200 ultra-productive people including seven billionaires, 13 Olympians, 20 A-grade students and over 200 successful entrepreneurs were asked a simple, open-ended question, “What is your number one secret to productivity?” From their responses, many surprising but unique ideas came out. In today’s article we will have a look on those 13 ways to work differently and to be more productive? 1. Focus on minutes, not hours: Don’t focus on hours; don’t forget that there are 1,440 minutes in the day. “Lost money can be made again, but time spent can never be reclaimed.” Master your minutes to master your life. 2.Focus only on one thing: Identify your Most Important Task (MIT); invest the first part of your day working on it to build your business without any interruption. What task will have the biggest impact on reaching your goal? 3. Don’ t use to-do lists:  Throw away your to-do list, as undone items lead to stress and insomnia. “Schedule entire day into 15-minute blocks, will set you up in the 95 percentile.” 4. Beat procrastination with time travel Focus on – What can you do now to make sure your future self does the right thing? Anticipate how you will self-sabotage in the future, and come up with a solution to defeat your future self. 5. Use a notebook: “Always carry a notebook, Write everything down. That is a million dollar lesson that business schools don’t teach you!” Keep your mind free by writing everything down. 6. Process email only a few times a day: Don’t “check” email throughout the day. Don’t even respond to each vibration or ding. Instead, like everything else, schedule time to process your email quickly and efficiently. 7. Avoid meetings at all costs: “Never take meetings unless someone is writing a check.” Meetings are notorious time killers. You should get out of meetings whenever you can, hold fewer of them yourself, and if you do run a meeting, keep it short. 8. Follow the 80/20 principle: Known as the Pareto Principle, in most cases 80% of outcomes come from only 20% of activities. Identify which activities drive the greatest results, and focus on those and ignore the rest. 9. Delegate almost everything: Don’t think, “How can I do this task?” Instead think, “How can this task get done?” Take the “I” out of it as much as possible. Don’t have control issues and don’t be micro-managers. 10. Theme days of the week: Theme days of the week to focus on major areas. Like, “Mondays for Meetings”. Clean up unwanted items before the new week starts. Plan your work to maximize your efficiency and effectiveness. 11. Touch things only once: How often do you read an email, and leave it in your inbox to deal with later? Try to “touch it once.” It reduces stress since it won’t be in the back of your mind. 12. Practice a consistent morning routine: Most people focus on ‘doing’ more to achieve more, instead every morning focus on ‘becoming’ more so that you can start doing less, to achieve more. Nurture your mind with meditation or prayer, inspirational reading, and journaling. 13. Energy is everything: You can’t make more minutes in the day, but you can increase your energy, which will increase your attention, focus, decision-making, and overall productivity. Please Click Here to explore more.
- [Metro to 'Make in India'](https://faberinfinite.com/metro-to-make-in-india/): The Make in India campaign promises to fast-track growth trajectory by making it a manufacturing hub. Made in India, made by India but for the world, with the vision of empowering Indians by creating job opportunities, the campaign is ingenious formula to position India as the center piece of Asia’s next growth story. Bombardier – world’s leading manufacturer of both planes and trains, has built an extensive and diverse portfolio of winning mobility solution. Bombardier Transportation is a global leader in the rail industry. They cover the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from complete trains to sub-systems, maintenance services, system integration and signaling. Bombardier has taken step towards ‘Make in India’ by completing consignment of six metro coaches for the Australian government. Bombardier Baroda unit had manufactured these six metro coaches, and were shipped successfully from Mumbai to Australia. The metro coaches, built for the Australian government, was the first of its kind India has ever exported. The coaches, which measure 75 feet in length and weigh 46 tonnes each, were loaded in house by the Mumbai Port Trust. Team Faber Infinite wishes Bombardier Baroda the best, to fulfill the target of 450 ‘Made in India’ metro coaches to be exported in the next two-and-a-half years. It gives a message that ‘India is in the race and about to win’. We, at Faber Infinite take pride to support Bombardier Transportation and Make in India dream together. The goal is towards making India manufacturing hub and to create its mark in the global space. The intention is to continue the efforts towards building competitiveness and crafting growth opportunities. Reported & Complied by: Faber Khushboo Vyas
- [5 ways to close the strategy to execution gap](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-close-the-strategy-to-execution-gap/): In an ongoing global survey of senior executives, more than half of the respondents said that they think their company don’t have a winning strategy, and two-thirds think their organization don’t have the right capabilities to execute its strategy. Surprisingly, companies that are great at both strategy and execution don’t follow the prevailing practices of their industries. Instead, leaders of these companies excel at five unconventional acts — management practices that contradict conventional. Most of the companies lacks behind due to the execution of strategy, as they have good strategies. For such companies here is a solution to execute your strategies efficiently. We are glad to share 5 ways to close the strategy to execution gap. 1. Commit to an identity:  Avoid getting trapped on a growth treadmill, chasing multiple market opportunities where you have no right to win. Instead, clear your mind about what you do best, develop a solid value proposition and building distinctive capabilities that will last for the long term. Deliver what you promise. 2. Translate the strategic into the everyday: Many managers assume they should adopt the best practices of their industry and treat external benchmarking as the established path to success. But design and build your own bespoke capabilities that set you apart from other companies. Then bring those capabilities to scale in your own distinctive ways. 3. Put your culture to work: Reworking the organizational chart and rethinking incentives. The culture of the enterprise, if considered at all, is seen as a hindrance. But resist disruptive reorganizations and instead put your culture to work. Tap the power of the ingrained thinking and behavior that already exists below the surface in your company, using culture, not structure, to drive change. 4. Cut cost to grow stronger: A conventional company might try to reduce costs across the board by going lean everywhere. But cut costs to grow stronger. Marshal your resources strategically; doubling down on the few capabilities that matter most and pruning back everything else. 5. Shape your future: Companies should not try to simply become agile. Don’t respond to external change as rapidly as possible. Instead, shape your future by creating the change you want to see. Consider all questions at the same time, in the same conversations with the same teams, so that strategy and execution are closely integrated in every decision. Do all this boldly, with the confidence and acumen that comes from having earned the right to win, the ability to engage in a chosen market with capabilities that consistently outmatch competitors. To read further details please click here.
- [The 8 Self-Assessments You Need to Improve at Work This Year](https://faberinfinite.com/the-8-self-assessments-you-need-to-improve-at-work-this-year/): Approaching another Tuesday and we are delighted to share yet another interesting compilation from our Transformation Tuesday series. We all want to grow – no matter what skills we have to improve, important is where to begin? To help you out how to go about it, please find below series of 7 self-assessments, which shall point towards improvement potentials. Productivity: How can you do everything with not enough hours in a day? A range of advices is available, which presumes that one size fits all. But in fact it changes according the way one prefers to perceive information. Hence, take this assessment to understand your own style and discover productivity tips that like-minded people have found most effective. Work/ Life balance: If you think to spare time with your family and for your leisure activities, you probably need to figure out how to fit those activities in your busy schedule. Take this assessment to compare your priorities with how you actually allocate your time and energy. Cultural skill: Due to business globalization, it’s essential to collaborate with people from different culture. This assessment helps you see key differences in eight areas where cultural gaps are most common, like communicating, scheduling, trusting, and disagreeing – and shows you how you compare with the norm for your culture in each area. Emotional intelligence: Relationships matter at work, and you need emotional intelligence to be an effective leader. Take a quiz to test yourself on five critical EI skills– emotional self-awareness, positive outlook, emotional self-control, adaptability, and empathy. At the end, you’ll receive advice on how to respond more mindfully. Communication Skills: If this is an area you’d like to improve, you’re not alone. The popularity of grammar quiz shows just how many struggles with writing. Financial skills: Of course, it’s equally important to be financially literate, especially if you’re eager to advance in your organization. Take 10-question finance quiz. At the end you’ll see correct answers with explanation, so you can brush up on key concepts to become a more effective leader. Managing your stakeholders: This assessment asks what you would do in five “managing up” scenarios. After answering, you will learn which approaches experts recommend. You also receive links on how to cultivate your most important relationship at work­ — your relationship with your stake holder. We trust that the links helped you to assess yourself. To explore more, you may click here. Thank you.
- [Take the LEAP!](https://faberinfinite.com/take-the-leap/): The organizational fitness is recognized at a time when change is imminent or necessary. During such times, the business landscape may be more volatile than usual, and it can affect the organization’s ability to adapt every bit as much as the fitness of the business itself can affect it. Organizational fitness is assessed using various diagnostic tools that identify factors affecting ability to adapt, or the environment in which it exists. An organization is fit if it is ready at all times to handle issues or take up opportunities as they may arise. Team Faber Infinite is glad to roll out its highly acclaimed and powerful package for organizational fitness and transformation. LEAP Journey – Lean Enabled Acceleration Performance Journey Leap Journey is special offering for all the organizations which aspire to grow and develop. This industry neutral offering is specifically designed based on the best continual improvement or organizational transformation practices across the world. The LEAP journey framework assists for top-line (revenues) as well as bottom-line (profitability) improvements. We shall discuss the framework in subsequent articles. The typical business environment has various challenges that prevent organizational transformation. These include issues arising from unclear strategies, conflicting priorities, efficiencies, effectiveness and inadequate leadership, all of which cause uncertainty in an organization. Identifying and resolving these challenges is critical to achieve organizational fitness. To achieve the fitness, LEAP is the foundation step!
- [Celebrating Victories!](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-victories/): Victories, however small or large, are happy moments – where we take a pause to reflect on our achievements. We are excited to share few victories of 2015 from various locations across different sectors and geographies. We feel proud to share achievements of different clients and dedicated teams we have been associated with. Our heartiest compliments to all the teams and wish them many more in future! Here is a glimpse of few victories from 2015! 1. Young Leaders team at one of the world’s largest locomotive manufacturer, India   2. Enthusiastic Team members at leading fishing-flies manufacturer, Kenya 3. Launch of continual improvement journey at one of the premier education institutes, Kenya   4. Another enthusiastic team at one of the largest logistics service provider, Kenya 5. Another happy team at one of the largest plastic manufacturer in Uganda 6. Celebrating ‘Team of the Month’ at well-known red oxide manufacturer, India  7. Successful launch of organization wide transformation journey at integrated textile manufacturer, Kenya 8. Glimpse of an interesting training session at leading auto components manufacturer (tier I supplier to OEMs), India 9. Team at Uganda Management Association 10. Celebrating ‘Zone of the Month’ at a leading textile machine manufacturer, India 11. All work & no play makes a jack dull boy! Glimpse of Fab Faber Annual Meet 12. Journey declaration by committed leadership team from plastics manufacturer, Uganda 13. Glimpses from experiential learning session, Kenya Congratulations to all teams and team members who had participated in the wonderful transformation journeys across. We look forward to be of more value in future as well. Compiled by: Faber Khushboo Vyas and Faber Raveena Rathi
- [9-productivity tips from people who write about productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity/): In today’s fast pacing professional career, every leader is facing an endless barrage of distractions, from the vibrations and alerts on their smartphones to the breaking news stories and viral videos waiting at their desks. They need strategies for being productive. But where do they start? Here are 9 insights for achieving top performance: You may refer to further details here.
- [Act like Leader, Think like Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/act-like-leader-think-like-leader/): As a part of Fab Faber series here we are with few excerpts from another super book ‘Act like Leader, Think like Leader’ by Herminia Ibarra, one of the best business books of 2015. Are you a leader in your life, at your work? You aspire to lead with greater impact. The problem is you’re busy executing on today’s demands. You know you have to carve out time from your day job to build your leadership skills, but it’s easy to let immediate problems and old mind-sets get in the way. Herminia Ibarra–an expert on professional leadership and development and a renowned professor at INSEAD, a leading international business school–shows how managers and executives at all levels can step up to leadership by making small but crucial changes in their jobs, their networks, and themselves. In “Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader,” she offers advice to help you: Redefine your job in order to make more strategic contributions; Diversify your network so that you connect to, and learn from, a bigger range of stakeholders; Become more playful with your self-concept, allowing your familiar–and possibly outdated–leadership style to evolve. The way we think is a product of our past experience and so the best way of changing our mind-set is to act differently. Ibarra has three main central chapters each on a different aspect of how to act like a leader, and each involves redefinition — of your job, your network, and yourself. Firstly, your jobs. We like to do what we already do well, and because of that, we get better at it. We allocate more time to what we are good at, and so devote less time to learning other things that are also important to our development. Overtime, we have to pay more to learn those new things, we feel like trapped. Consequently, we are in trouble and we don’t act like a leader! Instead of acting like ‘a hub’, in your business you need to be ‘a bridge between your team and our external environment’ so that we gain the out-sight needed to develop the business. The networking successfully disarms your standard objections to having anything to do with networking, firstly by pointing out that we tend to network with those closest to you and most resembling yourselves – which the author terms as being ‘lazy and narcissistic’. Networking is the object, which allows your relations to do work spontaneously in case of urgency. It will benefit you and the others in form of perspective and knowledge explained. Lastly, there is the challenge to change the way you act. In part, this is to stop using being ‘authentic’ as an excuse for poor behaviors. ‘The biggest problem with the true-to-self approach is that it defines authenticity according to the past and, by consequence, defines change as a loss.’ In place of this, imitate others, and by doing so, creating a new synthesis which combines your own qualities with the qualities you are hoping to assume. Compiled by: Faber Khushbhoo Vyas
- [Train like an Athlete](https://faberinfinite.com/train-like-an-athlete/): It is observed that ‘Untrained employees take up to six times longer to perform the same task as trained employees’ To get the most out of team members, more opportunities to learn in terms of training acts as key factor. Training is essential for specific purposes related to businesses and incorporating training that develops teams toward long-term career goals can also promote greater job satisfaction. A more satisfied employee is likely to stay longer and be more productive while on your team. Recent surveys indicate that 40% of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year. It is cited that lack of skills – training and development is the principal reason for moving on. It affects productivity and effectivity adversely and to avoid such cases training team members is extremely critical. Today’s young team members are geared towards seeking employment that allows them to learn new skills. Organizations can attract good players if it can offer development opportunities. Learning and upgrading employee skills still makes business sense. It starts from day one, and becomes successive as employees grow. In addition, relevance of training is equally crucial and can be ascertained by thorough Skill Gap Analysis and arriving at appropriate training calendar. Faber Infinite has been supporting organizations not only in training and development of team members but also conducting organization wide skill gap analysis and arriving at comprehensive training plans for Operational Excellence, Technical and Behavioral aspects. As thought leaders say, it may take some time to see a return on investment, however in the long run, gains associated with training make a huge difference. In addition to custom made programs, we are glad to share year long training calendar for India below. Please feel free to reach out to us to take benefits of open programs as well as plan detailed skill gap analysis for your organization! PS: We shall roll out training calendar for other regions soon.
- [Why is Change So Difficult?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-is-change-so-difficult/): It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one that is most adaptable to change – Charles Darwin The contemporary industrial world demands innovation from the companies to stay in the run and this demand has made the need of organizational change more prominent than ever. Many organizations have successfully gone through this change process and have achieved exponential growth and development. However, many still dread the process because of the resistance the process faces. First of all, one needs to understand that resistance to any change related process at the workplaces is quite normal and natural. Changing the work culture and process at the workplace can impact the sentiments of anyone, be it someone from the top level management or people working on the ground. It is in our nature to resist change and that is what makes the organizational change a very dreadful process for many. Here is what one needs to know about the exact reason behind the resistance to change. We live by our habits – As humans, we define our lives by the habits we culture in our day to day routine. We tend to live in our comfort zones and do things within the same limit. In a research, it was found that humans are most comfortable in getting involved in highly repetitive activities every other day. This is one of the main reasons why people resist change and faces difficulty in managing it. Change inflicts stress and tautness – Change at the workplace can make the employees and team members anxious and stressed. The thoughts about how the change will impact their jobs, positions, roles and responsibilities and other related aspects make the employees insecure which consequently results in resistance to change. This happens mostly in the employees who have been associated with the organization for a very long time and have followed certain business projects. All we want is stability and certainty – Human brain craves for certainty and does everything possible that can help one in avoiding uncertain situations. Change in any organization can make the employees uncertain about the coming situations and might feel that their stability is at stake. We know that change can result in problems as well – In our daily lives, we always anticipate the results and mostly we expect the outcomes opposite to what we desire. This negative anticipation goes in the same manner when we talk about organizational change. Employees anticipate negative outcomes and ultimately resist change thinking it will create more problems than solutions. Organizational change acts as the pillar in the journey of an organization which supports it and helps it in achieving the desired growth rates and profitability. Change is bound to face resistance however, it is important for the leadership to not get intimidated by it and handle it strategically for the success of the transformation journey. Written and Compiled By Faber Kishlay and Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact- Winners Never Quit!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-winners-never-quit/): Do you know that six sigma developed by one of the most renowned American cellular company which helped them achieve 800% improvement? Yes, it was Motorola! Since 1980s, Japanese companies started posing a threatening competition to the American counterparts. The Japanese came up with unique methods which helped them offer their products at much lower prices than the American companies and captured the entire market. Seeing this, Motorola’s management decided to slaughter Japanese companies by one of its own creation of “Quality”.  The company called for a meeting of all its engineers. They ordered them to implement all the best quality management tools that have been developed so far and create its own unique methodology. Which would be base on Motorola’s competitive quality improvement program. This was how the Six Sigma was developed. Company while testing for its standard in the market, came to realize with the help of statistics that they needed to improve by 1000% within 5 years. Which was a ratio of 10:1 of quality improvement to get its position back into the market. The news flew into the market like wind about the fact that the company is using its stakeholders’ fund to achieve the goal that can be only be achieved in dreams. But the company did not pay any attention to this and kept working towards achieving its goal. After 5 years, when the results were declared, the company came up with flying colors by achieving its goal and shutting everyone’s mouth who doubted their capabilities. But, when they measured their standards with the Japanese companies they realized that they were still lagging behind. Again they decided to set the same. But this time time, they were to achieve their target within 2 years. Once again, the critics began to drag down their attempt. And again, Motorola shut everyone’s mouth by achieving its goal. Which is why the third program was launched. Again with the same 1000% or 10: 1 improvement in the quality program. But, this time, at the end of the program in 1991, Motorola failed. Unfortunately, when their targets were measured, they had only achieved 800% i.e. 8:1 of ratio. Seeing this, even the critics & media went under shock and applauded their initiatives. The news of Motorola defeated the Japanese threat and Six Sigma became the biggest buzzword. Every other company in the market started to plan the Six Sigma implementation for reaping the same benefits as Motorola did. This is how Six Sigma was born! No criticism should heap into your way if you are focused to achieve your target. Motorola, after all the criticisms it faced did not even for once thought of giving up. These quality tools have been in use from more than three decades. Are you using it and reaping the benefits? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Role of Leadership during Organizational Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/role-of-leadership-during-organizational-transformation/): In this evolving industrial world of 21st century, the only thing that is constant is organizational change. The fact that any organization’s journey depends on the decisions the leadership takes itself speaks out how crucial is the role of leadership development in any organizational change. Leading change from the front is one of the most difficult tasks in any organization since it deals with various important aspects of the work culture. Moreover, the leadership might also face resistance from the employees during the change initiative which will further put more challenges in the way of achieving excellence and continual development. Leadership and Organizational change Organizations aspiring to grow and captivate the opportunities in the modern world might face some serious challenges that obstruct their way. These challenges may include outdated systems and software, lack of an upgraded culture in the organization. And also inefficient talent acquisition programs, sharper marketing and sales strategies to penetrate and proliferate the market and much more. Moreover, the challenges for the organizations might also increase twofold with the resources depleting rapidly, fear in the team members, fatigue, and incorporation of various training programs to learn the new systems and many more situations like this. The leadership plays a key role here to have an all-round development of the organization and garnering maximum benefits from the change management process. Ingraining leadership development programs that equips the managers with emotional intelligence and desired skills that helps them in successfully leading the teams through the change can give the required support to the organization. Change Management in Organizational Transformation In any change management initiative, it is always an advantage to have a skilled and aware leadership that can steer the ship in any direction whenever needed in order to avoid the storm. Implementing an effective leadership development program will not only allow the organization to have such people but will also help them in improving on their 360-degree feedback and overall emotional and attitude analysis of the team members included in the change process. This entire process of leadership development should always keep some things in mind like ensuring that. It doesn’t get forced on the participants, they enjoy the experience and ultimately adds value to their skill sets, providing the employees with enough training. So that they can engage efficiently and make the most of the opportunities that comes in front of them, promoting data collection and encouraging transparency in the work culture of the organization. Any organizational change process needs efficient and able leadership in order to be successful and yield optimum results. It all starts with a change in the mindset that forces the organization to take time, pull more resources out, budgets and other related aspects. It all needs able and developed leadership so that everything stays on track and the organization does not face any loss. In this critical time of growing competition, it has become quintessential for the organizations to invest in leadership development programs and gain the most from the market opportunities.
- [Friday Fact- The return of the Toy of the Century](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-the-return-of-the-toy-of-the-century/): Do you know, the winner of the title “Toy Of The Century” by Fortune magazine- The Lego Group struggled for 7 years to get back to their place in the market? Yet after 7 years, they came out with the flying colours. Wonder what would have happened? How they might have managed to get back in just 7 years? The Lego Group generated the loss for four out of the seven years from 1998 through 2004. Their sales dropped down by 30% in 2003 and by 10% more in 2004. The biggest reason behind this was the poor supply chain. The supply chain of the Lego Group was outdated by at least 10 years. The poor customer service and on the spot availability of the products was gradually destroying the com­pany’s franchise in key markets. The company owned the toy market in the year 1950’s when its bricks first became popular. For nearly 6 decades, the company had the great business. But, when in 1990, its competitor firm started regearing their supply chain the Lego Group did not pay attention to that. And that is when the system started to fail. This is when the company decided to inherit the organizational transformation. To rebuild profitability, the company had to redesign each and every aspect of its supply chain along with eliminating inefficiencies & improving their innovation capacity. Since the mid-1990s till 2004, the company shifted towards video games, TV programs, and retail stores. But this diversification made it more complex for the company, and the red ink continued to flow. The CEO of the organization would often visit the gemba, asking managers when he saw that an item had not been resolved since his previous visit. “This is still here?” he would ask. Finally, after a painful but impactful transformation, the Lego Group made its first profit after 7 years. It approximately saved €50 million ($67 million) and forecasts savings in excess of €100 million ($135 million) in coming two years. Their stock turnover also increased by 12% in 2005. And in the same year, the Lego Group announced its first profit of €61 million ($72 million) since 2002. In 2005, its turnover increased by 11% and profits up by a staggering 240%. In here, the gains are not just limited to operations. The supply chain redesigning and restructuring the ideas and implementations impacted the most. The Top Management believed that getting the right product at the right time to the right place at the right cost was an important early step in grappling with an array of strategic challenges. “ The transformation journey for Lego groups was painful but was a necessity. The Top Management said that as per their perspective, the supply chain is a circulation system of the company which you have to fix it to keep the blood flowing. If big and profitable names like these had to inherit the organizational transformation to sustain in the market, have you initiated your organizational transformation journey to keep the blood flowing? Write & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Accelerate Sales with Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerate-sales-with-faber-infinite/): Sales is one of the most aspired factors for every organization, since increased sales results in increased revenue. Every other organization faces various challenges in improving their sales numbers and counter the increasing competition to withhold their position in the market. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has a proven panacea for improving sales and has a powerful framework that facilitates the organizations in keeping the sales trends northwards in the charts. This proven solution by Faber Infinite has helped clients grow sales by 25-40 % within 12 months. Team Faber Infinite has been proficient in providing sales training, designing and implementing sales growth strategies – actual hand holding – across various industries and sectors. The practice of the above Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite has created the number of happy clients with phenomenal sales and revenue growth. The Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite focuses on external as well as internal drivers affecting the sales performance for any organization. It depends on the organization and its ecosystem, what elements impact them and needs to be worked upon. External drivers a) Customer Demands – Customer and its demands are very important to improve sales numbers. To have higher sales, it is very important to understand customer demands and decipher the market opportunities and design the sales strategy accordingly. b) Competitive analysis – Analyzing your competitor and its strategies is another important factor that impacts the sales of an organization. It helps you in coming out with a precise strategy in terms of 4P of marketing to counter their tactics. c) Value delivered – Organizations should be able to define, demonstrate and communicate value delivered by its products or services, in order to retain the customers and improve sales. The value delivered by a product/ service should be communicated in terms of  features, advantages and benefits. Internal drivers a) Team SWOT – Teamwork is the most important internal factor that drives the sales numbers of any organization. SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of sales team can push the team and its members in making the extremely effective team. b) Team Alignment – Team alignment helps the members in getting a clear view of the structure and hierarchy of the organization. This enables one to have clarity about roles and responsibilities, further leading to alignment towards organizational sales goals. c) Sales management – Managing the overall processes involved in sales – relating to financial and logistics planning and customer service – is another important internal driver that plays a vital role in the sales of an organization. Correct measurement metric can do wonders for a successful sales growth initiative. With the increasing competition and advancement in technologies, it has become very imperative for the organizations to create a profound sales strategy to keep them in the run and subsequently increase revenue. The ability to make profound relationships with the customers and providing the market with what it needs is the only way to keep an organization in the loop and achieve excellence. If you want o to join our elite clients who have achieved 25 to 40% sales growth in less than 12 months, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber  Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Transforming Family Managed Business](https://faberinfinite.com/transforming-family-managed-business/): If the current Indian scenario is taken into consideration, one will notice that more than 60 percent of the companies are family run and were found to be doing quite well in the last 30 years. Family run businesses were the key beneficiaries in this period. However, with the advancements in technologies and globalization, the barrier on the companies has now been lifted and consequently competition has been increased exponentially. Challenges and Family run businesses The global growth in prospects and opportunities to exploit supply chain are dwindling and falling costs have dramatically slowed down the profits for such companies. Moreover, Family Businesses also lack internal structures around which the sustainable business muscle is built. The biggest challenge family-run businesses face is that they struggle to build and manage the businesses that help them in leading and thriving in the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) Business Excellence and related transformation practices can really help such family-run businesses in tackling the growing challenges and improve their productivity as well as profitability. Many people still believe that transformation journey is only for large companies and will not cater to the needs of small or medium sized organizations. It is a complete myth. Team Faber Infinite was recently called upon to address the ‘Family Business Transformation Summit’ which was held in Surat and share with the emerging family driven businesses – how operational excellence can help one in transforming a 20th century family run business to a fast-growing 21st century business conglomerate organization with the help of operational excellence, irrespective of the size of the organization. Operational Excellence and Family run businesses In the modern industrial world, there are many deficiency tags such as the high cost of capital, operational efficiencies, delayed deliveries, reduced margins amongst many others obstruct the growth of the family-run businesses. These factors make it very difficult for the organizations to compete in the market with independent owners and investors. To achieve, exponential growth, the organizations need to get Fitter, Faster, Better and Efficient. This can be achieved by implementing Operational Excellence and transformation practices. Faber Infinite and Family run businesses At Faber Infinite, we know that operational excellence is the need of the hour and every organization should implement it. We help family-run businesses to gain the maximum and most optimum results with our structured Organizational Transformation Framework integrated with Strategic and Operational Excellence to counter every problem such businesses face in the 21st century. Key Faber Infinite Differentiators Hands on implementation experience in Organizational Transformation/ Operational Excellence practices Expert consultants serving clients from Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East Proven delivery methodology appreciated by select Fortune 500 organizations Focus on implementation and not mere boardroom consulting/training. We take pride in calling ourselves as ‘Implementers – Hands on Experience’ Recognized as one of the trusted and fastest growing management consulting organizations by various leading forums Estimated minimum ten times return on investment in the first year of implementation. Results delivered! As always… We believe in delivering more than what our clients expect. Below is a list of typical results we delivered at various client sites.  Improvement in cash flow by 25 percent Reduction in costs by 20 percent Profitability of the organization improved by 20 percent Growth in revenue of the organizations by more than 30 percent Customer satisfaction index improved by around 25 percent A drop in lead time by 60 percent as a result of Team Faber Infinite’s efforts Improvement in equipment uptime by more than 45 percent Productivity of the organization was improved by 65 percent Inventory reduction by 60 percent without any stockouts Quality of the products delivered by our clients was improved by more than 50 percent Team Faber Infinite understands the various complexities of the evolving industry and always tries to push forward the organizations to achieve their goals. We understand the need of family-run businesses and design and formulate our frameworks and structures as per the requirements to help them maximize the outputs. We have assisted several family businesses of all sizes across geographies and industries, and have helped them in becoming the beneficiary of present time opportunities again. If you are also a part of family run business and aspire to achieve exponential growth and profitability, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [7 QC (Quality Control) Tools for Process Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/7-quality-control-tools/): Quality is one of the major concerns both for the manufacturer as well as for the consumer. Everything ranging from sales and growth is related to the quality of the product that is served to the consumer. Quality Control (QC) is one of the major aspects of the various processes involved in manufacturing that facilitates the organization in improving the quality of the product and standardize it across all platforms. Team Faber Infinite was invited by the Auto Industry at Indore Management Association to conduct a power packed workshop on ‘7 QC tools for Auto Industry’. It was a huge hit with more than 30 participants from various organizations like Mahle group and others. About the 7 QC (Quality Control) tools The seven QC tools is a designation given to a fixed set of graphical techniques identified as being most helpful in troubleshooting issues related to quality. The application of these tools is very easy and a large number of problems can be solved effectively. These quality products satisfy customer needs and improve the productivity. About the workshop The workshop was focused on bringing awareness about the 7 QC tools and their benefits with which organizations in the auto industry can thrust their production process and achieve excellence and continual improvement and sustainable development. Objectives of the workshop To understand the 7 basic tools for quality and process improvement To learn how to apply the 7 basic tools of quality to problem-solving or daily work Workshop coverage The workshop covered various aspects of the 7  QC tools that will drive quality improvement and production processes of the organizations. Elements like Quality Principles, Quality & Statistics and Fundamentals, Applications of 7 QC tools were covered effectively in the workshop. Leaders from Quality and Production function attended the workshop Key benefits for the participants The key takeaways of the workshop are as follows – Use of 7 QC tools to resolve quality related problems Quality related issues can be revealed more effectively using the 7 QC tools Perception of benefits that will be derived using the 7 QC tools How 7 QC tools can be used to discern productivity issues and enhance opportunities Practical understanding about how to increase profitability using the 7 QC tools Practical understanding of how to improve customer satisfaction using the 7 QC tools Outcomes of the workshop Through this workshop, participants learnt about how to use these Quality Control tools in their daily work or as a part of the structured Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) approach for the problem-solving methods. Team Faber Infinite has been helping organizations through workshops like these.  This workshop has helped organizations in providing the necessary information to the employees about the various tools and techniques that add value to the products and services of the organization and improve their profitability. Team Faber Infinite has been conducting such highly impactful workshops on the regular basis at various client sites and in association with industry organizations to support the industry and help the clients in achieving something which we believe in – Excellence. For more information about such workshops or other training programs, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com  
- [Challenging the Challenges](https://faberinfinite.com/challenging-the-challenges/): Its the team members and their passion, which truly makes Faber Infinite Consulting a diverse and unique place to work. We have some amazing people with many backgrounds and different personalities, who have a real passion for what they do. Today we will be talking to Ms. Nirali Chauhan, who is a Functional Analyst for the technology vertical at Faber Infinite Consulting. Nirali is experienced and skilled in HR solutions, employee training, skill gap analysis, problem-solving techniques, data analysis and research. She is always ready for new challenges and explores new tasks. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with her. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite? Nirali Chauhan (NC): I work as a functional analyst at Faber Infinite for the technology vertical of the organization i.e. Prizma. With the digitalization and digital revolution, everything has now come into the context of technology. We support clients with technology platforms for Skill Analysis – Performance Management. My role here is as a functional expert is enhancing these tools – understanding client requirements and delivering it with robust technology enabled solutions. Currently, I am working on tool that bridges the gap between expected skills and the current skills of the employees. I look over the designing and content of the software, product testing and then execution of the same. FI: What three words would you use to describe your role? NC: If I were to describe my job in three words, they would be Eagerness, Involvement and Innovation. These words just don’t describe my current role here but are related to everything one does, be it personal or professional. FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber? NC: I am a person who always looks for change, challenges, and creativity and that is applicable to my work as well. Building a software requires a lot of innovation and thinking. So my day at Faber is full of innovation and challenges and I enjoy it to the fullest. FI: What is the most rewarding thing about your job? What makes it all worthwhile? NC: I would say that if your clients are satisfied, you are at the top of the world. It makes you more satisfied and content. Moreover, the management here is very appreciative and supportive. They listen to you and take in your suggestions. Looking at my interest in human resource, I was given an opportunity to lead the HR function. This not only helped me to give a holistic view of the organizational functioning but it further sharpened the software development process. The responsibilities of HR lead helped me utilize my full potential. Things like this make it all worth for anyone’s time and efforts and that’s what I feel is the most rewarding part of my job. FI: Your motto or personal mantra? NC: I would like to mention two things here. First, “it is ok if things do not work for you”. Things will not always go in your favor and instead of getting depressed about it; one should accept it and work more to get it in your court. The second mantra for me is “speak through your inner self”. Everyone nowadays is affected by the outer world and no one knows what goes inside one’s self. It is very important to let that confident inner self of you speak to the outer world because at the end it will be you and your confidence that will either make it or break it. FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? NC: According to me, challenges are the only factor that drives you in thinking forward and helps you in getting the best out of you. As a functional analyst, the biggest challenge I face is making the developers understand the kind of functionality I want from the technology platform. Everyone has a different way of understanding and it really gets challenging at times when I wanted something else and the technology team comes out with different functionalities. This leads to a lot of wastage of time, work and resources. This is something that I feel is challenge and I put my efforts to address it from the root cause – as our lean philosophy talks about doing it Right First Time. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? NC: To be very honest, I am very happy with the opportunities that Faber Infinite is providing. It is helping me develop my skills and grow at the same time. I am happy with the things just as they are. FI: How has FICS helped you in your career development? NC: When I completed my MBA, I started working in the HR domain. But lately, I realized that I had more interest in research and analytics. So I decided to work in analytics and technology domain. Since then, Faber Infinite gave me the opportunities in my career that I was looking for. I have seen exponential growth in my career graph. The journey has just started and I hope to grow and learn more with Faber Infinite in time to come. FI: What do you like most about Faber Infinite? NC: Culture! Faber Infinite has a very friendly culture and everyone at the workplace is very friendly and supportive. The management is also very appreciative. They listen to you and your suggestions and always motivate you to voice your opinions. Such kind of environment helps one in growing and becoming more confident and that is something I like the most about Faber Infinite. FI: Tell us something which we do not know about you NC: To answer this, I would like to share my funda or modus operandi. I am a very spiritual person and I believe that spirituality helps you in every turn of your life. Talking about spirituality and my professional life, it helps me to keep complete involvement in my work because I believe it is my devotion and dedication towards anything that I do. Second thing, it is my faith in God that gives me enough confidence to challenge
- [Building Excellence in Pharmaceutical Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-pharmaceutical-industry/): The pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries of the world which highly focuses on quality and effective systems. Achieving excellence along with continual and sustainable development is very important in this industry to be competent. In this edition of our newsletter, we bring you one such tale from the pharmaceutical industry, when an organization tackled all the challenges and has been moving on the path of excellence. Mr. Sanjay Jain – EVP (Operations) for Amneal Pharmaceuticals shared his views on the generic pharma industry and how progressive organizations from the pharma sector have been working towards continual improvement and organizational transformation. Below is an excerpt from the interview. Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about the global generics pharma market in the world? Mr. Sanjay Kumar Jain (SKJ): Generic pharma market is growing across the world and there are many reasons contributing to it. The population is growing old and everyone wants to live a healthy long life. With the changing lifestyle/food habits, the diseases have increased; be it obesity or diabetes. Moreover, the improvement in the per capita income of the people has also made the drugs more accessible for the people. These are the few main reasons why we are witnessing such growth in the pharma industry. With the current growth rate, we expect the total pharma industry to be around USD 1.12 trillion by 2022. (source: https://www.business-standard.com) FI: Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? SKJ: The pharmaceutical industry is a highly regulated industry since we are dealing with the medicines and hence safety, quality is given the highest priority. A unique industry challenge, I see is, for companies to sustain the regulatory compliance and meeting expectations of various gatekeepers like FDA and other authorities while exporting goods to USA, Europe or regulated markets. Another challenge, which I see, is the competition among the generic medicine manufacturers. This is also impacting spent on R&D by the pharma companies. Research and development are essential for the future growth of any pharmaceutical organization to develop complex products and invent new molecular entities. FI: Right sir! Moving ahead, progressive organizations in the pharmaceutical industry are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is it that differentiates these organizations from others? SKJ: Progressive organizations have defined a vision to achieve their growth targets and goals which they set for a certain period. What I see is that they heavily invest in R&D for the development of more complex generic products and the niche products that will take them to another level in the coming years. They have clear strategies for the regulatory filing of the newer products to avail the sales exclusivity, specifically in the US markets. The most important thing is maintaining the robust quality systems and satisfy the regulators during the audits with respect to compliance which happen regularly. Manufacturing quality products at a very cost-efficient price for the customers to win their confidence and loyalty. Such factors make these organizations more competent and more efficient in their progress and future growth. FI: We would love if you could share some success stories of the transformation journey you were a part of. SKJ: In recent past when I have seen regulatory sanction on some of the pharma companies in the industry like warning letter, import alert etc because of poor quality systems and a few data integrity issues. These occurrences inspired my team to implement high-quality standards at pharma manufacturing sites where the systems are quality and compliance driven. The auditor should be happy and satisfied when he/she sees reviews the systems. In Amneal, I have faced multiple US FDA inspections in the last six years and our audits were concluded without any non-compliance or minor observations in all these inspections. It gives a lot of confidence when the auditor audits you, challenges you on every aspect and is satisfied with the compliance level. I am proud to be a part of such organization. FI: That’s wonderful sir! It definitely is a feat. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the organizational transformation journeys you were part of. SKJ: Faber founders are very young, energetic, knowledgeable and experienced people and when we met them we knew that they are going to add value to our organization as consultants. Team Faber Infinite organized multiple workshops, training sessions for the employees, closely monitored every process, creating milestones and helped us to reduce throughput and cycle time… and save capital for the organization. Not only that, the entire interaction with our employees has helped us in bringing value to our organization and to the stakeholders, with increased employee accountability and ownership. I really appreciate Faber Infinite for their role and help in our transformation journey. We sincerely thank Mr. Sanjay Kumar Jain and team Amneal Pharmaceuticals for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Everyone matters](https://faberinfinite.com/everyone-matters/): Continual improvement is something that is desired by every organization in the contemporary industrial world and every organization has implemented some tools and techniques to achieve it. It is an organized and systematic method to identify the opportunities and structure the work processes in a manner that reduces waste as well as benefits the organizations. With the growing competition, the need for continual improvement has increased manifold and it has become a quintessential part of the organizational development process. Many people start with the continual improvement journey but forget the main constituent i.e. the people involved in the entire process and ultimately fail in getting the desired results and numbers. Ideas and small changes For any organization to have a successful continuous improvement process, it is very important to have the entire team involved in it who actively participates in the process and believes in the organization to help them in achieving the desired results. Moreover, people have to understand that continuous improvement is not something which can be achieved only by bringing very drastic changes in the work process and organizational culture. It is something that starts with small changes in the organizations that are actually creating large roadblocks in achieving it. These small changes can produce impressive results for the organization and can have a very positive influence on the organization and its work culture. Everyone involved matters! Continual improvement can only be driven towards success if it involves every concerned soul in the organization. Everyone needs to pitch in ideas and actively provide inputs to leadership about the required changes that can improve or purify the processes of mistakes and uncertainty. Every soul in the organization is an important asset to the organization and every idea that comes into light can do wonders for the organization and its work culture. Moreover, it will also impose the sense of belongingness in the employees’ minds and will ultimately encourage and motivate them to do things in a better and more efficient manner to collectively achieve organization’s objectives. Any transformation journey impacts various departments and controls of the organizations and the people involved or working in those departments. Hence, it becomes quintessential for the organizations to include everyone and garner an all-round support for the organizational transformation. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped hundreds of clients across industries and geographies in achieving continual improvement and in sustaining it. Our structured and formulated Organizational Transformation Framework© impacts the tiniest corners of every organization and rectifies in the desired time period so that the organization can garner the most optimum results. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com   Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Want to drive successful transformation? Start with this simple habit.](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-drive-successful-transformation-start-with-this-simple-habit/): Transformation journey is a journey of changes. A path which is not easy to drive yet once you drive to the final stage, the results are wonderful. You might have heard about many organizations have started working on transformation journeys. But there are very few organizations that make through the journey. Are you also planning to begin with the transformation journey or already on board? Want to know what right these other organizations are doing to make through the transformation? Start with this simple habit! Priortize well, apply PARETO principles: The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. PARETO’s principle serves as a general reminder that the relationship between the inputs and the outputs are not balanced. For example, if you can figure out which 20% of your time produces 80% of your results then you can spend more time on those activities and less time on the other non-value adding activities. Similarly, by analyzing the characteristics of the top 20% of your customers who represent 80% of your business, you can find more clients like them and thus increase business Hence, one must understand and prioritize the challenges, solving which will help the organization in the long run. Pareto principle can help in several ways. Say, we take example of improving profitability, which entices many. It is almost a common scenario in any business that approximately 20% of your sales efforts (team, products/ services, geographies, etc) produce 80% of your revenues. Depending on your business objective, the Pareto Principle can be used to determine whether you need to focus your effort and resources on the 20% of sales efforts, that get most of your business to further sharpen the 20% efforts or to focus on the 80% of other sales efforts which are struggling to bring business. Next on the operations front, if we look at identifying and fixing issues – A Pareto analysis can be useful method for prioritizing problems so that you can determine which issues have the greatest impact on the outcome of a given situation. This not only allows you to identify the problems, but it also allows you to take corrective actions to resolve the most important problems affecting your business. Therefore, one should not begin with the transformation journey without well-defined goals and roadmap. For eg If we talk about Five S, rolling out “sorting” all the times does not mean that one is leading towards continual improvement. Sorting is just one of the steps. If one follows, all the steps of Five S at right situation, then one can reap real benefits of the Five S process. Hence, don’t just do things with partial impact and without prioritizing. It may lead to sub optimal results. First, understand what you are planning to do, go through its process, plan how to implement, analyze and implement it thorough for delivering the desired results. Team Faber Infinite has been helping organizations in their transformation journey using their unique Organizational Transformation Framework©. We have worked with clients across sectors and geographies and delivered exponential results at the client site. To know more about our offerings contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal &  Faber Mayuri.
- [Resolve conflicts and build trust to have strong leadership teams](https://faberinfinite.com/resolve-conflicts-and-build-trust-to-have-strong-leadership-teams/): The global business environment is constantly changing and it has now become essential for the companies to anticipate it and bring the required changes in their work and culture in order to remain competitive and profitable. Leadership teams play a very crucial role in keeping the company productive and it is very important for any organization to have efficient and intellectual leadership teams. To build profound teams, it is important that the organizations pay special attention to trust and conflict resolution and align them around the mutual goals to gain the maximum benefits. Trust and Vulnerability In any organization, it is usually found that every team performs in a different manner and comes with varying outputs. In a research conducted by a group of psychologists, it was found that the reason behind this varying success of teams is largely dependent on how stronger the bond is between the team members and how they treat each other. In simple terms, teams that had members who trusted each other based on their vulnerability were found to be more successful than the others. It is important for any organization to culture the sense of comfort among the team members while being vulnerable with each other. Below are the three factors that can help the organization in building trust among the team members – Communication methodology and style Individual histories Work methodology and culture Healthy conflicts and their benefits Many a times, organizations feel very uneasy just by the thought of conflicts. Obviously, one can’t eliminate conflicts from the workspace entirely but can make use of the healthy conflicts that arise the in the working processes of any organization. Disagreements are bound to arise in a team since every human being thinks in a different manner and has its own perspective. Such conflicts can help the organizations in developing new ideas and concepts and in full-proofing their working environment. Although, one should be able to differentiate between disagreements and personal attacks and it should be avoided at all costs. Healthy conflicts should also need to be resolved quickly in order to have a smooth flow of work in progress and also to enable a better communication between the team members that will ultimately benefit the organization and will improve its productivity and profitability. Leadership teams play a very important role in garnering the organizational development and executing the transformation journey. Resolving conflicts and building trust are the two most important keys in optimizing the working culture of an organization and subsequently have a profound leadership team. It will also help you in increasing the engagement at the workplace and building a positive and enriching environment at the same time. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Friday Fact- Every Feedback Counts.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-every-feedback-counts/): Can you imagine a car being allergic to the Vanilla ice-cream? The General Motors Pontiac was into making extraordinary rides. So extraordinary that it happened to not to let its owner carry a parcel of vanilla ice-cream back home. You must be wondering why would a car do so? One fine day, the Pontiac car division of General Motors received a complaint from one of its customers, saying that “My Pontiac car doesn’t like vanilla ice-cream.” But the complaint seemed too funny to be to be taken seriously. The customer knew this, which is why he decided to rewrite the complaint. In the complaint, the customer shared his story with General Motors. There was a tradition in the customer’s family where each night after family dinner, they would vote and decide which ice-cream to eat. Once they decided the men would go and buy the ice-cream. It was all going fine till the customer purchased the Pontiac. After the customer bought Pontiac he observed a weird scenario. Every time that he got Vanilla ice cream, the car just would not start once the man would get the parcel.  This was not the case for any other ice cream. For all the other flavors the customer could get the ice-cream home. After this was brought to the notice of General Motors, the company felt the need to check for the cause. The company decided to send an engineer to get it solved. The engineer would accompany the customer to buy ice cream every night. And to the engineer’s surprise, the complaint turned out to be true. When the engineer got vanilla ice-cream, the car did not start. There was nothing left unchecked – the gas used, the car model, the time it took to drive back and forth. Finally, one fine day, the engineer realized that it took the man a lot longer to buy other flavors of ice-cream. Vanilla being the fast running item it was stored in front of the store, so it took lesser time to get vanilla flavor compared to other flavors. And this was just the clue the engineer needed. The answer was vapor lock! Because of the car stopping and starting in a short while, fuel would turn to vapor and couldn’t move through the system thus causing the engine to die. Because vanilla ice-cream took little time to buy, the engine didn’t have time to cool down. And so, the mystery was solved. You see every feedback counts. Do not take your customers feedback lightly. You never know what kind of mysterious problem it might solve and help you to improve your products or services.   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Why your Operational Excellence Journey is going Wrong?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-your-operational-excellence-journey-is-going-wrong/): You might have heard about Operational Excellence quite a lot of times. Hearing it opens up the ways how you can cut costs and increase profits. Just because it talks about cost-cutting and increasing profit many organizations might find it lucrative. But that should not be the case.  Let us look at a few points you should keep under your consideration before beginning with your Operational excellence journey. These points will help understand Operational Excellence better and thus reap greener results for your organization: Do not follow the crowd: Many times people think of starting operational excellence just because it’s highly in trend and every company around is using it. But in such cases, organizations often do not have the required knowledge, expertise and resources to begin and thus do not get desired results with Operational Excellence (OE). In such cases, before beginning with the OE, you must obtain all the knowledge about it. You should understand the need, how long it will take to give the desired results, how will it help your organization, etc. Before beginning with any new thing, first know and understand its cause and effect. Do not take it as a burden: Many a time’s organizations begin with the OE journey but afterwards they feel as it is just a collection of tools and a burden to their regular routine. No, it is not. Operational excellence is not just the collection of the tools, rather than that it’s more of a culture. Operational Excellence initiatives should come from and be embraced by everyone in the organization. No matter what is his or her education, skills, expertise and position in the company. Higher OE expertise: Many organizations believe that having just a few of the internal employees with some knowledge of OE is enough to begin with the OE. But it’s not true. The knowledge of those people might help you once the journey has begun but does not help you to begin and sustain the journey. Only the skilled and experts can correctly help you with your OE journey implementation. No one else. Pay attention to the bottom level: Organisations mainly follow the top-down flow of command. It mostly pays very little or no attention to its bottom level. But you need to understand that bottom level is key to success for your OE journey. They are the actual implementers. If you do not listen to what’s coming up from there or ignore it, you might never succeed. OE is something that will need 100% participation from all the levels of the organization. Hence, keep all the levels engaged and involved in the OE journey. It’s a journey: Companies many a time implement a few operational excellence tools and methodologies and consider it as the end of the OE process. But, Operational Excellence is a journey without the destination. If you truly want to be successful in your OE journey, your organization and your people will have to take time to challenge the status quo. It is surely difficult in a fast-changing world, but it is mandatory if you want good results from your Operational Excellence efforts. Hence, Team Faber Infinite has been helping organizations in the operational excellence journey. We have worked with clients across sectors and geographies and helping them in their operational excellence journey. To know more about our offerings contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Struggling to Stay in the Air?](https://faberinfinite.com/struggling-to-stay-in-the-air/): One of India’s oldest privately-owned airline is struggling to stay in the air. Since some time the airline has been giving one bad news after another. First, there were news about the airlines cutting cost by trimming employee salaries by 25%. Then they deferred to release the financial results and now the decision of the civil aviation ministry to audit the company. All these started after the airline reported huge losses due to high fuel prices and a weak rupee. However, the CEO of this airlines recently quoted that there are various transformation initiatives that have been identified and are being implemented. The airline is confident that the implementation of the transformation initiatives will help them to address the current problems. They have recently quoted that some of the transformation initiatives are already delivering positive and favorable results. The airlines have been working to achieve greater operational efficiency. They are implementing a host of measures to optimize costs and increase revenue while retaining focus on clients. But the bigger question is, what is the right time to work on transformation initiatives? The answer is, there is no right or wrong time. Any organization should always strive to improve and work on different transformation initiatives to remain effective and efficient. Transformation initiatives are like a marathon race they demand persistence and speed; it is just that, there is no finishing line. It is a journey without any end. It is a known fact that most of the employees resist change. Research suggests that 90% of the change initiatives fail due to employee resistance. Organisations have to find the right place to minimize the resistance. One can not be too fast for the employees to accept change and too slow that it becomes boring for the employees involved. Transformation should be a continuous process. It should not happen that when there are problems in the organization then you go for such initiatives. Team Faber Infinite has been working on transformation journeys with organizations across industries. We have been helping organizations to excel and perform right things in the right manner at the right time. We have been helping organizations in designing and implementing the transformation initiatives to become more effective, efficient and agile. We have been helping our clients to build successful organizations, always striving for excellence, by establishing a culture of continual improvement; in order to transform. To know more about our offerings and service contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay, Faber Mayuri & Faber Jalay.
- [Business Lessons from Mother Nature](https://faberinfinite.com/business-lessons-from-mother-nature/): We all have faced a certain period when we feel upset and everything feels to be going wrong. And then a walk into the lap of nature makes us feel a lot better – relaxed and composed. Great scientist Albert Einstein once said, “Just look deep into mother nature and then you will understand things better”. We completely agree with this and almost all of us have felt the soothing hand of nature sometime in our life. Well! Businesses can also work in the same manner and looking and understanding the nature will help you a lot in accelerating the growth of the organization as well as make it more efficient and competent. Below are four business lessons mother nature teaches us in order to have a substantial growth and development. Evolve or else you will be eliminated Times are bound to change and sometimes it will get tough and formidable. In such times, one must understand that there is no way one can carry deadweight with them. One must adapt the circumstances as it is and must evolve to excel and grow in the tough times. Questioning yourself is one of the great methods how you can evaluate yourself and then implement policies to bring change. Moreover, create a more sustainable work culture that will not only help you grow but will also allow you to explore different dimensions of your business You can only grow by performance Fitness drives performance and it is one of the major factor nature takes into consideration and no matter if you are a tiger or a giraffe, if you are not fit, you will never grow. This teaches us a very important lesson that can be used by one in grabbing opportunities and growing businesses. Leadership of any organization should be very clear and focused with the promotion mechanism and should promote people only based on their performances. Factors like gender, caste, religion etc. should always be avoided while promotions. Produce less waste The hard-toxic wastes which we see around nowadays are a result of the human actions. If one will look in the nature, one will find that nature produces very or almost no waste that harms the cycle of biodiversity and utilizes everything to grow and develop. In similar manner, one should work towards reducing the amount of waste produced at the workplace. Even small steps such as utilizing the paper efficiently can help one in making a big difference in terms of wastes. Survival is the topmost priority Survival is the most important thing one should keep in mind and just like every other organism; you should also do everything that can ensure survival in the toughest times. Working hard is the primary method to ensure your business’ survival. You must be focused and dedicated to have a sustainable and growing business. Nature is the greatest teacher and it keeps communicating with us in different ways. It is very important for us to trust, observe and learn from mother nature. One must remember the fact that nature has the solution to every problem, it is just a matter of perspective and objectivity. Written and Compiled by  Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Are you looking for accelerated growth?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-looking-for-accelerated-growth/): Accelerated organizational growth and development is something every organization desires very dearly and constantly make efforts to achieve it. However, very few people know that accelerated growth can’t be just achieved by plain implementation of tools in a random manner. It requires a structured implementation of framework and a core module that will guide the growth process along with helping the organization in sustaining it. About the webinar Team Faber Infinite, Global Management Consulting Firm recently conducted a webinar on ‘Why a coach is required for accelerated growth in an organization?’ Our guest speaker Mr. Jalay Pandya, one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Creative Solutions enlightened our viewers on this topic and shared some valuable insights to help them achieve the desired growth rate. Moreover, he also focused on how to formulate the entire journey in order to have efficient and more productive methodologies ingrained into the working culture to boost the growth processes. Consultants, Coaches and Accelerated growth Many people misunderstand consultants and coaches as the same person which is not at all true. Consultant who will help you identify the issues and  will tell you the probable solutions for your problems while coach is one step ahead of consultants. Coach not only will come in and tell you about what is going wrong but will also hold your hands and will walk you through the entire processes and will ensure that the problems do not repeat in the future. For an accelerated growth in this competitive modern industrial era, it is very important for the organizations to have a coach beside themselves who will help them in turning around the things for the good. The need of a coach intensifies for an accelerated growth in today’s era because a coach will help you in almost everything, be it taking risks, pushing yourselves or most importantly in changing the mindsets of the people. They will guide and motivate you and will help the organizations believe in themselves and in their potential. The webinar talks about many such things which signify the vitality of a coach in an organization aspiring exponential growth. A coach in an organization is similar to the breathing process in an individual – both helps us survive and stay competent. To view the entire webinar and know more about the importance of a coach in an organization for accelerated growth, view the full webinar at; Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- Invented by mistake.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-invented-by-mistakes/): Do you know the Post-It notes that you use, was invented by-mistake almost 5 decades back? Can you imagine, the invention was a solution without a problem? Yes, in 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a chemist at 3M Company was trying to invent a super-strong adhesive. Instead, he ended up inventing a unique, low-tack adhesive that would stick to things but also could be repositioned multiple times. As the invention was a solution without a problem, Mr Silver had to promote his invention within his company- 3M itself through both informal as well as formal ways like a seminar. Until the time he finally got to sell that to one of his colleague – Art Fry in 1974. He used to sing in his church choir. He was frustrated because of the bookmarks he used to mark his place in his hymnal which kept falling out. Which made him buy this right after the seminar. No application for the lightly sticky stuff was apparent until Fry’s idea. The 3M company was initially skeptical about the product’s profitability, but in 1980, the product was introduced across the world. Today, Post-it notes are sold in each and every part of the world. As per Einstein “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” As you can see, not every mistake is wrong or bad. Sometimes mistakes also open up completely new and unseen pathways for you. So, do not fear the change, do not follow the same routine. Adapt new things and change the ways for opening up to something amazing and unseen. Although everyone knows Post-It notes as an amazing success story, what they forgot is that it took more than a decade for the product to finally get the internal support to reach its target market. Sometimes, you just need a passionate and dedicated team who really see the value in something to keep pushing, delivering and improving a product until they find a way that shows the right value for it to become a success.   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Empowering the Forging Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/train-to-empower-and-excel/): Employees are the backbone of any organization and it is the employees that take the organization forward and contribute in its development and growth. Forging industry is one of the growing industries in the 21st century and has shown immense potential and opportunities for growth and development. In an industry such as forging industry, it is very important for the organizations to have trained and skilled employees in order to maximize their productivity, profitability and competence. Team Faber Infinite Management Consulting Firm recently has been invited by one of our clients, who happens to be one of the leaders in the forging industry, for building competitiveness. The idea of the engagement is to build “Operational Excellence for Business Excellence” by strengthening key leaders of various functions including the President of the organization. Below are some of the glimpses of the workshop. Objective of the workshop To create awareness among the employees regarding Business Excellence To make the employees aware about how to enhance profit using operational excellence To make the participants of the workshop aware of the different tools and techniques of operational excellence. The workshop enlightened the participants about the various aspects of the Operational Excellence and shed light on various techniques that will ultimately add value to the business of the organization. It also made the audience aware of how Operational Excellence is the need of the hour and can change the course of the journey of the organization. Team Faber Infinite Consulting inputs has been appreciated by the entire batch and the participants felt extremely confident and motivated for Operational Excellence, its tools and techniques and related aspects. President of the organization along with the team was delighted by the outcome of the workshop. In his words, “I should thank you for very nice presentation in such a short, simple and clear manner. I have undergone many pieces of training workshops but your way of presenting the content was EXCELLENT!” Modern times have changed and so has the need for the tools and techniques that will assist the organizations in achieving their goals and targets. In such situations, it is very important for the organizations to train their employees in order to imbibe in them the required skill set needed to excel in their work and fields. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has helped many organizations across industries by training more than 50,000 people. We are constantly devoted to help organizations achieve and sustain continual development. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Organization Culture – The vital success theory](https://faberinfinite.com/organization-culture-the-vital-success-theory/): Culture of an organization defines the potential and capabilities of an organization to innovate and improve. It plays a crucial role in keeping the flow of the organization and its work. Culture of an organization acts as the core fundamentals that will direct and drive any process or system. Hence, it is very important for an organization to have a culture which supports and promote tools, techniques and ethics that will ultimately improve the company performance, productivity and profitability. In short, having a good culture is a proven theory to success. Moreover, it is not important for an organization to have an employee centric or a very friendly environment when it comes to good culture. In fact, an organization can rally a brutal culture for its employees as well. Culture. But why? The reason why culture is more of an important aspect for success rather than innovation, positioning, people or segmentation is that culture forms the DNA of the organization. If the DNA gets impacted or affected, no matter how efficient methods or advanced technologies you use, it will impossible for you to rectify the defect and move towards achieving excellence. This is how important the culture of an organization is. Let’s talk about strategy Simply put, strategy is a set of actions to be performed in a series to get desirable results and achieve targets. One can say that a lot depends on strategy as well and not on culture. But, what good is an excellent strategy if it cannot be supported by the culture of the organization. You can note down a strategy on a piece of paper but when it comes to culture, you must learn and polish it constantly to stay in the front. Any strategy no matter how well it is woven is completely dependent on the culture of the organization. And Branding… Branding plays a very important role in driving an organization towards success and generates more sales for the company. However, even branding is not independent of the organizational culture and depends extensively on it to do its job. In this case also, company culture plays a critical role in creating a brand by aligning the manufacturing processes with the marketing. Culture is an imperative factor that is hugely responsible for driving the organizational transformation and improves the efficiency of the processes of the organization. Moreover, it also showcases the approach with which an organization initiates any processes, be it any internal or organizational. It is key for the organizations to start focusing on their organization’s culture to thrive in the coming days and make the most of their resources and capital.   Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Can Lean and Innovation Work Together?](https://faberinfinite.com/can-lean-and-innovation-work-together/): Lean manufacturing has attracted many eyeballs lately and has proved to be a useful tool for the manufacturers to garner profits and increase their revenue. Lean tools and techniques not only help the leadership in achieving benefits at the top levels, but also helps them in benefitting at lower levels as well. Many companies across the world have ingrained lean manufacturing into their manufacturing processes and have managed to make their organizational culture more efficient and productive. However, many people might complain that lean manufacturing and innovation does not go hand in hand and they face a block in their creative and innovation part. In an ideal space, one would expect lean and innovation to align but it does not completely. However, many companies do manage to eliminate this tension between lean and creativity or innovation while some others may not. Innovation will need more resources and funds to be researched and evaluated if it will be sustained in the market and will result in profitable returns or not. Whereas, lean focuses on increasing the efficiency, quality and productivity of the manufacturing processes of an organization. It is here where organizations might feel a difficulty in innovating. However, one should be very clear that lean do no stop anyone from being creative or innovative. Innovative ideas can flow from anywhere if given the chance and opportunities. Also, the leadership should trust their employees and should always encourage them to use their talents and potential to the fullest to have optimum results. This may also result in organizations gathering some critical data for the innovation to live and stand through the competing markets of 21st century. Once the ideas and concept are finalized and worked upon, lean can again come into play. In fact, lean can a play a very crucial role in building the product line right from the bottom after the primitive stages of the process. It can help the product in gaining the right potential and to sustain the competitive advantage in the market. Lean can also help the organizations in identifying new markets for the product as well as improve the quality function for the product gradually. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions has been one of the leading supporters of lean tools and techniques in manufacturing and has helped various clients in different industries across regions to utilize lean tools and keep innovating at the same time. With the structured modules, we make sure that every manufacturing facility makes the most optimum use of their resources and talents on hand to have a better productivity and profitability. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com   Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [One more from Taiichi Ohno](https://faberinfinite.com/one-more-from-taiichi-ohno/): Image source: https://history-biography.com Do you know that in 1970’s the Western world was disturbed by the Japanese manufacturers? The Japanese had captured a substantial share of the US market and were offering products that even the domestic manufacturers were not able to match. People began to ask – What is it that the Japanese are doing right? Can we implement it? Initially, everyone thought it was the Japanese culture — attention to details, team goals come before individual goals, order, neatness etc. But gradually they understood that it was a new approach to manufacturing – Just in Time. Just In Time is originated from Japan and was invented by Kiichiro Toyoda and Taiicho Ohno in the year 1950. JIT is based on the Kanban System; a logistical process by which signals are issued by using colored cards, signs, flags or lights.  Two main components of JIT philosophy are planning elimination of all waste and continuous improvement of productivity. Faber Infinite has been helping clients deliver phenomenal results using JIT, are you using it? Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri.
- [We Can Do It](https://faberinfinite.com/we-can-do-it/): Change management processes are quintessential in driving the organization towards their goals and targets in the evolving times of 21
- [Transform – Go Beyond Your Form](https://faberinfinite.com/transform-go-beyond-your-form/): We are in 21st century and it has gradually become one of the most competitive and tough times to compete in the market and sustain your place. Manufacturers nowadays face various problems and difficulties in sustaining their growth in this constantly changing industrial world. Operational Excellence is the key to tackle such obstacles in the present era. However, operational excellence alone in the production processes will not be able to change the course of the organizational journey altogether. For a complete deviation towards excellence, organizations must start changing themselves right from the bottom, from their work culture and lean manufacturing does the same! It changes the maintenance and operations processes from a reactive center to a proactive aspect in the manufacturing process thus ultimately increasing efficiency and productivity. How to sustain the cultural change? Ingrain pro-activity in status quo To sustain the cultural change, one should start changing their mentality and thinking processes about maintenance and operations. One should be proactive in the maintenance processes and should anticipate it rather than waiting for the scheduled maintenance or for the machine to breakdown before turning an eye to it. Move around and see Lean manufacturing is a collective effort and should be assessed by everyone. Moreover, one should go out and analyze the processes, systems and controls to find the root cause of the problem and create a counter plan to eliminate it from the manufacturing processes. Maintenance and operations both need to go hand in hand to achieve balance in the processes. Continuous improvement Continuous improvement is not always a high costing process. Keeping the balance between maintenance and operations can also be achieved through data analysis. Data can assist the leadership in curating many frameworks that will ultimately add value in the product or to the customers. Small initiatives on individual levels can also inflict change in the working culture of the organization. Appreciation Teams managing operations and maintenance also play a crucial role in keeping the organizational processes aligned with the lean practices. Hence, it is very important to respect the team members and appreciate their efforts occasionally to keep them motivated and encourage them to do more and better. Take the team together Nothing can be done or achieved alone, and the leadership has to understand that. Teamwork can create wonders and push the organization to new heights. Taking the team together in every situation throughout the journey will not only help in achieving the desired goals and objectives but will also increase harmony between the team members which will ultimately add value to the organization. Change management processes are difficult to handle and sustain. Cultural change can play an influential role in creating as well as clearing the oath for the organizations to achieve excellence and attain continual and sustainable development. Organizations must shift themselves from being reactive to proactive to end their transformation journeys on a successful note. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [5 Myths of Operational Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/5-myths-of-operational-excellence/): Operational excellence is a proven methodology to provide support to the organizational framework initiatives. The objective is to achieve continual improvement and sustainable development. However, many a times, when the topic operational excellence is discussed, many misunderstand it. They consider it as another gimmick that will only add to their costs without adding any kind of value to the product served to the customers. To be honest, these myths need to be broken for the method to flourish the market and thus help organizations in achieving optimum results. In this blog, we will be discussing some of the most common myths related to operational excellence. Operational excellence is just another corporate propaganda Many people believe that operational excellence is just another corporate propaganda that looks good on paper but fails to provide results both on organizational as well as on individual level. However, this thinking is completely baseless. The proof can be taken from companies like General Motors who is expected to save more than $3 billion and witness a 20 percent revenue by 2020 because of operational excellence and related tools and strategies. Operational excellence is the solution to any problem Many people also believe that operational excellence is a cure all for the problems occurring in their organization. It is important for the companies to start with realistic goals. Starting off with very high and unrealistic goals will ultimately hurt their confidence and can also produce unfavorable results. Operational excellence depends largely on where it is started and on the driving force that pushes it throughout the system. Operational excellence is a costly methodology Any quality improvement strategy comes with a cost and so does operational excellence. But it is important to note it as an investment rather than expense to the organization. Many companies who are largely benefitted with operational excellence are those who implemented it with a distinct thought process than just costs. Operational excellence is only for large and bigger companies It is a total myth that operational excellence is only for large companies and will only benefit the companies with bigger contracts and manpower. Operational excellence and the consequent benefits can be achieved by any company with hard work, motivation, commitment and right strategy. Bigger companies might gain publicity for their operational excellence programs, but in reality it can be applied by everyone. Operational excellence only focuses on cutting costs Operational excellence is much more than just cutting costs. It has been quite evident from the above facts that companies save a lot on their expenses as a result of operational excellence. Operational excellence is more inclined towards improving efficiency and productivity rather than just sticking to costs. To be successful, you must get all-in with operational excellence and its tools and techniques. Team Faber Infinite has helped 150+ of clients in various industries across geographies in successfully implementing operational excellence processes and benefitting from it. With our structured framework, we have helped many clients in achieving excellence and attaining continual improvement and sustainable development. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Discover the truth behind 5 common myths of operational excellence. Don’t let misconceptions hold your business back. Fill out the form below to debunk the myths and unlock the path to operational excellence. Take action now and revolutionize your operations! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - Uncover the Hidden Inefficiencies](https://faberinfinite.com/uncover-the-hidden-inefficiencies/): Did you know, Jidoka has been helping organizations like Toyota build extra-ordinary quality since more than even 125 years before Industry 4.0? It was used in automated weaving machine by Japanese inventor Sakichi Toyoda. This was further developed by Toyota & then included in their production system. In Japanese Jidoka means, Building quality into the process or automation with a human touch. The main objective of Jidoka is to produce free of defects. Jidoka has different meaning with different aspects at different place/sector but ideally it was used with the principle- automation with a human touch. It was first ever used by Sakichi Toyoda in 1896 for a simple device that might stop the shuttle on an automatic Weaving Machine if its thread broke. This meant that it helped & prevented the machine from not only producing defects but also alerted in a way that one operator could now operate several Weaving Machines rather than have to stand there attending just one, in case something went wrong. This principle is known as Autonomation or automation with a human touch. Faber Infinite has been delivering phenomenal results using Jidoka, are you using it? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Lessons Learnt from High Performing Lean Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/lessons-learnt-from-high-performing-lean-teams/): Lean is the future and every organization should implement lean and its practices in their work culture to have higher productivity and profitability and simultaneously achieve the desired goals and targets. However, many might feel less informed or updated about the lean practices and might want to learn the key lessons that can help them in implementing the lean culture efficiently in their organization. This blog is for all such readers of ours as well as for them who have already implemented lean transformation journey and aim to enhance their journey and experience. Below is a list of five key lessons which we learn from high performing lean teams which will ultimately help you all. Lesson 1 – Gain support from an executive sponsor for your journey Adopting lean and its practices can consequently change the entire manufacturing philosophy and processes of an organization. Moreover, lean is a continuous process. It needs time and support for implementation and execution. Hence, it becomes very important for any organization implementing lean and its practices to garner support from an executive sponsor who will support the entire transformational journey. In a research study, it was revealed that more 69 percent of the lean teams achieved success by using executive sponsorship as one of the key tactics in the journey. Lesson 2 – Do not create a fuss about experience Experience can play a very crucial role in any lean journey. However, this does not mean that inexperience should be discouraged. In a study conducted by a group, it was found that 88 percent of the lean teams that were identified as beginners slowly made considerable progress that contributed to overall organizational growth and development. It is crucial to take the inexperienced along with the group and motivate them to achieve optimum results. Lesson 3 – Avoid being involved in everything. Instead be a master of one at least One is very likely to tend to implement various strategies in their lean journey right from the start. However, this is a very unorganized approach to start with the transformation journey. One should implement one strategy at once, introduce it to the team and work on perfecting it throughout its aspects ad core values. Once, a strategy is perfected, the team should then move ahead with another strategy and implement it. Lesson 4 – Keep the flow smooth The ultimate motive of lean and its journey is to add value and transport it to the consumers. It is every important for the leadership to keep the flow of value steady and enhance it whenever required to smoothen the consumer experience. Lesson 5 – Enjoy the journey It is very important for the team to enjoy the entire lean journey rather than stressing over about it. Being in sync with the process and being aware of the strategies involved in the process will automatically enhance the experience of the team and its members throughout the lean journey. You can achieve your goals only if you enjoy the process and are thoroughly into it. Every lean team has its own journey and needs different tools and strategies to achieve their goals and targets. One should be very precise with the methodology they use to achieve perfection in their lean journey and consequently excellence. Despite all the difference, every lean journey must have the above given characteristics to have a clearer path and subtle journey that can help the organization develop and grow exponentially. Team Faber has been helping organizations across regions and sectors in their transformation journey. For further details contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Produce Momentum Towards Success](https://faberinfinite.com/produce-momentum-towards-success/): Change is the need of the hour and it is really important for every organization to carry out change management processes in an efficient manner throughout the transformational journey in order to have optimum results. Although, many change management agents and leadership of the organization implementing change management processes might face difficulty in creating a smooth flow of the change management processes and maintaining the momentum. Maintaining the momentum is crucial in any change management process since it provides stability to the organization’s change management processes and adds value in the end product. Below are some of the key rules that will help you in maintaining the momentum of the change management process in your organization. Be open to accept new allies. They will help you in unexpected ways You should be open to accepting new allies and their feedbacks in order to build momentum throughout your change management process. Your allies can be present in anywhere at any unexpected place. It may be someone opposing your decisions that might have come up with a very apt and efficient suggestion. Such people will add value to your journey and will assist you in achieving excellence in your change management journey. Do not ignore the opposition instead pay attention to motivating them Opposition will help in molding your change management journey for the better. Moreover, any change management process needs to be supported by all the levels in order to have a holistic approach towards any problem and consequently for an effective solution. The opposition will help you in finding out the mistakes that might impact the overall health of the change management journey. They are bound to criticize you, but it is your responsibility to take them along with you in order to have a optimized and effective change management journey. Make agreement with the fact that everything will not go the way you want to Every now and then there will be some aspects or people which will be out of your reach and capabilities. It is then, when you need to realize this fact that and stop spending your resources and time. There will be people who will not be happy with whatever you do and despite your efforts; you might have to part ways with such people. It is important to do that since it will help you in focusing on the transformation journey as well as remove the excess burden of resources. Moreover, during your transformation journey, you need to be open to question and challenges and should constantly analyze yourself as well with below questions Am I open enough to accept new allies that can benefit me? Am I constantly listening to my opposition and motivating them to be a part of the journey? Am I ok with the fact that I might not be able to win everyone? These questions in the above concept will help you in keeping your change management process in check and in maintaining the flow of the journey. Furthermore, it is the momentum that will help you in establishing the change tools effectively to achieve optimum results and will constantly push you towards achieving continual and sustainable development. Team Faber Infinite has been helping clients across industries and geographies to keep the momentum through the transformation journey using Systematic Audit and Improvement Loop (SAIL) and Daily Work Management (DWM). There have been exceptional results that we have delivered through such transformation journeys at the client site. For more details contact at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Sustainability is much more than what most understand!](https://faberinfinite.com/sustainability-is-much-more-than-what-most-understand/): Sustainability is the growing trend in the modern industrial world which has been constantly assisting managements of various organizations in achieving financial independence as well as efficient management of resources. However, there are certain companies that face challenges in implementing the sustainability strategies in the business and work culture and are unable to optimize it accordingly. Many organizations have various tools and strategies integrated in their systems to analyze their drive and analyze their financial performances and very few companies ingrain sustainability processes to analyze their non-financial and social impact data of company. The main reason can be assessed as the failure and unawareness in the corporate about sustainability and its relative aspects. The first and foremost reason on which the success of sustainability depends is that sustainability process should be independent from any other processes involved in the work culture of the organization. Keeping it independent helps the process in providing crucial analysis of data to the organization which further supports the decision-making process for the leadership of the organization. One must understand that sustainability is not just a collection of feel good initiatives that will clean the image of the organization along with imbibing a culture of society-friendliness in the minds of team members and employees. Instead, it is the collective efforts that will push forward the company in keeping the changes occurring in the processes and work culture balanced thus, creating a harmony between usage of resources, investments and technological developments. There are various benefits of applying sustainability tools in the organizational framework the most important of them is that it benefits the organization in terms of comprehensive and effective decision making that impacts the overall health of the organization. Moreover, it also helps in benchmarking of processes and control by the means of keeping regular track of the processes and then comparing it with the peers’ data. Sustainability processes might have a very basic start in the process of data keeping. However, with increase in the time duration of the implementation of the sustainability process, the need to have a real-time collection of data increases exponentially. Keeping a balanced track of data that is updated in every sequential interval is the key in keeping the sustainability process abridge of the obstacles and problems that might occur in the change management processes. Along with this, in the final stages of sustainability, the framework the company produces for the reporting part will not only showcase the initiatives but will also help the leadership in aligning the organizational strategies with the sustainability processes. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Not just skill, build attitude as well.](https://faberinfinite.com/build-attitude-and-not-skills/): Employee Training is essential to the success of any and every organization. It helps employees to build skills and competencies required to improve top line & bottom-line results for the organization. Faber Infinite offers a broad range of training programs that are well received by today’s most demanding organizations. Here we are sharing glimpses of another two-day training session on ‘Foundations of Lean and Business Excellence’ conducted by Faber Infinite at world’s leading manufacturer of airplanes and trains. The client has been doing exceptional work in the domain of Operational Excellence (Lean) and took assistance to conduct training for its team of young leaders on the culture of lean management / continual improvement and business excellence. The two-day training was a combination of interactive tutorials, team/group work, simulation games, team building exercises that assisted the participants in experiential learning. In this globally competitive environment, where Business Excellence is the only way to grow and sustain in the market, organizations appreciate the importance of Business Excellence and Lean principles and are training their young leaders. Team Faber infinite unlocks the concept of achieving world-class performance and implementing steps in Continual Improvement / Lean Journey and help organizations emerge stronger. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Be Lean - Emerge Stronger !](https://faberinfinite.com/be-lean-emerge-stronger/): SMEs are the backbone of any country’s economy. In a study done by an international research organization, SMEs constitute more than 50 percent of the global employment and 90 percent of the global trade and commerce. The development and growth of SMEs play an influential factor in the global economy and any country’s GDP. Lean and related practices can contribute drastically towards this objective especially on the financial side. Many people believe that lean and its practices are more suitable for big corporates and companies in the manufacturing sector. However, it is a myth! Lean and its tools and techniques can ring a drastic change in SMEs as well. In fact, with lean, SMEs can fathom big opportunities that will ultimately add to the growth of the company and involved team members and individuals. LEAN transformations and its results in terms of financial performance in SMEs The majority of managers of SMEs come out to be very firm and rigid on their stand to avoid lean and its practices in their organization and work culture. However, in a research, it was found that SMEs practicing lean practices outperform their competitors by a pretty huge margin. The research was analyzed on the below two factors – EBITDA (Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) ROIC (Return On Investment Capital) The research concluded that though the non-lean practicing companies perform better than lean practicing companies in the first couple of years, the lean companies heavily outperform their competitors after the first three years of practicing lean. It was noted that EBITDA margins improved from 11 percent after three years to 50 percent after seven years. Also, ROIC improved from 4 percent in the first year to 148 percent after the seventh year. There is always a time lag between the adaption of the lean manufacturing practices and the financial performance improvements of the organization. Two main reasons for this time lag are as follows: Operational Issues– The initial negative effects and operational difficulties that the lean practices might have on business processes include layout changes in the plant, redefining the work standards, changes in the production planning and other processes etc. Financial issues – Lean transformation journey starts with the objective of waste elimination and reduction in the variability of the processes. This might have financial impacts like the freed-up resources might be used for other processes but not in reality due to resistance by the employees and technology constraints. In any case, the impact of lean and other improvement initiatives is not immediate on the balance state and the profit and loss statement of the organization. However, it becomes visible over a period. The impact depends on other factors like strategic decisions by the management, engagement of the employees in the transformation journey and the sustainability initiatives by the organization. Lean and its practices are known to create opportunities for the organizations. It has been observed that lean creates a positive impact on the income statements that define the financial activities of any organization in any sector or industry. It ponders growth and development and can assist the organizations in creating a more optimized and suitable environment for their operations. So let us make lean a habit and build muscles of the organization and burn fats (non-value adding activities) and emerge stronger than yesterday. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped various SMEs across different industries in various regions in implementing lean and its practices efficiently and ultimately improving on their processes and controls thus benefitting financially. Moreover, we have also assisted organizations in maximizing the output from such practices thus moving forward towards continual and sustainable development. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Design of Experiments](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-design-of-experiments/): Did you know that Design Of Experiments started in 1747, where while serving as surgeon on HMS Salisbury, James Lind conducted out a systematic clinical trial to compare medications for scurvy. This methodology for design of experiments was again proposed by Ronald Fisher, in his books: The Arrangement of Field Experiments (1926) and The Design of Experiments (1935). Much of his revolutionary work dealt with agricultural applications of statistical methods. Design of experiments (DOE) is an approach used in numerous industries for conducting experiments to develop new products and processes faster, and to improve existing products and processes. When applied correctly, it can decrease time to market, decrease development and production costs, and improve quality and reliability. Design of Experiments, a very powerful method for determining cause and effect relationships. One of the most powerful tools in the lean six sigma toolkit. Team Faber Infinite has been successfully using this tool in engineering, textiles, commercial farms and many more industries to eliminate errors and improve yield. This tool has been successfully delivering results since 1747, are you benefiting from it?
- [Faber Partners with CII for Defence Conclave-2018](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-partners-with-cii-for-defence-conclave-2018/): Around a week back, India celebrated its 72nd Independence Day. Freedom that has been achieved after struggling for it. India has been thrice in war with its neighbouring nations in these 72 years of independence and the defence forces of the country have always protected its territory. Defence and aerospace are two industrial sectors with very high importance in the security as well as the economy of any nation. The development of these two sectors is vital for a country’s growth and development. Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) recently organized a defence conclave which focused n the development and growth of the defence and aerospace industry to make the country self-dependent and strong at the same time. The event was supported by Faber Infinite Creative Solutions as the knowledge partner. Current Indian Defence and Aerospace scenario Defence – Defence is one of the most important strategic sector for India. Interestingly, India has the second largest army on the entire world and hence it becomes very important for the nation to be very active in this sector to comply with the demands of the nation’s defence forces and ultimately become self-dependent in the defence sector. Currently, India spends more than $3.5 billion to support its armed forces. Out of this, 70 percent of the defence hardware is usually imported from countries like Israel, Russia, Japan and United States of America. Aerospace – With a population of more than 1.25 billion, India is no doubt one of the largest markets in the entire world when it comes to aerospace industry. Indian aerospace is the fastest growing sector and is likely to become the third largest by 2020 if it continues to grow at the same rate. About Defence Conclave 2018 India possesses immense potential in the defence and aerospace industry and development in this sector can really boost the Indian economy and strengthen the country’ place in the global world. With the ‘Make in India’ initiative in action, the motive has been made quite clear by the Modi government – Come and manufacture here. We will support you. Keeping this factor in mind, and also considering the potential and opportunities for micro, small and medium industries, CII organized its second defence conclave and focused and discussed in some key points that can possibly impact and change the course of defence and aerospace industry. Below are the key points that were focused and discussed throughout the conclave. Make in India – Vision to reality : Building a global hub for defence manufacturing Business regulatory framework for Defence and Aerospace manufacturing. Defence Production Policy and Defence Procurement procedure. Skill development and accreditation in Defence and Aerospace industry. Ease off the government – private sector collaboration. Building a sustainable ecosystem for Defence and Aerospace industry Defence manufacturing challenges in self-reliance. The conclave also acted as a tool to help the attendees explore this space and get a hold of the message that manufacturing ring has opened the defence industry for private sector participation and simultaneously paving the way for foreign original equipment manufacturers to enter into a strategic partnership with Indian companies. The conclave was attended by various CEOs and MDs of selected group of companies, policy makers, Unit/Plant heads, Engineers, Professionals, Executives, Leaders, Corporate representatives, Practicing managers and Executives from a wide range of industries. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions is very happy to be a knowledge partner for such an event. For more information about the event and the report, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Do Not Fight Old, Build New](https://faberinfinite.com/do-not-fight-old-build-new/): Transformational journeys are no doubt the most talked about aspects of any manufacturing business. It is the key which unlocks the hidden potential of the organization and helps in development and growth of the organization. It helps the organization move towards the goal – continual and sustainable development. It is also one of the most critical aspects that decides the future of the organization and also plays a major role in gaining or losing the credibility for the manufactured product. Our Experience Faber Infinite Consulting has been a strong and profound supporter of Operational Excellence and resultant transformation journeys. We believe in creating a more optimized world with the implementation of efficient and organized structural programs that helps the organization in growing in a holistic way. We have been involved in this industry for more than 5 years and have helped hundreds of clients in successfully completing their operational excellence journey. We also have expertise in training people and have already trained more than 20,000 people in manufacturing industry. Client work done and appreciation Faber Infinite has been associated with one of the leading automobile component manufacturing company for the past one year and has delivered excellent results over the period of time. The client initiated Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) back in the year 2003 and has continued it since then. Team Faber got associated with the organization last year and has then helped the organization in thrusting up the numbers and objectifying the operating environment for optimum results. We understand TPM and its pillars have been adding value to organizations by working towards Zero defects, Zero accidents and Zero breakdowns. However, with TPM approach the improvements are local and in the larger organization wide improvements are missed out. We initiated a new program at the manufacturing sites of the client called Value Stream Mapping (VSM). Through this, we have helped the client in achieving tremendous results in a short span of a year. The impacts have been so fulfilling, that the client who has been practicing TPM for more than a decade, surpassed its own benchmark in this very short time span. Whilst achieving this part of excellence, we have also helped the client in creating a Manufacturing Excellence Roadmap for the next 3 years and in various other aspects of manufacturing like inventory management, manpower productivity and much more. Results delivered We helped the client improve the throughput time by more than 23 percent in the span of a year. Inventory was reduced by around 33 percent as a result of the efforts by Team Faber Infinite. Manpower productivity was increased by more than 19 percent after the involvement of Faber Infinite Consulting team. Order rejection rate was also reduced by more than 12 percent. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in excellence and has always directed their efforts towards achieving it. We have always focused on creating a better working environment for our clients and manufacture better quality products. We believe in creating a system that provides optimum results and concentrating our efforts towards achieving it. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Five Reasons Behind the Failure of Strategies](https://faberinfinite.com/five-reasons-behind-the-failure-of-strategies/): “A vision without a strategy remains an illusion” – Lee Bolman, As Lee Bolman says, it’s important to focus on strategies to achieve goals by breaking away the illusions. Any organization works on strategies when it is the need for radical change. The strategies can be either good or bad as all the decisions are taken by keeping under consideration the financial position, environment, economics and business goals. In this blog, we will discuss about the Five Reasons Behind the Failure of Strategies. The strategies fail, irrespective of being good or bad, and it is very difficult to point at any specific reason. The implication of strategy depends largely on the cultural nuances, emotions and experience of the decision makers. Yet, this is one of the prime reasons for the failure of strategies.  Below are the reasons to create balance: Association: In the strategic decision-making team, there are going to be people with different mind-sets, agendas, thought processes, experiences and learnings. If these diverse ideas are not placed properly, it can create disputes with in the organisational culture which will affect the final execution timeline of the product. The organisation must understand its environment to understand the implication of the strategies on its people and organisation. Adaptability: The strategy cannot stay stagnant through-out the time. It has to be flexible as per the time period and the condition. The inability to change the strategy as per the trending market scenario can lead the organisation towards the major downfall. It is important to ensure that the strategy which is being made is dynamic enough to be changed as per the diverse market condition. Bridge the gap: It is not necessary that once the strategy has been shared, the team will understand it entirely on its own. It is important for the organisation to arrange the meeting and look forward to bridging the gap by answering the queries regarding strategy and its implementation and making sure no one leaves the meeting with a doubt in their head. Individual Behavior: The organization must keep under consideration that the behaviour of every individual is different. Every individual function in different way. And there is a high possibility for any individual to be an obstacle in a smooth execution of strategy. The Perfect Plan: There is no perfect plan ever. While discussing the strategy with the team, the organization should ask every team member to come up with the possible errors along with their solution they think might occur while implementing the strategy.  But still this will only help to solve the inbuilt issues. The external issues still can occur at any point of time. So, before initiating any strategy it is necessary to ensure everyone’s involvement from the team and everyone’s commitment towards the success of strategy. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Faber Infinite Partners with CII](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-partners-with-cii-2/): Manufacturing industry is one of the leading industries in the present era with tremendous scope of development and growth. It is also one of the highest contributor’s to a nation’s GDP and clearly supports the economy of a country. Hence, maintenance function of manufacturing industry has become one of the quintessential aspects to boost the augmentation of this industry. Team Faber Infinite feels utterly happy to bring you a brief about the 8th Maintech event organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) where Faber Infinite was the knowledge partner for the event. About the 8th edition of Maintech event Maintenance in any manner might be considered as a health care for the manufacturing industry and it is a well known fact that a good health will allow one in creating and producing good wealth. Hence, it is very important to prioritize maintenance. The 8th edition of Maintech focused on the same theme to underline the fact and promote maintenance as a technical core activity in every manufacturing organization. The key motive was to aware the organizations about the importance of maintenance techniques and processes and ultimately help them reduce the losses that might incur due to production stoppages and in turn maximize the efficiency of the production facilities and consequently productivity and profitability. Maintenance techniques and processes also play a very crucial role in improving the product development quality and hence should be given more importance in order to align the industry with the standards and also to produce best quality products. The event had three technical plenaries as follow – Technical Plenary 1 – it focused on the power quality and cost optimization of maintenance techniques and also included important areas like predictive maintenance strategies, their importance and relative aspects. Technical Plenary 2 – It focused on Motors and Drives and key areas like global motor maintenance strategies, basics of drives and future technologies etc. Technical Plenary 3 – This plenary focused on transformers and switchgears and important areas like new trends in switchgears and future technologies in transformers and maintenance practices in transformers. The 8th edition of Maintech proved a be very resourceful for various organizations and was attended by various CEOs of selected organizations, MDs, Policy Makers, Plant heads, engineers, professionals, executives, leaders, corporate representatives, practicing managers and executives from a wide range of industry. Team Faber Infinite Consulting is glad to be the knowledge partner for such an event and pledges to promote maintenance strategies in its work culture. For more information about the event and report, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written & compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- 125 years and still continue with the same spirit](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-125-years-and-still-continue-with-the-same-spirit/): Do you know, the famous Dabbawala system is 125-year-old system of lunchbox delivery, it operates only in Mumbai and acts as a connect between homes and offices of lacs of people. This system started in the hills of Dharmashala and all the way travelled to the heart of Mumbai. It was started by the then 30-year-old Mahadev Havaji Bachche, a farmer by profession. Dabbawala’s practices supply chain in a very efficient way by moving daily more than 1,75,000 lunches through approximately 4,500-5,000 dabbawala’s across Mumbai. According to a report by The New York Times in 2007, the industry of the dabbawalas continues to grow at a rate of 5 to 10 percent per year.  The food-delivery system has a surprisingly high rate of accuracy, so much so that their error rates are 1 in 8 million only. Out of the 260,000 transactions in six hours every day for 52 weeks of a year, the dabbawalas are six sigma compliant for their remarkable accuracy So, what are these dabbawala’s doing right? Are you practicing what the dabbawala’s are ? Few things that stands out are; The over usage of the technology: Mostly organisation thinks that their technologies can solve most of the issues. But that’s not true. Most of the issues are aligned with either the process or the execution or the expectations. which needs human skills to solve and not the technologies. Focus on the entire chain than just some specific aspects: Don’t just focus on the individual aspects of your supply, focus on the entire system, products/services and information and the chances for the success will be much higher. Communicate every bits of the information: Make sure that any and every details regarding your supply chain is being communicated with your peers. Don’t make it complex: Don’t make it complex by adding extraneous value. Understand what your customers want and focus solely on that.
- [Why 70% change initiatives fail?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-70-change-initiatives-fail/): “Change is the only constant.”- Heraclitus Change! We have been focusing on change and its benefits for a long time. One has to understand that with the evolving time and technology, one needs to change him as well as the processes in order to keep up with the competition and simultaneously grow and generate more revenues. Many companies and organizations do commit to change and change management process but shockingly, more than 70 percent of change initiatives fail. Why does it happen? Ever wondered? If you also initiated a change management process and failed to convert it into something big, this blog is for you. About the webinar The webinar focuses on ‘Why 70 percent change initiatives fail?’ and discusses about the possible reasons that impacts an organization’s change initiative. Our guest speaker, Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, one of the founding members of Faber Infinite Consulting enlightened our viewers on this and also focused on the importance of change initiative in an organization’s quest to achieve excellence and continual growth. Moreover, he also discusses about possible alternatives that will allow the organizations to overcome the obstacles to sustain the change management processes. Why 70 percent change initiatives fail? Change initiatives are an organizational process and needs involvement from all the three levels of management i.e. top management, middle management and lower management. Below are the three most important factors that decide the course of any change management process. Absence of any of these three will only result in unwanted consequences. Top management’s commitment Every organization’s important decisions are taken by the top management and it is the top management that decides and directs the path for any change management process of an organization. It is important for the top management to be efficiently committed towards execution of a change management initiative. Acceptance by middle management Middle management forms the backbone of any organization and any change initiative’s success depends largely on the way the middle management accepts it. In many cases, it is seen that middle management’s views, opinions and acceptance is not considered while implementing the change initiative. This ultimately results in its failure. Getting your value adding assets involved in the change initiative Value adders play the role of creaters for change management when it comes to the shop floor. It is one of the important aspects on which the entire change management initiatives stand. Also, it is important to get the value adders involved in the process since they have a better floor knowledge and experience and their opinions and inputs can add value and efficiency to the entire initiative. How to overcome? Every problem has a solution. To overcome the failures in change management processes, every organization must need to counter the above three factors. Below is a short descriptive method with which organizations can crack change management initiatives and achieve their desired goals. Every change management initiative’s work is done 80 percent in the planning stage and 20 percent in the execution stage. Many times, the top management agrees to the initiatives in the planning but fails to demonstrate and provide the required support and resources. This sends a negative signal to the lower management which ultimately impacts the initiative. Middle management might feel scared and insecure as a result of the change management process. They might fear to lose their job and importance in the organization. Hence, it is important to take them into confidence and convince them of the fact that nothing of such sort will happen and their positions in the organization will be safe and secure. While implementing change management initiatives, the middle management’s core focus should be on that and not on any other initiatives that run in parallel. Get your lower management and value adders involved in the entire process since the change initiatives are usually implemented and controlled from the gemba – the real place of work. The raw and real data comes from the people who work on the shopfloor and hence, their involvement is necessary. Moreover, rewards and remunerations can also encourage increased participation of the value adders and ultimately assist the organization in achieving optimum results with the change management initiative. Team Faber has been working in this domain for a long time and has helped various clients across different geographies in successfully implementing and sustaining the change management initiative. The webinar also discusses on various other aspects that can help the organizations in achieving better and optimized result with change initiatives. To view the webinar, visit   Written & compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.   
- [Be patient – Success does not happen overnight](https://faberinfinite.com/be-patient-success-does-not-happen-overnight/): “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”- Saint Augustine Have you ever noticed a bamboo tree plantation? In a typical bamboo plantation, bamboo plants do not grow for almost four years and the growth over the ground is almost negligible. But, is the fifth year, that the bamboo plant grows more than 80 feet in a span of just six weeks. Ever wondered or questioned why does it happen? The bamboo tree also requires the same three things – water, sunlight and soil still it takes almost four years to show some visible growth? Well, it is patience! It might sound cryptographic to some. But let us explain why? In the first four years, you might think that the bamboo tree is not growing. However, the bamboo tree keeps growing underground during this period in order to have a foundation strong enough to sustain the 80 feet growth in the fifth year. Bamboo tree plantations set an excellent example for every other organization. In similar manner, patience in corporate world does the same and plays a crucial role in building the foundation of an organization before visible growth start inflicting the charts. It is very important for any organization to have a strong core organizational foundation before they start putting burden and responsibilities of the entire structure on it. Lessons to learn from bamboo tree plantations Success does not come right away Success is a continuous process and can only be achieved by constant efforts, patience and perseverance. One can never become successful overnight. Moreover, you have to patiently wait to receive desired results from your efforts since it takes time to produce a cumulative effect and ultimately conclude with profitability. Success requires strong foundation Just like any other building, to build a building of success, excellence, quality and profitability one has to build a very strong foundation to support and sustain the growth and development. Patience helps you in building the required foundation on which you can build your organization and move towards achieving the impossible. Success is about your consistency Success is totally dependent on your consistency. How consistent you are with your products, quality will say a lot about you and will simultaneously help you in building a reputation in the market. Moreover, consistency will also help you in customer acquisition and retention which will help you in growth numbers. Do not forget to nurture your dreams Your dreams will define your choices and your path towards achieving your goals and targets. Hence, it is very important for an individual to nurture their dreams in order to keep themselves motivated and encouraged. Also, your dreams decides your limits, hence, nurturing them plays a very crucial role in achieving excellence and success in any organization’s or individual’s journey. Believe without doubts Doubts only creates and produces obstacles in your journey towards excellence and success. It is very important for anyone to believe in their principles and methodologies in order to be successful. Having a second mind on will not only confuse you, but will also shake the very foundation on which you are trying to build and grow. Patience and persistence will pay off Patience and Persistence are two of the most underrated factors that decide the success of any organization. One has to be patient and persistent with their efforts. They have to be consistent and should keep working until their time arrives. Being patient will help you in building the foundation as well as learning the important aspects that will ultimately help you in fulfilling your dreams and goals. Success is not an overnight journey. One has to be very consistent and patient with their efforts in order to achieve excellence. Giving up after a short period is not the solution and will eventually push you at the last spots in the race to become the best. Patience will pay off and you will reach the place where you always wanted to be, just believe in yourself and keep working hard! Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [6 Fundamentals of Production Planning](https://faberinfinite.com/fundamentals-of-production-planning/): Planning is the key process in manufacturing and an efficient planning can do wonders for the manufacturer or the organization. Planning plays a crucial role in cases of setbacks when the company needs a more organized approach to solve the problem and simultaneously pushing the production process in the forward direction. Every other manufacturer designs its own production plan and builds it on its own certain driving factors. However, every production plan has one thing six common factors that determine their effectiveness. In this blog, we will be covering the six basic Fundamentals of Production Planning in detail. Customer Demand Customer demand is the most basic principle of production planning. The manufacturer must be aware of the quantity that needs to be manufactured for the customer before planning the production process. Moreover, the production and supply to the customer should be at reasonable rates. The whole concept of production planning is to give the manufacturer an idea about the multiple varying situations that may arise during production so that he can efficiently comply with them. Materials Raw material forms the platform for any production process. A minimum amount of raw materials required for the production process should be kept in inventory to ensure smooth and continuous movement of production processes. Moreover, having the required amount of raw materials inventory will also help the manufacturer in saving costs which he might end up spending on excess raw materials. Equipments Equipments form the backbone of the production processes and play a quintessential role in keeping the production on schedule. Having an equipment force with optimum running and working capacity can help the manufacturer in avoiding breakdowns related to machinery. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) plays a key here by determining the availability, performance, and quality of the machinery. Manpower Manpower planning helps the manufacturer in directing the human efforts towards the production process along with the machinery force. Machines may do their work, but it is the human labour force that adds value to the entire production process by managing the machinery and other aspects of the production process. Moreover, the reason why manpower planning is important is because it will help the manufacturer decide various factors like the amount of workforce required. If overtime is needed or not, and to assort to various variations that might occur during the production process. Processes A production plan is also made to keep the processes intact and undisturbed. It makes sure that new processes do not impact the ongoing processes that are being used to deliver outputs for various mechanisms. Moreover, planning processes also helps in setting up the background for new operations to start in a frisk rather than complying with it in a whole new order. Controls Controls refer to the various platforms that are used to control and identify defects and obstacles that might need to be changed. It also helps in standardizing the product and production processes for better outputs and exceptional deliveries. It also assists the production management team to efficiently implement processes to rectify the problems impacting a healthy production process. Production planning is undoubtedly the most important aspect of any production processes. One can also call it the ‘mother’ of any production process since it creates a more suitable environment for the production. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have been supporting its clients in creating and designing production plans to avoid the unwanted obstacles and consequent losses. We have helped hundreds of clients in almost all industries across geographies in benefitting from production plans. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. Check other consulting services on Faber Infinite: Operational Excellence Consulting | Strategic Excellence Consulting | Design Thinking & Excellence Consulting
- [Friday Fact - Everything Old Is New Again !](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-everything-old-is-new-again/): Do you know, Training Within Industry (TWI) is a program created by US Government during World War II to support the war production effort when millions of non-military personnel (civilians) were needed to be quickly trained to do production jobs as soldiers went off to war. By the end of World War II  over 1.6 million workers in over 16,500 plants had been trained and certified. The objective of TWI is to deliver a better-skilled workforce, improved labor and management relations, productivity improvements and a focus on continuous improvement. However, following the World War and the shutdown of government program, TWI faded away and took a hold at Toyota in Japan and it is said to have influenced the Toyota Production Systems development.  TWI has been helping organizations since the 1940’s to change the culture to lean. Are you practicing TWI in your industry?      Image Source – This photograph from the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site museum collection, taken by Kaiser Shipyards photographer Louis Lee, shows the launch of a ship at the Vancouver shipyard during World War II.
- [10 golden rules of Inventory Management](https://faberinfinite.com/10-golden-rules-of-inventory-management/): Inventory plays a crucial role in complying with the demands and in creating value for the manufacturer as well as for the customer. Moreover, inventory is also one of the wastes that impacts the business and minimizes the profits and profitability of the organization. Hence, it becomes important for any business to maintain enough inventory for the demands. In precise terms, Inventory Management is the collected activities of employees maintaining an optimum number of required items available to comply with the demands at optimum costs in the market. Inventory Management Inventory management is about understanding situations like supplier conditions, product requirements, and lead times and then managing inventory to control the overall cost. Balancing various inventory management tasks means keeping an eye on three basic aspects. Lead time Supplier Conditions Demand variations Before we move ahead, let us have a look at the various types of inventory involved in the manufacturing process. Types of inventory Raw material Work in progress Finished goods Spares/Consumables The 10 golden rules of inventory management Any inventory needs to be efficiently managed for the demands. Below is a set of rules that can help an organization in optimizing their inventory for achieving optimum results. Air free – The inventory should be managed in an organized way using vertical storage and keeping it air and dust free. This can be done using lean tools like Five S. FIFO – FIFO (first in, first out) is a very interesting concept that enables the organizations to be in loop and avoid the risks involved in inventory management to a certain extent. In simple terms, it is an asset management and valuation system that helps the manufacturer in selling out the commodities manufactured first at the earliest. This can be done with lean tools like Five S, and the manufacturer has to take care to keep replenishment and removal on different sides. Bend free – What we mean here by bend free is to keep the employees as far away as possible from bending to either pick or transport materials and products, since bending a lot might result in injuries which will ultimately affect the working and productivity. Count free – Poorly arranged inventory and spares inside the warehouse are bound to result in messy storage and pathetic accountability. This will further result in a waste of time and incur extra work. Hence, inventory should be neatly arranged and should be made visible and count free. Again, Five S is the solution to this. Search free – Materials and products in an inventory warehouse should not be kept together. There should be proper segmentation for every different type of tools or materials to have an organized inventory. This will help one in avoiding the time incurring in searching and retrieving the desired material. The systematic arrangement of the tools and equipment with a structured index will help to save time and improve productivity. Heavy material on the ground – Heavy materials should be kept on ground since keeping it at height will make it difficult to access them and might result in accidents and mishaps. Hence, as a precautionary safety measure, heavy materials should be kept on ground. It will also lead to easy access and less damage to inventory. Fast consumables near the entrance – Materials should be arranged in the inventories as per the rate of their consumption. If items that are consumed at a rapid pace are kept at the far end of the warehouse, it will incur more motion and time to access them and transport them to the desired place. Climb free – Spares should always be kept at places where they are easily accessible. Keeping them above normal heights will consequently make them more difficult and riskier to handle. It becomes more convenient for an individual to access them if they are kept at lower levels. Adequate lighting – Lighting plays a very crucial role in helping the inventory management identify the defects and abnormalities occurring inside the inventory warehouse. Adequate lighting makes it very easy to identify such defects hampering the efficient Adequate ventilation – Adequate ventilation should be provided in the warehouses to keep healthy working atmosphere. Lack of ventilation makes it uneasy and difficult for an individual to work efficiently. Conclusion Inventory is no doubt the backbone of any manufacturing industry. Hence, it becomes quintessentially important for any organization to be alert on their inventory side. Team Faber Infinite has helped dozens of clients improve their inventory and ultimately achieve excellence and continual and sustainable development. The objective is to efficiently and effectively provide the right materials at the time when it is required and with right quality standard maintained. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Maintain accurate records, regularly audit stock, and keep optimal levels. Use forecasting, organize inventory, and implement reliable tracking. Set reorder points, follow FIFO, focus on high-turnover items, and continuously improve. Ready to optimize your inventory? Explore Supply Chain Solutions to drive growth.
- [To gain, let go of some!](https://faberinfinite.com/to-gain-let-go-of-some/): Improvement is the only constant companion for any organization that will help them in achieving their goals and targets and embark on the path towards excellence and success. Many organizations have been constantly changing their work culture and controls and patterns hoping the change will result in improvement in their productivity and profitability. However, to gain such characteristics, you have to let go of some things. Wonder what? Below is the answer. Two ways of improvement! There are basically two ways through which any organization can improve in their work, productivity and profitability, either by adding good and better controls, systems and processes in their work culture or by deleting the existing inefficiencies. In our previous posts, we have already talked about what to ingrain and integrate in one’s processes to achieve improvement, in this post we would be talking what to delete or let go! MUDA MUDA is a Japanese term which means uselessness or wastefulness. MUDA is a key process in lean manufacturing process which happens to be the parent process for change management and operational excellence processes. There are basically seven types of wastes MUDA consists of: Transportation Inventory Motion Waiting Overproduction Over processing Defects To read more about these inefficiencies in the system you can refer to our blog on 7 Viruses in Your Operational Excellence Quest MURA MURA is another Japanese term which is very popular in the manufacturing industry when it comes to wastes. It means unevenness or irregularity. Variations in process will ultimately disrupt the consistency of the organization and will also hamper the quality of the services and products the manufacturer provides. Eliminating MURA from the manufacturing processes is an effective way to increase profitability of the organization. Processes like Just-in-Time system and FIFO are very effective in tackling such wastes in ingraining regularity and evenness. These tools are also designed to maximize the productivity of the organization and minimize the overhead storage. MURI MURI refers to the physical strain or overburdening of the machines or human labor that might obstacle the company’s improvement journey as a result of irregularity or unevenness in the production processes. One must let go of such pressure from the production floor in order to allow the components as well as the employees to work at their most optimum levels. Various advantages of eliminating MURI from the production processes are as follows – Increase in employee morale and energy Improved quality Increase in productivity Reduced and minimized costs It is very important for any organization to eliminate the wastes manifesting the process in order to avoid redundancy and errors in it production processes and ultimately achieving excellence. It is not necessary that improvement can only be achieved by adding various tools and techniques into the production processes. Sometimes, the best way to achieve continual and sustainable development is to let go of the infecting inefficiencies and wastefulness.
- [Be as a Honey Bee!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-as-a-honey-bee/): Honeybee, the first word that usually pops up into our mind when we hear “HONEY”. Well, do you know that the honeybee does not just gives us honey but also teaches us about life as well as business. So, lets learn some of the lessons from the honey bees which are as below; Team: Honeybees know that any task can be done independently but believes that team work is best and most efficient. Bees in their entire life keep on switching their jobs with each other as per the requirement of the team. They never say no to any work. They know how to focus on one particular job & at the same time if they need to help someone else with their job, then they also know how to multitask. They consider their team as a family. And they will always make sure every work is being done in its particular manner and at their particular time. And will always help the one that needs. Give your 100%: Honeybees believe in complete dedication to each task that they work on. In the team, if any job needs to get done, then any bee that will be available will grab that and get it done. This makes them incredibly efficient and harmonious with their group. Implementing change: Bees are nectar & pollen collectors, whenever they will read that any flower is with negative charge, they will change their charge only till she collects the nectar & pollen. So this is how a bee works towards implementing the change for their work that needs to get done and gets that done as well in all the circumstances. Backbone of each other: Honey bees, being a team worker always makes sure that they help each other. Whenever any honey bee is unable to work for its team, the other available bee will jump in and get the other bees work done. They believe in supporting and helping each other. They will never let any bee into the trouble. Honey bees provides us the model of precise and compassionate community which can be only achieved by attentiveness, hard work and communication. Hard-work, passion and dedication is what honey bee has to teach us. So let’s learn these lessons from the honey bee this Transformation Tuesday and work towards being a bee! Written and compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Quality means doing it right when no one is looking!](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-means-doing-it-right-when-no-one-is-looking/): Quality means doing it right when no one is looking- Henry Ford QUALITY! As of now, Quality is non-negotiable and is the most important thing that will do wonders for your organization. No matter what industry you belong to or which sector you operate in, quality is will be the key to unlocking excellence and continual development. Quality is not something that could be showed off or followed for a certain period of time for inspections and quality checks and then put away. The main motive behind quality is to provide better and optimum products along with optimized services. Henry Ford, one of the world’s renowned businessperson and the founder of Ford Motors conveyed the same and the reason why Ford Motors is one of the largest automotive companies in the world is providing quality services. One has to understand that there is no shortcut and rather than choosing some easier or faster way to do something, it is best that one stick to the right and ethical thing that will not only help the service provider or manufacturer but also leave a good impression on the consumer. Moreover, the thing that is more important is to be consistent in whatever you do and direct your efforts towards providing the most optimum and standardized products to your customer. You can’t be one person in a day and turn into a completely different person when the sun sets. Your test for quality is most important when no one is looking and checking on you or your work. The substantial product you provide then will be the central pillar around which your brand image, reputation, identity and client base will revolve. Quality :- Important for the Organizations In a competitive world like today, customers demand quality and durable products and services. Hence, it has become important for the organizations to be very rational with their quality standards and relative practices. True quality is about maintaining high standards and integrity, even without external oversight. It drives long-term success and builds trust. Ready to elevate your operations? Explore Customized Supply Chain Solutions for growth. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been a supporting system for hundreds of clients across geographies in improving and sustaining the quality of their products and nourishing the quality control systems and controls at the same time. We have been part of various transformation journeys regarding quality for various organizations. Our structured framework has proven to be helpful for almost every segment of the industry. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.    
- [Friday Fact- Proven Quality Tools.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-proven-quality-tools/): Do you know, that lean has been around since the 1940’s and Six Sigma has been around since the 1980’s. Before Six Sigma there was Total Quality Management (TQM), and before Lean there was PDCA. These quality improvement concepts have been working since so long! Are you using them?
- [Take care of Each One the best way!](https://faberinfinite.com/take-care-of-each-one-the-best-way/): Customers are the king in any industry no matter what time of evaluation it is. Customers help one in building businesses and one has to understand that it is the customers that will help the manufacturer in increasing their revenue. However, building business is not just about acquiring customers. The main source of revenue is retaining the existing customer base that will bring repetitive orders for the manufacturer. In this blog for Transformation Tuesday, we will be discussing some of the key customer retention strategies. Heighten the customer experience It is very important to create peaks in customer experiences in order to build customer loyalty. Keep the customers surprised by giving them rewards they do not expect at regular intervals. Such low cost initiatives go a long way in helping the manufacturer build a strong customer loyalty. Keep testing email strategy with incentives and offers One should never go out from testing email strategies. Providing the customers with content and product they need is one thing but aligning your emails with content to promote more customer engagement is something that will help you in keeping your customer with you. Make your customers feel appreciated by creating VIP programs Creating a VIP program to engage customers with you is another formula for customer retention. Making the customers feel appreciated through rewards for their loyalty will motivate them to keep coming back to you for your service. Walk hand in hand with your customers Keeping up with the customers is the biggest challenge and the most important aspect of customer retention. One should always walk with the customers, understand their demands, and ultimately provide the desired service or product for retaining that customer with him. Never lose your passion and be engaged at all times Passion towards what you do can create wonders. You should be very passionate towards what you do and provide your customers. While trying to engage your customers, you should also be engaged to your work towards providing best service to your customers. Ingrain limited time promotion programs You might have seen various companies offering limited time promotions to their customers. Ever wondered why? It is to motivate more customers to avail their services as per their needs and requirement. Well, I guess you got the answer now! Promote and practice transparency Transparency builds trust and it is very important for one to build trust and transparent relations with their customers. When there will be trust, it is very obvious that your customer will prefer you over the competition for their needs and services. Promise what you can fulfill Inability to provide what you promised is one of the biggest retention killers in today’s industrial world. Promising what you cannot fulfill to your customers will only result in killing their trust and your credibility in the market. Hence, always promise only what you can fulfill and for doing so, it is very important to know your limitations and abilities. Create loyal customers around your product You should know that new people do not connect directly to your product. They first connect to the community built around that product and then come to you. Hence building a loyal customer base around your product can help you in making the customers feel that while buying the product, they are entering in a community of people who share the same interests. Make social shares more rewarding Many customers are potential buyers who will come again to you to buy another round by understanding or sensing a sense of importance or urgency of your products and services. You can concrete these relations through various social sharing competitions by featuring customer photos and rewarding them. It is a unique and very innovative idea to connect with the customers and ultimately retain them. So as Steve Jobs said – “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”
- [Why resist change](https://faberinfinite.com/why-resist-change-3/): Change is the only constant. It is an inevitable phase that has the potential to either create or diminish one’s influence or prominence in the market. Organizational Change Management is one of the key aspects that can help the organizations in circling around and captivating their long-term and desired goals and objectives. It is noted that more than 95% of the organizational change management programs end up being a failure and does not create much of an impact on the organization’s work culture, productivity or profitability. There are many other inefficiencies as well which intricate the organization’s change management programs if they are not looked after well and executed in an innovative manner. As we stand on the important juncture of the year, we are glad to release the white paper on ‘Why Resist Change?’ and about the various challenges and resistances which hamper the development and growth of many organizations indulged in change management programs. Team Faber Infinite has been one of the most prominent runners in crafting development and excellence through the means of organizational change management programs. We believe in ingraining a fruitful and innovative work culture in the organization and ultimately help them in thrusting their numbers and figures. With immense experience in various industries in the domain of Change Management, the white paper highlights key elements of Organizational Change Management, challenges and ways to overcome them. Please click here to download the insightful whitepaper. Organizational Change Management Recently, Faber Infinite Consulting rolled out the white paper on Organizational Change Management: Why Resist Change. Mr. Aakash Borse, one of the founding members and directors of Faber Infinite Consulting shared his views with the audience with organizational change management and its relative concepts. With his immense experience in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Management Consulting and Operational Excellence, the discussion focused on the various forms of resistance that might intrude on an organization’s change management program. To know more, listen to the Webinar on Why Resist Change. Click here to watch the webinar on Organizational Change Management Written & Compiled By Faber Priyal, Faber Manasi & Faber Kishlay
- [Best ways to Improve Net Gross Profit](https://faberinfinite.com/best-ways-to-improve-net-gross-profit/): Higher costs are one of the most frustrating aspects of any business. Many organizations implement various programs in their facilities to reduce costs but ultimately end up harming the process (and thereby margins) rather than just costs. In this fast-moving industrial world, it is important for one to control their costs to grow and move ahead in the chain. Team Faber Infinite delivered an extremely powerful and unique workshop connecting operations and finance at Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) of India. In this article, we will discuss about Best ways to Improve Net Gross Profit. It is always difficult for a finance manager to attribute how operational excellence practices will help save money and will be thus reflected in the profit and loss statement. Every organization works on different processes and there is always a possibility to eliminate waste in the process. With this approach, Team Faber made the teams understand that waste and price both can be reduced thus increasing the profitability of the organization. Cost reduction in any organization can happen in different forms: Reduction (production time, waiting, inventory) Elimination (wastes, bottlenecks, barriers) Modification (systems, designs) Innovation (equipment, tooling, methods, materials) Traditionally it was common for organizations to achieve higher profits by increasing sales. On the other hand, organizations that follow a lean approach they work on improving the profits by reducing costs. Organizations should focus on improvements in the organization such that they eliminate non-value adding activities or eliminate waste/ inefficiencies. When we say waste it means any activity that adds costs or time but does not add value. Working on the following wastes or inefficiencies or Muda – Overproduction, Waiting, Transportation, Excess/ Improper processing, Inventory, Defects, Motion and Unutilized Human Potential using operational excellence tools and techniques, organizations reduce costs and thus improve margins. As a part of the workshop, Team Faber explained the different tools and techniques that can be used to achieve operational excellence and thus cut the fat in the process and build the muscles. Here’s how we can help you in cost reduction Team Faber Infinite has formulated various structured frameworks that have proven to be highly efficient and effective in the practical implementation of Operational Excellence and related tools. Our structured frameworks make sure that the operational excellence journey rolls out a holistic approach towards every aspect of the manufacturing and management processes. Many might misunderstand that generating revenue alone increases profits. However, this is not entirely true. Profits can never be achieved just by working on the top line. It is extremely important for the manufacturer to constantly brush up the lower half of the hierarchy as well. There are many wastes that impact the manufacturing processes and tends to reduce the profitability of the organization. Controlling costs incurring at the initial stages is a turning point in the journey towards cost reduction. Operational excellence turns out to be a perfect solution to this since it consistently looks up the entire manufacturing process and relative aspects involved in the business. Team Faber Infinite has been a strong supporter of Operational excellence and our solutions are designed to deliver exceptional results to our clients. This solution includes integrating finances with operations to make the finance managers sensitive to the wastes incurring costs on the finances and thus, charting a way out for them to attain a greener patch in their journey. Capital is an important resource that moulds the shape of an organization. Hence, cost efficiency is one of the key aspects organizations need to work in order to have better outputs, both from the management as well as the production side. Also, while reducing costs, one must implement the management programs in such a manner that it does not affect their profits and margins. Team Faber Infinite has helped many companies in successfully implementing various programs that have helped them in reducing their costs dramatically. This has ultimately helped them in improving the profits as well. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri    
- [Excellence is not an Act, It’s a Habit](https://faberinfinite.com/excellence-is-not-an-act-its-a-habit/): Excellence is the key to stay in the run in the contemporary industrial world with cut-throat competition. Running behind excellence and ingraining practices that promote excellence is the only way one can achieve continual and sustainable development. Like our every newsletter, in this edition, we have brought you a saga from the world’s sixth-largest automotive lighting manufacturer and India’s second largest auto component manufacturer – Varroc Engineering Limited. Mr. Anoop Sharma, Associate Vice President – Operations (Electrical & Electronics Business Unit) – India shared his thoughts and views about his Operational Excellence journey and how Team Faber helped them keeping their core values intact while delivering quality product to their clients and ultimately propelling them towards excellence. Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000 readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about your company Varroc Group, which happens to be one of the largest automotive component manufacturers. Mr. Anoop Sharma (AS): Varroc Group, founded in 1988, is a global tier-1 automotive component manufacturer and supplier of exterior lighting systems, plastic and polymer components, electrical-electronic components and precision metallic components to passenger car, commercial vehicle, two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and off-highway vehicle (OHV) OEMs directly worldwide. With 36 world-class manufacturing facilities and 16 R&D centers in 12 countries, Varroc group is on an exponential growth trajectory clocking a sale of 1.6 billion USD in 2017-18. The company is one of the leading global passenger car lighting suppliers and amongst the top 2-wheeler automotive component supplier in India. Varroc offers the best design solutions that give customers a competitive edge in their market. Varroc’s vision is to be an INR 200 billion company by the year 2020. FI: That’s wonderful Mr. Sharma. Going ahead, every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? AS: Automotive sector is a very competitive market. It is not an easy market to be in and survive different technological disruptions. According to me, the first challenge is to be ahead in technology trends. There are many new norms that have come up in the automotive industry and more are planned in the coming years. Organizations need to be ready for disruptions in the market. Being able to cope up with technology upgrades and establishing your leadership through the transition is a challenge in our industry. Another challenge, I feel, is keeping employees up to date with new technology & retaining them as well. A happy and engaged workforce that adapts fast to the changes will not only help the company to grow but also support the customers to grow as well. FI: Progressive teams of Varroc are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? AS: One thing we have always talked about and believed in is ‘Excellence’. As an organization, all our efforts are focused on achieving excellence. This is something which sets Varroc apart from other companies. Other differentiating factor is our core value SHIPS, which we are proud of. They comprise of Sincerity, Humility, Integrity, Passion and Self – discipline, and form the core guiding principles for employees across the spectrum. It is these values that bind us all together and help us in creating a better level of understanding and bonding between the employees to ensure better performance and opportunities for the organization to grow. FI: We would love to understand more about the operational excellence journey at Varroc. AS: We started our Operational Excellence journey back in 2007-08 with Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program with an objective to grow and comply with our clients’ demands. We achieved remarkable results from this and grew significantly. Since then, we have come a long way and the importance of Operational Excellence has also grown. We are witnessing growth at a very fast pace and it becomes crucial for us to evolve our approach for a continuous and sustainable development. For this, we initiated a program called “Manufacturing Excellence” under which we are developing and executing different initiatives to get excellence in different areas of operations. We are marching towards upgrading all our manufacturing facilities into lean, clean and visually pleasing ones. FI: We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers? AS:  As I mentioned earlier, we started with TPM to set us on a growth trajectory but decided last year to change our approach for better operational results while keeping TPM as the base tool. This was when we got associated with Faber Infinite. We have secured very good support from Team Faber in terms of planning & executing our different excellence programs to achieve desired goals. Value Stream Mapping is one of the first initiatives where we engaged with Team Faber for training purposes and identified the scope of increase in throughput. Later, Mr. Vishal Kulkarni from Faber Infinite got involved with us to create a framework for our Manufacturing Excellence roadmap and has really helped us by providing valuable inputs. Team Faber has been instrumental in sharing important methodologies with my team and helping them in implementation for a foolproof operating environment along with making our processes greener and eco-friendly. We believe that improvement is a continuous process and we will continue to better our practices. With Team Faber Infinite, Varroc looks forward to achieving more in the future and it will be a long-term and fulfilling journey for both parties.  We thank Mr. Anoop Sharma and team Varroc for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Going Above and Beyond](https://faberinfinite.com/going-above-and-beyond/): Business Creation has been one of the most anticipated roles for any organization. It is one of the most fulfilling and prioritized tasks that helps the organization in building its client base and garner more profits in this competitive industrial world. Business creation and its relative processes play an important role in keeping not only the organization but the clients as well up and running. Aditya Gupta, our hero on the field has helped several clients in a number of ways. In this edition of iFaber, we have brought to you something different, something unique direct from the field and first-hand experience of client delight and client servicing. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Aditya Gupta, our business creation leader. About Aditya                                                                                    Born and brought up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Aditya holds a masters degree in marketing management with his first degree being in Computer Engineering. He has been an important asset for many organizations with experience of more than three years in client servicing and business creation. He is a curious individual who has a very keen heart for exploring and knowing core concepts. Another important and interesting fact about Aditya is his immense interest in Cricket. Aditya happens to be a huge cricket fan with in-depth knowledge about cricket and has a deep insight into facts and analogies. Journey at Faber Infinite, aspirations, passion and much more! “I have always wanted to do something that creates and adds value and can impact lives and I always work towards achieving this goal of mine”, says Aditya. In the contemporary industrial world, I aspire to become a value-adding and instrumental figure for my clients and the organization. When he was prompted with the question about his passion, he said, “Cricket will always be my passion. Earlier I wanted to become a fast bowler and somewhere in my heart, I still do!” He further added, “I am a big fan of former Indian Captain, Sourav Ganguly. I have always found him very passionate about his team members, his captaincy and himself about the way he led the entire Indian team and achieved perfection. In the same manner, I also want to achieve absoluteness in whatever I do and create. It helps me to look for solutions for my clients and prospects and offer them world-class exponential business results.” Aditya describes his journey with Faber Infinite as a phenomenal and quite a learning one. “With the company having expertise in various industries across various locations, I believe it has added to my skill set and has made me more prominent and effective in offering the best to our clients and prospects. Moreover, I want to add that with the operations management background and all the professional resources, I am equipped to understand business challenges (said and unsaid both) for my prospects and helping them achieve the unexpected. There are several such real client stories from the central Gujarat region.” Challenges Talking about the challenges, according to Aditya, one of the biggest challenges any business creation manager faces is to build relationships with the clients or with the prospects. “It is extremely important to build trustworthy relationships with the clients and prospects if you want to conduct business with them”, says Aditya. Meeting several new leaders from the top management and providing them with tools and solutions with assured results to achieve their unfulfilled business goals is what Aditya does day in day out, in his fulfilling career at Faber Infinite. Various other challenges like uncovering the real client needs, defining the challenges of the clients to the operations team and designing apt solutions to ensure successful transformation journeys is what he gives utmost attention, with which he creates amazing and fruitful results. Problem Solver Aditya has not only been a business creation manager but has also established himself as an efficient problem solver among the clients and team members. Many clients have been benefitted with his services which includes a client saving capital by few crore rupees and helping the other in obtaining a long desired certification via improved processes, which helped them to build credibility in their processes and products. What’s the way forward? “I have always liked to be the captain of my team and would definitely like to look forward to leading a team of my own at Faber Infinite which I could lead from the front and help more clients.” Furthermore, he also wants to keep moving ahead with the philosophy of his life which is to grow and make people happy. He wishes to create a more fulfilling world with a pleasing environment around him and his team members. Aditya has been an instrumental individual in assisting several clients for Faber Infinite. With his experience in the field, we look forward to growing together and achieve heights that are yet to be explored. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Building Engineering Excellence to Drive Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/building-engineering-excellence-to-drive-growth/): Engineering sector has been one of the leading sectors in the 21st-century industrial world and is likely to reach US $45 billion by 2020. Faber Infinite Consulting has been one of the active participants in crafting an extremely efficient and holistic operating environment for the engineering sector and have always delivered results promoting continual and sustainable development in the engineering sector. At Faber Infinite, we have devised various proven solutions and frameworks that have helped organizations grow and paint their charts in green. We specialize in providing consulting services for transformation journeys including Operational Excellence, Strategic Excellence and much more. Our experience in the engineering sector Faber Infinite is one of the most trusted organizations for organizational transformation when it comes to the engineering sector. We have a vast experience of consulting in all kinds of industries including engineering. With spread across more than 12 regions, we have supported more than two dozen major organizations in the engineering sector. While being associated with these organizations, we have supported and successfully completed transformation journeys for organizations worth approximately INR 21,000 crores. We also have a detailed performa of training and inducting skills in the employees and have trained more than 25,000 people in the engineering sector. Some of the typical improvement areas are listed below: Improved production planning Reduction in throughput time Improved machine availability and performance Daily work management Reduced changeover times Inventory management and E-Kanban Quality improvement (Right first time) Tangible results delivered at clients from the Engineering Industry Machine availability in the manufacturing unit was increased by more than 20%. 17% reduction in stock out incidents was observed after the involvement of Team Faber Infinite. Team Faber also helped an organization in reducing almost 38% of the work content and cycle time for selected processes. A whopping 40% increase in productivity was witnessed in the organization after being associated with Faber Infinite Consulting. Team Faber also helped the organizations in controlling their costs by helping them reduce manpower and labor costs by almost 55%. The overall manufacturing cost of the manufacturing units was also cut down by almost 33%. A 46% reduction in throughout time was also noticed at client sites once Team Faber took charge. Inventory was also reduced by almost 53%. Manpower productivity was increased by more than 50% after the implementation of structured frameworks by Team Faber Infinite. Value adding ratio of the organization was doubled with the help of Team Faber and its solutions. A 77% improvement was observed in the Transportation Index. Customers were also satisfied with the manufacturing unit’s products since we also helped the organizations improve the quality by more than 71%. A 10% in rejection of the orders was also achieved. Employee skill index was improved by almost 45% with the training provided by Faber Infinite. Ready to drive growth through engineering excellence? Discover the strategies and tools that can take your business to new heights. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert insights and resources. Unlock your engineering potential and accelerate your path to success today! Faber Infinite Consulting has been an avid supporter of the engineering sector and has always believed in creating a more optimized world with the help of engineering. We believe in innovation and would always like to believe in the same and support engineering sector to achieve our ultimate goal – continual and sustainable development. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Empower Employees to Realize their Dreams](https://faberinfinite.com/empower-employees-to-realize-their-dreams/): Training and Development is one of the most essential parts of an organization. It is a pre-planned procedure that is undertaken for the employees of the organization to improve their knowledge, skills, attitude and social behavior. Every organization in today’s competitive world makes their employees undergo training to make them efficient enough to sustain in this competitive world and help the organization grow. Training and Development is that part of the organization which helps its employees stay updated with the new technologies and new trends of markets. It develops the skills of the employees and helps him/her to concur the tasks. There are two reasons behind the training and development program, and they are as follow: Change: Change is one of the biggest factors which makes training and development necessary. More likely the changes are due to technology which changes the way business functions, competes and is delivered. Development: Development is another reason for the training and development program. 360° development of the organisation as well as of employee is must as per the recent market trend. It helps them stay up-to-date.  Bellow are the advantages of training and development program: Enhancing the quality of work force: Training and Development program is initiated mainly for improving the work quality of the employee’s. It focuses on specific work zones to improve the work quality. Improves employee growth: Any employee who will undergo training and development program will be trained to work better in his/her job. As it provides all the needed skills and practice to its employees which shapes them to develop professionally. Avoid being obsolete: Training and development helps the employee fetch all the new and recent details and makes them up-to-date for operating new technologies and reducing the fear of not being aware of new trends. Orienting new comers: When there is any new comer in the organisation, it is very important to give them training so that he/she can be aware of what the organisation is, what work they are supposed to be doing and how about the organizational work culture and environment. Implementing the plans: Every organisation plans some particular activity and targets and expects its employee’s to efficiently work for that and achieve the targets. The training and development program help the employee understand about how to bridge the gap between the planning and implementation and achieve the targets. Health and safety of the employees: Training and development program teaches the employee about what all kind of risk’s will be there in their job description and how to tackle and to solve that.  As Robert Kiyoaski rightly said – “Confidence comes from training and discipline” , so train your employees and make them more confident to deliver exceptional results. Written & Compiled By Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Leadership and FIFA world cup](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-and-fifa-world-cup/): Leadership is one of the most important qualities that can keep an organization immune from various infections and problems. In the recently concluded FIFA World Cup, we got to see some exceptional leadership traits from Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. There were many lessons that were worth learning and glorified her role and image as a leader of the world. In today’s contemporary industrial world, we really need to ingrain the below-mentioned leadership qualities in order to thrust the organization towards excellence and continual development. Keep your team motivated The leaders first and foremost responsibility is to keep the morale of the team high and positive. The Croatian president traveled day in and day out and still managed to take out time to cheer the Croatian national football team in every match they played. Even after the loss in the final, she kept aside her emotions and was trying to cheer Luka Modrić, the captain of the team.  Lead from the front A leader is supposed to lead the team from the front. He should be able to guide the team towards excellence and keep the balance of the team at the same time. It is very important to lead the side from the front and represent. The same character was displayed by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović when she appeared cheering for the team in all the matches. Eliminate position based differences Position based differences are one of the most common causes of conflicts and chaos in any team. It is the leader’s responsibility to eliminate such differences and create an environment of equality among the team members. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović did the same and wore the Croatian jersey instead of her corporate clothes while cheering the national team. This displayed the kind of equality practices she follows in her daily routine.  Understand your responsibilities and duties A leader should always understand his duties and responsibilities and should carry them out before deadlines and must not compromise with the quality. The Croatian president managed to keep an eye on all the matters concerning national affairs and never overlooked them in any situation. Never take advantage of your powers Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović refused to accept pay for the days she took off to cheer the national side. While traveling, she traveled through economy flights and cheered the national side while sitting in the public stands. She cheered the national team even in the rains without asking for an umbrella. This shows the kind of gratitude a leader must display. He should never start taking advantage of his powers for his benefits despite having a very high influence in the hierarchy. Appreciate your competitor It is important for a leader to appreciate his competitor. It establishes a humble image and showcases that you have accepted the defeat and will want to come back stronger after learning from your mistakes. The Croatian president did the same when she went and shook hands with the French national team members and officials after the loss in the FIFA World Cup final.
- [Do Not Build a Business Build People](https://faberinfinite.com/do-not-build-a-business-build-people/): Employees are the soul of any organization. It is the employees who push the organization towards its goals and objectives par excellence. Therefore, employee retention is one of the most clinical as well as a critical aspect of any organization. Retention of employees who add value is more important than hiring any new labor as the existing employee has a better knowledge and understanding of the company’s hierarchy, working culture and systems and controls. In this blog, we will focus on the employee retention strategies. Invest in improving the professional skills of the employees Providing funds and helping the employees in learning new skills that can ultimately help them in new and profound opportunities is one of the best ways to keep the employees engaged in the company’s projects and retain them for a longer period. In a study conducted by a research organization, 42 percent of the employees feel more secure about their future and their jobs when they are provided with the opportunities to learn more and grow consequently. Communicate your expectations clearly and build policies likewise Employees feel confused when they are not aware of what exactly is expected of them. Not making their jobs clear also creates a chaos in the system which ultimately will lead to tension between the two parties and subsequent elimination of the employees from the project or the organization. A clearly specified policy along with the job specification and expected results is the best way to keep the employees in the loop. It also improves the feedback mechanism of the organization. Benefit the employees in actuality Benefits are the commodities that attract everyone in the world. It also lures the employees and motivates them to stay glued to your organization. Also, while offering benefit packages to the employees, make sure that you are actually giving the benefits. Being a cheat will never let you help in retaining the much valued human labor. Build and grow communication Communication helps you in growing and building relations with the employees. One must always focus on creating a culture of open communication with the employees to promote a better understanding between the two parties and help everyone involved grow. Employees must be your priority. Make them feel valued Employees define the organization and its work culture. Hence, employees must be a priority for the organization as well. Employees spend a lot of time in the company facility and devote more than half of their day to the company. Therefore, they must be treated properly in return. Protect them from the extra burden Burden infects the employees’ works with inefficiency. You can never compensate the amount overburdened with benefits and incentives. Overburden can lead to the human labor losing their focus from their work and can also increase the stress levels. It also impacts the routine of the employee and might also impact their health. Place the employees in important projects and push valuable work towards them Every employee desires to contribute to the meaningful aspects of the organization’s work and wants to be a part of the most important projects and work. Assigning work and projects to the employees that do not utilize their potential to the fullest will only make the employees uninterested and unsatisfied. Hence, it is always necessary to assign the work to the employees by judging and analyzing them precisely and according to their caliber and potential. Crack the code why employees stay at any organization To retain the employees in an organization, it is very important for the employer to crack the code about why any employee would want to stay at any organization. Making exit interviews a crucial part of the work culture of any organization is an important pillar that might give the employers an insight about what changes they should make in order to keep the skilled labor in their party. Employee retention is the most important aspect of any organization’s journey towards excellence and continual and sustainable development. Providing proper objectives and following the policies will not only keep the organization in the run to be the best but will also help them in retaining the much valued skilled labor that is highly important in today’s competitive world. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Welcome change with open arms](https://faberinfinite.com/welcome-change-with-open-arms/): Change management programs are have now become a trend in today’s manufacturing industry which has resulted great numbers for the implementing organizations. With the success numbers going up, many organizations now have started to ingrain change management programs in their work cultures. During any change management program, it is imperative for the organization to know the hard art as well along with the implementation processes. Whilst this, many companies face difficulties and ultimately fail in their conquest. In this blog for our Transformation Tuesday, we will be telling our readers about the hard side of the change management in order to have them prepared for their change management programs. 1. Time Span Many companies believe in this myth that the longer the change management programs run, the more is the chance for their failure. The result is exactly opposite. In a research, it was discovered that longer projects are more likely to garner positive numbers than the ones who run for shorter time periods. Every company should conduct a review of the progress made after every two months and should analyze the discovered data to find the loopholes and areas of improvements. Breaking down the entire target into fragments and scheduling them is another effective way which can help the organization in minimizing the risks involved and getting the optimum results from the change management programs. 2. Performance candor Performance of an organization during a change management program depends entirely on how do the team members and individuals perform. It is very important for the leadership to clarify the roles and commitments of the individuals and teams. Also, defining accountability is a very crucial aspect in order to restrict the system from getting infected with chaos and inefficiency. Moreover, defining roles also helps the leadership in making the optimum use of an individual’s skills and efficiency in their field of expertise.   3. Engagement Engagement of employees and leadership at the same time is an important pillar in thrusting the change management processes towards success. The executives involved need to back up the entire processes in order to keep the system in loop. Furthermore, engagement from the leadership will ultimately encourage the team members to engage themselves in the process which will consequently result in green numbers. Increased engagement will also improve the communication mechanism of the organization and will motivate them for feedbacks. 4. Attempt In any organization, employees are already busy with their daily routine. Hence, during any change management program, it becomes very difficult for the leadership to generate efforts from the workforce towards change management process as well. It is really important to design the program and implement it in a manner that the workforce gets enough time and space to contribute towards the change management program along with the regular work load. It should be done in a manner where delays are avoided so that the team can stay on a cost efficient path. Change managements are not easy to manage and needs an all round support throughout the journey. It is a delicated process that needs proper attention and full proof methodologies in order to produce better numbers and greener graphs.
- [Strategist - The 5 in 1 member of the organization](https://faberinfinite.com/strategist-the-5-in-1-member-of-the-organization/): Strategists are key individuals or group that takes care of the processes involved in making, evaluation and implementation of various strategies in an organization. They play a crucial role in driving and steering an organization towards the path that will lead them to their goals and objectives. A strategist is known for thinking outside the box and procuring creative solutions to complex problems interfering in the working processes of the organization. For a strategist, it is very important to focus on Emotional Quotient (EQ), Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Spiritual Quotient (SQ) while devising the outlines of any strategy or its implementation process. A strategist needs to be very focused and concentrated towards his tasks and should be very thorough in research and analysis. Moreover, he should keep this in mind that concept, rules, power and politics are the four supporting pillars in the creation of any strategy in an organization. The end result of a strategy is responsible for determining the future steps as well as the scope and opportunities of an organization. Below is a list of various kinds of strategists one might find in an organization – Board of Directors Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Entrepreneurs Senior management SBU level executives Corporate planning staff Consultants Middle level managers Executive assistant Roles of a strategist in an organization Palm reader – A strategist should play the role of a palm reader in an organization. He should be able to foresee the future of the organization and should use his imagination to develop and implement strategies in order to determine the tier in which the organization will compete. A chiseling force – The strategist should be able to carve the path for the organizations with his innovative and effective strategies. From defining the targets and competition to creating a roadmap to achieve them, a strategist should always be the artist of the organization. He should act as a chiseling force and which resembles the role of a sculptor in an organization. Politician – A politician is known for influencing the public with his words and deeds and knows how to use his power. The same applies to a strategist in an organization as well. A strategist should be able to know the importance of power in the organization and should always keep the team and its members motivated either by his plans and strategies or their results. Sage / Guru – A strategist is a guru or a sage in an organization who imparts morality and ethical values among his colleagues and co-workers in the organization. It helps in unlocking the potential of the team members and makes them aware of their purpose and role in the organization. Reliever – A strategist should also play the role of a reliever in an organization thus busting the insecurities and doubts of the team members and bringing out their creativity, energy, passion, innovation and self- assurance.   Strategist is one of the key members in the organization who can change the outlook, number and graphs of an organization entirely. Unlike any other employee of the organization, strategists are given the responsibility of accelerating the growth factor of the organization as well as improve the quality of the operating environment as well. Written and Compiled by Faber Kishly & Faber Mayuri.
- [5 Key Strategies to Successful Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/5-key-strategies-to-successful-leadership/): Being at one of the top positions in an organization is one of the toughest jobs to do since it assigns you with the responsibilities to improve the way the company operates and consequently help in garnering profits. It is very obvious for one to face extreme pressure when starting with the leadership team and as a result, one gets off with a quick start. However, the secret to being successful is being relatively slow, analyse and then act. In this article, we will discuss about 5 Key Strategies to Successful Leadership. It is important for a new leader to prove his worth. One should remember that he was brought in so that he can help the organization in delivering better and for this; going with speed is not the only viable option. A new leader should start out with smaller goals like working on the costs, giving an eye towards production, strategizing to increase revenue and others. Instead of approaching complex and controversial problems right at the start, he should take things slow and steady. Moreover, bringing in a new leader is not just about the management, it is also connected to the emotions of the workforce and team members. Hence, going on harsh right in the start might result in more problems and obstacles like strikes in the organization. Here is how you can slow down! Being a leader and leading the team from the front is a fast yet a very spontaneous job. The tempo, decision-making process, strategizing and everything else is at a very high pace and the leaders need to be very quick and intuitive in order to keep things smooth. Below is a detailed guide over handful techniques that will help one in keeping the things a bit calm in such a fast-moving operating environment. Gain control over the flow – A new leader inherits the system created by its predecessor and hence should first eliminate the mismatch between his and his predecessor’s work culture. Making a proper balance between his work and predecessor’s can help one in slowing the things down and improve decision making. He should also be able to control the flow of information in the organization in order to have the critical approach while making judgments. Once in control, start reflecting – Once you have control, you obviously have more time. This will help you in understanding the data being thrown at you more efficiently. It will also help you in gaining trusted advisers – both inside and outside the organization.  Moreover, reflecting the data you get will also help you in making crucial decisions that will ultimately influence the roadmap of the organization. Make sure – It is very important to make sure that you do the same that has been asked to you. Especially in a one-on-one decision, it is very important to make sure that you have been understood by the listener and vice versa. Furthermore, if you ever feel that you are forgetting some things, it is very helpful to repeat the visual parts of the discussion in your mind. Keep asking – Self-questioning and self-analysis is very important to help one in learning and analyzing before putting forward the next step. Moreover, asking questions about the decisions and processes of the team members helps in procuring more possible alternatives. It also encourages and promotes the feedback mechanism among the team members. Think and respond – If you are at one of the top positions in the organization, your words and responses will be taken very seriously. Hence, taking a pause and thinking before you speak anything might turn out to be utterly beneficial to you. Also, thinking will help you in adding creativity to work. Being a leader is a position of responsibility and demands one to be patient and hard working. Quick runs towards success are most likely to be a short one and will ultimately end up doing more harm than good. One should be wary of quick wins and should take things in control before running behind complex and controversial targets. Remember, being careful and patient is the key to be a competent leader adding value to the organization. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Planned Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/planned-organizational-change/): Planned changes are the stairs for achieving the targets that are usually almost impossible or very difficult to achieve. Organizations implement planned changes in order to achieve its goals at a faster pace with the motive of increasing profitability and satisfying the economic needs of the members. Human work is also affected as a result of the planned changes implemented by the leadership of the organization. It might sound simple and a textbook methodology to increase and improve the numbers. However, planned changes are the most critical ones to implement since you run towards an objective and have to be quite certain throughout the process. In this first blog in the series of change management process, we will be focusing on the steps that can facilitate in implementing the planned changes in an organization efficiently. 1. Planning for change – Planning is the most primitive stage in any change management process. Planning includes identifying the areas of improvement and analyzing whether the change required is strategic, process-oriented or employee oriented. After determining these factors, below given steps can be brought in the frame: Determine goals and objectives – With the changes to be implemented, the leadership of the organization must decide what goals and targets they want to achieve with the implementation of the change management processes. Assign an agent for the change – The leadership of the organization must assign someone to look after the change management processes. It can anyone with expertise in the field ranging from consultants to the existing managers. Spot out the problem – The agent assigned must analyze the problem and work towards collecting the data to spot out the key issues in the work culture and processes. After this, solutions can be derived from the collected data. Choose a methodology – An efficient and effective methodology for getting rid of the problems must be chosen for the change. While doing this, emotions of the employees must be considered for a better co-operation and achieving mutual benefits. Devise a plan – As per the methodology selected, a plan should be devised. A detailed framework and an organized structure can help the agent as well as the leadership in getting an early analysis of the change process. Develop a strategy – Build a strategy for the change processes as a part of the last step of your planning. Decide the factors ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ and push out the plans through a suitable channel. 2. Check change processes – The changes implemented are likely to face resistance from individuals, groups or from team members. Hence, the leadership should work on farming an environment where the employees accept the change rather than feeling that it is forced upon them. Driving forces – These forces are the forces which tend to initiate any process and thrust it in the forward direction towards completion. Restraining forces – These forces resist the change processes and pull them back. It is usually exhibited as a result of fear to change and insecurities that are usually associated with it. 3. Execute and implement the change – Once the planning and the establishment of favorable conditions have been successfully completed, it is then crucial for the management to push out the plan through efficient and consistent channels. While doing this, an efficient communication system should be put up in place to assist in the implementation of the change processes. Moreover, a small briefing to the team members and the employees will also motivate acceptance of the change in the system. Any kind of change in an organization and its working culture plays a crucial role in determining the future of the organization. Amongst these, planned changes need to be carried out in such a manner that it gets passed through all the layers without being resisted. Keep watching this space, for the next article in series where we will talk about the model for change management which is one of the most effective models to manage change. We at Faber Infinite have been helping clients across industries and geographies to plan change management process and implement the same using different tools and techniques. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Craft Excellence in Service Sector with Lean](https://faberinfinite.com/craft-excellence-in-service-sector-with-lean/): If I ask you to apply lean and its practices in your service sector organization, would you accept it readily? I bet, no! “Lean is not for service sector! It is only for the manufacturing industry.” This is the most common misconception among the people involved in the service industry. People might say service sector and the organizations have a very complex situation and would not benefit by the lean practices. But think about it. Service sector and its work culture are very complex and that is the most important reason why lean and its practices should be ingrained in the service sector. With complex structures and variables and long cycles in place, lean philosophy and its tools turn out to be a perfect solution that can help the organizations achieve their targets and goals and thrust their numbers in the green zone. It is claimed that more than 40% percent of capital in the financial services sector is spent on wasteful activities that in no way adds value to the services provided to the customer. Similarly, in other sectors, due lack of proper knowledge and training, capital and resources are wasted in non-value adding processes. One should understand that lean is not only about manufacturing. It is more towards standardization. Lean focuses on creating more viable and standardized work processes to eliminate problems and inefficiencies that affect the working of the organization. It helps in improving the critical thinking ability of the team members so that the problems can be solved efficiently and more value addition can be done in the work culture. A classic example of lean methodology creating a difference in the work processes and numbers is WIPRO initiating lean practices back in 2004 and achieving tremendous results from it. According to a research report, WIPRO first launched the lean initiative in the year 2004 and was able to achieve more than 10 percent improvement in efficiency of the work processes in every 8 out of 10 projects. Inspired by this, the IT sector giant then rolled out more than 603 lean projects in the organization by the end of the year 2006. While most of the companies think that lean is for manufacturing and struggles in implementing any other improvement processes, WIPRO set an example for the other. The goal of lean and its tools is to eliminate the waste, open up the work processes and reflect improvements in the usual hierarchies of the organization. Lean helps in unlocking the hidden potential of the manpower and the controls and optimizes the processes so that the organization can get the most optimum benefits. Despite being stereotyped to the manufacturing sector, lean is undoubtedly the most impactful and revolutionizing methodology to inflict excellence and development in any organization hence, must be ingrained in growing sectors like services. Team Faber Infinite has been working with organizations across sectors on lean management and has delivered tremendous results. To get more information about our offerings contact us at consulting@faberinfintie.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [What Yoga is to Body, Lean is to Business!](https://faberinfinite.com/what-yoga-is-to-body-lean-is-to-business/): The world is celebrating International Yoga Day today and promoting the integration of global health, harmony and peace in the society. Yoga has proved to have substantial effects on an individual’s mental, physical and spiritual health. LEAN practices are also a proven and healthy methodology to improve the health of a manufacturing facility and consequently improve the work culture and relative aspects of an organization. It might not be wrong to say that lean practices in today’s corporate world are equivalent to yoga for an individual. LEAN and Yoga are quite similar to each other in their own manner and are very relevant to each other. Various benefits of the yoga for the industrial world are as follows – Improves flexibility – As yoga is effective in increasing the flexibility of an individual, lean practices are known for improving the flexibility of an organization. The improved flexibility of an organization helps it in adapting to change more easily and implementing change management plans in a more effective and enhanced manner. Moreover, flexibility promotes innovation and speed and improves the coordination process. Enhances the overall structure – As yoga helps to enhance overall structure of the human body lean influences the overall working of an organization and how it runs. Lean practices are known to optimize the overall structure of the organization and efficiently implement the strategic changes. The structure of an organization also defines its overall goals, purpose, strategy or mission of an organization. Hence, an improvement in the structure will largely influence these factors as well. Prevents breakdown – Yoga takes your joints through their full range of motion. So regular yoga prevents cartilage and joints break down. Similarly, breakdowns, be it machinery or communication are one of the most hated timeframes in any organization. Organizations that are prone to breakdowns twice a year are likely to have a loss of around 15% in their annual business. Hence, it is very important for an organization to control these breakdowns and minimize their damage. Lean practices help the organizations in putting up a framework for the work processes as well as for the controls that pivot the working of the machinery and manpower on the floor with a detailed schedule of check-ups, feedbacks and others to ensure a smooth and continuous run of the organization. Improves blood (communication) flow – Yoga helps to increase blood flow. All the relaxation exercises that are done in yoga helps to get more oxygen to cells as well as improves blood circulation. Communication flow in an organization is equivalent to blood flow in an individual. It is very important that the message conveyed from one department reaches the receiver in the precise and intact situation without the interference of any noise. A bad communication in any organization will not only create chaos but will also put the entire working of the facility in a tender and lament situation. Improves quality – Yoga helps to improve the quality of life thus making us physically stronger and mentally peaceful. Quality defines the path any organization will run on. A better quality product and service attracts customers as well helps the organization in retaining the customers. Lean helps the organizations in removing the waste from the facilities and establishes quality controls for a better end product. Moreover, lean also helps in creating a better quality work and the operating environment by ingraining green practices in the work culture. It also promotes safety across all departments thus making the work processes immune to any mishaps. Improves balance – Yoga helps to improve the balance physically, mentally as well as spiritually. Similarly, balance is the key factor that helps anyone in achieving the desired goals and objectives. Lean is a proven tool that helps the leadership in attaining a balanced and a more substantial equation with the middle and lower management of the organization. The systems controlling the work processes on the floor is also brought on a leveled floor with the implementation of lean practices. It also helps in keeping biases away and puts forth a systematic and potentially more opportune environment for everyone. Increases strength – makes you more competent – Everyone in this world wants to be competent and have more strength than the others. It is not a hidden fact that competency helps in keeping them in the race and probably beat everyone at the finish line. Lean practices make an organization more competitive and help them in building a strong rapport with themselves in the market. It ultimately helps one in becoming the shark in the ocean! LEAN practices are an efficient way to remove toxicity from the work culture of an organization and ingrain efficiency and better productivity. The basic concepts of yoga and lean are same and with their ultimate objective being integrating freshness and health in an individual or organization. This International Yoga Day, let’s take a step in ingraining yoga in our work culture as well and move ahead in achieving health and prosperity in our professional as well as personal lives. Stay Fit! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Move On and Accept Change - Part II](https://faberinfinite.com/move-on-and-accept-change-part-ii/): Organizational change is one of the most quintessential aspects of an organization’s journey towards excellence and sustainable and continual development. In the last blog of Transformation Tuesday, we covered one aspect of resistance that might obstruct the transformation journey of an organization i.e. Individual resistance. As mentioned in the earlier Transformation Tuesday article, the kind of resistance that the leadership of an organization might face during organizational change are as follows: Individual resistance Group resistance Organizational resistance In this Transformation Tuesday, we will cover the remaining aspects of resistances that might incur during organizational change. Group resistance –  It is a very obvious and quite understandable fact that while working in the same company, people are likely to get acquainted and form an informal group amongst themselves. During the organizational change, it is very likely that these groups start resisting change. It happens mostly when the members of the group start considering themselves superior to the other groups and feel insecurity against their cohesiveness and belongingness to the group. Organizational resistance –  Organizational resistance is the resistance which resists the change at the organizational level itself. Some organizations structure themselves in a way that they resist the integration of new ideas and change and to continue their work in the same conservative manner. A classic example of such working groups is government agencies where the people continue their work in the same old manner even when change is desperately needed in the working culture to keep up with the changing trends. Insecurity about Power – Power drives everything and the leadership of the organization usually resists change because they see change as a threat to their power, position and influence in the organization. Participative decision making or self-managed work teams are some of the key change practices that are seen as a treat by the top management. Group torpidity – Another factor that influences organizational resistance is a threat one feels to his belongingness to the group. The magnitude of resistance depends on how loyal and integral of the group the individual is and on the manner in which the group resists the change. Structure of the organization – An organization is built by closely knitting various departments together. This often motivates the official structure of the organization to resist change since job and flow of information is very tightly commissioned in the hierarchy of the organization. Threat to experts – Change is also resisted when it starts to threaten the expertise or specialization of individuals or of groups. Pressure on the resources of the organization – Adequate resources are needed in order to successfully execute a change journey in the organization. When the change starts putting pressure on the resources of the organization especially on the financial side, the organization is likely to resist it. Waste – Top management of an organization also resists change when they anticipate that the new change will ultimately sink the huge amount of capital that has already been spent on the training of the employees and on the assets that were once considered useful and important. Resistance to change is linked to human reactions and attitude. There is no logic to it. Every individual reacts to change as per his/her attitude. But we as an individual or group or an organization should understand and accept the fact that if you are not changing yourself then there is a big problem in your approach because personal or professional front change is only permanent. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Standardize to Win the Race!](https://faberinfinite.com/standardize-to-win-the-race/): Coca-Cola is a renowned name all across the world. It has been in news for a long time in the Indian political scenario. Irrespective of the current news Coca-Cola has always managed and maintained their standards in every country they serve. Presently Coca-Cola serves more than 1.2 billion servings in over 200 countries all around the globe.  Unlike any other food or beverage MNC like Pizza Hut or McDonald’s, Coca-Cola has managed to keep its taste the same in all of the 200 countries. Standardizing the processes and keeping the product of the same quality is one of the crucial factors that drive growth and development in any company and the same has happened with Coca-Cola. The fact that Coca-Cola used to send out salesmen advising the vendors to serve coke between the temperature ranges of 36-40 degrees and not over it shows how inclined the company was towards standardization. Below are some of the strategies Coca-Cola used to standardize their product all across the globe – Standardizing all components and processes Standardizing all components and processes involved in manufacturing helps one in expanding their market and increasing their grip over various other product lines that are consequently created due to the availability of component sections across several products. This will not help you in keeping a tab on costs but will also assist in widening the global sales spectrum. This will also help one in minimizing the testing costs incurred while launching a product at some other geographical location with a different process of manufacturing. Moreover, having a standardized process enables one to push new products quickly into the market and capitalize on the potential needs of the customer. Packaging Packaging also plays an important role in boosting the sales of the product. Coca-Cola understood it very early and tweaked their packaging a bit to boost their global sales. Furthermore, they used a timeless font on all of their products they launched in the market thus, gaining them brand recognition and helping them in reflecting differences from the competition. They sold the same product in every other country but with a different and appealing packaging for the local consumers. Variation in quantities A well-standardized product when sold in different quantities keeps the company to satisfy the consumer needs and keep up with their sales at the same time as well. Usually, people don’t buy products in bulk while manufacturing and hence it opens up the door for you to channelize your product in different quantities among different marketing channels. Product price all across the world Another hard-hitting strategy adopted by Coca-Cola was to standardize the price of the product as well across all the geographical locations. For more than 70 years, Coca-Cola sold its product at the same price in the United States. This, along with the standardization of other processes helped them in keeping up with the costs, helped them in eliminating risks and keeping the product same everywhere. Standardization, as said above is a very important factor that keeps the company in the race in today’s competitive market. It may not seem an easy task, but believe me when I say that with standardization, one can keep up with the competition and might also be able to surpass them. We at Faber Infinite have been helping clients across the industries and geographies to work on process and product standardization. To know more about our offerings on standardization contact us on consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Change to Succeed!](https://faberinfinite.com/change-to-succeed/): Organizational change is one of the quintessential aspects of an organization’s journey towards development and success. The extent of change and its implementation defines the thrust in numbers the company will witness. However, change comes in proximity to the human workforce and has a very close relation with human attitudes towards it. It is highly important to get to know how the human labor will react to the organizational change in order to have a smooth and efficient implementation of various processes, systems and controls. It is also important in determining the kind and magnitude of resistance the company will be facing while implementing the change management processes. Below are the forms of employee reactions that can incur during organizational change – Acknowledgement and acceptance Acknowledging the change and accepting that it is happening depends on the perception of the employees and can vary with time to time. Accepting the change is one of the crucial factors that drive the organizational change in an organization. If an employee thinks that the change is going to benefit him in any sort, he is likely to accept the change. However, if he is unsure about it, the company is more prone to facing resistance from the employees. Resistance Resistance is not likely to infringe on the process of change every time. It arises as a result of insecurities and doubts that clouds the employee’s minds regarding the change. Employees are more likely to resist the change when they believe that they will face certain sort of harm as a result of change occurring in the organization be it financially, personally, in work cultures or in the position of the employee. Lack of interest in work also motivates the workforce to resist the changes going on around the floor. Moreover, humans are more prone to getting used to their daily routine and find themselves comfortable in it. This is another possible reason why the company might face resistance in implementing he change management processes. Detachment Any change in the organization is either accepted or resisted by the workforce. However, there are times when the company fails to bring out any kind of reaction from the workforce through the change processes. This happens because of the thinking processes of the employees who either think that they will not be affected by the change or fails to understand the impact the change created in the organization. As a result of this, they stay aloof of the change processes and are likely to remain detached from it. Forcing change on the employees Any force greater than the other is likely to overtake it. The same happens here as well. If the force of change is greater than the force of resistance exhibited by the workforce, change is likely to overtake it and the employees are then bound to accept the change. It is important for the employees to adapt to this change and work in a manner to procure balance in the organization. Any sort of imbalance in the company is bound to create chaos and havoc of the controls and systems implemented during the change. Adequate steps and processes should be taken here to manage individuals as well as groups to motivate them to keep the approaches neutral and balanced. Team Faber has been helping clients across industries and geographies in the change management journey. We have delivered some really great results. To know more about the offerings contact us: consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Let's Football the Lean Way](https://faberinfinite.com/lets-football-the-lean-way/): Lean six sigma has been known to bring out the optimum efficiency of the processes by reducing the wastes and improving qualities for quite a long period now. It has been a widely discussed topic on various forums and chat rooms. Six Sigma is not just limited to manufacturing industry but can also be applied in various other fields like advertisement, human resources, health care and even in sports! Yeah! You heard it right. Even in sports!  Lean Six Sigma concepts can be very helpful in creating more competent sportspersons. Like the concepts used in various industries, six sigma can also help the sportspersons to remove wasteful processes from their training sessions, train in a more efficient way and analyze and improve their control over the game Let’s Football the six sigma way! Football world cup kicks off today and the whole world will have their eyes stuck to their television sets. The entire world will be in anticipation and be guessing who will emerge as the winner. But what if I say that Lean Six Sigma can help a team in getting the edge over the other teams and dominate an entire tournament? Would you believe that? I guess no. But let me help you with it. Lean Six Sigma along with DMAIC method which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control can help a team in finding out the weaknesses of the opposition and then training their players to exploit it. It is a very obvious fact that in a team sport like football, it is very difficult to exploit the weaknesses of one particular individual and then go on to winning the match. However, with the use of Lean Six Sigma DMAIC methodology, one can train their players by defining the objectives, measuring their current abilities, analyzing the patterns in the opposition and then improving the game of its own team by training them in accordance to gain control over the match. Let us look at it in this way, suppose if a team can analyze the opposition and the pattern in which they play and are able to find a weakness, say goalkeeper’s inability to stop in a particular area of the goal, the team can then train their players to exploit this and ultimately win the match. If the goalkeeper only saves 20% of shots taken at him, it would surely be a significant contributing factor to the team’s losses. Lean Six Sigma is undoubtedly one of the most effective methods to remove various kinds of wastes from the processes. The discipline that is ingrained once the methodology gets implemented plays a crucial factor in directing the processes towards efficiency and in standardizing them. Lean six sigma not only removes wastes but also provides the leadership with a detailed framework and assists them in reconfiguring the overall organizational culture. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Move on and Accept Change!](https://faberinfinite.com/move-on-and-accept-change/): Here is how successful people decoded organizational change and its resistance Life is all about moving on, accepting challenges and looking forward to what makes you stronger and more complete. But the fact is that change is not easy to accept, both on an individual as well as on an organizational level. There is always some resistance to change. There may be several reasons for resistance to change of which, the key pointers are mentioned below. Individual resistance to change Team resistance to change Organizational level resistance to change. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the factors affecting resistance to change at an individual level: Fear of Unemployment – For example, in an organization, if there is any change in the technology,  employees fear that the change might lead to technological unemployment. Generally, any new technology needs skill enhancements and hence, the employees resist change. Apart from this, the employees also fear that the change will create an impact on their stream and their technology or work methods have been outdated and that as a result they will be pushed out of the workforce. Fear of loss of income – Change is bound to make employees and team members insecure about their financial situations. In organizations where pay or salary is linked to employee productivity, employees fear change as they feel that change might lead to decrease in productivity and that it might further lead to loss of income. Since finances are related to livelihoods of the people, a degrade in the lifestyle as a result of the loss of employment also gives birth to resistance. Inertia – Human beings are habitual of their daily lifestyle and are quite resistant to change their daily routine. They feel more comfortable in their routine and likes to stay away from complications that threaten their comfort. Moreover, we tend to depend on the programmed responses of our minds rather than exploring the unexplored for difficult situations. Hence, when confronted with the change, individuals resist it fearing that the new environment will be more cumbersome to handle and getting accustomed to. The sense of being unsafe – Change creates a sense of unsafeness or insecurity in an individual. One is likely to feel insecure about his job when confronted with change. Furthermore, the unclear picture of how things will be after the change is also that forces the individuals to resist changes. Unknown things and aspects of work culture are bound to threaten security and hence produce resistance. Improper Communication – Communication drives everything. An improper or inefficient communication between departments about change and controls might create chaos and hence push the employees to resist the change. A clear communication is a necessity in order to get the word out clear to everyone. The magnitude of change – The magnitude of the change that is being carried out in the organization also influence the kind of resistance the organization will face from the employees. If there is a small change that hardly affects the daily routine of the unit, it is likely to go through the system without even being noticed. However, a change concerning a greater number of people is likely to face more and greater amount of resistance. SO! This was all for this Transformation Tuesday. Stay tuned for the next article of the series – Resistance to Change in our next blog! Happy Transforming!
- [Plastic is not the problem Irresponsibility is!](https://faberinfinite.com/plastic-is-not-the-problem-irresponsibility-is/): Plastic and ban on its usage have been one of the most controversial issues of modern times. Every now and then there is a protest or petition against the usage of plastics in some part of the world. It is true that plastics are polluting our environment and are creating a ruckus of the biodiversity. But, is plastic really a threat to our society by itself and is banning the only solution? Or do we need to change our outlook towards plastic, its usage and wastage for more efficient management of the material? We have to understand that the evil which has been associated with plastics is not because of them being in the market, it is because of the way they are being used! Even the theme of the World Environment Day 2018 “Beat Plastic Pollution” conveys the message to tackle the pollution and disposal management rather than just simply banning it. A short overview If facts are to be believed, we produce more than 300 million tons of plastic waste all around the globe every year. Out of this, only 10% percent of the entire waste is recycled. The remaining amount of plastic waste is left untreated. However, the point to be noted here is plastics is a fascinating material which can be used again and again over the period of time and it is the human population that is using it irresponsibly over the years. Why should plastics not be banned? Plastic industry is one of the largest industries all around the world and contributes a major share to global trade and economy. It is a magnificent material created by the mankind. Unlike its alternatives, plastic bags and containers can be used in various versatile ways and can be used again and again thus providing a very effective alternative to paper and jute bags. Moreover, banning plastics will only have adverse impacts in the natural resources since a ban on plastics will only force the population to move towards any other source like paper bags for their needs which will ultimately end up in depleting other natural resources. Instead, we should change to eco-friendly plastics which are biodegradable in nature and still serves to all the fields catered by single-use plastics. Apart from this, the lives of millions of people will be impacted as a result of a ban on plastics. The employment of millions of people involved in the plastic manufacturing industry will be in jeopardy and they will be forced to live on the streets. A classic example of government considering the employment as an influential factor in banning the plastics was seen in Australia when they introduced a bill that focused on reducing the use of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) plastics rather than completely banning it because of the impact it would have had on the employment. Plastic alternatives are not exactly better! Many say that plastics are destroying the biodiversity and we should move to other alternatives like paper, jute and cotton bags and others. But has anyone ever thought if shifting to such sources is viable enough or not? According to a research by US Environmental Protection Agency, paper bags are much more harmful to the environment. It generates 70% more air pollutants and 50% more water pollutants to the environment since it consumes more than four times of energy to be produced. Recycling of paper bags also takes up more than 85% of more energy than that of plastic bags. Coming to landfills, paper bags take as much as 9 times more space than plastics and still decompose at the same rate. Moreover, plastic bags have a lower carbon footprint than its alternatives. In a study done by the Chemistry Professor of the University of Oregon, he concluded that plastic bags have only half of the carbon footprint when compared to cotton and paper bags. They use fewer chemicals and resources and produce less greenhouse gas when manufactured and pushed in utilities. Possible alternatives! Banning plastic and its products just because they decompose at a very slow rate does make sense but is definitely not a viable option when the material possesses more pros than cons. However, it is true that plastics have created pollution and has deteriorated natural resources. But at the same time, we have to understand that it is because of the human acts that plastic has turned into a curse despite being a magnificent creation. Governments across the globe should work towards educating the people to use plastic and its products carefully and in an organized manner. A more organized way of waste collection and management should be taught and integrated into the system. Furthermore, more focus should be shifted on the removal of plastic wastes through various methods like recycling and reusing across the geographical locations in order to minimize the damage that has already been done because of irresponsible and careless use of plastics by the people. Many governments across the globe are already practicing such practices like many European countries have incentivized the waste collection processes and are rewarding the people to encourage more active participation as well as creating proper infrastructures for waste disposal. To encourage people to recycle Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles, the Gujarat government will soon set up around 20,000 to 25,0000 recycling machines across the state, which will pay for every bottle that is recycled. Making the announcement at a function held to celebrate World Environment Day at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said this will give incentives to both rag pickers as well as common man to recycle PET bottles, which is one of the biggest sources of plastic waste generation. “Not all plastic PET bottles get recycled. Only those that the rag pickers pick get recycled. We want to incentivize the common man to recycle and the recycling machines is a step in this direction,” said Rupani. (Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-now-gujarat-govt-to-pay-for-every-pet-bottle-you-recycle-2622534) Spiritual leader and founder of Isha Foundation Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev explains how plastic can be a boon for
- [Sustain Gains](https://faberinfinite.com/sustain-gains/): Equipments are the most important part of any manufacturing facility. The downtime and repairing costs of machinery is a very expensive and getting more expensive day by day. To tackle and reduce the downtime of machinery, many companies store spare parts of such machines at the manufacturing facility itself. However, as a result of this, companies fail to diagnose the real problem behind the failure of machines in the first place and consequently suffer from another downtime with time. This not only increases the costs of manufacturing by increasing the expenses on spare parts but also creates a very drastic impact in the productivity as well. This is just an example form the manufacturing setup. To avoid this and sustain the gain achieved, companies need to implement some corrective measures. A regular analysis and timely check-up and service can be a great alternative to keep the processes in check. Prevention Many people face troubles in sustaining the gain and fail to keep the graphs up. Prevention can be one of the most effective measures to keep the processes on the higher pitch. Instead of blaming oothersfor the problems and feeling content at solving the problem on a temporary basis, one should ask themselves questions that can lead themselves to the root cause of the problems. Many times, the same questions can also help the organizations in increasing the competency of the organization while ingraining preventive corrective measures in the system at the same time. Corrective measures are for every department Corrective measure should be implemented in every department involved in the manufacturing processes. It should not be limited only to the quality department of the production facility. One will definitely not be able to sustain the gains achieved from corrective measures by just applying them in the quality department. A thorough involvement of company’s resources in filling the gaps in the manufacturing processes in every department can only result in overall engagement thus consequently boosting the sustenance. Keep a tab on processes with high risks Processes carrying high risks are needs frequent audits in order to yield high results. Auditing these processes frequently is one of the most efficient methods to improve quality of products in automotive and aerospace manufacturing industry. It also provides the leadership with an insight if the corrective measures implemented are working in the desired manner or not. Ignore short term costs and focus on long term ROI Most of the companies fail in sustaining the developments because they worry too much about the incurring costs. One should focus on prioritizing quality rather than slip thinking about the costs. Corrective measures yielding permanent results might be expensive but leaves a concrete impact on the manufacturing processes. Quality must be treated as the foremost priority in order to provide a better customer service as well as acquisitioning and retention of customers as well. It is yet a very misunderstood concept. Corrective measures can act as a catalyst for any organization in sustaining the benefits achieved in the processes involved. Avoiding these will only result in recurrence of problems which will ultimately impact the various processes, systems and controls involved in the manufacturing processes of any industry. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [World Environment Day 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/world-environment-day-2018/):   Looking after the environment of our planet is our responsibility!  World Environment Day is one of the most important dates in the calendars to encourage and promote green initiatives and appeal to people to protect the environment of planet Earth all across the globe. United Nations started this in 1974 and the event is now widely celebrated. The theme of World Environment Day 2018 is “Beat Plastic Pollution” which invites everyone all around the globe to ingrain various actions in their daily lifestyle to minimize the heavy pollution caused by the use of plastics. The human population has constantly used plastics and consequently now relies on plastics more than ever. This has ultimately increased the burden of plastic waste on mother Earth. With more than 100 countries celebrating green environment, India hosts World Environment Day this year. The nation has put forward various actions to support the green initiative. Tamil Nadu state government has banned the plastic manufacture and use of plastic products (except in packaging of milk, curd and medical items) for a year in the state. Taking the same initiative forward, Indian Railways has also decided to abolish the practice of using plastic boxes for food packaging and has moved to biodegradable substances for the same. On this World Environment Day, let us come together and take some concrete actions to counter the environmental pollution. We must engrave that there is no Planet B in the universe in our minds. This is our planet and it is our responsibility to look after it and nurture it for us and for the coming generations. Let’s take a step closer towards a clean and green environment. Wish you all a Happy World Environment Day!
- [Be Objective to Achieve Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/be-objective-to-achieve-excellence/): Performance Management System (PMS) is one of the most talked about methodology in today’s world. Now a days many organizations are actively ingraining Performance Management System in their work culture in order to become more efficient in their work processes. What is Performance Management System? Performance Management System is an ongoing process of a transparent two-way communication between the employer and the employee. Its aim is to achieve the overall organizational goals in a definite period of time for which it is implemented. Key objectives – Eliminate subjectivity and measure employee’s performance objectively. Provide continuous feedback to the employee for improvement Facilitate smooth and unbiased objective based appraisals Promote star performers based on competence and performance Identify the training and development needs of the employees Determine the effectiveness of various programs Team Faber has helped organizations in successfully implementing Performance Management System in their facilities as well as at other workplaces. We firmly believe that objectively analyzing data and performances of various employees along with feedback is one of the prime motivators to thrust upon the numbers and help companies achieve their goals and targets. Our Experience Faber Infinite Consulting has been providing its services to its clients all over the world for more than 6 years now. We are known for achieving the targets and goals and have helped the companies in sustaining those growth numbers and development. We are currently supporting around a dozen clients across 8 countries in three different regions in implementing and garnering the most optimum results with Performance Management System. Being involved in these projects, we have successfully touched and trained more than 10,000 people.  Key Benefits of Performance Management System Among the various benefits of Performance Management System, the key benefits are listed below – Objective based Performance Management System removes subjectivity from the work culture, thus reducing the chances of favoritism Transparent system eliminates doubts from employees’ mind about the calculation methodology Extremely useful & easy to manage It facilitates the leadership in building high-performance teams High inter-department synergies Enhanced employee belongingness It promotes unbiased rewards and recognition methodology Re-organization & uniform work loading as derived from utilization Differentiators of Performance Management System offering by Faber Infinite Team Faber is a very avid and strong supporter of Performance Management System and suggests various companies to integrate this in their work culture in order to have a better and more efficient performance analysis of employees.  Some of the key differentiators are mentioned below – Performance Management System provides 12 improvement and review opportunities to the management per year against the traditional system which provides just 1 annual review Performance of an entire organization can be gauged in one dashboard; be it company performance, departmental/ team performance or individual performances PMS provides a holistic approach. A hierarchy driven weightage of company performance along with departmental and individual performances. It provides timely feedbacks and encourages ‘Team win’ over ‘Individual gains’ and helps the employees in evaluating themselves rather than depending on the management of the evaluations   Team Faber has always focused its efforts on improving the work culture of the modern industries and guide them to achieve continuous and sustainable development. Achieving excellence is what has always driven our work methodology. With Performance Management Systems, we believe the working labor of an organization can be made more productive and efficient, Moreover, with improvised evaluation, we encourage more and more participation of employees as well as motivate them to achieve what we have always believed in – excellence! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Parivartan – Making a Difference](https://faberinfinite.com/parivartan-making-a-difference/): Transformation journey is one of the quintessential stops in the road of achieving continual and sustainable development and growth. Team Faber is known for helping its clients achieve their targets by supporting and guiding the transformation journeys. In this edition of our newsletter, we bring you a tale from the floors of the largest manufacturers of cryogenic storage and distribution equipments of India – Chief Operating Officer at Inox CVA – Mr. Deepak Acharya opens up about various details of the company’s transformation journey. Excerpts below: Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 20,000 readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about the largest manufacturer of Cryogenic liquid storage and transport tanks in India Mr. Deepak Acharya (DVA) – We started our journey back in 1992 with a tie-up with a Japanese company who helped us in design and manufacturing of cryogenic vessels. We started with a target of 25 vessels per year and slowly developed our products to become a global player. We basically serve in four verticals namely, industrial gas, oil and gas, LNG and cryoscientific area. We have contributed to various projects that include ISRO and even in the Big Bang experiment carried out in Geneva, Switzerland. We started with an annual turnover of mere Rs. 5 lakhs. From then till now, we have come a long way and have reached a turnover of more than INR 450 crores from our India operations. We now have global presence with facilities in USA, Canada, Brazil and Europe to serve the various markets across the globe. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? DVA – When we started the company, we realized that the usual time for delivery of tanks by foreign companies was around 10-12 months. So we decided to keep 6 months as the initial target for us. Once we started growing, we saw that customers still wanted a shorter delivery time and hence we reduced ours to 3 months which created some difficulties for us. This was our primary challenge. However, after our association with Faber Infinite, we are actually cruising with it. Team Faber has helped us in streamlining in our operations, modified our earlier layout, established a standard line system and also in removing other bottlenecks that were actually creating obstacles in growth and development.  In addition to Work Pack system and Window Planning; we also implemented philosophies like Five S suggested by Team Faber integrating it with Safety and Synchronization in our workplace which has helped us tremendously in productivity. With all this help, we are now able to produce one tank per day thus producing 25 tanks in a month at our facility. FI – Progressive teams of INOX CVA are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? DVA – At Inox CVA, we strongly believe that people are our main strength because there are brilliant individuals who have helped us in developing this company. Moreover, we believe in having a customer-centric approach and try our best to be flexible with the demands of our customers. Our products are unique, which is another strength of ours. We also focus on complying with the industry standards and competition by including various modern technologies in our production processes. We want to provide efficient and quality product to our customers and that’s what we keep working on. FI – INOX CVA has rolled out the path-breaking organization transformation journey – Parivartan. We would love to understand more about it. DVA – As I said, we started our company in 1992 and till the last few years, we were working in the same fashion. It actually forced our business to become monotonous. It is then when we realized that things need to be changed. We felt a need to have a catalyst to change things for good. This is the basic concept behind ‘Parivartan’. With ‘Parivartan’, we aimed to find gaps between the present working methodologies and correct them to improve our productivity, quality and safety.  We also focused on creating a more effective operating environment with this. We implemented various projects to cut down our costs to meet with the competition and with ‘Parivartan’ we really got a thrust from downline of the hierarchy with the success of such projects. Team Faber also helped us in correcting the management of our bill of materials (BOM) which ultimately helped us in becoming more cost-efficient. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views about Faber’s role in the growth numbers? DVA – Faber Infinite played a very active and effective role in this transformation journey of ours. The consultants involved from Team Faber managed to have a great connection with the people from all layers of our workforce. They managed to hold hands of our workforce on the shop floor which consequently made people believe that things can change. They tried to help us in a very efficient manner by correcting the mistakes by training the people in a very effective manner which really helped the people in acquiring various advanced skill sets. They helped us substantially in improving things because though we knew how we can improve things, the methods which were required were taught and implemented by Team Faber. In short, the whole philosophy of problem-solving was taught to us by Faber Infinite Consulting. We thank Mr. Deepak Acharya and team INOX for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [What's Your Story?](https://faberinfinite.com/whats-your-story/): Transformation initiative of an organization defines the progress and development organization will witness as they move through the transformation journey. It will not be wrong to say that transformation initiatives are the key and one of the most vital influencers on which the business depends to innovate and comply with the increasing competition and customer demands. Challenges and difficulties are an obvious part of any transformation process. Every industry faces its own set of challenges while going through a transformation phase. Faber Infinite is a global leader in transformation consulting and specializes in helping the companies across industry verticals to tackle their challenges and move ahead on the roads of success and growth. We have a solid reputation to manage organizational change without forgetting the sustainability aspect of change. As mentioned earlier, every industry faces a whole different spectrum of challenges in their own respective transformation initiatives. However, there are two challenges that remain the same in almost every transformation initiative namely, lack of engagement and sustenance. Lack of engagement – This is one of the basic challenges that need to be tackled in order to implement a successful transformation initiative. Many employees of an organization undergoing change are apprehensive of the change. Though being aware of the fact that transformation initiatives are going to help improve the processes employees are reluctant to change. This apprehension amongst the employees about their future and their roles is the biggest hindrance to employee engagement. Team Faber has been actively steering many transformation initiatives and has been supporting clients to successfully implement and go through the transformation initiatives across 8 countries with approximately 100 clients in more than 50 different industries. Throughout these transformation initiatives, we have collaborated with more than 1000 teams and have helped over a million people to go through the transformation processes and embrace the change. Sustenance – Sustaining the transformation in the organization is another common problem which troubles the organization to the core. Faber Infinite has helped a number of companies in this aspect of transformation initiative. With the help of Team Faber and its services, one of the largest engineering companies in India managed to save around INR 32 million in the first year of the transformation initiative. The same internal team continued to work and sustain the developments and increased the savings to a total of INR 87 million in the second year. Key differentiators of Faber Infinite A global leader in organizational transformation consulting A record of producing minimum 10 times return on investments A result driven team of change management experts Modules and methodology which have proved their effectiveness in various industries Commit stakes with success linked fees Results delivered through Transformation by Team Faber in various industries 44% improvement in Manpower Productivity along with 37% improvement in Production throughput time at one of the world’s largest Cryogenic Tank manufacturer. The client also witnessed an increase in monthly revenue by INR 17 million with the same infrastructure in place. Team Faber helped a client in Tea processing industry of East Africa to improve its On Time In Full (OTIF) by more than 171%. A 56% improvement in inventory and 121% improvement in production were also witnessed at the client site. The client managed to improve its annual turnover by USD 1.2 million with the same infrastructure after Faber Infinite’s involvement. We helped a client from Textile machinery manufacturing industry to improve its manpower productivity and unit production per day by more than 167%. The client also saw an improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) by more than 26% as a result of Faber Infinite’s services. We have worked with a client in the logistics industry in improving the vehicle availability by more than 22.5%. The annual turnover also increased by more than 6.3 million KSH. We have worked with Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) and woven sack sector and helped in reducing wastage in the plant by more than 31% which helped the company in saving around INR 1.2 crore. The manpower cost was also reduced by 28%. There are many more case studies to share. This is just a glimpse of the results delivered at few of our esteemed clients. We have a broad experience in the vast range of industries and geographies and we ensure that we understand the needs of client’s business. Team Faber Infinite along with the client team moves through the transformation initiative from organization’s goals and principles down to smallest of the nuts and bolts to provide the maximum output. There are boundless opportunities and vast challenges in the initiative of transformation and Team Faber is confident to support in discovering the opportunities, crafting the systemic solutions and polishing the method of locking the gains. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Yet Again Faber of the Year!](https://faberinfinite.com/yet-again-faber-of-the-year/):   In the modern era of the competitive industrial world, it might not be wrong to say that consultants are the pioneers of excellence across industries across the globe. They play the role of a fulcrum in the transformation journey of any organization by flexing themselves to the needs of the organization and still providing exceptional results without a crack. Irrespective of the geographical variations, consultants are the drivers of continual development in today’s industrial world. In this edition of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite, we will peak into the life of our Faber of the Year for two consecutive years, Mr. Abhishek Pandey. Early life and Background Hailing from a small town in Orissa, our Faber of the Year holds a bachelors degree in electronics & instrumentation and has hands-on experience in different industries in various improvement projects. In his early career, he has worked for multiple manufacturing companies in the automobile sector. From Good to Better……… Abhishek’s journey as a consultant is quite appealing and inspirational. While working as a Production Engineer, there were many instances when our Faber of the Year was not satisfied with the processes and found scope for improvement for better efficiency. Because of this, he represented his company in many change management initiatives in his early years which we believe is a very fascinating event for any tech-savvy person. This slowly increased his interest in consulting. Abhishek is an expert in various lean and operation excellence tools. He is an expert in preparing operational excellence strategy and deploying the same for different sectors. He has experience in identifying opportunities, implementing the operational excellence tools and delivering excellent results across sectors. His skills have been utilized to improve and establish new business/ operations practices across several sectors. He has also led Organizational Design solutions and rollout for businesses across various sectors and geographies. He has been engaged as Transformation Program Lead. He has training and consulting experience in Operations, Materials/ Logistics Management, Quality Management Systems, and LEAN. His expertise in methodologies like 360-degree transformation, LEAN and ability to apply it across industries leads to improvements and quality consulting engagements that generate high impact benefits for the client’s top line as well as bottom-line. He has worked with clients across a range of industries including government or public sector project in India and Africa, Pharmaceutical, Engineering industries, service sector, Plastic industry, Process, automobile, Textile, Farm (Flower, Wheat & Barley) etc. “Being a consultant, I feel there is much more to learn than being any other professional. In other jobs, an individual is limited to just one field, while a consultant goes on exploring multiple fields which helps him to learn and grow to the higher level”, says Abhishek. Challenges – the other term for Consulting When asked about challenges, Abhishek had quite a reply which showcased why he won Faber of the Year for two consecutive years. “First and foremost challenge that any consultant faces is building bond and accord with the team he has to work with. One can’t just impose things on the team members and expect results from the implementation. One has to bind the team together and move ahead with the entire team.” Moreover, there are some other challenges as well as understanding the technical aspects of various factors on gemba as well which a consultant enjoys solving with his zeal and passion. Abhishek specializes in woven sack industry; however, he has worked in many other industries including plastic, chemical, engineering, trading, farm and many more. Consultants are never off duty! A consultant is never off duty and Abhishek avidly agrees with the statement. “A consultant is like a doctor in an organization who checks on the health of the workplace, finds the improvement areas and suggests methods to improve. The only difference is that he has to be more focused and involved with the patient than a real one.” A consultant can let his thoughts run freely in any direction. Since he is linked with many industries, the scope for learning becomes manifold for a consultant. This is the key driving force that keeps the consultant on his toes to work and thrive even in a very hectic schedule. Motivation, Inspiration and Achievements As mentioned earlier, Abhishek has won the title of ‘Faber of the Year’ for two consecutive years and has been awarded as ‘Faber of the Month” multiple times. To achieve these, one has to constantly motivate and encourage themselves to stay on the top. When asked about what keeps him motivated, Abhishek replied, “I like creating big changes; changes that can actually shake the gemba for good. This really keeps me moving and helps me in doing better every day. Apart from this, I always thrive to add value to the client with my work since it is the client who is paying you to bring improvements in the organization. Feedbacks from the clients and support from the team actually pushes one in achieving something good, something concrete and undeniable.” Abhishek is one of the senior consultants at Faber Infinite and has been involved in dozens of projects across various regions and has delivered exceptional results at the client sites. He is known as a team player and has received excellent feedback from almost all of the clients he has worked for. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Delivering Results Yet Again!](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-results-yet-again/): The agricultural sector is one of the most basic and fundamental sector which has been making considerable contributions to any country’s GDP. Farms and agricultural lands are now recognized as one of the most opportune and potential business sectors. They are not just a primitive source of income but now have caught the attraction of many industrialists for investments with quintessential opportunities of garnering profits. Faber Infinite with expertise in Operational Excellence Practices has been working with leading commercial farms across 8 countries with an objective to build competitiveness and higher returns on investment (ROI) based on the principles of Operational Excellence and Continual Improvement. We have been working with leaders in the industry with an objective to build a transformation culture. Faber Infinite’s Farm Transformation toolkit specially developed for farms helps them to increase the production, manpower productivity, reduce rejects and other wastes. Exceptional results have been delivered across various farms ranging from flower, tea, wheat, soya, vegetables, etc. Our experience in Agricultural and Farming sector Faber Infinite has always focused on delivering results and is known for the same among the clients. We have a cumulative experience of more than 200 years in this domain where we have provided our services and delivered results in more than 8 countries across 3 different regions. We cater to the needs of dozens of clients in commercial farming. Moreover, we also have experience in training the manpower to keep them abridge of the latest trends and have trained more than 10,000 people from this domain. Typical Improvement Areas It is very important to identify areas that need improvement in order to reach the root cause of any challenge and then work on it to improve the system. Some of the key areas of improvement are as follows: Reduction in rejection of flowers Productivity improvement of land Quality improvement Inventory management Flow improvement in pack house to improve ‘On Time in Full’ supplies to customers. Increase in labor productivity Reduction in customer complaints Improvement in transport operations of flowers Reduction in energy and fuel cost Cold chain Improvement Projects Physical Workplace improvement Lead Time Reduction Daily Work Management to sustain improvement Results Delivered Again… Any transformation journey or implementation of modules is evaluated by the results it delivers. We are proud that our highly effective implementation journey has delivered phenomenal results over and over again with time. Some of the benefits achieved are mentioned below: We helped farms in generating potential additional revenue by ~11 MN KSh / Annum An improvement in flower production by more than 25% was witnessed as a result of Team Faber’s efforts Farms achieved ~83% improvement in Value Adding Ratio (VAR) in the post-harvest process (cutting to packing) Farms also saw a 45% reduction in Lead Time for pack house after the involvement of Team Faber At the same time, a 21% reduction in inventory for pack house was also achieved More importantly, farms were able to increase their harvest productivity by more than 39% and packhouse productivity by 47% Field rejection reduced by 68% Packhouse rejection reduced by 71% Customers felt more satisfied and a drop of more than 70% was seen in customer complaints The implementation also helped farms in reducing costs by reducing inventory carrying cost by more than 53% 18% reduction in the number of touch points and 49% reduction in was achieved in distance traveled in Pack House Faber Infinite also helped its clients in saving ~9 MN KSh / Annum Water saving in Pack House was also increased to approximately 93,600 litres on an annual basis Reduction in dead plants in Green House by 60% Increase in customer satisfaction index from 50% to 85% Faber Infinite Creative Solutions believes in creating a more holistic and opportune farming sector by increasing the conditions of this sector. We believe that creating a sustainable structure for every industry is important and we thrive to build one for this sector as well. We very firmly support the companies of farming sector and very avidly push our efforts in the forward direction to help the industry grow as well as create a paradigm of overall development for those involved too.   Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Train to Gain Profitability](https://faberinfinite.com/train-to-gain-profitability/): Competitiveness in the 21st-century corporate world has forced many organizations to ingrain various tools and techniques in order to gain profitability and move on the road of continuous development and growth. Five S is a very efficient workplace organization tool to improve the efficiency of the manpower and tools by reducing various wastes. It also helps the organization in increasing the morale and engagement of the employees due to improved workplace environment and work culture. Team Faber recently conducted a training workshop at Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) on how to improve employee engagement at the workplace using the improvised Five S + Safety (Six S) training methodology. Objectives of the workshop The primary objective of the workshop was to create awareness among the employees and leadership about the various engagement benefits of the Five S + Safety (Six S) methodology. Understand the various other benefits of the tool and instill the various processes associated with it Make the workforce aware of the importance of safety and other relevant systems and controls Feedback! Feedbacks play an important role in any kind of maneuvers and impact the morale of the team as well. The training workshop conducted by Team Faber at ACMA was received extremely well. The overall feedback of the entire workshop was 84% and the topics covered were rated relevant and innovative by the participants. The course structure and workshop method were also praised by the leadership at ACMA. The training workshop was one of the many successful workshops organized and conducted by Team Faber at various organizations. We focus towards the goals and objectives of various organizations and create modules as per the need of the corporates. Moreover, we also assist companies in training the workforce to keep up with the changing trends of the ever-evolving industrial world of 21st century. At Faber Infinite, we are profoundly inclined towards helping the companies in achieving excellence and continual improvement with our various specially crafted training modules.
- [Focus on "Purpose"](https://faberinfinite.com/focus-on-purpose/): Many motivational speakers and philosophers have focused on the word ‘Purpose’. Defining one’s purpose is one of the key aspects of using the potential of an individual, a team or of an organization to the fullest. People need to realize that defining their purpose for themselves will not only help them focus but will also keep them motivated towards doing better and achieving more. The purpose of an organization is a very powerful tool to rally the workforce towards delivering better. It improves the communication as well as infuses a sense of value in the stakeholders. Below are some of the reasons why defining purpose leads to success. Be the answer for “Why you and not them?” The customers in the modern world are now more sensible and demanding than ever. Moreover, with the increased competition, they now have more options as well. Hence, one really has to be unique and expert in their services and products. The customer now buys products not because what you do, but because why you do it. One must ingrain uniqueness and novelty to their products and services in order to get hold of the attention of their customers. The organization’s purpose should be to make the customer feel appreciated and touch their hearts. They should be able to bring value to the customer and fulfill their needs with authentic and reliable products and services. Make the team members believe in something meaningful Employees from the most critical aspect of an organization. The organization needs to create something that is able to garner profound interests of the team members. The employees should feel inspired by the organization’s work immensely and should be able to keep themselves abridged with the same. They need to feel appreciated and valued in the work culture of the company and should be able to sync themselves with the values and principles of the organization. This really creates a motivated staff and drives them to deliver better. Apart from this, it also drives positivity in the workforce, making them more optimistic and consequently delivering optimized and efficient results. Decisions in sync with purpose keeps the company on the right tracks Whatever the purpose be of on organization, it should be crystal clear and definitely more than an agenda. One must evaluate their decision-making process to see if it is true to their purpose. One should also put forward a statement such that even the leadership cares about the ‘purpose’. Working together as a team towards fulfilling the objectives of the company is a very powerful tool that can emphasize efforts of the individuals towards the purpose of the organization. Furthermore, putting forward the core belief of the company can create an opportune as well as holistic and better operating environment for all. So, go define the purpose and unlock the potential of individual, team and most important the potential of the organization. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Problem Solving Methodology with 8d (Eight Discipline) Techniques](https://faberinfinite.com/problem-solving-methodology-with-8d-technique/): Eight Disciplines (8D) is a problem-solving methodology that helps in finding solutions to complex problems. It’s a process of working through details of a problem to reach a solution. It may include mathematical or systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual’s critical thinking skills. It is a unique technique that helps: To enhance creativity Improve ownership of the problem Develop structured thinking among employees Improve teamwork Enhance ‘flow of information’ among team members Helpful in developing multi-tasked team members The purpose of this methodology is to identify, correct, and eliminate recurring problems, and it is focused on product and process improvement. It establishes a permanent corrective action based on statistical analysis of the problem and on the origin of the problem by determining the root causes. here we listed 8D methodology. Steps of 8D techniques through Problem Solving methodology   1. Establish the team – Identify and make cross-functional teams for specific problems. Train the team on team-oriented problem-solving techniques. The objective of this step is to make teams more efficient since working as individuals is often less proficient. Working in groups maximizes the potential of the outcome. It will also help to get people with different product and process knowledge to work together.   2. Define the problem – This is the stage where you need to most accurately describe the problem. An adequate problem  description is equal to at least 50% of its solution. Problem description is the starting point to further step of analysis and proper understanding of the nature of the problem for the team as well as people from outside. Take time to clearly define the problem with facts. Good problem definition is critical to determining the root cause. 3. Take short term action / Containment Action – Containment is the systematic search and quarantine of suspected nonconforming product throughout the supply/delivery chain. 4. Determine root cause – When identifying root cause the team should focus on why the issue occurred first, and then secondly on how the defect was missed.  There are different techniques that are used to determine the root cause. Asking Why 5 times is the simplest technique. 5. Develop corrective action – Once the Root Cause is found it’s usually clear what the Corrective Action needs to be. The Corrective Action must address the Root Cause!!! There may be multiple Corrective Actions and some actions may address Contributing Causes – this will make your solution more robust in case other factors change in the future. Corrective Action for the problem itself (Occurrence) plus the “Detection” issues need to be implemented to address the full dimension of the issue 6. Implement / Validate corrective action – It’s necessary that we “maintain the gain” The Corrective Action has to address the Root Cause, so it’s important that a follow-up audit verifies that the Root Cause was eliminated! Someone with a vested interest who was not part of the Corrective Action team should be chosen to follow up. In some cases, verification should be done soon after implementation and again after several weeks to verify that the change really is permanent. 7. Prevent recurrence – Addressing the Systemic issues is key to Preventing Recurrence. We need to share these best practice solutions, so others can learn from our work. 8. Recognize the team efforts – Permanently eliminating problems is extremely satisfying in itself but team members provide an important service by working on the problem, so management should recognize the efforts of the people participating in Corrective Actions The 8D Corrective Action process is necessary for continual improvement. It should be a part of any organization’s culture and needs to be ingrained into DNA of the organization.
- [Get Lean to Stay Lean!](https://faberinfinite.com/get-lean-to-stay-lean/): Lean manufacturing is one of the hot topics for waste reduction and manufacturing in large quantities all around the world. It is one of the most sought out manufacturing process to reduce ingrain efficiency in the manufacturing processes and reduce wastes (MUDA) at the same time. It is also widely recognized as a proven method to improve labour productivity as well. In this blog of our transformation Tuesday, we will enlighten our readers with tools to reduce the amount of waste in their production processes which will ultimately help them in beaming their steps towards lean manufacturing. 1. The Five S Program We have earlier also talked about a lot about the benefits of 5S tools and methodology in implementing lean principles in any manufacturing process at any manufacturing facility. The 5S program provides a detailed and scientific framework for workplace management ensuring better efficiency and higher productivity. Below is a detailed version of 5S program. Sort – It is one of the primary steps to reduce waste in any manufacturing process. It includes removal of any non-value adding activities by running various sorting activities. Set in Order – Keeping things in order ensure a better and smooth operation of various processes involved in a manufacturing process which is essentially required for better productivity. It also helps the manufacturer in keeping the quality of the product to an optimum level. Shine – Shine is basically about keeping the workplace clean and organized to assist in the various system controls and tools in keeping the wastes to the lowest levels possible. Standardization – Operating under a given set of standards is highly important in any manufacturing facility. It is very important that the equipments used in process and the manpower involved is highly inclined towards the standards set and operates under the same. Sustain – The last step in the Five S program is to sustain all the above-discussed steps for a successful implementation of the Five S program at a manufacturing facility. It also includes performing regular audits, training the workforce and various other steps to keep the processes on the track and holding them from pivoting to any other direction. 2. Ingrain 3Ms Ingraining 3Ms (Muda, Mura, and Muri) in any waste reduction process is quintessential for the success of the process. Muda – Muda stands for waste and what it conveys is reducing the amount of waste to almost a negligible quantity in the final product of the manufacturing process. Mura – It stands for balancing out the imbalances in any production process thus making it more optimized and facilitating in reducing waste products. Muri – Muri refers to stress which arises due to working rigorously for long hours. This must be kept under control to ensure a smooth flow of processes across the facility. Lean manufacturing is the need of the hour of today’s competitive manufacturing industry. Ingraining it will not only help in reducing wastes but will also assist the manufacturers in saving time and money, reducing the defects, better inventory management, logistics, controlling overproduction and in many other aspects of manufacturing. Its benefits are countless and quite profound when implemented in an organized and efficient manner. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Customer Service is the key to Customer Retention](https://faberinfinite.com/customer-service-is-the-key-to-customer-retention/): Customer services are a vital Influencer in keeping the business at the brim of profits. It is a well-known fact that customer retention is more important and effective in a business rather than customer acquisition and providing better customer services helps one in doing the same. Poor customer services are more like an ill stratum of system ingrained in the business operations. According to a research report, as a result of poor customer services, businesses have lost more than $75 billion annually which is more than 13% of what the companies were losing in the year 2016. When talked about customer services, one can never neglect the importance of human communication and connection that makes a customer feel important and appreciated. The leadership of an organization that includes CEOs and Directors should keep an eye on providing better customer services to the customers rather than just focusing their strategies on quality and cost. Many might think that quality and cost are the only key players in moving a market and customer services area mere propaganda to keep the customers in the loop. Such approaches to businesses are very fatal and unethical. Obviously, cost and quality do play a huge role in attracting and acquiring the customers, but at the same time, better customer services help one in keeping the customers; in retaining them and gaining their trust and confidence which will ultimately boon the business of the company. There are various factors that differentiate a good customer service from a bad one. Below are some of the key points one should remember while devising a customer service guideline and structure. 4 key points of Customer Service Training of employees to keep them updated so that they can answer the questions satisfactorily. Building a better infrastructure so that the customers do not need to wait while seeking answers or help. The behavior of the employees plays an important role in making the customers feel appreciated. Aware and trained technical team to provide the much needed technical assistance. What to do? According to a research, more than 39 percent of the people said that they will never turn back towards some company where they were not provided a better service. This is a very huge number that is impactful enough to ruin many businesses. Moreover, it impacts the brand name as well. Hence, the question is, what should companies do to provide better customer services and consequently retain them. Team Faber has been helping companies focus more on creating a more sustainable structure of customer services rather than just for the namesake. We help them design a well-devised customer strategy that can assist them in creating a better customer experience. Apart from these Team Faber, there are various other points where we assist organizations, training of the employees, providing enough attention to the customers, resolving their issues at the earliest and many more that can make a customer feel satisfied. And most importantly we inculcate the human touch that is the most important connection with the customer. Though we live in a digital world, there is nothing more than the human touch that can make a customer feel more appreciated. Faber preaches that the key to better customer service is keeping the connection, complying with the needs of the consumer and ultimately holding onto them. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [4 Steps to Create Engaging and Productive Work Environment](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-create-productive-work-environment/): In the modern competitive corporate world, creating a profound engaging and productive work environment is a challenge for many organizations. The productivity of an employee is largely dependent on his engagement at his workplace. It is very important for the leadership to keep the team members motivated in order to have a better engagement of the employees and subsequently better productivity. Planning and Engagement at work The engagement and productivity of the employees are highly circumstantial and depends on what kind of planning. They use in their daily work culture along with the kind of disruptions and blockages they face in their daily planning. Usually, the work process of an employee is impacted or influenced by two planning methods in this modern corporate world – a) Time management planning, and b) Contingent planning. Time Management Planning Time management planning is basically managing one’s tome, prioritizing and scheduling tasks, making to-do lists etc. It is used by many employees across the globe. The other planning method used by the employees is Contingent planning. Under this, the employee makes his daily plans as per his time but also takes in consideration the disruptions that he might face during his work period. In this order, he prioritizes things and proceeds to get his tasks done in the planned duration. Contingency Planning The reason to explain the difference between the two planning methods above is to make the people aware of the basic difference between the two planning methods. One might ask the role such planning methods play in increasing engagement and productivity of an employee. The answer is very simple, when a person can evaluate the disruptions he might face and plans his day according to that. He obviously, in turn, is more aware of his schedule and has enough time in hand to prepare himself for the desired work after the disruptions, be it emotional, work-related or any other in particular. Guide to plan your day! One should always plan his advance and should spend sufficient time planning it. Giving time for planning is the key to have a better and more productive day. Anticipate the kind of the day you think you will have and plan accordingly. While planning, also think of the possible disruptions you might face during the entire day. Prioritize your tasks, make to-do lists and move on with scheduling of your tasks that you have been assigned for that day. You can also include some of the pending work which you think you can give time to complete in that given time period. Outline the entire plan, take your breaks, and engage yourself with your work on the next day since you are quite aware of the possible distractions and the amount of time you need to pivot your attention from the same. One can move on with time management planning method if he feels that he might not face any kind of disruptions or distraction the next day while planning. Both the above-mentioned planning methods are supposed to make the employee more engaged in his work and consequently become more productive. However, contingent planning has an edge over time-management planning method. It is a very obvious fact that with an increase in the number of interruptions, a time management plan will start to fail thus adding a burden on the employee which might end up frustrating him. Although, contingent planning methods are more precise. The reason they are not being used by many employees around the world is because they are not known by many. However, recent trends show that there is a serious need of a better engagement of employees for better productivity and contingent planning simply unties the knot for you! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Craft customer centricity for holistic development in business](https://faberinfinite.com/craft-customer-centricity-for-holistic-development-in-business/): Customers are the sole influencer in making a business profitable. It is very important for any businessperson to keep his customers satisfied and contained with the services he provides. One has to realize that retaining a customer is a much more important factor in building a business than acquisition one and has to rebuild his policies and work culture keeping the customer satisfaction in focus along with the aim of creating a viable operating environment for the workforce. Customers in the 21st century are a lot more advanced and demanding than ever. Nowadays, they look for options that are hassle-free, cost efficient and provides quality and value at the same time. Hence, becoming customer-centric is the need of the hour if one wants to stay in the run in this competitive market. But, before moving on to the ways to become customer-centric, let us first have a look at why is it difficult for one to become customer-centric. Reasons why it is difficult to become customer centric! Every company has its work culture and runs on its fundamental values and ethics and believes in them in order to achieve their targets and goals. However, many times, sticking to the same work culture makes a company rigid and inflexible to the changing market and customer demands. Becoming customer-centric demands a change in work culture and integrating customer services protocols in the company does not only need a change in the work culture but also demands to transform the entire company. Seven pillars of customer centricity Experience – Customer experience is key to building a business. Companies which are good in satisfying their customers share a more positive and impactful brand name with them. Loyalty – Companies should keep a record of their loyal customers and should constantly introduce various interesting offers and reward offers to keep the customers interested. Communications – Communication plays a very important role in creating a healthy relationship between the company and the customers. Companies may create customized message and dialogues to make the customers feel special. Assortment – Companies should be able to cater to the demands of the customers and should assert their products in accordance with it. Promotions – Promotions are a great way to leverage customers. Promoting your brand creates awareness as well as helps you in harvesting trust among the customers towards the brand. Price – Pricing plays a key factor in attracting the customers. Companies should price their products in line with the perception of usage of products by the consumers. Feedback – Hearing customer and their feedbacks and responding to them can create an emotional bond between the company and the consumer.  Customer Experience is the key! Customer experience is the key to creating a loyal customer who is attracted to the company and its services for a longer duration of time. It is one of the most important jobs of the customer to create an exceptional aura of the company and its services that the consumer feels delighted and keeps returning to them to get products and services as per their need. Moreover, a better customer experience also helps the company in gaining credibility in the market among other consumers who can later turn into a viable prospect for the company. This clearly indicates towards the fact that customer experience is the key to unlock potential growth numbers and seep into continual development. Team Faber has been helping organizations in doing business with the customers in such a way that it provides a positive customer experience before as well as after the sale to drive repetitive business, profits and loyalty. Organizations need to go that extra mile and work towards providing more than the goods or service.
- [Achieve goals through Performance Management System](https://faberinfinite.com/achieve-organization-goals-with-performance-management-system/): Performance Management Systems are one of the most quintessential processes of communication in an organization in order to achieve the goals and targets set by the leadership of the organization. In precise words, it is a framework that provides the company with a roadmap to create a program that can help one in achieving a continual and sustainable development through the fiscal year. Performance Management System (PMS) plays a very vital role in creating a more optimized development program. Even Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has been talking about its vitality and has recently asked the leadership of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) to develop a framework to promote and encourage development activities in around 100 cities across the nation. The primary aim of Performance Management Systems is to make efficient use of employees’ skills and resources to achieve the set goals, targets and objectives. Characteristics of a good Performance Management System: A well-planned concept and standardized guidelines for the employees about their collective contribution towards the company’s objectives and goals. A good PMS elucidates development plans that include personal development and takes in the account already set objectives linked to company’s strategies and work plan throughout the year. They also include training sessions and its guidelines as well as focuses on feedback mechanism of the company as well. A well-designed Performance Management System implicates itself over the course of time and does not limit itself to just one or two fiscal years. it is an ongoing process that motivates all the parties to indulge themselves in an active plan that focuses on achieving development. It also helps in making the employees realize their roles and responsibilities in helping the organization in achieving their targets. An important feature of Performance Management System is that it reduces the communication gap between the departments and help in establishing an effective communication system across the various department of the company. The leadership is well informed with the implementation of performance management system. It provides the managers with a detailed assessment of various topics and also provides a clear framework along with it. It focuses on information and data and helps the company in gathering that through meetings and discussions rather than promoting emotionally driven huddles with very little information to flow through. It works on a previously defined performance period and is flexible to the changing demands of the organization no matter the change be in objectives, demands or strategies. Performance Management Systems are a proven schema of a step-by-step process to move constantly towards growth and development and achieve them in a defined period of time. They have various benefits. Performance Management System for Growth and Development It adds consistency to the work culture of the organization and helps the organization in providing genuine job feedbacks to the employees. Motivates the workforce to do better and add value to the organization through their work and also helps the organization in retaining the uplifted morale of the team members. Creating a whole plethora of learning lessons and training to keep the workforce updated and competitive with the evolving commercial world. It also saves leadership’s times and helps in avoiding conflicts and issues that might force them to pivot their focus from the objectives. Establishes an evaluation system to keep the managers updated about the strength and requirements about and in the workforce. Team Faber has been helping organizations across industries and geographies to successfully design and implement performance management systems. We follow a holistic approach that has a hierarchy driven approach with weightage for company performance, departmental performance and individual performance. It provides timely feedback, there is an elimination of favoritism, transparency, team win over the individual win and includes evaluation by self and not by the boss. It is a two-way communication between employee and employer for a defined period of time with the objective to achieve organization goals. Ready to supercharge your goal achievement with a Performance Management System? Unlock your team’s full potential and drive success. Fill out the form below to discover how to implement an effective Performance Management System and start achieving your goals today!
- [You are what you measure !](https://faberinfinite.com/you-are-what-you-measure/): ‘You are what you measure!’ The above sentence is quite apt in its own way. In the era of digitalization, data has become one of the key entities in building and running a business successfully. Whatever you measure, whatever you calculate plays a vital role in influencing your work strategies, work culture and improvement plans. In short and precise words, data has become the driver of decisions in this modern 21st century. A proper set of data helps one in molding a more optimized and holistic approach towards the development schemes and makes them more impactful and effective in the due course. It defines the way one would move ahead in business and encompasses the kind of future it will witness. In short, it defines who you are and what will you become. Among the many important benefits of data collection and analysis, some of the most important ones are listed below: Data collection and analysis helps in structuring and defining the findings of data collected from various different sources. Gathering data and analyzing them during problematic situations helps one in breaking the entire situation in bits and pieces thus, making it easy to be solved or tackled. Analyzing data once it is collected helps one in chunking out the important pieces out of huge sets of data. Data adds value to the research and puts away the biases that might affect the conclusion of the research or improvement programs. Data management programs are incredibly important for businesses as they help the companies to work on their vulnerabilities and fix their operations in by working with the huge loads of data. Uncovering patterns and correlations can prove to be extremely advantageous for the companies as a means of data analysis since it can be used as an effective medium to unearth the hidden potential of the company and can be played over it. Data management is the key to unlock success in the digital industrial world of 21st century. It might not be wrong to say that data today is the key influencer in decision making in many organizations. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions has been a very avid supporter of data collection and management and understands the importance of data in today’s competitive world. We have carried out and have been involved in a countless number of data management programs and have helped numerous companies in achieving continual growth and sustainable development. Moreover, we have also assisted many companies across industries and different regions to collect and analyze data and articulate dashboards in accordance. This has subsequently helped the companies in having a clear insight into the system and their particular requirements to create a more sustainable operating environment.
- [Drive Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/drive-transformation-journey/): There are various factors that contribute to successful transformations in any organization. Any large scale change or transformation such as going from being good to becoming great involves cultural change, employee engagement, top management engagement, cost reduction, a clear vision and well-defined strategies for growth and improvement. For any transformation big or small following factors should be considered: Employee Engagement – The people who will be the part of the transformation should be engaged in the journey right from the beginning. Leaders need to identify the underlying mindset that needs to be changed in the organization. There should be a clearly defined roles and responsibilities structure for each employee who is the part of the transformation. Strong leadership – Strong leadership and maintaining energy for change among employees are two factors of success that strengthen each other when implemented well. For example, when leaders ensure that there is a sense of ownership and accountability among the staff members, the results show a 70 percent success rate for transformations. When employees take the initiative to drive change, transformations have a 71 percent success rate. When both factors are implemented well, the success rate rises to 79 percent. Spread the positivity – Organizations transformation should be celebrated as success and the focus should not solely be on change and the need for change. Focusing on the positives early in the journey also connects strongly with success Companies that undertake transformational change have to succeed at the basics, such as creating clear, stretching targets and defining a clear structure.  
- [A satisfied customer is the best business strategy](https://faberinfinite.com/a-satisfied-customer-is-the-best-business-strategy/): In April 2017, a 69-year-old doctor, David Dao, was forcibly removed from a United flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport because the flight was overbooked. The man was dragged up the aisle of the United airplane by an airport security officer after he refused to get off the plane. It was a video that very few people will forget. But can people forgive United? Many customers have moved on and are once again focused on other issues like price and convenience, but a new survey found that some have yet to put the issue to rest. Consumer perception of United is still far below what it was this time last year. This issue highlights that any organization needs to take care of the internal as well as external customers. Customer centricity should be the focus of any organization. They should work towards building it. What a customer expects today is that organizations should walk an extra mile to give that wow. Team Faber has worked with one of the largest engineering company in India to deliver an extremely successful customer centricity improvement program and the results have been extremely good. Team Faber has been helping organizations in doing business with the customers in such a way that it provides a positive customer experience before as well as after the sale to drive repetitive business, profits and loyalty. Organizations need to go that extra mile and work towards providing more than the goods or service. While working on the customer strategy, organizations should focus on customer happiness and satisfaction. This is what we call customer delight. It is the most important aspect of any business. Customer needs to be treated like a kid. We should continuously keep that enthusiasm in the minds of the customers. Organizations should provide the customer with quality along with variety and engagement. A satisfied customer will stick longer with an organization. Like kids customers too have certain demands and it is the responsibility of the organization to fulfill them. It is also the organization’s responsibility to keep the customers excited and on the edge with varieties and different engaging plans and strategies. Customer both internal, as well as external, should be treated as a kid. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Change is never Painful](https://faberinfinite.com/change-is-never-painful/): Change is a part of life be it personal or professional and there is no way of getting around it. So we need to accept that change is the only thing constant even though it can sometimes feel uncomfortable, it is what builds our business and keeps us growing. Leaders cannot control change, but they need to plan for the resistance to change from the start of any change management program. They need to understand the most common reasons why employees resist change. Few of the reasons for resistance are as follows: Fear of unknown Lack of clarity on change Lack of trust Lack of skills or competence Lack of understanding on the need for change Change in the status quo Any change will always begin with denial followed by confusion and gradually there will be acceptance to change Team Faber has been working with organizations across industries and geographies helping them in the transformation journey. We help organizations manage change. We imbibe the culture of ownership and accountability. We work on the behavioral aspect of people so that there is a sense of ownership among the people and they work to change for better. We have been helping organizations design objective-based Performance Management System which not only helps them to measure individual performance but also track the performance of the organization as well as department level. This brings in a lot of accountability in the team and helps them to work towards improvement. Team Faber has been helping organizations design structured rewards and recognition system to ensure there is motivation and to ensure that such change initiatives do not fail. Team Faber has thus been driving the transformation journey for organizations across geographies and sectors using its unique Organizational Transformation Framework© For further details contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri 
- [Change Starts with Me!](https://faberinfinite.com/change-starts-with-me/): Change is a very old phenomenon. Change has what created worlds and also destroyed them. The world we live in today came into existence with such a similar phenomenon. The changed behavior between to particles which lead to birth to the first of what we today call as humans. Change is what has created opportunities for who embraces it and creates problems for who resists it.  Change is what leads to the evolution of new civilizations and extinction of who failed to predict and act upon it. But change has much more positive effects than negatives. Change in people’s thinking and working capabilities has brought advances in many sectors such as technology, healthcare and many more. But none of these changes happened overnight. They all had their challenges and struggles but had one thing in common, the willingness of a single person to bring change. The Indian freedom struggle began with the willingness of single person Mahatma Gandhi. Today we live in the enlightened world due to the willingness of a single person Thomas Alva Edison to build an electric light bulb. The one thing that we all are hooked to our cell phone was invented due to the willingness of a single person to change something, Alexander gram Bell. These examples clarify that change is more about you than them. If you want to change something you are the one who has to stand up and start walking towards it. People may join you in your journey you have to take the first step. Mahatma Gandi took the first step and his followers joined him towards quit India movement but it all began with his first step. With change, there should be accountability and responsibility. When you promote change you should not be dependent on the team or the people around. You should take the initiative and work towards the change for improvement. Organizations should work on imbibing the value of change management for improvement. They should work on the behavioral aspect of the manpower. They should help to imbibe the sense of ownership among the employees so that they accept the change for better and for improvement. Secondly, they should design an objective based Performance Management System which not only helps to measure individual performance but also track the performance at the organization as well as department level. This brings in a lot of accountability in the team and helps them to work towards improvement. Thirdly they should help them to design structured rewards and recognition system to ensure there is motivation and to ensure that such change initiatives do not fail. So let us join hands together to be the change we wish to see around us and not wait for the change to happen. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Build and develop quality controls with Poka Yoke](https://faberinfinite.com/build-and-develop-quality-controls-with-poka-yoke/): More than 200 million eggs were called back in Northern California in the United States of America after they were suspected of contamination with salmonella, a type of bacteria that causes serious illness and deaths, particularly among children and elderly people. The above incident is a clear portrayal of a mistake driven process that has affected a lot of individuals in the country as well as the trade and commerce. The above incident is associated with one of the largest poultry farms in the US who produced around 2.3 million eggs a day. Mistakes are a part of businesses. It is the mistakes that rectify our mistakes and guide us in building more efficient processes capable of providing optimum results. They control the entire drive and help one to steer the business to garner more revenues and better platforms to conduct businesses in order to strengthen the foundation of the business. Poka Yoke is a great way to proof your businesses from mistakes and keep mishaps like these at bay from happening in the businesses. ‘Mistake Proofing’ or ‘Inadvertent Error Prevention’ that acts and facilitates the manufacturer in avoiding mistakes and errors from sabotaging their business platforms and the model. It is a lean manufacturing process that assists the manpower in optimizing their work processes and avoids equipment related mistakes. Poka Yoke is a great method to avoid human errors and fool-proof the manufacturing process from errors and mistakes. Its purpose is to eliminate product defects and subsiding the errors involved in the process. The term on a broader concept defines the behavior-shaping constraint in order to train the workforce to design a process which is error proof and more efficient in providing results that are desired by the manufacturing unit. There are basically three types of Poka Yoke that can be used to remove errors and prevent their recurrence in a manufacturing unit. The three are mentioned below: Contact method – It identifies the defects in the product by testing the product’s physical attributes like shape, size, colors etc. Fixed value method – Fixed value method or constant method helps the operator in identifying missing rotations or steps that might have been left out during the manufacturing process Motion step method – This method checks if the prescribed motions for the manufacturing has been followed or not. It is also called sequence method. There are many advantages of using Poka Yoke in the manufacturing systems. They are as follows: Helps in reducing training time for the workforce It helps in eliminating many operations that are related to quality control It also helps the operators in focusing on other tasks by reducing their work from repetitive operations It encourages more and more team members to involve in work improvement oriented approaches that ultimately adds value to the work processes of the organization Reduces the rejection rates of the manufacturer’s products Reduces the reaction time of the organization in an emergency or in situations of need Team Faber has been helping clients across industries and geographies with Poka Yoke techniques which helps them to eliminate product defects and subsiding the errors involved in the process thus leading to improvement and growth.
- [World Day for Safety and Health at Work - 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/world-day-for-safety-and-health-at-work-2018/): Safety! We have been talking about this for a long time. Safety is one of the most underrated yet, the most important aspect of any workplace. International Labour Organization (ILO) has declared 28th April as the World Day for Safety and Health to create more awareness about the occupational hazards at the workplace and promote strategies and tools and techniques to prevent these occupational hazards. One must realize that safety comes first. Manpower is the asset in possession of any organization and protecting the assets is key in order to achieve success and better revenues. Being safe is a very profound feeling that can help the organization in getting the best out of the labor force. Encompassing safety measures at the workplace will create a more holistic and better operating environment for the organization under which the organization can nourish their goals and work culture to achieve the unexplored. On this World Day for Safety and Health, let us take a pledge to create a better and safe environment and work consistently towards it to secure our future from mishaps and accidents and move ahead together to achieve safety and better health standards at the workplaces! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Crafting Excellence in FMCG Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-excellence-in-fmcg-industry/): Fast-moving consumer goods or FMCG sector is the 4th largest contributor to the Indian economy. With the evolution in the industrial sector of the country, the demand to move consumer goods has been exponentially increased in the past few years. More and more sects of the industries are now associating themselves with the FMCG industry. It is expected to reach the US $1.1 trillion by 2020 in the Indian sub-continent itself. Faber Infinite Creative Solution has been an active participant in crafting excellence in the FMCG industry and helping companies to achieve continual and sustainable development. At Faber Infinite, we have devised various frameworks and structured programs to tackle the various rising challenges in the evolving industry of FMCG. Our Experience in FMCG Industry Faber Infinite is known for delivering results. We are present across 3 regions in more than 8 countries and are currently assisting more than half a dozen clients from FMCG industry to tackle various challenges such as supply chain management. Faber Infinite has a decent amount of experience in providing consultancy services to the clients since it is involved in this industry for more than 5 years now. We have also trained more than 10,000 people in the industry and have helped the companies bring out the optimum productivity from the manpower and workforce in the FMCG industry. Typical Improvement areas Identifying the improvement areas is one of the key tasks to push the transformation journey. Team Faber Infinite is highly experienced at identifying the key improvement areas for varying from client sites as per the circumstances and has a very rich history of successfully completing various projects in order to deliver the desired results in those particular improvement strata. Material wastage reduction Inventory management Improve machine availability and performance Improvement in manpower productivity Physical workplace improvement Elimination of non-value adding activities and inefficiencies Improvement in People Alignment and Development Huge potential to increase production output Benefits delivered by us An improvement of 30% in manpower productivity was witnessed after the involvement of Faber Infinite Creative solutions at various client sites. Around 2 million USD of working capital was released through inventory management as a result of services provided by us. Team Faber’s services helped companies increase their sales by more than 100% Reduction in equipment cleaning time by more than 35% was also witnessed by various FMCG companies Team Faber also helped companies in reducing customer complaints by more than 40% by reducing errors in packaging Transport Index was also improved. Around 27% improvement in the movement of manpower and material was achieved by Team Faber Faber Infinite also facilitated companies in space management and helped companies free up around 9000 square meters of space Around 20% reduction in wastage of packaging materials was also seen as a result of implementing various modules specially designed by Faber Infinite Creative Solutions. Faber Infinite strongly believes in supporting the FMCG industry and promotes evolution and innovation in order to achieve new heights and growth numbers. We have always believed in innovating and improvising to move forward in order to achieve the most desired entity – continual and sustainable development. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [The Winning Way 2.0](https://faberinfinite.com/the-winning-way-2-0/): Winning is always something everyone has always craved for. No one in the world wants to lose in any manner. Winning Way 2.0 by Harsha and Anita Bhogle is one such book that emphasizes on learning from sports for the managers. “To lose is not a crime, to not offer 100 percent is.” These words from the book exactly summarize the kind of parallel paradigm the books run on and teaches some quintessential lessons to every one of us struggling in our lives to make it better. Below are some of the key lessons we stocked out from the book for our readers in this blog. Learning while Losing Failure is an invaluable teacher. Being unsuccessful in something does not mean the end of the world. One should embrace failure and should take away learning form it to come back stronger and more prepared and be sure to taste success. Learn to anticipate risks The book teaches us one very crucial aspect of tackling any obstacles in our life and that is anticipating the risks involved in any particular process. Anticipating risks allows one to prepare themselves for the challenges to come and avoid failures consequently. It also makes one aware of their vulnerabilities and of certain situations where one is fallible. Turning things around Turning adverse situations around in one of the most important and crucial ability of an individual that helps him in steering his ship to favorable conditions in storms. One should focus on stretching the time period of happiness and prosperity but should also be honest with him and stick to the basics when the things go south. Explore the positive side of the mistakes Mistakes are unarguably one of the best teachers of life. No one likes to commit mistakes in their lives. Although, one should realize that mistakes are the most efficient teacher who are capable of teaching us the most untouched and unexplored lessons of our lives. Hence, instead of cribbing over our mistakes, one should try to explore the positive side of theirs. Leaders and their responsibilities Leaders play a very important role in leading a team and guiding them with precise and accurate commands towards the target. It is the very job of the leader to be open to suggestions and should motivate and encourage the team members to actively participate in the team meetings and pitch in their feedbacks for better procurements and processes. Values and Principles Values and principles act as guides and references that help the leadership in building the core of the organization and make the ship sail on it. Values and principles are the fundamental requisitions of any team that keeps the team members on their path towards the collective goal and motivates them to stick to ethics and fair play. Realize the true meaning of Winning Winning is not always about achieving our goals and reaching the desired numbers. Sometimes winning is also about committing mistakes and learning from them and subsequently become wiser and stronger while still being in pursuit of our goals.  Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Focus on Energy](https://faberinfinite.com/focus-on-energy/): With competition increasing in the 21st century, our life has now become more and more hectic. Many people in today’s corporate and industrial world now face the problem of a hectic lifestyle and find it difficult to efficiently manage their time which consequently affects them physically, mentally and emotionally. Investing long hours in work is neither the solution nor an effective way to counter the increasing workload. One must understand that time is a finite resource and will eventually run out. However, energy is a completely different aspect of the story. Leadership in the organizations need to realize this and should invest more in the labor force rather than investing to get more from the workforce. Keeping the team members motivated and encouraging them to be involved in the work processes will not only bring efficiency but will also play a very crucial factor in the work management. Establishing a disciplined daily routine is a key factor that will help the organizations and the employees in keeping the energy level at the brim and working with better focus to get optimum results. These rituals will not only reenergize them but will also help them in bonding with each other as well as customers ultimately adding to their satisfaction making them content and happy in their lives. Physical Fitness Inadequate and improper diet and nutrition and lack of exercise are likely to diminish the physical energy of an individual and furthermore restrict him from focusing on other energies as well. Having a high metabolic and physical energy is very quintessential in achieving the desired. Establishing and carving out a daily routine to increase the physical energy in a very vital counterproductive measure to keep the energy levels of team members at the brim. Now, the question here arises is what to do and what not to do in order to re-energize oneself physically? The answer to the question is simple. Proper nutrition, exercise and intermittent breaks from the work are some of the crucial parts of a disciplined daily routine in order to increase the physical energy of an individual. Emotional Quotient Emotional energy is the driver asset for all of the energy banks of an individual. One must be aware of his emotions and should be able to figure out how he feels in certain situations. It is a very obvious and known fact that people tend to perform best when they are filled with positive energy. The main question here is how to stretch the time period when we are filled with positivity and how to keep ourselves abreast against all odds. It is very important for an individual to take considerable intermittent breaks and become more capable physiologically to avoid friction in their relationships as well be more aware of what to say at what time. In this way, people must learn to cultivate positive energy and drive on it to get profound and crucial changes. Mental Health Mental energy helps one in channeling all of the energy of an individual and focuses it in a proper and efficient manner to get the desired results. One must understand that in today’s world, there is no place for distractions and any kind distraction will prove to be very costly in the course of time. Furthermore, this has to be realized by the leadership that multitasking is a myth and should encourage more employees to focus on one task at a time to get the task optimized for better results. Focusing on tasks that have a more long-term benefit and could lever the work process in the longer run is another efficient method to channelize your mental energy for greener and stronger results. Spiritual Energy Human spirit’s energy is one of the most underrated aspects of this paradigm. It is important to address the above three paradigms of energy, but at the same time, it is also important to look into the spiritual energy of an individual. It defines the energy of meaning and its purpose. Focusing on improving the spiritual energy of an individual will collectively add up to the above three and will have a more concrete and permanent impact. In order to be able to explore the energy of the human spirit, one should be able to prioritize his stuff and should work accordingly. One should be able to get to the core in order to bring out the best of him through these rituals. Energy is more prevalent than time and should be given that importance. Today, everyone wants to get the best of each other and the same is followed by the organizations and its employees as well. However, in order to give the best and get the best, one should start focusing on being more energy inclined rather than time. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Delivering Incredible Results Industry after Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-incredible-results-industry-after-industry/): Pharmaceuticals sector is one of the most sought out industries of the nation. Indian pharma sector is the 3rd largest all across the globe in terms of volume and 14th largest in terms of value. With India gradually climbing the steps of supremacy, the role of pharma industry has been drastically transformed in the nation’s growth and development. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions has been a profound supporter and has contributed the most on their part in the collective mission to revolutionize the pharma industry and integrate various tools to add value and efficiency in this sector. Faber’s Infinite expertise in Pharmaceuticals sector Faber Infinite has stretched themselves to more than 3 regions in over 8 countries in order to help companies achieve operational excellence and sustainable development. Team Faber has been involved in various projects and has expertise in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API – Bulk Drugs), Formulations and Biotech. At Faber, we believe in tying a perfect notch and we have done the same with more than half a dozen clients with the kind of value we bring with us and with our services. The company has been involved in providing consultancy services to various companies for more than five years and has a very rich record of delivering exponential results. Apart from this, we have also trained more than 10,000 people in order to help companies possess a more skilled and quality labour force that can help them keep pushing the numbers for them. Areas in which improvements were witnessed Identifying improvement areas and making it go through a transformation process is one of the most challenging and important aspects of achieving crafted and valued results. Team Faber has a very bloated and gliding history of being very precise and mechanical with their incision and process building systems that have managed to help the companies see better and brighter paradigms in their businesses. Below are some of the typical improvement areas: Throughput / Output improvement at production line by Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Inventory Management Yield Improvement Batch size optimization through Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Production Planning Loss-Reduction through continual improvement Initiatives Daily Work Management to sustain improvements Manpower Productivity Improvement Releasing hidden capacity by Change Over Time Reduction Improvement in QA/ QC processes Benefits delivered We have always believed in the philosophy ‘numbers speak more than words’ and have focused on delivering results. Some of the tangible benefits achieved by Team Faber while helping many organizations achieve sustainable and continual development are as follows: Manpower productivity was improved by more than 40% after the involvement of Team Faber Inventory Turnover Ratio was improved from ~6 turns to ~15 turns An increase of 27% and 53% was seen in two units respectively in the production of vials Savings in Inventory Carrying cost was also increased by almost 25% per annum Team Faber helped companies achieve an improvement in annual sales by KSh 100 Million Team Faber helped various companies explore their hidden capabilities and helped in releasing these strata by adding ~50 production hours per month at packing lines 30% reduction in cleaning time was witnessed with Team Faber’s involvement An increment was witnessed in TVC (Total Variable Counts) of Powder Enzymes by ~31% and ~158% respectively Reduction in standard deviation in production time of Powder Enzymes by 62% was achieved with Team Faber’s tools and techniques that were deployed at the client sites. Zero Batch Rejection after the Implementation of DMAIC methodology Team Faber believes in crafting excellence and pushing strategies and techniques towards evolution and transformation to bridge the collective difference and achieve a more holistic business model with a better potential of garnering revenues. We have strongly supported Pharmaceuticals sector and will continue to extend our hand to one of the growing and most prominent industrial sectors of the world – Pharmaceuticals sector. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [World Earth Day 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/world-earth-day-2018/): So we are again here! World Earth Day! Amidst the various climatic changes observed throughout the world and steps to counter it, the quintessential feature of viewing the bigger picture has never been more important. We have been constantly using natural resources for our purposes without realizing that we are creating a void in nature’s heart. We can be the change only if we start taking small steps towards going green. A collective effort of these small steps is bound to create a bigger change in the thought processes of many towards Earth and its environment. We are the change catalyst of the 21st century and a huge chunk of our future as well as of mother Earth depends on us and our actions. At the World Earth Day 2018, let us all take a moment to think about how we can integrate and implement ‘Go Green’ initiatives in the manufacturing processes to achieve and create a more holistic and sustainable environment for the generations to come. On this day, let us pledge to incline our efforts towards complying with the green initiatives and work simultaneously to garner a whole new and freshly procured environment for all! Happy Earth Day 2018! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Can Indian Burger Become Next McDonalds?](https://faberinfinite.com/can-indian-burger-become-next-mcdonalds/): Today in this competitive era of globalization, being different in the market is the highest business priority. Standardization is the key to success and growth. Standardization of processes, people and technology can be a winning strategy for organizations. Working in silos ultimately results into lack of control over operations. With standardization organizations can achieve cost saving, manpower productivity improvement, increased customer satisfaction and improved competitiveness. Not standardized processes result in higher maintenance costs and unpredictability of results even with slight variation in situations – both of which results into higher cost of operations. Standardization on the other hand ensures reliability, certainty, consistency and flexibility of operations. McDonald’s is the best example of how an organization has standardized the processes to an extent where the core focus of the organization is on finding solutions to core business priorities like product development, growth and marketing. McDonald’s is no longer “manufacturing” a burger, but instead customers are experiencing the service side of a standardized operations. This is achieved along with reduced manpower costs and consistency of product and experience – which ultimately builds brand value for McDonald’s. Will the well-known and favourite Indian snack – Vada Pav be able to create the same brand equity as McDonald? Vadapav is believed to have been invented in 1966 by a Mumbai resident, Ashok Vaidya, who opened the first vada pav stall opposite the Dadar railway station in Mumbai. This was often a quick, inexpensive snack for the workers who passed every day on their way to the textile mills in suburbs such as Parel and Worli in Mumbai. Vada pav was in a short span of time very popular among the Mumbai residents. Vaidya still is a Mumbai icon. There is a documentary film made on him, called Vada Pav Inc. The strikes through the 1970s and 1980s ultimately led to the textile mills’ terminations, as a result, many former mill workers opened vada pav stalls of their own. There have been several instances where initiatives like Jumbo King have been made but none of them have been as impactful as McDonald’s. There is nothing even at the national level in India for vada pav. This is because of lack of standardization. Lack of standardization leads to variations. This, in turn, leads to waste of time and energy. There needs to be standardization of processes and products. The whole process should be standardized in such a way that it is independent of the location or people. Standardization is the most strategic, yet simplest way to achieve differentiation for the organization. Repetitive and non-value adding work can be eliminated to a large extent saving the energies of the organization for more strategic initiatives. This is applicable to any industry, be it Auto, Pharma, Chemical, FMCG etc. Team Faber has been working with clients across geographies and industries on process standardization. We have worked with teams to maintain a balance between standardization and customization so that organizations remain competitive. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Standards could have saved Titanic?](https://faberinfinite.com/sop-could-have-saved-titanic/): It was this week in 1912, that the RMS Titanic sank – one the most drastic and tragic incident that took place in the waters on 15th April 1912. With more than 1,500 people becoming a victim of poor standard operational measures, the incident will always be remembered as a failure of management and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). It is a known fact that Titanic was warned various times before its sail about sea ice, but no one really cared. Apart from this, the ship continued to sail near to its maximum speed ignoring all the warnings by other vessels, before the lookouts spotted the iceberg in the trajectory of the ship. Furthermore, more lives could have been saved if resources life jackets and life boats would have been efficiently used as per the safety measures. In one of the lesser known accounts, it looks for all the world like an ordinary key but an unremarkable piece of metal could have saved the Titanic from disaster. It is thought to have fitted the locker that contained the crow’s nest binoculars, vital in detecting threats to the liner lurking in the sea in the pre-sonar days of 1912. Catastrophically for the Titanic and the 1,500+ lives lost with her, the key’s owner, Second Officer David Blair, was removed from the crew at the last minute and in his haste forgot to hand it to his replacement. Without access to the glasses, the lookouts in the crow’s nest were forced to rely on their eyes and only saw the iceberg when it was too late to take action. One, Mr. Fred Fleet, who survived the disaster, later told the official inquiry into the tragedy that if they had had binoculars they would have seen the obstacle sooner. Had a proper handover SOP or Standard Operating Procedure been followed, it could have been significant in this accident to save the ship and the 1,500 lost lives. SOP is a step by step guide with instructions compiled to assist and facilitate the operators in carrying out a complex or difficult task and routine operations. Through SOPs one can create a full proof system and can build efficiencies along with the controls. SOPs also add uniformity to the procedures and standardize them for error free environment while reducing the chances of mishappenings. It also improves communication between the departments and reduces the chances of miscommunication. In the incident of world’s largest and claimed unsinkable ship gloating down to the seabed with over a 1,500 people on board, a precise handover SOP module could have acted as an anchor for the Titanic to stop the mishap. Below are the few key pointers that if taken care of could save such tragic incidents from happening again. Why-Why analysis – A why-why analysis is a very efficient method to ask oneself about the problems and identify the root cause of those problems. It allows one to track the footprints and get a detailed analysis of the mistakes that led to the project being unsuccessful. It also helps the company in gathering data which can be very useful for the organization in change management processes. Detailed set of procedures – A detailed set of procedures can regulate the panic among the workforce in case of an adverse situation. A standardized set of instructions to be followed in critical situations will not only guide the people to rally themselves to face the situation but will also help them in procurement of the solutions and strategies to tackle the problems and obstacles. Muda Management – Muda refers to waste and is the mother of all inefficiencies. A proper waste management system along with efficient controls and systems can help one in getting rid of the discrepancies in the systems and establish a more propounding process that can ultimately add value to the project or the organization. The RMS Titanic could have saved by implementing a well-devised SOP. Similarly, SOPs have a very imperative role to play in any organization and could really help them in maintaining the order and systems.  Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Is auto sector really lean?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-auto-sector-really-lean/): The automotive sector is one of India’s fastest and largest growing industrial sectors. More and more MNCs are now entering in the Indian market and are exploring the unexplored market base present in the country as well as taking advantage of India as manufacturing destination. Moreover, along with exports, the improvement in the living standards of the nation’s population, the demands for better and high-performance automotive have significantly increased. However, amidst all this, one thing that everyone has ignored is the real pull from the market in the automotive sector in terms of customer demands. In a recent series of events, a discount of more than Rs. 1.5 lakhs was given to the consumer on the previous model of a car after the launch of a new one in the series. The launch has created an issue for sales of the previous versions. This is just not limited to one automotive company the trend is seen in almost all the models of many well-renowned manufacturers of automotive and vehicles. The question here arises is automotive sector really lean when it comes to the practical applications. Various automotive companies are facing similar challenges. Various dealerships across the country have now complied with the face-lifting of the old models and have either pulled themselves out of the market for the previous versions or are offering heavy discounts on them. This has changed the market dynamics for the auto sector! The automotive sector at present is very contributive in bringing some respite to the increasing huddle of unemployment in the country. However, despite having such high numbers and potential, this sector is yet to make optimum use of the resources and apply lean concepts with further diligence. The auto sector in the last fiscal year achieved its highest number till date and shows a tremendous amount of potential. Automotive sector has been leader in LEAN crusade for ages and various other sectors have been emulating the automotive sector for optimum results along with efficient use of resources. The automotive sector needs to take this crusade a notch further and be real leader in the LEAN philosophy in order to set sustainable example for other sectors to follow. With the developments and advancements in the sector, the challenges and obstacles have also increased and are now at their peak. Getting lean in real terms, will provide the necessary thrust to the sector ultimately leading it to a better platform and making it a more dominant and profound sector for opportunities. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Integrate safety with proper measures](https://faberinfinite.com/integrate-safety-with-proper-measures/): We have always focused on the importance of safety and the benefits it can bring to the workplace if introduced properly. A workplace is supposed to be safe from injuries and accidents for the employees in order to have a full-fledge flow of work and better and improved productivity. Many a times, people realize the importance of safety but fail to implement certain measures properly. In this section of the blog, we will discuss how to successfully implement our safety plans into action. Repetition is the key Repetition makes one remember certain idea. When everyone is repeatedly told about a particular idea, he/she is bound to remember it while at the workplace or at his home. People usually make mistakes and become a victim of accidents and mishaps when they do not focus on safety measures while working on complex projects or things that are highly stressing. Repeatedly reminding them about the safety measures to be carried out at the workplace while doing any kind of job is one of the many ways to keep accidents out of the gates of the workplace. More humorous yet intrinsic approach While working on serious and important projects, reminding employees about safety in the same old approach is not going to help. Getting creative and adding humor to the messages regarding safety is a more compelling and impactful method to keep the employees updated about the safety measures. Moreover, it also lightens the dull environment which usually gets build up while working monotonously on the same thing. Remind in different ways Again, reminding and telling people in same way to make them aware about the importance of safety and safety measures is a dull and quite monotonous way of keeping the employees in loop. One should focus on adding various ways and integrating them in the work culture of the organization in order to constantly remind and update the workforce about the safety measures. Adding variety will also keep the employees more interested in the process and keep them motivated towards adapting the safety measures. Convince the whole team Involving your workforce in the entire process is one of the most important ways to successfully implement the safety measures in the workplace. Furthermore, it is the manpower who usually faces the workplace hazards and are more prone to accidents and mishaps, hence, involving them in this and getting their reviews and feedbacks can help one in building a strong foundation for the ‘safety building’ in the workplace. Rewards and demerits Recognition and acknowledgements are two most thought about things in the workplace. Everyone likes to be recognized about the good work done and feels happy and motivated when rewarded for the hard work. It is a great way to keep the workforce motivated towards complying with the safety measures. However, there are always exceptions and the leadership should address them as well. They should be strict about their approach towards non-compliance and should present a very strict and dynamic front when it comes to demerits. It should not be demoralizing but should be effective enough to prevent repetitions. Be Proactive The most quintessential parat in implementing safety measure is anticipating the hazards and preventing them before things go south. Leadership should be proactive when it comes to safety and instead of shouting safety in response of an accident, they should anticipate the safety hazards. Analyzing the workplace, noting down the hazardous areas and working on them is the only solution to stop accidents at the workstations. Safety leads to happiness and motivation A safe environment will encourage the employees to focus on the work and will ultimately improve the productivity and quality of the produce. An effective safety plan to for the betterment of the operating environment rather than complicating it will make the workforce realize that they are the top priority for the company and will induce a sense of being a marquee asset. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Right Data Collection is the Key](https://faberinfinite.com/data-is-the-key/): There is a reason why every company today is running towards collecting and gathering more and more data. In the 21st century, if there is anything that matters the most – it is ‘data’. Data is the key to unlock the solution of every problem that is hampering growth in the modern industrial world. Machine learning nowadays is highly influenced by data and poor data can completely rupture one’s machine learning process. Data is responsible for driving analysis and helps one in predicting and speculating upcoming events of the future. Hence, one needs a valid and error-proof database to create a holistic and more fruitful operating environment. With the evolution of the industrial world, the complexity of the problems has also increased and is now needed to be addressed more aptly and comprehensively. For this, one doesn’t only need one particular type of data; but more diverse and well-versed databases to plan effective and more comprehending models. Below is a list of steps that should be taken by the leadership to advance with an aggressive and rigorous approach for a decorated execution of a program. Make your objectives clear and analyze if your data can support you in achieving those objectives One should have a very clear and cool head before he jumps into creating databases and using them to achieve his goals. Data can only be helpful if used in the right manner at right time and place. Data collected should also be able to support the cause and should be concrete enough to steer the entire transformation process and streamline the controls and systems. Infuse time to implement data into projects Time plays a very crucial factor in any data management process. It has to be infused in the entire implementation plan to get the best and the most optimum results out of the project. One should take enough time to build efficient data quality fundamentals and execute them in the projects and its respective processes. Training and replicating the processes of the predictive model will help one in eliminating the root causes of errors. Develop and maintain an audit check while preparing the training data Original training data keeps the processes in sync and helps one in bracing themselves for jumping between steps. Original data also helps in suggesting improvements in the predictive model and keeps it in the loop with the targets and numbers to be achieved in the process. Distribute responsibilities Distributing responsibilities is an effective way to engage the workforce in the entire process. It also assists in an effective execution of the project plan. Moreover, providing one with the charge of data quality after taking the model off the shelves helps in tracking its progress along with the effectiveness of the measures taken. Obtain quality assurance Quality assurance adds value to your product as well as provides the customer with the assurance that the processes involved in the product manufacturing is as per the standards and produce is trespassed through rigorous quality checks for a better and worth the money output. Right data collection is extremely important and the key to success. Team Faber Infinite has been working with clients across industries, geographies and regions to collect the right data, build right dashboards and execute right improvement plans. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri  
- [Five Ways to Manage Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/five-ways-to-manage-organizational-change/): Change management is a very important and crucial task with a very unpredictable nature and perilous to conduct. The question many people ask here is why one should address change management? It is just another process that has been tried and tested by many and thus does not particularly needs to be addressed in the work culture. However, people here forget the fact that many companies who implement change management processes fail to get the anticipated results from it due to a proper and precise utilization of the tools and the controls involved. In this article, we will discuss about the 5 ways to Manage Organizational Change. Inability to address change and the change management processes Many companies and their leaders fail to address their change management processes. They forget the importance of the change management process and the main reason with which it has been introduced in the work culture of the organization. Moreover, addressing change management processes keeps the leadership in the loop and updated of the progress made and the requirements to achieve the already set targets. Not showcasing the incentives and benefits for the employees Employees feel motivated and encouraged to do better quality work when their efforts are recognized and acknowledged. Also, rewards and incentives act as a catalyst in the entire change management process and enlightening the workforce with the benefits these change management process will bring to them is a pretty great idea to lift the morale of the team members and encourage them to embrace the changes and innovative techniques. Lack of training and skills Training plays a very important role in helping the employees adapt to the change and improvising with the varying and innovative tools and techniques. Employees are usually afraid of the change and many a time is stereotyped to the old work processes. They fear failure while embracing the change in the working culture of the organization. However, by the means of training, one can get used to the new tools and techniques thus subsiding dear and ultimately adding value to the company and its growth. More focus on tools and techniques rather than principles When it comes to implementation of various tools and controls, blindly following theory and principles might not help. Every situation has its own set of obstacles and needs a different approach to be tackled. Hence, in a change management process, leadership should focus more on the implementation of tools and techniques alongside creating a holistic system and control structure rather than going completely by the book hoping to see anticipated changes and growth in the productivity and revenues. Subsiding blame culture in the work processes Blames are the worst part of any work process that has failed in achieving the targets. It not only demoralizes the team members as well as adds to the mediocrity of the failure and evaporates the gist to do better and avoid the same mistakes in the next attempt. Leadership or even a team member should never blame anyone for the failures. Instead, they should analyze the situation and come to a conclusive result with the factors that are responsible for the failure of the change management process. Asking ‘why’ instead of ‘who’ is only going to lead the organization towards its goals and targets. Discover five powerful strategies to effectively manage organizational change and lead your team to success. Ready to embrace change and drive positive transformation? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to our expert insights on managing change successfully Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [KONJO SMART - Best Improvements, to Justified Measurements](https://faberinfinite.com/konjo-smart-best-improvements-to-justified-measurements/): In this world of fast and quick moving trade, it takes a lot of patience and hard work to carry out all the excellence modules and to audit the same at regular intervals. Every organization has their own strategies to outstand themselves from others in the industry. Considering and understanding the ongoing developments and the need of the hour, Faber Infinite has devised Konjo SMART – set of standard yet configurable operational excellence intelligence modules for implementing and sustaining powerful best practices across industries. It is an intelligent fusion of different modules to help build and sustain the competitiveness. Konjo SMART is a build of cloud based modules which shall pave way for Smart Manufacturing 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT). We take the opportunity of introducing the first module – Six S. Six S is nothing, but Five S + SAFETY. To touch up briefly on Six S Module, Six S is a philosophy for an organization, a frame work for enhancement, and fundamental way of thinking for Smart Manufacturing. Five S, Six S, or Seven S as it varies from organization to organization, is applied everywhere in all the industries, but what Konjo SMART outstands in, is it has developed a software which makes Six S easy to implement and audit. Konjo SMART strongly believes that improvement in an already existing system can only be made, when it is measured justly and perfectly, this is what Konjo SMART aims to deliver to its clients, ‘Best Improvements, to Justified Measurements.’ Konjo SMART aids the leaders to analyze situation at their own convenience, as it can be accessed by them on handheld devices, which will help them to audit at equal intervals, and take timely decisions for the betterment of the organization. As the industry revolutions steps into its fourth phase, Konjo SMART will help you to make your lives at organizations easier, more systematic, and more productive. Join us, in this new era, as we add Smart to Manufacturing, with Konjo SMART. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Success Traits for the Corporate Athlete in You!](https://faberinfinite.com/success-traits-for-the-corporate-athlete-in-you/): Success starts with having the right mindset. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to qualify for regionals, start a successful business, or coach a team to a world championship; the psychological principles always remain the same. Mediocre performers quit long before they ever reach their goals and dreams. They allow fear and self-doubt to prevent them from achieving their highest potential. The common denominator amongst the failures is a lack of mental strength and a stagnant mindset. Mental resilience is not about winning; it’s about not quitting. While mental resilience may often appear to be inherent in top performers, it’s actually a set of skills and tools that anyone can learn. The best and the recent example to relate to would be Roger Federer’s stunning performance in the Wimbledon. It was an awesome display of mental resilience and determination in the face of huge psychological pressure. Roger’s mental resilience has been an exception in an otherwise mentally very strong career. Federer has combined a high level of self-belief with an ability to recover swiftly from defeat. His 2008 US Open triumph, for example, came just a few months after the toughest loss of his career against Rafa at Wimbledon. He’s also displayed formidable grit and stamina in tough matches – take his epic 2009 win over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon as a case in point. Roger’s mental strength is not a natural gift, but a learned skill. In his early career, Federer struggled with anger on the court and often lacked concentration. Temper tantrums and racket throwing were commonplace for the future great, from boyhood right up to his breakthrough year of 2001. At the Hamburg Masters event that year, Federer smashed his racket shortly after losing to Italian journeyman Franco Squillari. That loss proved a psychological turning point. Federer realized after that match; that his struggle with difficult emotions was holding him back from reaching his potential. He resolved to change. The cool, calm and collected Federer that we know today was born here. Federer says that he ‘was always trying to play the ball and not the opponent. He just told himself he has to really, really fight’. This approach worked. He stayed in present and focused, and didn’t engage with the inevitable doubts and memories he would have experienced. Federer has acknowledged that his mental progress did not come easy. He had to work really hard for this. He acknowledges whatever learning process he went through it was the catalyst that enabled him to become the truly great player he is today. What has been most impressive is his approach and his ability to maintain a positive attitude despite a nearly five-year Grand Slam drought and the heartache of losing to Djokovic in three consecutive Slam finals. These traits are equally applicable in our corporate athletism. Mental resilience combined with the not giving up attitude are two key traits to be honed by professionals for success. With these traits, you will go far in whatever you choose to do whether it’s in your personal or professional life. Being resilient can prevent or minimize the effects of demanding and challenging environments. It involves being able to recover from significant challenges, difficulties, and setbacks and then use these for learning and personal growth in the workplace. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Giving Back to the Society!](https://faberinfinite.com/giving-back-to-the-society-2/): At Faber, one of our core Faber values is giving back to the society! Today, we started supporting a government school in India to transform it into a model school! We are proud to share our very own Faber @⁨Abhishek Pandey⁩ led us as a Change Champion today! It’s a moment of pride for all of us at Faber. For living the spirit of Faber towards crafting a better tomorrow! Crafting real transformation to build a legacy of continual improvement at the grassroot levels! It’s a small step yet a giant leap, which can inspire many! We welcome you all to join hands and contribute towards taking it to places! To read more click here: Chanakya School – Transformation Initiative
- [Selling Right: Unlock the Basics](https://faberinfinite.com/selling-right-unlock-the-basics/): Selling is an art. An art that needs to be learned, practiced and sustained to survive the competition. Every person is not a born salesman, for that matter no one is. Some gradually realize their hidden talent, some learn with time, some run away from becoming a sales guy. For some reason we all are involved in selling, either on personal front or professional. Organizations are nowadays looking for the most perfect sales guy to sell their products or services, competent to achieve the targets. Having said that, many youngsters might not turn up for selling owing to the difficulties in making sales, though it varies from person to person. Hence, let’s make selling a bit easier considering its significance in the present times. Below are few points which could be considered before trying out your hands in selling or if you are not a professional sales guy for making sales or if you want to improve your selling skills: • Understand the real Selling: Selling is not about putting undue pressure on the customers. It’s about convincing and persuading people to take your services or products. For that, you must first yourself understand the real meaning of selling, its purpose and its impact on the customers. The salesperson should appear as a concerned person with genuine interest in their customers’ problems and not as the one who is incessantly praising their products or offerings. • Figure out problems of your counterpart: Once, you understand the real aspects of selling go ahead and try to figure the problems of your customers. Infact, selling turns out to be successful only when you understand the problems faced by your counterpart. In short, place yourself in your counterpart’s shoes. They would accept your offerings only if they have a problem. So try to exactly point on that and then convince them with your best of the skills and solutions. • Prepare and Practice: As said, ‘Practice makes a man perfect’, practice is a must. Prepare a sales pitch and keep practicing. Practice in front of a colleague and ask him/her to give feedbacks. The sales pitch can be modified with time depending on the situations and people encountered. Preparing yourself and practicing constantly will surely lead to building up of confidence and an increase in morale. • Stay calm: This is an important requisite to keep you going. You might go awry with your sales pitch. But do not lose your cool. This is normal. Just stay calm and relax. Do not forget to keep up the confidence on your face. Your confidence can convince the other person and your confused look can hint them to escape their way out without accepting your offer. Thus stay calm, keep up your body language and have relaxed facial expressions. • Close the deal:  This won’t be so easy. Your counterpart would think about many aspects after you present the offerings. They would think about the finance that would be involved, the strategies of their competitors, the possible outcomes due to acceptance or rejection of your services/products, etc. Anyway, make the move to close the deal by asking something like, “Are you ready to take the next step? What else can I do to help you make this decision?” If your shot was unsuccessful, don’t worry. Go back to your target in three months and ask, ‘How’s it going? Are your needs being met?’ If they are, great, but if not,” you may have another shot. Selling is a difficult task. But do remember it is the lifeline of any business and one of the most beautiful, significant part of the entire process. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [5 Essential Skills to Enhance your team](https://faberinfinite.com/5-essential-skills-to-enhance-your-team/): Team has been an integral part of any institution or organisation.Team work never fails to bring success if worked efficiently. But the significance lies in enhancing the team to perform better each day. Well, this is not very easy. A good team can surely get the organisation to the top but the  question here is how to get that perfect team? How to enhance team work? Below are some points that can help in doing the same: Leadership: A powerful leader and a great leadership can work wonders. Each team must have a designated leader who would guide, train in times of turmoil thereby taking the team forward successfully. Clarity of goals: There should he a clarity of goals. Each individual in the team and the team as a whole should have clear ideas of the goals which they need to attain over the period of time with their teamwork and combined efforts. Effective Communication: Failure in communication can lead to serious problems, to cause serious damages in the future. Communication or miscommunication has always had serious damages attached to it each time. Therefore, proper care should be taken that effective and frequent communication takes place within a team, followed by constant feedbacks. Suppression of Ego: Harns caused due to ego clashes can be irrevocable. They could lead to extremely severe problems. Well, the basic thing is, teams don’t exist in the presence of ego.Ego  in breaking the team and cordial relationships built over the course of times. Sharing Resources: Resource sharing is another crucial requisite to enhance the team skills. Resouces does not only mean money, tools, manpower but also include ideas, feedbacks, innovative approaches, insights,etc. Not sharing of these resources can lead to underperformance and failure. Making a team seems to be easy. Difficult part is sustaining the same.Much harder is enhancing the team in order to perform the best. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [One simple key to get work done: Motivation](https://faberinfinite.com/one-simple-key-to-get-work-done-motivation/): Motivation- the word that holds great importance in personal as well as professional lives.  We often say or hear people saying that they didn’t get motivation to finish a particular task; they lacked motivation to initiate something. Yes, motivation is crucial, especially in professional lives when it comes to beating the competition. Providing motivation may seem easy when heard but not practically. It is a very difficult task. What happens when a new joinee comes onboard in an organization or an existing employee looks for some light in his darkest of the job roles? It is difficult for them to start with their jobs. Why is it so?  What do they lack? The simple answer for these questions is that they lack motivation. They need that fuel (motivation) which would help them run their engine; basically carry out the tasks successfully. But motivating someone, especially the employees when talking in context of the organization is not easy. The leaders or supervisors need to be extremely sharp, creative and focused to understand their subordinates’, colleagues’ problems. Below are few pointers which would help supervisors or leaders act in accordance with motivating the employees: Highlight the importance of employees: Employees get highly motivated when they come to know how important they and their work for the organization are. They find utmost happiness when they are recognized and are involved in organizational processes. They need to be made understand the context of their work like Why is it done? For whom is it done? How would it be beneficial, etc.? This helps make them more productive. Proactive solutions for Employee challenges: As the first step suggests, the employees get motivated when they realize the importance and value of themselves and their work. But this does not solely help in keep the employees motivated. They would face certain challenges during the tenure of working. The leaders need to anticipate those possible hurdles to provide solutions for the same. Proactive solutions might be useful in avoiding the hurdles, thereby enabling employees to be more active, productive and motivated. Constant Appreciation for contributions: Appreciations, Acknowledgements and Rewards are very tempting. They are a great source of motivation. The leaders should make it a point to be aware of the contributions made by the employees. Appreciating the efforts of the employees make them feel more wanted and observed. When efforts go unnoticed it greatly hurts. Thus constant appreciation and recognitions should be made to keep the employees motivated which would further help to increase their productivity. Assess self- motivation: Last but not the least, self-assessment is an important step. To motivate others, it is very important for one-self to be motivated. If you’re not engaged and enthusiastic about your company, your team, or the work you do, it’s unlikely that you’ll be a great motivator of others. Thus a check on self-motivation and working towards being self-motivated is very important. Connect with your own motivation, and share it freely with your team. Just be actively engaged and involved with your subordinates. This will make the entire process easy for you. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Leading the Way: Faber Infinite recognized as Fastest Growing Management Consulting Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/leading-the-way-faber-infinite-recognized-as-fastest-growing-management-consulting-organization/): Faber Infinite has been recognized as India’s  fastest growing Management and Strategy Consulting organization  by ‘The CEO Magazine.’  The magazine has comprehensively covered the unique arrays of Faber Infinite, showcasing the success journey of Faber Infinite and its clients.  
- [Four Noteworthy Lessons from G.M. to mark a Successful Business Empire in India](https://faberinfinite.com/four-noteworthy-lessons-from-g-m-to-mark-a-successful-business-empire-in-india/): General Motors, popular as GM is among one of the reputed brands of automobile manufacturers. It is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan which had made its way to India in 1996. It had two manufacturing plants in India, located in Halol and Talegaon.  Lately, it had shut down its Halol plant owing to non-profitable operations. It had an unfortunate exit at the time when India, rather Gujarat is emerging as an auto-hub, with big brands keenly awaiting their turn to start a plant to attract more customers. Even though it exited, it left a valuable lesson for the C.E.Os across the world thinking about their start-up in India, Business expansion. Below are the points which need to be taken care of for a successful business growth in India: Consistency in Leadership: Leadership plays a major role in the success or ruin of any business organization. Best the leader, successful the organization, bad the leader, unsuccessful the organization. The same holds true for G.M. General Motors lacked the consistency in leadership. The short tenure of leaders or various leaders overs short period of time leads to one of the reasons for its closure. India, being a complex country in terms of diversity and culture, the short tenure could not suffice the leaders to understand the people, market and the strategy of the competitors. Building a competitive strategy for Indian Market: As said earlier, the Indian market is diverse and unique with diversity in people’s culture, religion, choices, etc. All these factors play a major role in determining the success of a product or product demand. Companies need to focus on this very aspect while designing a product for India. For Instance, Hyundai is doing a great business in India by developing cars at an economical cost and in accordance with the likes of the people. Local Autonomy and Customization: Customization and autonomy are of utmost importance when we talk about the Indian market. It’s not necessary that a product launched and being used in U.S. or Europe or any other part of the country would make its way to India successfully and if made way, would sustain for long. Hence, the products need to be customized to suit the needs of the people. Also, local autonomy is significant to cope up with the requirements of the Indian market. If provided a local autonomy, it would help to better design the products, customize them depending upon the customer needs. Patience and Persistence make way ahead: Patience and persistence is the key to business success. It should also be taken into consideration that coming from a foreign background and opening up a business in India is not easy. It requires a lot of determination and fortitude to make the way into the market, rather minds of the people successfully. Showing up their determination have thus paved the way forward for other multinational organizations in India. Though G.M. might have closed a unit in India, that doesn’t mean they cannot be an entrant again with more power to gain the supremacy over and above other giant competitors. Furthermore, the above pointers can help other companies awaiting to start their business rein in India. Compiled by Faber Ramya Pillai as per excerpts from H.B.R.   For original article click here
- [Manpower Productivity Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/manpower-productivity-improvement/): Some think reducing production hours will compromise throughput. Do you think the same? We at Faber we think DIFFERENT. Faber Infinite can help reduction in throughput time with Manpower Productivity Improvement. Faber, with its debottlenecking and productivity improvement solutions has helped a leading machine building industry to deliver a massive 80% improvement in overall throughput. It greatly influenced the profitability of the organization.    
- [NEVER GIVE UP](https://faberinfinite.com/never-give-up/): There’s a famous quote by Arianna Huffington which says, “Failure is a stepping stone to success.” How many of us actually believe this to be true? We get distressed, demotivated, deterred and there would be a rush of negative emotions after a failure. It is obvious. This is a basic human tendency and there’s nothing unnatural about it. What matters is how and how fast we overcome this phase. This is a challenge. This varies from person to person. Some people might stand up quickly with a bang while others might find it difficult to leave back the bad days of their failure and move on. Such people would tend to remain clinged to their past memories, not allowing the light of positivity to enter their lives. What they fail to realize is that their life does not end there rather there would be a way ahead lying in front of them. Well, this depends. While some would wait for luck to enhance their life, some would make a path of their own and would turn out to be lucky instead of waiting for the time to make them fortunate. There have been many live instances of some great people who have made their ways by themselves to reach the destination. One of them is Jack Ma, the famous business magnate, better known as the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group. He is the man with true standards and a living example of the best entrepreneur who made his way through a life full of failures. Ma’s life is nothing less than a typical Bollywood film with lots of distressing moments and failure throughout his childhood days, ultimately ending up to becoming one of the richest man on earth. Starting his life in a poor family he had a series of failures like failing his university entrance exams twice to getting rejected for jobs. His success did not happen overnight but it was this man’s grit, determination, positive attitude and courage which led to his success. Giving some insights of his success, his company Alibaba. com has been a tough contender for other e-retailers. Here are a few insights about the records set by his venture-Alibaba, as shared by Forbes. Its IPO had set a record as world’s biggest public stock offering in New York in 2014.Also, a record $463 billion of business transactions were conducted on Alibaba’s retail platforms in the fiscal year through March 2016. Beyond e-commerce, in October 2016 Alibaba’s film unit forged an alliance with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, giving a potential boost to a struggling effort so far in the entertainment industry. This is not a fairytale story but the story of a man who turned out to be the richest man in China with his positive attitude of never giving up. Hence the best lesson is to keep moving inspite of the challenges life throws at you. Failures are a part of success. Don’t give up your efforts but challenge the challenge in front of you, confront to become another successful being on this small planet. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Be the CHANGE you wish to see in the world !](https://faberinfinite.com/be-the-change-you-wish-to-see-in-the-world/): We have talked about change many times. Change in organization, effectiveness of change, importance of change and the list goes on. As said every time, change is a vital part of everyone’s life. Timely change is very important for growth and development on a personal as well as professional basis. Change, however big or small can bring big differences in life. Yes, change is good and it should be adopted. But before adopting it, it needs to be initiated. The question here is who would initiate the change. It is very essential to address this question. If this question would be left unanswered, there won’t be that change initiation process which is equally important. This answer can be well addressed with the famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” This quote actually adds a lot of meaning. We should be the change, initiate the change we wish to see in the world. How can we expect others to bring that change which we desire if we ourselves don’t step up for the same? Small steps can add a lot of meaning, maybe it can lead to a big transformation in the future for the betterment of the society as a whole. The best example is the ongoing ‘Seed Ball Movement.’ It was initiated with an intention to save environment by contributing to increasing the number of trees. This movement was initiated by a group of activists to increase the depleting green cover. This is an unique idea which includes making balls of seeds of plants and trees like neem, peepal, gulmohar,babool, tamarind, etc. These seeds are preferred as they are strong species and ideal to be grown on highways. The only requisites for making seedball are soil, seeds and cowdung. The step includes simply mixing these three and making small balls. These balls are then thrown randomly at places which then grow gradually, when watered- either through rains or any other mode. This is a small and simple step yet a very effective measure taken up to protect the environment and raise awareness among people to do the same. It can thus be said that small steps can bring big changes, if not immediately, gradually. This applies to organizations too which desire to initiate or adopt change. There needs to be an initiator, rather every person should initiate the change by himself/herself, setting an example for others to follow. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Increase Productivity without Incurring Extra Cost](https://faberinfinite.com/increase-productivity-without-incurring-additional-cost/): Ever thought of an increase in productivity at a low cost? Or an easy improvement in productivity with the available resources? Usually, productivity improvement in inversely proportional to cost incurred. Well, Faber Infinite knows that productivity improvement is significant for every organization and considering the same we have been successfully helping organizations in achieving productivity improvement with the existing / available resources. Faber Infinite’s process improvement capabilities and systematic elimination of bottlenecks has helped a leading FIBC manufacturer to deliver 50% improvement in overall productivity. For further details schedule an appointment with our expert : consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Pandemonium Around Paris Agreement - A Global Priority](https://faberinfinite.com/pandemonium-around-paris-agreement-a-global-priority/): Yesterday was June 5th, one of the most important days which are meant to be celebrated every year. Here, celebration does not mean making big pomp and shows, using fireworks, colors, music or cakes. It needs to be calm and silent because it is World Environment Day. A day which we might not even remember alike our birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, New Year or every other festival or day which we would be excited to celebrate. We often fail to understand the importance associated with World Environment Day, it being one of the most significant days. World Environment Day (also called as WED) has been an annual event on the 5th of June every year since 1973 in order to raise the global awareness about the importance of the healthy and green environment in the human lives, to solve the environmental issues. When talking about environment, it includes every aspect of the environment like earth, water reservoirs, forest, etc. All these factors play a vital role in sustenance of the environment and shaping the climate and weather conditions. Massive destruction of forests, increase in pollution and other destructive measures adopted by human beings has greatly contributed in an increase in global warming. This has resulted in an extreme upsurge of temperature, typically hotness across the globe. When talking about the measures taken to reduce the adverse effects of pollution and global warming, one of the notable measures includes the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris agreement is a step toward the reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions that is necessary in order to reduce the most catastrophic risks of climate change. It’s a deal signed by 195 countries committing them to lower their carbon emission levels. The goal is to lower global emissions enough to prevent average global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. This agreement was finalized in 2015 when Obama was in power. As per the latest news, the ruling President Trump wants United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. According to reports, the United States will begin a four-year process of withdrawing from the agreement, with the final date for withdrawal set for 2020. This withdrawal could cause severe impacts such as: • More Carbon Emissions: The obvious impact would be a rise in carbon emissions. As per the study conducted by University of California Berkley, U.S. emits about 20 percent of global carbon emissions. • Upsurge in Temperature: The increase in carbon emissions would obviously lead to an increase in the temperature. This could also lead to melting of ice in the polar regions resulting in an increased sea level and an adverse weather condition. • Weakening of the deal: Withdrawal of U.S. could lead to weakening of the deal. This could also result in withdrawal of other countries from the deal raising an alarming situation due to the increase in carbon emissions. This pact does not legally bind countries. But the issue being a global one, every country should be a part of the agreement to do their bit for curbing of harmful gaseous emissions. On an individual level, we should plant more trees, try to reduce pollution (air, water, land, noise) and try to do every possible bit to protect and sustain the environment for our future generations.
- [Connect with Nature this World Environment Day !](https://faberinfinite.com/connect-with-nature-this-world-environment-day/): This Earth day, play your part by making small changes around the home/shop floor. Small changes might not seem like much, but if everybody pitches in, the nation can make a big dent in its fossil fuel usage. That means less carbon released into the atmosphere, less contribution to climate change and a healthier planet. So lets connect with the Nature !
- [5 Tips to Become More Effective Consultant](https://faberinfinite.com/5-tips-to-get-the-best-consultants-on-board/): Consultants and consulting organizations are increasing over the period of time. There is being seen a massive rise in the availability of consultants parallel to the organizations hiring them. With the increase in the number of organizations, the numbers of organizational problems also tend to increase. Organizations may face various challenges with respect to employees, profit, organizational growth, resources, etc. In this article, we will discuss about 5 Tips to Become More Effective and Efficient Consulant. These uncertain problems are sure to create a headache for the companies. This is where consultants come into picture. They are looked upon as the magicians who bring effective solutions for the problems. Organizations/organizational leader start the hunt for consultants to address their organizational issues successfully. With an increase in the competition, the need for consultants is on a high. Organizations have started deploying consultants. Companies have started understanding the concept of consulting, the importance of the same and the benefits associated by availing the consulting services. However, lately with few world business leaders objecting to the role of consultants and their efficacy, you would probably be charged with a set of questions in your mind. Who is a good consultant? How to identify the best consultants? How effectively would the consultants be able to deliver the results? Below are 5 key pointers, which would help you to identify the best consulting team based on your organizational needs 5 key points of Consulting your Organizational Needs:-   They have a certain estimate of the future outcome: Best consultants make way for the best outcomes. They can actually predict the certain, possible outcomes. They would certainly make a blueprint for carrying out the tasks by which the organization/ client would get the best results. This means that the consultant would have an estimate or a ballpark idea that how much the client would benefit by their intervention. This estimate would be in terms of increase in number of clients, increase in profit or increase in the revenue fetched due to increased productivity. They follow Set Organizational values: The consultants are generally hired and may not be necessarily a part of your organization as a full time team. But since the day they are hired by your organization, they are a part of your organization and are bound to follow the rules, live by the values, work towards following the vision and mission of your company. They cannot neglect following and living by these things. A good consulting outfit would understand the due importance of the same and work to deliver the best results within the scope of the set values and norms. They determine the ‘Maximum’ duration of services: A proficient consulting team is the one which would define the Maximum phase of its engagement with the client. It would predict its disengagement period considering the organizations ability to sustain the improvements and assist in creating a framework where the client becomes self-reliant. They would think client’s benefit before they think about excess profits. They address the issues of the organization creatively: Consultants need to be well equipped with right tools and creative ideas. They should not always provide with the same monotonous solutions every time for every problem or atleast for the same problem, each time. If the problem persists even after repeated efforts, the technique may be wrong. The consultants should thus have creative and apt solution, if the issue persists. They should demonstrate remarkable results: It’s sure that if you have hired or are looking to hire one of the best consultants, they would its worth. They would have already worked with clients – organizations enabling them to present their case studies and credentials. They would have already assembled many of them making it furthermore easy for decision making. Effectual consultants are not those random people taking up consulting jobs because they can’t find anything. But they are into consulting profile by choice and chance or any other compulsions. They can actually be referred to as doctors for the organization, who would examine and come up with minutest of the problem and solutions.
- [Go Green on World Environment Day](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green-on-world-environment-day/): With World Environment Day round the corner, and all the uproar around it; let us talk about how Going Green and specifically conserving energy can make money for organizations. Energy conservation is the need of the hour all over the world, especially in Zambia. Zambia – the second largest producer of copper in Africa is in major crisis with its economic slowdown. Zambia was one of the powerful, fast growing economies in the past with real GDP growth averaging to 6.7% p.a. This declined to become just 3.6% in 2016. There are numerous factors adding to the problems of Zambian economic growth. Some of the factors contributing to economic challenges of Zambia are fall in copper prices, rising costs of commodities, low agricultural output, etc. The ongoing issue in the country is the hike in electricity prices. Energy consumption (electricity) has become a major issue with a rise in the prices. Zambia has been facing electricity scarcity since long. The electricity-supply deficit, which began in June 2015, has affected manufacturing and other businesses. It was estimated at 40-50% of baseload, requiring daily load shedding. This was followed by other problems such as an increase in operating costs, depreciation in Zambia Kwacha by 42% against the United State Dollars, giving a rise to inflation to about 21%. The problems did not end there but went ahead to cause 9000 job losses in the private sector, then. Economic conditions have slightly improved in 2017. According to World Bank, the growth rate is projected to be 4% in 2017. The measures to increase the growth rate and develop the economy have already begun. One of the important steps adopted by Zambia in this direction is 75% hike in electricity prices. First fifty percent rise has already taken place and the remaining twenty five percent is set to take place on 1st September, 2017. The move has already created a ruckus in the country. People are disappointed with the move owing to high tariffs to be paid for usage of electricity. The rates have been hiked but it can be said that the rates are still cheaper than the neighboring countries. While in Zambia, the constant energy charge at present is K0.15 per kWh. It is still low as compared to other countries. For Instance, while Zambia pays 3.8 US cents per kWh, Tanzania pays 15.1 US cents per KWh. As said earlier people are unhappy with this decision of hike in energy price but the fact cannot be denied that with the increase in price there would be less power cuts, electricity scarcity, and gradually full time energy access to people. This would rather boost the production process without the hindrance of power cuts and unavailability of electricity. Timely production would thus lead to timely sales further leading to on-time delivery and satisfied customers. This would also cut government electricity subsidies enabling to direct those resources rather surplus resources to the needy sector. This is indirectly a boost to the economy.There are also negative effects associated to it. The major drawback would be increased energy bills. High energy bills would be followed by high production cost leading to high price of goods.Undoubtedly, it is difficult to manage these problems arising due to rise of energy tariff. However, Faber Infinite has a concrete solution for it. Yes, you heard it right. Team Faber Infinite with its organizational transformation framework has a very powerful solution for energy cost reduction. Our expert team has helped several clients to reduce energy cost by means of conducting energy audit, implementing energy efficiency solutions and alternate energy solutions, Energy Management Systems development as per Standards (ISO 50001). Energy conservation and efficient utilization of energy resources play a vital role in optimizing costs for any organisation. Energy audits help to understand more about the ways energy is used in the industry, and help in identifying the areas where energy waste is occurring and where scope for improvement exists. Typically, audit covers Electrical Motors, Pumps, Lighting, Compressed Air System, Cooling Tower, Boilers, Steam Systems, Furnaces, HVAC & Refrigeration System. For further details, please get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [4 key points to Improve Manpower Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/4-key-points-to-improve-manpower-productivity/): Kenya, East Africa’s biggest economy holds the record of being the country with maximum unemployment. According to the United Nations in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2017 report, the rate of unemployment in Kenya is the highest in the East African region hitting a new high at 39.1 percent. This makes it the highest than its neighboring Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. This dubious distinction also pops up as a reason of slow economic growth. On the other hand, President Uhuru Kenyatta had made an announcement stating an increase in the minimum wage rate. Minimum Wage rate refers to the lowest amount to be legally paid to an employee for his work. As per the declaration there would be an increase of 18% to the minimum wage paid to employees in Kenya. This move came up in the midst of high cost of living in the country. Another notable point is that this wage rate has been intended after two consecutive years of no increase in salary. Kenya’s minimum wage was last changed on 1st May 2015. There are 106 countries with a higher Minimum Wage than Kenya, and Kenya is in the bottom percent of all countries based on the yearly minimum wage rate. Following this announcement, the lowest paid employee will now earn KES 14,868 up from the current salary of 12,600. This move has been planned to help people match the high cost of living in Kenya. Improve Manpower Productivity by 18% Considering this move, it seems the employers and company owners are not very pleased. This is obvious as they need to pay more to their workforce. This would have an adverse effect as the employers and organizational leaders would turn to reduce the number of employees, would increase the price of goods and services, etc. This would further lead to poverty, inflation and unemployment. Well, there should be a solution that can help solve all these problems. The solution would be improving the manpower productivity to overcome the impact of increased wage rate and build in competitiveness to stand in the global markets. Faber Infinite can help to tackle the problem effectively by improving manpower productivity by 15 to 20% with its established approaches and unique delivery methodology. Faber has proven records showing its successful delivery and the results achieved due to its efforts. Team Faber deploys fundamental tools like Time and motion study, Muda elimination and other efficiency improvement concepts to improve manpower productivity. The improvement in manpower productivity can be brought in by following key four drivers: Identify and eliminate all non-value adding steps: The first and foremost task would be to identify the non-value adding efforts. Half of the task gets done, if we successfully identify the non-value adding steps in the organization, on time. But this is usually a difficult task and identifying it consumes majority of the efforts. After identifying the wastes or non-value adding activities, work on eliminating them. Not necessarily, all wastes can be eliminated and such inefficiencies (necessary evils) can be reduced, if not eliminated, via appropriate tools. Providing systematic review aimed towards work balancing: The next step would be to review the work balancing. Maintaining proper work balance and load levelling is of utmost importance, in absence of which some resources among manpower and equipment goes unutilized. There also exists a possibility of Muda of overproduction which creates many problems such as overstocking, wastage of space and resources, inefficiencies, etc. Thus the key would be to improve material velocity. Creating and implementing standards: It’s easy to improve but it’s difficult to sustain that improvement. That is where we need to pitch in and implement standardized practices which could be brought by visual SOPs, daily work management and alike measures. These would help to improve as well as sustain the improvements, enhancing quality and efficiency. Inculcating Right First Time, Every time: The last key is to inculcate right first time, every time which refers to maintaining and developing the quality each time you produce. Quality should be at source and inbuilt. Quality at source refers to having proper, robust processes so that there won’t be any rework, reject or inspection needed. Inbuilt quality refers to maintaining the quality since the first step, a standard, accepted quality enabling to increase the delivery. Execution of these approaches successfully has led to addition of clients in the list for Faber Infinite. For Instance: Team Faber has helped the likes of Atlas Copco, one of the leading engineering companies to improve manpower productivity by 33%. There are numerous happy clients from varied sectors who have received the best results when partnered with Faber Infinite. For further details, get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Skill Building: For Better Tomorrow](https://faberinfinite.com/skill-building-for-better-tomorrow/): On one hand where we have seen heavy down-sizing in the Information Technology domains, it can also be noted that Indian economy is growing steadily and with the same, there is also sectoral growth. Further, the sectoral growth demands skills to compete with the global market. Hence, Skill Development has become an integral part of organizations. As per India Skills Report 2017, of all the students entering the job market across the country, hardly 2/5 meets the employment criteria set by the employers. There is a serious shortage of skilled people available in the country, which is a grave problem. This has led Government of India to adopt skill development as a national priority. Further, organizations around are deploying skill development tools and trainings for the employees. This is being undertaken massively by organizations to combat the existing skill problems. As shared in our past post ‘Skill Development for Unprecedented Revenue Growth’, Faber Infinite’s PriZma – Skill Analysis platform is extremely effective to gauge the skills of the employees and to help them overcome existing gaps. Skill Analysis indicates the skills and skill levels required on the job and the actual skills possessed by the employees. Apart from focusing on the gaps and coming up with the solutions for the same, PriZma also facilitates to make a training plan considering the needs and training requirements of the employees. Team Faber has been helping organizations to conduct a pertinent and customized skill analysis by deploying PriZma. Organizations are finding it exceptionally helpful and comfortable using PriZma. Moreover, it helps them to get appropriate results enabling them to design the way forward to impart training. And all this is conducted at click of buttons, eliminating all hassle and subjective feedbacks! The expert team of Faber Infinite has designed the platform considering its vast experience of dealing with various traits and skills requirement, coupled with cloud based IT systems, making it effective, efficient and error free! Recently, India’s largest paracetamol manufacturer has been one of the beneficiaries of PriZma platform, where Team Faber has helped the team in skill analysis and development initiative by rolling out PriZma. They are the largest and leading manufacturer of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Paracetamol/ Acetaminophen. Every client has different requirements and it keeps varying from time to time. Skill Gap Analysis for the above mentioned client was done with an objective to analyze the necessary skills of the employees, design a training calendar, conduct annual appraisals and to create a skill inventory for future. The skills were analyzed by identification and distribution of skills into four broad categories such as Functional/ Technical Skills, Operational Excellence Skills, Behavioral & Soft Skills. After the required skills identification, a customized questionnaire for all skills and positions covering all departments was prepared. The questionnaire was rolled out to all the participants through online platform which further helped to receive and analyze the data to analyze the skill gaps. This comprehensive analysis was conducted for more than 120 participants over 10 departments and 12 cadres. All members from the leadership, tactical and execution layers were covered and the tool helped to generate individual as well as consolidated team insights. These details were then used to identify the skill gap and design improvement plan for each employee. Skill analysis helped to identify skill gaps for each position thereby helping in identifying the training requirements. This is of utmost importance because the lack of proper identification, training and nurturing of skills can lead to frustration and employee turnover. Faber can justly help you save from such a scary organizational future and can deliver with the most appropriate results. For further details, get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com.
- [Delivering 10 times RoI Everytime](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-10-times-roi-everytime/): Everybody in the management business are aware of infamous parables about consultants. In todays’ era, maximum return on investment is one of the core objectives of every organization when it hires any consulting organization. Faber Infinite Consulting understands it thoroughly and has this objective of providing maximum return on investment as one of the core values. Faber Infinite has always lived by its values. Values sets standards and keeps the organization bonded and helps to sustain the organization culture in a right way. Faber has always held its seven core values high and has been successfully following them since its inception. All these values relate to the growth and development of clients, stakeholders and society in whole. Amongst the core values, one value which Faber lives by is ‘Fabulous is Tangible.’ By this, Faber Infinite believes to, commits to maximize Return on Investments (ROI) for clients. It has lived by its value of under committing and over performing. Faber Infinite commits minimum 10 times return on the consulting investment made by the client. Faber has actually delivered this to several its clients. One of the latest additions to the list is one of the leading Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC)/ Woven Sacks industries in India. For every INR 1 invested on consulting, client has received more than INR 10 added straight to their profitability, increasing their profitability by around 20-25%. The methodology adopted to enable returns (10 times) on investment varies from client to client, depending upon the requirements, work conditions and the problems. A brief of the successful approach adopted by Faber Infinite to help one of the client deliver 10 times ROI is as follows: Basic Stability of physical workplace and processes: Establishing and rolling out process standards across the operations and physical work place improvement were the fundamental steps initiated. Six S helps in workplace management, maintain standard work environment and foundation steps towards continual improvement culture building. Materials Waste Reduction: Material cost being one of the key cost elements and hence material wastage reduction initiative is adopted to optimize and reduce waste of resources via focused improvement projects. It helps in reduction of wastage of resources thereby saving on the costs. Problem Solving Projects: Another important step is to analyze the reasons for shortfall of resources and failure to deliver planned throughput. Post proper root cause analysis, the reasons for shortfall can be determined. Shortfall arising due to lack of skilled manpower, defects, material unavailability, etc. are resolved by structured problems solving tools and methodology of 8D to reduce and eliminate the impact. Equipment Health Management: Autonomous Maintenance is a proven approach which was adopted here to restore the basic condition of the equipment and tools etc. By a structured roll out, it helps to improve and sustain the working conditions, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It further enables to increase efficiency and quality of operation of machines and manpower.These are some of the proven methods which were adopted by team Faber to assist clients with an immense increase in profitability. These tools and approaches are implemented in such a way that it meets the clients’ needs, gifting them the maximum returns (nothing less than ten times) on the investment made. These concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed at your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Keys to deal with Multicultural Diversities](https://faberinfinite.com/keys-to-deal-with-multicultural-diversities/): A basic, known fact- man is a social animal. Yes, we are and the urge to be social, communicate with people, make friends remain a part and parcel of everyone’s life. We have been trained by our mind, our family and our society to be social. Being social doesn’t only mean interacting with a single, acquainted group of people. We would need to interact with multiple people with various cultural diversities having different backgrounds, either as a part of our personal lives or professional. The fact is many find it difficult to manage. People find it difficult to communicate to people with different cultural diversities. These barriers might be due to the difference in language, culture, for that matter any other reason. But, this is a serious problem which needs to be addressed seriously. This can lead to serious business consequences when overlooked from an organizational perspective. How to overcome this challenge? Below are the pointers which can help overcome these challenges and could create a desire to befriend a person from other culture. Urge to learn: Learning is the base. Having an impulse to learn can act as the key. Individuals should develop or should be helped to develop a need to learn. They should be eager to welcome change thereby getting ready to accept new things and welcome the new cross border/ multi-cultured friend. They should be trained to adapt to the new cultural happenings. This can happen with constant interaction with people from other culture, sharing their cultural practices, reading or learning about it. Proper training can help to make individuals comfy to deal with multi-cultured people. Team Learning: This can act as another integral step. Once, you develop the desire to learn, the next step would be to learn collectively in a group. Different teams can be formed and the group can mutually discuss and learn. Mutual give and take of advices, findings, and discussions enables to learn faster, regardless of the culture or national diversities. Shared responsibility improves the intra-team environment, allowing happier and more comfortable members to deliver improved results. Feedback session: The task does not get over by the two steps. The last but not the least, crucial step is arranging a feedback session. Individual query and problems should be addressed. If not possible in an individual manner, group session should be conducted. But it is a vital part for the success of the training or learning sessions conducted. Feedbacks act as a great source of knowledge and awareness to improve or make changes catering to the needs. This can help to formulate a strategy for organizing a learning environment for the employees. These are the traits which may not be inborn for every individual but it can be acquired or developed over the course of time. These can greatly influence the co-ordination, teamwork developing a path ahead for organizational success. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Don’t let WannaCry make you cry.](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-let-wannacry-make-you-cry/): The most obvious, known, well-accepted fact is that we live, rather living in a digital era. We are surrounded by computers, tablets, mobile phones and many many more connecting-interconnecting networks and devices. We are so much dependent on these devices and other network facilitators that we cannot imagine our life without them. We have adopted Google as our ‘Great Guru’ and Facebook, Instagram, Watsapp, Snapchat, etc. as our ‘Fab Friend.’ What remains left out is our Safety and Security. When we talk about safety, it does not only mean safety against mental and physical harm. Online safety is also as important as mental and physical protection. Not to forget, we are prone to cyber-attacks and there is an increased chance of one, no matter who you are, where you are.  For instance, the recent WannaCry Ransomware attack.  It is considered to be one of the biggest cyberattacks in history. This attack majorly hit businesses and large government organizations such as hospitals in UK, FedEx, and the Russian Interior Ministry, among others. These attacks cannot be stopped. They would happen again. What we can do to prevent such attacks from affecting us? The key is to take precautions to protect ourselves and our system from becoming victims of such attacks. Here are few precautions which can be taken for safeguarding our system. : Create Strong Passwords: Passwords should be really strong. Passwords should be set in such a way that it should not be easy to guess it. It should be a mix of alphabets, special characters, numbers, etc. Do not use your birth dates, phone numbers, names, etc. as your passwords as they appear to be very easy to guessed. Also, do not reveal your password to anyone. This could turn out to be dangerous. Install and maintain updated anti-virus: Another important measure is to have anti-virus in your system. Once you have it the task does not get over. Keep updating it on regular intervals as and when needed. Regular Updation of System: Regular updation of your system is very important to protect your system. This enables safety of your system. Make this a habit to avoid any malware from harming your valuable information. Regular Backups: The risk of being attacked anytime always prevails. Hence, the best option is to maintain regular backups. Create and maintain backup copies of all important business date, financial information and all other important documents. This would save you incase of any cyberattack and prevent from loss of data. Also, it is advisable to maintain backup on a separate device. Act Wisely: Another crucial point is to act wisely by not opening any links or e-mail attachments which seem to be suspicious, unfamiliar, sent by unknown person, containing unfamiliar file extension names, etc. Do not open links or apps that appear to be unacquainted. Cyber-attacks are meant to happen in future. There will be cyber threats. The only way out is to act wisely and your smartness can help protect from unwanted, unrecognized malware attacks.
- [4 key points to Great Management](https://faberinfinite.com/4-key-points-to-great-management/): There’s a famous saying by Paul Glen- “A good manager finds satisfaction in helping others be productive, not being the most productive person in the room.” In this article, we will discuss about 4 key points to Great Management. Managerial job is one of the most difficult tasks owing to dealing with and managing of human resources. Human behavior is very uncertain and it tends to change depending upon their moods and dispositions. But that’s what the challenge is; being a manager you should be able to deal successfully with your subordinates to get the work done. At the end of the day, proper execution and completion of work is what matters the most. The burden of getting it done properly and effectively lies on the manager. But how to do this? Here are few pointers which would help mould employees to be highly productive, motivated and enthusiastic. Great Mangers set examples: Good managers just don’t guide but also set perfect examples. He/ she would himself follow what they preach. This could be in the style of working or the time dedicated in completion of a particular task or any alike thing. This holds due importance as the employees would be motivated seeing their manager following what he/she preaches. This would enable them to follow the person and the manager would be thus successful in spreading positive energy. Equal allocation of work: Employees tend to get disengaged after a certain point of time if allocated with more work than what they are supposed to. They tend to lose their sense of motivation resulting in degrading productivity owing to overburden of work. A good manager must be aware about the working patterns, working technique, amount of work his subordinates are engaged with and how much more work they should be assigned with. There should be proper and even allocation of work considering all these factors. Effective Internal Network Access: This acts as an important phenomenon. Having and maintaining large internal networks creates a sense of trust and strength. Larger business networks can build a positive outcome. Large internal networks can improve and increase co-ordination and co-operation also leading to departmental, hierarchical interactions among each other. This would build a sense of motivation and trust to attain the organizational goals on time, effectively. One-on-One Interaction: This is very important in any organization. This is what many organizational leaders and managers miss on. One-on-One interaction is very important to keep a track of what’s going on, to keep one updated about the challenges faced by the subordinates and to come up with suitable solutions. This habit should be followed at least twice a month as it enables to foster the organizational relationship leading to a positive work environment and improved productivity. These tips would help build positive company culture, improve productivity & quality of work. But, do remember a manager would be the best person to initiate these measures because he/she would be the one who would be in constant touch with their juniors and also equally responsible and answerable to the top management for non-completion of work, non-attainment of organizational goals. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Boosting Productivity with Correct Employee Placement](https://faberinfinite.com/boosting-productivity-with-correct-employee-placement/): Have you ever been seated next to an academic scholar in your school by your teacher? Or have you ever witnessed your teacher doing the same to your classmate, placing an academically poor student besides the class topper? Well, majority of us might have witnessed, experienced or could have heard our teacher doing or saying the same during our school days. Being students we might not have understood the motto behind the same. Such a measure was adopted with an intention to improve a weak student by the influence of the other- the academically good one. Then, you might not have considered it as a very effective step. What would you say if you come to know that the organizations can also adopt the same methodology? A research was actually conducted and this measure has proven to be very effective and useful. The results of the research suggested that placing an employee next to a productive one can practically boost the former employee’s productivity. Below is the cheapest, quickest, effective, process which can help improve productivity of the employees: Opposites Influence: Scientifically speaking, opposites attract. When talking about an organization, we can say that pairing opposites work the best. The step is very simple. Place a productive employee next to a less productive employee. The more productive one would help the other one to achieve the tasks. The research highlighted that the workers with strong skills in one area would help the other lacking it. Hence there would be a mutual co-ordination, co-operation and communications helping onto build confidence. Identifying and Splitting the Negative: We would be able to pair the productive and non- productive group, align them to achieve the desired results. The process does not end there. The next important step would be to identify and separate the negative or toxic workers. Toxic (Negative), here refers to the employees or workers who end up being terminated due to their misconduct, misbehavior, violent nature, fraud, sexual harassment, breach of company policy, etc. Any employees with alike traits are dangerous to the other good part of people. They, if paired with the positive ones could negatively influence the former leading to a decline in productivity and further problems instead of increase in productivity. Thus it’s very important to identify those harmful, dangerous people and they should be removed to avoid future losses and other serious consequences. Analyze the process: Once you are done with the above two steps, don’t forget to analyze the whole process. It can help to rewind the process giving a brief about the procedure. This is important because it would help to overlook the effectiveness, success rate, difficulties, challenges, etc. to formulate a better way of introducing the same processes. Boosting productivity with quality is the dream and motto of every company. But not all are able to achieve the same. The above process would help you achieve the desired results without costing you anything that too effectively. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai.
- [Swacch Bharat - The Five S Way !](https://faberinfinite.com/swacch-bharat-the-five-s-way/): The Swacch Bhart Abhiyan is an urge and requirement of today. The program can be seen as a great medium to make nation a beautiful place to live. The hygiene and clean environment is required for betterment of human across the globe. Here the focus is to systematically and effectively utilize Five S concepts for achieving the target of Swacch Bhart Abhiyan. Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan As we know the cleanliness and waste management in an efficient manner is required for a developing nation like ours. The fact is that if we are talking about the development of world class infrastructure and facilities to change our nation, this aspect cannot be ignored at any cost. With a very bright thought a national campaign has been launched under the name The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by Honorable Prime minister on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi. The campaign will cover 40-41 statutory towns to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country in phase wise manner. Brief Introduction Five S The Five S method includes sorting out unwanted items and disposing them, setting things in an orderly fashion by allocating a right place for everything and putting back everything in its place, keeping things clean, standardization and systemization. The Swacch Bharat Abhiyan has a very close association with the Japanese Five S practices of cleanliness, systematic arrangement and other principles as well. Swacch Bharat and its parallel to Five S What is most effective in many advanced parts of the world is the adherence to Five S. Five S is a Japanese methodology which indicates different levels of cleanliness and has been recognized worldwide. To simplify these are the 5 key components of Five S • Sort • Select Place • Shine • Standardize • Self Discipline. Five S is a successfully implemented technique with exceptional results worldwide, which involves the principle of waste elimination through workplace organization. The focus lies on effective workplace organization and standardized work procedures. Five S simplifies the work environment, reduces waste and non-value-adding activity while improving quality, efficiency and safety. It provides the foundation for all quality improvement programs & improvised work culture. As it is quite evident that the corporate setup in various organizations needs to have a proper Five S implementation. If examined closely the concepts of Five S and housekeeping run parallel. Working in a clean environment will enable people to notice malfunctions such as leaks in equipment, unevenness and breakages, which if remains unnoticed can have serious consequences. The Five S program shall help to instill the habits of clean and hygienic environment at workplace alongside a greater sense of discipline. Swachh Bharat strongly attempts to sensitize people about their surroundings and also understand their perspectives on the norms of a clean mind and healthy body.
- [Uncertainty Can’t Ruin Your Certain Business Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/uncertainty-cant-ruin-your-certain-business-growth/): Businesses and Organizations often face uncertainty. Uncertainty could be in terms of government policies, political turmoil, financial crisis or any such random situations. Every organization, big or small is bound to face some uncertain situations from time to time. The organizations may not be actually ready to face those uncertainties every time. This could lead to tension and build up the pressure in the organization among individuals. As it is difficult to ascertain the outcome of the uncertain circumstances, it would be difficult to determine the mood in the organization. One could witness a variety of moods from anxiety, frustration, distress to anguish and irritation, varying from person to person. Uncertainties are sure to happen but being a manager how can you help your employees deal with the ambiguity and insecurity. It is very important to deal with these problems oneself and also to help employees deal with the same. In the absence of support and guidance those problems could lead to un-productiveness and stress. Here are few pointers which the managers, mentors, leaders could refer to, if wish to adopt to cope up with all those problems. Care for ‘You’: Before you empathize and create a ‘feel good’ factors for others, firstly create a care for your attitude. Take care of yourself before you take care of someone else. You cannot help others until you help yourselves. Try to understand the new problem, analyze it, try to come up with a practical, feasible plan that can be used as a remedial plan to overcome the wound of business uncertainties. Once you cope up with the same you can help others to deal with those problems. Understand what employees need: Try and understand what your employees need by having a one- on-one conversation with them. This would help them to look at the problem with an open mindset. Also, they would build a sense of trust for you, as the leaders who are actually concerned and trying to understand their needs. This would ultimately lead to a reduction in distractions, anxiety, stress thus making them more confident and assured. Address and Encourage: The employees might end up feeling stressed out, wondering how are you able to deal with the new and upcoming changes. This is the right time to help them open up, address their issues and make them feel normal. Make them feel that it is a part and parcel of the day to day business activities and you have also been through the same. This would help them to feel normal and calm. Also, never forget to encourage them for their capability in handling the situation smoothly. Approve Flexibility of Work: Once you understand, analyze, address and encourage the problems of your employees, let them be flexible in their work and working patterns. This would enable them to be relatively relaxed alongside completion of the tasks and coping up with the newly popped up uncertain circumstances. Just align them to the organizational goals and remind them that the work expectations remain the same. The uncertainties would vary from organization to organization. The onus lies on the managers to guide his/her team to achieve the goals along with preparing them to face the unforeseen challenges. Written By Ramya Pillai
- [World Day for Safety and Health at Work](https://faberinfinite.com/world-day-for-safety-and-health-at-work/): 28th April – World Day for Safety and Health at Work this day was declared by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally. World Day for Safety and Health at Work is an awareness-raising campaign “intended to focus international attention on emerging trends in the field of occupational safety and health and on the magnitude of work-related injuries, diseases and fatalities worldwide”. So today let us take few minutes out of our busy schedule and look into the most important aspect – Safety at Work. Safety is not only focusing on reduction of the number of accidents but creating safe working environment for each stake holder. To get best out of the teams, it is necessary to ensure safe and friendly environment. The members should feel free to work without feeling any danger and unsafe situations. Organization must understand the need to consider employee, equipment and environmental safety as an integral part of sustainability program. These practices can help you support and maintain efficient production and to help provide a safe operating environment. Organizations should develop health and safety program as per their business and hazards at workplace. Let us work towards creating environment which fosters safety not only today, but for life! Let us build Safety and Health together!
- [4 Essentials to formulate Development Strategy for Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/4-essentials-to-formulate-development-strategy-for-leaders/): Leaders-the torch bearers of companies play a very important role in the development of the organization. They inculcate the values in their organization. Organization here doesn’t just refer to a particular group of people or individuals but the organization as a whole inclusive of each and every employee. We usually say that employees act as the pillar of the organization. Yes, this is true but the foundation is the leader, constantly motivating, guiding and enabling their workforce with continuous training and development. Having said this and accepting the importance of a good leader, mentor we should not forget that with the high speed changes taking place the leader is the one who needs to adapt himself to the same, even before his employee accept and adapt to the same. Thus there need to be a strong leadership strategy as a base to cope with the upcoming challenges and initiate the process of development. Here are few key pointers which can help formulate a good development strategy for the leaders: Formulate Leadership strategy focusing on the organizational strategy: The basic step should be formulating the leadership strategy on the basis of the organizational strategy. The leaders need to be identified to execute their strategies and build recruiting approaches considering the need for the same. Implant change initiative throughout the organization: Change initiative strategy should be embedded throughout the organization. Covering the entire organization for initiating change is a must. Merely focusing on a particular part of the organization, a particular individual or just a group of individuals won’t be helpful to achieve success. Therefore the entire organization should be covered in the process to embed change. Contextual Leadership Programs based on the need: Leadership programs should be designed focusing upon the needs. Organizations should instill programs around current business and strategic issues. This would develop employee engagement and more employee involvement. Encourage by connecting to a purpose: Individuals feel more motivated when connected to the purpose or mission. When there is a purpose for doing something there occurs a sense of motivation attached to do it. On achieving the desired results there occurs a sense of satisfaction. This again steers to work better in the future. The above points can lead to successful organizational initiatives. Thus a basic strategy should be formulated depending upon the organizational goals. A strong leadership strategy can help initiate the change process for fostering growth and development. Written By Ramya Pillai
- [Go Green this Earth Day !](https://faberinfinite.com/go-green-this-earth-day/): This Earth day, play your part by making small changes around the home/shop floor to cut back on your electricity consumption? For every kilowatt hour you can knock off your meter, you’re saving coal or natural gas that gets burned to generate electricity. Small changes might not seem like much, but if everybody pitches in, the nation can make a big dent in its fossil fuel usage. That means less carbon released into the atmosphere, less contribution to climate change and a healthier planet. So sit back today to think about what you can do to use fewer natural resources, streamline a manufacturing process or improve a Green Manufacturing initiative! Lean is Green, and green manufacturing is better for Earth. Here are few examples from industry winners who have been successful in marrying Lean principles with benefits of green manufacturing: From 2005 – 2007, General Electric reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 250,000 metric tons and saved $70 million in energy costs. A Baxter International facility combined Six Sigma and energy-efficiency efforts to save $300,000 in energy costs in one year. Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America has reduced average facility energy consumption per vehicle by 30 percent since 2000. It’s interesting that these three companies, very familiar to Lean practices, are bridging the continuous improvement gap between operational performance and environmental performance. While there’s no doubt that lean manufacturing will result in lower material and labor costs and greater production revenues, what is important is to know more about the benefits of lean in relation to green manufacturing. To know more call our expert team to reduce your energy bills! Happy Earth Day 2017 !
- [Identifying the ‘Star Employees’: A key to business success](https://faberinfinite.com/identifying-the-star-employees-a-key-to-business-success/): Employee development, employee training is often considered synonymous to company growth. Needless to say, every organization has some stars among their employees who contribute majorly to the development. Unlike earlier times when hardwork and capabilities of employees went unnoticed, rather unappreciated, today due importance and appreciation is given to them. As said above, every organization consists of some stars which outshine others considering their work and commitment. Considering the competition, every company wish to have a bunch of stars in their organization. But the success depends upon their timely identification, consideration, appreciation, etc. Proper deployment of your employees for doing the right task at proper time acts as the key. For Instance: Having an employee with expertise and interest in software development if assigned the task of business development won’t work great. There would be no result as expected plus frustration on the part of employee as well the employer. So what takes to grow your company successfully? Not just mere presence of your organizational stars but also the understanding of their capabilities and interest. Below are some steps which can help you attain your organizational goals taking into consideration talents of your star players (employees.) Identify your stars: The first, important and basic step would be to identify the stars in your organization. The task should not be very tough, provided there is very less employee involvement and communication. Leaders should be able to identify the skills and talents of the employees. If you achieve success in doing the same, the rest of the task becomes relatively easy. This does not happen overnight. For identifying the true capabilities of the employees you need to know your employees thoroughly. Identify the potential: Once you successfully identify the true gems of your organization the next step would be to understand them well in terms of their potentials. If you think that your task gets over by identifying and recognizing the stars of your organization then you won’t achieve the desired results. You must be able to understand their strengths and weaknesses too. This would enable to deploy them at the right place, rather than placing them at the wrong place with wrong task on hand who would be least interested to undertake the same. Identify the most significant tasks: Till you reach this stage you might have a brief idea about where to go and which path to travel. So, the third step would be now to understand the significance of tasks which needs to be undertaken. More essential the task, more capable should be the person. There lies a direct relationship between the two. The tasks should be categorized on the basis of priority and significance, according to which they should be assigned to respective people. Ensure the accomplishment of the most significant tasks: After you identify the most important tasks and assign it to the stars of your company depending upon its priority and prominence you must ensure that it is embarked in the same way it is supposed to. The person to whom it is assigned should know its prominence and should ensure that it is carried out in the best way. Thus it’s important to have a constant, mutual co-ordination, employee involvement and employee engagement to identify the star talent, resources of your organization. This works best when you provide them with their part of motivation, appreciation and very importantly when they are NOT taken for granted. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Are you Interested or Committed?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-interested-or-committed/): There’s a famous saying by Ken Blanchard who says, “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses – only results.” Being interested would push us to initiate the journey, make the first move or take the first step. Being committed would actually act as the force behind finishing the journey successfully. Mere interest won’t lead to success unless combined with commitment to fulfill the task. For instance, a person could be interested in losing weight and looking slimmer. But that doesn’t mean that the person would be able to do so successfully unless he/she is committed to do so. This shows the difference in commitment and interest. Being just interested may not wholly solve the purpose but being committed or a mix of interest plus commitment can make wonders happen. This could be so because interest has relatively short tenure than commitment. A person can lose interest in the process and this could affect the end result, be it personal lives or professional lives. Thus there would be no excuses, no procrastination for a committed person whereas there could be delays, excuses, procrastination, frustration, etc. when a person would be interested. While we have talked much about how one would be benefited if a person would be both interested and committed, do we actually know the difference between the two? We actually often tend to get confused between the two, not able to actually sort out the difference between them. People often consider themselves as committed when in reality they would be interested. We would help you answer the question if you are actually committed or interested. Try figuring out the same with these simple differences: • Convenience: The first point is adopted from Mr. Ken Blanchard’s quotes. When you are interested you would be doing things at your convenience while when you are committed, convenience doesn’t pop up there. You would fulfill the task anyhow without procrastinating and making excuses. • Acceptance of challenges: You may not necessarily take up challenges if you are just interested in doing something. You may also opt to move back if the task is too challenging also leading to a loss of interest in the meantime. Whereas, however challenging the task would be, there would be no question of looking back or leaving the task midway. • Failures: If you are merely interested, failures would stress you out leading to an aversion in moving ahead. Whereas failures would be considered as stepping stones to success and would be looked at with a more positive approach when you would be committed. • Goals: The ultimate target is goals. The only difference would be that when you would be interested in achieving goals you would just set it but there would be a lack of effective strategies as a roadmap to achieve it. Whereas, when you would be committed you would set achievable goals and clear, definite strategies for achieving it. These are some of the key differences which would help us figure out if we are just interested or committed or if there is a mixture of interest and commitment. Having said that it should not be forgotten that the best results can only be achieved when there is a presence of both the factors¬¬- interest and commitment in personal as well as professional lives. Now it’s your turn to determine whether you are interested or committed to derive the best results. It is equally applicable in your personal as well as professional lives to bring about transformation and positive change. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Key Drivers for Successful Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/key-drivers-for-successful-organizational-change/): We have multiple times talked about organizational change, transformation, importance of adopting change and many more such aspects related to change. Today, we are going through, rather witnessing a phase of organizational transformations across industries. But how to sustain that change and make people accept the same. Mere realization of the importance of change cannot do wonders until we adopt the same open heartedly. How to welcome, embrace; sustain change along with creating a sense of acceptance among the employees. Below are three influential pointers from which would help and guide to welcome and sustain the change: • Experience speaks: As said rightly, ‘Experience is the best teacher.’ Experience speaks and is much more influential than any words or phrases. People would trust the experiences more than words. Thus the best way to make stakeholders adopt change is to make them experience the positive impacts of change. But that’s not that easy. A better option is to experience or try to understand it from stakeholder’s perception. It would enable to know what they would undergo, to build an effective management plan. Simply speaking, ‘place yourself in their shoes’ which will help you to devise an improved, effective change. • Ease in use: Anything that is easy to use tends to become favourite among people. People do not like difficult things, be it a new product, service, task or any of the kind. So must be the change. Any change which is comparatively easy, which would make life easy than earlier would be loved by the employees. Thus the top management or leaders must try to introduce a new initiative or a change that would be very effective, though challenging but initiated in such a way that it looks easy. • Complications would resist change: People often resist change because it breaks their comfort level. The process of coming out of their comfort zone to adopt new things, according to them could be very difficult which would also lead to stress, anxiety and other complications. This is true to some extent but these complications don’t prevail over the course of time. More easy is the process of adoption, further it would be easy for the employees to adopt the same. Every change is unique and complex. The onus lies on the people who introduce the same to the people in the Organization. The art of presentation would solve half of the problem. A sense of empathy and the presentation skills would make it very effective and easy for the people to accept, embrace and follow the change. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Transforming Farms](https://faberinfinite.com/transforming-farms/): Floriculture is a major global industry in both developing and developed countries. Global trade volume is estimated to be worth more than $100bn per annum. The main players are divisible into producers in developing countries and consumers in developed countries, including many in Africa. With the continuous development of greenhouse technology, and advances in plant biotechnology, transportation conditions, and marketing strategies, floriculture has reached a historical maximum hub of activity and competitiveness Europe is the biggest import and export hub. It is noteworthy that Kenya has excellent transport links to Europe, and from there, the rest of the world through Nairobi airport, which has a terminal dedicated specially to the transport of flowers and vegetables. This means that delicate floral cargo which is perishable in nature can be shifted from growers to consumers swiftly. The sector has increasingly been faced by many challenges even as the global economic fortunes seem to be getting better. Consumers are getting more concerned about the quality of what they are receiving making it fundamental to ensure quality and more importantly safety. Concerns from the UK consumers for Kenyan produce to meet high quality standards are of prime importance. In a positive note, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) reports that increased awareness through the inspectorate among farmers and traders has reduced incidences of pests in produce for export. Major Challenges faced by the industry include: 1) Transport and infrastructure-related production costs 2) Proper Utilization of Land 3) Low productivity followed by low returns on investments 4) Higher Rejection percentage of flower in green house and pack house 5) Higher rejection due to more time spent by flower in pack house in warm condition 6) Poor infrastructure and unpredictable weather 7) Obsolete technology and stringent international standards 8) Inventory of chemical and fertilizer Here we bring some of the aspects on which Faber Infinite team has been working to deliver exceptional results: 1) Change in layout to enhance productivity In pack house we have improved number of grading stems per minute by changing layout to single piece flow (We have helped clients with changes in layout to improve productivity by an average of 60%). By proper layout design of flower production block we can increase total number of beds per hectare and thus overall production can be increased (We have improved it by average of 15-20% for our clients in Kenya). 2) Increase in the number of stems planted The Faber team has been striving to improve germination by growing more plants per square meter. Recently one of the clients has successfully implemented the methodology to improve stations per square meter. 3) Optimum Utilization of Land Usually almost in every farm due to improper layout design at initial stage lots of land is not utilized which can be turned up into production land by proper layout and planning. Team Faber has been working closely with their clients to turnaround the production of flowers by identifying useful land and exploring its effectiveness, which has turned nonproductive land into productive land. 4) Quality Improvement Flower farms have 2 flashes each year and it is seen normally during 2nd flash the rejection levels are high and production is also less compared to 1st flash which is called Variation or Gap between two flashes, by working on this variation or gap between two flashes rejection can be reduced by taking prompt action and more care of blocks (Like Reducing Nematodes, conducting proper Cultural activities and Crop maintenance, doing Scouting activity more frequently) during Second flash. Finally, there are alternatives to face the challenges by using an altogether different approach, through developing proper layout and land utilization models followed by logistical improvements that lowers distribution costs of inputs. 5) Flow improvement in Pack house Usually in Packhouse, flow of flowers is very important because it impacts the quality of flowers due to warm conditions of pack house. So the target of each pack house is always to improve the flow in such a way that the flowers move in the minimum possible time from pack house to cold store after packaging. Team Faber Infinite made modifications in the flow using operational excellence tools to improve the flow of flower after packaging. Team Faber successfully helped one of the clients to reduce the flower flow time after packaging from 14 minutes to 30 seconds! 6) Inventory management Managing inventory of chemicals and fertilizers is a challenge in this industry. Sometimes it is in excess and sometimes there is stock out. Each case has its pros and cons, like in case of excess stock there are chances of expiry. Team Faber infinite used scientific methodology of inventory management and reduced inventory value of fertilizers and chemicals from 7 million to 2.4 million and average stock out also reduced from 6 to 0. 7) Rejection reduction Rejects received in pack house from greenhouses is a major concern which decreases the export and also increases the handling in pack house. Team Faber infinite applies different quality controls tools to reduce rejections. At one of our clients in Africa we have reduced rejection percentage from 3.5 % to 1.4 % which increase the exportable stems. Faber infinite toolkit specially developed for Farms helps them to increase the production, labor productivity & reduce rejects and other wastes. Exceptional results have been observed in Flower farms.  
- [Adding SMART to Manufacturing with Konjo-SMART](https://faberinfinite.com/adding-smart-to-manufacturing-with-konjo-smart/): We are in the era of technological advancement where each day we witness new developments in every field in context of machines and technological innovation. Everything is just a click away with all the latest applications, machines, innovations and developments. These developments have already become a part of our life and we are so used to them that we are unable to think our lives without them. But before being covered with these comforts there occurred some major revolutions in the history which enabled us this easy life. One cannot imagine life without these revolutions which actually transformed our lives in a better way and for better reason. There occurred three major phases of industrial revolutions and we are currently witnessing the fourth phase. • FIRST PHASE: The first phase took place at the end of the 18th Century. It involved use of hydro electricity and steam power to mechanize production. • SECOND PHASE: The second phase was witnessed in the beginning of the 20th Century. It used electric power for mass production. • THIRD PHASE: Then came the third phase wherein electronics and information technology began to be used for automation of production. • FOURTH PHASE: Currently we are witnessing the fourth phase of Industrial Revolution wherein the digital revolution has been befalling since the middle of the last century. It is a fusion of technologies. It involves networking and exchange of information between human and machines. There are billions of people around the globe connected by the latest technological advancements. There is unlimited access to knowledge. In the near future these trends will multiply with the emerging technology in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, etc. We are already in the midst of self -driving cars, drones, virtual assistants, etc. Considering and understanding the ongoing developments and the need of the hour, Faber Infinite has devised Konjo SMART – set of operational excellence intelligence modules for implementing and sustaining powerful best practices across industries. It is an intelligent fusion of different modules to help build and sustain the competitiveness. Currently, Konjo SMART consists of various different modules which is a proper mix of intelligence and set of operational excellence modules. Some of the benefits/ features of these modules can be listed as follows: • Assists in sustenance of continual improvement practices • Helps to monitor the operational excellence journey at the workplace, field, etc. though, online. • Is industry neutral • Features to create detailed online reports over a period of desired time • Aids leaders to analyze the situation as it would be accessible on handheld devices and take timely decisions • Gives remote insights on the happenings at different places. • Tracks action plans pertaining to Operational Excellence and can help raise exception reports. • Provides with the facility of reviewing the reports by just a click. The reports would be at your fingertips. • Creates a platform to engage right people with right efficiencies • Pay as you Go Model which means payment needs to be done as and when it is used or depending upon the services which are used These are some of the salient features of the Konjo SMART modules which would help organizations improve themselves in all the parameters as and when required, highlighting a fact that it is economical further facilitating to use it. With the ongoing technological revolution in this fourth phase let’s come together and adopt enhanced options to make our lives (at organizations) easier and more productive. Join us in this new era as we add Smart to Manufacturing with Konjo SMART!
- [Accelerate with Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerate-with-sales-growth-framework-by-faber-infinite/): Selling is one of the main concerns of every organization. It is the biggest challenge encountered by organizations worldwide. With the increase in competition, it is a dire need to withstand oneself in the market. In fact, it is among one of the most difficult tasks, which needs serious measures to tackle the problems associated with it. We have a solution for this problem. There’s no magical wand which can increase the sales over a period of time but Faber Infinite has come up with some magnificent techniques to create, raise demand, increase sales and enable organizations to sell better. There are various factors involved in increasing the sales in an organization which need to be studied in detail. These factors include internal as well as external factors. Some of the significant factors that affect the sales are classified into two categories for the ease of analyzing the factors, such as Internal Factors and External Factors. Internal Factors refers to the factors which operate within an organization and which can be controlled to some extent. External Factors includes those factors which are cannot be directly controlled and are those which operate outside the organization. To understand how we can sell better we need to understand each of the internal and external factors. External Factors: External factors which affect the sales include Customer Needs, Competitive Analysis and Values Delivered. 1) Customer Needs: Customers are very important for the growth of sales. Without them sales cannot take place. Their preferences and choices need to be taken care of while bringing any product to the market. 2) Competitive Analysis: The second vital task is to analyze the competition & competitors in the market. We need to know the strengths of our competitors and our weaknesses to come out with a clear, successful strategy. 3) Value Delivered: Every organization has certain values associated with them. They pass it on further to their stakeholders with their products and services. The values delivered by a product includes its benefits, advantages and features. Internal Factors: Internal factors which influence sales include Team SWOT, Team Alignment and Sales Management. 1) Team SWOT: Among the internal factors, the most important factors include the team and teamwork. A team can make it or break it. Thus it’s important to learn the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of the team working for the same. 2) Team Alignment: Team Alignment is extremely important as it can further help to clear out the confusion of who’s handling what and how. There will be no confusion regarding the same. There will be clarity of roles and responsibility. 3) Sales Management: Sales Management refers to managing the overall sales process including all the aspects such as technical, financial planning, logistics planning, customer service, etc. All these factors need to be taken care of for increasing the sales. Finally, measuring and improving is equally important. Measure the overall sales performance of the organization and the team regularly for the entire year and take measures to improve the areas which lacked proper attention. Team Faber Infinite has been proficient in providing sales training, designing and implementing sales growth strategies across various industries and sectors. The practice of the above framework, designed by Faber Infinite has helped number of happy clients willing to increase their sales growth. Please contact our expert team, for further details and sub elements of the framework to accelerate your sales growth.
- [Growth Drivers For Indian Engineering Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/webinar-indian-engineering-industry/): We are glad to present a webinar on Indian Engineering Industry as a part of iFaber-Official Newsletter of Faber Infinite. In this webinar, industry expert Mr. Jalay Pandya has shared his insights on the current scenario of the industry by sharing how Faber Infinite has been successful in weaving growth opportunities for engineering industries. Indian Engineering Sector is among one of those sectors which is growing at an amazingly fast pace. It is all set to welcome the developments and innovations to foster its growth. Being one of the dominant sectors it is very important to nurture its growth. This webinar is focused on success drivers of engineering industry in India Not only for India but engineering sector has also been among one of the overriding sector for Faber Infinite. Click HERE to watch the webinar.  
- [Skills Development for Unprecedented Revenue Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/skills-development-for-unprecedented-revenue-growth/): India is well known for its unique culture and cultural diversities. Withstanding its beauty, India is rich in heritage and is an agrarian country. Alongside this there subsists a fact that it is a developing country which is constantly in fight against poverty and unemployment among many other existing factors. These problems when zeroed down leads to one solution which is employment. With the developments there is an increase in industries and India being a labor intensive country there exist a need for training and skill development for the employees to help them perform better. As per reports, India’s formally skilled workforce is approximately 2% – which is dismally low compared to China (47%), Japan (80%) or South Korea (96%). Organizations are already facing problem in getting the suitable, skilled candidates to fill up the vacancies. Thus the importance of providing skill development training has been realized by the industries and our government. Organizations are already making an effort by making investments for skill development. Also the present government has come up with many schemes for embarking with skill development initiatives and training programs. These efforts are laid with an intention to develop the present skills of the employees, help the employees identify their potentials, to mould them in such a way that they become competent enough to use the latest technology and provide other trainings as and when required to boost the productivity. Among the many existing factors, lack of monetary investment for skill development acts as one of the major problems. Considering this the need of the hour is to improve utilization of resources and find solutions that can address the systemic and institutional bottlenecks constraining the sector. In a recent survey by leading publishing house, 6 out of 10 CEOs voiced concerns relating to training and development efficacy. In another forum, 46% of the executives admitted that their workforce does not have the necessary skills required in the next 1 – 2 years. Further to these elements, Faber Infinite has devised an exceptional approach to analyze the skills of the employees. This excellent initiative named PriZma is devised to help organizations overcome the problems related to skill development among employee. PriZma will help to analyze the opportunities associated with employees with respect to skill development, provide solutions to overcome the challenges and would enable to understand the desired skills for the employees to perform better. Apart from focusing on the problems and coming up with the solutions for the same, PriZma also facilitates to make a training schedule considering the needs and training requirements of the employees. PriZma is not just confined to facilitating Training calendars and Skill Gap Analysis but other prominent efficacies are as follows: • Devising comprehensive training calendar • Fitment Analysis • Gap Analysis • Identifying Competency Gaps • Inclusive plan to terminate the skill gaps PriZma has been a realistic and effective plan not difficult to roll out and understand, also it has been a practical approach which has proved to be extremely useful for many organizations to analyze the strengths and improvement areas of the employees and build a bridge to match the essential requirements. PriZma also helps organizations to identify the skills and talents which the employees lack and further helps to improve, build on it. Performing a skill analysis can benefit employees and the organization since it will enable to cater to development needs. Successful identification of the flaws and weakness and working towards improving it can lead to increasing productivity and efficiency of the employees in a remarkably. It also brings an employee into limelight and enables him/her to stay ahead of others and boost career prospects. 66% business organizations anticipate a loss of business to their competitors due to lack of proper employee skills. This loss eventually culminates in loss of revenue which continues to slide down affecting the growth and productivity. Skill deficiency results in dissatisfied customers and dissatisfied customers could lead to loss of customers further resulting to a decline in sales and a loss in business. Thus it’s important to take counter measures, identify the needs and deploy a tool like PriZma which can guide how to fill in the missing gaps of the employees to perform better, increase confidence, productivity, morale, leading to organizational growth along with sustenance of existing clients/customers and addition of new. Written By Ramya Pillai
- [Demystifying Manufacturing 4.0](https://faberinfinite.com/demystifying-manufacturing-4-0/): We are in the midst of technological revolution which is changing our lives each day. It has indeed changed our lives a lot. We are now used to getting things at our fingertips by just a click. Gone is the traditional era of manual, physical pains and gains. We are passing through a tech era where everything is so easy and no physical pain is actually required to get things done. But this is a much later stage which we are witnessing. There have been times of physical hardships and pain when people actually used to bear so many things and with the deprivation of so-called facilities to ease the work done. Thus to make the lives easy occurred industrial or technological revolution which can be categorized into 4 stages as follows: • FIRST PHASE: The first phase took place at the end of the 18th Century. It involved use of hydro electricity and steam power to mechanize production. • SECOND PHASE: The second phase was witnessed in the beginning of the 20th Century. It used electric power for mass production. • THIRD PHASE: Then came the third phase wherein electronics and information technology began to be used for automation of production. • FOURTH PHASE: Currently we are witnessing the fourth phase of Industrial Revolution wherein the digital revolution has been befalling since the middle of the last century. It is a fusion of technologies. It involves networking and exchange of information between human and machines. Thus operational excellence concepts cannot survive for long with the ongoing technological revolution. Industries need to come up with alternative plans to face the challenges following the fourth phase. It’s not that easy but it’s not impossible either. The solution to this problem can thus be smart manufacturing. Industries should adopt smart ways of manufacturing by going tech-savvy. Smart Manufacturing or Industry 4.0 incorporates cyber-physical systems to monitor the physical processes of the factory and make decentralized decisions. The systems become Internet of Things, communicating and cooperating both with each other and with humans in real time via the wireless web. It can thus be said that manufacturing world should be open to changes and is open to changes to much extent. As always said changes are bound to happen. So, now is the time to embrace it for the better and adopt it for our development, ease and comfort. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Three Vital Steps for Effective Selling](https://faberinfinite.com/three-vital-steps-for-effective-selling/): Two months have already passed by and financial year is round the corner. Being last month of the financial year, March is a month of planning new strategies, reviewing the revenues of the entire year and designing new policies for the growth of the company. Among all other factors one of the most important factor is sales. Majority of the organizations face the problem in increasing the sales and developing a good sales strategy. Considering the issues in sales, the hindrance in building a successful sales plan, companies try to set and experiment new methods. New targets are set overlooking the challenges for the growth of the company. We would help you with formulating an effective sales strategy. We have three pointers which would help you do the same. Understand the needs of customers: Any sales activity would be successful depending upon the customers. Understanding the customer need plays a vital role in determining and formulating the suitable strategy. Constant change in customer needs, the existing competition, the availability of substitutes, etc. affects the demand of a particular product leading to a decline in sales. Hence the first and foremost important requisite is to understand the customer needs and preferences. Providing the solution cum product as per the problem: The most difficult task is understanding the different, changing needs of the customer. Once this is done the task is comparatively easier. The second important step is to provide with the best solution/product in accordance to the need of customers. The product/service must be developed or designed keeping in mind the wants, utility and needs of the customer. It should also be feasible so that they can avail it easily. Develop a sense of confidence among the customers: The most obvious thing is that the customers would not be just left with a single option to go with. They won’t be bound to choose you over others. They would have plenty of good options to go with. Now, this is the challenge. We may be the best but our customers would be unaware of this very fact. The onus lies on us to exemplify our best and take them in confidence. They would doubt you, would be skeptical and would have lot many apprehensions regarding our products or services. We need to build a confidence among them showcasing our best, providing them with the most exceptional product of all. These are the basic, applicable, proven successful techniques to grow sales. Team Faber Infinite has been doing this commendably across all industries and sectors and has been successful in providing more than the desired results for all clients. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Positivity of Change: Captain sets the perfect example](https://faberinfinite.com/positivity-of-change-captain-sets-the-perfect-example/): We just witnessed another excellent victory by Team India against Australia. People and Media cannot stop praising the team and the captain –Virat Kohli for showcasing such an awesome performance. Yes, it’s a teamwork and team’s victory. This cannot deny the fact that there is a capable, successful captain who is leading the team towards the path of success. Now, this is the time for people to think and accept him as the captain. This is the answer to all those folks out there who considered Virat Kohli incompetent to lead the team. It’s not just Kohli’s temper issues and the past controversies associated to his anger that led people to think so but it’s also the reluctance among the people to accept that change from M.S. Dhoni to Kohli as the captain of Indian cricket team. We all were so habituated seeing Dhoni leading the team with his cool attitude and strategy leading the team to succeed, that we were not able to accept this sudden change from ‘Captain Cool’ to a so presumed ‘Aggressive Captain.’ It’s not just about Kohli or Dhoni but it’s more about human tendency to avoid change. This is not an unusual thing but a very usual, ordinary nature of human beings to avoid change, step out of the comfort zone and accept the new things. This attribute either goes unnoticed or if noticed it’s avoided intentionally. Changes are sure to happen and we need to welcome and accept those changes to make lives better. Below are few points which need to be considered while we encounter change anytime in life: Changes are inevitable and bound to happen: We cannot sit back expecting the things to be the same lifelong. We need to understand that changes are inevitable and are bound to happen. People usually find it difficult to cope up with the new changes and let go of the current things and habits. For instance: Dhoni cannot be the captain of the team for all his life. One day or the other he would have passed on this responsibility to the other person. So, it is essential for us to welcome the changes open heatedly. Changes are not always bad: Majority of the people fall in the category who believe that changes are bad. But they fail to understand that this is just a misconception due to people’s averseness to accept change. The transition can be smooth as well. Changes are not harsh always. For Instance: The change of captain- from Dhoni to Kohli was not easy for the cricket fans to accept but Kohli is time and again proving himself to be a capable captain in his own style. So, embrace the changes, ignoring them is not the solution. As always said, believe that ‘Change is always for the better.’ Believe in the positivity of change: Instead of focusing only on the problems associated with change learn to look at the more positive things associated with it. Changes can do wonders, but the problem arises when it is unrecognized, when we become unwelcoming. For Instance: Virat Kohli has proved to be a great captain, depicting his own set of skills and style. He might be aggressive but his infield aggression is leading the players to perform better and win. We just need to believe in the goodness associated with the changes instead of mocking over, trying to hold on what needs to be changed. During an interview Virat Kohli said, “I will never change myself for anyone or because anyone wants me to change. It is just these small things that I need to improve on, but that instinct of being aggressive as a captain will remain.” Indeed he doesn’t need to change for anything as he has already won many hearts with his own, unique style and mix of aggression, passion and confidence showing that changes are inevitable and for good. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [‘Visually’ unbelievable mishap at Oscar 2017](https://faberinfinite.com/visually-unbelievable-mishap-at-oscar-2017/): The most awaited award event, Oscar-2017 just ended a week back, witnessing a major goof up of the history. A major mistake took place leaving the viewers dazed, confused and shocked, failing to understand if it was a planned humor or a serious mistake. People could not believe their eyes and ears when the announcement for the ‘Best Picture’ happened twice. Giving a brief about the event for all those who missed it, there was a major goof up during the last few minutes of the event while announcing the award for the category – ‘Best Picture.’ Initially the award for the Best Picture was announced for “La La Land” only to realize later that the actual winner was “Moonlight.” It was when the crew of “La La Land” were accepting award the rectification was made by one of the film’s producer, Jordan Horowitz interrupted to announce that the winner was “Moonlight” and not “La La Land.” Now this was a clear, practical instance of lack of, rather failure of proper visual management. If expert analysis were to be done the conclusion is – had there been proper visual management in terms of the presentation of card with respect to the font, size, color, spacing, positioning, we might not have witnessed such a mistake. However big or small the organizations are, getting visuals right plays an important role. If it led to confusion and serious embarrassment at the Oscars it can also do serious damage to organizations. But what is visual management? In layman term visual management refers to using proper signals like symbols, signboards, stickers, etc. instead of written instructions or texts, to communicate better. Here are few pointers which if taken care can prevent errors like the one at Oscar: Conducting the ‘Why- Why’ Analysis: Why-Why analysis refers to a method of questioning which enables to identify the root-cause of the problem. It does not only help to identify the root cause of the problem but also help to resolve the problem along with helping to find a method to prevent repetition. Having correct visuals: The solution to the problem is most obvious – proper visuals. Proper visuals can prevent problems and can avoid confusion and embarrassment resulting from it. It was sheer lack of proper visual control in Oscars which had led to the infamous Oscar mistake. Also, having correct visuals is very important. Incorrect visuals could lead to confusion, wastage of time, misunderstanding, etc. Muda of Motion – Mother of all inefficiencies: One school of thought considers Muda of Motion as the mother of all inefficiencies and can be avoided by proper Visual Management. Muda refers to wastage of any kind. Presence of muda leads to wastage of time (by increasing the search time) and wastage, redundancy of other resources (increased cost due to unavailability of resources, decline in productivity, etc.)  Thus the key to these solutions is having proper visual control. Some of the visible, notable benefits of visual management are: effective communication, avoids confusion, and avoids wastage of time and resources also leading to enhancement of productivity. It makes the tasks easy when compared to absence of the same. To have and maintain visual control in the place is mandatory, however it depends from organization to organization. But, the fact remains that the absence of visual management can dilapidate the organization slowly. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Five Key Elements to Manage Change](https://faberinfinite.com/five-key-elements-to-manage-change-2/): Change Management is a vital part of every organization for desired achieving goals. Time has come when it is being nurtured at every level of the organization. With the increase in competition, it is inevitable to bring in and manage change. Well, how to embrace it? There should be a strong foundation to build on further. This is where the proven Knoster T model plays a crucial role. Timothy Knoster identified the conditions for successful implementation of complex change and developed a model making it easy for the leaders to identify the gaps or blocks in initiating and managing change. According to the model change will take place with the presence of these five important components: vision, skills, incentives, resources and plans. A combination of these five elements helps to bring change. Let’s have a look how the absence of any one leads to different problems, obstructing change. Vision: The lack of proper vision can lead to confusion. If there is no vision, we would lack direction. Having a proper vision helps get an idea the way we need to move, the crucial steps to be adopted for reaching the goal and the way forward. But it’s only possible when we have clear vision.\ Skills: The next level shows the importance of skills. Skills are of utmost importance without which it is not possible to attain the quality in tasks. Skills do not refer to a particular skill but it can be any skill required for the successful completion of tasks. The lack of the same would lead to anxiety. Incentives: Incentives act as a motivation to perform better than the current performance. Incentives can be anything like addition in payments, recognition, promotion, perks etc. Incentives are the primary purpose of quality work and abstaining of the same can lead to resistance to work ahead and work better. Resources: An organization cannot work by just having skills or vision. Alongside we also need resources to fulfill the work. Execution of work is only possible with the availability of proper resources in terms of manpower, money, assets, etc. The absence or unavailability of resources may lead to frustration. Plan: Plan refers to a definite plan (action plan), roadmap or measures taken for the attainment of goals. It can also be defined as the steps worked out to direct action towards future goals. In the action plan, the vision must be translated into specific, achievable goals and objectives. The plan must specify out how the goals can be attained, decide who is responsible, specify the desired results and outcomes, and lay out a timeline for achieving the goals. Lack of a definite action plan to achieve realistic, attainable goals will put participants on an unproductive “treadmill.” Knoster’s model provides a clear outline of components that are easy to remember and practice. Overcoming the resistance and the associated symptoms such as confusion, frustration, and anxiety—is the aim of successfully managing change. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Drivers for Make in India](https://faberinfinite.com/drivers-for-make-in-india/): Make in India is one of the most ambitious initiatives by Prime Minister Shree Narendra Modi. It was launched in September 2014. It is devised to make India a global manufacturing hub. It was a powerful, stimulating call to India’s citizens and business leaders rather an invitation to potential partners and investors around the world. Along with making India a global manufacturing hub, the emphasis was also on enhancement of skills and creating more job opportunities. And even after the completion of 2 successful years, it has been a fruitful and prosperous initiative, reaping results in the correct direction or even more than as expected. Companies are now looking towards India for starting of their new business or expansion of the same. Saying about all these, let’s have a quick look at the key drivers of Make in India. Along with the efforts of the Government, different organizations and everyone involved, there are some driving forces which are making the Make in India initiative a big success. 1. Building Competitiveness through Operational Excellence: Today, there is competition in each and every stage; every sector, and every industry. With the increasing competition, organizations need to develop themselves to beat the competition. With such hyper competitive market environment, the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organizations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at operational excellence (OE)/ world class manufacturing (WCM) practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chain which ultimately helps them drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers. By implementing various drivers of Total productive maintenance, it can prove to do wonders in terms of maximizing equipment effectiveness through the optimization of equipment availability, performances, efficiency and product quality. Efforts in this direction can lead to building competitiveness with operational excellence as the tool and can lead to more efficiency, least costs and enhanced productivity. 2. Zero Defect Zero Effect: While addressing the nation on 68th Independence Day, Narendra Modi had commended, “We should manufacture goods in such a way that they carry zero defect and that our exported goods are never returned to us. We should manufacture goods with zero effect that they should not have a negative impact on the environment”. It basically signifies Zero Defect in the goods manufactured and Zero Effect on the environment due to the manufacturing of goods. The ZED scheme is an integrated and holistic certification system that focuses on quality, productivity, energy efficiency, pollution mitigation, financial status, human resource and technological depth including design and IPR in products and processes. 3. Skill Development: India being a labor intensive country, the need for Skill Development plays a centre stage. In next 20 years, the labor force in the industrialized world is expected to decline by 4%, while in India it will increase by 32% as per the sources and reports. This itself is a driving force urging for skill development. Skill Development is an important aspect for which various policy initiatives have been taken by the Government of India. Also, special emphasis has been laid on women empowerment with establishment of 5 Regional Vocational Training Institutes, providing training to women across India by NSDC Training Partner. 4. Better Policies: Goods and Service Tax often referred to as GST is the biggest reform in India’s indirect tax structure. It is set to replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services and will come into effect from April 2017. Some of the anticipated benefits of GST are: Benefit to Telecom Sector, Pharma Sector, Automobile, FMCG, Real Estate, etc. Due to unification of Tax system the system of various, uneven taxes won’t prevail after the implementation of GST. This would ease the process of manufacturing also bringing down the costs. This would act as a driving force for manufacturing more and actually make the Make in India program a big success, more than what was anticipated. Under ‘Make in India,’ the country is being projected as one of the most attractive destinations in the world to set up manufacturing. According to a World Bank report, manufacturing in India accounts for about 16 per cent of GDP, a level that has remained more or less unchanged over the past two decades. This is relatively low when compared to the 20 per cent plus share in countries like Brazil, China, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia (even after taking into account differences in per capita incomes). However, if things are done right, Make in India initiative will turn the wheel for manufacturing in India. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai.
- [National Productivity Week 2017](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2017-2/): We thank and wish Gujarat Government and Shri Vijay Rupani Sir, good luck. We are obliged and inspired by his encouragement and patronage.
- [Building Excellence in Pharma Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-pharma-industry/): The Indian pharmaceuticals market increased at a CAGR of 17.46 per cent during 2005-16 with the market increasing from US$ 6 billion in 2005 to US$ 36.7 billion in 2016 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.92 per cent to US$ 55 billion by 2020.By 2020, India is likely to be among the top three pharmaceutical markets by incremental growth and sixth largest market globally in absolute size. India’s cost of production is significantly lower than that of the US and almost half of that of Europe. It gives a competitive edge to India over others. Everything looks good to the pharma industry in India. But overall pharma operations have not changed much. Yes companies have gradually cut costs, however the operations in the industry are still managed in the same way as it was 20 years ago. That needs to change. The pressure is building for fundamental change. Companies that anticipate and adapt to these changes will succeed in the years to come. Here are few opportunities that companies should cash on: 1. Free up cash from inventory Pharma companies need to work on working capital management. On an average a pharma company holds 180 days of finished goods inventory. Ideally the realistic target for the pharma company should be lesser number of days considering the category of goods and consumption. This huge opportunity is within reach only for companies that can align across functions and use their resources thoroughly. Companies will need a powerful supply chain function with a broader and deeper involvement in planning, production, distribution and purchasing. 2. Throughput Improvement One of the most effective ways to improve throughput is to carefully analyze the production process for bottlenecks. Once identified, there is a need to eliminate the bottleneck so that it no longer delays production. Throughput improvement can be done via Value Stream Mapping and improving inventory turnover ratios at various stages via Inventory Management Modules. 3. Manpower productivity improvement As competition increases in every industry, greater workforce productivity becomes essential for sustaining growth. Organizations are continually under pressure to utilize resources effectively, improve workforce productivity and reduce resource management costs. Manpower Productivity Improvement (at packing lines) can be done by concepts of Line Balancing and Time & Motion Study. Changeover Time Reduction at Packing Machines can be done via Quick Change Over concepts. 4. Improve equipment efficiency Equipments efficiency of machines in pharma industry can be improved using overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) via pillars like Autonomous Maintenance & Planned Maintenance. OEE is often a KPI for maintenance effectiveness. It’s a chance to improve existing preventative maintenance, as well as establish a measure of self-maintenance by well-trained employees. 5. Physical workplace improvement In order to improve the physical workplace and make the problems within the process more obvious tools like Five S can be used. This can be improved further by building a culture of continuous improvement in the organization. 6. Make supply chain flexible For a multi-billion industry that manufactures and distributes products to millions of people every day, supply chain is not among the top issues of concern. However it can be easily argued that good business performance is predicated on the formation of an efficient and lean supply chain. In progressive organizations, the integration of supply chain management with strategic planning is complete and irreversible. Being so vital to the success of a business, it is only natural that pharma companies should continually seek new ways to configure their supply chains to remain competitive. The emphasis of pharmaceutical industry has been on developing a pipeline of new drugs rather than on productivity improvement, supply chain optimization, and cost reduction. There is much best practice available from other industries that can be exploited but this needs to be done in a way that recognizes the specific characteristics of the pharma environment. Embarking on Operational excellence journey is the way forward for the industry. This becomes even more challenging when driving changes in a highly regulated environment which are risk averse and where process changes need to be tightly controlled. For further details please reach out to us on publishing@faberinfinite.com. Written by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [104: The crucial number which hit the record, making India Proud](https://faberinfinite.com/104-the-crucial-number-which-hit-the-record-making-india-proud-2/): ISRO is in full swing taking over others as the new emerging superstar among the space agencies. There used to be a time when PSLV- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles were not considered to be the reliable space launch vehicles. This now changed and the recent example is the success of 104 satellites by ISRO. The whole country was taken by pride on 15th February, 2017 when we succeeded in marking a precedent with the recent achievement. We have been fortunate enough to witness these achievements and accomplishments back to back after the very successful Mars Orbiter Mission in 2014. On 20th September, 1993 when ISRO had launched its first PSLV it had resulted into a failure. But we emerged successfully and did a remarkable job, creating a milestone for the entire world by the recent launch of 104 satellites in one go in spite of resource constraints. This is a true example of great leadership skills, efficient and effective management skills, teamwork and co-ordination. This might have not been possible without these essential elements. These are the pre-requisites for any business, organization, agency, individual etc. to attain success. ISRO set a new record on 15th February, 2017 by the launch of Cartosat-2 series satellite for Earth observation and 103 other co-passenger satellites from a single rocket. The launch took place from Satish Dhawan space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. This is a noteworthy and incredible achievement which has added feather to the achievements of India. The launch includes nano-satellites (weighing below 10 kg each) from five countries — the United States, Netherlands, Israel, Kazakhstan and Switzerland — along with a trio of Indian satellites. With this accomplishment India has left Russia behind which had launched 37 satellites from a single space launch vehicle. The Cartosat satellites are launched to provide remote sensing services. For Instance, images sent by it will be useful for coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, distribution of water and creation of land use maps, etc.  The Indian nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B were developed as co-passenger satellites to accompany bigger satellites. This mission has proved to be the most cost efficient project which adds to the notable remark. This has proved that we are not only emerging but also leaving our footprints and succeeding massively at a greater speed. The constraint in resources has not affected the level of determination, energy and efficiency. Infact we have overcome those factors to emerge as the best, leading and winning the race of success. This is exactly what the organizations need to adopt and learn from our ISRO team members and their achievements, which will surely bring great deal of enthusiasm leading to attainment of the organizational goals and success. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [104: The crucial number which hit the record, making India proud !](https://faberinfinite.com/104-the-crucial-number-which-hit-the-record-making-india-proud/): ISRO is in full swing taking over others as the new emerging superstar among the space agencies. There used to be a time when PSLV- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles were not considered to be the reliable space launch vehicles. This now changed and the recent example is the success of 104 satellites by ISRO. The whole country was taken by pride on 15th February, 2017 when we succeeded in marking a precedent with the recent achievement. We have been fortunate enough to witness these achievements and accomplishments back to back after the very successful Mars Orbiter Mission in 2014. On 20th September, 1993 when ISRO had launched its first PSLV it had resulted into a failure. But we emerged successfully and did a remarkable job, creating a milestone for the entire world by the recent launch of 104 satellites in one go in spite of resource constraints. This is a true example of great leadership skills, efficient and effective management skills, teamwork and co-ordination. This might have not been possible without these essential elements. These are the pre-requisites for any business, organization, agency, individual etc. to attain success. ISRO set a new record on 15th February, 2017 by the launch of Cartosat-2 series satellite for Earth observation and 103 other co-passenger satellites from a single rocket. The launch took place from Satish Dhawan space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. This is a noteworthy and incredible achievement which has added feather to the achievements of India. The launch includes nano-satellites (weighing below 10 kg each) from five countries — the United States, Netherlands, Israel, Kazakhstan and Switzerland — along with a trio of Indian satellites. With this accomplishment India has left Russia behind which had launched 37 satellites from a single space launch vehicle. The Cartosat satellites are launched to provide remote sensing services. For Instance, images sent by it will be useful for coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, distribution of water and creation of land use maps, etc. The Indian nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B were developed as co-passenger satellites to accompany bigger satellites. This mission has proved to be the most cost efficient project which adds to the notable remark. This has proved that we are not only emerging but also leaving our footprints and succeeding massively at a greater speed. The constraint in resources has not affected the level of determination, energy and efficiency. Infact we have overcome those factors to emerge as the best, leading and winning the race of success. This is exactly what the organizations need to adopt and learn from our ISRO team members and their achievements, which will surely bring great deal of enthusiasm leading to attainment of the organizational goals and success. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai.
- [National Productivity Week 2017](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2017/): At the outset, on behalf of entire Faber Infinite team, we take this opportunity to congratulate the Union Ministry for remarkable efforts put in towards growth and productivity of India in the National Productivity Week 2017. Further, we were extremely excited to know that the theme of the week is “From Waste to Profits through Reduce, Recycle, Reuse”. Faber Infinite Consulting team has been working in the domains of productivity and efficiency improvement across the world with clients across industries. We have been delivering tremendous results to uplift the competitiveness of the client. As a part of the National Productivity Week, we celebrate this initiative and take this opportunity of sharing few glimpses from the industry 1. Implementation of sensor to reduce stoppages and increase productivity 2. Why Why analysis for analyzing root cause for reduction of stoppages and increase in productivity   As a part of the initiative we will keep sharing more glimpses from the industry in the blogs to follow.
- [Skills for a Successful Career: From College to Workplace](https://faberinfinite.com/skills-for-a-successful-career-from-college-to-workplace/): As soon as we would be on the verge of completing our higher studies, attending college the most obvious question would be what next. People are often interested to know where we are going to begin our career with. But what we often misunderstand is that college and college education is the ultimate source which would lead us to get a good job. But this does not hold true. The theoretical college education does not come in handy while joining a new organization. Practical exposure is the most important requisite then. Below are few important skills required in a workplace for successful working in every organization and workplace, the skills which are not taught at college. Networking: Networking refers to communicating. Communication is the most essential thing which can build up good professional relations. Not only building relations but maintaining it is also very important. Networking also helps to improve the personality, develop a person professionally and foster the growth of the person. Set achievable and realistic goals: Setting up goals is an important aspect in any business. Realistic, achievable goals should be set with particular deadlines which would enable to not get sidetracked from attaining the tasks. Deadlines also help to gear up to perform better. College education may not teach this and thus it’s very important to perform well. Identifying and Setting Priorities: This is also one of the important things to be done. While in college, enjoying the student life, majority of us do not prioritize things. We live a haphazard life then. But that’s not acceptable in a professional life. We need to set definite goals, identify our priorities and work accordingly. Get Feedbacks: One of the crucial parts is getting feedbacks. This is very important because it helps us to improve. Feedbacks must be looked upon as a positive thing. It usually acts as a motivation when positive and but should be considered positive when negative and must be used as a revision to review our mistakes, where we went wrong. This helps us to improve to perform better than the present task. Work with a Cross-Functional Team: Cross- Functional means working with group of people having expertise in diverse fields. This gives an exposure and experience of working with different people, learning new things, developing on personal and professional front. Different people with different expertise when come together to achieve a common goal it would obviously deliver the best result. Becoming the leader: Leadership is not an easy task. It is a very difficult thing to do, rather one of the most difficult thing which involves leading people from different background, mentality, attitude, etc. Workplace is the best place to explore our leadership skills and lead people to achieve the goals. It involves listening to the people, understanding their flaws and capabilities and motivating them to give their best. Thus, the real development of skills and knowledge starts from the workplace and not college in real. Workplace is the real place where we showcase our hidden potentials, skills and competence and which helps us to develop both personally and professionally. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Six Skills which they don’t teach you at Schools!](https://faberinfinite.com/six-skills-which-they-dont-teach-you-at-schools/): It is no longer a misconception that college and college education is not the ultimate source which would lead anyone to success. The theoretical college education does not come in handy while on real fields. Practical exposure is the most important requisite then. Below are six significant skills required for successful life, the skills which are not taught at college. 1) Networking: Networking refers to communicating. Communication is the most essential thing which can build up good professional relations. Not only building relations but maintaining it is also very important. Networking also helps to improve the personality, develop a person professionally and foster the growth of the person. 2) Set achievable and realistic goals: Setting up goals is an important aspect. Realistic, achievable goals should be set with particular deadlines which would enable to not get sidetracked from attaining the tasks. Deadlines also help to gear up to perform better. College education may not teach this and thus it’s very important to learn and excel this art of setting achievable and realistic goals. 3) Identifying and Setting Priorities: This is also one of the important things to be done. While in college, many do not prioritize things. But that’s not acceptable in a professional life. You need to set definite goals, identify priorities and work accordingly. 4) Get Feedback: One of the crucial parts is getting feedback. This is very important because it helps us to improve. Feedback must be taken in good spirit. It usually acts as a motivation when positive. But negative feedback should be considered positive and must be used as a revision to review mistakes and understand where one went wrong. This helps to improve to perform better than the present task. 5) Work with a Cross-Functional Team: Cross – Functional means working with group of people having expertise in diverse fields. This gives an exposure and experience of working with different people, learning new things, developing on personal and professional front. Different people with different expertise when come together to achieve a common goal it would obviously deliver the best result. 6) Becoming the leader: Leadership is not an easy task. It is a very difficult thing to do, rather one of the most difficult thing which involves leading people from different background, mentality, attitude, etc. Workplace is the best place to explore your leadership skills and lead people to achieve the goals. It involves listening to the people, understanding their flaws and capabilities and motivating them to give their best. Thus, workplace is the real place where we showcase our hidden potentials, skills and competence and which helps us to develop both personally and professionally. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Be Responsive and Not Reactive](https://faberinfinite.com/be-responsive-and-not-reactive-2/):   About the Author: Faber Jalay Pandya Faber Jalay Pandya is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Marketing Management with his 1st degree being in Plastic & Ploymers Engineering. This article was originally published in the February issue of SME world.
- [Relook at the Ditched Resolutions](https://faberinfinite.com/relook-at-the-ditched-resolutions-2/): Welcome to the first Tuesday of February, 2017. The first month of 2017 has already passed by and we are now in the second month, busy with our old and new tasks- reviewing the old ones and completing the new ones. But, before the days and months further pass by let’s have a look at our New Year Resolutions, achieved and unachieved both personal and professional. Some of them might have been followed or being followed while others might be kept untouched, procrastinated. Majority of the times we fail to follow them. So let’s gear up and get back again to the right track, follow the resolutions to achieve success personally and professionally with the help of the below pointers. Find out the Reason of unattainment of goals: The first step would be a self-introspection to find out what went wrong and the reason for unattained goals. Also, introspect why the goal was set or resolution made, in the first place. Try to find out the basic reason of setting the target. It would help realize the importance and would help to plan accordingly. When you set a goal and are driven by an authentic reason that you want to accomplish it, that combination can keep you doing the things you need to do for success Make the steps smaller and attainable: We time and again set goals which would be difficult to achieve, which might look too overwhelming to achieve. This causes a tendency to ignore the same or procrastinate it. The goals set must be smaller, easy to achieve. Goals must be realistic. This makes it look more practical and achievable. It does not mean that every goal should be set considering one’s comfort zone. Success does not come easily and we need to step out of the comfort zone to achieve it. Make considerable time: One of the most important things is to prioritize your targets. Make time to accomplish your goals. Time is of utmost importance without which goals cannot be achieved easily. Proper allocation of time enables to prioritize the tasks adding to the productivity. Find yourself a coach: A coach does not necessarily mean a tutor or a strict trainer. Here, it refers to a friend, a mentor, a counselor or any such person who can analyze the problems, support you and can help you find the solution. A person to whom you can be accountable and will show you the correct track when you divert from the way to your goal. Allocate Resources and celebrate success: The last but not the least step would be to allocate the needful resources. Proper allocation of resources for achieving the goals is a must. It cannot happen overnight. We need to understand the gaps and the requirements wherein we need to fill in with the appropriate resources. Following all these steps takes us closer to the goals. Now, it’s time to celebrate the success. We all often forget to follow or keep procrastinating the tasks. This is not something very usual. But the problem occurs when it goes unnoticed and unrealized. So let’s make the Resolutions which can be followed and if missed out let’s be ready with the countermeasures. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [3 Steps to Transform Weaknesses into Strengths](https://faberinfinite.com/3-steps-to-transform-weaknesses-into-strengths-2/): Every person existing on this planet is bound to have weakness and strength within them. These strengths and weaknesses could either be in personal life or professional life. There’s nothing abnormal if a person is weak in a particular task in a professional environment or if he has a weakness attached to his personal life. The problem pops up when those strengths and weaknesses go unnoticed. Failing to realize the positives and negatives, what we can achieve and the countermeasures to not lose something valuable results in a big failure over the period of time. Weakness is negative but the challenge is overcoming that weakness and instead turning it into our strength. The question arising would be how to do the same? Below are 3 crucial pointers to help us transform our weakness into strength. Ascertain decisive and crucial moments: The first and basic step is to identify our weaknesses. Until we realize our weakness we cannot work towards transforming it into our strength. The way to make progress is to identify the nature of the moments that provoke ineffective responses. Pay attention to the times, places, social circumstances, moods, physiological states, or risk perceptions that incite you to act in ways that lead to bad results. Thus the sooner we identify these moments, it becomes easier to act accordingly. Formulate thoughtful practices: The second step must be concentrating on learning or practicing a particular technique to overcome the challenges. Once you identify your crucial moments, identify moderately challenging situations where you can practice the target skill. These skills when practiced over a period of time can effectively help overcome the problems. Develop Emotional Competence: The last step is to develop emotional competence. It means overcoming the emotions and confronting the weakness.  We must be mentally ready to accept an uncomfortable behavior, provoking these unpleasant emotions will simply reinforce that this is an act to be avoided. We must seek out tactics we can use to make the unpleasant act more pleasant, or at least manageable. The above pointers, if followed effectively can help turn and transform our weakness into strengths, which is very important today to succeed at every step. The challenge lies in identifying the weakness, failing which can lead to serious consequences. Thus, let’s identify our weaknesses, work towards overcoming it and climb the ladder of success holding on all our strength. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [3 steps to transform weaknesses into strengths](https://faberinfinite.com/3-steps-to-transform-weaknesses-into-strengths/): Every person existing on this planet is bound to have weakness and strength within them. These strengths and weaknesses could either be in personal life or professional life. There’s nothing abnormal if a person is weak in a particular task in a professional environment or if he has a weakness attached to his personal life. The problem pops up when those strengths and weaknesses go unnoticed. Failing to realize the positives and negatives, what we can achieve and the countermeasures to not lose something valuable results in a big failure over the period of time. Weakness is negative but the challenge is overcoming that weakness and instead turning it into our strength. The question arising would be how to do the same? Below are 3 crucial pointers to help us transform our weakness into strength. Ascertain decisive and crucial moments The first and basic step is to identify our weaknesses. Until we realize our weakness we cannot work towards transforming it into our strength. The way to make progress is to identify the nature of the moments that provoke ineffective responses. Pay attention to the times, places, social circumstances, moods, physiological states, or risk perceptions that incite you to act in ways that lead to bad results. Thus the sooner we identify these moments, it becomes easier to act accordingly. Formulate thoughtful practices The second step must be concentrating on learning or practicing a particular technique to overcome the challenges. Once you identify your crucial moments, identify moderately challenging situations where you can practice the target skill. These skills when practiced over a period of time can effectively help overcome the problems. Develop Emotional Competence The last step is to develop emotional competence. It means overcoming the emotions and confronting the weakness.  We must be mentally ready to accept an uncomfortable behavior, provoking these unpleasant emotions will simply reinforce that this is an act to be avoided. We must seek out tactics we can use to make the unpleasant act more pleasant, or at least manageable. The above pointers, if followed effectively can help turn and transform our weakness into strengths, which is very important today to succeed at every step. The challenge lies in identifying the weakness, failing which can lead to serious consequences. Thus, let’s identify our weaknesses, work towards overcoming it and climb the ladder of success holding on all our strength. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Crafting Operational Excellence in Engineering Sector](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-operational-excellence-in-engineering-sector/): This post is a prelude to our research paper on ‘Growth Drivers for Engineering Industry. Background The Indian Engineering sector has witnessed a remarkable growth over the last few years driven by increased investments in infrastructure and industrial production. The engineering sector, being closely associated with the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors of the economy, is of strategic importance to India’s economy. While large scale production in the segment is organized, the sector in India is also home to a vast, unorganized, mid-scale operations setup, which feeds this large scale production. However, the next couple of years may remain challenging for the engineering and construction companies. While execution pace is slowing down due to various internal as well as macro issues, margins have also come under pressure due to feeble demand, rising competition and over capacity in a few sub sectors. Thus, unless the macro-environment improves overall growth will continue to remain sluggish in the near term. Further, in the light of recent event of demonetization there are some repercussions, which are likely to hit the manufacturing sector. Furthermore, we take the various purchasing manager’s indexes as a good indication of where the economy is going. The manufacturing PMI for India which has fallen might be taken as a sign of how demonetization is affecting the Indian economy. Hence, the operational excellence in Engineering and building competitiveness are key to sustenance for the industry. Building Competitiveness in Engineering Sector The highly competitive and dynamic environment, market competition forces organizations to improve productivity and enhance their competiveness. Consequently, the matter of assessing and improving competitiveness in different industry of several countries has received increased attention in recent times. Building Competitiveness, Zero Defects and Zero Effects, Skill Analysis & Development is a three pronged approach required to bring about a holistic development. While implementing efficiency improvement solutions at several leading engineering manufacturing companies in India, Faber Infinite created breakthroughs in building competitiveness and leveraging the hidden potential of the organization. The focus was on implementing various drivers of building competitiveness. It also encompassed the study of all activities to find out non value adding activities (NVA) e.g. search time, material availability, setup change time, etc. To eliminate all NVAs various fundamental tools such as SMED, Kanban, 5S, layout design, logistics management and systemic changes in organizational design were rolled out. Implementation of Tools In addition, it has been observed that engineering industries need to focus and invest more on operational improvement and optimization. Value adders/ operators play a key role in operations in spite of the application of machinery and equipment. As per challenges raised by the industry, few listed are low productivity, over staffing, poor labor relations, inefficient handling of operator challenges, high wages and lack of trained or skilled workforce. It can be inferred that all these issues are fallouts of lower manpower productivities and, hence, scientific approach towards efficiency improvement is the need of the hour. Further implementation of focused approaches like Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Time and motion study in the existing system can give phenomenal results in domains of machine performance, material flow and manpower productivity respectively. There by addressing 3Ms of operations. Efficiency Improvement Parameters Auto industry is mature and leader in efficiency parameters across the globe and same in India as well. Reducing material cost and increasing manpower productivity is considered to be must have to survive the competition and are no longer drivers for higher profitability. However, it has now become imperative for them to look at basic stability of all 3Ms of operations and the 4th M – Methods (man – method – material – machine). The Faber Infinite framework has improvised the scope of progress in terms of cost and productivity improvement and it can be further enhanced by sustaining the existing methodology. Phenomenal results have been realized through the design, implementation and refining of systems and processes. Insights from the real experiences, solutions deployed and further research findings have been covered in the research paper. Please reach out to us on publishing@faberinfinite.com for further details. Are you ready to achieve operational excellence in the engineering sector? Take the first step towards success by filling out the form below. Gain exclusive insights and practical strategies to elevate your engineering operations and drive exceptional results. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to craft a path to excellence! Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Fostering Trust and Collaboration in the Training World](https://faberinfinite.com/fostering-trust-and-collaboration-in-the-training-world/): It is absolutely essential and there is no denying that effective collaboration is critical for business success, especially in the world of training. Teamwork is required among executives, business units, the training department and learners to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Whether across the hall or, across the ocean, true collaboration relies on having real, constructive conversations to better understand each other and build a foundation of trust. Also it’s essential to build the competencies that are most important in enhancing the employee skills. Every organization is unique and there are challenges when it comes to identifying hitches and develop people and grow profitability. Understanding the obstacles that are preventing your organization from creating a robust and dynamic talent pipeline, which is the first step where training helps in meeting the future demand. Here we bring the glimpses of some successful recent training workshops conducted by Team Faber Infinite with feedback rating of 95% and above: Preview of Training Workshop on Sales Enhancement at one of the largest Tea Farm Estate situated in Kenya. The training encompassed various components about sales pitching and basic understanding on overall sales process on the field. The key objective of the sales training was to facilitate learning to the participants about pitching in sales: -Importance of training and learning required in sales field. -What should be the attitude of salesperson? -Importance of sales executives in Sales process. -How to define sales objectives? The training session was highly appreciated. As per the feedback shared by participants one of them said, “It helped in learning how to handle objections and develop strategies to increase sales against competition”. On the other hand, other participant said, “The training helped in learning the art of questioning and active listening skills.” The overall training feedback received was 99%. Preview of Training sessions at one of the leading textile industry and another one at leading feed mill situated in Kenya on Sales Enhancement. The workshop focused on basic understanding of training and sales pitch and how it can be used for as a key factor to become a successful salesperson. The aim was to achieve the following objectives: -What steps should be followed in sales during pitching? -What are the qualities of successful salesperson? -What are the eight steps to be successful in life? -How to define sales objectives? Participants were excited on the aspect of the learning acquired which got reflected in their feedback. The participants found the entire training session to be very informative and interactive. One of the participants gave following feedback: “Interaction as well as training was very relevant”. The learning process was absorbed by the members as it kept them engrossed. The trainer received an excellent feedback of 95%. The training workshop was perceived very well by the members. It was conducted effectively through various experiential learning exercises. Trainers at Faber Infinite are successful in bringing value addition with their skills and experience. Organizations should keep their eyes on learning needs of their employees. One wave of training might not do it. It is a continuously moving target with new users and system changes. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Rejuvenate the Workplace to Win the Marketplace](https://faberinfinite.com/rejuvenate-the-workplace-to-win-the-marketplace/): Today’s work environment requires employees to be skilled in performing complex tasks in an efficient, cost-effective, and safe manner. The top management is in a constant struggle of delegating the task to the right employee. Time and again, leaders have admitted that they are not confident whether the employee will be able to do justice to the role assigned. For the aim to have right employee in the right place at the right time with right skill set, the goal should be ongoing skill gap analysis and development to enhance and upgrade the knowledge of the employee while at the same time empower the employee in terms of specific positions or progression and succession planning. PriZma by Faber Infinite is the finest tool which helps in identifying the skills required by different employees at different layers of the organization. As per several surveys, organizations yearly spending on skill analysis and trainings, plays a very crucial role in driving business growth. PriZma can help you develop a strong Performance Improvement plan that functions almost like a bond between the manager and the employee. It can act as a tool fostering agreement and understanding what is expected from the employees. If an employee is underperforming, it is obvious to understand the cause of the performance issue, determine if the employee has challenges relating to competence, capacity or motivation to overcome the issue, and establish a plan for resolving the issue. Careful preparation of training calendar on the leaders’ part can make the difference thus helping the employee achieve their goals and avoid detrimental effect on the employee. Employees will work best when they know what is expected of them. PriZma helps to identify the goals and measures in simple, understandable terms, assign responsibility unequivocally, and confirm that the information is understood by those to whom it is directed. It assists in giving corrective input to ensure that each of the employees is on the same page and working toward the same objective. Recently in a survey, 66% business organizations anticipate a loss of business to their competitors due to skills deficiency. This loss eventually culminates in loss of revenue which continues to slide down affecting the growth and productivity. Since, untrained employees cannot produce high-quality products. They also lack adequate knowledge and skills to provide satisfactory customer service. This combination results in dissatisfied customers. The company will experience declining sales if dissatisfied customers choose competitors who can provide quality products and appropriate service. Training and development initiatives would not just improve employee skills—it would also make the company a more attractive place to work. Based on our experience Team Faber has identified these challenges at various organizations in Asia as well as Africa. The answer to this crucial concern is PriZma, which our expert team has devised, a unique approach to analyze the workforce skills. PriZma can help in addressing the key issues related to appropriate skill development. PriZma allows organizations to identify weak spots of an employee and suggest improvements to meet the present and future requirements of the organization in addition to improving work performance. Performing a skills gap analysis can benefit employees and the organization individuals since it will enable both to professional development needs. It also brings and employee into limelight, enables him/her to stay ahead of others and boost career prospects. It further recognizes deficiencies that can hamper the growth of a company. A successful skills gap analysis will provide a clear path for professional improvement, and increase chances of promotion for the concerned employee. This overall helps the organization, increases productivity, increases employee retention and boosts bottom-lines. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Giving Back to the Society](https://faberinfinite.com/giving-back-to-the-society/): All of us are moving at a greater pace in our day to day lives. With the technological advancements taking place, only few of us are able to take the time out of our work schedules and enjoy the life to the fullest. In our race to compete, be the best, deliver the best and become successful, we often forget to bring happiness to the people around. Whether at professional level or personal level, all of us should contribute our bit to make this planet the most beautiful place. The good thing is that organizations have realized the importance of contributing to the society, country, environment, customers, etc. and many have taken it up as their responsibility. This very part is referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in corporate language. Whatever we do, either big or small, could add meaning and happiness to life and to the society. Team Faber Infinite strongly believes in this principle and has been doing its possible bit for the country, society or environment. Faber Infinite has always held up their values on the top and has never failed to follow them. To be more specific, for Faber Infinite Consulting it is among one of our core values to bring happiness and contributing for the betterment of the society and bringing smiles on the faces of people around. It is a mutual give and take process. We believe we get many good things from this society and when we get the opportunity to give it back, we should. The recent example of Faber Infinite’s contribution is the support it had given to ‘Shreevatsa’ run by SOFOSH, a special child care centre in Pune in January, 2017. We sponsored meals for the children in Shreevatsa on account of Faber Foundation Day. Besides meal, we made contributions in the form of gifts to the children in the orphanage. Talking about Faber Infinite’s involvement also adds another recent happening wherein a government school library was equipped with books from contribution by Faber Infinite. The school was in need of books for the library and it was made possible by Faber Infinite’s contribution keeping in mind the need and importance of education for the students. As truly said, ‘Charity begins from home’, Faber Infinite follows the values it believes in and has always lives by example. These moments add another feather in the hat of Team Faber Infinite inspiring us to stay committed to our core value of crafting a fabulous world around us.  Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Delivering Tangible Benefits](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-tangible-benefits/): Team Faber Infinite is always passionate about crafting culture that supports transformation and innovation. Fabers strongly live by its values and believe in delivering maximum returns to its client. The team focuses on the people as catalysts for the improvement journey. Having similar thoughts and aligning its vision with Make in India initiatives, it strives to develop fast-track growth trajectory by bringing improvement in manufacturing sector. The Indian engineering industry has been witnessing a huge upsurge and remarkable growth over the last few years driven by increased investments in infrastructure and industrial production. The manufacturing industry is the backbone of the Indian economy and is emerging with a thriving spirit. However, there are certain challenges as well, which the manufacturing sector has been facing pre-dominantly. Industry is constantly trying to find ways to lower production costs in order to maintain or maximize profit margins to stay relevant. This goal becomes more difficult in today’s environment of fluctuating raw material costs, variable market prices, rising energy and transportation costs, and reduced consumer discretionary spending. Growing competition from emerging countries, condensed product lifecycles, an increase in the number of product configurations, and complicated supply chains all add to the complexity. Mastering these challenges means making improvements to operations, efficiencies and overall effectiveness. With such hyper competitive market environment, the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organisations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at operational excellence (OE)/ world class manufacturing (WCM) practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chains which ultimately helps them to drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers. By implementing various drivers like Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Material Velocity Improvement, it can prove to do wonders in terms of maximizing efficiencies and effectiveness through the optimization of material flow, equipment availability, performances and product quality. While delivering at one of the leading textile machine manufacturers in India, Faber Infinite created a breakthrough in building competitiveness and leveraging the hidden potential of the organization. Let us look at the robust operational excellence and world class management practices that Faber deployed at the client site for delivering phenomenal results: Improved Equipment Maintenance Practices: By implementing pillars like Autonomous and Planned Maintenance from the house of TPM at client place, an enormous amount of hidden capacity was released for heavy equipment in the workshop by improved equipment maintenance practices. This helped in saving excess hours of machine utilization, which lead to savings of manpower cost up to INR 7 Million ~ 70 lacs.  Line Balancing & Lean Layout: Eliminating the non-value adding factors from the workplace contributes in driving higher productivity. The weakest link of the entire assembly process is directly proportional to the unit absorbing maximum time. This ultimately becomes the bottleneck of the process affecting the entire chain. To reduce this combination of activities including elimination of unnecessary activities, combining different activities together, rearranging, de-bottlenecking and improving material flow proved to be a catalyst in raising the productivity with existing set of resources, also reducing the throughput time. Tremendous hidden capacity at the two assembly lines was released, which could add to the topline growth of the organization by almost INR 100 crores (~10 Million). The percentage improvement achieved is quite evident, since the number of spindles produced per day increased from 42 to 90 units and client achieved an evident rise of more than 117% in productivity. Lean Layout designing incorporated the removal of existing waste/ inefficiencies from the workplace. Waste in manufacturing is usually not about the scrap material that gets thrown away or recycled, but the most important part, which is often ignored includes all the process wastes that waste your time and resources. Working on these activities resulted in substantial improvement the productivity of client system and material velocity. Team Faber Infinite stands by its core belief to under commit and over perform. Since the inception Team Faber Infinite has been providing huge return on investment by maximizing the returns for its clients. The scope of progress in terms of cost and productivity improvement is tremendous and can be further enhanced by sustaining the existing methodology. By deploying appropriate standards for inventory management, taking appropriate countermeasures to prevent waste generation and implementation of plant standards, overall manufacturing standards, quality and performance can be improved.  Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Textile products should be kept in minimum possible tax slab under GST](https://faberinfinite.com/textile-products-should-be-kept-in-minimum-possible-tax-slab-under-gst/): The textile chemicals market in India is projected to cross US$ 2.5 billion by 2021, on account of increasing industrialization, surging consumption of textiles in engineered products and rapidly rising awareness about the benefits of using textile chemicals. Apart from this, rising disposable income and increasing living standards are expected to significantly augment demand for textile chemicals in India over the next five years. Government of India has been increasingly focusing on taking initiatives to make the country’s textile industry more competent on the global landscape. The Indian textiles industry is extremely varied, with the hand-spun and hand-woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum, while the capital intensive sophisticated mills sector at the other end of the spectrum. The decentralized power looms/ hosiery and knitting sector form the largest component of the textiles sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi  announced a war against black money and corruption. In an emboldened move, it was declared that the 500 and 1000 Rupee notes will no longer be legal tender from midnight, 8th November 2016. This measure was taken by the PM in an attempt to address the resolve against corruption, black money, terrorism and counterfeit notes. This move is expected to cleanse the formal economic system and discard black money at the same time. One of the reasons that prompted the Government to demonetize Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes is that their circulation was not in line with the Economic Growth. As per the Finance Ministry, during 2011-2016 periods, the circulation of all notes grew 40% but the circulation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes went up by 76% and 109% respectively. Relatively speaking, the economy has grown only by 30% which is way below the money circulation. The sudden decline in money supply and simultaneous increase in bank deposits has adversely impacted consumption demand in the economy, though this is considered as a short term effect. This may also have adverse impact on real estate and informal sectors thus leading to lower GDP growth. After demonetization the industry is waiting for the budget 2017-18. This budget is going to be distinct in many aspects. It will be for the first time that Railway Budget will be combined with the General Union Budget. And for the first time, the Union Budget will be announced 1 month in advance on the 1st February, 2017. The Indian economy was growing at a healthy pace of 7.6%, when the demonetization drive suddenly slowed down the pace of the economy. Liquidity issues are impacting businesses, especially FMCG Sector, Automobiles, Textile Sector and Real Estate where the cash transactions were dominant.  Let us look at the impact of this move on the pre budget expectations for textile industry in India. Current Status of the sector In the light of recent events occurring as a consequence of demonetization, consumer expenses have resulted in a slowdown in domestic demand for apparel and other end-products of textile industry. Textile industry being one of the most labor intensive industry have been facing the heat of this move. The textile industry employs about 40 million workers and 60 million indirectly. India’s overall textile exports during FY 2015-16 stood at US$ 40 billion. Challenges and Opportunities The RBI verdict of scrapping INR500 and INR1000 currency notes has received mixed responses from textile sector. The organized textile sector has welcomed the decision as it would streamline the transaction system and would result in transparent business transaction with overseas traders. The decision would increase the usage of electronic clearing system for making payments and would reduce the black transactions significantly. This move has reciprocated in the form of excess inventory accumulation. On contrary, this decision is setback for unorganized textile sector of the country that is dependent on domestic market for revenue generation. Restriction of withdrawals from bank did impact the weekly payment to contractual workers in textile sector. Additionally, constraints on cash withdrawals negatively influenced the procurement of new cotton, yarns and fabric in India. What will budget offer? With the upcoming GST bill the positive impacts of GST on overall economic growth in the next few years and it has been stated that this would make the manufacturing sector more competitive. As far as the textile sector, being an essential item for the common man, textile items should be kept under GST with the minimum possible tax slab with the special rates. Demonetization and cashless transactions are the initiatives of honorable Prime Minister of India and Smt. Smriti Irani, Union Textile Minister has encouraged digital payments in textile industry. Digital India Workshops have been coming up as an initiative to empower workers to make cashless money transactions using electronic devices and channels. These workshops are first of its kind organized in Indian textile industry. The textile ministry is promoting cashless payment within the industry by encouraging textile workers, artisans and weavers to open bank accounts following the demonetization of high currency notes. More than 5 lakh workers have opened their accounts in the last month, and a large number of them belong to textile hubs like Tirupur, Bhiwandi and Surat. The government has urged textile units to go cashless on a priority basis by opening accounts and using unified payments interface (UPI). The ministry of textiles also set up over 900 camps across the country to open bank accounts. As quoted by Textile commissioner Kavita Gupta that “the ministry aims to bring all textiles workers in India within the banking fold and enable them to use digital payment transfer apps in the next three months.” Although the Demonetization move has affected the cash flow of the textile industry and is likely to drive a constraint in the demand for the entire textile value-chain as stated in reports, but as the demand reverts back to a steady state over the next few months with expected improvement in liquidity, this impact will be neutralized. About the Author:  Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting
- [Leadership Skills: An Inspiration from Captain Cool](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-skills-an-inspiration-from-captain-cool-2/): Time and again we look up to a leader who can guide us, motivate us, understand and develop us, to grow in a better way. The best part is we do have one of the best leader-captain, rather former captain of Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has been one of the best, versatile captains of the team, who led the Indian cricket team to lift up the 2011 ICC Cricket world cup and many more such achievements. Recently, Virat Kohli took over as the captain of the Indian cricket team. The fact that Virat Kohli has been successful in leading the team after taking over charges as captain is visible by the victories Indian team has achieved under his captaincy in Test crickets and ODIs. M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli are contradicting personalities in terms of behavioral characteristics and leadership skills. While Dhoni is referred to as ‘Captain Cool’ due to his cool, calm and composed attitude, Kohli is known for his aggression. Here are a few pointers depicting the leadership traits of M.S. Dhoni which can help every leader to lead efficaciously and which Kohli can pick up as well while leading the Indian cricket team. Being confident: The foremost and utmost important quality every leader, infact every person should have is confidence in self. If the person would be confident enough about oneself, he/she would pass on that positive energy to others. That is why Dhoni has been one of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team. Likewise, every entrepreneur, manager, team leader, etc. must first cultivate the confidence and boost morale of others which will automatically open doors for victory. Competence to handle pressure: The most admired and acknowledged trait of Dhoni is his competence to handle pressure. No wonder he is known as ‘Captain Cool’, he is indeed the coolest player with the competence to handle pressure and this is indeed an essential trait for every leader. Every leader should pick up this attribute from Dhoni as it’s very important that the leaders do not buckle under pressure. A leader should stay calm under every situation so that his descendants or employees can tackle the pressure and perform well. If the leader himself will defy tackling the pressure, entire team led by him won’t be able to do well and would lead to failure instead of victory. Proficient to handle failure: Another most visible trait of Dhoni is his capability to handle the failure. The first two traits are somehow linked to this characteristic of handling failure. If a person is confident enough and is competent to handle pressure then he can surely handle failure. A good leader must take the failure in the true spirit and must consider it as the stepping stone to success- an opportunity to understand what went wrong, what and how to improve and to excel further instead of going haywire over the failure. Connect individually: Dhoni has not just been a good captain but has also been a mentor to young and new players who had joined the team. This should definitely be espoused by all the leaders. Playing a leader is undoubtedly very difficult but to understand the flaws and weakness of each of the team mates and to guide them is the toughest task. Knowing the best and the capabilities might lead to success but not understanding the flaws to overcome it can definitely lead to failure. Leading a group of people with different interests, nature, characteristics, etc. is actually a very difficult task but the onus lies on how the leader gets the work done to attain the organizational objectives. Considering the above points could steer every team towards success and each one can become a good leader to keep the team going. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [4 Key Leadership Skills: An Inspiration from Captain Cool](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-skills-an-inspiration-from-captain-cool/): Time and again we look up to a leader who can guide us, motivate us, understand and develop us, to grow in a better way. The best part is we do have one of the best leader-captain, rather former captain of Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has been one of the best, versatile captains of the team, who led the Indian cricket team to lift up the 2011 ICC Cricket world cup and many more such achievements. Recently, Virat Kohli took over as the captain of the Indian cricket team. The fact that Virat Kohli has been successful in leading the team after taking over charges as captain is visible by the victories Indian team has achieved under his captaincy in Test crickets and ODIs. M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli are contradicting personalities in terms of behavioral characteristics and leadership skills. While Dhoni is referred to as ‘Captain Cool’ due to his cool, calm and composed attitude, Kohli is known for his aggression. Here are a few pointers depicting the leadership traits of M.S. Dhoni which can help every leader to lead efficaciously and which Kohli can pick up as well while leading the Indian cricket team. Being confident The foremost and utmost important quality every leader, infact every person should have is confidence in self. If the person would be confident enough about oneself, he/she would pass on that positive energy to others. That is why Dhoni has been one of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team. Likewise, every entrepreneur, manager, team leader, etc. must first cultivate the confidence and boost morale of others which will automatically open doors for victory.  Competence to handle pressure The most admired and acknowledged trait of Dhoni is his competence to handle pressure. No wonder he is known as ‘Captain Cool’, he is indeed the coolest player with the competence to handle pressure and this is indeed an essential trait for every leader. Every leader should pick up this attribute from Dhoni as it’s very important that the leaders do not buckle under pressure. A leader should stay calm under every situation so that his descendants or employees can tackle the pressure and perform well. If the leader himself will defy tackling the pressure, entire team led by him won’t be able to do well and would lead to failure instead of victory. Proficient to handle failure Another most visible trait of Dhoni is his capability to handle the failure. The first two traits are somehow linked to this characteristic of handling failure. If a person is confident enough and is competent to handle pressure then he can surely handle failure. A good leader must take the failure in the true spirit and must consider it as the stepping stone to success- an opportunity to understand what went wrong, what and how to improve and to excel further instead of going haywire over the failure.  Connect individually Dhoni has not just been a good captain but has also been a mentor to young and new players who had joined the team. This should definitely be espoused by all the leaders. Playing a leader is undoubtedly very difficult but to understand the flaws and weakness of each of the team mates and to guide them is the toughest task. Knowing the best and the capabilities might lead to success  but not understanding the flaws to overcome it can definitely lead to failure. Leading a group of people with different interests, nature, characteristics, etc. is actually a very difficult task but the onus lies on how the leader gets the work done to attain the organizational objectives. Considering the above points could steer every team towards success and each one can become a good leader to keep the team going. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Leading Organizational Change: Through Organizational Alignment](https://faberinfinite.com/organizational-change-through-organizational-alignment/): Human Beings are often proud of themselves. We believe ourselves to be the most creative creatures. But we also tend to forget that we are often reluctant to step out of our comfort zone. Majority of us have a tendency to avoid change, either personal or professional and this makes it more difficult to adapt with the change. Also, we need to understand, failure- big or small is part and parcel of the change in the short run but it can also lead to immense success and growth, thereafter. Well, the question here is how can we bring the required change in the organization? The answer or key to the question is organizational alignment. Well defined, specific goal, clear responsibilities and accountability is the base and plays a crucial role in incorporating the organizational change. We have the below pointers for leading the change: Clarity of organizational goals: The base to lead organizational change should be to have clarity of organizational goals. Organizational goals act as the foundation to the development of the company, considering which the roadmap to accomplish it is formed. These goals should be communicated to the employees. Clear definition of objectives is very important for the growth and development of the organization as well as the employees. Shared Responsibility: Merely identifying the goals does not end the process of organizational alignment. The next step is sharing the organizational responsibilities. Proper delegation of responsibilities should be done to avoid confusion. Clarity in roles and responsibility also helps to increase the productivity. Thus to bring change, there should be precision, co-ordination, transparency among the employees and within the organization. Clarity of Accountability: Responsibility and Accountability are interlinked. One does not stand independent of the other as responsibility comes with accountability and accountability comes with responsibility. Although it exerts pressure, being accountable increases the productivity, improves the quality and improves the efficiency. Only thing to be considered is that accountability should not lead to undue pressure and stress but should lead to development of oneself. Eventually, it will lead to organizational change and alignment in the long run with the co-operation of all. Organizational Change is not just a word but has become the most important part of organizations which needs to be attained- whether the change be in technical  aspect, financial aspect or any other aspect of the organization. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Key to Sustenance: Profit Maximization](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-sustenance-profit-maximization/): About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in the January issue of SME world.
- [Impact of Demonetization on Manufacturing Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/impact-of-demonetization-on-manufacturing-industry/): About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Prabhat newspaper.
- [4 pointers to improve your profitability by 44%](https://faberinfinite.com/4-pointers-to-improve-your-profitability-by-44-2/): As per a survey, by Gallup – Poorly managed work teams are on average 50% less productive and 44% less profitable than well-managed teams. Team building is an extremely important functional aspect of employee engagement, often ignored. In today’s workplace with extremely competitive and dynamic environment building excellent teams need hard core vision as well as practice. Growth and improvement are the two most crucial drivers enhancing the growth of the team as well as the organization. Here we bring the four most important key elements essential for refining the progress of the team: Communication and working together:  There is no surprise in accepting the fact that, communication and working better together is the top reason why people choose team building. It helps in filling up the lacunas left by other members, thereby creating perfection. Every team member in your organization would look forward to foster a friendly work environment, where they are comfortable and happy to talk to and work with anyone. It takes a significant amount of understanding to anticipate both the ways in which the person you’re directing that information to will receive it and how they perceive it against their career goals and the overall company goals. Result oriented Goal Setting: Set your goals in a direction to make sure, that the organization can match the pace of achieving tangible and attainable goals and desired results. S.M.A.R.T a well-adapted formula to achieve success is just exactly the need of an organization to understand and analyze specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals. This will help you build a team together and help teams better understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Collaboration and the fostering of innovation and creativity:  Working in a team not only reduces the work, but acts as a catalyst to expand your horizon by brainstorming different ideas and coming up with effective solutions. People tend to have a larger imagination when they are around people they are comfortable with. So, successful team building events not only bring people closer together but they also lead to more successful and creative workplace ideas. Also, everyday workplace collaboration is a guaranteed key to a successful business. For example, a coach always has assistants to help out when needed. Creating and broadening the horizon for more opportunities: The most crucial role of a leader is to keep team members engaged which clearly indicates that each member is having evidently defined roles for each person. Whether it’s project-based or defining someone’s role within the larger context of the company, it’s essential to be clear what success looks like for short-term as well as for long term goals. If you give a team member a clear path to progress, they’re more likely to experience fulfillment. It’s important to align this advancement with the career goals of the individual whenever possible. Team building exercises and activities emphasize on skills like communication, delegation, and organization around a common goal, which can help your team realize their potential. Considering these reasons can make team building a central focus of your team engagement strategy. Written  by Faber Ramya Pillai    
- [4 pointers to Improve your Profitability by 44%](https://faberinfinite.com/4-pointers-to-improve-your-profitability-by-44/): As per a survey, by Gallup – Poorly managed work teams are on average 50% less productive and 44% less profitable than well-managed teams. Team building is an extremely important functional aspect of employee engagement, often ignored. In this blog, we will discuss about 4 key points to Improve Profitability. In today’s workplace with extremely competitive and dynamic environment building excellent teams need hard core vision as well as practice. Growth and improvement are the two most crucial drivers enhancing the growth of the team as well as the organization. Here we bring the four most important key elements essential for refining the progress of the team: 4 key Elements to Improve Profitability Communication and working together There is no surprise in accepting the fact that, communication and working better together is the top reason why people choose team building. It helps in filling up the lacuna’s left by other members, thereby creating perfection. Every team member in your organization would look forward to foster a friendly work environment, where they are comfortable and happy to talk to and work with anyone. It takes a significant amount of understanding to anticipate both the ways in which the person you’re directing that information to will receive it and how they perceive it against their career goals and the overall company goals. Result oriented Goal Setting Set your goals in a direction to make sure, that the organization can match the pace of achieving tangible and attainable goals and desired results. S.M.A.R.T a well-adapted formula to achieve success is just exactly the need of an organization to understand and analyze specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals. This will help you build a team together and help teams better understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Collaboration and the fostering of innovation and creativity Working in a team not only reduces the work, but acts as a catalyst to expand your horizon by brainstorming different ideas and coming up with effective solutions. People tend to have a larger imagination when they are around people they are comfortable with. So, successful team building events not only bring people closer together but they also lead to more successful and creative workplace ideas. Also, everyday workplace collaboration is a guaranteed key to a successful business. For example, a coach always has assistants to help out when needed. Creating and broadening the horizon for more opportunities The most crucial role of a leader is to keep team members engaged which clearly indicates that each member is having evidently defined roles for each person. Whether it’s project-based or defining someone’s role within the larger context of the company, it’s essential to be clear what success looks like for short-term as well as for long term goals. If you give a team member a clear path to progress, they’re more likely to experience fulfillment. It’s important to align this advancement with the career goals of the individual whenever possible. Team building exercises and activities emphasize on skills like communication, delegation, and organization around a common goal, which can help your team realize their potential. Considering these reasons can make team building a central focus of your team engagement strategy. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Crafting Operational Excellence in Plastic Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-operational-excellence-in-plastics-industry/):   The Indian plastics market is comprised of around 25,000 companies and employs 3 million people. The domestic capacity for polymer production was 5.72 million tonnes in 2009. Gujarat in Western India is the leading plastics processing hub and accounts for the largest number of plastics manufacturers, with over 5,000 plastics firms. The growth rate of the Indian plastics industry is one of the highest in the world, with plastics consumption growing at 16 percent per annum (compared to annual 10 percent in China and around 2.5 percent annually in the UK). With a growing middle class (currently estimated at 50 million) and a low per capita consumption of plastics, currently 8 kg per head, this trend is likely to continue. Despite India having a population of 1.15 billion and a work force of 467 million, plastics companies have reported problems with labour shortages. This has led to increased investment in technology such as automation and conveyor belt systems. Apart from the shortage of a skilled labour, the plastics industry is also facing the problem of a nationwide power deficit. The electricity demand deficit is 12-13 per cent. This provides excellent opportunities for firms offering energy saving solutions, power saving machines and ancillary equipment. Operational Excellence in Plastic Industry Industry is constantly trying to find ways to lower production costs in order to maximise profit margins. But this goal becomes more difficult in today’s environment of fluctuating raw material costs, variable market prices, rising energy and transportation costs, and reduced consumer discretionary spending. Growing competition from emerging countries, condensed product lifecycles, an increase in the number of product configurations, and complicated supply chains all add to the complexity. Mastering these challenges means making improvements to production and productivity. With such hyper competitive market environment, the competition is getting intense. Increasingly organisations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at operational excellence (OE)/ world class manufacturing (WCM) practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chain which ultimately helps them drive costs down and deliver quality goods and services to customers. The expertise behind operations excellence implementations is not a core competency for most companies, nor should it be. It makes good business sense for most companies to use consultants for implementation of these systems. Most of these consultant-delivered programs deliver quick productivity improvements. Unfortunately, however, most of these programs are not sustainable for long after the consultant leaves. There are many operational excellence programs that the consulting companies implement in the plastic industry. While TPM, as per Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM), can be very powerful yet several times TPM is partially understood and deployed. The results are normally related to overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)/ mean time to repair (MTTR)/ mean time between failures (MTBF) improvements while it has impact on throughput time and inventory, nevertheless it’s indirect. Let us look at the classical operational excellence (OE) and world class management (WCM) practices. Classical OE/WCM OE focuses on efficiency improvement and waste elimination while TPM focuses more on higher asset utilisation. This is debatable; however, the need for classical LEAN/OE in plastic industry is high. This results in shorter manufacturing throughput time and, thus, reducing inventory in pipeline related benefits. Typical actions include: Current state analysis will enable you to see the complete door-to-door flow in your facility and to identify and prioritize areas for improvement. It should be followed by setting goals for future state. The future value stream map has as its main aim, the identification of improvements to the value stream that will lead to a shorter ‘lead’ time. In lean thinking this is the time taken from the raw materials being brought into the business, until the time they leave the facility destined for the customer. Balance the line so as to create smoother throughput Find approaches to eliminate temporary storage, staging, holding vessels Eliminate redundancies in equipment by improving reliability Identify potential areas for reduction in cleaning/ changeover/ startup time Once the fundamentals of the current value stream map and the future map are ready, there is a strong need to ensure that the implementation of improvements is carried out in a structured and methodical fashion. Without someone driving forward the improvements, they are unlikely to happen and the improvements to performance will be negligible. Numerous plastic manufacturing organizations have been transformed by implementing such operational excellence practices. Typical improvement areas in the plastic industry include improvement in OEE & labour productivity, yield improvement through waste reduction, inventory management through Kanban, low cost automation, manpower optimisation through productivity improvement, workplace improvement, reduction in change over times, and equipment & mould breakdown reduction. In conclusion OE/WCM practices have a tremendous scope in plastic manufacturing environment. The first visible change is to create a dust/dirt free work environment. It has been observed, over and above TPM, WCM/classical lean in the improvement program of plastic industry results in approximately 30 percent reduction in cost of production/ conversion. It also helps in predicting customer demand better, reducing inventory levels, streamlining & standardising business processes, improving on-time & complete shipments, and increasing access to data for faster decision-making. All these directly adds to the bottom-line while simultaneously customers receive on time delivery and high quality products. Operational excellence means adopting best practices, having a culture of continuous improvement, and utilising the latest technologies in products and production methods. These are the guidelines that any organisation needs to follow to achieve operational excellence. About the Author:  Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. Ready to craft operational excellence in the plastic industry? Fill out the form below to gain exclusive insights, strategies, and expert guidance on optimizing your plastic manufacturing processes. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take your plastic industry operations to the next level! This article was originally published on Business-standard.com. Original link available – here
- [Plan Ahead for 2017 !](https://faberinfinite.com/plan-ahead-for-2017-2/): The previous year may have brought different kinds of emotions from being happy, excited, and elated to sad, disappointed or frustrated. But everything is all under the bridge and it is time to move forward. What ever happened for the past year, the coming year should be a lot better. And how do you make this happen? By making a good set of plan that works out in making your business grow further. A well planned strategy can act as a supporting system to face the challenges in a better way, even if it cannot solve the problem fully. But the critical part is deciding and formulating the strategy based upon the needs of the business. Some useful points to consider while planning the strategy are: Focus on the points which contributed to company’s success in the last year: The basic thing should be identifying the strengths or points which contributed in the success of the company, last year. It can be anything such as: proper management of production process, finance, employee well-being and satisfaction leading to the success or any other reason. By ascertaining those points and the consideration to improve, maintain or sustain it further can definitely lead to success. Identify the unsolved snags: The first step of identifying the factors which acted as a positive force is comparatively easy in relation to identifying the points which acted as a barrier or challenges. Once it is ascertained half of the problem gets solved. The identification of the challenges needs great sense of observation and knowhow of each of the minute details of the organization. Formulating strategy for the unsettled challenges: After identification of the problems, the important part is formulating the strategy to resolve the pending, unresolved issues, acting as a hindrance to the company’s growth. Each subject needs to be addressed in detail depending upon the nature and depth of the problem. Implementing the adopted plans and policies to test the success: The last step should be implementing the formulated plans and policies on a ground level and not in entire organization. This can be done on a temporary basis to check the success rate and the acceptance of the same. If found to be helpful, it can be adopted, else we should move on to modify or look for other strategies, which suits the requirements and problems of our organization. While we only wish for good things to happen we should also be ready to accept the bad. Not all planned thoughts may produce positive results but being able to see through different angles of a specific plan may generate a much bigger possibility of eliminating failures. On this note, let us all work for the best, accept the worst and move on with brave hearts, valiant minds to challenge the challenges and succeed in our journey. Happy 2017! Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Plan Ahead for 2017 !](https://faberinfinite.com/plan-ahead-for-2017/): The previous year may have brought different kinds of emotions from being happy, excited, and elated to sad, disappointed or frustrated. But everything is all under the bridge and it is time to move forward. What ever happened for the past year, the coming year should be a lot better. And how do you make this happen? By making a good set of plan that works out in making your business grow further. A well planned strategy can act as a supporting system to face the challenges in a better way, even if it cannot solve the problem fully. But the critical part is deciding and formulating the strategy based upon the needs of the business. Some useful points to consider while planning the strategy are: Focus on the points which contributed to company’s success in the last year The basic thing should be identifying the strengths or points which contributed in the success of the company, last year. It can be anything such as: proper management of production process, finance, employee well-being and satisfaction leading to the success or any other reason. By ascertaining those points and the consideration to improve, maintain or sustain it further can definitely lead to success.  Identify the unsolved snags The first step of identifying the factors which acted as a positive force is comparatively easy in relation to identifying the points which acted as a barrier or challenges. Once it is ascertained half of the problem gets solved. The identification of the challenges needs great sense of observation and know how of each of the minute details of the organization. Formulating strategy for the unsettled challenges After identification of the problems, the important part is formulating the strategy to resolve the pending, unresolved issues, acting as a hindrance to the company’s growth. Each subject needs to be addressed in detail depending upon the nature and depth of the problem.  Implementing the adopted plans and policies to test the success The last step should be implementing the formulated plans and policies on a ground level and not in entire organization. This can be done on a temporary basis to check the success rate and the acceptance of the same. If found to be helpful, it can be adopted, else we should move on to modify or look for other strategies, which suits the requirements and problems of our organization. While we only wish for good things to happen we should also be ready to accept the bad. Not all planned thoughts may produce positive results but being able to see through different angles of a specific plan may generate a much bigger possibility of eliminating failures. On this note, let us all work for the best, accept the worst and move on with brave hearts, valiant minds to challenge the challenges and succeed in our journey. Happy 2017!
- [New Year Resolution - Retrospect & Reevaluate](https://faberinfinite.com/new-year-resolution-retrospect-reevaluate-2/): Yet another year draws to a close and it’s time to bring out our report card, to help assess our performance and to identify areas for improvement.This is the time when people enlist their Resolutions for the next year. Resolutions are not just meant for personal lives and personal attainment of goals but are equally applicable in an organization. Make a resolution to attain all or atleast majority of the organizational objectives. Make the most of it this New Year by knitting the employee goals to the goals of the company. Below are some pointers which may help to focus on alignment of employee goals and success for organizational success. Conveying the organizational objectives: The base towards employee development for organizational development is clearly defining the organizational goals. It individually helps them to gauge and predict their success rate in relation to the development of the organization. Employees who understand organizational objectives are much more likely to be engaged and actively working toward making a way for accomplishment of the company mission. For instance- According to a report, 71 percent of respondents ranked employee engagement as very important to achieving overall organizational success, whereas only 24 percent of respondents said employees in their organizations are highly engaged. Set specific deadlines: Deadlines act as a motivator for employees to complete the work on time. Deadlines can either be set by the manager or by the employees themselves. But in the first case, the employees might feel the pressure and might not have the motivation to work. In the latter case the targets set by them would make them feel more motivated to work. But Deadlines set must be more realistic and achievable and not vague and tough to achieve. Creating Opportunities for Development: Employee Development is also an important aspect that needs to be considered for development of an organization. Effective training and development tools need to be introduced, workshops be organized for effective achievement of company goals. Training should be provided in relation to the tasks or departments handled by the employees. For instance- Sales Training for sales department, Financial Training for Accounts and Finance Department. Analyze Progress: Reviewing progress achieved by employees towards achievement of goals and how it bonds to company-wide progress is an essential part of the performance review.Constant review and feedback of employee performance is essential. This can also enable or create a platform for them to open with the managers, discuss the challenges faced by them and to come out with an effective solution for attaining their set targets. Also, maintaining transparency is very important to help the employees to know how successful they have been in attaining the set goals and how far they need to walk to accomplish the unaccomplished. So, let these above pointers help all the managers out there make practical, attainable New Year Resolutions for the upcoming year and let all the employees gear themselves up to attain these set goals and lead their company to the path of success. Happy New Year!! Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [New Year Resolution - Retrospect & Reevaluate](https://faberinfinite.com/new-year-resolution-retrospect-reevaluate/): Yet another year draws to a close and it’s time to bring out our report card, to help assess our performance and to identify areas for improvement.This is the time when people enlist their Resolutions for the next year. Resolutions are not just meant for personal lives and personal attainment of goals but are equally applicable in an organization. Make a resolution to attain all or at least majority of the organizational objectives. Make the most of it this New Year by knitting the employee goals to the goals of the company. Below are some pointers which may help to focus on alignment of employee goals and success for organizational success. Conveying the organizational objectives  The base towards employee development for organizational development is clearly defining the organizational goals. It individually helps them to gauge and predict their success rate in relation to the development of the organization. Employees who understand organizational objectives are much more likely to be engaged and actively working toward making a way for accomplishment of the company mission. For instance- According to a report, 71 percent of respondents ranked employee engagement as very important to achieving overall organizational success, whereas only 24 percent of respondents said employees in their organizations are highly engaged. Set specific deadlines Deadlines act as a motivator for employees to complete the work on time. Deadlines can either be set by the manager or by the employees themselves. But in the first case, the employees might feel the pressure and might not have the motivation to work. In the latter case the targets set by them would make them feel more motivated to work. But Deadlines set must be more realistic and achievable and not vague and tough to achieve.  Creating Opportunities for Development Employee Development is also an important aspect that needs to be considered for development of an organization. Effective training and development tools need to be introduced, workshops be organized for effective achievement of company goals. Training should be provided in relation to the tasks or departments handled by the employees. For instance- Sales Training for sales department, Financial Training for Accounts and Finance Department. Analyze Progress Reviewing progress achieved by employees towards achievement of goals and how it bonds to company-wide progress is an essential part of the performance review. Constant review and feedback of employee performance is essential. This can also enable or create a platform for them to open with the managers, discuss the challenges faced by them and to come out with an effective solution for attaining their set targets. Also, maintaining transparency is very important to help the employees to know how successful they have been in attaining the set goals and how far they need to walk to accomplish the unaccomplished. So, let these above pointers help all the managers out there make practical, attainable New Year Resolutions for the upcoming year and let all the employees gear themselves up to attain these set goals and lead their company to the path of success. Happy New Year!! Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [A brewing feud tarnishes Tata](https://faberinfinite.com/a-brewing-feud-tarnishes-tata/): Contributed by: Faber Vishal Kulkarni Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in The National’ a mainline daily from Abu Dhabi. Original link available here: Click here.
- [Continual Improvement Key to Success](https://faberinfinite.com/continual-improvement-key-to-success-2/): Every organization today focuses on Improvement. Improvement, rather Continual Improvement stands parallel to Growth and Development in today’s competitive business environment. The good part is that the organizations have realized the importance of continuous improvement. But it’s not easy until it is initiated in the organization. This very important process of realizing the importance of continuous improvement and the step of instigating the same starts with the leader. A leader should emphasize on bringing in continual improvement by not only concentrating on the tools or philosophy used for the same but by emphasizing on the end results by using the tools. Basically, any tool- Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma, the practice of any of these should help in progression of the business. The tools are of utmost importance but what actually plays a major role is what results the usage of the tools brings in. Below are the pointers for getting the best results at the end with the use of the correct tools: Understanding the type of change required: Numerous organizations try to adopt a method, philosophy or a tool such as Lean, Six sigma, Kaizen, etc. just because they see other organizations adopting the same. They fail to understand that if adopting Lean worked positively for a company, it won’t be the same for them too or if adopting Six Sigma helped their competitor develop, the adoption of the same won’t reap benefits for them. Mere adoption of any tool cannot do wonders until the root cause and type of problem is not understood well Identification of the right philosophy: The next step is identifying the right philosophy for developing the organization. Identification of the right tool plays a very important role for the progress of any organization. The core would be the appropriate tool for Continual Improvement. The selection of the exact tool should be done which could deliver the best result at the end. For Instance- A doctor prescribes right medicine for his patients looking at the overall symptoms. Any medicine won’t work and such is the case with organizations which tend to develop. Constant efforts to maintain the development and improvement journey: The journey towards growth and development won’t sustain until constant steps to maintain it are embraced. One time implementation of tools doesn’t bring success for a long run. It only withstands when constant efforts are put in by identifying and understanding the problems, working constantly for continual improvement and transformation. The clue to successful continuous improvement is in the name. It must becontinuous so that opportunities for progression can be highlighted, improvement made and measured and evaluated. Let us make transformation the theme for the next year alike Faber Infinite which has always been crafting success stories for its clients by justly focusing on the needs of different organizations and the adoption of the suitable tools for delivering the best results. Written By  Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Continual Improvement: Key to Success](https://faberinfinite.com/continual-improvement-key-to-success/): Every organization today focuses on Improvement. Improvement, rather Continual Improvement stands parallel to Growth and Development in today’s competitive business environment. The good part is that the organizations have realized the importance of continuous improvement. But it’s not easy until it is initiated in the organization. This very important process of realizing the importance of continuous improvement and the step of instigating the same starts with the leader. A leader should emphasize on bringing in continual improvement by not only concentrating on the tools or philosophy used for the same but by emphasizing on the end results by using the tools. Basically, any tool- Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma, the practice of any of these should help in progression of the business. The tools are of utmost importance but what actually plays a major role is what results the usage of the tools brings in. Below are the pointers for getting the best results at the end with the use of the correct tools:  Understanding the type of change required Numerous organizations try to adopt a method, philosophy or a tool such as Lean, Six sigma, Kaizen, etc.  just because they see other organizations adopting the same. They fail to understand that if adopting Lean worked positively for a company, it won’t be the same for them too or if adopting Six Sigma helped their competitor develop, the adoption of the same won’t reap benefits for them. Mere adoption of any tool cannot do wonders until the root cause and type of problem is not understood well.  Identification of the right philosophy The next step is identifying the right philosophy for developing the organization. Identification of the right tool plays a very important role for the progress of any organization. The core would be the appropriate tool for Continual Improvement. The selection of the exact tool should be done which could deliver the best result at the end. For Instance- A doctor prescribes right medicine for his patients looking at the overall symptoms. Any medicine won’t work and such is the case with organizations which tend to develop. Constant efforts to maintain the development and improvement journey The journey towards growth and development won’t sustain until constant steps to maintain it are embraced. One time implementation of tools doesn’t bring success for a long run. It only withstands when constant efforts are put in by identifying and understanding the problems, working constantly for continual improvement and transformation. The clue to successful continuous improvement is in the name. It must be continuous so that opportunities for progression can be highlighted, improvement made and measured and evaluated. Let us make transformation the theme for the next year alike Faber Infinite which has always been crafting success stories for its clients by justly focusing on the needs of different organizations and the adoption of the suitable tools for delivering the best results. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Equip your organization with the right set of skills](https://faberinfinite.com/equip-your-organization-with-the-right-set-of-skills/): Surveys show that companies are having a hard time finding employees with the right skills. Organizations invest 3 – 5 % of the budget on training, learning and development. But the main concern is, whether these efforts are being invested in the right direction. There is a dire need for skills training in various areas. The training requirements should be as per the skill levels of the workers to develop abilities in vital specialties. Progressive organizations invest in people development. Employees need new skills to keep up as technology evolves and new ways of doing work. What will happen if compensation turns out to be only a temporary fix for retaining talent? How important is personal satisfaction with work when the excitement over creative perks and compensation wanes? Executives are concerned that their workforce does not have the skills needed in the next 2 years, or the existing set of skills would soon become obsolete. Training and development initiatives would not just improve employee skills—they would also make the company a more attractive place to work. Based on our experience Team Faber has identified these challenges in India as well as Africa. The answer to this crucial concern is PriZma, which our expert team has devised, a unique approach to analyze the workforce skills. PriZma can help in addressing the key issues related to appropriate skill development. PriZma will allow organizations to identify weak spots of an employee and suggest improvements to meet the present and future requirements of the organization in addition to improving work performance. Performing a skills gap analysis can benefit employees and the organization individuals since it will enable both to professional development needs. It also brings and employee into limelight, enables him/her to stay ahead of others and boost career prospects. It further recognizes deficiencies that can hamper the growth of a company. A successful skills gap analysis will provide a clear path for professional improvement, and increase chances of promotion for the concerned employee. This overall helps the organization, increases productivity, increases employee retention and boosts bottom-lines. So come book a free PriZma demo with our experts. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [3 Ways Demonetization Is Fueling India's Digital Transformation and Boosting the Economy](https://faberinfinite.com/4327-2/): Indian Economy, traditionally referred to as cash based economy, is cashless nowadays. On November 8, 2016 the most popular and most circulated- Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes were declared to have lost its status as legal tender. The revolutionary movement was adopted by the Prime Minister of India- Narendra Modi to weed out the evils of black money in the country.  With this move, came up many opinions in favor and also against the crusade highlighting the pros and cons of the same. But a notable transformation that is taking place gradually is Digitalization. India has suddenly seen an enhancement in online transactions, usage of mobile wallets, card transactions to meet their day to day needs.  Below are some instances which show that demonetization has opened up doors for digitization. India’s first ‘Digital and Cashless Village’: India is a cash based economy. This sudden idea of Demonetization has surely popped out difficulties for the common men. But it didn’t actually sway some people at some places. The village named Akodara, 60 miles from the northern city of Ahmedabad which was adopted last year by ICICI bank under ‘Digital India’ program has set a perfect example. Most of the 1200 people living there have heartily welcomed demonetization by embracing online transaction. They have adopted mobile banking as their perfect mate for all their daily dealings. Massive upsurge in Online Traffic: India is more depend on cash unlike other developed economies, using online and cashless mode of payments. But with the recent act of demonetization, the online rush has amplified. As per the reports, Paytm experienced a 1000 percent growth in money added to wallet and a 400 percent growth in transaction value of offline payments. Whereas, Ola Money reported over 1500 percent increase in recharges across the 102 cities of its operation since 8:30 PM on 8th November 2016 till 12:00 pm. Razorpay witnessed a 150 percent spike on the morning after the decision was announced, which by afternoon, shot up to 200 percent. Offline Retailers going digital: Not only online platforms like Paytm, Olamoney and Razorpay are encouraging people to adopt the online mode of transactions but also the offline retailers are encouraging the people. The move is supported by many of the big retailers by arranging cashless payment mode for the customers. For instance, Kishore Biyani Future Group CEO which operates Big Bazaar, the largest retail chain in India is encouraging people to make payment through cards. They are also planning to introduce cheque, debit cards, digital payments and gift cards to support the movement and encourage the people to ‘Go Digital.’ Demonetization should not be looked as a roadblock but instead as a fuel accelerating towards Digitalization, an opportunity which is opening up the ways to go digital and boost the progress of the economy. There are only advantages of demonetization in the long term. The government is taking all the necessary steps and actions to meet the currency demand and ensure the smooth flow of new currency. Written By Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Demonetization: New Digital spark for India](https://faberinfinite.com/demonetization-new-digital-spark-for-india/): Indian Economy, traditionally referred to as cash based economy, is cashless nowadays. On November 8, 2016 the most popular and most circulated- Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes were declared to have lost its status as legal tender. The revolutionary movement was adopted by the Prime Minister of India- Narendra Modi to weed out the evils of black money in the country.  With this move, came up many opinions in favor and also against the crusade highlighting the pros and cons of the same. But a notable transformation that is taking place gradually is Digitalization. India has suddenly seen an enhancement in online transactions, usage of mobile wallets, card transactions to meet their day to day needs.  Below are some instances which show that demonetization has opened up doors for digitization. India’s first ‘Digital and Cashless Village’ India is a cash based economy.  This sudden idea of Demonetization has surely popped out difficulties for the common men. But it didn’t actually sway some people at some places. The village named Akodara, 60 miles from the northern city of Ahmedabad which was adopted last year by ICICI bank under ‘Digital India’ program has set a perfect example. Most of the 1200 people living there have heartily welcomed demonetization by embracing online transaction. They have adopted mobile banking as their perfect mate for all their daily dealings.  Massive upsurge in Online Traffic India is more depend on cash unlike other developed economies, using online and cashless mode of payments. But with the recent act of demonetization, the online rush has amplified. As per the reports, Paytm experienced a 1000 percent growth in money added to wallet and a 400 percent growth in transaction value of offline payments. Whereas, Ola Money reported over 1500 percent increase in recharges across the 102 cities of its operation since 8:30 PM on 8th November 2016 till 12:00 pm. Razorpay witnessed a 150 percent spike on the morning after the decision was announced, which by afternoon, shot up to 200 percent.  Offline Retailers going digital Not only online platforms like Paytm, Olamoney and Razorpay are encouraging people to adopt the online mode of transactions but also the offline retailers are encouraging the people. The move is supported by many of the big retailers by arranging cashless payment mode for the customers. For instance, Kishore Biyani Future Group CEO which operates Big Bazaar, the largest  retail chain in India is encouraging people to make payment through cards. They are also planning to introduce cheque, debit cards, digital payments and gift cards to support the movement and encourage the people to ‘Go Digital.’ Demonetization should not be looked as a roadblock but instead as a fuel accelerating towards Digitalization, an opportunity which is opening up the ways to go digital and boost the progress of the economy. There are only advantages of demonetization in the long term. The government is taking all the necessary steps and actions to meet the currency demand and ensure the smooth flow of new currency. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Segmentation - Unlock the market potential](https://faberinfinite.com/segmentation-unlock-the-market-potential/): Written by: Faber Aakash Borse Faber Aakash Borse is Director and one of the founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting (www.faberinfinite.com), with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being Mechanical Engineering. This article was originally published in the December issue of SME world.
- [Ethos and Growth should be focus of next Tata Group Chief: Experts](https://faberinfinite.com/ethos-and-growth-should-be-focus-of-next-tata-group-chief-experts/): About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Free Press Journal. Original link available here: Click Here.
- [4 Steps to a Successful Business Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-successful-business-transformation/): Survival is mandatory for every organization. Whereas development alongside survival is crucial.  The organizations which tend to survive do something big while the organizations which strive to develop attain it in an extraordinary way. Transformation is the key to attain excellence and extraordinary results in business in this highly competitive world. With time, Transformation in organization needs to be adapted to cope up with the emerging challenges of the business world, to face the challenges put forward by the competitors, to attract more customers and for successful development of business. How to start this successful, important Transformation journey in business. The following four pointers indicate steps for adopting a successful business transformation. The right strategic planning The foremost step is planning the beneficial strategy for organization. One right strategy can bring massive success for business. But the identification of this need for transformation and the strategy to incorporate it takes the center stage. For example, customer’s needs change every second day. The organization can try to bring out new variants to keep the customers hooked on to them. If successful, it can attract more customers and can sustain the existing customers. Executing the idea of Transformation Mere planning is not enough. The success in execution of the idea is of utmost importance. The idea planned, is of no use until executed practically. A task or assignment planned well solves half the problem and the success in execution solves the other half, bringing success. For instance, the strategy to bring out a new product won’t succeed until the product enters the market and the customer tries it out. Once, the product is tried it can be transformed, in case of flaws to meet the customer demands. But, the foremost step should be to actually bring out a new product. An Enthused leader A leader who does not lulls himself in his past victories and present reputation, plays a very important role in success of the newly adopted business transformation. A truly motivated and stimulated leader always becomes a torchbearer for his followers. Thus it’s very important to have a leader who exactly recognizes, understands the need of the hour to transform, to execute the planned and to lead his people to attain success. If the leader respites him overlooking his past and present victories, he is sure to fall off the ladder of success. An enthused, motivated leader who understands his customers’ needs and initiates transformation in his business sets an example for his employees. Consider customer demand before embarking transformation After all, customers are the king. Businesses need to view the customers’ needs and wants before embarking business transformation. If they don’t like your products, services or other offerings you are in for a big trouble. So, the decision should be taken after considering the likings and disliking of the customers.  For example, launch of any new product will make success if only the customer likes it.  Finally, as the famous author Shiv Khera puts it ‘Winners don’t do different things. They do things differently,’ – stands true as to excel, we must do something but in an extraordinary way than other organizations. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Dealing with Crisis](https://faberinfinite.com/dealing-with-crisis/): The liquidity crisis in the market has been impacting the overall economy in endless ways. Now that we have seen the impact on prices due to changing demand, the overall demand is expected to be affected to an extent. The demand in various areas is to be impacted particularly for sectors like Consumer goods, Real Estate and Property, Gold and luxury goods where people used to use cash for transactions. The key segments of the economy where cash transactions play a vital role are real estate/construction, gold and the informal sectors. The role of cash transaction in case of real estate and gold is mostly dubious, however in case of the informal sectors it is the lifeline. Rural demand and retail outlets, which are largely cash-based, will get impacted temporarily. Their dealings distribution are largely through cash payment as India is still in the process of evolving and trying to get adapted to the new digital era. The transition is yet to take place. Since the final consumers who tend to pay cash, the withdrawal behavior has been encountered as people are trying to avoid spending cash. So there could be some sort of hiccups there for some time. Liquidity crisis and the resultant fall in demand due to lack of currency have left industrial units gasping. Diamonds, garments, chemicals, ceramic, synthetic textiles and many other industries are mulling shut downs; several units have already stopped production temporarily due to their limitations to pay daily wages in cash. To bring equilibrium in the current scenario companies will have to offset the resultant loss to it, the industry is resorting to production cut which adversely affects job situation. There is demand sluggishness in the economy leading to practically negligible private sector investment and stagnant industrial growth. Demand has been varying as in reduce and then peak due to hockey stick effect. Organizations should not panic and be prepared for these contrasting situations. Just like dehydration for athletes are too late situation, because caution was not exercised since early time. Similarly, struggling to cope with high or low demand is too delayed reaction for organizations. One should be responsive and it comes only through pertinent vision. Essential point to appreciate here is that companies don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the slowdowns in the past, that all those manufacturing companies, who had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains, survived or emerged stronger. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the companies are. In contrast, manufacturing companies that had not worked on LEANing their supply chains, witnessed more intense problems. During the tough times they had to drive immediate change in the prices and orders deliveries, which inevitably forced the companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. Those companies which managed to adapt to the change survived. Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirement. Readers will appreciate that concept of Just in Time (JIT) is very glitzy. However, to reach the stage of Leanness parameters quoted earlier should be considered. And one can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world class companies have different names for the structure. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world class performance. And, at the cost of repetition, I would like to mention that world class performance was necessary just to survive the storm of the situation. Many organizations resorted to cost cutting initiatives and in turn cut the muscles and not the waste. What we intend to say is rather than attacking the muscles, one should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost – benefit and time – benefit analysis of the problem solution holds key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. Now is not the time to get lost in semantics, one has to identify where the value is lost, identifying their causes and rapidly acting to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems which lead to improving the current situation. To conclude, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin. As he rightly said “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly even in stormy weather. Right set of targets and frameworks, lean and reliable systems, skilled and motivated team – all in all Excellence in these 3 domains is the key to a stable work environment. Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Eliminating waste and inefficiencies](https://faberinfinite.com/eliminating-waste-and-inefficiencies/): The Indian auto industry is one of the largest in the world. The industry accounts for 7.1 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As of FY 2014-15, around 31 per cent of small cars sold globally are manufactured in India. The Two Wheelers segment with 81 per cent market share is the leader of the Indian Automobile market owing to a growing middle class and a young population. Moreover, the growing interest of the companies in exploring the rural markets further aided the growth of the sector. The overall Passenger Vehicle (PV) segment has 13 per cent market share. India is also a prominent auto exporter and has strong export growth expectations for the near future. In April-January 2016, exports of Commercial Vehicles registered a growth of 18.36 per cent over April-January 2015. In addition, several initiatives by the Government of India and the major automobile players in the Indian market are expected to make India a leader in the Two Wheeler (2W) and Four Wheeler (4W) market in the world by 2020. Earlier the Indian manufacturing sector was giving tough competition to other countries all over the globe in terms of labour cost and cutting edge productivity. But since other economies in the world are progressing to provide classical, traditional and highly effective labour, India needs to maintain the cutting edge in such an eco-system surrounded by a huge number of competitors. Auto industry is mature and leader in efficiency parameters across the globe and same in India as well. – Manpower productivity is considered to be must have to survive the competition and is no longer driver for higher profitability. – However, there are few tier 1 and several tier 2 & 3 suppliers where it has now become imperative for them to look at basic stability of all 4Ms (man – method – material – machine). Recently, Faber Infinite Consulting team assisted a major tier 1 automobile component supplier in India with tremendous results. Below are some of the drivers for improvement and benefits delivered to the client. Although these numbers can be referred to before the demonetization drive occurred and though demonetization may have its impacts these efficiency drivers do stand true even then. Benefits Delivered Help to identify existing bottlenecks in the system The exercise analyzed processes and inefficiencies as the operators go about their daily routine activities. It helped in determining if there are wasted efforts, that are repeated and which therefore waste time and reduce the productivity of the operators. The study helped in designing a setup for workplaces in such a way that operators can perform routine duties as quickly and effectively as possible. Decrease the cycle time for the activities performed It involves systematic examination of methods of carrying on activities so as to improve the effective use of manpower and equipment and to setup standards of performance for the activities being performed. An in-depth as well as critical examination was carried out to analyze different ways of doing things to make improvements.  Improve and enhance manpower productivity via time and motion study Since the technique of time and motion study involves investigation of existing or alternate proposed methods of work and how to improve them, it helped the client in establishing an appropriate framework for carrying out specified jobs. It estimated the effort utilized per person and took into account the duration of time taken to complete a particular task at each workstation. The manpower utilization for a particular workstation was increased to 65.80% after line balancing. The scope of improvement was found to be 35 to 36% for different workstations. Core purpose of this study is to analyze all the activities at workplace and come up with Standard time of each activity. During the study, factors such as environmental conditions, difficulties encountered nature of task, etc. were considered and evaluated as per ILO standards. This study benefited the client to provide a systematic review and analysis of the activities performed in current scenario and provided recommendations for eliminating NVA’s (Non value adding activities) for future practices. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Importance of Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/importance-of-organizational-change/): Change is the need of the hour for every individual and every organization. Engaging in the same old methodology, which is turning out to be obsolete, can lead to failure. This need to change is of the highest priority. The failure in recognizing the very urgent requirement to change heads to many serious, critical problems. Change refers to bringing a shift in the way the activities are performed, work is done, and problems are solved. A new approach to deal with everything would give a positive and successful outcome. This process of change is not easy and is time-consuming, but at the end of it, we realize that it was worth it. How would change benefit organizations and employees? Here we bring a few pointers indicating the benefits of a change culture in your organization: Build Up Competition: Change can be big or small, easy or complex in an organization.  Change does not necessarily indicate a major transformation every time. But it can seriously help to build competition, which can help organizations progress and develop themselves. Without change, organizations would struggle to lift up themselves to face the competition put forward by their competitors. Example- When a particular organization changes its way of working and if it attracts more customers, the neighbouring competitor will definitely observe the same and would try to bring a change in his usual form of working. Thus, here change plays a very positive role in building up competition which leads to a desire among organizations to develop themselves more than their competitors. Bringing Technological Advancement: Technology plays a vital role in the development of an organization. Change that results from the adoption of new technology is common in most organizations and while it can be disruptive at first, ultimately, the change tends to increase productivity and service. To beat the competition, organizations can make use of new technologies. The same old, obsolete ways of doing things would not work out when the competitors would be moving forward with new technologies. It also enables employees to adopt the new technology and indirectly helps in growth of organization. For Example Toyota – the company to emulate in the automobile industry, it has emerged to become one of the most successful organizations in terms of establishing change management. Develop Satisfied Customers: Adopting change in organizations can create a certain extent of dissatisfaction among employees and also among customers. But, once change brings in a favorable effect, customers and employees start accepting it. Eventually this change brings satisfied customers which inturn acts positively for customers. As always said, a satisfied customer is a boon for every organization. Just a mere tweak in the strategy can do wonders for you. The most famous example is Google. The Google experience is a classic example of a company committed to wowing its customers based on consistent quality and constant innovation over the years. Eventually, change plays a very positive role in building up competition which leads to a desire among organizations to develop themselves more than their competitors. Also change is an evitable, unavoidable part of any organization. Every organization strives to change and it eventually leads to business excellence. Ready to embrace the power of organizational change? Discover the transformative impact it can have on your business. Fill out the form below to unlock exclusive insights and strategies on the importance of organizational change. Take the first step towards a brighter future for your company! Organizational change is key to staying competitive, improving efficiency, and fostering innovation. It drives growth and helps businesses adapt to new challenges. Ready to transform your operations? Explore Supply Chain Solutions to boost success.   Contact us    Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Presenting PriZma](https://faberinfinite.com/presenting-prizma/): Skill development is a major concern and the problem has been analyzed by numerous experts: for a country that adds 12 million people to its workforce every year, less than 4 per cent have ever received any formal training. India’s workforce readiness is one of the lowest in the world and a large chunk of existing training infrastructure is irrelevant to industry needs. There is no sole factor responsible for lack of skill development, but lack of monetary investment is one of them. It is a difficulty about grossly inefficient execution. The need of the hour is to improve resource utilization and find solutions that can address the systemic and institutional bottlenecks constraining the sector. Faber Infinite believes it is necessary to catalyze investments from the industry and support candidates in raising resources for training and also apply the investments in an appropriate way. Time again top executives have raised concerns over the same. In a recent survey by leading publishing house 6 out of 10 CEOs voiced concerns relating to training and development efficacy. In another forum, 46% of the executives admitted that their workforce does not have the necessary skills required in the next 1 – 2 years. All these pointers are alarming and needs to be addresses. It has severe impacts on business due to lack of skills, like -Loss of business to competitors -Loss of revenue -Delay in product development -Eroding customer satisfaction And it is not that organizations are not investing in training and development. But the point is if it is done effectively and going in the correct direction. The key question which arises is where to start from, how to design an effective skill development and analysis tool? And the most important is how to execute skill analysis program. Realizing the significance and need for skilled manpower, private sector entities are taking several initiatives. Across business sectors, companies and industry associations are not only boosting their in-house training facilities, but are also taking steps to make potential employees job-ready before they join organizations. Faber Infinite Consulting has devised a unique approach to analyze the workforce skills. This will put an end to various skill related issues which sum up the major concerns of organizations. Prizma is the answer – It is a powerful result oriented tool, which will answer the core questions about which skills are required, also measures the level of skills essential for people to be coordinate with each other at the workplace. As per todays progressive world organizations need to be updated in terms of knowledge as well as workforce skills, because each and every step forward will demand a different version of your employee. Prizma will maneuver the path for leader to effectively execute the strategy. It will objectively provide an in-depth report and future action plan. Apart from Skill analysis Prizma helps in the following ways. 1)      Devising comprehensive training calendar 2)      Fitment Analysis 3)      Gap Analysis 4)      Identifying Competency Gaps 5)      Inclusive plan to terminate the skill gaps Prizma is the approach required to cut out a development plan which will be interesting, achievable, practical and realistic. What is needed now is a willingness to act, and to take the difficult decisions that can help to institute the ‘Skill India’ dream. Several organizations are getting tremendous results by rolling out Prizma. Talk to our team for your complimentary demo.
- [Case Study: Indian Auto Component Industry on Achieve Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/indian-auto-component-industry-case-study/): The Indian auto component industry has been experiencing a healthy growth over the last few decades. Some of the factors attributable to this include: a buoyant end-user market, improved consumer sentiment and return of adequate liquidity in the financial system. The auto-components industry accounts for almost seven per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs as many as 19 million people, both directly and indirectly. A stable government framework, increased purchasing power, large domestic market, and an ever increasing development in infrastructure  and adding to this the Make in India initiative is fuelling the momentum of progressing forward to make India a favorable destination for investment. Major investments are being made into the Indian auto components sector for example: MRF Ltd is planning to invest Rs 4,500 crore (US$ 660.231 million) in its two factories in Tamil Nadu as part of its expansion plan. Hero MotoCorp is investing Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 733.59 million) in five manufacturing facilities across India, Colombia and Bangladesh, to increase its annual production capacity to 12 million units by 2020. Challenges on the way Over the last few years, the automotive components industry has scaled three times to US$ 39 billion in 2015-16 while exports have grown even faster to US$ 10.8 billion. This has been driven by strong growth in the domestic market and increasing globalization (including exports) of several Indian suppliers. It has been projected that the Indian Auto Component industry is expected to grow by 8-10 per cent in FY 2017-18 which is commendable, based on higher localization by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), higher component content per vehicle, and rising exports from India, as per ICRA Limited. According to the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), the Indian auto-components industry is expected to register a turnover of US$ 100 billion by 2020 backed by strong exports ranging between US$ 80- US$ 100 billion by 2026, from the current US$ 11.2 billion. Also, as per Mr. Arvind Balaji, President, ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association Of India) 2015-16 was a challenging year, the auto component industry had registered a satisfactory growth of 8.8 per cent in 2015-16. Further, while overall exports from India witnessed de-growth of 9.58 per cent, the Indian auto component industry exports grew by 3.5 per cent. The threat of other competitive countries and the internal country policies affecting the sector directly or indirectly, the loop holes are stretching the limbs behind and withdrawing  its roots  of development.  On one side the automobile industry is flourishing, hence the Indian auto component/ parts which is a spine of Indian automobile industry should be extremely competitive and effective. 5 key points to Improvement in growth Major machine challenges are high maintenance cost, old machines and low productivity of machine which accounts for 26%, 20% and 17% respectively Some other issue faced by the organization is frequent breakdown (15%), high workforce to operate (12%) and low automation or no automation (10%) Supply Chain challenges included challenges due to Inventory management, Material handling, Customer demand and Transportation. Inventory challenges included challenges related to Demand variability, Extended response time, Lack of visibility of supply chain, Lack of collaboration between partners, -Quality level and reliability of service from suppliers. Supplier related challenges included challenges related to delayed delivery, improper Quality raw material, Non Availability, High price of product Solutions for building momentum In today’s global competitive business scenario, customer satisfaction at competitive prices and world class quality through on time delivery can provide a clear lead to the organization amongst the competitors. This competitive advantage on a continual basis will provide a platform for sustainable development. An integrated staged approach for the transformation journey can create an efficient working environment. The application will deliver more rational and optimum benefits. To achieve improvements, it is imperative that the approaches are not defined narrowly and that a cross-functional team (CFT) infrastructure should be created to ensure that benefits of the application can be exploited properly. Further implementation of focused approaches likes Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Time and motion study in the existing system can give phenomenal results in domains of machine performance, material flow and manpower productivity respectively. There by addressing 3Ms of operations. Improve Optimization of Manpower Productivity By analyzing the process into different levels, a standardized system can be devised to identify and resolve the existing bottleneck. This includes the study of customer demand, examining the external as well as internal conditions, combining different operations together to increase the productivity per person and also per station. The implementation route map provides the change process to align accountability and progressively ratchet up operational capability. Integrating these principles can help organizations, to optimize available resource and produce world class products as per changing market demand with proper optimization of manpower productivity. By implementing these set of tools a significant impact can be seen in potential of reducing working capital requirements and improve profitability. Also futile time in between the shifts and in each shift wasted by per person can be reduced. This is possible through better material flow management from upstream operations leading to greater production and enhancing better movements of operators while designing the process flow. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Business Standard. Original link available here – click here.
- [Building Delivery Excellence in Flower Farms](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-flower-farms/): Floriculture is a major global industry in both developing and developed countries. Global trade volume is estimated to be worth more than $100bn per annum. The main players are divided into producers in developing countries and consumers in developed countries, including many in Africa. In this blog, we will talk about Delivery Excellence in Flower Farms. Kenya also has excellent transport links to Europe, and from there, the rest of the world through Nairobi airport, which has a terminal dedicated specially to the transport of flowers and vegetables. This means that delicate floral cargo which is perishable in nature can be shifted from growers to consumers swiftly. The sector has increasingly been faced by many challenges even as the global economic fortunes seem to be getting better. Consumers are getting more concerned about the quality of what they are receiving making it fundamental to ensure quality and more importantly safety. Concerns from the UK consumers for Kenyan produce to meet high quality standards are of prime importance. In a positive note, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) reports that increased awareness through the inspectorate among farmers and traders has reduced incidences of pests in produce for export. Major Challenges faced -Increase in transportation costs -Rising production costs -Under Utilization of Land -Reduction in output due to pests and other factors -Low productivity followed by low returns on investments. -Poor infrastructure and unpredictable weather -Obsolete technology and stringent international standards Here we bring some of the aspects on which Team Faber Infinite has been working in this industry to deliver exceptional results: Change in Layout to enhance productivity In pack house we can improve number of grading stems per minute by changing layout to single piece flow (We have improved this by an average of 60% at one of our client). By proper layout design of flower production block we can increase total number of Beds per hectare and thus overall production can be increased (We have Improved from 72 bed per block to 81 beds per block at one of our client place). Increase in the number of stems planted The Faber team has been striving to improve Germination by growing more plants per square meter. Recently one of the clients has successfully implemented the methodology to improve number of stems and has planted 80 planting stations per square meter instead of 40. Optimum Utilization of Land Usually almost in every Farm due to improper layout design at initial stage lots of land is not utilized which is actually production land. This can be done by proper layout and planning. Team Faber has been working closely with their clients to turnaround the production of flowers by identifying useful land and exploring its effectiveness. With converting underutilized land, team Faber Infinite has successfully added 5 Million stems at one of our clients place. Quality Improvement Yield per hector is an important factor for any flower farm. There are various factors which affects the yield. Rejection during growing and rejection at time of harvesting affects the yield to a large extent. By implementing various Quality management tools and standards, yield can be improved by more than 30% There are different approaches to handle challenges at the flower farms which include developing  proper layout and land utilization models  followed by  logistical  improvements  that  lowers distribution  costs  of  inputs. Faber infinite toolkit specially developed for Farms helps them to increase the production, labor productivity & reduce rejects and other wastes. Exceptional results have been observed in Flower farms. Ready to achieve delivery excellence in your flower farm? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive insights into building efficient delivery processes that will elevate your farm’s reputation and customer satisfaction. Don’t wait, take the first step towards delivering excellence today! Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Organization Success and Transformation – Engineering Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/organization-success-and-transformation-engineering-industry-in-india/): India is on the verge of major reforms and is self-assured to become the third-largest economy of the world by 2030. It offers the three most important D’s to the world Democracy, Demography and demand. Owing to the presence of the educated population, skilled labor and robust legal practices India is turning out to be a major destination for investment which is creating its stronghold. The Indian engineering sector is of strategic importance to the economy owing to its intense integration with other industry segments. Engineering Industry is striving towards reducing cost without adversely affecting quality by controlling the amount of waste generated during production. The core idea is to create more value for customers with fewer resources. Industry is aiming for operational excellence as companies follow a range of strategies, including lean, automotive systems; they are also spending on R & D to improve operations. Organization Success and Transformation through Operational Excellence Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures stability of following parameters – health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio; that determine the competitiveness of the organization success as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is the king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. Companies have been increasingly restructuring operations and implementing world class practices. The implementation of lean manufacturing practices has helped companies to cut cost and improve productivity. Engineering industry companies are also laying more emphasis on quality. They have extensively adopted the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach. Operational Excellence is fast becoming a norm rather than an exception associated with certain company or industry. A typical lean implementation involves an initial value stream mapping (VSM) which defines the journey of improvement. Next there is the organizing of the house. This might involve flexible work systems and (especially) 5S (sorting, straightening, systematic cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining). Thereafter other specific tools can be rolled out – including standard work, single minute exchange of dies (SMED), total productivity maintenance (TPM), and mistake proofing (Jidoka). Further advancements might involve supply and demand, through just in time (JIT) pull systems and Heijunka (level scheduling). A continuous improvement mindset is essential to reach the company’s goals. The focus of the industry should be on getting the right things to the right place at the right time in the right quantity to achieve perfect work flow, while minimizing waste and being flexible and able to change. Success Story for Our clients: Client is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions. Client serves customers in more than 180 countries with products and services focused on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. Client has leading positions in Compressor Technique, Industrial Technique, Mining and Rock Excavation Technique, Construction Techniques.The key objective was to improve the productivity by implementing flow management techniques. Objective: -Improve capacity from 2 units/ shift to 3 units/ shift -Reduce the labor costs -Eliminate non-value adding activities -Reduce operator fatigue -Increase manpower productivity -Improve material flow -Establish Standard Operating Procedures -Recommend line improvements Approach: -Define standard times (fair days work) by conducting time and motion study for the ongoing process -Consider all the factors such as environmental conditions, difficulties encountered, nature of task, as per ILO standards. -Study all the wastes (Muda, Mura and Muri) in the process and find ways to eliminate them -Apply lean tools such as line balancing, SMED, 5S and 2 Bin system to eliminate waste -Work station design to eliminate operator fatigue Result: -Productivity improved from 2 compressors per shift to 3 compressors per shift -Work content reduced by 40% -Total labor cost reduced by 50% -Productivity improved by 50% -Designed total 10 work station layout as per ergonomic design Written By: Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [4 ways of Building a Constructive Environment for Employees](https://faberinfinite.com/importance-of-building-a-constructive-environment-for-employees/): In this era of ‘going digital and being digital’, organizations constantly crave for a better, hassle- free environment, full of fast- moving and cost efficient machines and equipments. We certainly tend to forget the usefulness, competence and skills of our employees. This ignorance leads to creation of a shoddier environment for the employees. This realization for the urgent need of boosting employee morale plays a very vital role in the development of any organization. Below are the points which suggest four ways of building a constructive environment for employees: Give a chance to explore: The elementary step would be to give employees a chance to identify and explore themselves. This would basically help them to identify their hidden potentials. The recognition of their unknown capabilities would greatly help them to be more productive and innovative. This will bring in more confidence that will reflect in their work.  Motivate to reflect inner strengths: Another important task is to help employees recognize their inner strength. This acts as a torchbearer for the employees to understand the responsibility that can be taken over them, the quality that they can provide, time duration they would require to complete a particular task, etc. For the organization too, it would be helpful to know which person should be or can be assigned a particular task, how many people would be required to complete the task, etc. Thus, it makes the decision making process easy with the real understanding of the inner strengths of the employees.  Encourage to unfollow the prevalent practices: Every other organization wishes to follow and make their employees follow the same old, obsolete practices. For example- Doing a work the same way, it is being done since the inception of the company. These practices keep on being followed assuming to be the set norms which acts best for the company. But many forget that these old, followed norms tend to withdraw the creativity within the employees leading to boredom, poor quality of work and lack of interest. Thus, ideally employees must be encouraged to question the set norms and practices daily, thereby giving them an opportunity to showcase their talent and creativity. Construct a Challenging Environment: In this highly competitive world, the urge to deliver the best always sustains. This may be made possible by creating a challenging environment for the employees. Employees who find their work boring lack the motivation to perform well, whereas work that is challenging enhances their engagement. This enhances employee engagement, holds on their interest and may act as a learning which would enable them to overcome these challenges successfully. Constructive work environment builds trust, innovation, positive communication, happy teams and overall happier work environment. This in turn generates happy employees and successful companies.  It acts as a gauge for organizations to break some obsolete norms and instead build a constructive environment for employees. Otherwise, it would be a warning bell for the organizations. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Build Muscles, Not Fat!](https://faberinfinite.com/build-muscles-not-fat/): Manufacturing has emerged as one of the high growth sectors in India. Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, had launched the ‘Make in India’ program to place India on the world map as a manufacturing hub and give global recognition to the Indian economy. India’s ranking among the world’s 10 largest manufacturing countries has improved by three places to sixth position in 2015. The Government of India has set an ambitious target of increasing the contribution of manufacturing output to 25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025, from 16 per cent currently. India’s manufacturing sector has the potential to touch US$ 1 trillion by 2025. There is potential for the sector to account for 25-30 per cent of the country’s GDP and create up to 90 million domestic jobs by 2025. Business conditions in the Indian manufacturing sector continue to remain positive. The manufacturing sector is an ever changing sector and each year the industry faces new challenges. To be at par with the changes in the industry, organizations need to be highly proactive. On a simple note, organizations can be classified into two categories, namely, good or bad. Good companies are proactive, bad companies are reactive. One builds muscles, while the other builds fat! Recession or no recession, good companies who have focused on cutting fat & strengthening their muscles (read as internal processes). This they do by sustaining a structured program focused on building operational excellence. On the other hand, reactive companies are left clueless in dealing with the changes. The general tendency is to react to the ever changing environment. However, being reactive will be less helpful than being responsive. If any company which is stock rich and fat (instead of being fit), it losses the ability of responding and in turn compulsorily has to react to the changing markets. This dynamic behavior can be attributed to the amount of stocks lying in the supply chain. Essential point to appreciate here is that companies don’t compete but the supply chains do. It was found during the changes in the past, that all those manufacturing companies, who had over the years worked on, leaning their supply chains, survived or emerged stronger. They were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and nimble. Interestingly, higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the companies are. In contrast, manufacturing companies that had not worked on LEANing their supply chain, witnessed more intense problems. During the tough times they had to drive immediate change in the prices and orders deliveries, which inevitably forced the companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. Those companies which managed to adapt to the change survived. Operational Excellence (OE) is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. OE ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirement. Readers will appreciate that concept of Just in Time (JIT) is very glitzy. However, to reach the stage of Leanness parameters quoted earlier should be considered. And one can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for transformation. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world class companies have different names for the structure. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world class performance. And, at the cost of repetition, I would like to mention that world class performance was necessary just to survive the storm of the situation. Many organizations resorted to cost cutting initiatives and in turn cut the muscles and not the waste. What we intend to say is rather than attacking the muscles, one should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting. Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost – benefit and time – benefit analysis of the problem solution holds key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. Now is not the time to get lost in semantics, one has to identify where the value is lost, identifying their causes and rapidly acting to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems which lead to improving the current situation. To conclude, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin. As he rightly said “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the waste and sail smoothly. About the Author: Faber Vishal Kulkarni is one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Consulting, with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations Management with his 1st degree being in Production Engineering. This article was originally published in Manufacturing Today. Original link available here – click here.
- [Lean Manufacturing - Proven path to success for SMEs](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing-proven-path-to-success-for-smes/): His article was originally published in the November 2016 issue of SME World magazine. Original link available here – click here
- [Why the problem with Learning is Unlearning](https://faberinfinite.com/why-the-problem-with-learning-is-unlearning-2/): Learning is a constant process of everyone’s life. Each day, comes up with a new learning experience. Well, it does not just hold true for individuals but is also applicable for organizations. In this digital era, organizations strive to continuous learning. But learning becomes tough due to the difficulty of unlearning things. Learning involves acquiring new things in addition to the existing skills. While, unlearning refers to the ability to step out of the already created and followed mental block to accept and follow the new process. The same is the case with organizations. Organizations have been following the old traditional ways and the old mental block or model of thinking sustains. As rightly said by Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” We need to unlearn the push model of marketing and explore alternative models. Instead of customers being consumers, we could have relationships with them in a variety of roles and social aspects. The process of unlearning has 3 parts: Recognition about the ineffectiveness of the old mental model or paradigm: This is the foremost method to be adopted for unlearning. We need to consider and understand the ineffectiveness of the old mental paradigm which is the greatest challenge. It becomes very trying to accept that that the old model has become obsolete and irrelevant as we already make it a habit to use this old paradigm, unconsciously to solve our problems. Look out for a better way or a new model: Once, we understand the ineptitude of the existing model, we should start looking for a new model and should gradually accept it. With the evolution of new problems, there arises new ways of solving it too. This espousal of new model gradually takes over the old and grows to be more beneficial in due course for organizations and individuals Instill the new mental habits: The last but not the least step is to ingrain the newly developed mental habits. The tendency will be to fall back into the old way of thinking and therefore the old way of doing. For example, when you are talking about your customers, catch yourself when you call them “consumers” — this corresponds to a transactional mindset. The shift in language helps to reinforce the shift in mindset. Thus, practicing unlearning will make it quicker to adapt and follow it. The place to start is by unlearning how we think about learning. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai  
- [Why the problem with learning is unlearning](https://faberinfinite.com/why-the-problem-with-learning-is-unlearning/): Learning is a continuous process. Each day, comes up with a new learning experience. Well, it does not just hold true for individuals but it is also applicable for organizations. In this digital era, organizations strive to continuous learning. But learning becomes tough due to the difficulty of unlearning things. Learning involves acquiring new skills in addition to the existing skills. While, unlearning refers to the ability to step out of the already created and followed mental block to accept and follow the new process. The same is the case with organizations. Organizations have been following the traditional ways and the old mental block or model of thinking sustains. As rightly said by Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” We need to unlearn obsolete practices and explore alternative models. The process of unlearning has 3 parts: Recognition about the ineffectiveness of the old mental model or paradigm This is the foremost method to be adopted for unlearning. We need to consider and understand the ineffectiveness of the old mental paradigm which is the greatest challenge. It becomes very difficult to accept that that the old model has become obsolete and irrelevant as we already make it a habit to use this old paradigm, unconsciously to solve our problems. Look out for a better way or a new model Once, we understand the ineffectiveness of the existing model, we should start looking for a new model and should gradually accept it. With the evolution of new problems, there arises new ways of solving it too. This adoption of new model gradually takes over the old and grows to be more beneficial in due course for organizations and individuals both. Instill the new mental habits The last but not the least step is to embed the newly developed mental habits. The tendency will be to fall back into the old way of thinking and therefore the old way of doing. For example, when you are talking about your customers, catch yourself when you call them “consumers” — this corresponds to a transactional mindset. The shift in language helps to reinforce the shift in mindset. Thus, practicing unlearning will make it quicker to adapt and follow it. The place to start is by unlearning how we think about learning. Just as we keep on evolving so does our habits, because ultimately we keep on learning something new. The problem created by a particular set of thinking is not capable enough of solving the same problem. So your thinking and learning process should be altered accordingly, based on the situation. The best part is that practicing unlearning will make it easier and quicker to oscillate as your brain adapts. Written By: Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Being successful isn’t only about having the Best ideas but you have to know how to execute them.](https://faberinfinite.com/being-successful-isnt-only-about-having-the-best-ideas-but-you-have-to-know-how-to-execute-them/): It is possible to come up with brilliant ideas or a “big idea”. But it’s not just about coming up with big ideas; it’s about converting them into reality. That is what innovation is all about. It is all about execution and not mere thinking. That is how new business models, start-up’s and extraordinary things evolve. So when great ideas come up, the consideration of possible and realistic ways to execute them should not be disregarded. Here, we bring few pointers to make the execution of ideas a simpler task.  Avoid everlasting planning process You can keep on ideating and expanding your existing plan or idea but you will never know the end result until and unless the idea is being executed. It’s good to refine your idea before proposing it for action, but ultimately this process of refining may start harming and you will get stuck in a vicious circle of thinking rather than doing. Expand your capacity for growth To keep on mounting new stages of growth, you need to test your capacity for growth. Set the bar high and keep raising it—it’s how you will learn. Test assumptions, and know when to stop and shift gears. You should always be thinking strategically, as far as three to five years out.  New Ideas wont emerge unless you execute the old ones Without execution, there’s no multiplier for your idea, so even if the idea is amazing, it’s pretty much worthless without doing something with it. When you make bold moves in your business, you will end up finding new talent, meeting new business associates and forming new ideas that spring forth from the seeds of your execution.  Optimum Utilization of team resources In this era of modern technology being progressive in terms of holistic development requires an open mind to leverage the latest tools and technology to improve process flow. This encircles the entire loop of team players along with various activities such as regular team training and update sessions, bringing in outside experts, and working with partners and vendors on win-win deals. Ultimately it’s all about creating a future you desire. The aim is to transform chaos and confusion into clarity and confidence. If you want to improve the likelihood of success in execution of your business idea or model, you must be deliberate and strive for daily execution excellence and work as a team. Written by Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [4 Steps to Turn Great Ideas into Reality](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-turn-great-ideas-into-reality/): It is possible to come up with brilliant ideas or a “big idea”. But it’s not just about coming up with big ideas; it’s about converting them into reality. That is what innovation is all about. It is all about execution and not mere thinking. That is how new business models, start-ups and extraordinary things evolve. So when great ideas come up, the consideration of possible and realistic ways to execute them should not be disregarded. Here, we bring few pointers to make the execution of ideas a simpler task. Avoid everlasting planning process You can keep on improvising and expanding your existing plan or idea but you will never know the end result until and unless the idea is being executed. It’s good to refine your idea before proposing it for action, but ultimately this process of refining may start harming and you will get stuck in a vicious circle of thinking rather than doing. Expand your capacity for growth To keep on mounting new stages of growth, you need to test your capacity for growth. Set the bar high and keep raising it—it’s how you will learn. Test assumptions, and know when to stop and shift gears. You should always be thinking strategically, as far as three to five years out. New Ideas wont emerge unless you execute the old ones Without execution, there’s no multiplier for your idea, so even if the idea is amazing, it’s pretty much worthless without doing something with it. When you make bold moves in your business, you will end up finding new talent, meeting new business associates and forming new ideas that spring forth from the seeds of your execution. Optimum Utilization of team resources In this era of modern technology being progressive in terms of holistic development requires an open mind to leverage the latest tools and technology to improve process flow. This encircles the entire loop of team players along with various activities such as regular team training and update sessions, bringing in outside experts, and working with partners and vendors on win-win deals. Ultimately it’s all about creating a future you desire. The aim is to transform chaos and confusion into clarity and confidence. If you want to improve the likelihood of success in execution of your business idea or model, you must be deliberate and strive for daily execution excellence and work as a team. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Smart Way Forward for the Indian Engineering Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/smart-way-forward-for-the-indian-engineering-industry/): India is on the threshold of major reforms and is poised to become the third-largest economy of the world by 2030. India’s manufacturing sector has evolved through several phases – from the initial industrialization. And the license era to liberalization and the current phase of global competitiveness. Today, Indian manufacturing companies in several sectors are targeting global markets and are becoming daunting global competitors. Many are already amongst the most competitive ones in their sectors. In this blog, we will discuss about how to Improve Continuous Improvement in Engineering Industry. The engineering sector in India attracts immense interest from foreign players.It has a favourable environment and has an advantage in terms of manufacturing costs, technology and innovation. The above, combined with favourable regulatory policies and growth in the manufacturing sector has enabled several foreign players to invest in India. “Thanks to improved monetary and fiscal policies, as well as lower oil prices, the Indian economy has stabilized and now boasts the highest growth among G20 economies,” according to the GCI report. Total Quality Maintenance in Engineering Industry Overall these years the Indian Engineering sector has witnessed a remarkable growth. Over the last few years and has emerged to be a strong player driven by increased investments in infrastructure and industrial production. The engineering sector, being closely associated with the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors of the economy, is of strategic importance to India’s economy. Growth in the sector is driven by various sub-sectors such as infrastructure, power, steel, automotive, oil & gas, consumer durables etc. In today’s highly competitive and dynamic environment, market competition forces organizations to improve productivity and enhance their competiveness. Consequently, the matter of assessing and improving competitiveness in different industry of several countries has received increased attention in recent times. In addition, it has been observed that engineering industries need to focus and invest more on operational improvement and optimization. Value adders/ operators play a key role in operations in spite of the application of machinery and equipment. As per challenges raised by the industry, few listed are low productivity, over staffing, poor labor relations, inefficient handling of operator challenges, high wages and lack of trained or skilled workforce. It can be inferred that all these issues are fallouts of lower manpower productivities and hence scientific approach towards efficiency improvement is the need of the hour. India has come a long way and traversed the concepts of Quality Management Systems (ISO) then Total Quality Management (TQM) and now it aims to go beyond these frameworks. The situation demands for building competitiveness across sectors and specifically in the engineering sector which is pivotal growth driver for the country. Increasingly organizations from all sectors and all sizes are looking at holistic World Class Manufacturing (WCM) practices or transformational practices to eliminate inefficiencies across their value chain which ultimately helps them in building competitive setups. Further, few of the challenges faced by Engineering Sector can be listed as below: On Time Deliveries to customers. Flow organization from raw material receipt to finish goods dispatch. Absence of Overall Equipment effectiveness Issues in labor productivity Customer complaints and rework Absence of Inventory Management Higher Automation cost Absence of improvement oriented culture Going forward, integrating World Class Manufacturing and Smart Manufacturing practices is an effective answer to these existing problems of the engineering domain, which is coming up steadily these days. It’s renovating the entire idea of manufacturing. Smart manufacturing concept has been present since the early days, yet has merely been an ‘in concept’. However, considering the challenging scenarios now and proven results of the said combination, it is the only effective solution the engineering industry can resort to. The smart manufacturing excellence practices can be achieved by developing a culture based on factors such as continuous improvement, problem prevention, zero defect tolerance and customer driven just in time production. Following actions points can streamline the path of smart manufacturing along with world class practices and deal with the challenges in Engineering sector. 4 key points for Smart Manufacturing in Engineering Industry Revival of Traditional Machinery investments is becoming comparatively easier with implementation of foundations of Total Productive Maintenance along with retrofitting sensors to older machinery is surprisingly doable with tremendous results. Deploying Value Stream Maps and Collection of Digital data to find the existing bottlenecks – Refined software can assist to catch up with the flood of data, find meaning, and, as times goes by, leverage that meaning. Streamline a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) with robust internal and external logistics systems is key for supply chains to fulfill the order on time and in the most efficient way. ‘Cos it is said – organizations don’t compete; the supply chains do! The reality checks by getting customer demand rate and producing to the required quantities and specifications, which helps manufacturer to be up to date about the market. This will enable the manufacturers to be reactive to its customer orders. The said few practices ensure the basic stability of the working environment where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market. Benefits of implementing the tools to face these challenges Improvement in On Time In Full supplies Increase in the yield and throughput Reduction in throughput time Reduction in rejection Increase in labor productivity Inventory reduction by releasing lots of hidden space Reduction in breakdown time These concept outcomes directly add to the bottom-line while simultaneously customers receive on time delivery and high quality products. Apparently, the organizations are witnessing convergence of technologies and process improvement initiatives with the potential to radically improve the way manufacturers thread processes and systems in the entire product value chain in order to deliver more options and new service models to customers. By each passing day the world
- [Become more Effective by Theming your Day](https://faberinfinite.com/become-more-effective-by-theming-your-day-2/): As leaders it is an obvious situation where you may get tied up with an array of activities. These activities may relate to issues, challenges which tend to shift your focus. As a result, you forget to focus on key job. Routine tasks can make you lose focus on the things you should be doing. For the leader in you, on first Tuesday of November, we bring to you magical three key drivers to bring in more effectiveness and efficiency! Encourage new ideas This will not only enable your team to think in an extra-ordinary manner, but also take them to a new platform. Also ask the question are you making things better for your people or are you subtracting from your people? Make it an expectation of your employees that they bring in new ideas and alternative approaches by including it in their performance objectives. To ensure this is successful, add a method of measurement or transform it to performance measurement. Slice your time effectively It’ll motivate effectiveness and efficiency as it applies to time and allows you to achieve results. Like the path from initiation to final destination has various patterns of crests and troughs, success includes a journey that is taken one lesson at a time. Improved and refined, successful people move onward and forward in facing their next challenge. Pomodoro technique can be interesting tool to adopt. Keep theme on mind Although every day will be slightly different, create a rundown of what your ideal daily schedule should include with a different theme for each day. Every morning, before you check email, determine the three most important tasks to complete for the day. Prioritize crucial tasks over those that are less urgent. This approach will keep you focused throughout the day and help you avoid time-consuming distractions. As leaders you can give theme to your day. This will offer incremental change and growth in your way of working. Our transformation/ change tool for leaders has done wonders. Just imagine if you can enlist 300 powerful and implementable actions into practice where would it take you and your team!
- [Day Theming: 3 key points to be More Effective and Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/day-theming-3-key-points-to-more-effective/): As leaders it is an obvious situation where you may get tied up with an array of activities. These activities may relate to issues, challenges which tend to shift your focus. As a result, you forget to focus on key job. Routine tasks can make you lose focus on the things you should be doing. In this article, we will discuss about Day Theming – 3 key to be more Effective and Productive. For the leader in you, on first Tuesday of November, we bring to you magical three key drivers to bring in more effectiveness and efficiency! Encourage new ideas This will not only enable your team to think in an extra-ordinary manner, but also take them to a new platform. Also ask the question are you making things better for your people or are you subtracting from your people? Make it an expectation of your employees that they bring in new ideas and alternative approaches by including it in their performance objectives. To ensure this is successful, add a method of measurement or transform it to performance measurement. Slice your time effectively It’ll motivate effectiveness and efficiency as it applies to time and allows you to achieve results. Like the path from initiation to final destination has various patterns of crests and troughs, success includes a journey that is taken one lesson at a time. Improved and refined, successful people move onward and forward in facing their next challenge. Pomodoro technique can be interesting tool to adopt. Keep theme on mind Although every day will be slightly different, create a rundown of what your ideal daily schedule should include with a different theme for each day. Every morning, before you check email, determine the three most important tasks to complete for the day. Prioritize crucial tasks over those that are less urgent. This approach will keep you focused throughout the day and help you avoid time-consuming distractions. As leaders you can give theme to your day. This will offer incremental change and growth in your way of working. Our transformation/ change tool for leaders has done wonders. Just imagine if you can enlist 300 powerful and implementable actions into practice where would it take you and your team! Written By: Faber Aakash Borse and Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Join The Elite Class Of Successful Corporate Athletes](https://faberinfinite.com/join-the-elite-class-of-successful-corporate-athletes/): Many people read about them and admire them; some people get inspired by them. It’s their guidelines that many of you may be following: these are basically the mounting elite class of global business people who are helping to define today’s commerce and expanding the horizon. They have created breakthrough values for their companies and themselves and strive to continue on their path—and, in many cases, making the world a better place. We bring you the traits quite essential to join the elite class of successful corporate athletes: Keep on learning supported by effective thinking Begin to develop a broad outlook by teaching yourself to think in a holistic manner. This starts with measuring your existing frames of reference which can provide you a proper map of the organization and also tips how to plan the future of organization information. Specifically, you must observe, study and learn by working with each other in groups. Don’t stop in the middle of your journey It can be tough to stay on the path towards inclusive understanding. The impulse to retreat or surrender to cultural shock is very strong. You may need an enormous amount of reasoning energy to consistently resist your natural biases and your mental and emotional shortcuts. Staying on course requires discipline, awareness, and humility. Craft a positive progressive frame of mind You should start prominently by an example. The communicable nature of behaviors is very influential. Demonstrating positive behavior will have a spontaneous impact on the vibe of the organization. Even a small change can stimulate people and ultimately they will acclimatize to the changing scenario, but changing your organization’s culture is not an instant overnight process, it takes continued persistence, approach and leadership. Keep a track of the activities performed A sure sign of improvement is growth in the number of contributors as a result of your activities and the return of investment year-over-year. This is true vice versa for lack of improvement. Poor performance, growth parameters are major issues that should be tackled on multiple fronts. You need to track these metrics. If you are ignoring these parameters, it will be difficult to move from one arena to the next. To conclude, successful people are not risk averting people rather they accept risk as a challenge by facing the unfamiliar situations. It is all about creating a world you want to live in. It’s this attitude that makes the members of this club a rare and extremely prominent kind.
- [Join the elite class of successful corporate athletes](https://faberinfinite.com/join-the-elite-class-of-successful-corporate-athletes-2/): Many people read about them and admire them; some people get inspired by them. It’s their guidelines that many of you may be following: these are basically the mounting elite class of global business people who are helping to define today’s commerce and expanding the horizon. They have created breakthrough values for their companies and themselves and strive to continue on their path—and, in many cases, making the world a better place. We bring you the traits quite essential to join the elite class of successful corporate athletes: Keep on learning supported by effective thinking Begin to develop a broad outlook by teaching yourself to think in a holistic manner. This starts with measuring your existing frames of reference which can provide you a proper map of the organization and also tips how to plan the future of organization information. Specifically, you must observe, study and learn by working with each other in groups. Don’t stop in the middle of your journey It can be tough to stay on the path towards inclusive understanding. The impulse to retreat or surrender to cultural shock is very strong. You may need an enormous amount of reasoning energy to consistently resist your natural biases and your mental and emotional shortcuts. Staying on course requires discipline, awareness, and humility. Craft a positive progressive frame of mind You should start prominently by an example. The communicable nature of behaviors is very influential. Demonstrating positive behavior will have a spontaneous impact on the vibe of the organization. Even a small change can stimulate people and ultimately they will acclimatize to the changing scenario, but changing your organization’s culture is not an instant overnight process, it takes continued persistence, approach and leadership. Keep a track of the activities performed A sure sign of improvement is growth in the number of contributors as a result of your activities and the return of investment year-over-year. This is true vice versa for lack of improvement. Poor performance, growth parameters are major issues that should be tackled on multiple fronts. You need to track these metrics. If you are ignoring these parameters, it will be difficult to move from one arena to the next. To conclude, successful people are not risk averting people rather they accept risk as a challenge by facing the unfamiliar situations. It is all about creating a world you want to live in. It’s this attitude that makes the members of this club a rare and extremely prominent kind. Written By: Faber Devna Chaturvedi
- [Crafting Solutions for clients](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-solutions-for-clients/):   This article was originally published in published in Afternoon DC newspaper. Original link available here – click here
- [6 Motivation Strategies for Employees Best Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/6-motivation-strategies-for-employee-performance/): Motivating your team is very important and essential to keep the hardship to achieve the goal going. It is one of those leadership responsibilities that should be done often to keep the team going. Motivating a team or workforce is an ongoing challenge. It is a vital priority for any leader who wants to become a world-class leader. One of the reasons why leaders need to motivate their teams is to improve and boost the performance of their employees. Motivation helps an employee think that his/her leader understands the situation they are into and knows how they can win in that situation. But the motivational speech shouldn’t be coming from the online motivational source because when leaders look like they are just applying some motivational techniques which they read about then people can see right through the superficial. People choose to be motivated when they want to give their best or to go the extra mile or to offer sweeping ideas. In this scenario, the leaders can only do one thing which is to shape the conditions under which a team chooses to be motivated. Very few managers know this which is why there are gaps between the manager’s efforts and their results. A study found that only 21% of employees agree on their performance which is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. Below are 3 ways the managers can motivate employees along with three-alternative approaches. Drive-by praise Recognitions are best when given in person or even great when given in front of the entire team, but when they are given just over a quick note or over the phone, it might look like impersonal, uninformed, and inadequate. Like – dropping a text for recognizing your employee, or just stepping by the office of your employee to congratulate them for good work. Making stuff up Don’t lie to your employee just to motivate them by saying that you have got their back when the truth is that you aren’t even aware of what all things they are working on. The employees know when the managers are being insincere or outright lying. No matter whether these made-up stories are well-intended or not, they erode the employee’s trust in the leader. Guilt gratitude There are times when managers forget to assign a task to his team and recall that only a day before its submission. In such a case the manager would ask his teammate to go an extra mile and finish the task that he/she could have done if he/she was allocated proper time. The above points show that they all serve the purpose of a leader who’s giving the praise, not the acknowledgment. You might want to consider the points given below if you want to direct your good intention to a more meaningful expression of recognition. Ask for the story Nothing makes an employee happier than his supervisor listening to his story behind his achievement and encouraging and recognizing it. It makes the employee feel that you are really interested in how they did what they did, and you really appreciate their efforts. Also, listening to their story can let you know their problem-solving techniques, what are their doubts, what do they love the most about their work and what makes them feel proud. These insights will help you know what work makes them more passionate when you are to give them their new assignment. Contextualize gratitude Tell your employees how grateful you are about their performance which is not just helping their team grow and achieve the targets but also how it is helping the company to grow and achieve the targets. For example; acknowledge that they are always ready to accept change and they have always welcomed it with open arms rather than resisting change. Acknowledge the cost. Make some time to acknowledge your team members for the efforts they made to accomplish the goal. Be it sacrificing their time with their family, doing something new, or take some risk for a highly risky project. Many a times employees don’t talk about their struggle with their managers for they think disclosing that would make them look weak. That is why it is necessary to acknowledge the challenges they have faced and made it easier for the employees to be honest with you when they are facing troubles. It is the job of a leader to create a recognition-rich environment where those people who lead choose to give their best. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Optimize Your Workplace with Five S](https://faberinfinite.com/optimize-your-workplace-with-five-s/): Did you know, one of the leading banks of India is saving approximately Rs. 30 million per year by implementing the Five S in their organization? The bank is implementing Five S and has claimed to have saved on an average Rs 7.5 crore (Rs 75 million) with the help of the quality control programs conducted years back. It was Five S that contributed up to 50% of the savings. Earlier the retrievals of the documents used to take about 2-3 days but now it takes only 30 seconds. By implementing the First S – Sorting one of the bank’s offices at Mumbai freed up almost 10% of storage space by discarding the employee’s pack-rat tendencies. The company saved around Rs 600,000 through direct pay-off system to the third-party warehousing companies. How was the Five S implemented practically? Taking the example of the central Mumbai back office, which successfully cleared two levels of Five S and is considered a model case by the bank. There the employees navigate their way through the workplace using color signages for references. Like orange for the cabinets, blue for the workstations, mauve for the vaults and pink for the storage. Not only that, but the key chains of each key from the key hive. Where the keys belonging to all departments in the office are hung in a central key hive are color-coded according to the department it belongs to. All this made it easy to track when anyone takes out the key as they must register about it in the register. 10 minutes at the end of each working day, is reserved for a daily work management staff meeting. Where the employees discuss their daily work status, problems, and the achievers of any project are applauded. In addition to this meeting, the lights and computers are kept off to save power. Five S is an entirely people-driven initiative at the bank and they haven’t been slow in recognizing it. In order to sustain employee involvement, the bank is recognizing and awarding individual efforts. also group efforts with certificates signed by the chairman. Hence, as you can see Five S not only helps you in making your workplace look systematic and tidy but also helps you in resource and space optimization which results in cutting down the costs. This bank is one such example of the implementation of Five S. Have you started to optimize your workplace for better returns? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [8 Characteristics of leading Transformation for Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/characteristics-of-leaders-leading-transformation-journey/): A lot of people resist change because it gives them a sense of insecurity. It is difficult for them to accept the change; they need to understand the need for change and how it will impact them. In this article, we will discuss about 8 Characteristics of leading Transformation as a Leader. If you are a leader working on a change initiative, then keep the below pointers in mind: Lead the story: When you do not communicate the need for change, then employees fill those gaps with their assumptions which can end into one of the worst nightmares. Rather as a leader, you should take lead to communicate change in an early phase of the transformation journey. The need for change and transformation should be explained to the team as early as possible. Deliver the message more than one time: It might happen that employees might not be able to relate with the change initiative at first go. As a leader, you should take efforts to make them understand so that they accept the change fully and they believe that the change is the reality. Build Trust: Not only in new teams but in the established teams as well, building trust time and time again is highly required. Especially when speaking of change, there is a higher need for building and bridging the gaps for trusts. While communicating about the future, make sure that you make promises which can be kept, and when looked back on those communications, those kept promises are celebrated. Be visible: A senior leader is a beam of light in the darkness for the organization at times of transformation journey. And at the same time, it is so important for the leader to be visibly present holding the steering and leading with confidence. Remember the hierarchy need: All your employees are humans, and which is why at time of the change, you need to communicate with them about their concerns of insecurities. That is, they need to be communicated about the safety of their jobs, roles, how changes might impact them, and where they fit in the new structure. Build the momentum: As the journey of change and transformation goes on, the employees will slowly start taking each step forward on the new path. The success will soon start coming with it which will lead to the reduction in anxiety about change and will finally diminish. Once that happens, leaders should make sure that they celebrate the success with their teams. Be accessible: Few things matter the most in times of transition. Not just trust building or communication or support for employees but it also needs additional guidance from the leader to support that will be needed with new ways of working. Show them the vision: Break the journey into quantifiable measurements so that as and when your employees go further in their journey, they can see the final goal. In the end, the team will work only if they will see that the leader is leading them to a better place. So, go paint the vision of the company, explain the vision, show the team how to achieve them, and you will all get there together. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact – Delhi Metro completes before schedule with Operational Excellence tools](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-delhi-metro-completes-before-schedule-with-operational-excellence-tools/): Did you know the Delhi Metro took only 7 years to complete when the estimated time for the project was 10 years? The population of Delhi, the capital of India was over 1 million in the year 1990. It was a need of the hour to have reliable public transportation in Delhi. The unmanageable traffic created a need for the comprehensive traffic and transportation study which highlighted the urgent need for a rail-based transit system. The system should comprise of a network of underground elevated and surface corridors to meet the traffic demand projected for 2021. To convert this dream into reality, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) was registered on 3rd May 1995 for the construction and operation of the railway. Not only the unmanageable traffic but also the pollution that was generated due to the vehicles was contributing to more than two-thirds of total atmospheric pollution. In the year 1995, when the project was undertaken by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), they gave the target of completing the project within the time span of 10 years. There were a lot of challenges the project faced, such as technical complexity, the reason being it was the first time when the modern metro was being planned and executed in the country. The first phase of the metro began in the year 1998 which covered a length of 65 km at a cost of around INR 99 billion. The project which was targeted to get completed within the span 10 years, but it got completed within 7 years and 3 months which was 2 years and 9 months ahead of the schedule. The second phase was started in the year 2005 which covered a length of 124 km at a cost of around INR 240 billion for which the targeted time period was 5 years. But then the challenge of the Commonwealth Games which took place in the year 2010 in Delhi occurred due to which the project was given only 4 and half years to complete. And, to your surprise, the project was completed exactly on the day on which the inauguration of Commonwealth games happened in Delhi. Wonder how was that possible? The man behind the success of the project was Metro Man – Mr. E Sreedharan. He served as the Managing Director of Delhi Metro from 1995-2012. He is known for completing projects before target date and within the respective budget. He adopted a lean structure. He made each member in his team accountable for their roles and responsibilities. There was a project planning and control system in place which included daily monitoring of work progress, weekly reviews and audits. His team demonstrated fantastic teamwork and he used operational excellence tools like project planning and control, daily work management (DWM) and others which assured on or before time completion of project with no compromise on quality and considering the budget as well. As you can see, Delhi Metro is again an example of best operational excellence tools like project planning and control, DWM, etc. The public sector as well as working towards making the process smooth for on-time project delivery by using operational excellence tools. Have you started working towards on-time project delivery to accomplish operational excellence? Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [4 Ways to Lead Growing Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-lead-growing-teams/): It is necessary to change and adapt the new ways of leadership as and when your team grows. You cannot use the old ways, old methods that you used when you used to lead a small team. A bigger team would require more of your time, attention, support, and so on. Many times you may come across people in your organization who have been facing difficulties since the day their team has grown bigger. Or you too might be facing the same issue. Want to get rid of it? In this article, we will discuss about 4 ways to Lead Growing Teams. From Direct to Indirect:  When the teams are small, you can concentrate a little more on each one of them but when your team grows bigger, you cannot do the same and manage them all together. This will also make you feel that you cannot support each one of them individually. This is why managers of growing teams start to hire or develop managers under them. But this will further lead you to be moved away from the people and the work happening on the ground. But, you are still responsible for the result of your team, and you cannot be in all the details. Decisions will be made without you or your inputs, and things will be done differently than the way you might have one them. In the beginning, it may feel disorienting, as if you are losing control. But empowering your people is a necessity. One of the biggest challenges of managing is finding the perfect balance between going in details on a topic or stepping back and allowing your team to take care of it. As a team grows, learning to trust is important. Teammates treat you differently: Many a time, when your teammates don’t know you well and see that you are in a position of authority, they are less likely to tell you the truth at the workplace. They might not wish to disappoint you or have you think badly of them. Or they might be trying to make your life easier by not burdening you with new problems. Here are some of the countermeasures one can take to make it easier for other people to tell you the truth. Emphasize that you welcome their opinions and reward those who express them. Start accepting your mistakes and remind your team that you are human too, just like everyone else. Use language which invites discussion such as; “I might be completely wrong here, so tell me if you don’t agree or My opinion is….” You can also directly ask them for suggestions or advice : “If you were in my place, what would you do in such a situation?” Switching Context: In a small team, you might pass hours of hours unnoticed for the discussion over one topic but in bigger teams, you might require to take back to back meetings wherein you might have to immediately drop the past discussion and get mentally prepared for the next one. This surely does sound difficult but here’s a trick for that; Start scanning through your calendar every morning and prepare notes for each meeting. Develop a robust note-taking and task-management system.  Find time for the reflection of those meetings at the end of every week. Some days you will still feel distracted. But one day you will come to accept that there will always be a dozen different issues to work on at any given time some big, some small, some unexpected — and as a manager of a large team, you will learn gradually to roll with it. Choose your own battle: The more you look after your schedule, the more likely it is that something under your leadership isn’t going as well as it could be. It can be projects falling behind schedule, miscommunications that need to be cleared up, or people who aren’t getting what they need. At any given moment, you can list dozens of areas that you could be working to improve. At the end of the day, you are only one individual with a limited amount of time. You can’t do everything, so you must prioritize your work with its timeline. Perfection is not an option. It may take a long time for you to get comfortable operating in a world where we have to pick and choose what mattered the most, and not let the sheer number of possibilities overwhelm you. Hence, these skills will help lead growing teams better. compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Preaching Quality Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-preaching-quality-culture/): Do you know, a mega kitchen at a temple in India is practicing Operational excellence to feed ~18,000 people a day that too free of cost? A temple at Shegaon in Maharashtra – Shree Gajanand Maharaj Sansthan is serving Mahaprasad (food that is a blessing of god) to almost 5,000 people at a time without any chaos. Approximately 25,000 to 30,000 devotees are served Mahaprasad daily at Shegaon temple including other places of Shegaon Sanshtan around 45,000 devotees are served Mahaprasad daily. The preparations of the ‘Mahaprasad’ begin as early as 5.00 a.m every day. The approach is highly systematic and streamlined. First of all the ‘chapatis (Indian Bread)’ are prepared with the help of the chapatti maker machine. After that, the vegetables are cooked. Later on the rice is prepared and at last the ‘varan (Indian Daal)’ is prepared. As all these dishes are cooked in one hall, the ‘ladoos (Indian Desert)’ are prepared in another hall. The people who cook these dishes are known as ‘sevadharies (devotees who have volunteered). ‘ Even the work responsibilities are clearly assigned and highly streamlined that there are clearly defined work hours and responsibilities for the devotees who are in charge of the kitchen. As in, there are 3 – 4 cooks and 20 devotees to prepare 2,500 ladoos daily, 5 cooks and 8 – 10 devotees to cook rice, dal & vegetables and under the supervision of one devotee, there are 25 to 30 devotees who operate the ‘chapati’ making machine. The Chapati making machine is so streamlined that there 2 different machines for making chapatti dough and the chapatis. The dough of chapatti is prepared first and then the dough is transferred into the chapati machine which rolls out 10,000 chapatis at a time in one hour. The process is streamlined in such a way that quality is assured right from the source. Once prepared, the chapatis are piled in the bundles of 125, wrapped in a soft cloth and then put in the hot case before serving the people. Hence, as you can see; the streamlined work, the quality control and the management of crowd which is an inherent culture at the temple. If a temple kitchen is using quality control and operational excellence tools and techniques, have you embarked on the journey to excellence? Image Source: Scoopwhoop Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [Find More Happiness at Work](https://faberinfinite.com/find-more-happiness-at-work/): Are you happy with what you do at work? In this case, we do not mean the right career path. We mean, are you happy with your day to day tasks at work? Do you enjoy the tasks? It is a bit difficult to answer. We do not think about the small tasks that we do at work. But we should because there are always small steps to improve any work. Such small incremental changes towards improvement can make up for bigger job satisfaction. It means we do not have to change everything about the work we do, but small changes here and there can make it up all. There are times when you come back home frustrated due to a rough day that you have had in the office. There are also times when you take out your workplace frustration at your family members. This does not feel right and you even wonder what can be done to avoid this. You think of switching your job to a lesser stressful organization, but that is not a solution. Wonder what else can be done? Here’s a way out for you! Two most effective stress management strategies: Employees who are mistreated at the workplace, are more likely to mistreat people at home. The mistreatment at the office affects the employee’s self-esteem. Sleep and exercise can help improve self-regulation and thus reduce stress. According to research, participants who took around 10,900 steps every day were less likely to be rude to their family members as compared to the participants who took 7,000 steps. The research found that burning an additional 587 calories could help reduce the harmful effects of mistreatment. Different studies have also discovered a link between sleep deprivation and poor self-recognition skills. Adequate sleep and a lot of exercises will do more than just help you come back home from work in a better mood. These are two key components of living a healthy life. The researchers have connected an adequate sleep to everything from increasing creativity to longer life spans. You will also have a much better attention span, which will help you improve your performance and reduce stress. The way adequate sleep helps in increasing creativity and longer life spans, the same way daily exercise helps you improve your memory, boost your energy and increase your happiness. Also, exercise will help you sleep better. Sleep and exercise are solutions to reducing workplace stress. Less stress could lead to happier and healthier relationships. Getting an adequate amount of sleep and making out time for the exercise from your busy schedule will help you stop being burnout. Stress can be a one-off occurrence and not something which comes with the job. If every deadline is a chaotic day than maybe you are not planning your work well enough. Addressing any fundamental issues and using adequate sleep and exercise will help reduce the stress levels and ensure that you and your family is happy & healthy. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Quality is everyone’s responsibility](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-is-everyones-responsibility/): Did you know one of the fortune 500 companies, which is well known for it is ready to cook noodles, faced a loss of USD 152 million just because of the poor quality? In June 2015, the brand suffered a huge loss in brand value as the government labelled it unsafe. This started when a food inspector checked and found a lot of lead content in the noodles whereas the company claimed and wrote on its packaging about ‘No added MSG (monosodium glutamate)’ in their product. A government official from Government’s Food Safety – Uttar Pradesh, India spotted this claim in March 2014 during one of his routine audits at one of the retail outlets. The sample of the noodles was then sent to the state laboratory at Gorakhpur for testing. The results that were generated happened to be positive of noodles containing lead. The samples were then sent to the Central Food Laboratory – Kolkata, India where the results showed that – “MSG & Lead – present in the noodles: 17.2 ppm (parts per million)”. The amount of lead found in the sample was over 1,000 times more than what the company had claimed. On seeing these results, the Food Safety Commissioner – Uttar Pradesh, sent a formal notice asking to revert with a clarification on MSG & Lead in the noodles. The company did revert with the internal monitoring documents but did not consider taking any proactive step to counter any possible aftershock. The company never thought that this could lead to an estimated loss of half a billion dollars including erosion of brand value. In June 2015, the government declared a ban on the noodles due to the results of the MSG & lead found in the noodles. The company was asked to recall all its noodle packets from the stores across the nation. A globally respected brand valuation organization had calculated in mid-June 2015 that government action had caused them damage of around $200 million to $2.4 billion. Quality turned out to be a major factor that affected the brand value and sales of the company. This leads us to the fact that, no matter what happens or how big the brand is, Quality Management is the fundamental framework that can help one in building robust processes and identifying the issues at the source. As we see, even one abnormality and improper attention towards quality cannot only cost billions but can also impact brand image. This kind of loss born by the company is not just for one time, the image that has been created after this scenario puts a lifelong impression of a brand in its consumer’s mind. Organizations are investing in quality management frameworks to avoid such situations because Quality is no longer an order winner, it is an order qualifier! Have you embarked on the quality journey yet? Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [7 Reasons why employees lack motivation](https://faberinfinite.com/7-reasons-why-employees-lack-motivation/): Drop in employee motivation is a major concern that an organization should address. Research shows that 48% of employees across the world are not satisfied with their jobs. On average, more than 80% of workers worldwide feel stressed and only 20% of employees feel “engaged and motivated”. Whereas, 18% of leaders and business owners are actively disengaged. In this article, we will discuss about 7 Reasons why Employees Lack Motivation. Organizations lack focus on employee engagement and motivation factors which then costs them billions in terms of loss in employee productivity. What exactly causes this disengagement? Let us look at why this happens: Managing minute details: The managers who does micromanagement can have good intentions. But continuous micromanagement would make the employee feel that his/her work. Judgements are not trustworthy which is a major factor to trigger the workplace disengagement. Such disengaged employees might stay and mess their work or leave the organisation. It is also said that people when they quit their jobs, it’s not the jobs that they quit but it is the managers that they quit. Lack of progress: It is seen that when an employee tries to take any initiative, it has to go through never-ending layers of red tape. In such cases, the employee loses motivation or passion to try new things. Organizations should be careful of unnecessary rules and regulations that do not actually benefit them.  For example policies like restrictive office hours, Internet usage or vacation policies would be demotivating factors for employees. When employees feel controlled rather than efficient then they quit. Lack of  job security: Those employees who are not happy with their organizations will only work to keep getting their salary while they look for other options. The rest of their time will be spent on sharing rumours about the company with co-workers, updating their resumes and planning their next job. As a leader, it’s very difficult to keep your best employee in place during uncertain times. The best you can do to make this happen is to communicate frequently and give your team a sense of loyalty and trust. You cannot force people to stay, but the least you can do is you can encourage transparency. Lack of confidence in an organization’s leadership: Once the employee loses faith in where the organization is heading. Their loyalty for the organization would fray and they would stop passionately following the vision of the organization. They would even get rebellious. Research confirmed the importance of excellent workplace leadership, saying, bosses that encourage confidence. And also show faith in their employees, communicate an encouraging vision are rewarded with a team that is ready to get things done. Lack of rewards and recognitions: Everyone wants be recognized for the hard work that they do.  But, in spite of this if they are not being recognized or even worse if they are being treated just like an employee who is doing mediocre work than its natural for the person to just turn off and do the job on autopilot mode. If you want your employees to work effectively and efficiently then you need to show them that you appreciate their hard work by recognizing or rewarding them in front of their peers. Lack of efficient communication: In the absence of efficient communication, grapevine happens. Employees end up being confused and frustrated. If there is not proper communication from the leadership for clarification, it gets even worse. Communication not only helps in making the workflow smooth but also helps in building and encouraging the employee motivation. Unpleasant co-workers: The importance that our co-workers hold cannot be overseen. Because it is them who create a work environment and a work culture. There are times when your job is not that rewarding, but you still work there, the main reason being your co-workers are too encouraging and supporting which helps you release your work stress. There are also times when your work is highly rewarding but the co-workers are so jealous of you that they always keeps trying to pull you down. And despite of your hard work and you end up leaving the organization. Research has shown that close relationships among the employees increase their satisfaction by 50%. And best friends in a same organisation are seven times more likely to engage fully in their work. Now that you are familiar with the factors that can degrade employee motivation to go ahead and design plans to fight these productivity killers. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Achieving Excellence through Team Alignment](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-achieving-excellence-through-team-alignment/): Did you know, Mumbai’s Bandra-Worli Sea link has helped people reduce 50-80 minutes of their precious time which was used for commuting to 8-10 minutes? The Bandra-Worli Sea Link idea was conceived in the late ’90s. It is India’s first eight-lane, cable-stayed freeway above the open sea. The weight of the bridge is equal to the weight of 56,000 African Elephants altogether, as 90,000 ton of cement was used at the time of building the bridge. Also, the steel that was used manufacturing the bridge came majority from the Steel Authority of India Ltd. The steel cables used on the bridge are as long as the circumference of the earth. Each of them is as strong as to hold 900 tons of weight. Teams from 11 different groups spread across 11 different countries including Egypt, China, Canada, Switzerland, Britain, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Serbia were involved in making this bridge. A total of 2850 workers and 150 engineers have worked together on this project for 8 years.  Total man-hours utilized in those 8 years were 2,57,00,000. This is the first bridge of South-East Asia which is a cable-stayed bridge in an open sea and longest bridge of India so far. This bridge truly reflects the Human skills, Enterprise and Determination for manufacturing this masterpiece. The bridge is not just made on the technical aspects, but the aesthetic aspects have been given just as much importance as the technical aspects. The people of the teams were from different countries and cultures, but the masterpiece which has been made has come out with flying colors. This bridge has helped people save on an average 50-80 minutes of their precious time which was used while commutating from Bandra to Worli. The actual time taken while traveling from Bandra to Worli, if one uses the old road was from 60-90 minutes. Although there was a vast difference in language, methods of work & culture, the challenges team faced technically kept them involved in the group creatively. Despite of these differences, this masterpiece was not possible if the teams would not have been managed properly to work in alignment with the final goal. In any organization, you will always find people coming from different backgrounds, different cultures and different places. It is the responsibility of the leader to manage the entire team in such a way that the team is working together towards the organizational goals. Bandra-Worli sea link is one such example of brilliant project management and team management skills that led to a remarkable masterpiece. Progressive organizations always work towards team alignment through excellent project management to achieve goals and succeed. Is your team working towards building alignment? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Fabulous is Happiness](https://faberinfinite.com/fabulous-is-happiness/): Every year, we release a power-packed book for industry leaders called as The Faber Book (which does not talk about Faber Infinite). Since the past 4 years, every Tuesday we have been releasing management dossier called as Transformation Tuesday series for 20,000+ leaders across 10 countries – which was compiled as a book last year. The response was phenomenal and hence we rolled out another edition of the same on 6th January 2019. On demand from the readers across the globe, this book is now available on Amazon. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in the philosophy of growing together by giving back to society. We have always believed that sharing happiness is the best thing one can do for society. Proceeds from this book will go to charity. So, go ahead and buy the book to contribute to a charity with Faber Infinite at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QBZ5FNH
- [Improve Performance with this 'One' Trait](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-performance-with-this-one-trait/): It is common to see that while you are busy working hard, others seem to be advancing much faster in their careers. Have you ever thought why does this happen? In many cases, either your contribution is not being considered or it is not being recognized. Speaking of which we even feel that do the results not speak for themselves? They don’t. Even though it’s all about the numbers. For example, if you think of a salesperson, his/her sales would have increased, but it would have happened without his/her efforts. There must be other parameters that must be responsible for the increase in sales. Parameters like the superior quality of the product or marketing efforts would have helped the sales to increase. Even when the sales go down, it could be due to increasing competition. Many times it is difficult to separate actual drivers of performance. Because of this, people tend to evaluate competence based on other factors, meaning you must do more than produce results to convince them of your expertise. One of the ways to do this is by demonstrating confidence in your abilities. A study which was conducted showed the connection between confidence & perception of confidence. As a part of this study 48 subjects were asked to rate the competence of 60 imaginary people who were facing a class final examination. The subjects received 2 important pieces of information which is; they learned what the imaginary people predicted their performance to be — from very good to very poor; they also learned the people’s “actual” performance. After which, they had to rate each imaginary person’s competence. What was found was that the person’s prediction holds a strong influence on how subjects perceived their competence. Research showed that those who made optimistic predictions were much more competent than their modest colleagues — no matter how accurate those predictions were and how well they performed. Even with a positive forecast and a terrible result, they were still evaluated as almost twice as competent as those who precisely predicted their poor performance. This suggests that if someone asks how you expect to perform, you should give a positive and confident response. A negative forecast may lead you to be perceived as distinctly less competent — no matter how well skilled you are. What matter is the attitude! There is a famous saying which says – Your attitude determines your altitude” which means how successful he/she will depend upon the attitude of the individual. A positive/optimistic attitude is much better than a high skill level. As we all know the world is changing fast and change is the only constant. Change is hard and people resist change. It is not easy to accept something outside the norms. A positive attitude is must in such cases to embrace change and create a better and greener impact. So, all this is needed to create a positive effect that leads to competent and confident employees. In other words: praising your competence seems to be fine if you do not claim that others are incompetent. Hence, to convince others of your skills and abilities, make it a habit to communicate that you are good at whatever you do — without any self-criticism regarding your core competencies. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Fabulous is Nurturing](https://faberinfinite.com/fabulous-is-nurturing/): In any organization, there are frontrunners who help to accelerate the organization’s efforts by defining, analysing and finding the best opportunities to grow and eventually help them to grab it. Similarly, they also lead to find mutual benefits for all stakeholders involved and make it a win-win situation for all.  In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you the experience of one such frontrunner at Faber Infinite – Ms. Jui Shah, who leads the pre-sales function. She has helped build mutually beneficial relationship between Faber Infinite Consulting and many clients across industries and geographies. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Ms. Shah, Business Analyst at Faber Infinite Consulting. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Creative Solutions (FICS)? What three words would you use to describe your role? Jui Shah (JS): At Faber Infinite, as a Business Analyst, I lead the Pre-Sales function. My role is to identify prospects and clients where Faber Infinite’s solutions can add tremendous value to their businesses and in turn generate business opportunities for Faber Infinite through market research and analytics. Even though stationed at one location, I work across boundaries. Along with it that, I help the business creation team with insights and details to put across our credentials and value created, for building the confidence in client minds. If I want to describe my role in three words, that would be innovation, attention to detail & perfectionism. You should have innovative and creative ideas for generating and approaching the prospects and not just create those ideas but should also be able to implement them. One needs to be attentive by developing listening skills, communication skills and should be nimble to act. One needs to be sure of the data of the prospect. It must be precise before we approach them. FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber Infinite? JS: Normally, my day at Faber starts with ideal daily planning for accomplishing my targets. It includes brainstorming about the correct prospects and right solutions which will add exponential value to their businesses. Simultaneously, I work closely with the sales team to encapsulate clients requirements and prepare value propositions to follow the process. It requires good productive hours of work with meticulous planning for each day. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? JS: The whole process, right from finding the correct prospect to finally closing the deal is the most rewarding thing about my job. Talking of which I would like to share one of my experiences, where I identified one such organization in a sector we had been trying hard to step-in and with the help of the entire pre-sales and sales team, we finally cracked the deal for one more transformation journey. Hence, through this we now have a new region added in our territory and this is one of the examples which makes this whole effort worthwhile. And for all my efforts and success, I was awarded by the management team at Faber Infinite for entering new regions and opening doors of our organisation to new territories. FI: What would be your personal mantra? JS: My personal mantra is to be positive in any and every given situation. Being positive and having faith in oneself will get you all that you desire. One should never give up. Positive approach with resilience and hard work will give exceptional results. FI: What is on your wish list for your next five years at Faber Infinite? JS: In next five years, I wish to create and lead a bigger team of business analyst and pre-sales members, with the proper guidance of my mentors. I wish to take Faber to more unexplored geographies and sectors. I desire to build a very strong pre-sales team, which can reach out more clients where we can add value to their businesses and in turn fetch more business for Faber Infinite. FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? JS: I consider challenge as an opportunity to learn more, stretch yourself more and show your best! An opportunity to show your confidence and keep working, by having faith on your intuitions. One of my professional challenges is to find and reach out to the right point of contact from the targeted sector, through authentic data source. In today’s era, it is easy to get data but it is imperative to find authenticate data source that can help to achieve results. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? JS: To be very honest “Nothing”. Everything for me is just perfect and fine. It is the way I want it to be. The opportunities I am exposed to are the best and which I doubt I would have got at any other place. Hence, I would not like to change anything. FI: How has Faber Infinite helped you in your career development? JS: Faber Infinite has been the foundation of my professional career. Faber is not only crafting the growth opportunities for clients, but is also helping its team members by providing the right career growth opportunities. Faber Infinite has helped me develop the required skill set which is why it is the foundation of my career. FI: What do you like most about team Faber? JS: The Culture. The culture that we have at our organisation is just perfect. There is a healthy peer competition. We help each other grow. The management at Faber Infinite is very supportive and they work towards empowering the team. They believe in making leaders. And I can say, that it is very difficult to find such a culture at any other organisation. Thank you, Faber Jui Shah, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and your life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Excellence in Organizational Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/excellence-in-organizational-transformation/): Yet another feather in the cap! We feel glad and are proud to share that Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been recognized by the ‘Excellence in Organizational Transformation’ Award at the Asian African Leadership Summit & Business Awards on 23rd Mar 2019 at New Delhi – by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce & Industry (AACCI). We are pleased to receive the award from Mr. Ben Joubert (Deputy High Commissioner – South African High Commission) and H.E. Eng Wassfi Hassan El-Sreihin (Secretary General – African Asian Rural Development Organisation).  On behalf of Team Faber Infinite, we would like to thank the AACCI for recognizing us and our efforts with this award. We would also thank all our patrons and supporters, who have been a part of this wonderful journey. Asian African Chamber of Commerce & Industry (AACCI) is a non-stock corporation and acts as trade & business promoting chamber supporting businesses and industries by means of representing them as a bilateral chamber for the Asian and African region and help them to build better economic growth and sustainable businesses. AACCI celebrates the vision, the spirit of achievement and excellence in business leadership in Asia & Africa. This forum distinguishes and honors leaders who have contributed and shaped their national economy and are visionaries behind today’s outstanding businesses. The annual Asian African Leadership Forum comes forth to honor business prowess and leaders who have made a remarkable impact on their industry and on the society at large. The Summit & Awards recognize outstanding leadership and honors the change makers of industries from the Asian-African continent for their never-ending zest for perfection, inculcating best practices and innovative strategies. Participants of this magnanimous summit were the personification of the best in Asian – African leadership. Below are the few of the glimpses of the event Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [It has been more than 3 years now!](https://faberinfinite.com/its-more-than-3-years-now/): Transformation is not a destination, it is a journey. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been living by this value since inception. We are an organization that believes in evolving and reinventing ourselves and have made excellence our touchstone. Three years back we embarked on a journey, a journey to craft a better tomorrow – series called as Transformation Tuesday. Transformation Tuesdays are management dossiers that are today sent to more than 20,000 readers across 10 countries. The response has been phenomenal. As team Faber Infinite always believes in working towards crafting transformations to make a better tomorrow, these Transformation Tuesday nuggets will help the leader in you to cherish and grow. This month we hit double century by successfully sharing 200 Transformation Tuesdays across the world. All the Transformation Tuesday mailers shared so far, have been very well received by our readers. Some glimpse of feedback received for the Transformation Tuesday series: “I always follow all your publications. Your Transformation Tuesday articles are very interesting and inspiring” – Quality leader at India’s leading engineering organization “I have not missed reading single Transformation Tuesday. I actually wait for Transformation Tuesday to come. My Tuesday starts with your Transformation Tuesday. I am not only enjoying reading it but also implement it in my personal and professional life” – CEO at Zambia’s leading Manufacturer and Distribution house The response has been so phenomenal that it led to compiling of two full books with these Tuesday nuggets. We are humbled and thankful for your support and patronage for more than 201 fabulous weeks of #TransformationTuesday series. It has been a great journey. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy sharing these management nuggets. Here is our team celebrating 200 weeks of Transformation Tuesday. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Accelerate the Journey of Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerate-the-journey-of-excellence/): Lean is the foundation of an effective and efficient workplace. Every organization should implement lean practices in their work culture to have higher productivity and profitability. This will help organizations achieve their desired goals and targets. Lean is a philosophy which has helped thousands of organizations transform. And generate more revenues and profits by becoming more effective and efficient in their work. For all those organizations who want to enhance their work culture effectively and efficiently. Faber Infinite Consulting has rolled out a path-breaking – Green Belt Certification in Lean Management by Faber Infinite Consulting, Accredited by “Council for Six Sigma Certification” from USA. This is an extremely powerful and unique training program designed by Team Faber Infinite. This training and certification program shall help the organizations learn more about lean manufacturing, its practices and core implementation as well. It will help them become more efficient and effective. About the certification program: The certification program is divided into 3 parts with every part being followed by an examination to evaluate the progress of the participants. Moreover, what makes it unique is that the participants are also encouraged to implement one project approved by their plant at their facility and then present it for assessment. Successful implementers of the projects are awarded the prestigious certificate by Faber Infinite Consulting Accredited by “Council for Six Sigma Certification ” from USA. Program Methodology Conference room tutorial sessions Simulation exercises Group exercises Case Studies & learnings from the Gemba Live projects and evaluation on the Gemba This program is an industry-neutral program. So far, team Faber Infinite has conducted this exclusive training and certification program across industries. Hence, to further enhance your work culture effectively and efficiently with the help of Lean Management skills and accelerate the journey of excellence of your organisation. contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to roll out this certification program for your team and organization. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Quarter’s Biggest CXO Meet – FabEx2019](https://faberinfinite.com/quarters-biggest-cxo-meet-fabex2019/): FabEx 2019 – flagship event by Faber Infinite Consulting – to prepare industry leaders for the next leap in the domains of Efficient & Smart Manufacturing, was successfully conducted on 8th March 2019 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It was one of its kind, invite only symposium where industry experts and stalwarts came together to build and share best practices on the future of Man-Machine Partnership. If we were to envision the world in 2030, the partnership between man and machine will be reshaping lives and there are endless possibilities which the future holds. It was a tremendous success as it witnessed 100+ top pioneers, practitioners, and leaders from different fields of manufacturing. The objective was to discuss the endless possibilities, which the future holds and was a perfect setting to share and evolve together towards exponential growth! The theme of FabEx 2019 – ‘Man and Machine Partnership’, explored how the progressive organizations were working on winning the partnership between man and machine and how the future would be. The key challenges for next industrial revolution were touched upon and growth opportunities were identified with the base of a collective pool of thoughts with the best in manufacturing sector as well as the linkages among operational excellence, man and machine partnership and smart manufacturing were deciphered. FabEx 2019 has proved helpful for the business community to accelerate on the fast lane of the industrial revolution. Noteworthy individuals like Mr. Jagmohan Singh Sekhon (Executive Advisor  – Reliance Industries Limited), Mr. Deepak Acharya (CEO – Inox India), Mr. Naresh Gaur (Senior VP Manufacturing – Amneal Pharmaceuticals), Mr. Manish Kothari (Managing Director – Rhino Machines), Mr. Vishal Dokania (Director – Durian Laminates), Mr. Sanjay Suthar (V.P. HR and IR – CERA Sanitaryware) & Mr. Rajendra Vijay (Senior Product Manager – Automation Anywhere), headlined the symposium. The keynote address by Mr. Jagmohan Singh Sekhon marked the beginning of FabEx2019 where he highlighted about the industrial revolution and its impacts and how the 4th industrial revolution has helped find new and better ways to change the economic activities in our country. As per the august panel, technology is taking over the intervention by man hence it is extremely important for organizations to understand and develop partnership between man and machine. With the evolving technology, the adoption of Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing is an unavoidable necessity for the manufacturing industry. Which is why, strengthening the man and machine partnership is the need of the hour! It is also noteworthy, that technology adoption does not mean eliminating manpower to make the system cost-effective or vice-a-versa. This event covered the aspects of man and machine partnership where leveraging the Operational Excellence and Effective Manufacturing were also important along with Smart Manufacuturing as well. There are many who fear that as machines are getting smarter, humans will become obsolete. There is no doubt that machine learning capabilities will continue to advance. However, in the world of science, experts truly believe that man and machine relationship will remain symbiotic, and in fact, will become even more crucial. Effective and smart manufacturing solutions, the Internet of Things, smart analytics, and hyper-connectivity is shifting that depiction into a representation of the potential of digital transformation. FabEx 2019 came to the conclusion that Operational Excellence is the backbone of the new infrastructure that the industry wants to create to prepare themselves for Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0. The event was a grand success and was very well received by the industry and media.                                                                                                                                                                      The glimpse of the media coverage below:   Pre and post event thoughts of FabEx2019 have been well captured in the pre event and post event reports, which are available on request. Email us at consulting@faberinfinite.com We look forward to strengthening the man-machine partnership together! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Creating a Culture of Empowerment](https://faberinfinite.com/creating-a-culture-of-empowerment/): In this edition, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients – La-Gajjar Machineries Private Limited (Varuna Pumps), leading pump manufacturers of India. Mr. Dilip Thakkar – VP (Business Head) for Varuna Pumps shared his views on the challenges and opportunities in pump industry and how progressive organizations from the pump manufacturing sector have been working towards continual improvement and organizational transformation. Below is an excerpt from the interview. Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Varuna Pumps – a global manufacturer of submersible pumps and open well motors? Mr. Dilip Thakkar (DT): Varuna pumps was established in the year 1935 and it is around 85 years old company. Before we began with water pump manufacturing, we were into manufacturing of centrifugal pumps coupled with the diesel engine. In the year 1992, we were the first organization in the pump industry to create India’s first oil-filled submersible pumps, where oil is used as a coolant instead of water. Post which, we also introduced water filled submersible pump sets which are more robust in comparison with oil-based. Although water pumps are more robust, oil-filled submersible pumps are well accepted in few of the states. Varuna pumps has been a first mover in the industry for many products. We work towards developing and launching new products that are acceptable in the market. We take into consideration the benefits these products will deliver to the target segments. Our products are designed considering the water levels and voltage levels across the different regions in India. For instance, in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and some parts of Gujarat the oil – filled pumps are predominantly accepted as there are voltages issues; so that even with low voltage, the pumps can work easily. FI: Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? DT: If I talk about the natural challenges, natural challenges like rains are a big challenge as far as this industry is concerned. Irrigation needs huge water and it cannot be fulfilled through only pumps so natural water through rains are very important. So if the rains are scarce, farmers are not able to get desired crops, this impacts their buying powers and it result into low demand of pumps. Less rains also have adverse impact on the groundwater level and in turn its impact on the demand of pumps. If the rains continues for longer period even after monsoon season, it impact adversely on crops and that too have adverse impact on the demand of pumps. So, the quantum of rain has a sizeable impact on the pump industry. We emphasize on the rainwater harvesting as water is very precious and availability of water is reducing year on year as per survey / study by private and government reports. Suggested model is to create more and more lakes for rainwater harvesting and use of saved water in rest of the period. Another challenge in pump industry is the competition from the unorganised segment. The unorganized sector makes for 55-60% of this industry. FI: Progressive teams of Varuna are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? DT: Basically, we have three philosophies, where the first one is – Believe in your people. In people, it includes all the stakeholders in the Varuna pump ecosystem. It includes employees, vendors, dealers, distributors, advisors, etc. This philosophy is very close to us because we believe our people are the ones, who represent us in the market. Our people stand first for us. We believe in empowering them. Products plays very vital role for consistency of business but people who design, manufacture and market the same plays very vital role in any organization. Our second philosophy is to provide solution as a product and ensure customer satisfaction through robust product as per customer expectation / need and ensure real time service to customer. Our third philosophy is – Maintaining healthy relationships with all the stakeholders. We believe that you need to maintain a healthy relationship with all your stakeholders because in this industry maintaining the relationship is very important and the returns are always positive. FI: We would love to understand more about the transformation journey at Varuna Pumps. DT: So, if I have to talk about the transformation journey of Varuna pumps, then in the year 1999 the company was having the turnover of around INR 100 Million whereas today we will be closing at around INR 4.25 Billion (INR 4250 Million). And like every other organization, we also faced a difficult period in the years 2003-04, 2009-10 and in 2013-14. In these years, the challenges were the same external factors that we spoke about. This journey of Varuna pumps from INR 10 Crore to INR 425 Crore has been possible because we have worked on giving structure to the processes and the system. We have always considered a third party or advisor’s view. Their advice has always been very helpful.  Even the top management at Varuna is open for suggestions from expert advisors as we consider that third-eye always helps! Another aspect of transformation at Varuna is that we have invested a lot in our employees so that the empowerment is in place along with the responsibility and accountability. We never interfere wherever the involvement is not required as far as the hierarchy is considered. This gives ownership to our people. This also makes people to stay long with the organization and contribute to the growth. The third aspect of transformation is getting new products to the market on time as per the market needs. We have a strong R&D team, which continuously works on new product development. FI: We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to
- [Friday Fact - Unlocking a Hospital’s True Potential](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-unlocking-a-hospitals-true-potential/): Did you know, Narayana Health, a chain of 23 hospitals across India is one of the most affordable full-service healthcare providers in the world by applying operational excellence tools? Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy surgery costs more than $200,000. But in this hospital, it costs around $10,000.  In Narayana, surgery for head and neck cancer starts from $700. Endoscopy starts from $14, a lung transplant starts from $7,000 and a heart transplant will set a patient back only about $11,000. Narayana is said to be the most affordable hospital providing healthcare services at the most affordable prices. The hospital has been able to get the retail cost of a heart bypass down to $2,000 which is about 98% lesser than the average costing of any regional hospital. This was only possible with the help of one important thing which was implemented in 2002 which is – assembly line surgery. You might wonder how can assembly line be used in hospitals? They started doing this by upskilling or task shifting. The idea is the top qualified doctors do only the value adding activity, leaving simpler tasks to be done by lower-paid workers. In a hospital, this might mean that the highest paid staff—the most experienced surgeons—entered the operating theatre only to finish the most difficult and most important part of the surgery, leaving everything else to the junior doctors or well-trained nursing staff. Then the surgeon moves on to the next operating theatre to perform the same task again. They have structured the assembly line so well that preparing a next patient in US surgical theatre might take 30 minutes or more but Narayana has got the process down to less than 15 minutes. Within a decade Narayana Healthcare had a national network and, in 2014, even opened in the Cayman Islands, in part to attract medical tourists from the U.S. Two years later, Narayana Health went public in Mumbai; it has been continuously profitable since. Operational excellence tools and techniques are creating wonders in the healthcare and hospitality industry. And to your surprise, the hospital is still finding ways to serve the regional people the health care services at even lower rates which would help the people below poverty line to get the best of the medical services at Narayana.  Assembly line has not only helped manufacturing setups, but it can create wonders in the service and hospitality sectors as well. Hence, have you started implementing operational excellence tools and techniques for phenomenal results? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Let us Clean the Mess.](https://faberinfinite.com/let-us-clean-the-mess/): The cluttered environment of the organization affects the way one works. When the workplace becomes a mess, the same is reflected in the case of the people working in that organization. We lose our efficient work minutes searching for an important document that is lost on our cluttered desk. An international survey has found that an employee loses up to 2 hours of his/her fruitful time per week over searching for a lost digital document. So, it is not just about the cluttered desk but also about the cluttered desktop or laptop. Research shows that the clutter at the workplace is leading to stress which is costing businesses up to $190 billion every year. It is time to realize the role clutter plays in our work lives — and start working towards cleaning up the mess. How clutter affects your brain and work: A research made by an International Institute has found out that the constant disorganization drains our cognitive resource and reduces our ability to focus. Whereas when the same desks were cleaned from clutter the results showed that the employees were able to focus and process the information effectively thus leading to productivity improvement. It is also possible that a cluttered office produces employees who make poor eating choices during breaks and spend less time working. Clutter can make us feel anxious, stressed or depressed. The research found that the stress hormone cortisol was high in a lady whose household environment was cluttered. The more the hormones sustains and increases it leads to an increase in the level of stress and anxiety. Even our relations can be affected by such an environment.  Research suggests that those with messy desks seemed to be less conscientious, more neurotic and less agreeable. Such observations create a negative image of these employees among their peers. What can be done to make it right? Regularly cleaning workplace and desk is a proven way to keep clutter away at the bay. Do not let things compile in a way such that looking at it you start delaying to clean it. For teams and organizations, develop a regular cleaning habit. Imbibe cleaning in the organization’s culture.  Consider introducing a clean-desk policy to administer the tidiness of shared workspaces. Take help from your IT team to provide tools to manage online documents, as well as a list of what should be kept and what can be discarded. While doing this, an organization needs to consider the security policy and keep in mind employees’ need for privacy and independence. Finally, keep this under consideration that clutter isn’t always bad. One study has shown that sometimes messy desks can even help us become more creative. The findings of the study suggest that neat & ordered environments make us more likely to adopt the expectations and play it safe, while messy ones move us to look at things in a new way. Hence, while a totally clean and organized desk might indicate lack of creativity, a very unorganized or messy one may send unfavorable messages about your work ethic and personality. Keep things on hand that is needed for current projects, but resist the temptation to hoard. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Friday Fact - Poka Yoke in Air](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-poka-yoke-in-air/): With the recent tragedy of Ethiopian Airlines and Jet Airways crisis, airlines are in current focus. Obviously, safety in the air is a serious concern and needs to be revisited. However, this Friday sharing some Poka Yoke (error proofing) examples from our experiences at flight kitchen operations. It highlights the features of the operation that make it top quality service up in the air! In this complex operating environment, it is not surprising to see poka yokes in use. Some examples follow: 1. All trolleys that are loaded onto aircraft have a sticker on them to identify which flights they are on, and other data about the trolleys contents. But some stickers are white, to show that the trolley should be offloaded at the destination, whereas others are yellow, to show that the trolley should remain on the plane for the return to its point of origin. 2. All tray layup work stations have photographs of the different tray settings. 3. All meals are color-coded by day of production to help ensure that no out-of-date meals are loaded onto planes. 4. Meal trays with special meals on them (vegetarian, kosher, halal, etc.) are also color-coded so that cabin crew can more easily distinguish between them. If Poka Yoke can be implemented and is delivering results in such complex – time-pressed set up, are you designing error-proof processes? What are examples of Poka Yoke in your industry?  
- [Customer is King](https://faberinfinite.com/customer-is-king/): The customer is the king of any industry. In today’s era where the customer is the game changer, organizations cannot afford to lose even one of them. Customer retention is a very challenging task. It is an unavoidable necessity for any organization to plan and implement strategies to reacquire the lost customers. Below are the proven points you can use while making your strategies to acquire the lost customers: Support: Many a time the reason why your customer plans to leave you is because they experience a lack of support from your end. Customers like when they are given attention. If they are facing some issues with the product/service than they would always want that they are attended promptly.  Hence, make sure that you have a strong support department and you have shared the contact details of the same with the customers so that they can easily contact you for any query. After receiving the queries make sure to attend the queries and give your customers a proper solution. Make a survey: Circulate a survey to understand customer satisfaction for your product or service. Understand how satisfied are they with your product/service, how often they would like to recommend your offerings in their circle of influence, what changes they would like you to make in your offerings, etc. Share the survey with your old and existing customers. Make sure, for the ease of your customer, you have a scale of 1 to 5 to respond with where 1 means the lowest and 5 means the highest. With the help of this survey, you can come to know how well your offerings are being received by your customers in the market, what all change you need to incorporate to make sure you don’t lose your customer and how you can retain your old customer. If there is any negative response given in the feedback, you are promptly responding with an apology note for any inconvenience they have faced. Keep your surveys brief and your emailed users don’t need to go to a separate survey site to complete the form. Also, don’t take a small sample segment for the survey — try to cover as many as you can. Don’t downgrade your customer: If you are into a service industry or in any B2B industry, then there are chances that your payments are getting delayed. Maybe because of a constant follow-up the person is tired and does not wish to work with you. In such scenarios, follow-up with the customer with a call or an email saying that you regret for whatever happened in past and you have upgraded your policy now which are to be followed strictly. Assure them that they will not face the same situation again. Offer discount: If your customer has left using your offerings, follow-up with them by offering them some discount or by replacing the product or by paying back for the service. This might make the customer feel that their issues are being taken care of and they are not being ignored. With the help of such offerings, there is a chance to regain the trust of your customer. Use the reason for downgrading for retaining: It is difficult to follow-up with those customers who have left without sharing the reason. Hence, start finding out the customers who have gone without sharing why they have left, have a follow-up call with them for knowing the reason. The right language goes a long way too. So, be sure to communicate how important this information is to you and how much you appreciate the feedback shared. It is always easy to make a strategy, but it is difficult to implement the same. The above points are the proven tactics that are being used for the customer retention process. We hope you to use this and find the best way to retaining your customers. We are glad to share we have completed a fabulous 201 weeks of Transformation Tuesday series. It has been a great journey.  We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy sharing these management nuggets. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Quality is everyone's responsibility](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-is-everyones-responsibility/): Do you know, one of the Fortune 500 companies which is in the sector of manufacturing automobiles, has recalled thousands of cars since 2013? A leading global automobile manufacturer wrote to 1,018 car owners, the car which was manufactured between November 2017 and December 2017, for the inspection of driver and front passenger seat recliner locks. The company also recalled 4,379 cars manufactured at the Chennai plant of India in the year 2017 for the inspection of the front lower control arm. This step was taken due to the poor quality issue faced by the owners of the cars. Also, in the year 2016, the company had to recall 48,700 units of cars to rectify faulty fuel and brake lines along with the rear seat backrests. In December 2014, more than 20,700 units of cars were recalled, to fix what an airbag issue and faulty fuel line. In the year 2015, the company called back 16,444 units of cars produced between the years 2013-2014 for fixing a fault with the rear twist beam. But if we go back in the year 2013 where the car made its first debut, the company had to recall around 1,000 diesel cars to relocate the module of the glow plug in the engine architecture. Because of the poor quality issue faced by the customers, the company sales dropped by 9% in the Indian market in the year 2014. In today’s era, quality is a qualifying criteria and needs to be embedded in the product. The organizations should focus enough on the quality of their products. This was just one example of Cost Of Poor Quality the company is facing. Are you also facing similar issues relating to quality? Are you capturing the cost of poor quality? Then start applying Quality Control & Management tools in your organization to avoid such issues. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Top 3 Characteristics of Effective Team](https://faberinfinite.com/top-3-characteristics-of-effective-team/): There is always a synergy in an effective team. People learn, support and help each other. But in a less effective team, there are always conflicts, clashing agendas, one-way information transfer, and unenthusiastic commitment. So here is the question, what can be done to make your team an effective team? 3 strategies of Build Effective Team Appreciation In a team, every individual brings value to the ideas, experiences and skills of others. With that as a primary framework, the focus should not be on proving one’s own perspective. The focus should be on uncovering the true value offered by each team member. This creates a high level of interaction and engagement within a team. People achieve most of the benefits from a team if they seek teammates with complementary strengths. Every team member should have something to add. If only one member has all the answers, there is no need for a team. It is than when we can benefit from the strengths of others and establish processes for cross-fertilizing ideas and plans with the help of which the team becomes an efficient team. Only then the cross appreciation takes the actual place. Strengths It is found that the fit between team roles and the strengths of team members is predictive of both happiness and performance. For example, the successful teams of financial organizations, where one sees a clear division of labour, with few team members focusing on research, others members focusing on portfolio construction and management, and other members on trade execution and position management. This is not any different from an athletic team, where team members playing at a particular position possess distinctive strengths that suit them for that position. A general rule that has been found among successful teams is that each member has some distinct quality. This is how the strength can be utilized in creating an effective team. Communication Soft skill is in high demand in recent times. The main factor that makes teams work effectively is that each member must be able to communicate their ideas & perspectives clearly. A research has found that people working together on a project are more effective than a single person spending all his time doing the same thing. However, without communication, the team members can be of no use. Teams that communicate effectively complete projects in a quicker and more efficient time, they are more accurate in their work than others. Effective communication also allows members to understand their roles as well as roles of other team members. It also builds understanding among the team members of what needs to be done. This helps the team to be more effective. Hence, an effective team is only possible when every member is appreciated, they use the appropriate strength of the member in the team and there is effective communication within the team. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [National Safety Week - 2019](https://faberinfinite.com/national-safety-week-2019/): “Work Smart, Work Safe” Precaution is better than cure! Someone has rightly put these words together. While working with machines, people forget to look out for their safety. In an era where man is constantly working along with machines, safety is a subject which he doesn’t take under consideration. Safety now a days is not being treated as a primary need. But people and organizations need to start understanding its importance and start using the safety equipment and get their men fully equipped with safety tools before he/she goes on the shop-floor. Safety is a very important and highly underrated part of today’s scenario. Organizations and people need to understand the importance of safety and how to avoid any unwanted accidents by being fully equipped with all the safety tools. On this 48th National Safety Week, pledge to begin work only after assuring about your safety by accommodating the safety tools with yourself. Let us bring hands together towards growing the safety awareness in our work culture and work towards its sustenance! Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [The Power of Lean Six Sigma](https://faberinfinite.com/the-power-of-lean-six-sigma/): Did you know, The US army is saving billions of dollars with the help of lean six sigma? Since 2006, thousands of military officials have been achieving Green Belts, Black Belts & Master Black Belt SIx SIgma. The Army used Lean Six Sigma methodologies to save more than $19 billion by eliminating operational inefficiency and improving services. In 2017, Army officials held a function in Washington, D.C., to honor 13 programs across 11 departments and ranked them as the best Lean Six Sigma initiatives for 2016. With the help of Lean Six Sigma project, the Army saved millions of dollars and eliminated wasted time and efforts. The US Army started using Lean Six Sigma methodologies since 2006. In the year 2016, the army earned 3 awards for Saving the total cost of $66.2 million by costs savings, cost avoidance, and revenue generation. Saving the total cost of $5.7 million in the health care department of Military. Saving almost $3 million for 21stTheatre Sustainment Command. As we all know, the roots of Six Sigma lies in industrial manufacturing. But, the use of this methodology has become widespread across several industries, as well as with non-profit and government organizations. Lean Six Sigma has been delivering outstanding results across industries. Are you using it? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Quality is not an Act, it is a Habit](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-is-not-an-act-it-is-a-habit/): For any industry, the cost of quality is 35% or higher of the sales. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how to handle the cost of poor quality in a better way.  This will help you to make profound decisions in the right direction. A lot of companies have found quality as an area that they can research and resolve to reap bigger benefits. Let us look at the cost of poor quality – Failure Cost: Failure cost is a cost that a company bares when its product fails in the market. Costs such as rework, re-testing, material review, replacement, warranty, return, loss of customer trust etc. Let us consider a recent example: A Fortune 500 company well known for its product quality recently faced a Cost Of Poor Quality situation and had to bear the cost of ~ USD 1.1 billion. A few days ago, in a basketball match – NCAA basketball between Duke and North Carolina, Duke freshman – Zion Williamson ripped open his shoes and suffered from a knee sprain injury. His ripped Nike PG 2.5 shoes were immediately brought to notice by former US president, Barak Obama himself, who exclaimed that Williamson’s shoes broke. Due to this, the player had to move out of the field because of his injury. Nike had to face the fall in its stock by 1.8%. It is not just the monetary loss that the company faced. The tweets started showing up on Twitter by the public accusing Nike for the poor quality they had to offer! Let us understand how we can prioritize quality and reduce both cost and risk: Reduce rework Increase Return on Investment Work on reducing customer complaints Maintain consistency to maintain brand value Work on reducing recalls Increase investments to improve quality Hence, as we all know that poor quality has always affected organizations. It can change the image of the organization in no time. Poor quality has always resulted in a disaster. So, maintaining good quality should always be the need of the hour. Quality should be a habit. It should be the culture of the organization. It should be inbuilt in the culture. As mentioned by Aristotle – “ Quality is not an act, it is a habit”, let us work to build quality to reap benefits”. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Donating efficiency and productivity!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-donating-efficiency-and-productivity/): Do you know, the renowned Toyota instead of signing a big cheque, donated continuous improvement? The Food Bank – New York is a non-profit social service organization which arranges food and support for the needy/ homeless people of New York. It is the largest anti-hunger charity which feeds approximately 400,000 people every day. The Food Bank at first was a little hesitant with the offer. But after presenting the details to Food Bank about efficiency improvement and how Toyota can help them with it, the Food Bank for New York City was more than happy to hear what Toyota could offer. So, what all changes did Toyota made by Muda elimination? Let’s have a look: Eliminated 10 at a time system The staff member would wait for enough space to open up to allow 10 people inside the dining. The average wait time could be half an hour to one hour. Hence, Toyota eliminated this system and started allowing diners one by one as soon as a chair was free. The dinners were asked to form a line next to the food counter from where they could pick their dish. And the waiting time was reduced to 18 mins. Reduced search time by half of the actual Toyota engineers tried to accelerate the pickup process. They drew a layout identifying spots where they found slowdowns. They reorganized the shelves by using colored tape to mark the grain, vegetable, fruit and protein sections. The time volunteers spent in the pantry was reduced nearly by half. Packaging time shrank to 11 seconds At the warehouse, from where all the stock was being packed and supplied for victims of Hurricane Sandy, the average packaging time of one box was cut down to 11 seconds from 3 minutes. It was done by creating an assembly line. The volunteers had to drop food items into boxes as the boxes moved across a conveyor belt. 1 meal per view Toyota announced its “Meals Per Hour” campaign which was promoted through a short documentary film. The strategy included – the company to donate 1 meal for every view the video received, up to 250,000. The video went viral in a very short period of time. The video even surpassed the original target goal. The company decided to donate an additional 1 million meals in addition to the 250,000 meals they had already donated. The video currently has more than 1,014,408 views. Hence, as you can see, continual improvement is not static to improve productivity and profitability. It can help in such miraculous ways and places we won’t have even thought of. It is not necessary to donate in tangible terms only. The best gift any charitable trust would have received is what more they can give back to society by spending lesser time. Have you thought about it yet? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [3 Tips to be a Successful Change Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-successful-change-leader/): LChange is a very critical situation to manage for all leaders. Change brings in all kinds of disruptions that the team must go through. Leaders are vulnerable to the pressure of their teams’ expectations because employees will always look up to the leaders for a better understanding of their changing job roles during the change implementation. Hence if you want to be a successful change implementer, you will have to make sure that your team is on the same page. The employees play a big role in succession of change management. You would need to follow below-mentioned steps for a successful change implementation: Keep it clear It is necessary for the leader to define the vision and keep the communication clear. eader has to convert his individual vision into organizational vision for change management, he needs to have a consistent communication. As per the recent trend, leaders will need to leverage their employees preferred a mode of communication method which is through social media to ensure receptiveness. As per a research, on an average an organisation spends 3 hours daily on different social media platforms, with around 50% of employers using that for internal communication. It is also noted that just 17% of employees rated their leader highly when it came to recent change-related communications. Stay connected It is necessary to stay constantly connected with your employees because, without this, leader will have difficult time explaining the vision and enlisting support to the employee. Your employees expect you to be approachable as well as direct and transparent. A research showed that one third of the CEO’s preferred social media platforms as it allowed them to have more of the direct communication. The same CEOs also believed that such interactions helped them get a quick idea of what employees were thinking/feeling.  This is important while aligning your change management initiatives with the capabilities of your people. Be responsible A leader needs to be accountable of his commands and transparent with team. Obtaining the accountability shows a desire and commitment to fix any problem to yield the best results! To be truly accountable means you want to implement the change come what may. Accountable leaders look at all the aspects of their organisation to ensure all are functioning optimally. If it isn’t, then a good change management leader should admit the gap and take actions to address shortcomings. The above outlined principles will help leaders conquer the change management challenge. Remember that perceptions of leaders are often shaped at the time of transition and change. Hence, don’t let people question your leadership & mission of the organization. Work hard and be a successful change implementer. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Crafting growth opportunities!](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-growth-opportunities-2/): It’s always fabulous to contribute towards creating value and what could be better than encouraging the next generation leaders! Our Director and Founding Partner Mr. Jalay Pandya was invited by The Institute of Law, Nirma University, India to encourage students on taking up Entrepreneurship and creating value! As Faber Infinite always believes in crafting growth opportunities, here we mark our statement by inspiring future entrepreneurs. The session was a terrific treat of inspiration for the students! Nirma University is one of India’s leading universities and is a member of Association of Indian Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (Source – https://nirmauni.ac.in/). We at Faber Infinite Consulting, wish to thank Nirma University for having us and wish them and the students all the best in their endeavors!  
- [Friday Fact - Are you Ready to Embark on the Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-are-you-ready-to-embark-on-the-journey/): Did you know, the leading automobile manufacturing company has been using just-in-time since 1909? Harley-Davidson one of the leading motorcycle manufacturing company was established in 1903. They built their first three motorbikes in a shed. In 1909, the company introduced its trademark 2 cylinder bike (which was able to reach a speed of 60 mph) using management principles adopted from the Japanese culture – Just in Time (JIT). With new marketing strategies and manufacturing techniques, Harley improved quality and began the long battle to increase its market share. JIT was the driving force for the quality-improvement program of Harley. As Harley was operating with the lowest inventories, it became essential that all their inventories were usable. If they were only going to get a few parts, they all needed to be good ones. Harley’s suppliers had to implement JIT into their production process to compliment Harley’s system. Harley’s JIT is mostly characterized on the basis of its transformation after the World War 2 era from an inefficient manufacturer to a nimble manufacturer, which is able to meet its market demand and provide shortest lead time. After the implementation of JIT, Harley showed results like; 75% reduced inventory level & increased productivity, improvement in inventory turns up from 5 to 20, inventory levels decreased by 75%, motorcycles coming off the line completed up from 76% to 99%, 68% reduction in scrap and rework, productivity improved by 50%. Harley Davidson’s success with the implementation of JIT has been because they are working hard to strive for operational excellence with Lean manufacturing concepts like JIT. Have you embarked on the journey of operational excellence yet? Writen & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Details about the webinar](https://faberinfinite.com/details-about-the-webinar/): Fabex is a flagship event by Faber Infinite Consulting – to prepare leaders for the next technology leap in the domain of manufacturing. With the evolving technology, the adoption of Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing is an unavoidable necessity for the manufacturing sector. But technology adoption doesnot mean eliminating manpower to make the system cost effective. This event will come both aspects of the Man & Machine partnership where leveraging the Equipment Effectiveness is equally important along with manpower productivity and material cost optimisation Click here to register for the webinar
- [Another feather in the cap!](https://faberinfinite.com/another-feather-in-the-cap/): We are glad to share, Mr. Mandar Tulankar from Faber Infinite Consulting has been awarded and felicitated by Hon. Chief Minister of Maharashtra – Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon. Minister of Road Transport & Highways – Shri Nitin Gadkari, Mayor of Nagpur – Mrs. Nanda Jichkar for his contribution in Nagpur Smart City Idea Challenge. Congratulations to @Mandar Tulankar, we are glad to see one more star of recognition being attached to your story of success. We, from Faber Infinite, wish you and team joins hands in crafting growth opportunities!
- [4 Steps Management practices to improve employee productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/management-practices-to-improve-employee-productivity/): Companies today want to improve their employee’s productivity but, how often do they examine their own practices to attain the same? Research has shown that many non-management employees are disengaged and not working at their full productive capacity. People also think that improving productivity is only possible with incurring additional cost.  But that is not true. Below mentioned are the steps which will help you Improve employee productivity without incurring any additional cost. Design an economic incentive: A general economic incentive for the entire organization can help the employees of all the levels take the benefit. If you want your employee to be vigorously committed to your organization than you would not wish to neglect the incentives for the bottom level. Obviously, this will lead to incur to your costs, but the structure has to be carefully drawn so that the additional pay-outs reflect clearly defined revenue & earnings targets. Provide meaningful feedback: It is necessary to provide meaning full and constructive feedback on a regular basis. Feedback is a foundational skill of management. The ability to provide helpful feedback which could be positive or negative in such a way that it encourages and not discourages the employee. It could be simply an encouragement for the job like well done, or the correction if needed. Don’t be anti-emotional: Management won’t get anything by withholding praise and recognition when it is needed. A recent study showed that recognition is more powerful than monetary incentives. Well, this may not make much of sense at senior level as financial rewards escalate but, the focus should be on Improve employee productivity at an organizational level to make the broadest gains. Ensure senior leadership model: Employees of all levels should be treated with respect. Employees get highly demoralized by seeing their senior leaders when they act in a way that they do not respect their team members. Leaders are always being watched and judged continuously. The employees have keen eyes and are keen data sharers! When leadership is “walking the talk,” it will be quickly noted – but so will “talking the walk” without walking it. Employee engagement is a vital factor to boost organizational productivity. Most of the times, employees would admire being part of a team where they are respected and empowered and are not just a member of an organization. Developing and maintaining a consistent management approach is a key towards improving productivity. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 6](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-6/): On the last day of National Productivity Week – 2019, team Faber Infinite is glad to share benefits delivered via productivity improvement at one of the leading cryogenic tanks manufacturers of India, where we delivered 40% improvement in manpower productivity & 30% improvement in production throughput time.  
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 5](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-5/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share benefits delivered via productivity improvement, during this National Productivity Week – 2019, at one of the leading alternator products designers & manufacturers of India, where we delivered 20% -25% improvement in manpower productivity!
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 4](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-4/): This National Productivity Week – 2019, we are glad to share benefits delivered via productivity improvement, at one of the leading agricultural machine manufacturers of India, where team Faber Infinite has delivered 15% – 20% improvement in manpower productivity!
- [Performance Management for Engaging & Motivational culture](https://faberinfinite.com/performance-management-for-engaging-motivational-culture/): Did you know, one of the leading US food pro­duc­ers and dis­trib­u­tors – a Fortune 500 company, was struggling to engage and motivate its 155,000 employees worldwide? In this article, we will walk through Performance Management for Engaging & Motivational Culture. The company start­ed to trans­form its tra­di­tion­al per­for­mance man­age­ment system back in 2012. The senior HR’s and the management team wanted to improve the performance management system as a part of the work on its corporate initiatives. Research conducted revealed a major imbalance between what the performance management system measured & the way it was used, and how employees accomplished their day-to-day work. Through this research only, the company got to know that all its 1,55,000 employees were facing issues regarding engagement and motivation. This is when the company decided in 2012, that it needs to change its performance management system. At the same time, the seniors also got to know that managers were unwilling to give candid feedback to employees, and viewed performance management as little more than an administrative drill. They also recognized that it would take several performance management cycles and a major focus on continuous improvement to see the effect on individuals as well as organizational performance. After implementing the Everyday Work Management – Daily Work Management System, the company saw improvements like: 69% of employees reported that they were receiving useful development feedback, and 70% of employees indicated feeling valued due to ongoing performance discussions with their manager. Hence, as you can see that the performance management system is bringing a high percent of engagement and motivation within the organizational culture. Faber has devised and administered an extremely powerful performance management system as well as a daily work management system which is delivering exponential results and helping organizations transform. Have you taken the initiative?  Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [National Productivity Week -2019, Day 3](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-3/): On the 3rd day of National Productivity Week – 2019, we are glad to share benefits delivered at one of the largest thermal power producers in India, where team Faber Infinite helped in sustainable manpower productivity improvement by 12%.
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 2](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-2/): As we are celebrating the Foundation week of National Productivity Council in the name of National Productivity Week -2019 we would like to share a few glimpses from the leading industrial biotechnology organization where team Faber Infinite helped them in their productivity and sustainability through improving their throughput time by 20%.  
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day - 1](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019/): At the outset, on behalf of the entire Faber Infinite team, we take this opportunity to congratulate the National Productivity Council of India for remarkable efforts towards growth and productivity of India in the National Productivity Week – 2019. Faber Infinite Consulting team has been working in the domains of productivity and efficiency improvement in different geographies with clients across industries. We have been delivering phenomenal results to uplift the client’s competitiveness. As a part of the National Productivity Week – 2019, we celebrate this initiative and take this opportunity of sharing a few glimpses from the industry.
- [Change is a new normal, know how to handle it!](https://faberinfinite.com/change-is-a-new-normal-know-how-to-handle-it/): Change is a continuous and never-ending process. But in a world, where your organization needs a constant revamp, do you think your employees are easily going to adapt the change? Change is VUCA (Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous). Now consider that your employee requires to learn new skills, find new ways to communicate and alter their perspective towards their work & remain calm and focused. Change is new normal, but do you think you can handle it? Earlier leaders use to predict the threats and risks for the company and used to prepare themselves and the team. But today, the risk itself has become unpredictable. In such an era, the companies have started to cope with the environment of VUCA rather than anticipating known risk. Organizational transformation model helps the employee move quickly in a dynamic environment, but also it needs the employee to re-imagine how they work. In such an era, non-adaptive behavior is a big issue. Hence, below is the process which will help you build adaptive behavior progressively in the time of change implementation. Create Individual resilience: We have usually thought of resilience as an inherent personality trait. But it can be learned over time. It can help an individual to enable self-awareness, self-management, realistic optimism, empathy and reaching out to connect with others. With the help of training for resilience, the employee can move from a pessimistic perspective towards change to an optimistic perspective. Build a network to fully empower teams: The team of employees acquires the strength to adapt quickly as they learn resilience. A resilient team is skilled to manage change. Hence, it is necessary for the team to have the clarity of managing change, including changes in its membership, makeup and authority. Also, the leaders need to act as coaches and mentors and not as micromanagers. Implant resilience in your culture: Every new normal test the organization’s culture. Like teams, culture is also stressed by changing circumstances. No individual “owns” the culture, but as a leader, you embody and exhibit the values that underlie the culture. Will they change in times of disruption? The answer to this question by the leaders has a major impact on the resilience of the workplace itself. At research, it was discovered that organizational resilience requires putting stated values into action—in other words, integrity. Individual resilience training, agility in teams and leadership integrity are the three pillars of organizational resilience. Bring it into the culture of your organization and they will see you through the next “new normal,” and the one after that. Writtern & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Friday Fact - Standing Tall Since 1192](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-excellence-since-1192/): Did you know an iron pillar is standing tall, without getting rusted since 1192? An Iron Pillar in Delhi – India standing nearly 24 feet tall, located in the Quwwat-ul Mosque – weighing more than 6 tons; looks nothing of its age on the first glance. You might be assuming why it hasn’t rusted yet. The reason is not only the quality of the materials used but the skillful men who made the pillar and fortuitous processes & conditions, that caused a protective layer to appear on the pillar. But if we keep today’s climatic condition under consideration, no type of iron can stay without getting rust because we have 3 different weather that goes beyond the average temperature the city had back in the year 1192. The exact material used for making this pillar is still a mystery. But, through some research, this has come to notice that – it is made of 98% wrought iron and a layer of the pillar consists of a compound of iron, oxygen & hydrogen and it is 1/20 of a millimeter thick. Hence, as you can see that driving excellence and quality are not recent practices but are being practiced for centuries! Are you driving quality and excellence in your organization yet? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [4 Ways to Embrace change with the help of Emotional Intelligence](https://faberinfinite.com/embrace-change-with-the-help-of-emotional-intelligence/): Changes related to organizational transformation can be difficult to accept and embrace. Because, it can be emotionally intense, sparking confusion, fear, anxiety, frustration, and helplessness. Research says that the experience of going through change at work can be as similar as that of people who are suffering from the grief of the loss of loved ones. The reason behind it is that change highly affects emotionally as well as physically, which mostly puts a person into an insidious cycle that leads to even greater resistance to change. In this article, we will walk through 4 ways to Embrace Change with the help of Emotional Intelligence. Ideally, no one wants to be an obstacle to any new initiatives taken or any effort to be made towards any new initiative. But people do this because they are tired and frustrated with the change that is coming on their way, every time they are trying to settle with their past changes. People are tired of feeling frustrated and angry thinking about changes at work, and they want to be seen as adaptable rather than resistant. Hence, next time when your organization introduces the change for organizational transformation, try considering the below-given steps: Search for the source of resistance: Try searching and understanding your resistance towards change. Many a time a person resist because they are worried that the change might make them look incompetent or the change will interfere in your autonomy. For this, a plan can be created to learn the skills one might need in order to be successful or one can even take the guidance from who are leading the change efforts. Question emotional response towards change: Ask why one is resisting the change & which emotions are leading to that? Is­­ it fear, anger, frustration or something else? Once you identify which emotion is leading towards resistance, ask what is it about? This kind of questioning helps to illuminate the reasons driving emotions and influencing perceptions. Own one’s part in the situation: It’s not easy to fess up to the part one plays in creating a negative situation. A self-aware person reflects on how one’s attitude and behaviour contribute to the experience of change. Any kind of negativity is going to impact any individuals’ behaviour, performance, and well-being which won’t be in a good way. Hence, by knowing about how one initially reacts to any change related event, it’ll be easier to adjust the attitude – to be more open to considering new perspectives, which changes the way one reacts to change. Have a positive approach over negative: Research shows that having a positive outlook can open us up to new possibilities and be more receptive to change. Ask questions which can help one think more optimistically. For example: what are the opportunities with this change? How will these opportunities help me and others? The ability to quickly and easily adapt to change is many a time a competitive advantage for a leader. Next time when you feel yourself resisting towards change, use the approaches mentioned above to build momentum and psychological energy for you and others. Hence, make the intentional choice to positively propel it forward along with embracing the change. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Aakash
- [Friday Fact - Don't Stick to Old, Build New](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-dont-stick-to-old-build-new/): Did you know, the first ever the Digital camera was invented 44 years ago? A 24 year old engineer, invented the process that allows us to take pictures from our phones, share those images around the world in seconds. The young engineer was hired 2 years before the invention of the digital camera. He was assigned a seemingly unimportant task — to see whether there was any practical use for a charged coupled device (C.C.D.), which was invented a few years earlier. He quickly ordered a couple of C.C.D. and set out to evaluate the device, which consisted of a sensor that took an incoming two dimensional light pattern and converted it into an electrical signal. He wanted to capture an image with it, but the C.C.D. couldn’t hold it. Hence to store the images, he used the process of digitalization. Turning the electronic pulses into numbers. But that too created a problem of storing it into RAM and then getting it onto digital magnetic tape. The camera itself was a historic accomplishment but he needed to invent a system for playback that would take information from the cassette tape and turn it into the digital image which can be seen on your television. It was not a regular camera of that era. It was a digital revolution in the era of photography. The camera and the playback system both were the beginning of the digital photography era. But at Kodak, the digital revolution did not come easily. After inventing this, he called out for a conference involving executives from the marketing, technical and business departments and then to their heads and to their bosses. He demonstrated the process. It took 50 milliseconds to capture the image but 23 seconds to record it to the tape. After 30 seconds the image would be on the screen in black & white format. Although the quality was not that good but the camera was able to compete the consumer market against 110 film and 135 film cameras. But the answer from the team was that no one would wish to see a digital image on the television set because they had been using print copies since 100 years and no one ever complained about it. Print copies were very inexpensive, so why would anyone want to look at their picture on a television set? Kodak had a virtual monopoly on the United States photography market and made money on every step of the photographic process this was the main reason they were resistant to accept the invention. If it was a kids birthday party it would always be Kodak Instamatic, Kodak film and Kodak flash cubes. People would even get them processed either at the corner drugstore or mail the film to Kodak and get back prints made with Kodak chemistry on Kodak paper. When the engineer was asked that when digital photography could compete, he used Moore’s Law, which is used to predict how fast digital technology advances. And he said that he would need two million pixels to compete against 110 negative color film. Hence, he estimated 15 to 20 years. Kodak offered its first consumer camera 18 years later. The first digital camera of the era was patented in 1978 with the name the electronic still camera. But he was not allowed to publicly talk about it or show his prototype to anyone outside Kodak. In 1989, he and his colleague created the first modern digital single-lens reflex (S.L.R.) camera. But the marketing department did not show enough interest thinking it would steal the company’s film sales. Finally, in 2007 the Kodak began promoting and selling the Digital camera as well the film. And the more digital camera they were selling, the more they were losing on the films. Even then they were not ready to accept the change and embrace it with the change of generation. Even then they wanted to have their films to work more than the digital camera. At the end today we all know the scenario in the world of photography. It is transformed to digital. Hence, it is necessary to adapt and embrace change as per the need of the time. You cannot stick to the old. If you do, you lose the race. Team Faber infinite has been helping all its client with Organisational Transformation where we help them accept and embrace the change as per the need of the market. Organizations around you have started evolving, have you? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Celebrating Milestones!](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-milestones/): As the year 2018 passed by, team Faber Infinite came together to celebrate the milestones during the Annual Meet in January 2019! We always believe that the team and its efforts bring success to the organization. So, we cannot miss the opportunity to appreciate the efforts by the team. What better time than the foundation week. Team Faber Infinite felicitated the team with rewards and recognitions for their exemplary performance in the year 2018. Some of the award categories were Star Faber of the Year, Emerging Faber of the year, Exclusive Faber Club and many more! Team Faber Infinite has always believed in the philosophy of growing together by giving back to the society. On the Faber Foundation day, the entire team visited an orphanage home – Sarvesham Sevasangh at Pune on January 7th, 2019. We have always believed that sharing happiness is the best thing one can do for others. Like every year, we celebrated our foundation day with the kids and had some amazing moments together. Even at such young age, every kid was highly pumped up and was filled with strength and motivation to achieve their ambitions and become the best version of themselves. The team celebrated the foundation day with them, distributed gifts and was surprised by the great performances by the kids. We think that to grow in a true sense, it is important to give back to the society we take so much from. We hope to continue growing and continue bringing joy to more faces with more such activities in the future. On Faber annual awards night with great joy, team Faber Infinite launched the second volume of: The Faber Book – For the Faber in You! Every year we release a power packed book for industry leaders called as The Faber Book (which does not talk about Faber Infinite). Since past 4 years, every Tuesday we have been releasing management dossier called as Transformation Tuesday series for 20,000+ leaders across 8 countries – which was compiled as a book last year. Response was phenomenal and hence we rolled out another edition of the same on 6th January 2019. We are thankful to Mr. Vikesh Wallia (Director General – Institute of Directors) for writing foreword for the book. The objective of the book is to help the leader in you. As we always believe in crafting transformations to make a better tomorrow, this book is for the craftsman in you. Life is full of changes. The Faber book will help in the transformation of the leader, of the team as well as of the people around you. The book is a series of transformations that will help the leader in you to cherish and grow. The idea is to create a fabulous tomorrow. Happy Reading! PS: To avail your exclusive copy (limited edition), please get in touch with us at publishing@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Growing Leaps and Bounds](https://faberinfinite.com/growing-leaps-and-bounds/): Water pump manufacturing industry is one of the most difficult industries to be a part of in the present times. However, there is one company that has made its mark in the industry and has set standards for other companies – Waterman Industries Pvt. Ltd. In this edition of iFaber, we have brought you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which also happens to be India’s first ‘ZED Certified’ pump industry. We had a chat with Mr. Bharat Patel – Managing Director, Waterman Industries Pvt. Ltd and immediate past President of IPMA (Indian Pump Manufacturers Association). Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 15,000+ readers across India, Africa and Middle East and our readers would want to know more about Waterman Industries Private Limited? Mr. Bharat Patel (BP) – Waterman Industries was started in 1973 in Mumbai. Till 2000, we grew at a considerable rate but later, we found that Mumbai was not very viable and thus we decided to shift our base to Ahmedabad in 2002 since at that time, it was the hub for pump industry. After shifting the base, we witnessed a drastic change in productivity and profitability for Waterman because of the easily availability of raw materials and manpower. Apart from these factors, even the land and space availability and cost also differ highly in Ahmedabad and Mumbai which helped in witnessing such change in the numbers. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? BP – We manufacture 15 types of pumps with more than 1800 models consisting of more than 15000 components. The biggest challenge we face is manufacturing pumps as per the needs of the customer from different geographies since the power and water availability varies drastically as we move across the statesin India. Moreover, pump is a seasonal product. Hence, it becomes highly difficult to anticipate which pump will be ordered more in what quantity at what time. This makes it very difficult for us to deliver pumps at deadlines which are very important since pump industry is already very time constrained. Another challenge is the approval process from government organizations like ISI. These processes are often long, expensive and cumbersome especially for MSME. FI – Progressive teams of Waterman Industries are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? BP – At Waterman, we work on people welfare instead of the product. We have developed an extremely open environment at our organization where we promote transparency and we provide equal and potential opportunities to every employee to learn, develop and make himself / herself more skilful and efficient. FI – We would love to understand more about the transformation journey at Waterman Industries Pvt. Ltd. What are the phases of this journey and how has it helped your team? BP – From starting, we have been implementing various tools like Kaizen, Five S, Integrated Management System (IMS) and others and we are religiously following it. This has helped us a lot in making our processes more effective and efficient. We have also been implementing Green Manufacturing and are extensively using lean practices in our organization. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers? BP – In 2017, we received ‘ZED certificate’ with silver ratings. We didn’t stop our journey then. We then associated ourselves with Team Faber Infinite and they provided us with some valuable inputs. We even implemented Performance Management System with Faber Infinite at Waterman Industries. As a result, the employees now have become more active and are now participating in all activities of the organization. Team Faber has even helped us in increasing our production by 20%, space saving by more than 50%, reworking has been reduced by 23% and in improving many other aspects of manufacturing. We have been able to get the work done right first time. Our inventory management has also improved subsequently after our association with Faber Infinite. The inventory has come down from 2 months to ~20 days. They have been great consulting partners and have delivered phenomenal results. We thank Mr. Bharat Patel and Mr. Akash Patel for sharing their views and support. Our sincere wishes to them for future successes and growth!
- [Get FAST to achieve your goals!](https://faberinfinite.com/get-fast-to-achieve-your-goals/): Commanding successful organizational transformation journey is a goal for every organization in the 21st century. The need has been exemplified because of the increasing competition and advancements in technology that have subsequently impacted the market. However, as many as 70 percent of all the change initiatives started by organizations fail to provide the desired results. Team Faber Infinite has been leading several change initiatives and has always motivated and helped our clients in achieving excellence. Considering the need, we have recently rolled out Faber Annual Services for Transformation (FAST) program to support for all such organizations looking to achieve excellent results and successful transformation/ operational excellence journey, along with internal team. It is an extremely path breaking engagement model where the state of the art consulting solutions and services are offered on annual subcription basis. About FAST program Faber Infinite Consulting strongly believes that there is always room for improvement, and with this belief, we have rolled out an annual subscription-based consulting service to support organizational transformation journey. Faber Infinite is glad to introduce to you the finest service to implement operational transformation practices “Right First Time, Every-time” at your organization! What will you achieve with FAST program? Accelerate your transformation journey with world-class consulting support – on annual subscription Make the right moves in transformation journey every time Expert consulting support throughout the journey at fractional investment Build high-performance teams What will you get with FAST program? 4 in-person consultation per annum with senior consulting partners for reviewing and improvising current operational excellence practices 12 video conference opportunities with dedicated client resource expert Free access to the vast knowledge bank and repository of case studies from Faber Infinite Consulting Subscription to 52 powerful transformation nuggets for all your transformation leaders Free access to ~24 exclusive webinars on transformation & change management practices by Faber Infinite Consulting for one year Free access to two of your members to any of our open training program conducted in India throughout the year We have always supported our clients in achieving continual and sustainable development and believe in excellence. We believe FAST program will help every participating organization in achieving their desired goals and ultimately become the leader of their sectors. For more information about FAST program and Faber Infinite Consulting, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Explore the future of manufacturing with FabEx 2019!](https://faberinfinite.com/explore-the-future-of-manufacturing-with-fabex-2019/): We live in a time that is constantly evolving, developing and growing in terms of technology, techniques, economics, trade, infrastructure and various other facets of the modern world. The future has immense potential and opportunities for us to explore and benefit from it. Understanding this, Team Faber Infinite Consulting is organizing an event FabEx 2019, on March 8 2019 in Ahmedabad, India. This edition of FabEx is focused to delve further into theme of “Strengthening Man and Machine Partnership”. About FabEx 2019 Today when we are at a juncture where technology is changing at ultra rapid pace, it is imperative and unavoidable for industry to be prepared for the next industrial revolution. FabEx is a flagship event by Faber Infinite Consulting – to prepare industry leaders for the next leap in the domain of Manufacturing. It is a symposium of industry stalwarts to build and share best practices on the future of man and machine partnership. FabEx will engage over 100+ elite attendees across various manufacturing sectors with the objective to discuss the endless possibilities which the future of manufacturing holds in the domain of being Effective & Smart! Let us explore what the future holds for us and how the progressive organizations are working on winning the partnership between man and machine. It shall be a perfect setting to share and evolve together towards exponential growth! Why You Should Attend the Event? It will help you to accelerate on the fast lane of industrial revolution. We believe that we can only make the most of the opportunities we get in the future if we are prepared for it. FabEx and panel discussion will help us in making ourselves aware with the different scenarios in manufacturing and understanding means of being effective and smart!  It will cover both aspects of the Man Machine partnership where leveraging the Equipment Effectiveness is also equally important perspective along with manpower productivity and material cost optimization as well. So come Engage, Empower and Excel on the journey towards exponential growth. To be a part of the event or for more information about the event contact  priyals@faberinfinite.com / +91 94294 05666 Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Crafting Growth Opportunities](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-growth-opportunities/): For any organization, developing their business is one of the key targets and it can only be achieved with an exceptional and passionate business creation leader. Team Faber Infinite is glad to have one such leader who perfectly fits this role. We are glad to showcase – Mandar Tulankar in iFaber for the month of January 19. We had a brief interaction with him about his journey with Faber Infinite, the challenges he faced and about his experiences. The excerpts of the journey are mentioned below. Faber Infinite (FI) – What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting (FICS)? What three words would you use to describe your role? Mr. Mandar Tulankar (MT) – I work as a Business Development Manager at Faber Infinite Consulting. I am the first point of contact for the clients. I convey to the external world the services that Faber Infinite has to offer and give right solutions to the problems and concerns that the client has. If I were to describe my role in three words, I would use Innovative, Goal-Oriented and Self-motivated. Innovative because earlier I was part of young ventures and in such organizations, you must be innovative and go out of the way to get the results. Goal-oriented because I work to achieve a clearly defined goal because until you have a fixed and clear target, you won’t know in which direction to go or to even start. And, Self-motivated because I don’t need someone to acknowledge my work to make me feel good. For me, the inner feeling of satisfaction after doing something good is the biggest motivation and recognition. FI – What does a typical day look like for you at FICS? MT – It ideally starts with a checking our CRM activity which typically denotes the upcoming activities followed by attending aligned meetings. Further, I co-ordinate the earlier days tasks that were to be completed. Towards the end, I spend 15-20 minutes planning my next day. So, that is how my day proceeds. FI – What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? MT – For me, meeting the decision makers of the organization is the most rewarding part of my job. Discussions with such leaders is something which is priceless, and you can gain a lot of insights. I feel working on the field and meeting people across sectors and boundaries for business creation is the best part of my job. It helps me learn a lot of different things which I cannot learn in a class, workshop or sitting in the office. FI – What is your motto or personal mantra? MT – It is “Kingship knows no kinship”. It has got a lot of meanings but what I follow is that everyone is equal in front of the law and no one is bigger than the rules itself, not even the king. FI – What are your biggest professional challenges? MT – The biggest challenge for me is that I take failures very personally even though I am not involved in the task. It takes me some time to get over it. Also, I’m still trying to get a better work-life balance in my life. FI – If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? MT – Well, the system is too good to be changed. Everything is very precisely defined and if you understand the system, it will make a well-organized person, not just professionally, but also in your personal life. Frankly, I couldn’t have asked for a better work culture and organizational system. FI – How has FICS helped you in your career development? MT – It has helped me a lot in honing my skills. As I said earlier, meeting the top management of the companies is a learning opportunity for me. With the organization having expertise in various industries across various locations, I believe it has added to my skill set and has made me more prominent and effective in offering the best to our clients and prospects. Moreover, I am equipped to understand business challenges (said and unsaid both) for my prospects and helping them achieve the unexpected. FI – What do you like most about FICS? MT – The best thing about Faber Infinite is the flat hierarchy system which is result driven. The management is highly supportive, and you are free to ask your queries no matter how small it is, irrespective of their busy schedule so that the client can get the right perspective and solutions. FI – Tell us something which we do not know about you MT – I prefer being in solitude. I am a complete introvert. I would prefer being surrounded by birds. I even have a collection of 12 wild birds that were rescued, and they now have their own space in my house and they can fly around wherever they want. Thank you, Faber Mandar, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments.
- [3 Strategies to Increase Power of Empathy in Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-to-increase-power-of-empathy-in-organizational-change/): There are times in an organization when the way information is communicated to the employee’s matters more than what is being communicated. Hence, when we speak about the change initiative, lack of empathy while conveying the news about an Organizational Change can lead to failure. Research shows that most of the leaders agree to the point of communicating the information empathetically if you want a successful organizational transformation. But most of the leaders don’t know how to communicate empathetically. On the basis of a survey of over 200 leading company executives, almost 69% of respondents said that they were planning to conduct or are currently conducting a change effort. But unfortunately, 50% of them said that they hadn’t fully considered the sentiment of their team about the change. And worse that, about half of them said that they were just approaching the change by “going on gut” feeling. Being a leader if you want your change initiatives to succeed, you should assure that your entire team is on board with you. The following strategies can you help you better understand your employees’ perspectives. Profile Your Audience at Every Stage. It’s better to create personas for a various employee before you begin change initiative. But consider evolving wants and needs of the employees throughout the process. To create a particular persona, you can also interview employees from each segment to get a sample perspective on typical mindsets. While interviewing, you can also ask them questions designed in a way to uncover their beliefs, feelings, questions, and concerns about the company’s current strategy. You can ask them if there were any specific changes they hoped management would (or would not) make. Tell them what to expect. You may need to keep a few facts private during a transition, but the general rule is that the more informed your team is, the more they’ll be able to deal with discomfort. Hence, learn about their specific fears, and then acknowledge them openly. Involve all the members on each level. A transformation would not be successful without the involvement of the entire team. Ask your team to share their opinions on change. This will help everyone in the team feel like active participants with something valueable to be add. Share with them the complaints/expectations of customers the company receives and ask them how as a team they can solve it. Surely there will be people who won’t give their opinions feeling the conversation to be irrelevant. But ask them to share their views. Encourage them saying that their views and opinions matter. This will make them feel valued and they will surely be back with an answer. Business practices evolve rapidly, but there’s one thing on which business leaders should always rely – empathetic communication. Develop and show empathy for every individual who is involved in your corporate transition. And you’ll surely lead a team that feels valued, included, and driven to help your initiative succeed. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - From Telecommunication to Defence](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-from-telecommunication-to-defence/): Did you know the renowned Telecommunication company is also into manufacturing products for the Defence sector Samsung is mostly known across the globe for its Mobile phones. But this Korean megacorporation owns a company Samsung Techwin, which is barely even known! This company is into making surveillance, aeronautics, optoelectronics, automation and weapons technology. Samsung first stepped into the electronics industry in the year 1969 with various electronics-focused divisions—they first manufactured black-and-white televisions. In the year 1979, the Techwin started producing cameras. But by 1987, they were also making helicopters, jet engines, and mobile artillery for the Korean army. In the year 1997, the company made Korea’s first fighter jet, the KF-16. In the same year, it introduced the Samsung Kenox digital cameras in the Korean market. The aircraft was then handed over to the state-owned Korea Aerospace Industries. The company kept on manufacturing the camera and on the other hand, it was also manufacturing a K9 thunder which is a military Tank. Which had the capability to fire 155mm high-explosive, nuclear, anti-infantry projectiles at up to 25 miles (40km) away. The K9 travelled the field in tandem with the K10 Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (ARV), which was built on the same platform, carried up to 104 shells, and had a maximum transfer rate of 12 rounds per minute and so on. In the year 2014, Samsung sold its holding stake in Techwin to Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group. In the 38 years of existence, it made innumerable defence weapons. Hence, it’s good to have a well-charted vision and values as guidelines. Have we charted and communicated our vision and values to the team well? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Role of culture in transformation journey](https://faberinfinite.com/role-of-culture-in-transformation-journey/): Culture is one of the key elements responsible for the success of the organization. It defines the way an organization approaches its objective, employees, stakeholders and their customers. Organizations need to build and develop a good culture to grow. Culture plays a crucial and pivotal role in creating an efficient environment for change initiative and the transformation of corporates. Below is a list that defines the role of the good culture of an organization in corporate transformation. Values are implemented Good culture of an organization helps the leadership in implementing the values of the organization and drives objectivity in the entire work process. It also helps in creating an environment which is comfortable and encourages innovation among the employees which ultimately helps the organization in becoming more productive and profitable. Communication drives engagement Communication is an integral part of the culture responsible for an efficient workflow and subsequent clarity among the employees about their tasks, roles and responsibilities. Good culture of an organization always encourages better and efficient communication in the entire organization. Having a clear idea of what one is supposed to do; the engagement of the employees will align with the goals and objectives of the organization and will ultimately yield productive results. Instead of the top-down approach, move to bottom-top An efficient culture modifies the problem solving and eliminates bureaucratic culture from the organization. In an open and supporting culture, employees will approach the issues and subjects from the bottom to have a better understanding instead of going right through the surface. It helps the employees in dividing the entire battle into pieces and then achieving their targets in pieces. This increases legitimacy and boosts the energy and morale of the organization because of the wins in the micro battles which ultimately plays a crucial role in keeping any corporate transformation stable and productive. Culture can easily help the organization in getting more optimized results in the transformation journey. A good culture promotes innovation and so does change initiatives and thus, both the factors support each other and the organization. With an effective and open culture, the leadership will soon start witnessing exceptional results and optimum outcomes. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - Focus on competition beyond the sector](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-focus-on-competition-beyond-the-sector/): Did you know Netflix is competing not with HBO or Disney but with newer forms of entertainment like Fortnite or Google YouTube? We all have known Netflix for a long time. It is a streaming service provider who lets you watch the award-winning series, movies, shows and much more. Netflix has ~139 million paying members whereas Fortnite has ~200 million registered users. Today both HBO & Netflix are vying for TV subscribers, and they’re frequently seen as rivals in award competitions, including the Emmys. The company in an interview openly gave the statement that it competes and loses to Fortinite. It fears more from the video game than from one of the companies of its own sector. Netflix is fighting with competition from the same sector to get the highest TV time. But because of the video game – Fortnite, they are not being to achieve their targeted TV time. Right now, Netflix earns ~10% of TV screen time in the US.  And when it comes to mobile devices, it gets even lesser time than that. The percentages are lower even outside the US, where it doesn’t enjoy such high market penetration. Now the game has changed for Netflix. Their focus is not on their competitors, be it Google YouTube, Disney + or Fortnite. Their focus is on how to improve the experience for their members so that they get the maximum screen time. Hence, as we can see here one needs to look at the right parameters and take into consideration competition across sectors. Hence it is necessary to conduct research and analyze who is actual competition. This is very important because there is a chance you might lose your market to someone whom you never considered.  So, are you analyzing your competitors well? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Build your organization with Performance Management System (PMS)](https://faberinfinite.com/build-your-organization-with-performance-management-system-pms/): Employees form the backbone of any organization and their performance and work is what cumulatively defines the organization’s future and maps their success in the market. Hence, it becomes very important for any organization to integrate a system in the organization’s work culture. Quantify the performance of the team to efficiently plan and strategize tasks in the future. Performance Management System (PMS) Performance Management System is one such tool that can benefit the organizations immensely. It is an ongoing process by which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work objectives and overall contribution to the organization. More than just an annual performance review, PMS should be a continuous process of setting objectives, assessing progress and providing on-going coaching and feedback to ensure that employees are exceeding their objectives and are highly effective. With it’s in-depth understanding and hands-on experience of working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Team Faber Infinite has devised and crafted an extremely powerful Performance Management System which is delivering phenomenal results. 7 reasons why you should integrate this highly effective and powerful Performance Management System by Team Faber Infinite Consulting at your workplace – Unlike traditional management systems, Faber Infinite’s PMS provides total 12 improvement opportunities instead of just 1. Comes with a state of art dashboard feature Provides a holistic approach Results in timely feedback on a monthly basis Implements a transparent objective-based system The focus of PMS devised by Faber Infinite is on “Team Win” to build high-performance teams It is much easier to deploy and manage at the workplace We are glad to share that Faber Infinite’s powerful Performance Management System has helped leading auto dealerships in India to improve profitability by 38% and service revenue increased by 64%. Below is the glimpse of other benefits delivered at one of the leading automobile dealerships as a result of Faber Infinite’s Performance Management System: 43 % increase in vehicle sales target achievement 23 % reduction in discount offerings 18 % reduction in manpower costs 52 % cost increase in H-spirit score Team Faber Infinite has helped hundreds of clients across geographies in achieving continual and sustainable development. We believe in excellence and thrive to achieve it with our every effort. Performance Management System is one of the most effective tools in the 21st century to efficiently track, plan and strategize for companies to achieve their targets and goals. Moreover, PMS will also motivate the employees and team members to perform better because of the unbiased, transparent and highly efficient rewards and recognition system that PMS ingrains in the work culture of any organization. The time is evolving and so should the organizations in their culture and processes to increase their productivity and profitability. Supercharge your organization’s performance with an effective Performance Management System (PMS). Discover the key to unleashing your team’s full potential. Fill out the form below to access expert guidance and build a high-performing organization that drives success! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [3 Tips to Build Enterpreneurs within the Team](https://faberinfinite.com/build-entrepreneurs-within-the-team/): Entrepreneurs are people who believe in innovation and using it as a medium and path to move forward and achieve success.  Their thinking process is highly focused on innovating and crafting new technologies. Also processes that will assist them in achieving their targets and goals. Innovation plays an extremely important role in driving the numbers and helping the organization in improving their profitability. Every organization must encourage such thinking process and making their employees more creatively sound. In this chapter of Transformation Tuesday, we will discuss some of the key practices that can help the leadership of organizations in encouraging as well as implementing. The entrepreneurial thinking process. In this article, we will discuss about 3 Tips to Build Entrepreneurs within the Team. Don’t be intimidated by failures Failures are the building blocks of success and instead of fearing it, one must learn to embrace it and should learn from them. Getting intimidated from failures will only make you less confident and will create an impact on your performance. When you make yourselves ready for failures and don’t fear it, you become more free and independent and start thinking more openly and creatively. This results in better and effective solutions. Believe in your team and its members Don’t impose work on your team and its members. Instead of telling them to do work, trust them and believe in them that the work assigned to them will completed before the deadlines. The reason behind this is that when one is not pressurized, he becomes more open to ideas and consequently brings more creativity to the table. One starts finding innovative ways to get the work done when he feels to have complete ownership over his work and working methodologies. External interests are not something that should be left out of the door In order to help the employees invest their open and entire self in the work, it is highly important for the leadership to let the employees bring their external interests to the workplace. When employees are open and are allowed to talk openly about their extra-curricular activities, it surprisingly helps them in getting the much required satisfaction to excel in their fields of work and expertise. Managers and leadership should refrain themselves from stopping the employees in getting involved in such activities with their colleagues. Although, they must also look after that such activities do not divert the focus of the employees. Entrepreneurial thinking is all about innovation and exercising creative ideas in the workplace to get better and unexpected results. Organizations should focus on building and developing this strategy and should encourage more and more employees to indulge in such practices to subsequently increase their performance as well as the performance of the organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - From 90% to 0% errors](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-from-90-to-0-errors/): Did you know the U.S. army is doing wonders after adopting this error-free technique? Poka-Yoke, a technique that is helping people and various sectors to produce error-free products and services. Term Poka Yoke (poh-kah yoh-keh) was invented in Japan in the year 1960 by Shigeo Shingo. He was an industrial engineer at Toyota. Initially, the original name of Poka-Yoke was, Baka-Yoke which means ‘fool-proofing. It was changed later because it sounded dishonourable and offensive connotation. The reason of using Poka Yokes is that it helps people and processes work right the first time, which makes mistakes next to impossible to happen. Such techniques can improve the quality and reliability of products and processes by eliminating defects. One such technique also helped US Army have Zero batch process failure. Poka-Yoke Has also helped Supply Support Activity (SSA) at Fort Carson, Colorado which is a military retail supply operation of the U.S. Army. For the Poka-Yoke, the US Army adopted the usage of Barcode system. As we all know barcodes are a big saviour when it comes to inventory management. Before the implementation of Poka-Yoke, their location survey accuracy was ~65%. But after applying barcodes, the accuracy increased to 98%. Inventory Adjustment used to cost ~$3000 but after implementing this technique, the costing dropped down to an average of $250/month. They had a higher percentage of mistakes when it came to the receipt closures to the supplier which was ~90% which after implementing this technique dropped down to 0%. Batch processing was also improved significantly. Ideally, the SSA had approximately 15-20 batch processing failures per month which dropped down to 0 failure after the poka-yoke’s implementation. The error rate in the catalogue was ~22% which dropped to 0%. Ideally, the request processing time was 12.5 days, but now the new request processing time is 1.6 days. Actual dollars invested in these activities sums up to less than $1000. As you can see, not just any corporate sector only, but also the Army of US has begun using Poka-Yoke to improve their productivity and reduce the errors to 0%. Poka-Yoke is around since more than 55 years now. Are you deploying it?  Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Enjoy The Journey By Giving Back!](https://faberinfinite.com/enjoy-the-journey-by-giving-back/): Team Faber as it always believes in the philosophy of enjoying the journey and giving back to society. On 7th Jan, Faber Foundation Day, the entire team visited an orphanage home – Sarvesham Sevasangh at Pune. Like every year, the team celebrated the joy of foundation day with the underprivileged kids. We believe it is important to celebrate achievements by giving it back to society, since it gives us immense strength and motivation to achieve bigger milestones. We were overwhelmed by being a reason behind their fabulous smiles. The team celebrated the foundation day with them, distributed gifts and was surprised by the kids with their great performances. Below is a clip of moment, which got featured in the local leading publication of Pune – Pudhari. Faber Infinite Consulting always believes in giving back to society and as always, yet another year we began by spreading joy & happiness!
- [Retain Your Value Adders](https://faberinfinite.com/retain-your-value-adders/): Every manager wishes to acquire and retain skilled employees and losing any one of them is nothing less than a nightmare for them. It is very important for organizations to retain skilled people who are adding value to the processes and culture of the organization. Moreover, once an employee leaves, the organization is then posed with various responsibilities ranging from finding a suitable replacement with the same understanding of the work to training them with the new work culture and environment. This results in loss of time and resources which adds to the burden on the organization. Hence, it is very important for the organizations to retain the employees and make them feel content and secure. Below is a list of strategies one can use to retain the talent and then use it efficiently to thrust productivity and profitability. Onboarding of the new employees        Onboarding of the employees must be included in the orientation program of the employees. It is one of the best methods through which one can make the new recruits familiar to the organization, its work culture and about the way things are usually done in the day to day life at the campus. It also makes them know more about the job and their responsibilities. Pairing them up with a senior as a mentor Pair them up with a senior who can act as the mentor to them. This will not only make them feel secure but will also help you in providing the employees with a better viewpoint on various subjects through their mentors. New recruits can also use this opportunity to feel comfortable and can simultaneously learn from their mentors. Incentives to the employees Incentives are a great way to retain employees. Compensation programs like bonuses, retirement plans etc. can always help the organization in retaining the acquired talent. Efficient reward and recognition systems Everyone loves getting rewarded and getting recognized at the workplace. Hence, placing an effective reward and recognition system into place will only motivate the employees to work better and ultimately will help you in retaining them because of the same factors i.e. rewards and recognition. Training programs Training programs are highly important to make the employees feel confident about their skills and their work. Organizations should invest in training their employees for better outputs as well as helping the employees sharpen their skills thus ultimately increasing the number of opportunities for them to grow and develop. Communication channels for feedback Communications is always essential in any kind of relationship and the same goes in this case as well. Communicating the responsibilities, ideas, improvements and the expectations clearly can help in employees working in more efficient and productive fashion. It also eliminates the chances of conflict due to miscommunication thus providing a better environment for work. Teamwork Teamwork is necessary to achieve the targets and goals set by the team. Collaborating work and moving ahead in a team always imbibes a sense of belongingness in the employee thus improving their bond with the team members while achieving success simultaneously. This is an excellent strategy to retain employees. Do celebrate the events The celebration is the best way to relax and acknowledge success. It also gives the employees some time to relax and get away from the constant stress of deadlines. A culture where celebrations of any event or milestones are an important part will always make the working culture livelier and attract the employees thus help you in retaining them. Employees form the backbone of any organization. Hence it is important to retain the skilled people because they are the one who makes the organization complete and pushes it towards excellence. Employee retention is a growing problem for various organizations. However, if tackled properly with precise and direct measures it can do wonders for the organization, both in terms of talent as well as revenue. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Handmade for You!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-handmade-for-you/): Did you know, Ducati can produce up to 300 ‘handmade’ motorcycles per day? In the year 1994 when Ducati was a new brand in the market, its production capacity was 20 motorcycle a day. But if a customer orders a monster than he had to wait for 9 months for the bike to get delivered, which led to a lot of customer disappointment. But now, with the help of Just In Time (JIT), the production capacity has increased to a maximum of 300 motorcycles per day and the delivery time has reduced to 40-50 working days. Also, they export 90% of the total amount of motorcycles they produce. In the year 2013, they marked their monthly production by 34,000 motorcycles. Because the production of Ducati is done by using the lean production system, or ‘just in time’, they have now been able to reduce over 85% of the defects in the final product. The production of the bike with just in time is made with two operations for the engine. First, they build the main body of the engine. Second, after building, they complete the assembly on the main production line. On an average, production time of one engine is 70 minutes until completion. On an average, production time of one motorcycle is around 90 minutes per motorcycle. The reason behind this is, they have boxes that contain the smallest parts of the motorcycle. The other sized parts such as wheels or the handlebars or the swing arm are located inside the line. Hence, the workers have nothing to do but pick and place all the parts to complete one bike. One of the reasons why Ducati bikes are so expensive because they are fully handmade. Most companies in the motorcycle and car industries use a wide range of technology and automatic assembly lines to manufacture their products. But, this is not the case with Ducati as each of their motorcycles is carefully made by hand using skilled workers. This hasn’t slowed them down though as they are capable of producing one new Monster every 90 minutes. Even after having a complete human intervention for the production of their bikes, they are error-free and they have achieved a world-class quality benchmark by means of quality standards. Are you also working towards being world-class? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Yet Another Successful Transformation Journey!](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-achievements/): We are glad to present yet another successful transformation journey at one of our clients. The client is based in Ndola & Lusaka, Zambia. They are involved in manufacturing and distribution activity, serving the needs of Zambia’s defence, mining, agriculture, transport and many other sectors. With the Organizational Transformation Framework deployed by Faber Infinite, the client has received appreciation from the Government of Zambia and has been awarded a title of the good and clean working environment in its industrial category. It is a matter of pride for the client and team Faber. Team Faber always works towards the prosperity of client teams and the ecosystem. Do you also want to transform this year? Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Your Network is Your Net Worth](https://faberinfinite.com/your-network-is-your-net-worth/): Networking is highly important in any business and having someone in the hierarchy who is highly connected to other people is always an additional advantage for the organization. Creating an optimized and holistic network with connects from all the relevant segments is like laying the foundation for a bright and successful future. Many people today aspire to be highly networked in order to increase their value and simultaneously bring more value on the table. In this edition of Transformation Tuesday, we will discuss the five key features and traits of highly networked people. A positive and honest interest in others You can only build a network on the strong foundations of strong relationships with other people. Networks are all about the kind of the relationship you have with others and for building a strong relationship, you need to have a genuine, positive and honest interest in other people and their professional lives. Pretending to be interested will only make you lose your primary objective and will distract and possibly lead you to nowhere. Allow people to know you and get to know them in order to have a robust relationship and network. Ready to help others Your network can stand strong only if you are willing to be unselfish. An individual highly versed in networking will understand how important it is to be unselfish and help others without any self-motives. Moreover, it will also help you in developing a rapport with the other person and will ultimately help you in connecting with people and thus have a mutually beneficial relationship. Patience A highly networked person is very patient and composed in nature. While connecting with people one should always think about the long-term goals instead of getting overwhelmed with the setbacks in the primitive stages. A highly networked person always tends to keep calm, composed and organized even in adverse situations when he/she doesn’t get a reply from someone in the network. Patience is the key to develop and build a sustainable and solid network. A mind focusing on building a better and optimized future Build and develop a network in accordance with your future goals. Focus on the goals you have set for yourself and analyze if the network you have been building aligns with it or not. Connect with like-minded people with similar goals and targets to have a better, optimized and strong network which can come to the rescue whenever you need some sort of advice or are stuck somewhere. Always puts ‘quality’ over ‘quantity’ ‘Quality’ above ‘quantity’ goes true in every aspect be it business or networking. Any network and its effectiveness can only be evaluated by the quality of the members and the cohesion between them. It is always beneficial to connect with people who are like-minded, understands you and engages in similar activities that can result in a mutually beneficial relationship. Networking is highly important for anyone since it provides you with different perceptiveness and increases your knowledge about various aspects of business and sectors. People with the right mindset and with the above qualities can easily become a highly networked personality and can use it to their profit. With the right contacts and the right approach, you will grow, develop, prosper and flourish. As Porter Gale quotes “ Your Network is your Net worth”, go and build your network to increase your net worth. Written and Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Reasons why change initiatives fail and how to correct them!](https://faberinfinite.com/reasons-why-change-initiatives-fail-and-how-to-correct-them/): The entire world is evolving and change is the only way to cope up with the changing trends and times and use it for one’s own benefit. Change initiatives is one such way with which an organization can make better use of their resources and ultimately make themselves more efficient, productive and profitable. Many organizations are integrating change initiatives in their work cultures. However, 70 percent of all the implemented change initiatives are reported to fail and not produce the desired results. Many might wonder why? Well! This blog post is an answer to why change initiatives fail and how to address the issues that impact any change initiative. Reasons why change initiatives fail? Top management and their commitment towards the initiative The top management drives and leads the initiatives right from the start and the fate of the change management process depends a lot on their commitment and determination. The top management needs to be highly active and involved in the entire change initiative in order for it to work and deliver the desired results. Ignorance by the leadership is usually one of the most common reasons why change initiatives fail. How the middle management responds to the initiative Middle management is the most crucial part of any organization since it does most of the work and acts as the spine of the organization. It is important that the middle management reacts positively to the initiative and adapts to it instead of resisting the change since resistance will create more disturbances in the entire process and will lead the initiative to nothing. Involving everyone in the initiative for its success The change management process must involve everyone who is getting affected by it. It is important to bring everyone under one umbrella and then collectively move forward with the initiative. Ignoring the individuals and their interests will only discourage them and will spoil the spirit of the initiative thus ultimately leading it to failure. Corrective measures Change initiatives are nothing less than a boon to the organization in their journey towards excellence and continual development. Hence, it is very important to get it right and effective to drive the resources and efforts in increasing productivity and generating more revenue. Organizations need to plan the process thoroughly and prepare themselves to successfully execute it as well. An unplanned initiative with flaws is more likely to fail in the execution stage ultimately sending negative signals to the lower levels. Help the middle management to embrace the change instead of resisting it. It is important for them to feel secure about the change and its effects including their jobs, their role in the organization and other aspects of the responsibilities Get everyone involved in the process since it is them who will run the entire process and obviously getting affected from it. Adding value adders into the process and convincing them about the effectiveness and the need of the initiative is of high importance for any change management initiative to succeed. Team Faber has helped multiple clients across geographies in various industries in successfully implementing change initiatives and benefitting from it. We have always believed in excellence and are constantly directing our efforts in helping our clients to achieve it. We believe that change initiatives are the need of the hour for every organization and the success rate of these initiatives must be increased. Change initiatives are a proven way of achieving continual and sustainable development and must be used and implemented successfully for organizations aspiring to lead the market. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Top 3 simulation exercises to implement just in time at your organization](https://faberinfinite.com/top-3-simulation-exercises-to-implement-just-in-time-at-your-organization/): Remember when we were kids and were in school where we used to learn by doing relevant exercises and activities? Have you ever wondered why were we made to do such activities for learning instead of just being taught theoretically which is what happens nowadays? Well! The answer is simple! It is because simulation exercises have proven to have a better and more efficient effect in learning for the kids and the same goes for us as well. Even we can benefit from simulation exercises and learn well and more efficiently with them. Organizations nowadays are looking for improved processes and controls at their workplaces and are constantly looking forward to drive efficiency by using various tools and techniques like Just in Time, Improved Material Velocity etc. However, using simulation exercises during the implementation of these tools and techniques can do wonders for you and can bring highly optimized results. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in learning through simulation exercises and has designed simulation exercises which are highly efficient and can be customized as per your need and industry. Below is a brief description of our simulation exercises. Pipe Factory – This exercise module is designed to drive learning concepts through pipe simulation exercise in engineering & fabrication workshop/domain Simulated plug factory: This module is designed for driving concepts of flow management across departmental line aspects like line managing etc. Simulated Chocolate Factory: This module will be apt for FMCG industry where the variations are high, low batch size & demands are extremely fluid. Learning through practical activities is always the best thing to do and Team Faber Infinite has always believed in innovating new and creative ways to learn, implement and excel. We have always tried to help and curate better and efficient ways to help our clients achieve their desired results and goals and we are highly confident that our new simulation exercise module for learning will do wonders for our clients and at their facilities. It has been proven to be highly effective. Moreover, its versatility according to the industry and company profile makes it an even more and better solution for the obstacles that stand between you and excellence. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - New Year Resolution](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-new-year-resolution/): Did you know the New Year Resolution has been around since 4000 years now? Decades ago, the Babylonians (an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in central-southern Mesopotamia. presently in Iraq) used to promise their Gods at the beginning of every year that they will return all the borrowed objects and repay all their debts. Seeing this, Romans also started to promise their God Janus – from whom the month – January has got its name. Every year we see & hear everyone around us going gaga about their New Years Resolution. But a research result shows that only 8% out of the total population actually achieve their resolution. Also, as per the research, around 30% of the total population doesn’t make such New Years Resolutions because they know that it won’t sustain and neither will that be achieved. But rest 70% of the population which makes the resolution are 10x more likely to achieve their goals. This New Year be the one of those 70% who make New Year Resolutions and be one of those 8% who achieve the same. Let’s make a resolution of accepting and adapting the change for good. Because as per a Chinese proverb – The best time to plant a tree of change was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW. Wishing you all a fabulous and prosperous New Year, from everyone at Faber Infinite Consulting. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [A leader’s biggest enemy is his ego!](https://faberinfinite.com/a-leaders-biggest-enemy-is-his-ego-2/): Good leadership is needed by every organization in order to lead them into the market and be able to provide them the platform and market share they need along with the opportunities to grow and strengthen their hold on the market and consumers. There are various qualities a good leader must possess of which the most important is being a grounded with no ego. It is highly important for the leaders of the modern era to be grounded with an approach to mingle with the employees of the company irrespective of the difference in position. With time, as the position of an individual gets higher in the hierarchy of an organization, it is likely that he/she starts getting distanced from colleagues and co-workers. This happens most of the times because of ego. Ego is the biggest enemy of good leadership in every organization and can be highly destructive if left unchecked or otherwise supported. The leaders of the organizations need to be in touch with the employees of lower levels. They must also know about the views and opinions of the employees about the company policies and strategies. It is important since this will allow the leader to know the people and the organization’s image in a better manner and will also help the leader in understanding the nerves of the organization better. High levels of ego in the leader of an organization will insulate him from the basic levels of the organization and thus will loosen his grip and touch over the culture, people and clients of the organization. People tend to be attracted to the power they receive when they are promoted. With the increase in power, the number of people who wish to please us also subsequently increases which consequently thrusts our ego to new levels. With the unchecked levels of ego in the leader, the perspective and values associated with him/her slowly starts getting diminished and blurred and makes him more vulnerable in front of the employees and the clients as well. It ultimately narrows the vision of the leader and corrupts his behavior. Getting rid of these high levels of ego is the key in breaking the chains and letting oneself free. One can do this by indulging in more conversations with the employees and helping and supporting them at every corner of their journey in the organization. Developing a relationship is highly important and giving up some of the privileges and perks of the position that insulates you from achieving it can be extremely helpful. One must understand that leadership is all about giving and taking care of the organization and the employees involved and working for it. It is always about the people and can never be restricted to oneself and his/her pleasures and perks. Leadership should lead people into better places and for that; they must keep their ego aside and away from their personality and their workplace. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Stay Focused to Make it Happen](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-stay-focused-to-make-it-happen/): Do you know, on this day more than 100 years ago Radium was discovered? On 21st December 1896, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie discovered a new chemical element known as Radium. Marie and Pierre worked together investigating about radioactivity, building on the work of the German physicist Roentgen and the French physicist Becquerel. In July 1898, the Curies made an announcement with the discovery of a new chemical element, Polonium. By the end of that year, they announced a discovery of another new chemical element – Radium. Both Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, along with Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize award for Physics in 1903. Pierre Curie died in 1906 when he was killed by a carriage. Post this Marie took over his teachings, becoming the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. She devoted herself in continuing the work that they had begun together. She received a second Nobel Prize, for Chemistry, in 1911. Marie’s and Pierre’s research was crucial in the development of x-rays in surgery. At the time of World War I, Marie helped to equip ambulances with x-ray equipment and she herself drove it to the front lines. The International Red Cross made her the head of its radiological service. She also held training courses for medical orderlies and doctors in the new techniques. Marrie Curie’s invention helped a lot of people during World War I and is helping even today. But despite of her success, she always faced oppositions from the male scientists. Yet she kept her sprit high and worked hard. No matter how hard the time gets, one should always work hard to reach their destination and goals. Are you working hard towards your goals? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [11 Predictions for Organization Transformation in 2019](https://faberinfinite.com/11-predictions-for-organization-transformation-in-2019/): The year 2019 is right on the gate and we stand just 11 days away from it. 2018 has taught us a lot many things and thus has prepared us for the coming year – 2019. The future is full of potential and each one of us must use it for our growth, development and to achieve our only goal – excellence. Today’s blog is a bit different from others! Team Faber Infinite has always focused on helping its clients achieve their targets and goals and have tried to make them aware of the effective tools and techniques that can help in continual and sustainable development. We stand exactly 11 days to 2019 & 11 years to 2030, and as the experts crafting organizational transformation, here are our 11 predictions for the year 2019: Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning may not come as soon as 2019 but we shall see healthy touches in 2030. Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 shall be an aspirational center for many organizations! Manufacturing Excellence System shall still be the need of the hour! Employee engagement shall continue to be a priority of the Human Resource team in every organization Technology assessment and gauging IoT (Internet of Things) readiness shall be inevitable. Improving data capturing – monitoring and analysis or inferences for all scales and segments of the industry shall be an elemental yet significant improvement. People analytics can do wonders to the team performance management and improvement in 2019. It shall be right time to start focus initiative relating to process improvements & others to be geared up for the upcoming phase of exponential change Customer delight was never a fad and shall need added focus in 2019 Product variants are going to increase, and batch sizes are going to go down further. Let’s prepare for it. Cloud-based tools are doing wonders and shall further cement their positions in terms of operational excellence utilities. 2019 is going to be a year of opportunities and if the available resources are used in an efficient manner along with the right tools and techniques, organizations are bound to achieve great results with exponential growth rate. The new year demands a new way of perception and a better and holistic approach to become the best in our own markets and lead them right from the front. Let’s take some time to think and strategize in order to make the most from these predictions. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in excellence and is eager to shake hands with everyone who all are in pursuit of it. Let us come together and craft growth opportunities, we all desire. For any information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Aakash Borse & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Invest in on boarding process to retain the much precious employees of your organization!](https://faberinfinite.com/invest-in-on-boarding-process-to-retain-the-much-precious-employees-of-your-organization/): Employee retention is one of the biggest issues that worry the leadership of every organization irrespective of the industry or geography the organization is located in. It is highly important for the organizations to retain the new recruits in order to play over their potential and use them in creating better products and ultimately higher revenues. In order to retain the talent, onboarding the new employees is highly essential as it helps the leadership in getting through the initial vulnerable period of the time after any talent acquisition. Onboarding can be done in three steps – Organizational, Technical and Social. Organizational Onboarding Show the new recruits your way of working Any person walking in a new place will need instructions and will need someone to show them around. In the same manner, the organization must put in efforts to teach and show the new people about how things work and how they should be getting done. It can be anything like how to get an ID card or how to pull the data etc. Training them about the basic requirements will surely help them in gaining the much-required confidence at the new workplace. Help them in understanding the culture and other aspects After training, one must also help them understand the related concepts and the work culture of the organization. One cannot just train and leave without checking if the new employee has been able to understand. It is an essential part of the onboarding process since it will make the path clear for the employee. Thus, the new employee will have a clear understanding of the work and the workplace. Technical Onboarding Define their responsibilities and duties in a comprehensive manner When you hire someone, you look at their resume and their skills. However, you don’t know if he/she will be able to apply and use the skills in a very productive manner. The organization must have clearly defined roles and responsibilities for every employee who joins. This structure needs to be communicated well to the new employees. It will make them comfortable and aware of your expectations and thus help them adjust them in the new environment. Set quick and efficient tasks for early wins Don’t immediately load the new employee with heavy tasks. No matter how experienced or well-versed one is in work, they will obviously need some time in order to get comfortable to the new environment and work culture. Giving them heavy and big tasks right away will only make them less confident if they fail to provide the desired outcomes. Instead, set up easy and quick wins to make them feel more confident and positive in their work which will further help the organization in using the new employee’s talent in important projects for better outcomes. Social Onboarding Build of sense of belongingness Make the new employees feel wanted and imbibe a sense of belongingness in them by creating communities new employee’sand teams that are ready to help each other. Building relationships in the course of time will make the recruit less isolated and will make him/her more habitual and confident while working with the other members of the team. It will also boost up his/her confidence and will increase his/her trust on the other team positive in ultimately providing efficient results. Talent and hard work are the keys in getting the things done the right way and retaining the acquired talent plays a key role in that. Onboarding the employees is a key process in employee and talent retention and can be highly beneficial for the organizations. Organizations who invest in onboarding the employees have better opportunities to retain the employees. Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [The best time to Improve was yesterday!](https://faberinfinite.com/the-best-time-to-improve-was-yesterday/): The world is moving fast and evolving even faster and so are the industrial parameters, standards and methodologies. In such times, it becomes very important for any organization to adapt to these changing methodologies and implement the advanced tools and techniques to achieve growth and excellence. Transformation journeys have proven to be an effective method and strategy to help the companies enhance their process and product in order to cement their position in the market and constantly increase revenues. However, many organizations are sometimes confused if it is the right time to embark on a transformation journey and usually tend to avoid the question and stick to their methodologies and techniques to achieve growth and improvement; which at times might harm the company’s value rather than improving it. As it is known, that any man-made thing left untouched, is bound to deteriorate. People in the leadership need to acknowledge that there is no right time to start the change initiative; it is only now! Sorting out the things and believing that the right time will come will hardly bear any fruits. Organizations at times might feel that there are many aspects that will hinder their transformation journey even if they start one. The most common one is lack of resources. But these factors are not exactly the most problematic. They can be tackled with proper management. Funds and resources can be saved and can be used to its optimum levels to produce exceptional results. For example, imagine a case where the energy cost is around a few crores annually. Fundamental yet powerful energy audits can do wonders to save energy costs which directly impacts the bottom line. Similarly, there could be several such initiatives which could be rolled out without much disruption in the existing working. As the wise say, the real art is to start! A journey of thousand miles begins with the first step and rest all falls in place! There are endless numbers of cases in the industry were waiting for the right time or planning things to get sorted before embarking on a transformation journey have been preventing organizations from exploring their own potential. Time is of utmost importance and organizations need to treat it as a resource and use it in the most optimum manner to achieve the maximum benefits. The organization and the leadership need to start transformation journey in order to make the most of their resources and to help the people involved in the processes, to adapt and work efficiently in the changing and evolving market for productive and profitable results. Team Faber Infinite has helped hundreds of clients to achieve their targets and goals by efficiently analysing their problems and implementing various frameworks that address challenges right from the roots. We have helped our clients in the successful rollout of transformation journeys and achieve continual and sustainable growth. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Green Belt Certification in Lean Management by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-water-your-weeds-go-lean/): We are in the 21st century and businesses have become more advanced and improved when it comes to processes involved in the system. Lean and its practices is one such tool that has helped thousands of organizations in becoming more efficient and effective in their work and ultimately generate larger revenue and profits. As rightly said by Mr. Harvey McKay – “Don’t water your weeds”, we should avoid investing time and efforts on processes and procedures that are inefficient. Like weeds, if we do not keep a check on such inefficiencies, then they can create chaos and all kinds of problems in the operations and execution. Taking this into consideration, Team Faber Infinite Consulting has designed an extremely powerful and unique training & certification program for today’s industrial world. This training and certification program shall help the organizations learn more about lean manufacturing and its practices. It will help them become more efficient and effective. About the Certification It is one of a kind Green Belt Certification in Lean Management and is not based on mere theoretical aspects. Unlike other training programs, this unique training and certification program focuses on practical aspects as well includes implementation of the concepts learned by the participants at their workplace, which is later assessed by the expert team from Faber Infinite Consulting. The certification program is divided into 3 parts with every part being followed by an examination to evaluate the progress of the participants. Moreover, the participants are also encouraged to implement one project approved by their plant at their facility and then present it for assessment. Successful implementers of the projects are awarded the prestigious certificate by Faber Infinite Consulting. Recently, Faber Infinite Consulting completed a certification program for members of Automotive Components Manufacturing Association (ACMA) of India where different organization across different sectors from Pune, Mumbai and Nasik benefitted from the program. Further details of the program are as mentioned, The methodology used for the Green Belt Certification In Lean Management Conference room tutorial sessions Simulation exercises Group exercises Case Studies & learnings from the Gemba Live projects and evaluation on the Gemba The spread of the participants Operations In-charge Production managers Line supervisors Industrial engineers Improvement co-coordinators Process engineers Purchase managers The program was very well received by the participants. Glimpses of the feedback are as follows: Great experience of training on various topics of Lean Management covered and they are very helpful to improve the organization The program not only covered implementation but also covered sustenance Very useful and interactive training session. Looking forward to more such sessions from Team Faber Infinite. Lean Management has grown to be a highly beneficial tool for organizations and at Faber Infinite Consulting, we motivate our clients and progressive organizations to implement LEAN and become more efficient in what they do. Lean is the key to lead the markets and become more successful, productive and profitable in the 21st century. Team Faber Infinite conducted this exclusive training program for the industry to further enhance the Lean Management skills and embark on the journey of excellence. Faber Infinite training & certifications are accredited by “Council for Six Sigma Certification Accreditation” from USA. For more information and details about GREEN BELT CERTIFICATION IN LEAN MANAGEMENT, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Friday Fact - Sorry for the delay](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-sorry-for-the-delay/): Do you know, the delay in trains at Japan is measured in seconds Japanese railways are one of the most punctual across the world. Their punctuality can be measured by the fact that the conductor of the train makes an apologetic announcement for the delay if there has happened any and the railway company also provides a “delay certificate” to its passenger because no one would expect and believe a train to be late in Japan. The Japanese people are very punctual and are highly dependent on their railways. In a recent time, a Japanese rail company because of departing 35 seconds early from the station, has apologized through the press for “any inconvenience” caused to customers. A similar incident happened in autumn last year when a train departed 20 seconds early from Tokyo to the eastern city of Tsukuba, for which the operator of the Tsukuba Express had to issue a public apology. A research conducted states that on an average Japan trains carries 260 billion passengers every year. The population of Japan until 2017 was ~0.13 billion. Hence you can estimate the reliability of people on the trains. And keeping their punctuality under consideration imagine even a delay of 5 seconds will incur a huge loss. Because when it is about time management and punctuality, Japanese people cannot compromise. For them delaying in anything is an insult of their work. Punctuality is ingrained in the culture of Japan. It is taught to their children right from a very young age at school. Also, office workers arrive at work before time in order to avoid potential tardiness. Japan has inherent punctuality in their culture. Have you started being on time every time? Written and compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Don’t just grow! Learn to sustain – Part B](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-just-grow-learn-to-sustain-part-b/): An organization can only be called a growing organization if they are able to handle the growth efficiently and sustain it. Sustainable growth is the key for any organization to pull off the numbers they desire and become the leaders in what they do. In our last transformation Tuesday we covered the first 5 key attributes of sustenance. This Tuesday, we’ll be taking you through the other 5 key attributes for sustainable growth : Find your niche and explore it for potential opportunities You cannot grow in a market that is a deficit of potential or opportunities. Instead of trying out haphazardly in the market, one must work towards finding their niche and targeting and exploring it to generate better results. Furthermore, better opportunities will provide you with a better chance of growth and sustainability.  Become the best in the market in what you do Becoming the leader in the market in which you operate in has many benefits when you are looking to sustain the growth. It helps you in having enough time and resource to invest in sustaining the growth while constantly benefitting from the name you have established in the market. However, while doing so, one must look after their competition and their relative positions in the market as well. Invest in the future Looking after the present is a good thing but don’t get stuck and look at the bigger picture i.e. future. One must invest in the future and look forward to being the same or moving ahead with the passage of time. It will also prepare you for the forthcoming events and will further help you in sustaining your growth and its rate. Be reliable and consistent Accepting challenges and working to take them down will help you in creating your own name among the customers. It will also establish you as a reliable and consistent organization in front of them. Moreover, being reliable and consistent in your activities will also make your organization highly productive internally and will keep your growth rates constant.  Never let go of talented and committed people People working in the organization define it and help the organization to grow and reach new heights. Organizations need to understand the value of such talented and committed people and should always work towards acquiring and retaining such individuals. One must find it hard, but believe me, it pays off really well. Growth is aspired by every organization. However, just focusing on growth and setting new targets after achieving one will never help one. One must know and should be able to sustain the achieved growth and then set new targets as they will serve as the foundation for the new strategies and techniques. To ensure it, one must create a holistic environment incorporated with the trends driving the contemporary industry as well as react and plan for the future that is just around the corner. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay and Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Ujala – A Transforming Change Initiative](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-ujala-a-transforming-change-initiative/): Did you know, that one change saved INR 165 Billion for the country? Ujala- a change initiative taken to save electricity by the Government of India. Ujala Yojana which was earlier launched in the name of – Domestic Efficient Lightning Program (DELP). The main motive behind this scheme is to switch the usage of 200 million incandescent bulbs to LED light bulbs which would save over 10.5 billion kWh of power. This scheme is available for everyone and sells the LED bulb to the applicant at a subsidized price. If an applicant buys an LED light bulb through this scheme than he gets to pay a 40% lesser than the market price. Also, these bulbs have a warranty of 3 years. As per National Ujala dashboard, the total number of LEDs distributed as on 7th December 2018 are 31,68,21,126. The energy saved per year is 41145 Mn kWh. The cost saving per year is INR 16,458 Crore. The carbon dioxide reduction per year is 3,33,27,133 t carbon dioxide. The goal of this yojana was to reduce carbon intensity by 33 to 35 percent between 2005 and 2030. This small initiative of changing the lights not only reduced the carbon intensity but also helped small-scale electrical component manufacturing industry increase their turnover and employment opportunities. One initiative of change opened doors for multiple benefits. This change initiative by the Government of India is spreading light and happiness since 2015, when are you taking the next leap of change? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Don’t just grow! Learn to sustain it. Part - A](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-just-grow-learn-to-sustain-it-part-a/): Growth is the most talked about term in today’s industrial world and every organization wants to have an exemplary rate of growth. However, it is not just growth that matters. An organization can only be called a growing organization if they are able to handle the growth efficiently and sustain it. Sustainable growth is the key for any organization to pull off the numbers they desire and become the leaders in what they do. There are ten key attributes to sustain growth and will help the organizations in achieving their targets and goals. This Transformation Tuesday we will have a look at the first 5 key attributes and the next 5 attributes will be discussed in next Transformation Tuesday. Culture The culture of any organization says a lot about where the organization wants to go and where it is heading. In order to grow and sustain it, the entire organization and the hierarchy must be committed towards working and helping each other to grow. Growing companies always have very specific targets they want to achieve and always keep their analytics ready to compare the results with individual and team targets. Transparency, accountability and high performing standards are the key to sustain growth. Willingness to win You must be willing to win. Aiming anything less than a win will always make you fall short of your targets. Growing companies always focus on winning and are highly competitive when someone comes even close to their thrones. Although, winning does not mean one has to bend the rules and ingrain unethical measures in their work culture. Never give up attitude There might be phases in sustaining growth when you will lose temporarily. But one must not fear anything and should keep working towards their goals and targets. These phases are temporary and will diminish after a certain period and will leave you with sustainable growth. Welcome change Change is a carrier of success. One must incorporate the change in their organization if they are facing troubles in growing or in sustaining their growth. Change has the tendency to intimidate people. However, instead of being afraid to it or resisting it, one must learn to embrace it and move ahead with change and related processes. Focus on your customers and their needs Customer will help you grow and will bring business to you. Hence, it is your responsibility to make your customers a priority and work towards making them happy and satisfying their requirements. Acquiring and retaining customers with your good service will ultimately result in you growing over the top and garnering more profits and revenue. Growth is aspired by every organization so to know about the next 5 attributes stay tuned till next Tuesday. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact- Lessons from 26/11 terror attack](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-lessons-from-26-11-terror-attack/): Did you know: None of the Taj Staffers fled during the 26/11 attacks? The nation just marked 10 years of attacks in Mumbai on 26/11. In November 2008, India suffered a great loss due to a terrible attack caused by the terrorist at a well renowned 5-star hotel; TAJ MAHAL PALACE – Mumbai. The hotel was under siege for 3 days and 2 nights, held by the terrorist with automatic weapons who took few people as a hostage, killed rest of them and set the famous dome of the hotel on fire. But by a report that came right after the attack, showed that none of the employee/staff that was present there in the hotel at that time fled. They all stood their right next to their customers and helped them with utmost possibilities to get them out safe. They made sure they saved almost every person they could find at a grave risk to their own lives. There were even such employees who lost their family who lived in that hotel and yet chose to save the rest of the people. There were a lot of workers, waiters, busboys, and room cleaners who knew about the back exits and paths through the hotel. Yet they chose to stay in the building under siege until their they made sure their customers were safe. This was the very model of ethical, selfless behavior that was seen. Although as a case, it was impossible to draw a conclusion, yet while this case was studied at Harvard, few conclusions were drawn to answer WHY. It was deduced that it had to do something with the pattern of recruiting at Taj and the kind of people they recruit. And the manner they train and reward them. The hotel looked for recruiting people who are less motivated by money and highly determined by personal behavior. The study showed the following major traits in recruitment & people policy at Taj: They did not recruit from big cities and well-renowned business schools. Rather they opted to recruit from semi-urban areas and local schools. They did not look for employees who have the highest grades. They were actually recruiting for personal characteristics, especially respect and empathy. Also, they recruited personnel from second-tier business schools, on the basis of the theory that the people there will be less motivated by money. If we draw the attention on training and rewarding system of Taj, it was designed to encourage kindness. If any guest compliments any employee, within 48 hours the hotel would reward the employee – ranging from gifts to job promotion. Through this study, the reason behind that behavioral pattern was deciphered – which can help corporations to enable behaviors with selflessness and empathy! Because it is the employees who represent your organization and will maintain relationships with the customers, on your behalf at the time of crisis. Taj has been deploying it since 1903. Are you?
- [Yet another feather in the cap!](https://faberinfinite.com/yet-another-feather-in-the-cap/): Strongpak Limited is one of the biggest manufacturers of PP woven bags in Zambia and neighboring countries, catering to the packaging needs of various industries. Strongpak is supported with a team of a well-trained workforce, the best in Zambia. With the application of Lean and Continual Improvement principles in the production process Strongpak has been able to continuously improve the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of their products. Strongpak has been winning awards since 2013. Below is the list of awards: 2013 – KAIZEN National Champions 2013 – KAIZEN Conference Excellent Management Award 2013 – KAIZEN Conference Gold Award 2013 – KAIZEN Conference Bronze Award 2013 – Kitwe District Chamber of Commerce & Industry Gold Award 2015 – KAIZEN Conference Gold Award 2015 – Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) Most Proficient Supplier Award This year they added one more feather in the cap by winning Gold award at the International Convention on Quality Control Circles 2018 in Singapore. We congratulate our esteemed client Strongpak Limited from Zambia on achieving yet another feat. This time it is Gold award at the International Convention on Quality Control Circles 2018 in Singapore. It is a prestigious feat for Strongpak Limited as the team not only represented the organization but the country and whole of Africa. We are proud to have such a strong relationship with Strongpak and hope to build that even stronger in the future. Congratulations!
- [Grow sales by ~33% in 11 months](https://faberinfinite.com/grow-sales-by-33-in-11-months/): Sales is one of the most aimed aspect for any and every organization. Increased sales leads to increased revenue. Every other organization faces various challenges in improving their sales and counter the increasing competition to hold their position in the market. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has a proven and unique framework for improving sales. This powerful framework enables the organizations in keeping the sales trends upwards in the charts. This proven solution by Faber Infinite has helped clients grow sales by ~ 33% within 11 months. Do you also want to grow your organization’s sales by ~33% in 11 months? Yes, this can be done for your organization as well. Do you want to know how? Check the webinar on Sales Growth Framework by Mr. Aakash Borse – Founding Partner and Director at Faber Infinite Consulting.  – https://bit.ly/2DTmePH This webinar was very well received and was attended by 40-50 participants across geographies and industries. Team Faber Infinite plans to organize many such interactive webinars, so stay tuned to our channel at: https://bit.ly/2QnOxN1
- [Employee Growth Development through Performance Management System](https://faberinfinite.com/foster-employee-growth-development/): In the contemporary industry, the need of tools and scales to measure the growth and development of the organizations as well as the performance of the individuals & teams has become quintessential for every organization. Many organizations have such measures ingrained in their working culture but still face many problems and go through a lot of trouble to get the correct data. Performance Management System can help such organizations a lot and is the most appropriate and suitable solutions for all of their problems. Performance Management System (PMS) It is an ongoing process by which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work objectives and overall contribution to the organization. More than just an annual performance review, PMS should be continuous process of setting objectives, assessing progress and providing on-going feedback to ensure that employees are exceeding their objectives and are highly effective. With its deep understanding and hands on experience in the working domain of Organizational Transformation, Faber Infinite has devised and administered an extremely powerful Performance Management System which has proved to deliver excellent results. 9 reasons why you should also deploy extremely effective Performance Management System  Organizations shall get 11 additional opportunities to improve in a year (total 12 v/s traditionally 1) With PMS, performance of the entire organization can be viewed on one scale and one dashboard Holistic approach – Hierarchy driven weightage of company performance, departmental performance and individual performance Timely feedbacks on monthly basis. This helps the organization in avoiding delayed corrections An objective system thus all subjectivity as well as ‘favouritism’ is eliminated from the processes Transparent system as it does evaluation by itself and not by the reporting authority Performance Management System focuses on ‘Team win’ rather than ‘Individual win’ Extremely easy to manage and deploy Performance Management System helps is developing high performance teams and not just control mechanism Benefits delivered by Team Faber at various client sites – Team Faber helped the client in effectively reducing cost of raw materials purchase by more than 51 percent i.e. around INR 3.5 million in a mere span of 3 months from implementation 28% increase in net profit achievement 43% increase in sales targets achievement 23% reduction in discount offerings 18% reduction in manpower costs 58% increase in H – Spirit scores 100% clarity of roles ensured and achievement of linking the company targets to functional targets Higher inter-department synergies leading to enhanced employee belongingness The organization was able to achieve and implement an unbiased reward and recognition methodology at their workplace Re-organization and uniform work loading as derived from utilization Measuring the performance of the individuals as well as of the organization collectively can be highly beneficial for the organization in planning their future projects and tasks. Moreover, it also encourages employees to do more and better by instilling transparency in the rewards and recognition processes. Team Faber Infinite has helped dozens of clients in this domain with its proven and structured PMS tool and has helped them in achieving their targets and goals in most efficient way. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Aspire & Rise](https://faberinfinite.com/aspire-rise/): Consultants can play a pivotal role in any progressive organization. They help organizations in overcoming various challenges they might be facing and thus provides that extra push to the organization that is needed to achieve excellence and ultimately sustainable continual development. There are various ways in which a consultant helps and accelerates the improvement – transformation journey for an organization. In this edition of iFaber, we are going to explore the life of one such consultant – Mr. Prasad Kadam who has helped multiple clients in various industries in different paradigms. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Kadam, Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? What three words would you use to describe your role? Prasad Kadam (PK): Currently, I am working as a Team Leader at Faber Infinite Consulting. We help our clients in creating a more optimized and efficient work environment where they can make the most of their resources and efforts to gain optimum results with maximized profitability. If I were to describe my role in three words, I will choose trendsetter, change manager and empathizer. Trendsetter, because I want and constantly work towards setting trends in the organization I work with or at a client site where I add value. The same goes for my team and its members as well. Change manager, because it is my job as a consultant to manage the change at the client sites and work in a manner that the management themselves feel like implementing the change without my persuasion or facing any resistance. And lastly, empathizer because it is very important for any consultant to empathize with the people they are working with, in order to understand their problems and the kind of situations they are stuck in. FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber Infinite? PK: I start my day with visualizing the tasks and work I have to do for the day and the way I will do them with my team and its members. I talk to my team members to keep them motivated and encouraged and assist them with any problems they might be facing and ultimately help them in achieving the desired targets and completing the tasks and goals with a better and more efficient output. I also usually organize an evening session with my team so that they can come forward, mingle with the other members and talk about all the good work they have done in the entire day. I believe this creates and strengthens the bond between us. So yeah! That is what my usual day at Faber Infinite looks like. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? PK: My job is my passion! I have wanted to be a consultant for a very long time. I have worked as a line manager for more than 14 years and wanted to add value to several organizations from what I have captured so far. So, I would say that working for something I am extremely passionate about, is worth all my efforts and hard work because it simply gives me immense peace and satisfaction in my life. FI: What is your motto or personal mantra? PK:  As the Alchemist puts it, which also part of popular Bollywood film – “If  you aspire something desperately from the bottom of your heart, the entire universe will conspire to help you to realize what you desire!” I would say, I have experienced this personally and this is my personal mantra! So, keep aspiring and keep realizing! FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? PK: As a consultant, one must work in different industries with diverse clients and various needs and requirements. Hence, learning about a new industry and getting the real facts and figures from the clients, by asking them the precise questions for analyzing and getting the right problem-solving methodology in a restricted time frame is one of the biggest challenges any consultant faces in his profession. Moreover, personally, I am a very direct person. If someone will ask me any question, I would prefer to reply to them directly. It needs to be handled well when you are working on people challenges to make all involved stakeholders understand the broad benefits. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? PK: Consulting is a very creative job, which usually demands time and structured communication. However in case, if there is a lack of communication between the teams, which may result in the difference in strategies and techniques involved while presenting the solutions. It may result in teams presenting different problem-solving methodology during the solution phase. Although, both the methods could be equally correct, I sometimes feel that having a standardized flow of thoughts can do wonders for the projects. It would also help in eliminating the slightest chances of any mistake that might creep in. That is what we should strive towards! FI: How has Faber Infinite helped you in your career development? PK: Well as I said earlier, I have worked as a line manager for more than 14+ years. So, in these years, I have only got to know about one industry. However, after working with Faber, within a year I have got to offer my learnings to multiple industries. Faber Infinite has definitely helped me a lot in learning about the new things, tools and techniques that will be ultimately beneficial for my career. Learning here has been very steep towards the top for me. Also, Faber Infinite has helped me work for my passion, helped me in doing something I have always wanted to do as a professional. FI: What do you like most about Faber? PK: At Faber Infinite, one would find an exceptional culture. The culture here is just amazing. People work in harmony and we celebrate all festivals together at Faber Infinite. This creates a sense
- [Shreshta – Journey to Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/shreshta-journey-to-excellence/): Biotechnology is one of the most difficult industries to be in at the present time. However, it is still the fastest growing and one of the most innovative sectors in the world. The potential in this sector is highly unexplored and the opportunity it has to offer is tremendous for the organizations. In this edition of iFaber, we have brought to you one such tale from the biotechnology industry, which also happens to be one of the earliest and dominant players. We interacted with Mr. Jayraj Doshi, Technical Director at Zytex Biotech, sharing the excerpts below. Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 15,000+ readers across India, Africa and Middle East and our readers would want to know more about Zytex Biotechnology Private Limited – the pioneers of industrial biotechnology in India? Mr. Jayraj Doshi (JD) – Zytex Biotechnology is one of the first organizations which entered in this industry in India. Currently, the focus of Zytex Biotechnology is on the manufacturing of bacillus-based micro-organisms and we are exporting it to more than ten countries at the moment. Also, we are the largest manufacturers of bacillus probiotics in India. We envision becoming one of the leading manufacturers of bacillus in the world by 2021. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? JD – For manufacturing of probiotics, standardization is very important since the key raw material is a living organism. It gets very difficult for us to standardize something that is living. So, the biggest challenge I would say is standardization of the raw material i.e. bacillus-based micro-organisms. We also face challenges in handling the micro-organisms during the manufacturing. Post manufacturing, maintaining the stability is also very important since every living organism has its own shelf life and hence post-manufacturing process such as packaging and storing become very crucial and important. FI – We would love to understand more about Shreshtha – the transformation journey at Zytex. What are the phases of this journey and how has it helped your team? JD – When we started Shreshtha around 14 months back, our main motive was to bring more teamwork in the people working in the facility & also bring in more accountability. We wanted to make the people working in the facilities capable enough to take decisions whenever required and take responsibility of the consequences of the decision. Moreover, we wanted people to be capable enough to move and implement the corrective strategies and techniques in such situations. So, the objective was to make the people in the organization responsible and accountable for their responsibilities. Decision making should not be a roadblock or a speed breaker for the flow of operations. With Shreshtha, there has been a significant improvement in the teamwork. Compartmentalization was a major problem. With various processes implemented by Team Faber Infinite like steering committee meetings, cross-department audits and 6S methodology, the communication within the hierarchy has improved significantly. People now understand each other much better. The procurement team understands how important it is to for the production to get the material on time. Even the engineering team and production team are continuously talking to each other to keep the equipment ready and effective all the time. People are now working in sync with each other with the efficient flow of information which is required for our products to be manufactured with extremely high quality within the deadline. Moreover, because of this, there has been a lot innovative, creative and out of the box thinking and suggestions are now put forward by the people which is again very beneficial for us and for the organization. Besides this the training of the team members on the shop floor has been fantastic. The people in the organization now understand better why things are to be done in a particular way. 6S has been a very important tool in bringing about the difference. Because implementation of 6S requires for the team to understand and believe that the change is for better. So of course, the overall efficiency of the organization has improved. Also the culture of continual improvement has helped Zytex won the Gold award at the National Kaizen Circle Competition 2018 organized by CII – Confederation of Indian Industries held at New Delhi. The participated under the category of manufacturing sector where more than 200 companies participated in the event including companies in the category like Tata Metaliks Pvt. Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Pvt. Ltd, Cavincare Pvt. Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd and many more. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers? JD – We were introduced to Faber Infinite by one of our friends who is also a client for them. The Faber team brings in a lot of value. The consultants who come have a lot of experience across industries and geographies. When we started Shreshtha journey with Faber Infinite, there was a lot of resistance that we faced from the employees on the shop floor. Team Faber Infinite has helped us a lot in overcoming this resistance to change. They helped us bring our people together and make them understand why the implemented changes are necessary to further improve the functioning of the organization. Team Faber has brought a tremendous amount of value to the table and the experience with them throughout our journey Shreshtha was amazing and I believe crucial for the journey itself. Thank you so much for your inputs and insights. We wish you luck with the Shrestha journey leading to be Shrestha – the best – as it means!  Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Performance Management System For Organizational Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/performance-management-system-for-organizational-growth/): The performance management system is the key to organizational growth. Any organization cannot afford to neglect performance management. It is all about ensuring that your employees are satisfied, happy, engaged and working towards the organization’s goals. It is a continuous process where there is a two-sided communication between the employer and the employee. The objective is to achieve the organization’s goals in a defined period. It should top the priority list of every organization. This Tuesday, let us see why an organization should implement Performance Management System: Make the team understand the importance of PMS: Most of the employees are motivated and work beyond expectations. But the issue arises when it comes to those employees who are unaware of what is expected. So clear identification of roles and responsibilities along with the expected role competencies is the must. If the employees clearly know what the expectation is and what do they have to do for best performance, then it becomes convenient for the managers and the reporting authority to assess the performance. To ensure that employees are aligned with the organization’s goals, the goals should be subjective, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. The goals should be realistic as well. Research shows that employees are highly motivated, when there is a 50% chance of achieving them. Engage the team: Only defining SMART goals is not enough, employee engagement is also needed. Your employees should be happy, motivated and engaged. It is important for every organization to understand their employee’s views, mindset and level of engagement. Employee engagement can be measured in several ways. Everyone knows happy people do more, and better work. Develop leadership and coaching skills: Every organization should take time and efforts to train the managers in the organization. A good manager would work on giving appropriate training and coaching to the team in order to give the best skills to the employees. Research suggests that if the managers and trained and effective then the organization does not have to invest a lot in the training of the team, as the managers would do it for their respective teams. Value Adding: The PMS should be simple, upfront, and should add value to every party involved in the performance management process. It should be value adding and the objective is to improve employee productivity and engagement. Rewards and Recognition: Employees need to be given due credit for their efforts in the organization. Research shows that the number one reason why people in America leave a job is that they do are not appreciated or rewarded or recognized for their efforts. So financial compensation plays a major role as well. So the key objectives of any PMS should be as follows: PMS should be objective in performance measurement Provide continuous feedback to the employees for improvement Enable even and impartial objective based appraisal Promote rewards and recognition schemes Identify the training and development needs of the employees Determine the effectiveness of various programs Thus, PMS should be an integrated part of any organization for the continual development and growth of the organization. Ready to unlock the full potential of your organization? Transform your growth trajectory with a robust performance management system. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert insights for maximizing productivity and fostering a culture of success. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri  
- [Friday Fact- How this fast food chain made millions?](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-how-this-fast-food-chain-made-millions/): Do you know your favorite McDonald’s made itself worth more than $20 billion dollar company just by asking this one simple question? McDonald’s for the last 75 years, has been serving burgers in 119 countries in more than 35000 franchises to 68 million customers daily. But just one simple question they ask- Would you like fries with that? helped them to sell over 9 million pounds of fries globally every day. McDonald’s knows that suggesting such value additions to the order will enhance the customer’s experience of the product. This will thus improve McDonald’s revenue. And the sales representatives do not stop there. They will after asking this question keep on asking you if you wish to have a soft drink or water, would you wish to have a desert along with that. These sales tactics worked wonders for McDonald’s. It helped them boost their bottom line and contributed more than $28 million in revenue which the company made last year. As per the study conducted this company is predicted to become worth $6.7 trillion by 2020. Here as you can see, just one question can help you and your company reap the benefits. McDonald’s as you can see is doing wonders using these tactics since ages. Are you offering value-add to your clients? Identify your value enhancement with Faber Infinite.   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Helping teams Improve productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/helping-teams-improve-productivity/): Growing and developing organizations are always presented with a demand of increasing the funding and capital by the managers every year. The main reason behind this lies in the fact that the team and people involved are too busy to take in new projects and work and thus the managers need additional resources and manpower to keep the workflow smooth and efficient with optimum productivity and profitability. Project or work overload is not a myth anymore and has become a very often faced problem by the organizations. However, at times, it gets difficult for the organization and the leaders to decide if there is really a need of additional resources or your team has enough capability to take in new work and projects. You can analyze this by asking the below given three things before proceeding further. The important work that every team member is responsible for Each person spends the designated time of the week doing all those important work he/she is assigned Special jobs or projects he/she is involved in apart from his primary roles and duties Once you have got answers to all the above-given factors, it is time you proceed with the following techniques in order to extract more time and help your team members adjust and gulp in more work. Terminate and eliminate work and responsibilities that are no longer needed Leadership should understand that keeping the existing projects and initiates going without any direct contribution to the present business objectives and goals will only eat up the employees’ time add will add up to the burden on the resources and capital. Moreover, the priorities should be made and efficiently communicated to the team and the members in order to remove any kind of confusion and complications. Removing such low-value tasks and creating a priority list will free up time for the people and will direct their efforts in a more fruitful and beneficial result. Ingrain strategies that will ultimately help you in reducing the workload from the shoulders of the employees Reducing the workload from the people’s shoulders is another important factor that will help the organization in utilizing the manpower in a better and efficient manner. Incorporating strategies that reduce people’s involvement in low-value tasks and instead direct those efforts in improving the product that will help the organization in the long run. Start initiatives that will help you in improving the productivity of the organization Productivity is the key differentiating factor that drives the growth and development of any organization. If productivity is higher, more tasks can be accommodated in the team’s activities despite the presence of low-value tasks and vice versa. Hence, working towards improving the productivity of the organization with various strategies and initiatives will help the leadership and the organization in creating more free space in the schedules of the teams. With the passing time, business objectives and goals of the organization change and so does the competition hence, taking in new projects and tasks is one of the biggest factors that can contribute to the organization’s journey of excellence and sustainable development. Incorporating strategies and helping the teams get rid of non-value adding tasks and directing their efforts towards company’s objectives is must do for every organization whenever they feel the possibility of growth and development. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - GE gained $700 million by deploying Six Sigma](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-ge-gained-700-million-by-deploying-six-sigma/): Did you know: GE gained $700 million by deploying Six Sigma? General Electric (GE) one of the most recognizable brands started focusing solely on quality control. CEO Jack Welch made a goal for GE in 1995, to become a Six Sigma company within the span of five years by adopting and implementing the “Six Sigma Quality” as a part of their company’s culture. The defect level at GE was as high as 35,000 defects per million opportunities. And according to the statistical formula behind Six Sigma, the process must only have 3.4 “defects” per million opportunities or chances for error. This necessity of GE was accomplished after deploying Six Sigma. According to research, within just two years after adopting and implementing the Six Sigma strategy, GE gained $700 million in corporate benefits. Six Sigma was rolled out in 4 key steps that translated to a formula for success: Training, Mentoring, Leadership and Focused implementation. GE arranged a 100-hour Six Sigma Training program, following which employees were supposed to complete a project using the methodologies learnt during the training. GE after implementing Six Sigma generated $ 2.5 billion worth benefits. Also, its share value showed an increment. The employee and customer satisfaction and product-quality, all of the three departments experienced good improvement. As you can see, Six Sigma has been delivering multi million dollar results. Are you practicing Six Sigma for quality improvement? Image Source : Wikimedia Written & Compiled By Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Help your team to do more without burning out.](https://faberinfinite.com/help-your-team-to-do-more-without-burning-out/): A young and energetic team with an ever ready to do attitude is the key that produces results and profits for the organization on the foundation of resources, capital and various initiatives. An energetic team with motivation to do and achieve more can help the organization in a number of ways throughout their journey. However, keeping the team motivated and energetic and maintaining the same level of enthusiasm for a longer period is very difficult and strenuous for the organization and its leadership. Consequently, the productivity dips down and so does the quality and profitability. Companies need tactical and strategically strong initiatives to make the most of the employee’s skills and efforts. Below are some key methods through which the leadership can produce more without burning out fuel from the employees and teams. The shift from individual efforts to a team efforts In order to speed up the work process without burning up the individual and the team member’s energy, one needs to understand that a pack is always stronger and efficient than just a lone wolf. Leadership should focus and motivate the employees to shift on co-operative and mutual efforts rather than sticking to their ego and their business. One needs to learn that he must let go of his fears and apprehensions and work and obsess about other people in the group to make the most of the available resources and improve their productivity. Teamwork, team members and energy A positive and productive teamwork will always motivate one to do more and keep their energy levels to the brim. Focus on energizing instead of just being energetic Teamwork promotes and motivates one to be more competitive and thus more productive and beneficial for the team and ultimately for the organization. Employees should focus on energizing the entire team rather than just focusing on their motivation and energy levels. Spreading the positive energy will be fruitful and beneficial for all for obvious reasons! Don’t overload the employees with deadlines and extra work Overloading the employees with excess work and then adding deadlines will only result in tiring the employees and making them ineffective in their tasks, responsibilities and daily duties. Companies should strategize tasks based on the abilities of their employees rather than setting paces without precise and proper analysis. Try to make a single approach towards the problem instead of breaking them into smaller parts We have learned right from the start that we should always break down a bigger problem into smaller pieces before approaching it to solve it efficiently. But, what if we tell you that solving the problem considering it as one piece can be more efficient and precise in providing effective solutions. Will you believe it? I guess, No. But, in reality, the fact is that approaching the problem as one and not breaking it into pieces can help provide more effective solutions and will also help the leadership in avoiding the excess and repetitive tasks for the employees that they might have to work on in the problem is broken into smaller pieces. Employees tend to produce better results with high energy levels and their ever ready to go attitude. This will also develop them and make them more mature and professionally sound which will ultimately help the organization in garnering fruitful results. Therefore, keeping the team motivated through the above-given strategies can really help the organization in the long terms. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - Are you a Hedgehog or a Fox?](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-are-you-a-hedgehog-or-a-fox/): Do you know, the Hedgehog concept has helped Southwest airlines of America to generate profits for more than 4 decades! Southwest Airlines has grown remarkably since 1970. From small, quirky, Texas-centric airline into the largest domestic carrier of the United States. In the past 10 years, change has come fast, with the airline focused mostly at the largest U.S. airports, such as New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, rather than at the outlying airports like Manchester, New Hampshire which it once preferred. Southwest is even adding international routes, mostly to Mexico and the Caribbean. But do you know that even after all this, Southwest airlines fare prices are the lowest in the market as compared to its competitors and the services it is providing? Southwest has been following this strategy since the 1970’s. And even today it is following the same strategy. Southwest refused to follow its competitors in applying new revenue-producing schemes. Southwest’s competitors have started adding fees or have raised prices for nearly all extra checked baggage, advanced seat assignments, ticket changes, etc. Southwest is making good money, with operating margins of 20%+. There even came a time when the entire airfare industry was going through crises. But even then, Southwest stuck to its strategy and did not increase its fare price or subtracted any of its services. And yet it earned the profit. The strategy used behind this was – Hedgehog. As we know the Hedgehog is the one who has only one task to do and it does that with all its focus and concentration so that it can keep safe from the fox. Just like that, Southwest decided to focus only on its customers and not the profits. Paying attention and focusing on just one aspect helped them in gaining their other goals and motives. Organizations designing their strategies with focus on key aspect make a major mark, as all other aspects are interconnected. They will be automatically accomplished once the key goal is achieved. These strategies have been in use since 1970’s. Are you deploying them? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Find the right time to invest in Training & Skill Development programs](https://faberinfinite.com/find-the-right-time-to-invest-in-training-skill-development-programs/): In the contemporary evolving industrial world of 21st century, training and skill development programs forms the backbone of any organization’s efficient workforce and helps the company in improving their produce and regulate their resources and efforts logically and more effectively. However, there have been many instances when the training sessions and skill development programs have backfired and instead of benefitting from the modules, companies have faced losses – in terms of time, capital and resources. Hence, it becomes very important for the organizations to plan and implement the training programs when they are needed and required. One cannot just simply start a training module for the employees thinking that it will only benefit the organization and its profitability. Below is a list of three eminent conditions that decides if a training program will be effective and productive or not. The internal structure and systems support the training programs and the newly ingrained working culture and patterns Training and skill development programs are bound to improve the skill set of the employees and thus will also change their work strategy and culture in order to provide positive and effective outputs for the organization. However, any change is only productive if it is provided a sustainable environment and the internal infrastructure provides the required support for the change to flourish in the existing culture. There are many factors like culture, company values, priorities etc. that will play a crucial role in providing the training platforms the desired support they need to improve the profitability and quality of produce of the organization. Employees commitment towards change Any training program will not only refine the skills of the employees but will also enhance their approaches towards the problems and obstacles. However, this will be only possible if the employees commit themselves towards the training process and are ready to embrace the change. Lack of commitment and dedication towards to collective goal will only make the efforts go in vain and will also result in losses of resources and time. If the training programs and modules provide a direct solution to the strategic problems of the organization Training modules should only be incorporated in the organization if there is a need of it and the modules provide a direct solution to the problems and obstacles the organization faces in their pursuit of excellence and continual and sustainable development. The priorities of the organization must be served as a direct result of ingraining training and skill development modules. Having no complete objective before starting one will be more of a waste of time than a fruitful venture. Organization invest huge amounts of capital in the training and skill development domains for better results and keep their employees and their skill competitive and in sync with the latest trends and technologies. Hence, it is of utmost importance to spend this capital for fruitful results rather than spending it without any clear goal to achieve. Moreover, it will also help the organization and its employees in gathering new data and knowledge along with the new skills which will ultimately broaden the spectrum of success for the organization in their journey.   Written and Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Power of Keystone Habit](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-power-of-keystone-habit/): Do you know, Alcoa- Aluminum Company of America achieved 5 times of its profit within the span of 13 years just by using a keystone habit from Charles Duhigg. In the year 1987, Alcoa hired a new CEO- Paul O’Neill as the company was facing loss from last year. When O’Neill was asked to address everyone present in the ballroom, he began by talking about the worker’s safety. This had put everyone under a huge confusion. Because, as a CEO, he was expected to speak about Synergy, Rightsizing, Alignment, Competition, etc. He said that the safety graph of his company has gone down. Although it is better than that of the general American workforce, he wanted to convert it into Zero Injuries. Listening to this, people started commenting outrageous things about him. Remembering O’Neill’s stint in Washington from 1960’s someone said that he had done a lot of drugs. Even, people started to raise their hands in a desperate need to ask him questions on familiar grounds such as- Capital ratios and inventories and so on. And the only answer he gave was to understand Alcoa they need to look at workplace safety figures. He added by saying that workers have devoted themselves by creating a habit of excellence. And looking after their safety will be an indicator that they are making progress in their habits across the entire institutions. And that is how Alcoa should be judged. Once the speech was over, many financial analysts called their clients and advise them to sell their stocks of Alcoa. And there were a lot of obligations waiting on his way of changing that one habit. But he did not give up. He worked on his lines of changing and after a year, the results were declared and the companies profit hit a record high. This helped the new CEO add more motivation for his investors and kept working on the same lines for the next 13 years. After 13 years, at the time of his retirement, when calculated, the companies profits were 5 times more than that of when he was hired. When he was asked about his strategy, he said he knew he had to transform Alcoa but one can not order the people to change. so, he thought of one thing- disrupting one habit and it would change entire scenario of the company. He did this by using a keystone habit from Charles Duhigg that was to change one habit which will lead to change other habits which will end up bringing change for better. At Faber, we help our clients by beginning to disrupt one habit at a time; which leads us to help them bring organizational transformation. Have you identified your next disruption yet? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [4 Key points to change management for Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/employee-engagement-key-to-change-management/): In the present times when every other organization is trying to get ahead of their competition by ingraining organizational change and change management processes in their facilities and work culture, there are many reports that suggest that these change processes are actually affecting the jobs of many people associated with the organizations. This can create a very downsizing effect on the transformation journey of any organization. In most of the cases, it is usually seen that this unwanted effects which are usually faced by the employees are because that they are not made fully aware about the organizational change and why it is being introduced in the working processes. Hence, it becomes of quintessential importance for the leadership. The decision makers to make sure that employees involved know about it and must be given an explanation about why implementing a change management process can help them all in becoming and achieving better. Below are the four key aspects that can help the top level management in making the employees understand and drive change to the ultimate success. Inspire them by talking about the better future During the change, many people might feel uncertain about the future and that will surely unsettle them. However, it is the leadership’s responsibility to take the stage and explain the benefits of the change management initiative that will ultimately create a better, productive and profitable work environment for the employees. Also, it is important to clear the doubts or problems people might have with the change process. Aligning the company’s core values and principles along with the change management objectives can prove to be of real help to the leadership in making the employees comfortable in bringing them to their side. Regular communication with the employees Communication during any change event needs to be two way and every employee should be communicated about the change process and steps efficiently and clearly. Any gap in communication is likely to create confusion and ultimately chaos on the floor. Moreover, the benefits for the employees that will be in change initiative should also be efficiently communicated to them. This will ultimately help the leadership in keeping the people encouraged, engaged and motivated through the change process. Don’t be the sole player. Include manager and executives and encourage them to lead The top management should not take everything in their hands and must involve managers and executives in the process since they are closer to the employees involved. Moreover equipping them with the resources and information will only add up to the support and will enhance the controls and systems present on the floor assisting in the change management initiative. The top management can obviously choose a number of training programs in order to train the managers and executives before they actually jump into the projects as the leaders. Find ways to increase employees involvement in the change management processes Increasing the involvement of the employees in the change management initiative will help the leadership in imbibing a sense of involvement and belonging in the employees which will be ultimately very beneficial for the organization. Involving the employees in the change management initiatives will also help the leadership in improving the feedback mechanism of the organization which will ultimately boost the efficiency of the process. Effectively and efficiently ingraining change management programs is a difficult task and can only be achieved with the overall involvement of the employees and people coming under the umbrella of change. Explaining the change processes and why it is needed to the team members can enhance the quality as well as the work environment for the employees and the top management. It will also make it easy for the people on the shop floor to embrace and adapt to the change process and yield better productivity and results. Discover the power of change management in boosting employee engagement. Gain practical strategies and expert advice to drive positive transformation within your organization. Fill out the form below and embark on a journey towards empowered employees and thriving workplace culture! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [5 Principles of Leading Top Management in Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/5-principles-of-leading-top-management-in-transformation/): Transformation journey and its success depend a lot on the kind of leadership team that handles it. Many transformation journeys fail because of lack of involvement from the top management. That is supposed to make the calls and handle the journey at every step. Managers and senior executives need to understand this and should be able to anticipate the situations and proactively plan the journey. Moreover, managers are close to the employees and hence, their role intensifies in a change initiative by the organization. Role of top management in any change initiative In any transformation journey or change initiative, managers, executives and supervisors must play the following roles to help the organization achieve their desired targets and goals and become more productive and profitable. Communicator about the change to the employees Employees who work at the ground levels need to know about the change initiative first and how it will impact their work processes and culture. Managers and supervisors become key personalities in such situations since they are closer to the employees and can help them understand the various aspects and benefits of the change initiative. This is a very important task and the message should always be communicated by the managers or by the supervisors to the employees and team members. Advocate the change initiative Managers and supervisors need to be in favor of the change and should advocate it to motivate the team members. Everyone on the floor looks up on their seniors to draw inspiration and hence, being the pro-change initiative will always help in making processes and systems involved in the initiative a lot smoother and easier to comply. It will also act as a catalyst for the organization during the change initiative. Train and coach the employees The top management should also play the role of coach for the employees who will ultimately become a part of the change management initiative. Every manager and supervisor should treat their employees like apprentices in their day to day work that concerns the transformation journey. Just like coaches in every field, managers and supervisors should also possess and ingrain the below qualities in them to be the best. a)Awareness about the change and the processes involved b)Desire to be a part of the change process and support it c)Knowledge about the change process d)Ability to implement and ingrain the skills and techniques required for the success of the change initiative e)Bring in reinforcement to sustain the change initiative 4. Communicate and coordinate with the members and the project team The top management should act as a bridge between the employees and the project team managing the change initiative and should be able to communicate the messages between both the parties and prepare reports on a regular basis for better analysis of the situation. The important role managers and supervisors play here is that they become a key personality in providing the inputs and solutions to the problems that might be creating difficulties in the transformation journey. Manage resistance Resistance is very common yet very impactful in any change initiative and hence it becomes quintessential for any organization to manage it to have a successful change initiative. Manager are closest to the employees, this makes them more efficient in understanding the resistance, the problems of the people and the factors that give rise to resistance. They should be able to manage the resistance and provide viable solutions to the leadership to tackle or minimize the resistance. Top management is the key body in any change initiative on whose shoulders the entire transformation journey rests. Hence, it becomes very important for them to be efficient, aware, and able to manage and look after the change management initiative that runs in the organization to make it more productive and profitable. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped hundreds of clients in successfully managing change initiatives and have trained thousands of people involved in the change management initiative to change and aggravate the outputs for the organization. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- Renaming the city? Have you heard of Five S city yet?](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-renaming-the-city/): Did you know: there is Five S city in Japan? Japan does not only practice Five S on regular basis, but it has it in their blood. For example, Tokyo is a city having 14 million people, yet it is cleaner than the United States when it is compared in terms of their development status. In Japan, there are few public areas which say to carry away your trash along with you to your home and people even follow that because Japan is an island nation where the sense of community and desire to maintain orderliness is deeply ingrained. Also, the cost for trash is very high as the landfill is limited with Japan being an island country. In Japan, the new year is all about cleaning and not partying. Japanese head to their homes from wherever they are to spend 2-3 days cleaning their houses and preparing for the new year ahead.  It’s like the whole country does “spring cleaning” at the same time but in the winter. Japan teaches about the Five S to kids from their childhood. Japanese children are supposed to clean their classrooms and schools for them to achieve results to of clean classrooms. The motive behind this is to teach them the core values of Five S. The Five S is so deep in the culture of Japan that there is a city Ashikaga that is outside Tokyo which calls itself “FiveS City” and here Five S is the core value for everyone in the town. In 1990 at the time of the recession period of Japan, when people were losing their jobs, several companies started using Five S and other popular concepts like; TPS, Lean, etc. to improve their business And revitalize their community. These companies also decided to start a Five S school through the chamber of commerce. The first ever Five S school was established in 2006. Ashikaga AKA Five S City is a place where everyone’s core value is Five S, hence you can see the morals and values of Five S in Japan. It has been there since ages, are we practicing the same? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.   
- [Be a Champion by being Self- Aware](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-champion-by-being-self-aware/): Self-awareness is one of the most basic qualities that are needed by people to have a better performance at the workplace, success and more effectiveness and efficiency in the leadership. However, in today’s modern world, people think that they are self-aware although a very small fraction of the entire workforce is. In a research, it was found that 95 percent of the total workforce of the sample believed that they are self-aware, however, only 10-15 percent were actually self-aware. Working with unaware team members is not only frustrating and stressful; it also impacts your working habits, methods and patterns. Sometimes, working with such people starts pulling you down so badly that you yourself might start feeling demotivated and might also leave the job and the workplace. This can give rise to various career issues and hamper the inner peace that one needs at the workplace to keep him interested and work with the most optimum capabilities. In this blog of Transformation Tuesday, we will be telling our readers how to deal with such situations and at the same time help the unaware team members see themselves more clearly. Get to know about the problem and understand it Many times, people fail to understand exactly what is creating problems for them in working together. Conflicts between two people are not always caused by unawareness of one, there are many other reasons such as lack of communication, different working styles and priorities that can also cause conflicts. Hence, it becomes very important to understand the problem that is hampering the relation between two individuals to solve them. Moreover, it is also important to know if the person is really unaware of things or he is doing things in full conscience and just doesn’t want to change. Getting to know the difference is the key since the unaware wants to collaborate and add value but fails to do it however, the rigid ones do it just to prove their point. Help the unaware Once you have recognized the individual who is unaware about the circumstances and the impacts it is having at the workplace, it is now time and mostly your responsibility that you help him in becoming more efficient with his work by making him aware. Many people might feel that they are not the right messenger to convey this message to the suffering individual which is a very valid concern and consequently restrain themselves from helping them. However, in a study, it was found that 21 percent of the people who did not take a step forward later regretted their decision while 31 percent people successfully helped their colleagues improve and perform better. Another reason that might bother people is what if their intentions are taken wrongly and their move backfires. One might fear that instead of helping the individual he might end up making him angry and furious. Again, it is your job to help your unaware colleague or the least you can do is ask someone higher in the hierarchy to help him since power will automatically dominate the worst case scenario of conflict and anger. Working with unaware team members can easily turn things upside down and can crash someone’s productivity. It is quintessential for everyone to work in a healthy and productive environment that can help them in becoming more efficient and achieving their desired goals and targets instead of just pulling them down. Working with unaware employees can be troublesome, but it is again your choice to help the individual that will decide the course of your bonding and relationship with him and your working patterns and cultures. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Faber Infinite covered by Business Connect Magazine](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-covered-by-business-connect-magazine-as-the-guiding-star-of-consulting-industry/): Faber Infinite has been covered by the recent publication of Business Connect Magazine as one of the 25 most trusted consulting organization in India. The magazine has comprehensively covered the unique arrays of Faber Infinite, showcasing the success journey of Faber Infinite and its clients.
- [Friday Fact- Did you know: The iconic Toyota Production System (TPS) has its roots ingrained beyond automotive sector](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-did-you-know-the-iconic-toyota-production-system-tps-has-its-roots-ingrained-beyond-automotive-sector/): Toyota, one of world’s largest automaker did not start the business by making cars. They started with making looms for the textile industry since 1890. The company started with handlooms and then went ahead to make what they got famous for, the power looms / automatic looms. The automatic loom was designed on the principle of Jidoka. The loom would stop when any problem occurred. Mr. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, sold the patent to a British corporation, which funded the company’s automobile business. Initially, they sold the cars under the Toyoda name, which was later changed to Toyota.  Toyota, a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was started in 1933 under the leadership of Kiichiro Toyoda, the son of Mr. Sakichi Toyoda. It was devoted to the production of cars. Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was encouraged by the Japanese government to develop domestic vehicle production that was needed due to the war with China. Although the Toyota Group is known for its cars, they are still in the textile business and they still make automatic looms, which are now computerized, and electric sewing machines which are used and available, worldwide. So Toyota has been using Jidoka even before their automobile business and it has been delivering exceptional results since 1890’s. Are you using Jidoka to improve processes to deliver high-quality products? Image source: AutoEvolution Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri.  
- [Yes, Five S can deliver top line benefits as well](https://faberinfinite.com/yes-five-s-can-deliver-top-line-benefits-as-well/): The market in the present era is evolving at a very rapid pace and thus demands revolutionary and effective methodologies to be implemented at the workplace to gain maximum output and garner optimum results. Even though fundamental in nature, Five S methodology is one such practice that immensely helps the organization in creating a better functionality program at the workplace. The focus of Five S is to make workplace effective, efficient and safe. The idea is to make the workplace clean, standardized and the system is driven so that it becomes easier for the employees to focus on their job without wasting time. It is a very strong and impactful tool. Faber Infinite’s Five S Consultants has delivered exponential results at various client sites via Five S implementation. At one of the client sites, Team Faber Infinite undertook Five S rollout, which happens to be a renowned name in the eco-friendly packaging industry with presence all over Africa. The client serves to the packaging needs of various industrial sectors like pharmaceutical, cosmetic, edible oil, lubricating oil, food and beverages, agro and industrial chemicals and detergents, paints, etc. With the implementation of the Five S methodology by Team Faber, the client witnessed various results that helped them in standardizing and improving the processes and systems leading to efficiency improvement. Since the standard processes produced standard products, robust standardization initiative led the client to secure large consignment from one of the FMCG majors. The client attributes this development to all the processes and systems due to Five S implementation. Some tangible benefits delivered by Team Faber Infinite via Five S and transformation rollout: Team Faber Infinite helped organizations in streamlining and standardizing business processes by using Five S methodology at client sites Clients witnessed an improvement in yield and reduction in throughout time With team Faber’s contribution, Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of equipment increased from 25 to 73% The rejection rate of consignments was reduced by more than 50% The labor productivity at the client sites was improved by around 40% The client also reduced the recurring breakdowns from 15 to 1% Inventory optimization and improvement in on-time and complete shipments was achieved Increased access to data by the leadership in order to make more precise, quick and effective decision making Five S methodology also helped the organizations in improving workflows, thus ensuring that the required information is sent to the right people at right time. Team Faber Infinite has always supported structured methodologies and has implemented them to help the clients achieve the most optimized and beneficial results. Five S methodology is one such tool that can do wonders for the clients if implemented properly in an efficient manner.  For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [7 Steps to Balance work load for Organizational growth](https://faberinfinite.com/balance-work-load-for-organizational-growth/): In today’s world, every other organization wants to be the best and make constant efforts to be one. However, many a time in this run, the leadership of the organization fails to align themselves and their new strategies and initiatives with the existing ones which ultimately results in creating an unnecessary burden on the middle and lower levels of the organization. This ends up having a very adverse impact on the working as well as the productivity of the organization. The leadership should work towards making the most of the human potential and should make the processes very clinical and free of overload as it has a direct impact on the organization. In this blog of Transformation Tuesday, we have identified the seven root causes that cause piling of initiatives and overload the manpower. Lack or inability to measure Many organizations and their leadership find it very difficult to manage the initiatives and lack the ability to measure the amount of work that gets put on the shoulders of the managers and executives as a result of piling of the initiatives. This lack of realization thus plays a major part in the piling of initiatives. Limited access to other groups and teams Sometimes, the executives and managers are able to see the impacts of the initiatives on their teams only and fail to evaluate or anticipate the impacts the newly integrated initiatives will have on the other teams and their members. This is also is a key factor that causes an overload of initiatives and the consequent work on the employees of the organization. Politics Politics is present in every organization and such political logrolling consequently ends up in a pile of promises that needs to be fulfilled by the executives and their teams. This again increases the amount of work on the team members and ultimately impacts their concentration and productivity. Half-implemented strategies due to lack of funds There are many strategies that get implemented in the organization to achieve some targets or goals without the leadership providing them enough funds and resources. This consequently creates strategic differences and the structure then lacks the support to do the critical work. It can also create situation of conflicts among the teams and their members in the organization. Temporary fix initiatives Many a time, we look on a short-term remedy for a problem and thus initiate a temporary fix initiative in the organization which then continues for an unknown period of time because of recurrence of the problem. This happens because any problem will be solved only if its root cause is treated. Such temporary fix initiatives ultimately add up work for the employees to do. Cutting off the human labour Organizations get rid of manpower for cutting up their costs and in hopes of creating a balanced team. However, this process of getting rid of people without reducing the overall work of the team ultimately comes on the shoulders of the remaining team members. This further burdens them and pivots their concentration. Unwillingness to stop existing initiatives The seventh and the last reason is the unwillingness of the companies to stop the existing initiatives when introducing the new ones. This can happen as a result of lack of resources or unawareness. This causes piling up of the initiatives in the organization and creates overload on the shoulders of the employees. Things that do not work! Realizing that there is an overload of the initiatives in the organization is one thing but working towards reducing it is other. Below are some of the steps taken by the organization that does not work in reducing the overload. Instead, they make it worse. Making priorities by choosing functions or departments Not making cuts and imposing another priority list Making cuts at places where it is not necessary It is very important for the organizations to cut down their piling initiatives to have a smoother and productive unit that provides the optimum results to the organization. Leadership needs to understand that burdening up the employees won’t do them any good and will only add inefficiency in the processes and work culture. Initiatives are good for the organization only to the limit where it is aligned with the work culture of the organization and does not hamper the daily work processes of the employees. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Resistance to change is normal and natural](https://faberinfinite.com/resistance-to-change-is-normal-and-natural/): Don’t resist change embrace it. Change management processes have done wonders for many organization involved in various industries. Many organizations have benefitted from the process during the time. However, almost 70 percent of change management initiatives fail and does not produce desired results. Many of these initiatives fail due to the leadership’s inability to anticipate the resistance and incorporate appropriate steps to counter or tackle it. Resistance is a very normal part of any change management initiative and it is our perspective and approach towards resistance that plays the deciding factor in driving our change management initiative successful or unsuccessful. Getting to know the resistance To efficiently manage resistance, it is important for one to understand and know the resistance. There are many instances where resistance have played the key role in bringing out the change and hence, resistance should not be considered negative or unhealthy every time. Usually, resistance occurs due to the inertia exerted by human nature to stay in their comfort zone. One might see resistance as something that hinders the change initiative but in reality, it is nothing more than an unbalanced form of implemented tools and techniques that procures challenges in the process. The leadership of any organization initiating a change management process needs to eliminate these abnormalities and equate the entire process with a healthy and balanced counterpart which pushes them in a positive direction rather than just pulling them down. One can easily recognize resistance in the organization or in the workforce by observing their behavioral patterns and responses to various implemented changes. In almost all the cases of resistance, the main reason why people resist change is because of fear. Now, fear can be of anything, from fear of losing the job to fear of change impacting the person’s role in the organization. Moreover, as mentioned above, change also pulls out the people from their respective comfort zones and asks them to work in a completely new environment with unknown variables. Here’s how to manage resistance Efficiently managing resistance is the key in thrusting any change management initiative through the doors of success. The best way to manage resistance is to anticipate it and plan accordingly. This includes making strategies to make your workforce confident and comfortable about the change. Having a clear insight of what is going to come will always help one in sidelining resistance from the entire process. Training and programs that facilitate the manpower and equips them with the required skills to survive the change is another key method to manage resistance. Moreover, most of the people fear change and become insecure about their roles and responsibilities. Hence, delivering a unique and structured program that make the team member confident about their position and make the optimum use of their skills and potential always acts as a catalyst in the entire change management process. Team Faber Infinite Consulting have helped numerous clients from different industries across geographies in successfully implementing change management programs and embracing the resistance to have the most optimized and beneficial results. Our structured and designated frameworks have been able to smoothen the change processes and have created an exceptional bond between the management and the employees. For information about change initiatives and resistance to change, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- Formula One Changeover Times](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-formula-one-changeover-times/): Do you know, that Operational Excellence concept of Quick Change Over is equally being used in Formula One Race since 1900s? In the year 1950, in one of the races of Indianapolis 500 when Bill Holland pulled in for a pit stop during Formula 1’s inaugural season, there were only 4 crew members including the driver who were allowed to work on the car which took 67 seconds in the pit, which was too long for them to cover up the time to win. Modern Formula 1 still is a game of ten seconds even with the ban of refueling, it was clear that there was still a chance of making pit stops even faster. Currently, considering the importance of value adding time is on the track and not in the pitstop, the pitstop time is always focus of improvement. Apart from the pair of jack men, the lollipop man, and a guy tasked with fire control, the pitstop crew consists of 12 members for just swapping of the tires, with one man at each corner to remove a wheel, and one to place the new wheel, and third one to loosen and tighten single nut holding the wheels on. This reduced the stop of the driver at the pitstop from 67 seconds to 1.5-2 seconds. Comparing Red bulls stop with McLaren stop in the year 2012 at German Grand Prix, the 2.4 second stop was about a second faster than other teams that day. By the next year, Red Bull had reduced the record time at under 2 seconds. Remember, this is for changing four tires on a hot race car under heavy pressure, with around 20 crew members where all are working in harmony. It’s a stunning effort, one that’s the result of decades of refinement. It’s hard to imagine that a team could possibly get faster, but then again, we’ve been saying that for years. It would have been difficult to compete, forget to win the race if all the Quick Change Over (SMED) efforts would not have been applied. These Quick Change Over (SMED) methods are in practice for more than 100 years. Same can be applied to the equipment change overs – which are inevitable in todays dynamic world where lot size is shrinking and customers are more demanding! Are you practicing it and getting better each day?
- [Faber Infinite - Promoting Excellence in Education](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-excellence-in-education/): “Education is the most useful weapon which you can use to change the world – Nelson Mandela” At Faber Infinite we have always lived by our core value of Giving back to the Society. We started a transformation journey in July 2018 at a government school in Ahmedabad with the goal to transform it into a world-class school. Faber team conducted Five S & transformation workshop for teachers and students both. Five S establishes a well organized and visual workplace. Team Faber believes that Five S culture will not only help students to be more independent but lead to better tomorrow for the nation! It is our contribution to #SwachhBharatAbhiyan A complete transformation roadmap so teachers can invest more time in their students rather on other non-value adding activities. We wish to make this government school a world-class school with all systems and processes in place. As truly said, ‘Charity begins from home’, Faber Infinite follows the values it believes in and has always lived by example. With this and many more initiatives, Faber Infinite has always been committed to their core value of creating a Fabulous world around.    
- [Pull and Push in lean Philosophy](https://faberinfinite.com/pull-and-push-in-lean-philosophy/): LEAN manufacturing processes are one of the most effective tools for a continual and sustainable development. They not only help the manufacturers cope up with the increasing competition but also help in creating a more holistic operating environment along with an increase in productivity and improvement in efficiency that guides the way towards a continual and sustainable development. However, many a time, manufacturers face a lot of trouble in with resistance to LEAN. This can be overcome by pulling LEAN instead of pushing it. The term ‘pull’ has a very clear and direct meaning i.e. pulling only those things off the shelves that matters in achieving the desired goals and numbers. Analysis of the processes and controls acts as a catalyst in the entire process and adds precision to the implementation of the strategies. Under ‘pull’ a detailed study and analysis of the production processes help one in understanding the obstacles and flow of work processes. It also allows one to create a dashboard with precise data about the things that are required namely, raw materials, and workforce etc. to make the continual improvement process a success. What we do in ‘pull’ is absolutely contrasting to what we do in ‘push’. Instead of making inventories, planning services and predicting things based on the historical data of ‘push’ processes, one anchor LEAN in the manufacturing processes. It implements the concepts and its practices in the workplace rather than creating a model which would be implemented on the old staircases with weak foundations. Moreover, pushing LEAN is not people-centric while pulling resonates with the workforce motivating them to be a part of the system and steer it towards the goal. Difference between Pull and Push in Lean Manufacturing Pulling LEAN is all about knowing the facts, getting aware of the requirements, knowing where and when to implement LEAN and the technique that is required to form a precise application of LEAN tools. Pulling LEAN also helps the manufacturer stay in the run with the demands. While integrating push processes and controls, one is more likely to lose customers with demands exceeding the capacity of the manufacturing facility. On the other hand, amidst all the other benefits, pull also encourages the sigil of productivity into the manufacturing processes and helps the producer in coping up with the increasing demands. Furthermore, pulling LEAN also helps the manufacturer to focus on the efficiency of the product and keep it up with the standards. Pulling LEAN relieves the capacity constraints from the manufacturer and helps him in observing and analyzing them to observe the difference and collect the data. The data collected can act as a proof and one can motivate more and more people to believe in pulling LEAN and encourage them to integrate into the work culture and manufacturing processes. Getting the data collected, analyzing it for achieving the better and studying it for precise implementation of LEAN tools is what pulling LEAN is all about. Leadership should start understanding this and start ‘pulling’ more. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Leaders Should Talk to Achieve Collective Goals](https://faberinfinite.com/leaders-should-talk-to-achieve-collective-goals/): The world has become a difficult and competitive place to live in and it is very obvious for people to feel frustrated and annoying at times. With issues originating apart from workplace like harassment, political and caste-based divides, irrational constraints on the rise, the humane behavior is likely to be altered by emotions like anger, depression, disappointment and sadness. This is ultimately going to impact one’s work process and his thought processes subsequently as well. Leaders play a very important role in such situations in prepping the team member and pulling him out of such traumas. They can’t escape these situations even when the case and the subject are very sensitive and delicate. Many leaders today face the issue of outside factors affecting their team members and impacting the progress of the group. The only solution to this problem is to have a chat with the employee and help him out of the entire circumstantial problems and differences. The silence of the leaders in these situations can worsen the problem even more rather than creating an upstream flow of work. Instead of getting afraid of talking about these topics one should take a step forward and should initiate a discussion to help him. The same goes for an awkward situation as well. If initiated with genuine intentions for a better understandability, even an awkward conversation can be turned into a soulful conversations leading to a healthier and deeper relationship. Addressing certain issues that one might feel awkward in nature can be completely different in reality and more certain situations. Team leaders and managers have to be mature enough to get over themselves and indulge themselves in such conversations. Apparently, having these conversations openly can make both the parties feel better and clearer about the intentions and their thought processes respectively. One must be willing to become slightly vulnerable to have these kinds of conversations since they require humility and empathy in order to be initiated and continued in an efficient manner. Moreover, one should also be able to convince other to have such conversation since getting permission is the most important part of having such talks with any of the team member. Ambiguity also plays a crucial factor in having this kind of awkward chat sessions with any member or employee. By implementing this kind of approach in the work culture, leaders can also motivate and encourage the employees to do better and be more involved in the processes and deployments. Moreover, motivating them will also help the one affected shift his focus from one thing to another thus adding to the relieving factors of the entire discussion or chat session. One must be able to embrace the awkwardness and should work towards getting the best of a person out for the whole world to see. Talking is the key and the only solution with which people can come to common understandings and work in sync to achieve the collective goals. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [First Star Faber of the Year](https://faberinfinite.com/first-star-faber-of-the-year/): “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy!” Consultants are experts in their fields and play a pivoting role in helping the client organizations thrust its numbers. In a way, consultants are magicians who bring out the most optimum results with the same resources and awes the audience. As a part of iFaber, in this edition, we had a chat with another star Faber Abhijit Wakodikar, who speaks up about his experiences and shares his exciting journey as a consultant. Why Consulting? Hailing from the beautiful city of Nagpur in Maharashtra, Abhijit has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Technology and Masters in Operations and Supply Chain Management. When asked about why he chose being a consultant as a profession and not anything else, Abhijit had an intriguing yet interesting answer. “I like the profile of a consultant. I like to deal with different challenges, day in and day out. Hence, I started my career as a consultant immediately after I finished my higher education”, said Abhijit as a reply. Life as a consultant Abhijit is part of industry neutral consulting team, who has an understanding of various industries and sectors. He has delivered results across more than 30 clients spread across over a dozen industries, ranging from textiles and plastics to chemicals and FIBC sector. He believes that life of a consultant is defined by the rise in his learning curve. According to him, a consultant is never off duty and never reaches the saturation level in terms of improvements and development. “Learning is the foremost important aspect of being a consultant and it is the most interesting part that motivates one to do more,” says Abhijit proudly. “We re-introduced a proven problem solving methodology named 8-D with a customized approach at one of our client sites in Zambia. It was an extremely successful initiative in the industry and delivered tremendous results. Although, we work hard at all client locations and are able to deliver exceptional results to all our clients, this one was close to my heart and it was a great learning experience.” When asked about challenges, according to Abhijit, being versatile in various sectors and having knowledge about every other thing in the respective domain is the most challenging part of being a consultant. Moreover, aligning the management and value adders together on the same platform is another challenging aspect. Another important and interesting aspect of the consulting career of Abhijit is his strong belief in the philosophy – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Abhijit believes that integrating simulation activities along with rigorous classroom session is beneficial since the simulations are the only things that will stay in the minds of the people for a longer time frame. Abhijit also implements this within his team as well and motivates his associates by rolling out similar initiatives. Personal life? Being a focused and devoted person towards work, Abhijit makes best of every opportunity to spend time with his parents. Apart from this, he loves going on treks and involves himself in adventure sports.. He is a very avid rider and goes on rides whenever he manages to get some time off his schedule. He also sketches in his free time to relax his mind. It is a very lesser known quality about Abhijit that he is a writer at heart. He is working on his book for the past 6 months which he plans to complete and publish in the coming year. Amidst all the challenges, Abhijit has always pushed himself hard and has emerged as a winner against all odds. Abhijit was the first star of the year at Faber Infinite when we started the awards. He believes in learning and innovation and having spent a good time in management consulting domain, Abhijit has inculcated various quintessential qualities in himself which makes him stand apart from the crowd. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Delivering incredible results client after client!](https://faberinfinite.com/delivered-successful-results-yet-again/): Packaging has always been one of the most quintessential aspects in the industrial world. FIBC and woven sack sectors have been on the edge lately and have emerged as key drivers in the market. The demand of jumbo bags for packaging has been increasing exponentially. FIBC and woven sack sector is an active participant in the Indian GDP as well and will soon become an integral contributor. Faber Infinite Consulting has been an ardent supporter of the FIBC and woven sack sector and has helped various organizations in achieving a sustainable and continual growth with its structured improvement framework and tools. Faber Infinite’s experience in FIBC and woven sack sector Team Faber has been working across 3 regions and in more than 8 countries to help our clients tackle the challenges and grow profits. We have been associated with more than half a dozen clients from FIBC and woven sack sector with overall productions over 5000 tons per month and more than 500 looms in the production units. Apart from these, Faber Infinite has also helped in training the organizations’ workforce to get more efficient and optimum production which can be sustained over the period of time. Team Faber has trained more than 10,000 people from FIBC, PP woven bags, Block Bottom/ Adstar bags and has always been successful in delivering exponential results to the clients. Typical improvement areas What seems to be the most sophisticated process and control system are more prone to defects that adversely affect the progress. Team Faber Infinite has expertise in digging out these roadblocks and fuel the engines to run faster towards desired goals. In the past several years of supporting companies from FIBC and woven sector, Team Faber has brought improvement in various areas that lacked efficiency. However, some of the key improvement areas are as follows: Reduction in wastage of materials Huge potential to increase the production output (without capex investments) Inventory management Reducing changeover times Improving machine availability and performance Optimizing and increasing the manpower productivity Quality Improvement Tangible benefits delivered Faber Infinite has worked on various projects and has delivered exceptional results. With its structured framework and detailed understanding of the subjects, Team Faber has supported many organizations in achieving excellence. Some of the tangible benefits delivered by Team Faber at various client sites are as follows: An increase of more than 40% in the production with the same resources after Team Faber’s involvement with the projects Team Faber Infinite helped in redesigning the layout of the manufacturing units which resulted in 24% increase in free space 33% reduction in changeover time was witnessed with Faber Infinite’s involvement Faber Infinite also helped the FIBC and woven bags organizations to reduce the material wastage by a whopping 31%. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) i.e. increase in production with the same equipments also saw a rise by 27%. Team Faber also helped to cut down costs by reducing the manpower costs by more than 38%. Faber Infinite strongly believes in evolution and has worked towards evolving for good. We have supported the FIBC and woven bags sector and will continue to do so. We have believed that working smart is the key to achieving the most talked about aspect of 21st-century industrial world – continual and sustainable development. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [KIELIMU - Path to Progress](https://faberinfinite.com/kielimu-path-to-progress/): Transformation journey is one of the key elements in helping the organizations achieve a continual and sustainable development which ultimately helps them grow and increase revenues. Like our last edition of the newsletter, we bring you excerpts of our conversation with another client of ours, who is an inspiration for many. Dr. Jonathan Moss, Managing Director of Kisima Farm is one of the leaders and most dominant players in the Arable farming and floriculture business. Faber Infinite (FI) – Farms are the earliest form of family managed business. Today family managed businesses are considered as significant and important part of the world economy. Every business organization has a unique set of challenges associated with them. These family managed businesses are no different. Can you share few of the challenges that a typical family managed business faces? Dr. Jonathan Moss (Dr. Moss) –I’m the Managing Director of Kisima Farm which is a family owned and to a large extent family managed business and I’m not a member of the family myself. The primary challenges these kinds of businesses face are related to succession planning and to inter-generational expectation management. In the instance of Kisima Farm, the family brought in outside expertise after many years, realizing the lack of certain particular skill sets which might help the organization in growing and expanding its business. Addressing such needs is a typical challenge that affects family-run businesses. FI –We have a subscriber base of around 15000 readers across the globe; our readers would want to know more about your business. Can you tell us more about this art of floriculture that you are involved in? Dr. Moss –One of the things that we do is floriculture, mainly for the European market which accounts for around 50% of our business. It is a very important aspect of our business. We are one of the top exporters of cut flowers to the European market, mostly roses, which are of very high quality and are grown at high altitudes on the equator in the tropics. Kisima Farm is located near the equator with an altitude of 2000-3000 metres. It is because of this that we are able to grow our produce to the highest quality. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? Dr. Moss –In our industry, the primary challenge is to make sure that one is growing a very top quality product.  Agronomy has to be cutting-edge since you are dealing with a lot of potential pests and diseases. Reject rates must be kept low for the business to be profitable.  So, agronomy is always a big challenge. Another big challenge is the market. We export most of our roses to Europe, mostly for the auctions. The pricing on these auctions depends both on demand and supply. So, tackling the competition, and getting our produce ahead of others, is definitely a big challenge for us. We also run arable and potato operations which have an entirely different set challenges. Yields and productivity are very much influenced by the climate. We are also affected by the price of inputs, which has forced us to be very efficient in keeping our costs down while producing a very high-quality product at the same time to generate returns that add value to our organization. FI – Kisima is a progressive organization charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? Dr. Moss –What differentiates us from others is our commitment to ensuring a very high-quality product for our customers. We are in a unique location in terms of our altitude and the rainfall which we enjoy. It adds a competitive edge to our products and our customers can have confidence that they will only purchase high-quality products from us. We also manage the business in a very efficient manner to generate optimum returns. FI –Kisima has rolled out path-breaking transformation journey – “KIELIMU – Kisima Eliminate Muda”. We would love to understand more about it? Dr. Moss –Well, Kisima has been very fortunate to learn from other organizations in Kenya, which though not identical, have also drawn on support from your organization – Faber Infinite. Their experience has certainly led the way and has taught us the way to harness the power of every single individual employee, and to converge our thought processes towards achieving company objectives. We have also been very pleased with the support and benefit we have garnered from Faber Infinite. We recognize the huge potential to cut costs, increase efficiencies, increase productivity, and harness the power of every employee – all of whom are also a part of this journey and working towards achieving excellence. FI – Can you please share your overall feedback about team Faber and your experience so far with the organization? Dr. Moss – We certainly are very pleased with the results we have managed to achieve with the support of Faber Infinite. We are very grateful for their valuable insights which have helped us in a number of ways. We think Faber is particularly valuable because of the specific tools they have managed to teach us, and help us in sustaining, as we move forward with the journey. Consultants like Vishal Kulkarni and Abhishek Pandey have really helped us, given their experiences in similar sectors and ability to provide us with insights that were quintessential for us. We thank Dr. Jonathan Moss and team Kisima Farms for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Develop Leadership teams to craft excellence and growth!](https://faberinfinite.com/develop-leadership-teams-to-craft-excellence-and-growth/): Teams that have leadership qualities play a crucial and dominant role in creating an efficient work environment which ultimately adds value to the organization helping it to push through the diabolic dynamics of the market that keeps changing every other day. Leaders of an organization must have some sort of leadership training and coaching for a better and smooth functioning of the upper body of the company. Moreover, the managerial members should also be motivated to go through certain training programs which help them in developing people management skills and get the unconscious biases out of their system. These training programs should focus on developing the skills of the top level teams that acts as an indigenous factor in influencing the decisions of the organization as well as adds to the spirit and confidence of the team and motivates them to work hard and smart towards the collective goal. Key Strategies to Develop Leadership Skills Organizations usually have a very tough selection process and crucial training programs at the lower levels to get the best of the crop. However, when it comes to the same thing i.e. developing leadership skills at the top of the hierarchy, the companies lack the precision and the required training sets to develop the top level teams. These teams have a lot of accountability and pressure to keep the engines going and are given lots of responsibilities. Hence, these ambiguities should be treated more as a necessity instead of the luxury. Furthermore, these top-level teams consist of the same members that are responsible for talent building of other members of the organization. They play a decisive factor in getting the best out of the employees and keeping them with the pace of the organizational development. Hence, it becomes more important for the organizations to develop top quality teams to have better and more precision-driven instincts where the chances of ignorance is close to zero. Failure in developing the top level leadership teams to have the key management skills might hamper the journey of the organizations whilst achieving their goals. It is quintessential for the level teams to implement key strategies in order to gain revenues from the market and that will only be possible when one works on people management skills and leadership roles. Learning is a never-ending process. In sync with imparting learning to the lower level of the pyramid, the top level teams should also be very intuitive and motivated towards learning and other relative factors. Below are the three factored themes which upon intervention by the top team can help in the improvement processes. Personal effectiveness – Improvement in the personal effectiveness of the leadership is a crucial part that will engage more resources for better results. Here, the key is to focus on self and authenticity. Leaders have to analyze themselves and should be able to look through in order to achieve the transformational processes in the organization to achieve sustainable and continuous improvement. Alignment – Leadership has to work on the alignment of the human resources in order to optimize the workload and achieve the desired growth numbers. Working effectively in a group is always better than and more efficient than working individually or working with bad team spirit. Both behavioral and systematic approaches to the leadership and top teams should be processed and formatted before implementation to have a more clinical touch. New opportunities – The leadership should work on the ability of the workforce to create more opportunities – both for the organization as well as for the team members. The new possibilities will ultimately open the doors for the new paradigms of growth for the organizations. These key qualities in the leadership once implemented will act as a gem in the company’s arsenal. Moreover, these will add to the company’s asset value and will help them achieve more in a shorter span with the deployment of fewer amounts of resources. Faber Infinite has been involved with a variety of such leadership and people development offerings, which helps the client to achieve their goals and grow. Our teams work on “Change Management” and “Learning and Development” themes together with the client’s top / senior management and have implemented numerous programs. Workshops held at all levels and in all areas of the organization ensure that tangible improvements are initiated in the various departments and teams at all the levels. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Quality is the Best Business Plan](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-is-the-best-business-plan/): Quality has become an important and integral part of producing and manufacturing new products in the 21st century. Many organizations have upped their game in this paradigm of production and in order to survive the heat of the competition, one must comply with the quality standards of the market in the present scenario and should work consistently towards achieving a higher quality standard for the manufactured products. At the same time, manufacturers must be able to have quality in their products at cheaper costs, better productivity and prompt and faster deliveries. Moreover, it gives the organizations an insight to benchmark their quality contribution to the introduction of new products. Achieve the objectives of the introduction of new products with Quality Quality is a major characteristic that drives a lot of factors like revenues and market share in today’s dynamic market. With internet becoming one of the key influencers in today’s business, the role of quality has changed drastically in terms of the marketplace. Customers are now more likely to view and test and quality of the product and this trend is bound to grow in the coming years. Moreover, quality also plays an important role in innovation and driving it to create a more optimized and powerful product with a greater efficiency. Quality leaders should be involved more in strategic, collaborative and digital efforts to make new products that check all the four boxes i.e. cost, speed of deliveries, better quality and innovation. Strategic Effort Quality is a significant and one of the most prudential contributors to the operational and financial performance of the company and is confused with compliance perspectives and relative factors many times. A strategic effort to use the insights provided by many metrics and KPIs should be made to develop and build initiatives and processes that can guide the team to its objectives and goals. The top of the hierarchy chain can work as a catalyst in this process by embracing the change and promoting it in a healthy manner among the employees and team members. Collaborative Efforts Quality has a very different process than that of those which commits with any other processes. Introduction of new products need to have multi-role approach and which can have a positive impact on costs and particularly the late cycle changes that hinders the quality processes, especially in the procurement of new products. Encompassing quality with new products is ultimately going to add value and lead to a higher quality product. It’s not an active approach to just put products on the shelves of the stores in a hurry without having them tested and checked for quality. To establish a successful brand name, one should make a collaborative effort of all sorts that is going to impact the quality of the product. It will not only help the company commercially but will also add value in the work culture of the company. Digitalized Efforts The world is going digital and so is the marketplace in a lot of ways. It is time for the manufacturers to adapt to this to get a strong foothold in the quality data and analytics segment. The data collected through various digital platforms can be clubbed together with the analytics by the manufacturers to create a more holistic and innovative product for the market to satisfy the demands and needs of the customers. Role of Quality Leader Quality leaders are the central element that anchors the entire process and ensures that each and every brick is put in place with perfection. The combination of strategic, collaborative and digitalized efforts will have a major role in influencing the results of new products. Quality is a key influencer and manufacturers have to understand the need of producing better quality products at a cheaper cost card. Moreover, one has to keep innovation in sync with quality as well because no matter how higher the quality of the product is; innovation drives and attracts the customer base. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Are you a process driven or people driven organization?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-a-process-driven-or-people-driven-organization/): Are you a process driven or people driven organization? Before we answer that let us understand the difference between the two. A process driven organization works on the concept that is exactly opposite to people driven organizations. Process driven organization relies on the principle of corporate law that treats as a separate entity which has come in to existence. It believes that the existence of the organisation is not bound by the limitations of time, skill and its workforce. Today most growing organisations follows the process approach. It is because they are not bound by human limitations that they can operate across geographies. Such organizations grow in terms of knowledge, operations and efficiency irrespective of the influence of its workforce. It must also be understood that the organization is not independent of its workforce. Otherwise any big organization today would be mega machine and not a mega company. They need the efforts and energy of the workforce to get the work done as well as the basic mental intelligence to follow the best practices. A process organization must be a learning organization. It should have the following abilities: Ability to change as per the environment: A process driven organization will have a process to regularly examine the environment and adapt the changes in the environment. They will consult experts to examine the environment and plan it into a model. This model will then become a process. Identify threats and opportunities: There should be a process to identify the threats and opportunities from the competitor, technology and the market dynamics. Both the factors internal and external should be documented to create the model. It is a challenge here to create a model with the experts and then apply it to the workforce. Agility: The process of adaption should be quick and nimble. Many organizations are missing the opportunity to top because of their arrogance or ignorance. This is also because the examination of environment and acceptance of change is again people driven. To make is process driven is the biggest challenge. Manage the growth: It is said that it is always easy to replicate processes. But as the business grows the processes become complex and few of them become self-opposing. As a result, business is divided into functions. So, the processes will also have to ensure that they manage the complexity to make the organization more process driven and less people driven. So let us work towards making an organization which has unending succession and is not tied by constraints of time, skill and workforce mortality. As W. Edwards Deming quoted – “A bad system will beat a good person every time”, let us work towards building a process driven environment instead of people driven. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [New Financial Year - Then why OLD Bells?](https://faberinfinite.com/new-financial-year-then-why-old-bells/): “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted”. – Albert Einstein India is on the verge of entering another new financial year. With all the challenges faced in the last year, many of us have become a more optimized and crafty player in the industrial world. But progress is only noticed when one moves from one stature to a higher one with greater efficiency, more productivity and increased results. Hence, the quintessential question here that is to be answered before we enter a new financial year is if it is ok to move into a new year with the same strategies and concepts which were being used and implemented last year? The answer is obviously NOT!! One should advance with a better and practical approach towards the challenges that will ultimately guide the organization to greener stats. Replace your old bells! Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Key Result Areas (KRAs) are the most critical measurement tools that allow the organization to track the growth and efficiencies of the processes and controls. The companies should introduce programs to educate the human workforce to be aware of the term KPI/ KRA and should be affluent in decrypting the information through the same. Analysis of the data from various KPIs is a must to do the task. One should be able to note the important and effective indicators with the best results. Data collection and management is the key to success in today’s modern industrial world. Assess which elements of the entire process can be collected easily and work towards it since you will lose interest in the process if it is too difficult or tedious to handle. Make a habit of expressing KPIs in formulas since it is easy to remember and gives a sense of more comfort in implications when required. Moreover, expressing it in a formula gives you the flexibility to keep it intact and calculate in a same standard manner every time. DO CREATE A DASHBOARD! Dashboards are the easiest and most efficient method to keep a track of the data and progress achieved in a particular time frame. A dashboard can also be used to keep track of goals in sync with the numbers and growth. Discussion and feedback is the key element which takes us forward and leads to substantial improvement. Discussions also allow the organizations to gather insights of the team members and help them in keeping track of progress as per the employees’ and organizational point of view. Change your KPIs and its methods through these discussions after evaluating the progress whether it is up to the mark or not. KPIs also provide you a detailed insight which can help one in creating a framework for the future plans and processes that might play a major role in the growth numbers. Key Performance Indicators are one of the sharpest arrows companies can hone and possess in their arsenal. These can help one in a number of ways ranging from tracking data to prying on strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, these play a very important role in decision making and can be very beneficial in influencing the decisions if used precisely. It is a modern and ever-evolving world, the KPIs are one of the best elements that come out of this evolution. Team Faber Infinite has been delivering its unique Performance Management System  (PMS) across industries to improve overall performance of people and systems. This objective based performance management system eliminates all subjectivity thus removes chances of favouritism and eliminates doubts from employee minds about the performance measurement. Faber Infinite’s proven Performance Management System creates a framework to not only monitor the KPIs effectively (across the organization) but also gives 12 opportunities annually to improve the performance. This quality itself makes the framework distinctly valuable and builds high performance teams. Please reach out to our expert team for further details and case studies. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri  
- [World Water Day 2018 - The Answer is in Nature](https://faberinfinite.com/world-water-day-2018-the-answer-is-in-nature/):   March 22, has been marked as the World Water Day by the United Nations. Although the earth has 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water, only 0.001 percent of that is available for humans to consume and use. 70 % of water is used for agricultural purposes. Water supplies across the globe are facing increasing pressures from climate change and growing population. It is crucial to develop innovative water saving systems for the future. This years theme – Nature for Water – works around how we can use nature to overcome the water challenges in the years to come. The answer to this problem is in nature and how we can use nature to overcome the crisis. The objective is to work collectively on the water-related crisis that exists around the world. So let us come together and work towards harmonizing the green infrastructure with the grey infrastructure. Growing more trees, creating new forests, recoupling rivers to plains, and refurbishing wetlands will harmonize the water cycle and improve human health and living. So this World Water Day let us join hands to craft ways to save water and save the world!
- [Lean Manufacturing - Path to Success for SMEs](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manufacturing-path-to-success-for-smes/): It is a much known fact that the market is evolving today and is more competitive than ever. This has forced manufacturers to find ways to reduce costs, eliminate wastes, improve services and provide quality products to the customers. This has also added an extra burden over the manufacturers to improve efficiency of the processes and improve productivity levels. These problems have almost haywire every other manufacturers production. But what if we tell you that there is a solution that can help one in tackling all these problems? LEAN manufacturing processes can help the manufacturers all across the globe in achieving their targets and create a breakthrough in implementing and streamlining their strategies rather than opting for others. Although many organizations have often avoided integrating LEAN tools in their manufacturing processes which have led to birth of more complicated and intense problems. This can affect the entire process rundown of manufacturers and can have a drastic impact on the manufacturing processes and supply chain practices. The only alternative for SMEs is to sequentially run the feasible practices from the house of LEAN management, which has proven results. Consider holistic improvement Before implementing LEAN tools and moving towards LEAN manufacturing, one should understand the fact that LEAN is a transformation journey and not a one-time event. Implementing LEAN practices comes with a lot of challenges of which employees fearing to adapt and embrace change is the biggest and the most chronic. Organizations need to address these challenges to create a better and more holistic operating environment for the employees as well as providing enough space to the LEAN tools to grow and produce results. Again, failure to run through these challenges and discrepant implementations may lead to inefficiencies, production delay and disruption in the flow. Stability of the work environment Improvements in the basic and fundamental structure of the processes ensure stability in the manufacturing where the strength of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and exceptional quality ratio are the parameters that regulate the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. One has to get used to and respect the fact that it is all about customer and it is essential for the producer to comply with the demands about quality levels of the client. Devise a systematic approach It is very important for the organizations to map out an efficient implementation plan for Value Stream Mapping (VSM). The mapping should be done in a manner which improves the production processes by identifying the wastes and its sources. Moreover, the focus should be on improving the working and operating environment to minimize the defects occurring in the products due to impacted processes. Identify and eliminate waste It is a proven fact that LEAN manufacturing helps in identifying and reducing wastes and improve the efficiency of the processes involved in the manufacturing processes. The efficiency of the LEAN can itself be increased if the tools are optimized and implemented in a precise manner. One should be open to the fact that every other industry and every other situation needs a different methodology and customized set of tools to be efficient in that particular working environment. Also, it is strongly recommended that organization irrespective of its status should adopt lean philosophy as an improvement strategy. Demand should drive product flow Like every concept, tools and processes, LEAN also has some basic and fundamental requirements. A regular demand driven product flow by introducing the cyclic schedules for improving production quality and supply-chain coordination is one of the key aspects of LEAN. Supply chain is highly affected and altered by the inflow of raw materials along with manufacturing processes with their controls and finished goods. Implementing theses with proper measures increases the knowledge of the entire supply chain as well as the manufacturing processes along with the other relative processes. Strategic Positioning of Inventory Inventory and its management is one of the most important strata of manufacturing of any product on any scale. It decides the rate of the production and moreover, keeps the producer in check with the deadlines. It becomes a challenge for many organizations to maintain inventory at upstream levels. Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but the real requirement. Identification of obstacles Identifying the obstacles and outlining the tackling strategies is key for the production processes and cost effective at the same time. One should make a rundown of the goals and instead of gulping advanced and higher goals, should start with the simple and achievable goals which will later act as the stepping stones for the higher ones. One should identify where the value is lost, identify their causes and rapidly act to fix them. They should always remember that improving the current situation and working for it is the key and should be on top of the priority list. Address the Fear of Changing As earlier mentioned, the fear of changing should be embraced in the organization. This is a very frustrating yet an important job since it relates to major aspects of production like time, cost, interest, and involvement. This could be overcome by integrating new methodologies and trends in the original system and using challenges as an opportunity to make LEAN a familiar concept in the organization and its processes. The transformation framework The framework for the entire transformation journey is a guide which steers the journey towards success. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN – all world-class organizations may have different nomenclature for the framework. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world-class performance. Many organizations focus on costs and its efficiency when the real problems are borne most by waste or any process and its controls. These organizations have to bring a wholesome change and in their
- [3 Golden rules to keep employee motivated](https://faberinfinite.com/3-golden-rules-to-keep-employee-motivated/): At one point or other, everyone has gone through a phase where they lose their motivation because of certain circumstances and become slightly sluggish. To be honest, it is very frustrating; both for the person as well as for the leader. Most of the times, this leads to unproductivity which makes it harder to sympathize with the member of the team. In this article, we will discuss 3 golden rules to keep Employee Motivated. As a leader of the team, managers should keep themselves open to such situations and instead of sitting back and waiting for the person to gorge upon his / her emotional infringements; he/she should dig out the reasons behind the loss of interest of the employee/s. As employees, and more importantly as humans, feeling motivated is one of the key aspects that drive the entire thought process as well productivity cycle of an individual. The feeling of being motivated makes one open to new learning and will ultimately add to his soft skills. Humans are supposed to work by Exploring, Experimenting and Learning and being motivated acts as a catalyst in this entire process. Leaders play an important role in keeping the employees motivated and passionate about what they do. Leaders can be the best solutions for the employees stuck up in something that keeps pulling them down. Motivate people to express themselves Many philosophers all around the world have reminded us again and again about the benefits of expressing oneself and show the world what they really are. Yet, many of us are still stuck up in the upper and juicy strata of the society and work in order to fit into it rather than moulding it for one’s own benefits. Everyone wants to try new things and make optimum use of their skills and talents. Leaders here can play a crucial role in helping the employees be their best selves without changing their entire job profile. Employees want to have a value for their skills and are in constant need to feel their need through evaluation and other relative factors. It is ultimately the job of the leaders/managers to keep this up with the wagon of the productivity in the work culture. Golden rule of Experimentation The second way of motivating people and keeping them passionate towards what they do is by creating a special “safe zone” that allows them to mingle and socialize with other people while keeping their focus on work as well. These zones will help the employees in creating a bond with the other members of the team and will help them in controlling their anxiety and anger. These zones created by the leaders of the team also help him in adding the creativity quotient to the entire project by increasing the flow of intrinsic motivations which uncurtains the creative aspect of the individual. This also makes the processes more fast and deterrent from obstacles and failures by providing feedbacks and responses. What is the Purpose? The purpose is the most important pillar that helps in keeping the flag up. The feeling of purpose does not come simply by putting goals on the board. It comes in existence when the employees see the impacts he created by his inputs which contributed something in the progress of the team or of the organization. This feeling of being a part of something progressive and developing helps the employee in keeping up with the developments and allows himself to create his own space and frame. Moreover, the motive of having a purpose works best when the employees get a chance to be in contact directly with the group or individuals their work is impacting on. It is a very crucial task to keep the team members passionate about their work and keep them going on it for a longer duration of time. For leaders, the priority should be to keep the emotional performance of the team balanced and help the employees explore their hidden potential. All it takes is a full-focused effort by the leaders and managers help the people tap into the energy of theirs. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Go Smart !](https://faberinfinite.com/go-smart/): Digital manufacturing is taking over the world as we talk about it. The world is getting ‘smart’ and so is the manufacturing sector all around the globe. We are going to cover the journey and important checkpoints involved in the journey of becoming a digital manufacturer in this blog of Transformation Tuesday. Cybersecurity is a must If you are getting smart, the first and foremost step to proceed is to get cybersecurity. The more you go digital, the more it increases the need for a safe platform to do business. It is really important that you provide a safe and secure platform to your clients, users, investors and suppliers on the digital platform to have a profound impact on your business. Get to know what is smart manufacturing One should know what it is before getting into it. Smart manufacturing is a subset of manufacturing that covers a broad range of aspects of manufacturing and integration of technology that correlates manufacturing to employing computer controls and adaptability. It is an aggravated use of advanced artificial intelligence to ensure a better and more efficient production session. Realize the viabilities of smart manufacturing If the latest trends are to be followed, many manufacturers all across the world have now started to use smart technologies and have integrated them into their manufacturing divisions. The investment in this sector is booming and smart manufacturing is likely to flow down through any supply chain in the coming years. Many experts are already comparing it to the likes of LEAN tools and ISO 9001 requirements and have already put smart manufacturing in the ‘crucial list’. Analyze the present scenario around you Analyze the trend of smart manufacturing around you and evaluate the results the integration is going to give for your business. However, many manufacturers have already started using advanced technologies to collect data for their businesses, basically for inventory and warehouse tracking, scheduling, purchasing, inventory control and many more. Although, all this can only turn profitable for your business if you have precisely analyzed your surroundings for the viability of these advancements. Build inventory and go smart The last and final step involves building inventory and integrating the computer controls and systems into your manufacturing units for designs, resource planning and other processes. These basic advancements are the building blocks in the journey of gong smart. Moreover, connect these systems for data access and monitoring as you move ahead on the journey. Also, benchmark your company and your products as ‘smart’ in order to gain access to the ‘smart manufacturing’ paradigm. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [RESPECT for people!](https://faberinfinite.com/respect-for-people/): Change movement is one of the most looked out concepts in today’s corporate world. With everyone rushing towards excellence and running various projects in order to achieve continual and sustainable development, change management has become a very subtle and effective notion to bring transformation in the organization. But wait! Can change management reach its fate just because of the concept and its processes? The answer is NO! There is a key component in change management that plays a very peculiar and intrinsic role in building the paths that will lead the organization towards success. RESPECT for people! Change is the immutable law of life and along with inevitability; change also brings various unprecedented effects. Many times, it becomes very difficult for people to adopt the change and embrace it throughout the transformation journey. Respect people and their opinions! Whenever we talk about change, one thing we always underrate is ‘people’. It is always the involvement of people which decides the route of the entire change management process and steers it to its destination. A leader’s job is to come up with the strategies for what to do and how to do. Although it is people who actually implement the plans and mould them to adjust to the changed environment. Hence, it is very important to respect people in any kind of change management process. Leading and managing change management processes in an organization is not an easy task. It all depends on the ability of the organization to adapt to the changes and move forward with it in sync with the change management and other relative processes. Although before implementation of any change process, it should be consulted with the employees and resources that come from different backgrounds and with diverse cultures incorporated in their daily work style. Disagreements should be welcomed and insights should be gathered from the very bottom of the organizational structure. It is a time consuming yet an effective way of finding and comparing opinions and coming out with a more optimum solution. For example, if the organization wanted to implement tools like 5S, it should be discussed with the team before acting on it. If the team members are not sold, their opinions should be respected and the reason for their disagreement should be found out by the means of healthy discussion. Investing in respect towards employees can have various consolidated collateral benefits as well. There are many global organizations that are actively embarking and encouraging practices that inculcate the basic tenets of respect in all its members. Many large companies who are very successful in the market already promote and talk globally about the concept of respect towards people and the positive impacts it has managed to generate in the workplace and among the workforce. We need to respect people and empathize with them. Respecting people and their stances on various issues and topics is the first chapter in the change management process. This quality to respect people once incorporated stays with the member even after his paths are separated with the organizations. Change management can be envisioned and cultured in a smooth and holistic environment by respecting the people as we initiate the change management process. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Change Management is Data Driven](https://faberinfinite.com/change-management-is-data-driven/): Data science is the future and is slowly becoming one of the key pillars to drive change management in any organization. Some may say that it is yet to arrive and there is a lot of time to prepare for the change, but in reality, now is the time for the companies to gear up and prepare themselves for this next big change. Companies well prepared in the next decade with a clear vision of collecting the right kind of data and an efficient analytics system will be the one leading and influencing the market in the coming days. Get to know the engagement of your employees Employee engagement is a very relevant factor that drives change mange management. In today’s digital world, real-time employee opinion tools are replacing the old-fashioned tools such as surveys and polls. Engaging your employees in feedbacks will ultimately optimize the process and help in rapid learning processes with better communication. Moreover, this will ultimately generate trust and confidence of the team members towards each other and will foster better relations. Capturing data from the ongoing change projects Every other organization is very careful and observant with even minor shifts in processes like OEE, inventory management, productivity improvement etc. However, very few keep records of different projects in order to bring or achieve a change in the organization. Projects can be anything, but there are certain similarities that drive the entire projects and in order to bring change, data from these processes are the sole driver that pumps the numbers and help the team in capturing the opportunities. Track data to choose the influencers for the change Data has been used by companies for decades now to select people for senior roles. This is a very crucial factor that influences the entire change management since it is associated with the leadership. If every team member along with the leader goes through a skill analysis process before any project, the data obtained will become the foundation that can be analyzed further to check what leads to successful change projects. This will also help the organizations optimize their search processes for selection of candidates for any other roles as well. Dashboard – A tool to bring insights Dashboards can bring important insights and inputs that can thrust the change management processes by keeping a detailed record of company’ goals, its future plans, and reflecting their priorities. Many companies do not collect this data though it is already available. Dashboards can come very handy in simplifying sophisticated projects and using the collected data to provide the right information to the right people to make more informed decisions. Collecting data will enable the companies in producing a more profound and leak-proof model which will accelerate the associate programs and help the organization in achieving their goals. It is much more than kaizen and organizations have to start understanding this. It is better to sow seeds now than to worry about it ten years later. We agree that establishment of such tools will take time but precaution is always better than the cure and hence, companies should start building dashboards and implementing these tools in their organizations for change projects, because believe it or not, change management now is more data-driven. And, if you are not prepared, someone else will outrun you.
- [Building Competitiveness in Kenya - Big Four Agenda](https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-in-kenya-big-four-agenda/): The government of Kenya has launched the much talked ‘Big Four’ campaign in order to create more jobs and achieve economic prosperity. President Uhuru Kenyatta aims to shift the focus on economic development with this campaign and have already urged all the ministers to strongly support the Big Four plan. What is Big Four agenda? The Big Four – food security, affordable housing, jobs in the manufacturing sector and affordable healthcare – are the pillars on which President Kenyatta’s vision to transform Kenya economically rests on. The campaign is an initiative by the Kenyan government which focuses on creating a richer and prosper economy of the country in this new term of their administration. It aims to create more than 1.3 million jobs in the manufacturing sector by the year 2022. The Uhuru Kenyatta administration wants to achieve this with the expansion of the Blue economy, Agro-processing, Leather and textiles. The government also plans to achieve a 100 percent health and medical coverage for every Kenyan by expanding NHIF in this term of governance. Also, the government wishes to ensure food security and provide affordable housing facilities to the Kenyan public. Organizational Transformation and its role in achieving these targets Organizational Transformation has a very important and major role to play in helping the government of Kenya achieve these targets and fulfill the ‘Big Four’ agenda as well as grow at the same time. All these targets have a common aspect that needs to be addressed before the Kenyan public starts seeing any kind of progress in the campaign – which is efficiency. The need to improve the efficiency of various processes with relations and linkages to growth, subsequent gains from technological advancements with simultaneous absorption and deployment of effective change management frameworks are some of the key drivers that will act as a pillar in the entire process and will influence the results of the entire campaign. To make this campaign accelerate and become accessible by every Kenyan, these points must be touched and explored while making optimum use of resources. Organizational Transformation is a journey that helps one achieve continual and sustainable development. It should never be mixed with an off initiative and people should embrace the journey of transformation to achieve eminence and transcendence. Organizations that have pursued this journey and have nurtured Organizational Transformation and have been able to leverage their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. Organizational Transformation delivers compelling business outcomes when pursued correctly. Faber Infinite has been a very active participant in promoting Organizational Transformation to bring out the optimum efficiency of the organizations and its resources. We have helped a number of organizations in creating a very holistic and comprehensive work environment with its copyrighted structured Organizational Transformation Framework©. At Faber Infinite, we believe in ‘Big Four Agenda’ and will always support the dream of making Kenya more competitive. Let us take a pledge to make Kenya more competitive and support the Big Four agenda. We believe in the vision of honorable President and support the sole motive of making Kenya a leader on the map of Africa. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Let Us Reinforce Safety!](https://faberinfinite.com/let-us-reinforce/): “Safety is Gainful, Accident is Painful!” Safety has been one of the most underrated aspects of today’s industrial world. However, safety is the key component that drives the organization towards development and excellence. Safety is not only limited to preventing mishaps and accidents but, also covers the entire paradigm of protecting the human workforce that works in sync with the machines towards creating a sustainable and green environment. Safety promotes efficiency and the feeling of being protected motivates the team members and brings out the optimum results. Organizations need to understand how quintessential role safety measures play in the transformation processes to achieve a continual and sustainable development. On this National Safety Week, let us take a pledge to promote safety measures and to inculcate them at our workplaces to minimize the dangers and health hazards. Let’s learn safety and be a Safety Apprentice! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Multitasking is a Myth](https://faberinfinite.com/multitasking-is-a-myth/): In this modern world with bustle, agitation and urgency, multitasking has become a very common way to respond to the increasing demands of people. With the increasing competition, people tend to multitask more in order to optimize efficiency and improve productivity believing that multitasking is necessary in order to achieve success in life. However, the reality is, there is no such thing as multitasking. The human mind is indeed capable of doing two or more things at the same time. But what it is not capable of is to concentrate on both the tasks at the same time. Many neuroscience researches suggest that human brain is not programmed to do multiple tasks simultaneously as we all think it did. Switching to other tasks quickly is a rough process for the brain and rather than saving time, we end up spending more time while multitasking with more mistakes and depleting more energy than what was required. One might argue the fact that the quality of the work one does decrease with multitasking and he/she ends up making more and more mistakes. Multitasking also reduces the capability of the human mind to remember the details and compresses the human capability for optimum productivity and growth. The Next Step – Find your principle task Performing multiple tasks at one time does not produce better results and in a shorter span of time. Doing one thing at a time with precise measures is something that produces quality and better results. One has to understand this and have to be consistent and accurate in choosing his principal tasks and anchor the rest of his work around it. Choosing a principal task here does not mean that one cannot do any other thing, it just means that one has to dedicate oneself to that one task and should focus and concentrate on it to get it done on non-negotiable terms. Choosing one principal task and anchoring the subordinate tasks around it is important because it helps the planner and the performer manage his work more efficiently while concentrating on one task at a moment thus driving in the right direction towards achieving the desired goal. Busy? What does that even mean? The competition is growing with each passing day and so is the hectic lifestyle of people nowadays. We have actually fallen into a trap where without being overworked we will have a hard time to survive. This has subsequently forced us to multitask thinking we are doing something really productive and meaningful. Many people might say that they are adding value to their life by being busy and are actually doing something worth with all the hectic lifestyle they have incorporated into their daily routine. Although, we must think about it twice and believing it is nothing more than assuring ourselves and finding an escape from the joke that we are actually doing something. People who do the best of the work and who are the leaders in their respective fields have not mastered multitasking but have developed their ability to craft one task to perfection and will say no to the distractions that might force them to pivot from their goal. One must learn to avoid the busy lifestyle and instead work on the processes on how he can develop the skills to create a more sustainable and procuring craftsman in oneself. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [The Key to Productivity - Work Smarter not Harder!](https://faberinfinite.com/the-key-to-productivity-work-smarter-not-harder/): Productivity has been one of the major concerns for manufacturers all across the globe. Countries all across the globe claim to be the best in one thing or another, be it Germany and their cars, Japan and their electronics or United States of America and their technology. It is completely agreeable that work has a direct correlation with productivity but, the question that arises here is: does more work needs to be done in order to achieve more productivity? Although, in an analysis of most productive countries like Luxemburg ($68.47 productivity per person per hour), Norway ($52.50 productivity per person per hour) and Switzerland ($50.08 productivity per person per hour), it was found that workers in these countries worked relatively a lower amount of time at work but came up with a higher amount of productivity, which means a relatively higher amount of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita.[Source: https://howmuch.net/articles/worlds-most-productive-countries] Why! The 40-hour week rule is definitely overrated and has been criticized over the years by many. This slowly eradicates the work-life balance of the employees rather than preserving it. Unorganized work hours are another reason why productivity takes a dip on the charts for many countries. This also forces the employees to take leaves in order to meet their outside commitment and goals or targets. Lower levels of infrastructural development and lack of access to technology is another major reason why productivity falls down. The absence of proper infrastructure hinders the work processes. Furthermore, the lack of access to technology also slows down the controls and processes. Work Smarter, not harder! The prejudice of working longer for better productivity has slowly started going down the drain. Many might believe in overtimes and long working hours for improved productivity, however, according to a research, working longer may be doing more harm than good to the productivity. It gives air to the already claimed stats that working long hours deteriorates the health of the worker and thus acts as a setback in achieving higher productivity. Some might even say that long working hours facilitates in value addition and relative processes, but the reality is that many other business skills ranging from communication to decision making are highly impacted by the fatigue and tiredness caused by these excessive hectic working hours. Moreover, this stress and fatigue also increase the chances of errors, accidents and sickness which further incurs additional costs on the employer. Road ahead Productivity has always been considered as a vital parameter to calculate the growth and progress of a country. Whether it is a case of reducing the higher working hours for providing the much-needed relaxation period to the employees or providing enough infrastructures as per the market standards, steps must be taken to improve the productivity. Moreover, technology must not be left out here as the advancements in this sector will act as a pillar for the manufacturing sector as well as for any other sector. The opportunities are yet to be explored and in order to achieve excellence; we must start to move around this stratum. Team Faber has helped clients across industries ranging from complex engineering industry where the client is one of the largest manufacturers of cryogenic tanks to textile machine manufacturing industry to the ceramic manufacturing industry. Faber has helped them with an immense improvement in productivity without incurring any additional cost. The tools and approaches are implemented in such a way that it meets the clients’ needs, giving them the maximum returns on investment. These solutions and concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed in your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri For other articles related to productivity click here: https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-improvement-is-inversely-proportional-to-cost-incurred-a-myth/ https://faberinfinite.com/manpower-productivity-improvement/ https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study-a-robust-planning-system/ https://faberinfinite.com/rising-labour-productivity-of-india-pushing-it-to-conquer-the-modern-world/ https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-productivity-to-help-india-lead-the-world/ https://faberinfinite.com/increase-productivity-without-incurring-additional-cost/ https://faberinfinite.com/4-point-blueprint-to-improve-manpower-productivity-by-18/
- [4 Steps to Solve Tough Chronic Problems](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-solve-tough-chronic-problems/): This approach is a problem solving technique which leads the team to the core issue of the problem and determines a precise and particular way to get it off the road and prevent its recurrence. This approach is an exceptional way of adding quality and reliability to the products, if there are any defects. This methodology has now become very popular in the market among the manufacturers because of its ease in approach, reliability and effectiveness. It is a team-oriented problem-solving approach which facilitates the organization in solving critical issues that hinder the footsteps of the company in achieving excellence. Why apply this approach? The approach offers a very consistent and easy-to-learn approach that subsequently assists in solving the problems that might arise in any part of the manufacturing process. Moreover, it assists the familiarity with the structure of problem-solving and improves the understanding of basic statistical tools for problem-solving processes. It also increases the communication and trust among the team and enhances the co-operative behavior in the team. How to apply this approach? When it comes to implementation, many people will have this question banging the doors of their heads. Below is the list of 4 steps to solve chronic problems. Problem definition Initially, focus on defining the entire problem and attaining the data to for future comparisons and analysis. An adequate definition of a problem itself is equal to half of the solution of the problem. It helps the team in understanding the nature of the problem, both internally as well as externally.  Temporary countermeasure Temporary countermeasure or Interim containment action is a correction plan implemented on a temporary basis to protect the interests of the customer before it gets too late. The countermeasures are the systematic search and the process of fencing the core from suspected and non-conforming products and processes throughout the supply and delivery chain. This problem-solving methodology is used to report/track holds and containments in action. Temporary containment is more than just getting the products safe. It also assists in sorting, layered inspection or rework that helps in creating a detailed outline of the possible systems and controls which might have gone south. Moreover, the temporary counter measure has to last until a permanent action plan is implemented in place. Permanent counter measure It is always necessary that we maintain the gain. A permanent corrective action has to address the root cause of the problem and should be able to clear it at any cost. Moreover, for a successful implementation and validation of a permanent counter measure, a whole lot of precise planning is required. To follow up, a suitable candidate for Quality Manager should be picked up with interests in the project who was not a part of it during implementation and validation of the entire counter measure. Recognize the team and celebrate Every team requires motivation and encouragement to boost their confidence Recognize the team and celebrate and morale that ultimately helps them in working more efficiently and effectively. After a successful implementation, it is the job of the management to provide a feedback for satisfactory closure of the team. Also, recognizing the team for its achievements and rewarding them for their work will only push them and other members to work more and work hard, which will sooner or later help the organization in garnering their interests. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Do's and Dont's of Quality Circle](https://faberinfinite.com/dos-and-donts-of-quality-circle/): Quality circles are a part of the growing trend that enables the organizations to identify, analyze and resolve work-related problems. Also creating small groups of employees of the same field participating in almost similar kind of activities. Quality circles have many benefits ranging from an array of field like cost reduction, improved productivity, better quality of the product. And make the work environment healthy thus, promoting trust and communication among the authorities and workforce. In this blog, we will discuss about Do’s and Dont’s of Quality Circle. Participating in a quality circle not only enlightens the team but also provides them a platform to be recognized. However, in order to achieve excellence and win quality circle competitions. One must follow some of the basic do’s and don’ts for a better integration of the circle in the organization. Below are some of the do’s and don’ts Team Faber has compiled from the experience it garnered in helping various quality circles. here we talk about Do’s and Dont’s of Quality Circle. Do’s of a Quality Circle While deciding quality circle projects after considering the customer’s point of view, be it internal or external customers, one must establish the objectives and should be clear on what kind of value the project will add to the end product. In order to do so, one must outline a value stream map and identify the elements which are important for the customer. Engagement of employees in the entire transformation journey is very important to achieve the desired results in the given time frame. Employee engagement should not be lopsided. Both the operators and management should take equal initiatives and should be active with the participation in the activities like discussions and analysis. An initiative with complete employee involvement is bound to push the team towards the goal. The most important factor that drives the entire project and plays a crucial role in the entire work process and approach is ‘coach’. One must find a coach who can train themselves in a different yet very viable manner. Even players like Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer needed a coach even when they were at the top. Faber Infinite has been an active participant in training many quality circles of various organizations and has also assisted in organizing quality circle competitions. Don’ts of a Quality Circle One has to understand the fact that tools are just a medium to achieve the goals. Many times, people are fascinated by the tools and slowly loses their focuses in the goals. However, one should stick to the goals and should constantly try to make the most of the tools to get the optimum results. In simple words, one should understand the initiative and its end results. Stop looking at the local initiatives. In order to achieve your desired target, one must learn to look at the bigger picture. One must understand the fact that improving just one project is not going to help. All the projects should be identified from a holistic perspective. Do not blindly copy others. Anything that worked for some other company in a completely different situation might not work for you. Start optimizing the processes as per your needs and design them to tackle your problems in a certain manner that is compatible with the local needs. Negativity is only bound to worsen the situation rather than improving it. Hence, stop reacting negatively to the others and try your best to jeep negativity to the minimum. Faber Infinite has been a strong supporter of Quality circles and has helped many organizations in tackling their problems by the means of Quality Circles. We have an excellent record of successfully achieving the desired numbers by creating small cross-functional teams and providing them with quality and precise training to push the teams to become the driving force and make the arrows on the graphs move upstream. Ready to revolutionize your change management approach? Unlock the key ingredients for effective change management. Fill out the form below to access exclusive insights and strategies that will empower you to drive successful transformations. Don’t wait, take action now and pave the way for organizational growth and success! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri To read other related blogs click here: https://faberinfinite.com/unlocking-the-doors-of-development-with-quality-circle/ https://faberinfinite.com/acma-quality-circle-competition/ https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-competitiveness/ https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-exponential-results-yet-again/ https://faberinfinite.com/another-feather-in-saurer-peass-cap/      
- [A beneficial epidemic – Positivity!](https://faberinfinite.com/a-beneficial-epidemic-positivity/): “The Positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible!”  Positive and negative thoughts are the two opposite poles that are known to influence almost everything, be it decisions or thought processes. Thoughts are bound to affect and influence our actions. At an unconscious level, whatever we do in any certain situation is a result of what we think in that particular moment. Positivity in the surrounding plays a key role in which direction we push ourselves. It is the driving force that constantly keeps us believing in our goals and pushes us one step further to keep moving towards it, irrespective of the obstacles and problems that may come in the way. It is actually very interesting how positive thoughts can firmly take control over the life and guide the mind towards the goal, ultimately procuring happiness and peace. Positivity is literally contagious and spreads like an epidemic. The same goes with negativity as well. However, it is the positivity that we should focus more on instead of letting our mind feed upon the latter, procuring unnecessary pivoting situations along with distraction and disturbance. A positive approach to any person can also help in establishing a more profound impression on the person. It can come very handy while building a great rapport with either clients or prospects that will come back to you in due time. Spread Positivity Positivity can create a very optimistic environment and could influence the people making them believe in you. It helps you in bringing out the best of any person. Moreover, a surrounding where everyone feels positive and optimistic will subsequently drive the entire team to work more and work hard towards the desired goal. Thus, casting out the marginalizing factor of failure and disappointment. Positivity is infectious and can move other people around you. By being enthusiastic and optimistic one can often make other people follow the suit. It is one of the ways by which one can lead by an example. Moreover, a positive, encouraging and enthusiastic leadership can help one in fostering a profound and holistic environment for the team to move towards the numbers that will turn out to be green on the charts and graphs. If results and numbers are to be achieved, a positive and growing environment has to be provided for the team to work more efficiently and effectively. No one likes to work with a person or in an environment contaminated with negative thoughts since it dulls out the spirit and blocks the flow of energy required to keep the arrows on the graphs green and move upstream. It is all about your attitude and your perseverance for the goal. Failures are bound to come, but what defines your character is the attitude you carry even after facing defeat. Positivity is the precise and more appropriate way of thinking process to make decisions or choose the course for the journey as it helps you start on a high note and stay abreast of the negativity that might pull you down again on the ground. Believe in yourself that you can do it, keep yourself on the right path and you will reach your goal, no matter what! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Time to Celebrate Change !](https://faberinfinite.com/time-to-celebrate-change/): It is time to celebrate Change! Change is the immutable law of life – the only constant! We continue to strive for change. For us, at Faber, Change is synonymous with Growth! It is time to cherish and celebrate another growth milepost. We have moved to new offices in Pune and Ahmedabad. We invite you to visit us and discover our new coordinates located at the addresses below Kindly note the change in our point of operations. Although our association and mission still stand atop, unchanged. Crafting Growth Opportunities!
- [Tariffs on imported goods! A completely ‘fair trade’ practice by India](https://faberinfinite.com/tariffs-on-imported-goods-a-completely-fair-trade-practice-by-india/): Import of automobiles such as bikes and cars have been on the rise lately with the increasing zeal of bike enthusiasts to own superbikes from all around the country. This brings a fair amount of trade to both the exporter and importer country, which in this case is India. In a recent lawmaking session at the White House, US President Donald Trump accused India of using ‘unfair trade’ practices by levying heavy taxes on the import of United States’ motorcycles brand (Harley Davidson and Triumph) in the country. He has been talking about it since he got seated on the president’s chair back in February 2017, but did not name India and was less coy then. “We pay a tremendous tax to get into their countries — motorcycles, Harley-Davidson, it goes into a certain country. I won’t mention the fact that it happens to be India, in this case,” Trump said in the same session. He went on claiming that Indian brands sell thousands of bikes every year in the States without an additional burden of tariffs and duties implied on them and threatened to impose ‘reciprocal taxes’ on India motorbikes and products if the Indian government does not remove the import duties on America made bikes. On the other hand, if looked at the Indian perceptive, the accusation of ‘unfair trade’ practices is completely baseless as there is not any law book which suggests that imposing taxes on imported goods is unfair towards the exporting country. The claim by Donald Trump of Indian companies selling ‘thousands of motorcycles’ in US itself seems a bit contradicting to what the numbers suggest. People who have closely monitored Indo-US relationships and trade practices have already many times made it clear that United States is not one big promoter of importing Indian motorcycles in the state. Furthermore, high-end brands like Harley Davidson sell more than 3,700 units every year in the India which actually is a very respectable number is considering the leisure of the brand and its limited portfolio of selling luxury cruiser bikes. India indeed had a 100% tariff on motorcycles encompassing an engine more than of 800cc but has made a subsequent decrease in the tariff rates to 75% first and to 50% in the third quarter last year. Moreover, it is India’s right to imply taxes on imported goods in the country. Every country in this modern world levies taxes on imported goods to gain revenue; even the United States of America itself collects import duties on goods that are imported in America. This new reform of slashing down the tax rates is obviously going to attract more amounts of goods, especially bikes being imported in India. It will also pave the way for foreign brands who considered India as a potential market for them. It will also help the Indian government garner revenues that will be ultimately used in optimizing the Indian market which will come back as an opportunity to these brands again. India is a developing country and is promoting investments in the Indian market to manufacture the goods that will cater to the demands of the customers under the umbrella campaign “Make in India”. Many foreign brands like KTM and Benelli have started joint ventures in India and have started manufacturing in India itself to serve the local segment. Other brands can also take advantage of this campaign and start their own manufacturing units in India. It will not only provide them a better understanding of the market because of its proximity but will also help the companies in strengthening their foothold in the Indian subcontinent. Photo Credit: Reuters Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Rising labour productivity of India](https://faberinfinite.com/rising-labour-productivity-of-india-pushing-it-to-conquer-the-modern-world/): Labour Productivity has been one of the major topics of discussion in this evolved age of globalization and cut-throat competition. It has always been one of the major parameters of defining the potential and efficiency of an organization/company. In basic terms, it measures the amount of goods and services produced in one hour of labour. India has been one of the most looked out country all around the globe when it comes to productivity, since the nation has the youngest population and the largest workforce than any other country. India’s Labour productivity has been on the rise lately and has improved by 5.32% YoY in December 2017, which was at 4.90% in the year 2016. It was calculated by using the annual Gross Domestic Product per person employed. Growth in labour productivity depends on three major factors. They are mentioned below: Investment and savings in physical capital Evolution in technology Human capital Physical capital refers to the amount of money people have in savings and in investments. New technology links to the evolution of technology and advancements such as robots, artificial intelligence and assembly lines. While human capital means the increase in education and improvements in skills of laborers and workforce. An increase in labor productivity is directly linked with improvement in the above three factors. Indian labor productivity has seen a paradigm shift in the recent years, especially in the last decade. It grew at an astounding annual rate of 5.52% which is much higher than what the country saw in the 1990s which were about 3.05%. The increase in India’s labor productivity is a good sign for the manufacturing industry as it implies a greater production potential. A better production potential implies to a greater amount of yield and more suffixed and quality products which will be offered by the Indian market to its customers and prospects. One of the peculiar characteristics of the Indian manufacturing industry is the dominance of small-scale production units which also includes household entities. Though they are limited to produce in small qualities at the moment, the ‘Make in India’ campaign has infused technology and advancements in this unorganized sector which is bound to increase the labor productivity of the country in the near future. Moreover, as a result of this, unorganized sector’s access to credit has also been improved and is bound to gain from the recent developments. On the other side, large production units have been on the brim and the numbers suggest that it has managed to take advantage of these improvement factors and might lead the global peer in production planning, supply chain management, quality maintenance, talent management and capability building with the subsequent increase in labour productivity of the country. Measuring labor productivity provides a very important and useful insight into understanding an economy and analyzing its trends. It is also important to measure and analyze the cyclical changes in the economy. If the current scenario is to be analyzed, the facts and data clearly indicate that India has evolved to be a more mature market for investments and has shown exceptional potential for better revenues and quality products. At the moment, much of India’s success and emergence in the global market is credited to the increased productivity of the country. Team Faber has helped clients across industries complex engineering industry where the client is one of the largest manufacturers of cryogenic tanks to textile machine manufacturing industry to the ceramic manufacturing industry with an immense improvement in productivity without incurring any additional cost. The tools and approaches are implemented in such a way that it meets the clients’ needs, gifting them the maximum returns. The solutions are applicable across industries and sectors. These concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed in your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Secrets to become an Outstanding Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/secrets-to-become-an-outstanding-organization/): In today’s era of cut-throat competition, every organization is racing with the other to sideline them in the market. However, many of these companies lack the four basic fundamental qualities that will help them stay in the race. Yeah! It is a race today. Transformation Tuesday has always been about how you can help yourself transform into a better and efficient organization. We will continue the same agenda in this blog as well by addressing those four fundamental traits missing in most companies. Clarity Clarity is one of the biggest problems in any organization. It revolves around many factors. For example clarity about the vision and the purpose of doing the things and making everyone join vision with the same purpose to ensure that everyone is working to move in the same direction. Clarity in language is another factor that affects the floor. People should be comfortable in conversing and understanding the information. It is as simple as that. Another paradigm is clarity about your performance. You might be visioning some extraordinary numbers but getting a clear stand on how are you actually performing is a very crucial aspect of the success of the organization. In simple terms, it is always beneficial to pay attention to the bright, lit upside than playing in the dark corners. Focus Focus is another vital factor that plays a key role in an organizations success. It is highly unlikely that all the managerial levels of an organization will have the same priorities and thus has a lot of chances creating conflicts among the organization. Hence, focus on the priorities is an important factor to keep the workflow of the organization uninterrupted. Focus is all about concentrating on the goals and sticking to the plan unless you have to move a bit to give attention to something else hindering your motive. The key thing about focus is not to multitask and avoid a lot of movements and change of plans. Discipline Discipline is a very interesting term in today’s era. Many people misunderstand the concept of discipline as being handcuffed and that sticking to the same routine every day will slowly kill their versatility. However, discipline is an entirely different concept. Discipline is more like an approach to problem solving and acumen and making others use the same discipline to practice in their problem-solving analytics. Not everyone is born a problem-solver, but it can be taught through discipline so that the organization can have a consistent method to get a good solution. It also emphasizes on deploying a standard work method to avoid chaos and the hassle of navigating every other day. Engagement Engagement is a new, modern world lullaby that everyone is talking about. However, engagement is a more fundamental and core value than what is being chirped around the globe. It is more about providing the employees with the skill set and authority to control the environment around them. It gives them the authority to solve problems and master the changes in their own ways. It motivates the turning around approach and promoting those experts to bring any kind of improvement that they can in their expertise to benefit the organization. Moreover, it also brings the employees out of their shell of disengagement. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri 
- [Safety – the most underrated segment of any process](https://faberinfinite.com/safety-the-most-underrated-segment-of-any-process/): Air travel has been one of the safest means of transport in the modern world and has brought the world a lot closer. Safety of passengers and staff has been one of the major concerns for the airlines. To concreter the safety of air transport, several rules and regulations have been established in a place to keep things in order. The airlines also follow high sigma levels to ensure that wheels land on runways every time after they take off. However, recently an airline mishap was avoided in Mumbai skies when two flights of Air India and Vistara breached the minimum distance limit between two aircraft and came as close as 100 feet vertically. The misadventure was avoided by the efficiency of the pilots. This is not the first time when an ‘airprox’ situation emerged in the skies. But the shocking fact that is the previous one was reported in a mere time span of 15 days and in the same state, Maharashtra. Earlier, another ‘near miss’ was avoided a couple of days after Republic Day when an IndiGo and Emirates Boeing 777 came dangerously close to each other above Nagpur. The above incidents teach us a very important lesson to report the ‘near misses’ and reinforce the value of safety in any process. Reporting near misses is an extremely important thing that needs to be done on a regular basis to create a database that might be used in future to avoid the misadventures. Identifying and analyzing the near misses and the reasons for their occurrence is the key stratum to help the company/organization build a solid foundation – a platform that flourishes. Being proactive is a basic quality that drives the train out of the darkness of the scrapes and reporting near misses is nothing but displaying the proactivity to reduce the risks that can potentially harm the implementation of processes. The concept of 300:29:1 Herbert William Heinrich explained the concept of 300:29:1 which exemplifies the safety norms and talks about the unsafe behaviors that might lead to mishaps as a result of ‘near misses’. He explained the workplace accidents and those unsafe behavioral displays that for everyone fatal accident there 29 minor accidents and 300 near misses. The main motive behind presenting this hypothesis was to make the people understand that one cannot directly avoid all the 29 minor incidents and one serious accident with the same routine being followed every day at the workplace. However, one can work on reducing the number of unsafe behaviors – near misses in order to reduce the number of minor and major accidents. Safety is one of the integral parts of any process and needs to be on point at every turn to avoid obstacles and bumps. Encompassing safety measures not only improves the workplace environment but also helps in reducing the imposed time burden on the workforce and prevents them from pivoting to any other factor that may result in discrepancies. Moreover, financial benefit is another factor that should motivate the leaders to implement safety measures in the units. Faber Infinite has been a leading organization in helping the organizations to introduce and embed various safety measures in their sites and processes to avoid the can of worms that might crunch the entire crop of hard work and perseverance in a snap. We have also helped many firms in upgrading their safety controls at their sites and production units which ultimately motivated the workforce to focus entirely on processes thus, improving the yield. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri Image Source : https://www.cntraveller.in/story/air-india-vistara-aircraft-seconds-collision-mumbai/
- [Heartiest Congratulations to Team Strongpak!](https://faberinfinite.com/heartiest-congratulations-to-team-strongpak/): Excellence is not a destination, it is a journey! And Team Strongpak is already set on this wonderful journey of continual improvement, Buyantanshi as they call it.  We congratulate them for winning yet another award. On behalf of Team Faber Infinite, our heartiest wishes to team Strongpak on winning the first, second and national championship at Kaizen Competition at Lusaka, Zambia. Working with team Strongpak has been a real honor and we value our association with them. We wish them all the success as they represent Zambia on an international platform in the domain of operational excellence. About Buyantanshi journey: Buyantanshi means “going forward”. Team Strongpak is on the journey of ‘going forward’ with culture of continual improvement. Team Faber Infinite has been closely working with teams on the ground on various initiatives like skill analysis and development, equipment performance improvement, maintenance improvement, wastage reduction, inventory management and many others. About Strongpak: Strongpak Ltd a member of multinational SVG Group, is now one of the largest manufacturers of PP woven and block bottom bags in Zambia and neighboring countries, catering to the packaging needs of various industries. The company’s sophisticated plant is located in the city of Kitwe – the heart of Copperbelt region of Zambia. With the application of continual improvement principles in the plant production process, Strongpak is able to continuously improve the production efficiency and quality of products. It caters to customers from a variety of segments like commercial farmers; fertilizer & seed industries, stockfeed manufacturers, milling companies, sugar manufacturers, agricultural lime producers, mining companies and cement manufacturers. Strongpak takes pride in being the only Zambian manufacturer producing block bottom bags used for packaging of cement and hydrated lime. Strongpak supplies bags to all the major manufacturers of cement and lime in Zambia, Zimbabwe and other neighboring countries. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Promoting productivity to help India lead the world !](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-productivity-to-help-india-lead-the-world/): Manufacturing industry is one of the most looked upon industry in the country. Manpower productivity improvement is mature in this industry and is led by various MNCs around the world. Team Faber Infinite was there to support one of the largest players in this industry and was able to deliver phenomenal productivity results. As a part of the series cherishing the productivity improvement stories, this time we bring you a saga from the air compressor and mining equipment manufacturer. About the Client The client is one of the leading manufacturers and sellers of industrial gas and air compressors and mining equipment. They are a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions all around the globe. They cater to demands in more than 180 countries with products and services that are designated to focus on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. What were the challenges? Low productivity was one of the major issues that kept the client on their toes at all the time. The client faced some other major issues in the form of the union of the laborers in the manufacturing plant. Moreover, it was clarified that the issue of the productivity also affected the well-being of operators. At the same time, non-value adding activities also added to the costs of the client without adding any kind of value to the products or the processes. The assembly lines were not able to meet the increased demands of the market. High labor cost was one the other problems faced by the client. Team Faber Infinite’s Approach Team Faber conducted various types of study, implemented various tools and analyzed the results to get to the bottom of the pertaining issues in the manufacturing units. We conducted Time and Motion Study at the client site to define the standard time for work based on the ILO norms for ongoing processes. We worked on assembly line and performed line balancing at the client site by calculating the TAKT time for the assembly line based on the demands of the customer. Moreover, we assisted the client in redesigning the workstation to eliminate the fatigue from the processes and improve ergonomics to increase the efficiency of the operators. Non-value adding activities such as search time, material availability, setup change time etc. were eliminated by using tools such as SMED, Kanban, 5S, 2 Bin system, layout designing, incentive scheme and logistics management. Results? Yes, we delivered them! The entire project led by Faber Infinite improved the throughput of the manufacturing plant by 50% while the manpower productivity of the unit was improved by more than 33%. The work content of the workplace was reduced by 40% as a result of the implementation of tools by Team Faber. Labor costs also saw a decline of more than 50% after the transformation journey was completed. We helped the client in designing a total of 10 workstation layouts per assembly line as per the ergonomic designs. Half a dozen assembly lines were redesigned to improve the manpower productivity. Faber Infinite has been one of the very firm supporters of ‘Make in India’ and has always promoted the concept of producing in India, more competitively. During this 21st National Productivity Week, let us all take a pledge to make India more productive and the most sort after country when it comes to quality produce all around the globe. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Faber Infinite promoting productive India](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-a-more-productive-india-to-lead-the-global-market/): Ceramic industry has now become an integral part of the Indian industry. It has managed to bring a huge difference in the economy of the country. During the last two decades, the Indian ceramic industry has seen a phenomenal growth in product profile, geographical spread and value-added products. India is also the third largest consumer of ceramic tiles in the world. In this series of bringing out productivity improvement stories, as a part of applauding the National Productivity Week, we are extremely happy to share a tale from ceramic industry in this blog. About the Client The client is one of the leading bone china crockery manufacturers in the country and leads the charts in terms of manufacturing ceramic products like bone china crockery. The client has made its own space in the ceramic industry with its perseverance and persistence. Challenges faced by the client Ceramic industry is a highly labor-intensive industry where the manpower cost is as high as 40 to 50% from the normal costs. Thus, the biggest challenge in the industry is manpower productivity apart from being energy intensive. The client faced several issues and a lot of inefficiencies corrupted the entire production system. Traditional layout of two floors also posed difficulties and the client faced a tough time in producing despite having a considerable demand for its products. How Team Faber handled and emulsified the processes for smoother production Team Faber Infinite analyzed the entire plant and redesigned it by converting it into a single floor production unit by the means of Value Stream Mapping. We also conducted a Time and Motion Study at the client site to assist in their plant expansion program. This was further facilitated and improved by using the LEAN Facility design. Team Faber worked on various other improvement projects like Manpower improvement and Culture Building to remove the blockers from the road that were stopping the client from reaching its target and achieving excellence. Results delivered, Once again! The manpower productivity improvement project led by Team Faber helped the client in improving the productivity of the plant by more than 100%. This further helped the client in committing and complying with the incoming orders. Also, the in-depth study and analysis of processes through Time and Motion Study at the client site has helped the organization in sustaining the continual development and the improved productivity. Moreover, apart from all these, we also helped the organization in improving the layout of the production unit, preparing Standard Timesheet, Line Balancing and Manpower allocation to further improve and enhance the effectiveness of the existing processes and controls in the manufacturing unit. Team Faber Infinite supports the dream of making India more productive. We believe that India can become the leader of the global market and can achieve through the improved and better productivity. India is the future and at the 21st National Productivity Week, let us vow to make India a more productive nation. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Supporting ‘Make in India’ to make India a first world country](https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-make-in-india-to-make-india-a-first-world-country/): Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container is a growing industry in the country and the demands for jumbo bags are on the rise lately. The FIBC market is growing at a rate of 7.3% and will soon become an indigenous contributor to the GDP of the country. Faber Infinite has been associated with several clients dealing in FIBC and woven sacks industry, assisting in building competitiveness and productivity. About the Client Client is one of the leading manufacturers of a number of packaging solutions including PP Woven Fabrics, PP woven sacks, FIBC Bags, BOPP Bags, Block Bottom Bags, Bale Wrap Fabrics, Woven GeoTextiles, Woven GroundCovers, Slit Fence and many more. Besides these, the client also deals and manufacture PP Wrapping Fabric, Low GSM PP Baling Fabric, PP Clear Sheets and Polylined Woven Sacks. Packaging Solution is a need of the modern and constantly evolving industry and is being currently used in various industries including fertilizer, cement, sand, food grains, sugar, cattle feed, fish meal, pulses, spices, dates, agro products, minerals, resin, polymers, rubber, etc. Challenges faced To increase productivity, manpower efficiency and retention are one of the major factors that drive this entire substratum. Also, training plays a vital role in improving the productivity numbers. Besides this, the company also faced problems in reducing the time span for implementing the changes. Furthermore, the processes also needed to be quick and nimble to increase the manpower productivity. How Team Faber approached the problems? Team Faber has been an active participant and has been known to solve problems like these with its uniqueness and specially designed framework of Operational Excellence. One of the challenges in the value stream was the inability to cater to the downstream requirements. There were inefficiencies at a bottleneck department feeding to one of most labor-intensive finishing function. When the bottleneck section was itself was facing a lot of complications, the manpower was not able to deliver in two shifts. Team Faber identified all the wastes/ inefficiencies that had crept in and actually affecting its efficiency. Moreover, the focus was shifted to upstream input materials and its regular inflow in the manufacturing units. Also, the waste of waiting was eliminated with the help of Faber Infinite solutions. Besides this, Team Faber also worked in the assembly section (stitching section) where layout change and implementation of time and motion study led to phenomenal manpower productivity improvement. Results delivered Team Faber helped the client to bring whopping 40% improvement in bottleneck section production per day. Also, the number of shifts were reduced by 50% and hence the organization was able to save around 30% on manpower costs per kilogram of production. Moreover, the wastages were reduced by more than 30% in the production plant. The company was benefitted with the implementation of designs and plans arranged by Team Faber and also gained financial benefits. Overall, Team Faber delivered a massive 50% improvement in the entire throughput. At Faber Infinite, we believe in ‘Make in India’ and have always supported the dream of making India more productive. This National Productivity Week, let us take a pledge to make India more productive and support make in India. We believe in the concept of ‘Make in India’ and support the sole motive of making India a better place to operate and making India a first world country.
- [Faber Infinite crafting productive India day after day, year on year!](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-crafting-productive-india-day-after-day-year-on-year/): Faber Infinite crafting productive India day after day, year on year! Faber Infinite has been active in promoting productivity improvement and stepping forward to envisage it proactively. National Productivity Week (12th to 18th Feb) is one of the major events organized by the Indian government with the objective of stimulating and promoting productivity all over the country. It is an apt moment for us to share various stories of building productivity and competitiveness from our clients across the country and various industry sectors. At the first thought of productivity improvement, in this post, we are glad to bring forward special story from a leading manufacturer of textile machinery. About the Client One of the leading manufacturers of textile machinery with branches spread all across India with the manufacturing plant located in Gujarat.  It has been one of the leading companies in the industry with clients varying from different geographies. Client teams have also participated in various competitions and have won many accolades at National and International level (Quality and Productivity improvement). Challenges on hand In today’s fast-moving and competitive corporate world, productivity has been one of the most faced challenges by the companies. Client team also faced the same and were needed to focus on the increasing the capacity of their production units to commit to the orders in hand and for the orders coming in as well. Team Faber Infinite and its role Team Faber Infinite has worked on resolving a lot of Operational Challenges and improving the productivity is one of them. Team Faber complied with the requirements of the client and delivered the results with the implementation of its copyrighted Operational Excellence framework. Objectives and the results When Team Faber Infinite joined the frame, the objective was to improve the material flow, throughput improvement and subsequently increase the manpower productivity in the journey so that the new incoming orders can be accepted and the in hand consignments could be delivered on time. Team Faber worked through structured Organizational Transformation and Productivity Improvement Framework and was successful in delivering the desired results. Some of the achievements are mentioned below. Team Faber brought a huge 167% improvement in Unit Production per day (from 24 units a day to 64 units a day) and Manpower productivity (1.84 Eq. Units/ Man-day to 4.92 Eq. Units/Man-day) after it got working with the client teams. Space-saving also saw a 21% improvement after the implementation of the new layout designed by Team Faber Infinite. 26% improvement was seen in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Team Faber also helped the organization in improving the per day production (spindles) by more than 114%. Production by a person per day (for assembly line 2) was also improved by more than 115%.   Along with the staggering improvements in the throughput, Team Faber also delivered other financial benefits to the organization. Few glimpses of the achievements below.   Team Faber helped in increasing its OEE by ~20% per CNC machine. With the focussed implementation of equipment management practices, Faber Infinite delivered financial savings in excess of INR 5 million annually. The organization was also benefitted by savings in manpower costs to the tune of more than INR 8 million annually. Team Faber Infinite has been an active participant of ‘Make in India’ and believes in the dream of making India more productive. This National Productivity Week, let us take a pledge to make India more productive and a better place to operate. Let us together build competitive India to make India a first world country in our lifetime! Note: Please reach out to our expert team on consulting@faberinfinite.com for further details. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Productivity Crunch – How to strive?](https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-crunch-how-to-strive/): Deadline! A word that not only scares but also freights the souls of even the best planners. You have all the resources and manpower required to deliver at a time at your disposal yet, you want the workflow to explode to increase productivity, and you want it now. Well, welcome to one of the most popular conceptual terms in productivity ‘Productivity Crunch’. In this blog of Transformation Tuesday, we are going to enlighten you with the concept of Productivity Crunch and how to thrive in it. One can strive in a productive crunch by following these steps: Create pieces and plan accordingly Work in a smart manner and break your huge list in a small part and commit to them in the allocated time frame. This way, not only you will be able to reduce the workload of the entire task but will also be able to focus on the smaller core sections and excel in it. Also, try to be realistic while planning this entire layout. Incorporate digital tools Hard work is well complemented with digital tools and technology. Advancements will not only reduce the amount of the work the carrier has to do but will also facilitate in automating the production processes. This will consequently provide you with an edge over your competitors. Delegate Pull in the reinforcements when required in an emergency. Push fresh and more capable hands to work. Be the task leader or taskmaster when required and capitalize on it to get the work done. Optimize processes and minimize freights wherever possible An optimized process is the best option to get the results quickly in a shorter time frame. Optimizing can be very helpful in avoiding the pitfalls of production crunch. Moreover, since optimization might require detailed analysis of data, digital tools can come in handy at this point of your production crunch. Work to complete the task efficiently Work to complete the task in an efficient manner providing the best quality. The goal is not just to race the time and complete the work in time. Instead, the focus should be to provide quality and showcase timeliness to the clients. This approach will also help one in client retention in the future endeavours. Focus and Focus Crunch mode in simple terms is defined as a race with time to provide quality work and deliver on time. This requires a lot of attention and focus. Applying only a part of you will limit your capabilities with distractions and things might go out of hand in the final moments. Step out of the box You tend to become very comfortable in your specific modes of processes. These will not challenge you while crunching through the production processes. Instead, step out of your comfort zone and try to experiment and innovate on a parallel notion. This will not only help you learn but will also provide you with new options and paradigms. Promote Green Fuel costs can also contribute to production crunch. Reducing your fuel cost by applying the “Go Green” principle in the unit can facilitate cash flow in other chains like logistics and manpower. With a clear mind, discipline and encouragement, crunch – be it in production or any other chain can help you in reaching your goals and escalate the process rate and control module functionality. Although, one should definitely not make a habit of crunching processes and exercises, instead work on time and avoid delays and hassle. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Plastic Industry needs to pull up its socks!](https://faberinfinite.com/plastic-industry-needs-to-pull-up-its-socks/): Plastic is one of the fastest growing industries in India. It has been one of the top contributors to the Indian economy and plays a very vital role in influencing it. After making a promising start in the year 1957, the plastic industry in India has grown and diversified rapidly. Analyzing the current scenario of the Indian plastic industry, the numbers are bound to witness an unprecedented and explosive growth in the next two decades in all the sectors of plastic industry – the demands, long term constructive goals and a time-bound action program. As we witness 10th edition of PlastIndia Exhibition, lets take a pause to reflect on the future of the plastics industry and excellence in plastic industry. Improvement Overview in the Plastic Industry There are several areas in plastic industry that are overlooked when talked about improvement and transformation. Improvement in productivity with reduction in wastes is one of the noisiest problems that ring the ears of the authorities. Apart from this inventory management and improvement in OEE are some other problems which are affecting the plastic industry on a very broad level. The plastic industry also needs a persuasive and compatible designing along with improvement at workplace. Equipment are the backbone of any manufacturing process and reduction in mould and breakdown of theses equipments must be worked on. Furthermore, the manpower operating these equipments and other processes should also be optimized through productivity improvement to increase efficiency and quality. How Operational Excellence can help in tackling the challenges of Plastics Industry The market is constantly evolving and diversifying. As a result, the competition has increased tenfold and so are the challenges. Operational Excellence (OE) and World Class Manufacturing (WCM) are some of the tools and practices that help one in eliminating the inefficiencies across the value chain. This ultimately leads to a significant drop in costs and improvement in the quality of the product. Operational Excellence means adopting best practices, having a culture of continuous improvement and utilizing on the latest technologies in products and production methods to captivate on the maximum efficiency and deliver the optimum results. Classical Operational Excellence (OE)/ World Class Manufacturing (WCM) Journey Operational Excellence focuses on efficiency improvement and waste elimination in sync with higher asset utilization. Plastic industry is in dire need of Operational excellence to overcome the most problems surrounding it. In order to achieve a paradigm shift, LEAN manufacturing and Operational Excellence are the most important and vital tools for the transformation process. Typical Steps to be inculcated by the Plastic Industry: Current state analysis and setting goals for future state Balancing the line so as to create smoother throughput Finding approaches to eliminate temporary storage, staging, holding vessels Eliminating redundancies in equipment by improving reliability Potential for reduction in changeover/ startup time Closing Remark Operational Excellence is the way forward in the plastic industry. It is mature state in the auto industry but the plastic industry is no where behind. These practices have a very profound effect and a tremendous scope in the plastic manufacturing environment. The first visible change is the inception of a dust and dirt free work environment. It also helps in planning production better, reducing inventory levels, streamlining & standardizing business processes, improving on-time & complete shipments, and increasing access to data for faster decision-making. This directly adds to the bottom-line while simultaneously customers receive on time delivery and high quality products. Faber Infinite has been actively involved with woven sack industry, blow moulding and injection moulding and other parts of the plastic industry and is constantly providing clients its services and is assisting them in adapting and evolving with the changing industry standards and demands. We have also been providing assistance to our clients with our copyrighted Organizational Transformation Framework© and are very consistent in adding value to the clients’ projects and organization.
- [Change Management - Challenge to Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/change-management-challenge-to-leadership/): Transformation journey is a gigantic challenge in the internal affairs of a company and requires a great amount of discipline and dedication to make it work. Many times people have this question in mind that why some companies climb the ladders of success while sitting in the driver’s seats of these transformations while others fail to incur the same results. In this article, we will talk about the Challenge to Leadership. The answer to this question and many other related questions has a common link to the factor – Leadership. It is the leaders who drive the entire process and provides thrust to it in the form of motivation and encouragement. The thinking processes of the leaders along with their acts have a huge impact on the entire learning process that facilitates the transformation of an Organization. It is the mindset and approach that will steer the wheel of the journey. Moreover, the only way to lead a successful transformation at any place lies in the key i.e. being open to learning and growing in order to solve problems. Lean Leaders and their ethos Struggle, Learn and Evolve! Lean leaders believe in this and constantly follow this routine until they achieve what they had set out to achieve. Personal involvement and engagement of leaders in these processes are directly proportional to the positive and good outcomes of the process. Also promoting growing mindset is another factor that plays a crucial role in transformation. While people with fixed mindsets get frustrated when they stumble upon failures, people with growing mindsets realise their mistakes and learn from them and are enthralled to learn from their mistakes. Reason why fixed mindsets results in failures The personality of a person matters the most when it comes to leadership. People with fixed mindsets have a lot of problems regarding their ego and cares more about their personality than anything else. This kind of approach and attitude does not help in lean transformation, even if the person has a very high knowledge of it. The road to success unarguably depends on the ability of a leader to help diagnose and overcome a problem. For a successful transformation, the company requires teamwork and encouragement, which turns out to be a sour deal with fixed minded people. Can a transformation be brought in fixed minded people? The answer to this question is a very obvious YES. People can transform themselves by acquiring new habits – encouraging the whole community. Below are the pointers on which if worked on, people can ambiguously start seeing changes in themselves. Your position and role in the team – Instead of carrying the attitude of your position, start indulging on the ground floor and contribute and encourage your team in finding the solution for the obstacles. Lean can’t be implemented, it is learned – You can’t just implement lean system in your organization and expect the complex problems to solve on its own. Instead, Lean is a learning process that includes experimenting and evaluating and continuing to learn new practices to solve them and deliver value to the customers. Start with ‘I don’t know’ – Start things with something ‘Oh! I don’t know about it’. This thinking process will make you open to learn new aspects and new things that will provide you the extra push to search for greater countermeasures to solve the problems. Next steps in the journey of transformation “Changing your thought process is not hard, believing that I can’t is” This is the first step in order to sow seeds for the new thinking process. The next step involves enriching yourself with new thoughts and making yourself realize that a failure is not the end of the world, it’s just the wrong approach and you need to take a new stand on it. No one learns new things without any failures and no one ever will. Stuck maps and roads with fixed mindsets do not have success at the end. Lean transformation is a challenge and the leadership needs to adopt a different approach towards it. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri 
- [A Peak into Star Faber's Life](https://faberinfinite.com/vishal-singh-star-faber/): Interview – Vishal Singh 3 regions, 8 countries, more than a dozen clients, 26 projects and 10,000 people Consultants are the backbone of the entire transformation processes and play a crucial role in bringing out the best from a limited amount of resource in the quickest possible time span. Despite having a hectic and packed schedule, they are always on time and makes sure to deliver at any location. In this edition of iFaber – ‘A Day in the life of a Consultant’, we had a chat with Faber Vishal Singh who happens to be an expert in what he does best, consulting. Early Life Born and brought in the Oxford of the East – Pune, Vishal is the youngest in his family. With a Bachelor’s in Engineering in Electronics, Vishal started off his career with one the leading Indian conglomerate, C.K. Birla group. While setting up a facility from the ground for the Birla Group for full-fledged production, Vishal developed an interest in Operational Excellence and LEAN tools. He also pursued his Master’s in Production and Management in parallel notion to build scope and space for himself in the industry. After completing his Master’s, there was no looking back. Life as a Consultant Managing clients from more than 3 regions, Vishal has done some tremendous job in managing his projects. He provides assistance to more than 9 clients at the moment and has successfully completed more than 25 projects in the last 2 years after joining Faber Infinite. Moreover, working on so many projects has only made him more versatile and creative in his work. He has consulted companies from various fields ranging from textile, manufacturing, chemical industry to agriculture and fishery industries. In fact, he is currently handling more than 11 sectors and has been delivering exceptional results at all places. When asked about the secret, he said, “It’s all about homework and how deeply you research on the segment before implicating yourself on it. Moreover, you have to think one step ahead of other corporates, because that is what our job is, to think about the future and innovate to reach there.” When asked about the challenges, dealing with the different sector at a different location every other week tops Vishal’s list. According to him, managing the different levels of authorities in sync and getting to know the labor force is also one of the biggest challenges he faces while doing his job. “Hectic schedule has become a part of my life and has actually become a driving force that makes me work with more focus and efficiency, making me realize how important the job of a consultant is in a transformation journey” adds Vishal. “While in Kenya last year, I was heading a project for a food company which had three subsidiaries to conduct the entire manufacturing and trading processes and we had to assist all the three companies in the transformation journey in a limited period of time. It was really a very challenging task because there are a lot of permutations and combinations that have to be tested out before finding out the perfect one. In search of this, I and my team worked for more than 14 hours a day for 28 days and delivered the expected results to the clients in the desired amount of time for all the three companies”, describes Vishal from his recent experiences. Professional and Personal Life Unlike every other corporate personnel, Vishal has a bit more of a sorted lifestyle. Being the youngest in the family, he had more freedom to pursue towards his goals than anyone else. “I didn’t have to stress much about staying at my native place and taking charge in my own hands. Although, I do take out some time whenever I’m not at home, touring some plane or is on-site” said Vishal. “I would rather compromise on my sleep than compromising on the time I give to my family or work”, adds the Star Faber of the Year. However, amidst the physical pressure to cope up with work demands, Vishal flexes in Yoga and intends to it every morning, no matter how packed his schedule is, irrespective of the location. He also carries packed bottles of water and a medical kit with him at all times for emergency situations. Being, in the industry for such a shorter period of time, Vishal has vested his interests in advancing with innovations and creating value by the means of ethical consultancy. Vishal has been a lead consultant for Faber Infinite and has lead as many as two teams in Kenya and Zambia in the journey of LEAN Facility Design. In the journey, he has not only worked with client teams from all the hierarchies in the management but also considered and coordinated with other entities like Vastu consultants, architects and City Council members and has still managed to deliver to the clients. He also won Star Faber of the Year Award last year and continued to get the trophies this year as well for leading Lean facility design exercise at the client side. He is our quality expert and believes that quality is always a result of sincere efforts, intellectual direction and smart and skillful execution. He believes and preaches what Aristotle has to say – “Quality is not an Act but a Habit” Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Faber Infinite announces copyright for Lean Facility Design](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-announces-copyright-for-lean-facility-design/): A 200% improvement in productivity, 100% reduction in production throughput times – Sounds too good to be true? We can deliver these results through Lean Facility Design© exercise. Faber Infinite is glad to announce the issuance to it of a copyright that covers the unique methodology for Lean Facility Design. Lean Facility Design© (LFD) is a unique toolkit (methodology) devised by Faber Infinite Consulting, which supports organizations to build ‘Best in Class’ facility layout. This methodology assures that the new facility becomes most efficient since inception or day zero. This methodology is applicable for organizations that are coming up with new facilities, revising layouts, shifting or expanding current setup. The team Faber Infinite follows a process called LFD that systematically applies Operational Excellence (OE)/ Lean principles and concurrently integrates the expertise of all stakeholders—to achieve breakthrough improvements when compared to traditional design. During the LFD process, the team Faber Infinite applies its deep expertise in Operational Excellence and Industrial Engineering principles by focusing on following aspects: Guiding principle development aligns all stakeholders to OE principles such as line-of-sight, continuous flow, work cells, point-of-use, and others. Value Stream Mapping / Workflow analysis for Muda, Mura and Muri elimination/ reduction. Cycle time and takt time analysis determining the optimal capacity, reducing costs compared to typical design estimates. Five S (workplace organization) and Safety aspects determining the optimal layout Standardized work establishing optimal work sequences and timing, so value adders can make the most efficient use of the new layout once the facility opens. Visual management principles defining locations and content for the essential elements for practicing Operational Excellence once the new facility opens. Typical Coverage Streamlining the manufacturing flow (from Raw material receipt to finished goods delivery) Capacity analysis & Ramp up plans Manpower planning Inventory design for Raw Material, WIP & Finished Goods Warehouse (stores) space Optimization Design of material handling systems within factory Design for material storage using FIFO (First In First Out) racks Guidelines for storage location for each part (using golden rules of storage) Visual management of information/ data Early Equipment Management, if applicable  Typical Benefits and Deliverables Best in class flow design that includes the right space and right location, which is not over-built to accommodate ineffective processes Reduced capital investments (in certain areas) Reduced Throughput time (time taken from Raw material receipt to finished goods delivery) Best in Class Manpower productivity Right-sized logistics equipment planning Prevents inefficiencies from entering into new facility Optimum space utilization / reduced floor space Optimum inventory levels (ensuring no overstocking as well as zero shortages) Staff and design team’s involvement to assure the design decisions support improved workflow Real-time OE orientation and application for team members Documentation of the current state using Value Stream Maps & Identification of opportunities for improvement Development of ‘Future State Maps’ for the facility to guide evaluations of design Action plan for process improvement of key issues Identification of additional critical points for further decision Approach Based on the background and objectives, team Faber Infinite along with the client team moves through the LFD process from organization’s goals and principles down to smallest of the nut & bolts through following approach and tentative implementation plan: It covers project planning, conceptual design at the systems level, functional design at the value stream level, and detailed design at the operational level, standard work development for operating in the new design. It is achieved by rolling out following steps: One might think that this LEAN Facility design is just like any other design framework and what unique agenda it offers to the customers. Well, the answer to this lies in the processes in which this copyrighted LEAN Facility Design of Faber Infinite is implemented. Any facility design usually starts on a paper and is worked over for creating an efficient framework. Although, Faber’s LEAN Facility Design is a framework that is highly efficient and has been proven in projects that were carried out at our client sites in India, Middle-East and in African countries like Zambia and Kenya. Furthermore, to make it extremely effective, instead of focusing on the design in the initial stages, the process starts with detailed planning and analysis, while approaching the layout in step 11 and 12. Moreover, LFD is not focused only on manufacturing units but has also proven to be highly effective in Hospitals, Hotels, Service Industry and many more domains. For further details about Lean Facility Design© get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com / publishing@faberinfinite.com Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Client Speak - Unnati – The Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/unnati-the-transformation-journey/): Transformation can be brought only by hard work and innovation. In the evolving canvas of today’s industry and market, transformation has become one of the key factors to lead the market. In this first edition of iFaber for the year 2018, we bring to you another tale of transformation and excellence from the Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) industry. Our client, Umasree Texplast is one of the leading producers in the competitive FIBC industry. We were glad to talk to the Director at Umasree Texplast Mr. Manish Jain. He shared his valuable insights on key topics related to challenges in the FIBC industry and the role of Faber Infinite in the transformation journey. Faber Infinite (FI) – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to FIBC industry? Mr. Manish Jain (MJ) – FIBC industry is the backbone of the prime industries all across the world. Developing countries like India, China and Turkey are the leading producers of FIBC bags. However, in this industry, technology plays a role only to a certain level. The work in this industry is labor-centric. By the means of technology, one can create fabric, but to make to make a bag one needs a skilled and trained labor force. Hence, one of the key challenges this industry face is manpower training, retention and other manpower oriented sophistication. Another challenge the industry faces is the processes inside the organization. Since most of the work is dependent on manpower; it becomes important to create a system of robust processes to deliver quality and sound consignments on deadline. FI – Umasree Texplast is a progressive organization charting its own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates UT from others? MJ – We are an entrepreneurial organization. There are three core principles in which we believe in. The first core principle is Ethics. We believe in fair dealings with our clients as well as with the human resource we have because human capital is an asset to us. Without our employees, we wouldn’t have reached where we are today. The second principle in which we believe is Quality. We emphasize on the quality, in fact, the rejection ratio of our organization is minimal as per the industry standards. The third principle Umasree Texplast believes in is timeliness. We value the time of our clients and deliver our best and on time. Our 90-95% of consignments are delivered on time. FI – Umasree Texplast has rolled out path-breaking the transformation journey – as Unnati. We would love to understand more about it. What role has Team Faber played in the Unnati journey? MJ – Team Faber Infinite has been the driving force for Umasree Texplast in the transformation journey ‘Unnati’. They have helped us in nurturing the self-replicating qualities along with the highly valuable human capital of our organization. To be short and precise, we along with Faber Infinite are trying to put the processes together and in their places so that we can finally transform and lead to ‘Unnati’. Team Faber has helped us drive the change and imbibe that culture of continuous improvement in the organization at all the levels of hierarchy. FI – Can you please share your overall feedback about team Faber and your experience so far? MJ – Team Faber has been an excellent partner for our transformation journey. They are very hard working, co-operative and highly understanding. I am very happy with Faber and how they have led the team. It has been a great journey with Faber Infinite. Faber has been with us for last one and a half year. In this period we have transformed the attitude of our workforce, we have put policies in place and have thus become a leaner organization. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership Umasree Texplast has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views about Faber’s role in the growth numbers? MJ – I’m not much worried about results and numbers. We have trust and confidence in the whole team who is driving this entire journey and the results are bound to come. In fact, we can see the difference and I’m 200% sure that Faber will achieve the desired numerical values. We are very happy working with Faber Abhishek and Faber Nikhil. Team Faber has always worked as being part of Umasree Texplast. We appreciate their hard work and co-operation in the journey. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Winning It Together](https://faberinfinite.com/winning-it-together/): “Vidarbha keeps tryst with destiny. Wins their first ever Ranji Trophy!” In a history of 61 years, Vidarbha Cricket team has finally achieved the ultimate goal they have been working on for so many years. Vidarbha waited for more than six decades to win the Ranji trophy. However, this achievement did not come easily. The team underwent a rigorous routine of transformation to reach here. The same is needed in today’s corporate world as well – a disciplined and effective transformation to reach the desired goals. Wait, but what made Vidarbha the champion side they could not be in the last six decades? Let’s have a look. Leadership The 15-men team was led by Faiz Fazal who is one of the most underrated players in the Ranji Trophy. He was never looked upon as an international talent despite having a very rich and favourable numbers in the sack. Although, he never let these factors create an impact on his game and ticked all the boxes when it came to winning games and was also the lead run scorer for the team. This shows that a capable, clever and calm-minded leadership plays a crucial role in leading the task and the team to success. Old War Horse Who could have a thought that a 39-year old player who was forced to leave his home team to continue his career would be a part of a champion side at the end of the season? Wasim Jaffar, who holds the record for most runs in first-class Indian cricket, was left out of his home team Mumbai. It is a very noteworthy fact that Wasim played 8 Ranji finals for Mumbai and won all 8 of them, playing a crucial role in all the matches. He subsequently had no option other than joining Vidarbha to keep doing what he likes – playing cricket and winning finals. Experience played a very important role in Vidarbha’s victory and guided them through tough times when the team was in trouble. It is always the sheer determination that encourages and motivates the team to work towards their goal and achieve it. Responsibilities on young and capable shoulders In absence of front-line bowlers, the young Rajneesh Gurbani took the charge in his own hands and led the bowling attack of the team from the front. He played a crucial role in leading the team against the rivals and performed exceptionally well against them. Young shoulders have the energy and the gist to keep going and grudging with the obstacles until they are tackled. Such kind of energy and perseverance can fill the souls of the team with motivation and optimism. Coaching and Transformation The last and the most important name that comes up in this historic win of Vidarbha Cricket team is Chandrakant Pandit, the lodestar who guided the ship to its course, facing storms and bouncers. It was Pandit, who outlined the sketch of Vidarbha’s victory by designing a strict and disciplined routine for training hours. He even set up various committees to look after the other various activities of the team ranging from entertainment to travel to food to encourage the bonding between the team members and increase their trust on each other in the entire season. Simple stuff really works. The way Pandit rallied his boys to victory is an exceptional example of how training can bring a great degree of transformation that can change the entire course of your journey as well as your graphs and pie charts. The victory of Vidarbha is an outstanding and amazing lesson to all of us who are working towards transformation to achieve the desired numbers. Every team member needs to understand its role and responsibility and work towards the common goal with a clear mind and sheer focus. Moreover, the team should believe in themselves and should be determined to achieve their goal, no matter what obstructs their way. Furthermore, the strict routine and discipline must be followed to step towards excellence. In order to achieve the ultimate, even a slight pivoting against the road can entirely change the roads of your journey. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Aditya Gupta Image Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/vidarbha-win-their-first-ever-ranji-trophy/article22343554.ece
- [7 Habits of Highly Effective People](https://faberinfinite.com/7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/): As a part of the Faber series, we are here again with excerpts from another leadership book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey. Being effective and efficient is a real excellence in the world that can’t be separated from right and disciplined living. In today’s highly competitive and busy world, people have to strive to achieve some degree of success and recognition. This can only be achieved if you have a right and precise composure of your living habits to make you effective enough in the competitive market. In this blog, we will cover the seven surreal habits that can make instigate effectiveness in an individual. Proactive approach Do not sit and wait in a reactive manner waiting for problems to happen before taking an action. Instead, work from the centre of your influence and constantly try to expand it. You should understand that you are in charge of writing the scripts of your life. Use this self-awareness to be proactive and implement them in making the choices for you. Proactive approach develops a sense of responsibility in an individual which ultimately leads to the enhancement of the ability to choose how one will respond to a given situation. Envision the results and the destination you want to reach Work on your project in future and envision the climax you want to give it. Understand that you are the programmer and have the power to remotely decide the direction of your assignments to steer to. Stay focused towards the clear destination and develop your conscience to decide the factors that are going to guide you to achieve your goals. Setting your goals in the beginning also helps in creating robust strategic that is going to compliment your journey. This will also subsequently evolve one on an individual level, making him rescript and assert his own personal values. Prioritize your things according to the needs For effective management, one should prioritize his work and put the important thing on the top of the list. Organize your list by placing your to-do’s in categories: Urgent and Not Urgent. Implementing discipline in our day-to-day actions by prioritizing them is one of the key factors that can improve your influence and grip on the structure if the hierarchy as well as in your life. Moreover, remember, things you don’t want to, are the things you have to. Willpower plays an important role in keeping the focus on track towards the goal. Envisage a mutually beneficial paradigm Start understanding people and respect their opinions for mutually beneficial solutions. You should focus on creating an individual relationship that provides a win-win situation for both the parties; you and your client. Put yourself in other people’s shoes and critically examine the key issues and work on their solutions. Many people misunderstand win-win as being nice and polite. However, it does not actually mean that. It is a basic character code human interaction and collaboration to achieve a profitable conclusion. Understand others to be Understood Before jumping to conclusions or assumptions, interact homogenously with the other members and listen to them. Empathetic listening is very effective in compelling other to reciprocate and listen to you with an open mind, thus increasing you influence area. Before getting to the solution, it is important to evaluate and analyze the problem and that can only be done by understanding the people’s concerns and working on it together. In order to be understood, one must learn to listen to other people. Unfortunately, we are not able to apply this to our daily lifestyle. This is more the reason for one to build the skills of empathetic listening on a base of character that inspires openness and trust. Promote unanimity Try and create synergy by understanding and valuing the difference in other person’s point of view to explore a whole new paradigm of openness and creativity. Synergy allows one to create a holistic environment that recourse our thought processes to consider alternative and new possibilities. To be short and precise, it motivates one to dump the old scripts and write new ones. Prepare yourself for the push Rejuvenating yourself physically, mentally and socially is also one of the key factors in making one effective. Continuous refilling also helps people in fulfilling their wishes and enables them to practice all these habits in a nurturing and effectuate manner. The more we see people in terms of their unseen potential, the more we can use our imagination rather than our memory. Furthermore, it maintains a balance between your resources and means and your desired results. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Analyze the Shortcomings](https://faberinfinite.com/analyze-the-shortcomings/): Today continuous improvement is the focus of every organization. In today’s competitive business growth and development need to be parallel. Organizations across the globe have realized the importance of continuous improvement. Continuous Improvement teams are responsible for gathering out the defects in the controls and systems and eliminate them with proper measures. However, many times, these teams fail in their tasks and lack of efficiency and effectiveness. It is easy to initiate the journey of continuous improvement, but it is difficult to sustain. In this blog for Transformation Tuesday, we have covered the most common reasons for the failure of these Continuous Improvement initiatives: Inadequate Influence over systems Continuous Improvement teams have to have information about the entire organization. They should have their eyes and ears everywhere. They should also keep the leadership in check and must be given a chair in the discussions carving out the future of the organization. Moreover, the professionals involved in the continuous improvement team must have a profound knowledge and understanding about company’s strategies and the way the leadership wants to carve out a niche for the organization in order to be able to analyze and solve problems as per the needs of the company. Lack of Practice and knowledge Apart from support from the management, the team members of the continuous improvement teams should support themselves by constantly revising their knowledge and practising them at the required place at the appropriate time. One should be expert and confident on a particular subject before preaching them to others. They should lead by setting an example for others and should be aware of the latest industry trends and standards. Inability to accept Instead of deploying continuous improvement teams at a certain level in the organization, the system should be employed at all the levels of the company to achieve the best results in the longer run. An isolated continuous improvement program might seem to be working on some issues for a shorter duration of time. However, this inability to accept the skill at all levels will not be able to contribute fruitful results for the company after a certain period of time. Gorging on today, neglecting tomorrow A typical human mind always gorges upon the easy savings of today. However, this is a very dilute approach and will never prove to leave a profound impact on the company’s success. Instead of focusing on instant success, one should look at the bigger picture and start concentrating on it. The larger goal should be broken down into smaller targets and the skill set should be applied to achieving them. It’s not a bad thing to enjoy instant, short-term success, but to reach the top of the mountain; you have to focus on the larger goals and takeaways. Easy wins on the top of your list Easy wins might create a great record for you on papers but would never contribute to creating a bigger change. Continuous improvement is a unique skill set which should be used to set an example for others by clearing out the biggest stone lying on the road to success. Push for the change you want to bring, if you think that’s the right to do even if nobody advocates you in this journey. If you won’t, no one will. Don’t rely on your resume and papers to tell the tales of your success, instead let the public victories narrate the saga. In the journey of continuous improvement, don’t just identify what makes a team successful but also look at where the team fails. Since the real learning comes from analyzing the shortcomings. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Operational Excellence Checklist 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/craft-better-growth-opportunities-2018/): 2017 has come to an end and we have set foot in 2018. We believe that Operational Excellence shall be the key to sustainable productivity and continual development even in 2018. It manifests the entire process through integrated performance across revenue, cost and risk. In this note, we want to put across key points that shall bind the beads in a single string in case of Operational Excellence in this new year. Below is the much-talked checklist for Operational Excellence. Value Adding Ratio – Measure of Costs Cost is far most one of the major concerns of the manufacturers. It plays a major role in determining the Operational Excellence of the entire system. Keeping a better track of costs by closing monitoring the VAR is the key. VAR which is the function of non-value adding activities and value-adding activities can be improved by eliminating inefficiencies or wastes in the process. Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) – Quality Measure In this cut-throat competition, quality is something which is order qualifier and cannot be neglected. However, quality should be built in the process instead of reworking. Keeping a close track of the cost of poor quality will help improve processes and its throughput by drawing more sensitivity towards the same. Cost of Poor quality is any cost that the company will incur if the quality of the product or service is not perfect. This will further lead to unhappy customers. CoPQ leads to: Identifying and quantifying quality cost Effective use of resources Robust measurement system Breakthrough improvements On Time – In Full – Error Free (OTIFEF) Delivery Ratio A checklist of Operational Excellence cannot be completed without delivery parameters. Timeliness is like an ace in the deck of cards when it comes to operational excellence. It can be achieved through an efficient system and right metrics. On Time In Full Error Free Delivery ratio is one of the key measurement metrics. This ratio measures how the client gets what they want at the right time, in right quantities and error free. To reach a high level of OTIFEF delivery ratio all the functions in the supply chain must work at their finest levels. It must be noted that it is a function of three aspects time, quantity and transactional errors. We shall discuss it in details in next articles. Value Added Per Employee – Manpower Productivity Productivity is the ultimate result one wants to achieve through operational excellence. Hence, it has got be on the checklist. Higher productivity is what motivates the workforce as well as encourages the clients to put more trust in you. Moreover, operational excellence along with high productivity leads to continual improvement culture in any organization. It would be good to translate manpower productivity to value addition ‘cos that is something determines the impact on bottom line, a key for any business. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) – Measure of equipment health Equipment is the fuel of the manufacturing industry. Hence, a regular and precise tracking of the equipment and measuring Overall Equipment Effectiveness can help in planning the entire production routine and improving performance, thus, gaining operational excellence. OEE is an effective tool to benchmark, analyze, and improve the equipment health. It is a function of availability, performance and quality. Structured implementation of OEE improvement practices can lead to remarkably visible results like improved machine availability, reduced maintenance efforts and better awareness of equipment health across all team members. Near Misses – Safety Measure Safety is one of the most underestimated factors. As stated in Heinrich’s Law: that for every accident that causes a major injury, there were 29 accidents that caused minor injuries and 300 near misses that caused no injuries. Every organization should have a system to measure near misses to further act upon the same and creating safe workplaces. Team Faber Infinite via its Organizational Transformation Framework has helped organizations across industries and geographies to create sustainable measurement systems leading to improved productivity, quality, costs, delivery, safety and most important employee morale. We hope that the above-mentioned checkpoints would help you to achieve higher degrees of success in your operational excellence journey in the year 2018 and you craft better growth opportunities. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Building Excellence in Textile Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-textile-industry/): Textile industry has made its own space over the years and has been extremely successful in contributing to the country’s GDP. The importance of the textile industry can be gauged upon by the fact that it provides around 2% to India’s GDP and doles out more than 13% of the income country generates from exporting goods annually. Textile industry is one of the largest employers of the nation and is expected to grow further at CAGR of 12% and will be valued more than $440 billion by 2025. The Indian Textile industry has evolved drastically with the passage of time due to globalization. Also, government’s interest to improve the quality and standards of the industry has brought significant change in the textile industry over the years. It now comprises of both handwoven sector and highly automated textile mills. Power looms, knitting sectors and hosiery are the key sectors of textile industry in India. The future of the prospects of this industry looks positive right now. The roof of FDI has reached 51% with the allowance of 100% FDI in single-brand retail and in multi-brand retail. However, there are still some challenges in the industry that has troubled the manufacturers a lot in the recent times. Key cost factors like higher wage costs and power costs is affecting the overall sector in the country adversely. Also, the manufacturing PMI of the industry has taken a dive and might be taken as a sign of how demonetization and other policies affected the industry. With all this piling up around the corner, operational excellence and sustainable productivity are the key bread and crumbs of the industry. Globalization – A phenomenon that has increased competition to a whole new level Globalization has influenced trade and commerce of all types. Outsourcing has become one of the many resultants of globalization that has successfully influenced the market. Textile giants of foreign countries are trying to set up their market in the country. This has forced the local manufacturers to improve their standard and quality and touch the bars set by these companies to be in the race. This increased competition has obviously benefitted the consumers but also have generated many unavoidable issues for the manufacturers. Also, to achieve these high standards, production and logistics costs have increased dramatically. With globalization and entrance of giants, machinery and technology has also been upgraded thus affecting the profitability and flexibility of this age-old industry. Analyzing current scenarios, to bring out the extended potential of the textile companies and leveraging it through the back channels by promoting “Zero Defect, Zero Effect” is required in today’s textile industry. To achieve this, and comply with the cut-throat competition, non-value adding activities and inefficiencies should be reduced/ eliminated. At Faber Infinite, we have been helping our clients to evaluate and accelerate this process rather quickly with our specially designed and proven methodologies. At one of our clients – a leading integrated textile manufacturer – our expert team analyzed and identified five key drivers. The targets the team set our course to are as following: Reduce wastages across the processes & improve quality ratio Improve employee productivity & skills Improve machine productivity Customer complaints reduction Reduce Machine Breakdown How Faber Infinite flushed these problems? Cross-functional teams were set up to improve processes, initiate actions and monitor progress. Consequently, this helped the client in implementing the project strategies efficiently and increased productivity. The teams worked on various improvement levers deploying tools like time and motion study, autonomous/ planned maintenance toolkits, quality improvement toolkit and others. Results The client saw a significant reduction in soft and hard waste by 80% and 88% respectively. Also, the manpower efficiency and production per day (units) increased exponentially by 167%. The team also managed to make better use of the space in the facility which later benefitted the production in a fruitful manner. Chances of breakdowns in machines were also reduced to half during this entire process. Similar, mind-boggling results have been delivered by our expert team at several textile manufacturing organizations across Asia Pacific & Africa. Way ahead for Indian Textile Industry From industry perspectives, the FDI seems to be in a profitable position and will surely help the traders with the entry of mega-brands in the market. Also, government initiatives like Amended Technology Up gradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS), Integrated Processing Development Scheme, National Textile Policy, simplified labour laws, IPDS and EPCG scheme are going to take the industry on the right path. Despite all these, the proper implementation is all that matters and carries value at this crucial stage. Focused approaches like Total Quality Management, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Time and motion Study can give phenomenal results in different domains of textile manufacturing. The Faber Infinite team has designed proven frameworks which have delivered results in terms of cost and productivity improvements. Amazing results have been achieved through these designs and proper implementation and refining of systems and processes. Our clients have achieved sustainable productivity with the thorough and precise contrivance of these frameworks. Ready to build excellence in the textile industry? Discover the strategies and techniques that will propel your business to new heights. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert insights, resources, and tools to achieve excellence in the textile industry. Don’t miss this opportunity to revolutionize your business! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Quality Circle : Development in Manufacturing and Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/manufacturing-and-organization-development-in-quality-circle/): Quality circles have now become one of the major segments in the manufacturing sector that determines the productivity and efficiency of a plant and its human resources. With the passage of time, quality circles have gained popularity and have now been adopted in the Indian manufacturing industry as well. Quality Circles are basically a formal, institutionalized mechanism for productive and participative problem-solving interaction among the employees of an organization. They also contribute to increasing the capabilities of the workforce whilst improving the machinery capacity. Every organization faces different challenges and has to tackle different obstacles to continue on the road of development and grow profitability. Quality circles are the most efficient and less coarse way of identifying and analyzing a rational problem for accurate and precise solutions. This works as the first and foremost step towards preventing the institution from getting rigid in places where flexibility is the key. But, to reach there, a proper training to the members of the Quality circle members should be provided to bring out the best from the Quality Circles. Team Faber Infinite recently concluded a training workshop at one of our client’s site for the members of their Quality Circle, making them aware of the working functionality as well as teaching them the modus of operation of the Quality circles in an organization, particularly a manufacturing plant. Objectives of the training session: To understand the need and role of the Quality circles in the organization for a positive growth. To adapt to the prevailing structure of the organization and work in accordance with growth and open exchange of ideas. To train the members about the functionality of a Quality Circle and guiding them through various techniques and skills that can be used while solving a particular problem. To understand what steps can be introduced in certain situations to increase productivity. To have a thorough understanding that Quality Circles are meant for inducing humane values and harmony through it to keep the organization and workforce parallel to each other. Preview of the workshop: The workshop was conducted for training the employees and making them familiar with the concept and agenda of the quality circles. The two-day workshop was headed by Mr Vishal Singh which included conducting seminars and mock activities to help the trainees in experiential learning. The employees who participated in the workshop appreciated the training session and were very happy with the flow, structure and expertise of the trainer in the subject area. Some of the feedback pointers which we received are as follows: It was a great experience. Actually, the way we were taught and trained in Quality Circles was the key we learnt a lot from it. It will definitely help us in our future. The training was excellent. We learnt many things about Quality Circles which were unknown to us before. The training session has enhanced our skills and increased our confidence. Vishal provided us with various key points that will help us in the overall functionality of the Quality Circle. We now know how valuable the work of Quality Circle is in an organization. The session was quite enriching. We now know what can be the consequences of our mistakes and have learnt how to tackle problems in the initial stages. In this ever-evolving canvas of the manufacturing sector, Quality Circles are the key to increase the efficiency and productivity to keep an organization on the run. With the growing competition, training quality circles to work in a precise and efficient manner is like providing fuel to an engine. Faber Infinite explores the concept of Quality Circles and helps the companies implement them properly by conducting training sessions and workshops to unlock the doors of continuous improvement. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [One thing to craft a profitable 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/one-thing-to-craft-a-profitable-2018/): Another year has passed and has been a memorable one in its own way. Things have been like a roller-coaster ride in the year 2017. Many people might be happy with many might not. But one thing that is common for everyone is that we all want to make 2018 a bit worthier with better profits and higher market value. Redefining customer strategy can help one business and crafting more profits for 2018. Customer strategies are the articulation of distinctive values and experience an organization will deliver to the customers. In today’s competitive world, clients expect the quality to be good and are keener in exploring the services and offering sections of the provider. Quality of the product is just an order qualifier for any business. Good quality can no longer win order. Hence organizations are working on improving the service levels and offerings for customer acquisition and retention. What a customer expects today is that the organization walks that extra mile to give that wow impact for the offerings. Progressive organizations work on internal as well as external customer requirements to improve the service levels. Hence, redefining your customer strategy to acquire more and more clients is one of the factors that will help you in making your numbers green in the year 2018.Team Faber has been helping organizations across industries with winning customer strategy. Team Faber has worked with one of the largest engineering company in India to deliver an extremely successful customer centricity improvement program and the results have been extremely good. While working on the customer strategy, organizations should keep the customer happy and satisfied. This is what we call customer delight. It is very important. Customer needs to be treated like a kid. We should continuously keep that enthusiasm in the minds of the customers. Organizations should provide the customer with quality along with variety and engagement. A satisfied customer will stick longer with an organization. Like kids customers too have certain demands and it is the responsibility of the organization to fulfill them. It is also the provider’s responsibility to keep the kid excited and on the edge with varieties and different engaging plans and strategies. Besides the above-mentioned points, progressive organizations should have robust processes and should take care of the multiple customer requirements in shortest possible time with best quality and least cost. Today we are in the era where the customer wants variety and if we do not cater to the demands then the customer will be lost to the competition. Hence, the batch sizes are going down and the changeovers will go up irrespective of the industry. Whether it is pharma or automobile it does not matter processes need to be robust and nimble. Changeovers should be very easy and quick without any compromise on the quality aspect. Operational excellence is the key to profitable 2018. Operational excellence is the way of doing business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, reduces lead time and improves flexibility to achieve competitive advantage. Organizations to craft a profitable 2018, should go the operational excellence way as it is a systematic approach to achieving world-class performance in performance, quality and delivery. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya & Faber Kishlay Krishna
- [Strategies for India – Countries within a Country](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-for-india-countries-within-a-country/): The Indian economy has been on the rise in the recent times and has managed to gain popularity among the multinational companies for investments. According to a study, the country is moving in the paths of development and will average between 7.4% to 7.6% in the upcoming three years. Although being one of the major countries to look forward to investments, India still is a tough market for MNCs to enter. The main factors for these are the high costs and the difficulty of conducting business in the Indian markets. Inconsistent policy-making and its improper implementation along with regular interference of legislation are other obstacles that add to the headaches to the multinational firms. However, if MNCs are to succeed in the country, they have to conduct a deep study and analysis of the markets state-wise. Indian market is a fragmented and heterogeneous market that offers different hurdles as well as unique opportunities to the organizations. Amidst this, it is very important and interesting to note that Indian states are often compared to small countries, like India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh has a population equal to that of Brazil. Moreover, Maharashtra has an economy that roughly matches the economy of Iraq. Cultural variations, languages and demographic variations are some of the significant factors that decide the potential as well as the capability of the market. They play a crucial and influential role in any MNCs organizational decisions. Also, every Indian state has its policies which affect the federal structure and other factors like labor and infrastructure which consequently results in variations in business landscape across the country. Apart from studying Indian state’s markets, companies must also create a detailed performance of allocation of resources to different Indian states. Below is a four-step framework that may help organizations prioritizing markets in the country. Aligning with the risks and resulting opportunities The very first step in this difficult task for the companies should be to analyze the market of each state and determine the risk-adjusted opportunities the firm has each and every market. One may include the factors like state’s population, GDP, expected market growth and other relative fields. This allows the companies to get to know the local market and the risks associated with it along with the potential of the market. Gauging the environment to operate The operating conditions vary across every state of the country because of the decentralized policy-making nature of the state governments. Hence, analyzing and measuring the operating environment of each state comes at the second position. One can achieve this by looking at the factors like infrastructure, skilled labor, tax policies of the state etc. Companies need to get to know the operating environments necessarily to get the ease of doing business as well as to lower the cost of conducting business. Analyze the figures and results After analyzing the risk-adjusted opportunities and operating environments, it is time for evaluation. Companies should focus on the states that would offer them the highest returns on collectively analyzing the results. One may notice that different companies find different states to be more favourable. This is because of the different needs of different organizations. However, ultimately the evaluation has to be done to see which market has the most to offer to the firm. Create a list of most opportune states and prioritize them It is time to build strategies and implement them. But wait; do we need the same strategy for all the states? No! One can broadly prioritize the states and their markets in four categories and implement different strategies for achieving optimum benefits. The first group of states includes markets which have the maximum opportunities and profits to offer to the company. Many MNCs already have a presence in such states. Some states that are often included in this group are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The second category of states – those states with moderate opportunities and a good regulatory environment with geographical prominence to category 1 states. The geographic closeness helps the organizations in expanding the business in the nearby markets, thus capitalizing on cultural similarities and similar economy. The third category consists of states with moderate opportunities but the poor regulatory environment. In such states, the executives examine and explore the potential of the market by detailing the policy reforms implemented by the government to attract investments. Fourth and the last category include states with small risk-adjusted opportunities and weak operating environment. Such destinations are usually a very weak investment and companies should prefer not to invest in such environments. As I have already said, India is a country of small countries with different and difficult markets. However, once settled, India is a highly rewarding market. Adopting a state-wise approach is the key to establishing a business in India. This fact is backed up various studies and surveys conducted by various economic forums all across the world. Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya as per excerpts from H.B.R. For original article click here.  
- [Training to Adapt Evolution](https://faberinfinite.com/training-to-adapt-evolution/): Employees are the fuel of an organization, and a fine and more efficient fuel is the key to keep the company on the run with its competitors. And to make these employees more efficient, training and educating them about the latest developments and techniques is the key. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions catalogues a broad range of trainings that can be utilized by the organizations across sectors in this modern era of the competitive and demanding workforce. Below are some of the flashes of a training workshop conducted by Faber Infinite at Bombardier, world’s leading manufacturer of airplanes and trains. The workshop was conducted and headed by Mr. Abhishek Pandey. It was the second part of a workshop that Faber organized at Bombardier. The entire two-day session focused on ‘Lean Foundations and Lean in software development’. The two-day training was a combination of interactive tutorials, group work, simulation games, group exercises which helped the participants in experiential learning. Objective of the training session: To understand the concepts of lean foundations and the importance of lean in software development. Understanding the principles of lean software development Increase preciseness in deciding objectivity and delivering that as fast as possible. Amplify the learning process Clear the mind to see the holistic picture and build integrity.   The workshop enlightened the budding and young minds of the organization. The aura of the entire workshop had a very different illumination because of the high energy of these young leaders. The sessions included interactive tutorials, group work, simulation games, group exercises which helped the participants in experiential learning. Faber Infinite team received a very positive feedback after organizing the entire event. The trainees were very happy and felt more confident at the end of the session. Some of the reviews received by the team about the entire workshop are as follows: I loved the learning process and how it was incorporated with fun to help us remember the topics much more efficiently and effectively. The training was effective because of its interactive nature and the examples that were given in relevance to the topic. The activities were fun as well. The theoretical presentations were backed up by appropriate activities and videos. It is very unlikely to see such thorough homework in other training sessions. Introduction of games in between the training sessions helps us a lot in relaxing and absorbing the presentations in an efficient way. Also, the games were quite fun and were relative to the training workshop. We got to learn about Lean management and software development in a very effective manner. The training faculty made the session quite interactive by conducting games and keeping the sessions interactive.   With the evolution of technology, competition has become cut-throat in this modern world. Companies are in need to train their employees and the workforce for a better and profitable output. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped many clients in this paradigm and modules enriching training sessions for increased output and sustainable development.   Written and Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna and Faber Mayuri Pandya  
- [Faber’s Fabulous Foundation Day Celebration!](https://faberinfinite.com/fabers-fabulous-foundation-day/): “Give, even if you have little.” – Buddha Faber Family has always believed in sharing and giving back to the society from which we get so much. From its inception, Faber has always lived up to its core values, one of which is ‘Fabulous is Happiness’, which means enjoying the journey and sharing our success with the society. We, the Faber family have always tried to create a better and more sustainable paradigm and have always relished doing it. Living to our values, we tried to take a step forward, as we celebrated our Foundation Day on 7th January and made a small effort of helping little foundlings and tried to bring a smile on their faces. It was touching and soothing at the same time to spend the time with the kids, contributing a little to their lives.
- [3 Things we can Learn form the Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/learn-from-the-leaders/): Leaders are the best teachers to learn from! They are the ones to carry the entire team forward with their unique abilities and exceptional methods of instigating the team with knowledge and perception. Leaders do not become leaders just by their position, it is the collective input they put by spending time with the employees, guiding them through the trenches, providing them with the technical assistance and edging their skills, involving them in the business tactics and teaching them life lessons. All this creates a concrete impact on the spirit and energy of the team. Moreover, one does not need any kind of special training to be a good teacher. Just try to stick to the important keyframes: what to teach, when to teach, and how to teach to create an impact. Leaders teach many things, but the vital excerpts that stay in the cycle basically fall into three categories: Wisdom Lessons Integrity and Ethics:  Professionalism is the vital fluid that keeps the organization in flow and works as a pivotal fulcrum that takes the entire crew forward. It is the role of the manager to teach the employees the value of emphasizing integrity and high ethical standards. The need of putting the customer and its need upfront is the key to unlock the doors of constructive development. Attention to Details:  One might think that after reaching a certain position, leaders will focus on the management issues and leave the business in the hands of their employees. Although, exceptional leaders don’t do that. They keep themselves involved in every part of the business. They know all the processes of business in detail. They are always there to help the team if something is not working properly. They wish to have a highly disciplined approach and impart training in their teams which broadens the paradigm of knowledge and experience of the employees. Pearls of Wisdom: Leaders and their teachings are not only limited to just work and organization but also induce pearls of wisdom and lessons among the employees.  That might seem like going overboard but leaders found it very effective and helpful. Seize Opportunities On the job training: On the job lessons and teachings are vital for the leaders. Some leaders might work in a conventional office, some might work in an open one, but what remains the same is the freedom of interaction with the employees, thus giving the leaders the flexibility of observing the team, interacting with them and helping them at the same moment when required, thus enabling them to grasp it more efficiently. Out of Office: Exceptional leaders do not wait for the ‘perfect timing’. They indulge in teaching at random and unusual places thus eliminating the ‘tensed’ factor from the equation. They use the more relaxed environment to communicate efficiently with the employees and imparting fixated knowledge among the team members. They take their team out of the office to a more relaxed environment to create those valuable teaching moments. Professional Delivery Tailored instructions: Everyone has a different way of understanding and needs a different way of the things that are being taught. Great leaders know this and podcast their teachings in a tailored fashion for every other individual according to their needs and abilities. It helps him in extracting the best out of the team and keeps them motivated through the journey. Right probe: Right questions! A very important tool which goes both ways and can enhance the corporate efficiency. Asking right questions can help one in broadening their own field of knowledge and learning. Many a times, leaders themselves ask questions in order to teach the employees about something that is relevant to the topic and project. Lead by Example: Leaders need to lead the team up front and be a role model for the team. This is a very particular way of teaching, yet the simplest. It’s a great recruiting role that motivates the employees to deploy the same principles in their lives and careers as well after watching and learning them from their leader. One can just pick up the right behavioral etiquettes by just seeing the precise and correct example in front of them. The bottom line is, great leaders always remember that high-quality and one-on-one teaching can create a concrete impact on the team members. Leaders need to command their employees, take them forward with him. Hence, lessons imparted by leaders will be enriched by the factors like relevance, timing and will also cater to individual needs since the leader has a better sense of understanding about his employees. Being a teacher is not easy, but when you embrace the role of teaching; it integrates itself with a responsibility. If you are not teaching, you are not really leading. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Kishlay
- [Exclusive Book Launch by Team Faber Infinite – The Faber Book](https://faberinfinite.com/exclusive-book-launch-by-team-faber-infinite-the-faber-book/): On Faber annual awards night with great joy, team Faber Infinite launched a book: The Faber Book – For the Faber in You! Faber Infinite has been sharing a Transformation Tuesday series to its exclusive readers across geographies and sectors. The series has been published every Tuesday since 2015. It has received an overwhelming response from the readers. On great demand from the readers, we decided to compile all the transformation articles of 2017 and publish it in a book – The Faber Book.   When we started working on this book we always thought of leaders and leadership. We do not think of leaders as exceptional people with exceptional skills, but we follow a more inclusive approach where we refer to leaders at all cadres within the organization. The idea is to nurture the leader in you. As Faber always believes in crafting transformations to make a better tomorrow, this book is for the craftsman in YOU! The Faber Book will assist in the transformation of leaders, teams as well as people around you. The book is a series of transformations that will cherish the leaders in you. The idea is to create a Fabulous Tomorrow. We are thankful to Mr. Achal Rangaswamy (Author of multiple books) for writing foreword for the book. The book also gives a glimpse into the story behind Faber Infinite. Happy Reading! PS: To avail your exclusive copy (limited edition), please get in touch with us at publishing@faberinfinite.com
- [Each New Year Find a Better You!](https://faberinfinite.com/each-new-year-find-a-better-you/): Another 365 days flew, and we moved another step further in the 21st century. Yeah, the year 2018 is finally here and so is the season of resolutions. As a corporate, a single resolution just in the first month of the year is not going to work. We have said it many times earlier that always chase your goals in fragments and set small goals for a particular period. In the same way, we have made a list of some resolutions or some targets that one should set on a monthly basis. Gaze at them below: January Before you start thinking about 2018, review your 2017 goals. This will give you a sense of areas that you did well in and the areas that you need to work on in 2018. Think about the goals achieved, the success you achieved, the struggles you encountered and most important what you learned from your mistakes and what could have been done better. February Make a thorough business plan for 2018. Make sure the goals are realistic, attainable and measurable. Start with a full-proof plan rather than a loose attitude of setting up plans and fixing them at the last moment. It is always a better and a safe idea to know what you are going to do next. It helps you prepare well for it and ultimately leads to a better result. March Write down the business goals and objectives so that you don’t forget them as you progress. April If you want to remain focused create a plan to achieve your goals and objectives. The plan should be a detailed plan with the list of steps needed to reach the goals. There should be a mechanism to track the progress as well. Be as detailed as possible as it will make the journey easier May Break the goals into smaller goals. As the year passes there are chances that the goals might disappear. The best way to approach is the way we followed in the blog; think of 12 separate goals for 12 months that lead to the final goal June Since it is already a half year, this is the right time to review the goals. Review the progress and understand where you stand and what changes you need to make to be on track. July Make it a point to list small ways to keep yourself on track. You may go off track when the goals are taking too long time to achieve. Forgetting about the goal even for a short period of time may lead you to be off the track. August Keep yourself motivated along the way. It will keep you going so that you do not quit and reach the final goal. Small things like creating a vision board and keeping it somewhere that you can see all the time are very impactful. September Make reaching your goals a healthy competition. This will help you to be on track and enjoy the journey. Building teams with same goals will make the journey easier and enjoyable. October Never compromise on values when it comes to business or the brand and community the company serves. Quality is the only parameter that can help you to be in the race of today’s cut-throat competition. One must never compromise on the quality under any circumstances whatever it may be. November Empower the team to do more and make them feel even prouder about what they do. The team members should be proud of what they are doing and should enjoy doing it. Moreover, there should not be unrealistic limitations on the team members. One should empower them to do more and experiment with the tactics and use their skills in a creative manner. December Analyze, this is the good time to reflect on the business progress over the year and again plan for the next year. Through the year never forget to strike a better work-life balance and put time for yourself on the calendar. This is the most important aspect since this will help you feel better through the year as well have given you enough energy to put into the business and thus make it successful. So as Benjamin Franklin puts it – Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let each new year find you a better man. So, let’s get ready to take off on the transformation journey to attain the set goals and lead the way to success. Have a Transforming Tuesday and a Happy New Year! Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri & Faber Kishlay
- [Global Milestones - 2017!](https://faberinfinite.com/5463-2/): Year 2017 has been a lot more happening than expected and has left past its predecessor in terms of drama and sensations created throughout. Many ups and downs from different paradigms such as politics and virtuality made sure that 2017 gets a place in historian’s notebooks. It has been a roller coaster ride for the world economy. Today we will be covering some of the noteworthy milestones and happenings that created an impression on the year 2017. Blockchain technology Blockchain technology was finally able to penetrate into the mainstream market in 2017, leaving behind its previous identity of just a technology behind bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Fascinated by its beauty, many companies have started to explore it and are consciously trying to find a way to practically implement it. Many countries have even started to plan out their own cryptocurrencies to put on the blockchain to hold the information in a transparent and accountable way. The year 2017 also saw some countries like Japan and South Korea passing legislatures to establish a regulatory environment for blockchain technology as well. Political turmoil in Kenya and Zimbabwe The year 2017 saw some of the major political dramas and conflicts, especially in the African region. Manufacturing and Industrialization are two of the key pillars of Kenyan Vision of 2030. However, the vision seemed to be a bit a blurry in 2017 after the political turmoil that erupted in the country. Businesses in Kenya have lost almost $7 billion in the past few days because of the violence and controversies created due to presidential elections. The condition is no better in Zimbabwe either and the economy is still struggling to attain stability, almost a year after the general elections. The country is almost facing de-industrialization with the companies and local merchants wrapping up their businesses at an alarming pace. The same goes for the manufacturing industry as well with factories being depleted of the raw materials to continue production. GST implementation in India Year 2017 was a roller coaster for India. With the country still coming up with the lack of cash in the market because of demonetization, government’s decision to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the month of July was highly criticized and slammed by various sections of the country. However, the step was appreciated and supported by many economists and financial houses considering its forthcoming benefits under the tag ‘one nation, one tax’. Trump as US President The world was shaken when Donald Trump won the US presidential elections. Defying everyone’s expectations, Trump won the US Presidential elections to become the 45th President of United States. He also headlined the newspapers by a number of times, either because of his policies against Muslim nations or his attitude towards North Korea. His election was even more radicalized by the rumors of Russia hacking into US servers to turn votes in Trump’s favor. Overall, it might not be wrong to say that 2017 saw a drastic transition of power and position with the election of Donald Trump. Hurricanes affecting the globe The year 2017 was terrorized by the implosions of hurricanes in different parts of the world. The world saw the strongest hurricane in the human history ‘Irma’ almost completely devastating the American continent and tourist islands like Puerto Rico and St. Martin. Other hurricanes like Maria and Katia also threatened the land and consistently hampered the business through sea routes. Also, the damages caused by these hurricanes paralyzed the national economy and forced the people to move to relocate themselves to safer places. Effects of Brexit on economy 2016 saw the United Kingdom leaving the European Union after the referendum was passed. The impacts of Brexit were clearly seen in the year 2017 and the year saw a major turnaround in the trade and manufacturing of the United Kingdom. It was highly favorable that a mutually beneficial trade agreement would be put in place to the advantage of both sides. However, Brexit also hampered its ‘MFN’ status with the exit. Also, the manufacturing industry saw a decline in the charts, diminishing UK’s presence in the global market, thus reducing the overall exports of the country. With so many events happening throughout the year, the economy has seen major ups and downs. 2017 has been a memorable year in its own way. But one thing is for sure, may the year 2018 be worthier with better profits and higher returns. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Wonders with Time and Motion Study!](https://faberinfinite.com/wonders-with-time-and-motion-study/): “Analysis and Study is the critical starting point of Strategic Thinking” – Kenichi Ohmae The same goes for the manufacturing industry. Time and Motion study provides one with the outline of the needed work and assists in making precise use of the resources to be on the desired timeline. It is the scientific study of the conservation of human resources. In the search for the most efficient method of doing a task. A well analyzed and prefaced data will allow the manufacturer or the board to know the capacity and capabilities of their manufacturing plants and factories. Some might consider this as orthodox, time-consuming and old-fashioned, but remember “Old is Gold”. Time and Motion study and analysis can help the organization in planning their upcoming projects and avoid getting hitched on to problems. Operational Excellence and Sustainable Productivity are some of the most basic advantages of Time and Motion study. The basic process of Time and motion study basically comprises of five key points that govern the entire process. They are as follows: Look closely at the present work and get an insight of the current situation. Look out for opportunities and chances that can enhance and identify them. Bring in changes for good in the current processes that are being followed. Analyze if the desired results are being produced or not after updating the processes. Shrug off your shoulder and repeat. Time and Motion Study helps in Manufacturing Time and motion study is undoubtedly one of the best techniques to find out the time and duration of the task and production procedures. It helps the organization in minimizing waste, precise use of resources, cutting costs, improving workplace environment and motivating the labor force for high and sustainable productivity. It divides the whole task in its subsequent parts and thus also reduces the paradox of pressure a complete task creates on the workforce. A Time Standard is one of the key components of Time and Motion study. It is calculated by taking note of three key factors, i.e., qualified worker, working at normal pace, and doing specified tasks. Determining the number of tools and equipments required for the process. Determining the amount of workforce required to complete the production on time. Determining the cost of the entire manufacturing and selling processes. Assigning equipment and manpower to tasks and jobs. Determining performance, assembly line and speed of conveyor belts. Pay structures for workers doing over-time. Assisting in cost reduction processes. Analyzing the new equipment purchases. Assisting in creating budgets. Below is a pictorial representation of how Time and Motion Study affects the production and operation of any manufacturing plant. Faber Infinite has helped several of its clients by implementing Time and Motions Study at the client’s site and production units. The implementation worked pretty well and the desired benefits were achieved in a short span of time with the precise analysis of the data collected. Moreover, the manpower productivity was improved and overall production of each operation was increased by 30%-40%. Following drivers were used in bringing out the significant change in Manpower productivity. Significant Change in Manpower Productivity Analyzing all activities and arriving at a standard time of each activity. Identifying NVAs (Non-value adding activities) and providing recommendations for eliminating NVAs for future practices. Providing systematic review aimed towards line balancing activities Our module helped the client in improving its efficiency by more than 30% and the same was reflected in the production units. We helped one another client of ours and implemented a suitable module at his site and achieved around 33% savings. Also with a modified layout and 16%reduction in total work content. With the appropriate implementation of modules and studying. The data gathered from such practices production and delivery timeline along with costs summary can be determined. which will consequently help the manufacturer in planning more efficiently for future projects. Competence and Production improvement are some of the most important improvements that can be brought into the system with the application of this ‘so-called insignificant seeming processes’. If one is really finding it hard to cope up with the growing competitiveness of the market and is struggling in operating through it, Time and Motions Study can be the answer to all his problems. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri Similar articles : Time and Motion Study – Robust Productivity Improvement Tool Building Competitiveness Via Time and Motion Study 4 Point Blueprint to Improve Manpower Productivity by 18%  
- [Swachh China on the way after Swachh Bharat! The Five S way...](https://faberinfinite.com/swachh-china-on-the-way-after-swachh-bharat-the-five-s-way/): Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has already created a lot of buzz in the Indian Sub-continent and now has already started to ring bells in the neighboring nations as well. Xi Jinping, the Prime Minister of China seems to be very impressed with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and has taken the cleanliness mission to his country now. He has launched a ‘toilet revolution’ in China to improve the sanitary infrastructure at tourist sites with the focus being on rural areas. All about Swachh China movement As we all know, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by Modi government to enhance the waste management system efficiently and promote cleanliness. According to Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, Xi Jinping’s government has also started a program on the same foundations. The initiative is started to cement the country’s steps towards revitalization strategy and to improve the quality of life of the population. After building toilets at the tourist spots, the focus has now shifted to rural areas. Moreover, if the reports are to be believed, the Chinese government has already built around 68,000 toilets until October 2017, which is around 20% more than the devised target. Moreover, Xi’s government now focuses to build more than 64,000 toilets at the tourist spots in the time span of 2018 to 2020. A similar example can be seen in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as well, when Modi government in 2014 set course on an ambitious journey of building 65.82 lakh household toilets and five lakh community and public toilets by the end of the year 2019.  In a surprising turn of events, about 35.81 lakh household and 2.2 lakh community toilets have already been built. Most of the states have even surpassed their given targets in the year 2018 itself. What is Five S? The Five S method is an age-old method where the unwanted and wasteful items are picked out and disposed of the system to help the system move in an orderly fashion by allocating the right items and ideas at the correct and needed positions. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan had a very close relationship with the Japanese Five S practice of cleanliness, systematic arrangement and other arrangements. The same is being observed in the Swachh China movement as well and is being used to improve and increase efficiency and productivity respectively. Five S and Swachh China Movement Five S is a Japanese method to demonstrate different levels of cleanliness and its effect and benefits has made it a recognized theory all over the world. The basic five components of Five S are as follows: Sort Select place Shine Standardize Self-discipline Five S technique have been used worldwide into curate and improve one field or the other. The focus of this principle lies in effective workplace organization and standardized work procedures. It eases the work process with effective controls and reduces and eliminates the waste. Moreover, it also increases quality, efficiency and safety. Swachh Bharat and Swachh China is largely based on Five S and takes an initiative to aware the people about cleanliness and hygiene around their surrounding and also attempts to understand the perspectives of masses about hygiene, cleanliness and a healthy body. Because of its huge number of benefits, the Five S method is widely used all around the world; be it in corporate organizations or in housekeeping. Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, however, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant — from hospitals to television stations etc and all areas within a business, will gain benefits from implementing a structured Five S movement. Team Faber Infinite has launched Five S implementation initiatives at various clients across sectors and geographies. Within a short time of implementation, the client team has seen tremendous benefits. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Safety Comes First!](https://faberinfinite.com/safety-comes-first/): Safety in many corporate meetings is considered as a less important topic and does not adhere enough space on the papers. Although, subordinating safety is same as subordinating production efficiency and cost factors. A mutual balance between safety and production is vital in the manufacturing industry. Giving more importance will not only hamper the efforts of the employees but may also create collateral damages in the other sections of the organization. One might be achieving small gains by looking over the safety measures. However, a single accident due to lack of safety measures is enough to create a ruckus and compensate the gains. Sometimes, the numbers also roll downhill and the company might incur losses as well. Lacks in safety measures are also responsible for the spike in costs. Moreover, the medical care, insurance policies and indirect costs such as less production and low morale of the employees are some other factors that bring s additional load on the firm and bring a very bad PR among the agencies. Obviously, there are some occupational hazards that cannot be completely removed. However, for such systems, a certain control with a considerable tolerance level can be introduced to keep it in check and provide assistance to safety systems on a parallel notion. Safety Vs. Production There is a feeling that inducts the mind of employees of many organizations that safety will hinder their efficiency and will reduce their production abilities. This hindrance usually arises from either one of the following sources: Lack of Strategy: Strategies direct the flow of work and decide the methods to deal with a problem. Lack of strategies is bound to create confusion and distress in the entire system. Without strategies, even the manpower would fail to sync the resemblance between the parallel boats of safety and productivity. Conflicting organizational and safety strategies: Safety strategies are usually designed and implemented by the safety department while the corporate leaders build the business with business strategies. The whole system lacks the simple concept of coordination and creates a situation of conflict and confusion at certain instances. If anyone of the two is given preference, the other is bound to suffer which will ultimately strike the business. Hence, a proper balance and coordination must be maintained while introducing the safety and business strategies at the workplace. The disconnect between strategy and practice in the workplace: It is very rarely seen in organizations that a safety and business strategies are implemented and aligned in a proper way. However, such kind of organization faces a different problem i.e. improper or negligible practice of strategies by workers in the workplace. This problem can arise from many sources like poor communication and lack of accountability.  Safe Production Among all the strategies and plans, the idea of safe production must not be left out. There are only few organizations who precisely define the roles. Responsibilities and results (RRRs) when it comes to production and safety. This is what makes them excellent and rare at the same time. Other organizations either do not take these RRRs into consideration or enforce them poorly. Many organizations nowadays, start believing that their safety system is full-proof due to lack of accidents for some months. Although this can mislead the leaders and might confuse them in adding and utilizing the leading metrics of safety. Leaders should interact with the manpower and try to know their perceptions of importance between production and safety. At the same time, they must also keep this in mind that the workplace is already giving them some performance now and in order to change the numbers, they must also change the factors that revolve around safety and production. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Faber Infinite-Promoting Competitiveness](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-competitiveness/): Quality Circle is a group of workers or employees, who meet on a regular basis to identify, analyze and resolve work-related issues. Originally, the concept of Quality Circle emerged in the United States but now has become an integral part of the industry of every country all around the globe. They are usually small formal groups formed by voluntary engagement of employees, generally coming from the same area. The objectives of forming a quality circle are as follows: Improve the quality of products that are being manufactured by the organization in the manufacturing plants. Improve the methods and ways of production. Development of employees and individual taking part in the Quality Circle. Aggravating morale of the employees and motivate them. Respect the human resources and humanity and create a positive and cheerful environment at the workplace. Another important feature of Quality circle is its flexibility of independent agendas with its own terms of reference. Also, the group works exclusively towards improving the quality of the products by any means and takes core steps to achieve the desired goals. Quality Circles build trust and understanding between the management and the workers. Co-operation is the key element of production and operation, and not confrontation; quality circles achieve this with successful and precise implementation. It also encourages the sense of belongingness among the members of the circle, making them realize that they have an important job and needs to work hard towards bringing out the optimum efficiency of the organization. This entire concept provides the opportunities to its members to showcase their wisdom, creativity and experience in bringing out the improvements by converting the challenges into opportunities. Moreover, Quality Circles have the advantage of continuity which means that the circle in action remains intact, undisturbed and unchanged from project to project. Faber Infinite and its indigenous relationship with Quality Circles. Faber Infinite has a very long and successful record of helping organizations by the means of Quality Circles. We are actively involved in engaging with the quality circles by creating small cross-functional teams and training them to achieve the targets set by the organization and helps them become the driving force to thrust the engines to those numbers. Faber Infinite has provocatively supported and encouraged Quality Circles and Quality Circle Competitions. It was also the sponsor of the recently conducted 3rd Quality Circle Competition (Western Region), which was organized by ACMA (Automobile Component Manufacturers Association). We have also helped and trained various groups who have moved a step further and has been able to bag medals at Quality Circle Competitions ranging from regional and state levels to international levels. Our client Peass recently bagged Gold Medal at International Convention for Quality Control held at Manila, Philippines. Our several other clients including Inox, Strongpak and many others have been able to leave their marks in such competitions. Moreover, with the training Faber provided to the team members, the circles have managed to achieve the desired growth and reached the favorable numbers. The growth was sustainable and hence the productivity of the organizations was improved significantly. The impacts were clearly seen on the energy and morale of the workers as well. Faber Infinite has always been a sincere supporter of continuous improvement and is a well-recognized name. It has a very successful record of helping companies facing problems in the manufacturing department and has provided assistance to roughly 1000 companies. Quality circles have been an integral part of the modern industry and its collective benefits can provide the organizations with optimum results.       Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Strategies to Survive changing in Business Environment](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-to-survive-the-changing-business-environment/): In today’s constantly changing business environments, many business firms still like to implement strategies on a yearly basis to hit the core of the plans and strategically improve the planning and processes. Unfortunately, these processes might not help in achieving the desired results as this basically focuses on solutions that will provide a ‘tested and used’ outcome. Traditional planning put forth a sheet that already defines how the industry will be in the upcoming years, but the reality is exactly the opposite. In this, fast running world, firms need to be nimble, innovative and entrepreneurial to survive the changing dynamic environment. Rational thinking might benefit the organization if the environmental conditions (market need, economic conditions and demographic factors) are stable. But, this strategy won’t help the business organizations if they are looking to achieving long-term benefits. In this situation, Entrepreneurial thinking is what that will increase the productivity of the organization. Entrepreneurial thinking is defined as a process of conceiving non-standard approaches by entrepreneurs and teams thinking through opportunity discovery and opportunity creation while chasing the ultimate goal of creating value. Many academic firms argue if opportunities are discovered or created. This argument can be clearly and profoundly sidelined by taking the example of Apple. Apple incorporation embraced the opportunities by developing a series new age devices like Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iTunes and a series of technological advancements when people didn’t even think of combining an electrical typewriter, with a gaming console and calculator. The industrial world is filled with examples like these when associations started to focus on training, resources and energy to achieve corporate entrepreneurship and changed the approaches to their businesses to create demands and achieve success in an organized way. We are talking about Opportunity Creation and Opportunity Discovery in our entire article. Don’t you want to know what these actually mean? Let’s have a look at the exact and precise meaning of what these terms showcase explicitly. Opportunity Discovery: Efficient understanding of the market is the key to discovering opportunities in the constantly running corporate world. In this case, the market doesn’t limit itself to the customer market only, but covers a broader area including supply markets, sales markets, complementary markets, and even unrelated markets. The roads to unearth the new market spaces for inside the corporate world are as follows: Alternative Industries Strategic Groups Customers Complementary Offerings Functional or Emotional Appeal, and Organized Timelines By exploring these untouched roads, organizations can find new ways, new approaches to satisfy and fulfill customer needs. Also, combining strategies can differentiate the customer specific product from the rest of the products of the industry. It is a systematic process that requires constant innovation for the generation of new ideas and combines them to form out beneficial potentials – and all of this does not come out of thin air. Opportunity Creation: Opportunities are what define the success of any business organization. Creating opportunities is as important as grabbing them. It is basically foreseeing of the market trends and predicting what the customers will want and which products will satisfy those desires despite of the current market polarisation. Moving ahead with this strategy will obviously create fore casted risks for the entrepreneur since he is presenting the market with something new, which at first, might not be taken handy by the typical orthodox customers. The integrated models of the same – old techniques might prove to be successful until threatened by the external factors. A well designed Opportunity Creation process ensures a steady flow of high-quality opportunities that drive long term growth above and beyond the baseline. To understand this better, let’s take the example of consumer electronics giant NOKIA. Many won’t know the fact that NOKIA in its early days was started as Pulp, Cable and Rubber mill in the year 1865. But, the way the organization molded it business and created its own name in communication, information technology and electronic goods is a great example of corporate entrepreneurship and opportunity creation. One can say in simple terms that Opportunity Creation is the lifeblood of the innovation journey. To Conclude: Companies and organizations should be able to adapt to the threatening factors that keep shaking the foundation of ‘following the herd’ system that is quite dangerous in today’s competitive market. Innovation through discovery and creation of opportunities is a must required tool to be implemented during the transitional period to avoid fatal consequences. Reinvention must be kept as a highly prioritized mark with the entrepreneurial thinking to achieve success whilst going through a transformation. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [ACMA Quality Circle Competition](https://faberinfinite.com/acma-quality-circle-competition/): Quality is not a new concept. It has always been around since the inception of the industrial age. It is the quality that defines the character of a particular brand and impacts its brand value. To keep this quality standard throughout the production and see after external work factors that might affect the quality of the product, Quality Circles are formed. In simple terms, it is a group of workers who do the similar work and meets regularly to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems. Moreover, it has emerged as a mechanism to develop and utilize the tremendous potential of people for improvement in product quality and productivity. Quality Circle Competitions works as a platform for the employees of an organization providing them with exposure and building their problem-solving skills and confidence. It also provides an opportunity to recognize the efforts of the employees who have shown exceptional problem tackling skills. Faber Infinite partners with ACMA for the Quality Circle Competition Team Faber has been promoting competitiveness across geographies and sectors. The auto industry has been a leader in Operational Excellence concepts. Faber Infinite has been valuing this and nurturing it further by promoting such competitive events. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions in association with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) was a lead partner for the third Quality Circle Competition (Western Region). The event was organized in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat on the 1st day of the month December. The motive of organizing this event was to consolidate and bring the auto component industry together on one platform to build competency by learning through sharing of experiences. The event also focused on bringing organizational development through Total Employee Involvement and to promote Quality Circle movement within the organization in a systematic manner. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions was the partner of the event who associated with ACMA and contributed in organizing the event. Faber Infinite was also the sponsor of the entire event. 20 plus teams 100 plus participants participated in this event, making it successful and again proving the importance of Quality, Quality Circles and the need for such competitions to unlearn and learn collectively. This Quality Circle Competition is another addition to the list of ‘successfully completed achievements’ of Faber Infinite. Team Faber wishes auto industry in India and Gujarat so that we can together realize the dream of Make in India. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Manufacturing Industry gains pace, reaches 13 months high!](https://faberinfinite.com/manufacturing-industry-gains-pace-reaches-13-months-high/): Last year, the country saw a start of a revolution that entirely changed the course of Indian economy for good. The Government of India took a bold step by banning the currency notes of ₹500 and ₹ 1000. However, manufacturing industry saw a dip after its rollout due to lack of cash but started gaining soon in the second quarter of the year 2017. It was speculated that the implementation of GST in July 2017 might again create a trough in the graph but the effect was almost negligible. Instead, manufacturing industry of the country has reached its highest in November 2017 in the past 13 months. According to a private survey after the release of GDP data on 30th November, the economy of the nation is strengthening in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2017. From 50.3 in October, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 52.6 in the month of November. The major reason behind this improvement is the constant increase in the rate of placement of new orders and high production rates. Moreover, India’s automakers showed a double-digit growth in the recent months thus, concreting the fact that the dip seen in the past few months was just because of the panic and was only incidental and momentary. The GDP was consequently benefitted and showed a rebound with a gradual yet stable improvement from the July-September quarter and reached 6.3%. The recent reduction in GST rates is an underlying notion that has helped the manufacturer from the disruptions caused in the small-scale industries by its implementation in the month of July. The mid-range and high scale faced a negligible impact and thus, now along with the fresh orders from small-scale industries are paving the way for the manufacturing industries to particulate smoothly and advance on its path. Growth in outputs and new orders has reached its highest since October 2016 because of the constant support. Rate of growth in new orders! The data shows a significant growth in rate of new orders that are being placed and have reached its highest mark in the past 13 months. The manufacturing industry was able to take a leap forward in almost all categories except one, i.e. capital goods. However, the acceleration in the outlined production rate has been phenomenal and even the sales number has joined the boat. The purchasing of raw materials and semi-finished items was more on the sonic side in the month of November since the manufacturers have started to buy the materials in a greater quantity. This can be attributed to the factors like increase in demand for consumer and intermediate goods and a positive response by the market that has led to an upturn in the investment activities. The market has slowly healed itself and is getting back on the road. The export orders have also been pushed beside the green arrows on the charts and shown an improvement after three years. The industry has also expanded itself and the data collected through the surveys are a proof of the fact that the rate of expansion has been the highest since October 2016. Amidst all these, the Input cost inflation also accelerated to a very high speed in the past three months causing a marginal inflation in the output charge with chemical, steel and petroleum sectors contributing the most to this. A fulfilling growth in November has finally brought a full stop to the critiques of the economists criticizing the government’s decision to rollout two important bills in such quick successions. With all these going on, the Indian manufacturing industry has finally started gaining on the bumps that were supposedly hampering the industry’s vegetation over the past few months. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Maggi Fails Lab Test Again!](https://faberinfinite.com/maggi-fails-lab-test-again/): India’s favorite instant noodles brand Maggi has come under the scanner again after its samples failed lab test in Uttar Pradesh last week because of excess ‘ash’ content. This is the second time in the last couple of years that the Nestlé’s most popular product has failed in quality checks, the first one being in the year 2015 when Maggi failed to pass the tests because of excessive lead content. Interestingly, both times the instant noodles brand was found using ingredients above the permissible limit in Uttar Pradesh. The brand will be hoping to counter this controversy and end it soon for good especially at a time when it has spent huge amounts of money and resources to recover the lost ground after the ban in the year 2015 which has cost the company a whopping Rs. 1000 crores. Maggi has already lost a considerable amount of its share in the market despite its return dipping to 60% market share in 2017 from 75% in 2015. Quality has turned out to be a major factor that has affected the brand value and sales of Maggi in the past few months. The label of ‘unsafe’ by the government of India also hampered its brand value. This leads us to the fact that no matter what happens or how big the brand is, Quality Control is the basic tool that can help one in identifying the problems in a process. At Faber Infinite, we help our clients to constantly have a check on the quality controls and assist them with a module encompassing all the necessary elements that are required to keep the flow going in the right direction. We help our clients by implementing the basic seven tools of Quality that ultimately help and aid in process control. These basic tools are as follows: Flowchart Check Sheet Pareto Chart Histogram Cause and Effect (Ishikawa/Fishbone diagram) Scatter diagram Control Chart The above tools help one in identifying the critical process points that need to be controlled and assists in implementing preventions and ground controls to contain the same. Let’s understand the Quality Control tools in detail. Flowchart A flowchart is basically a diagram that uses graphic symbols to depict the nature and flow of the steps in a process. It describes a process in as much detail as possible by graphically displaying the steps in proper sequence. A flowchart also provides tools for training, promotes process understanding and identifies the problems and improvements required. Check Sheet Checksheet is a data collecting device that helps in organizing the data by category. It helps in showcasing the frequency of occurrence of a particular entity or value and further helps in acquiring more data for precise analysis. Check sheet also provides historical data and introduces data collection process in the system. Pareto Chart These are basically bar charts with bars placed in descending order of their importance from left to right. It is used to identify the vital elements in the processes. Also, the factors that have the largest cumulative effect on the system can be determined by this. Better use of resources is another advantage of analyzing data with Pareto Charts. Histogram A histogram is a bar graph that shows the frequency and distribution of variable or continuous data. It reveals the variations in a particular system and compares measurements to specifications. It can be used to summarize large amounts any kind of measurable data in graphs. Furthermore, the data analysis from histograms can help in making decisions for the betterment of situation. Cause and Effect diagram It is a graphics tool that helps identifying, sorting, and displaying possible causes of a problem or quality characteristic. It is also known as Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram. It helps to identify the root cause and compares the relative importance of each cause. The collective benefit of using this is that it improves team performance and effectiveness and encourages group participation. Scatter diagram It is a chart that pictorially depicts the relationship between two data types. These are used to study the possibility of a relationship between two variables. This devised correlation can later be used to identify the problem areas and optimize them for better productivity. Control chart They are process-behavior charts that determine if the manufacturing processes are in a state of control or not. The main purpose is to allow simple detection of events that showcases actual process change. This makes the control limits very important decision aids. We have applied these at several of our client sites who were facing troubles in maintaining the quality parameters of their products and have achieved significant improvements. Also, Faber Infinite has assisted them in devising the outlines of the basic groundwork that needed to be done to ensure that the recurrence of the problems can be avoided. Quality can be the considered as the basic parameter that can increase or decrease the brand value and at Faber Infinite, we have always believed that to move the cycle in the forward direction only, the best time to plant seeds for Quality Control was either 10 years back or it is NOW! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya The opinions of third-party set out in this blog are not necessarily the opinions of Faber Infinite or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were expressed. This blog is based on the following news: http://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/maggi-samples-fail-lab-test-nestle-distributers-fined-rs-62-lakh-fsda-fssai/story/264964.html  
- [Cryptocurrency - 21st Century Unicorn](https://faberinfinite.com/cryptocurrency-21st-century-unicorn/): Cryptocurrency, the 21st-century unicorn, or should we say the money of the future? Cryptocurrency has recently gained a lot of popularity among the people of the world and has taken the financial sector by storm. Today, it will be hard to find a bank or a financial organization that has not done any research or posted a thesis on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It has turned into a phenomenon that has changed the way of payment and has colored the evolving canvas of the digital world in its own colors. For those who are still having a hard time understanding the concepts and the basic meaning of Cryptocurrency – it is a medium of exchange, created and stored electronically in the blockchain, using encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds. In simple words, it can be defined as limited entries in a database that no one can change without fulfilling some specific conditions. Bitcoins, Litecoins, Ethereum (ETH), ZCash and Ripple are some of the types of cryptocurrencies that are currently being used in the market. Bitcoin, however, is the most popular form of Cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is the first decentralized form of currency and was developed in the year 2009. Unlike its name, Bitcoin is not a coin, but a code or a virtual token that can be freely transferred from one person to another through a secured network.  Cryptocurrencies are consistently touching new marks and recently moved past $11,000 in terms of cost per unit. In Indian rupee, the amount turns up to around 8.6 lakh rupees per unit. However, a Bitcoin can be purchased in parts as well for as low as Rs. 1000. One will be shocked to know that in India alone, an approximate of Rs. 250 crore trades are done in cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin) per month. The legality of cryptocurrencies still varies from country to country and keeps changing as we move across the globe. While some countries allow and promote the usage of cryptocurrencies, others like Indonesia and China have strictly banned the trade of cryptocurrencies. There are some hitches in using the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. For example, the technology used in the entire process is very complex and is not easy to understand in the firsthand experience. Moreover, blockchain and Cryptocurrency are still not legalized and centralized in many countries. Hence, one might feel prone to frauds while dealing with such transactions. The technology also has many fundamental issues in the setup and faces many challenges in proper implementation. At the same time, Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins and Litecoins have various potential applications in today’s market. Furthermore, the increased usage of cryptocurrencies helps in increasing transparency and precise tracking of the transactions whilst marking positions in the permanent ledger. Using blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies through it also has a significant impact on the cost and are considered as a cheaper medium of transactions. The power and effectiveness of using cryptocurrencies can be understood by the fact that a man in the USA bought a Tesla Model S in the year 2013 by paying only 92 bitcoins while the actual cost of the car was over $100,000. There are many such incidents that indicate the growing use of cryptocurrencies in the modern world. The number of cryptocurrencies enthusiasts is increasing exponentially with time insinuating towards making cryptocurrencies the currency of future. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [India - the Rising Star!](https://faberinfinite.com/india-the-rising-star/): India maintains its position as the most competitive country for business and manufacturing in South Asia in 2017 as well in the latest released rankings by World Economic Forum (WEF). Although, India has slipped down the rankings by two spots from last year, the two rankings are not comparable since the changed methodology for assigning ranks by the World Economic Forum. The rankings have come amidst the country’s efforts to gain 40 spots and reach 90th position in the World Bank’s annual survey for ease of doing business. According to the reports, India has achieved its highest ever score in terms of competitiveness in this year’s rankings and have shown continued signs of improvement with the other developing nations in the region, mainly China and Indonesia despite of countries like Brazil and Turkey losing their control and position in the world economy in the past few years. The gain is credit to the new policies that has been introduced by the Government of India for the betterment of infrastructure in manufacturing and industrial sectors. If the reports are to be believed, India rose a couple of positions in infrastructural development in industrial sector which has consequently resulted in improved rankings of the country. The rankings can be viewed as how India has evolved in the manufacturing industry over the years. At the grass root level, this is the result of rehabilitated and enriched Operational excellence and improved labor market efficiency. Moreover, India’s efforts to bring in foreign investments in the Indian manufacturing industry will see a bright light with such reports and rankings. The Indian manufacturing industry has been on the crest in the recent times. Although, it was slightly affected by the rollout of decisions like demonetization and GST but the train has returned to its tracks lately in the last quarter of the fiscal year 2017. There are obviously some risks in the Indian market like other markets and the same is instigated by the World Economic Forum’s report when the quote . However, it must not be ruled out of sight that India have still sustained its position and has rather improved it despite the global financial crisis. The manufacturing sector of the country has already added to the country’s GDP significantly, but its contribution towards the growth and recovery in the economic strata in defiance of the failures of the policy and reform makers to support the Indian economy is remarkable. The manufacturing sector has currently stabilized itself with the leap it made in the last couple of months as analyzed by Nikkei Manufacturing Index. The gain is bound to make its impact in the first quarter of the year 2018 and the market might start growing under green lights. World Economic Forum’s comment on India’s position! “India has made significant progress on infrastructure, one of the pillars where it ranked worst”, said WFE in a statement. The report further mentioned, “India (40th) stabilizes this year after its big leap forward of the previous two years. The score improves across most pillars of competitiveness, particularly infrastructure (66th, up by two), higher education and training (75th, up by six), and technological readiness (107th, up by three), reflecting recent public investments in these areas.” The WEF’s stand is surely going to influence the Indian manufacturing market scenario and will sublime the Indian industry. As a developing country, the nation’s market will look forward to achieving the untouched in the next few years and with the constant efforts of the Indian government with subtle motives is going to revolutionize how the world sees the Indian economy. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Learning – The only Process to keep you in the Race!](https://faberinfinite.com/learning-the-only-process-to-keep-you-in-the-race/): Jim Womack, Peter Senge, Daniel Kim and many other thought leaders have propagated the importance of learning organizations integrated into the mainframe system of an organization. Although people might have objected to these over the basis of rising inconsistencies in the recent period, the application of lean and learning organizations remains unquestioned because of its pure benefits such as standardization and waste elimination. Moreover, it is not about the attitude that we invest, but the actions we inculcate during the processes to make our intentions a reality. Below are some of the key actions that can make learning a sincerer part of your organization. Experimentation – Regular testing and changing the way of preparing and presenting plays an important role in the learning organization. It helps the company to get a better insight of what will really work with the customers, despite external factors like value, technical failures and inconsistency in equipment capacities.The customer in the 21st century is real and evolving at the same time. Hence, the targets of the entire process should be kept dual-faced. First, the organization should set up the step by step module of the entire process they want to implement and should make a list of the results they are expecting to achieve soon. Also, a regular study and research to bring out the analysis of the things happening around can blend a strong knockout. Second, the test should be as fast, cheap and risk-free as possible. Also, in this ever-evolving scenario, some experiments might be able to hit the target points, some might not. These results should be properly examined and before giving out the final answer and entering the stages of learning. Reflection – Reflection is somewhat the opposite of what we discussed earlier in Experimentation. It is also based on reality but doesn’t take the road on to testing specific changes. Reflection is basically deliberate pauses that are implicated in the processes to get a closer look at what and why. It may be introduced either to an event or a series of event occurring at the same time as found convenient. It is meant to be an academic exercise and its vitality i.e. changes to practices and processes in the form of updated standards should always be given high priority Learning Objectives–Learning objectives in a process defines how important learning process is in bringing out the best of a project. Learning in an assignment is usually thought in the later stages which is a basic conceptual problem in many organizations and firms. Establishing learning objectives will not only increase the paradigm of benefits but will also increase the performance objectives. All these processes might seem heavy considering its package nature but will produce an appeal to the desired segments when spread on the floor precisely. Captured and Reused Knowledge-A sustainable performance is a very important entity that defines the success of any company. To achieve so, the basic steps; include keeping a record of previous note and following them up with suitable tracks to minimize the risks of fragmentation. Precise implementation of ground levels of control systems for this is required to attract profits. Also, making use of captured and used knowledge also provides you with a set of already tried notes that will prove handy while implementing them in a coming project. So, keep learning and keep moving as learning is a passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. Learn and transform. Have a transforming Tuesday! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Change - Where Does it Go Wrong?](https://faberinfinite.com/change-where-does-it-go-wrong/): In today’s fast running corporate world, transformation has become a quintessential part of the business. It is said that the more the opportunity, the greater is the chance to succeed. But, despite having a huge ground, corporate transformation has a very poor rate of success despite tons of involvement of experts and consultants. Every three out of four efforts fail to produce the desired results. What goes wrong in the process? Well, the answer is very simple; the defects in the system controls and the flawed implementation are the factors that sink the boat in the middle of the sea. Teams in command of bringing out the change processes should focus on the execution, but before working on the so called plan of ‘how to change’, they should focus on ‘what to change’. A poorly chosen field of transformation will definitely create an impact on the performance. The age old problems will worsen instead of being cured. Prioritizing changes is a very important factor that can serve as a vital support to bring out the changes efficiently. A proper understanding and interpretation of the situation will lead the team to three key factors. They are – Catalyst required for the transformation, Underlying probe the organization is trying to commute to, Qualities and capabilities needed to be introduced in the leadership to be able to see through this entire quest. Let’s have a look at these factors in detail: Role of Catalyst (towards the desired goal) Every transformation is implemented to achieve a desired goal, mainly to increase productivity by streamlining the business through outsourcing, building efficiency and gathering investments for growth. But, usually these efforts fall straight on the ground due to inefficiency in carrying out the processes and lack in focus. This brings to the larger picture, i.e. what opportunities should be captured to bring the transformation change in action. The Hunt for the direction A particular direction for the change to begin with must be chosen to ensure a solid path in the initial stages. Basically, in the global market, the changes are introduced as a branched example or prototype of the below five factors: Global Presence Customer Focus Nimbleness Innovation Sustainability It is a very common habit – or you can say an inclination of the executives to try to agree to handle various quests at the same time, but it is a very diluted approach towards the goal. Hence, it is better to focus on one step at one time and slowly inch towards the ultimate goal that will keep you in the race of this evolving corporate world. What Can Leaders do? Every journey requires a support and in this transformational journey, leaders are the pillars that keep the entire thing stable, intact with the planned procedures and directions. Any defect or lack in the leadership will directly affect the conquest. A qualified leadership will extend the distance the engine is going to cover with the limited amount of fuel. Hence, to avoid degradation in value generation, building a talented and focused leadership is the key. Apart from all these, the team leading this entire process should also keep an eye and avoid the deceiving factors that hover around. To give you an insight, we have listed some of them below: Ignoring the hunt for the gold. Trying to divide your focus with some other tasks Leaving the task midway thinking some other is more attractive and fruitful. How to initiate the journey that will lead to your ambitions? Get to know the reality – Competitive market keeps changing the environment thus disturbing the equilibrium in which the flatplan was prepared. Hence, a detailed study and research about the market over the factors such as cost, logistics, polarization, demands etc. should be done thoroughly before setting out for the sail. Debating Priorities – I’ve said it again and again in this article that do not divide your focus while pursuing your goal. A single minded approach to your objectives will always fruit you more benefits than doing multiple things ever will. Instead of trying many things, map out different tasks of one particular project and focus on the sub- parts. This way, you will be able to make better and efficient use of resources. Communicating Choices – ‘Choices create difference’. A particular path to lead the action is very important to be decided by the leader and should be communicated clearly to the sub-divisions. It is better to agree on a particular decision rather than carving out a hole in the ship with different opinions during this transformational change. With growing curiosity about how to make plans and strategies to create a suitable environment for the transformational changes to flourish, I believe this article might have answered the boggling questions that have been crossing your mind. Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Building Excellence in Kenyan Tea Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-tea-farms/): “Kenya has a love affair with their land and takes great pride in farming” – David Walker Kenyan tea is considered as one of the best qualities of tea all across the globe and is widely acclaimed for its unique aroma and taste. It is a major cash crop grown in Kenya, providing most of the foreign exchange earnings of the country through tea exports. Small-scale tea farmers of Kenya have seen a gradual increase in the line of the graph defining their income. According to a report, revenues of these farmers increased by more than one-third in the year 2015-2016. Although a gradual increase might have been noticed a parallel rise in production and labor costs have already started to make the Kenyan tea uncompetitive in the international market. With the companies now trying their hands in various niches like producing white matcha and purple tea has also shown a significant rise in the production costs. Reviewing objectives and reforms Stakeholders of various multinational tea manufacturing countries are already troubled by the increased wage demands of the workers involved in the tea industry – which if accepted will bring a steep downfall to a sector dealing in billions annually. If reports are to be believed, accepting the 30% hike in wages will consequently increase the cost for MNCs by 54%. In this critical time, the focus of such companies should shift to promoting the consumption of the beverage in local markets and search for opportunities in other markets such as China to compensate with the heavy losses that will be incurred to the companies after accepting the wage demands of the workers. The objective should be to standardize the system and work for a streamlined improvement while monitoring the individual performances using the key performance indicators. Also, increasing revenue, optimizing costs and eliminating customer issues should be seen as a new paradigm for the billion-dollar industry. At Faber Infinite, we helped one of our clients which is a leading tea manufacturer in East Africa in achieving transformational revenue and cost results. We analyzed these problems by emphasizing on re-imagining growth strategies and eliminating wastes in all forms and creating predictable, reliable workflow. We also tried to bring objectivity in the Performance Management System by building an internal training team for all major improvement drivers. Approach Approach to such critical obstacles needs a clinical touch to be crossed and ensuring rectification. We approached these problems by with a detailed Light House Exercise (a powerful Strategy Framework by Faber Infinite) with all top management and working out a way forward for key focus areas. Also, we ensured that every department had a unique strategy to get a broader surface covered in a quick span of time. Strategies Strategies play a very important role in bringing down the impacts of the damages caused. A well designed and conceptualized strategy will never fall short of the line in the long run. LightHouse Exercise by Faber Infinite covers approaches focusing on Market, Product and Application, Excellence of processes and assets and others. We conceptualized on these basic parameters and built a strategic module encompassing these factors to gain the desired growth. It helped in exploring new opportunities and markets that further led to profitable openings in the neighboring countries’ markets. This entire module also built and improved processes excellence like Cost leadership, Quality leadership, Safety leadership, Delivery leadership and Customer Service leadership. Moreover, the implementation of tools also showed a considerable decline in project time, costs, materials and efforts. But what is the use of all these planning and strategies if they don’t produce desired results and fails to comply with the marked target. But wait? Did we succeed? Well, the answer is a big YES! With the proper implementation and monitoring, the graph rose and showed a 30% increase in the revenues. The productivity also increased by 34% with the standardized system for performance measurement. A drastic reduction of about 73% was seen in customer complaints, despite the company launching new products over the same period of time. A detailed customer research has also helped the organization to focus on the target customers and avoid audience fragmentation. Other benefits are delivered are as follows: Description UoM Before After % Improvement On Time In Full Deliveries % 35% 95% 171% Inventory kg 21,000 9,049 56% Production kg 58,278 128,920 121% Cost Per Kg Ksh 117.5 69.6 41% At the moment, Kenyan Tea Market faces serious competition from tea grown in India and Sri Lanka. Without regular checks and deployments, the Kenyan tea industry is supposed to lose its marketplace in the upcoming years and might reach its unwanted bottom. The uncontrollable inflation level because of the current demands is likely to shake the return of labor in the industry and will also affect the retention of the present workforce.  Hence, a proper and detailed customer research with the sustainably monitored implementation of strategies is required to expand the market and minimize the losses incurred over the past two years, supposedly to follow in the upcoming years as well. Ready to drive excellence in Kenya’s tea industry? Fill out the form below and gain invaluable insights on building a successful tea business. Take the first step towards achieving greatness in the Kenyan tea industry today! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Manufacturing Review - One Year After Demonetization](https://faberinfinite.com/manufacturing-review-one-year-after-demonetization/): 8th November 2016; a day etched in the history books on the nation when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 in his 40-minute long speech. This decision not only caught the industrial giants off-guard but also affected the daily life of ordinary people as well. The reasons behind this hard-hitting decision were as follows: To eliminate black money sweeping in the economy To eliminate fake currency and reduce opportunities for funding of terror organizations To encourage ‘cashless’ economy and reduce corruption consequently But, was it effective enough? Was it hard-hitting? Is demonetization really a mishap for the industries, especially manufacturing, as it is being propagated by the politicians in opposition or is just propaganda to gain support? Are the media houses’ arguments over the fluctuating economy because of demonetization true? Or, demonetization has really been a successful decision which has helped the manufacturing industry and will continue to be beneficial in the long run? Well, in this blog, we are going to analyze these points thoroughly and will map out the effects of demonetization on the manufacturing industry. Before and After… According to a report, the manufacturing industry was getting its chin up before demonetization but due to cash ban, it hit the bottom in the November-December 2016. The manufacturing industry was affected very badly immediately after the “notebandi”. Yeah! Demonetization did create a downfall in the manufacturing industry when it was introduced. More than 1.5 million people lost their jobs. Manufacturers were forced to stop production midway because of the hike in prices of raw materials and services. The number of jobs created almost reached the floor. But the decision was taken to help the industries achieve benefits, in the long run, to increase the productivity and transparency of the policies the government will introduce in support of demonetization. And Yes! The decisions were right. If the facts were to be believed it shows that the decisions were taken for good. According to a global research organization, the Nikkei Manufacturing PMI showed a regular increase in the heights of the graphs in the year 2017. The improvement can be estimated by the fact that the PMI reached above 52 in April 2017, since it was even below 50 at the start of the year. Also, in a survey conducted by a leading daily of the country, the results cemented this fact – a clear, white lie for many that the decision of cash ban was taken to give fruits in the longer period of time. According to the survey, though there was a mild decline in the manufacturing production in the last month of the fiscal year 2016, the average reading for the October-December quarter remained in the growth terrain. This clearly suggests that the contribution by the manufacturing sector to the GDP was in a positive stratum. In Conclusion FICCI analyzed the situation and in its latest quarterly survey assessed the expectations of the manufacturers for the first quarter of FY18. The survey had responses from more than 300 companies from eleven major sectors. The results of the survey declared by the analysts are to be believed, manufacturing companies from Electronics and machine tools along with leather industry are going to be in a strong foothold in the near future. It is an undeniable fact that there was a structural break in the sector during demonetization. But, it was all created by the panic that entered in the black money holders’ mind. The media reports creating a hoax added to this along with the baseless comments by the opposition for their political agenda. The researchers are clearly indicating towards the fact that there is a significant improvement in the manufacturing sector and it cannot and should not be falsified. It is time now to start gazing upon and enjoy the positive, the beneficial and fruitful side of this historic decision. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Operational Excellence in Plastic Industry- Need of the Hour!](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-need-of-the-hour/): Indian plastic and resin industry has a very high and developing trajectory over the past few years and has proved to be instrumental in the country’s improved GDP by reaching a total Market Capital of 1.7 lakh crores in 2016. With consumption of plastic increasing by a heavy margin of 16% annually, the manufacturing industry has a tremendous scope of expanding in this sector soon. The in-built capabilities of most segments of the industry coupled with inherent capacities have now also opened the doors of overseas markets for the Indian industries. However, in growth with limited resources comes hardships which later results in degradation and hampers the overall growth. The plastic industry has also faced such catches in the recent times. Labor shortages have become a very common problem for manufacturing facilities nowadays involved in this sector. Both skilled and unskilled labor has become hard to find for the companies. This has led to more and more investments in technologies and up gradation of the machineries which has increased the cost of the production. The profit margins of the companies have also reduced due to the fluctuating market prices of raw materials, rise in process of transportation, energy costs and reduced consumer discretionary spending. With the growing competitiveness in the industry caused by globalization, the task of mastering these challenges by the means of Operational Excellence and increasing and improving the productivity and production has become quintessential for the manufacturing leads and companies. At Faber Infinite, we provide services to the companies to jump through these obstacles and achieve a smooth on-flow of the manufacturing processes. Through our sustainable programs, we have seen the manufacturer achieving quick productivity improvements. Also, the implementation of these drivers helped in eliminating inefficiency across all chains thus, resulting in reduced costs and improved quality services to the customers. About Operational Excellence and what benefit can be achieved through it Operational excellence (OE) or World Class Management (WCM) helps in efficiency improvement, overall equipment effectiveness and waste elimination. It can also be debated that Operational Excellence helps in achieving higher asset utilization. Operational excellence means adopting best practices, having a culture of continuous improvement, and utilizing the latest technologies in products and production methods. Team Faber set on a journey with one of the companies involved in the manufacturing of plastics and resins and explored deeply hidden opportunities. After thorough analysis of the facility and records, we concluded that uniformity has to be brought in the system. Also, a monitoring system was established by the team members at the initial stages of the entire process to bring out the positives and negatives. The focus was shifted to OTIF (On Time in Full) delivery system as the facility failed to keep a proper track record of both supply and delivery schedule. Manpower distribution according to the skills of an individual also plays a major role in bringing Operational Excellence and sustainable development. Also, it’s not always about going through theoretically. Proper Workplace management is also a key player in the game of high productivity and improved efficiency. Once properly implemented, these factors will directly create an impact on the typical areas marked for improvements like labor productivity, yield improvement through waste reduction, inventory management, low cost automation, manpower optimization through productivity, reduction in change over times, and equipment and mould breakdown reduction. Roadmap to the future Operational Excellence has a very vast ground open in the current plastic manufacturing industry to cover and grow exponentially. The very first visible change will start to appear once the workspace is freed of dirt and dust. We, at Faber Infinite provide services to the companies and looks over if the guidelines are followed religiously to achieve the desired goal – Operational Excellence and Sustainable Development. Results have been delivered by our modules, reducing the production/conversion cost by more than 30%. Scooping of projects and processes and application of  Six S aids and visual management techniques have proved themselves time and again and has improved communication system as well as reduced the variation in processes. The graph was maintained to stay in a linear position facing upward with the modules we applied at client location. The Plastic and Resin industry is becoming more mature and competitive with the passage of time. With FDI in play now, the game has already reached a new level. Hence, achieving higher quality and productivity (a crucial part of Operational Excellence) is the key which will decide who is going to lead the race in the near future. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Production Planning Principles: Key to Efficient Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/production-planning/): What is production planning?   Many of you might have come across these questions as a manufacturer. Some of you might have got to know about it, some of you might have not. So let’s have a look at one of the most important aspects of manufacturing or production process; Production Planning. In this article, we will discuss Six Basic Principles of Production Planning. What are the objectives of production planning and control? Planning is the key process in any manufacturing process. A properly and precisely planned schedule helps the manufacturers understand the situation in a better manner and helps them in creating a timely delivery of the orders. Production planning is a term that covers all the aspects of manufacturing, be it workforce, requirements of raw materials, costs, time management or any other aspect. Its purpose is to arrange the resources ingeniously to reach the full potential of the manufacturing process. How to make a production plan? Different companies use different strategies for creating their production plan. But every production plan has six basic principles that play a pivotal role in the entire production process. Well, in this article, we are going to discuss these basic principles and how they can help in bringing out the best of your entire production process. 6 Basic Principles of Production Planning Customer Demand Customer demand is the first Principle of Production Planning. One must know what quantity of the product must be manufactured for the customer. The production should be planned in a way so that the requirements of the customer are met evenly, considering the market demand rates. Also, the manufacturer should be ready to comply with the variations in demand of the targeted customer and should be able to efficiently manage the production process during this period. The entire focus of this is to give a forecast to the manufacturer about the multiple situations that may arise during the production process. Materials Raw materials must be available in adequate quantity with the manufacturer to ensure the timely and complete production of the client’s orders and demands. A clever and efficient production planner keeps the minimum materials required in his store as his inventory. People responsible for designing the entire production plan should be able to evaluate the amount of materials that will be required in the production of the product for its timely delivery. Though many times, planners arrange for the precise and timely delivery of goods, one should design the production process taking into account that the production might have to be stopped due to unmanageable circumstances. Equipments The production planner considers the capabilities of the equipment used to produce the output. The actual capabilities of the equipment can be predicted by considering the previous production rates and combining it with the safety factors that are required. Basic stability of equipment comprising of availability (A), performance (P) and quality (Q) parameters can be determined by Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). In case, the capacity requirements are more than the production capacity of the machines, the manufacturer must consider the market, either for acquisition or for the leasing of the required machinery. Manpower Manpower planning is also the key elements of production planning. The estimation of the amount of workforce required to complete the production process on time is one of the most important forecasts the planner must make. It also includes the requirement of workers to do overtime or laying them off to assure the variations that might fall upon in the midway of the production process. One must also keep in mind that the competence of workforce should match the capabilities of the machinery to achieve the highest efficiency during production. Manpower planning can make use of previous projects’ data to calculate the capabilities of the workforce. Processes Effective production planning makes sure that the processes used for the output continue to operate efficiently and safely. It takes care of the facts that a new process does not affect the ongoing production processes. It also keeps a check on the processes and assists them with any requirements ranging from labor to resources. Often the normal operation of a process requires occasional testing and adjustments. This ensures that the new operation has a floor ready to roll when the process starts. Controls Including this principle in production, planning is very important. Keeping this on the list puts controls on various platforms that detects the problems or any obstacles that might arise at any moment during the manufacturing process. Verification of inventory, use of qualified suppliers and personnel, standardization wherever possible and regular tests of products and processes can help the manufacturer in containing the defects and delays. It also allows the people responsible for production planning take a holistic approach towards the problems and deploy precise corrective measures to minimize the damage and bring the production back on track.  Such inclusion of controls can really prove to be beneficial to the producers. At Faber Infinite, we assist our clients in designing the production plan and work day and night to provide the best possible alternatives on the unavoidable issues. We created a solution module for one of our clients encompassing order receipt process, capacity booking, production of dispatches and even installations at the client sites. It also consisted of a provision to calculate the delivery performance by measuring On Time In Full ratio (OTIF) and also highlighting the reasons for failure, if any. The production planning solution was designed to cater all the issues related to production and hiccups in the planning process. The overall benefit to the client can be summarized as captured below: From the above reports, it is very clear that – Overall production planning can be made simpler and easy to manage. Proper, logical and achievable delivery date can be promised to the customer. Backlogs in orders can be easily avoided. Delay in delivery can be put aside during the production processes. Thus an effective production plan can help the manufacturing process to exploit its full
- [Meet Faber Superhero - Manjunath Powar](https://faberinfinite.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-consultant/): Its 6 a.m. Start of another day, another quest for a consultant. Many a times, consultants are asked, what do they exactly do all day. Well, a day in the life of every consultant differs, but stays the same is their unquenched thirst and hectic schedule that starts from around 6 in the morning to 11 at night or probably even after that. We had a chat with our last month’s Faber of the Month, Manjunath and tried to have a little sneak peek inside the daily life of a consultant. Start of Manju’s day! Manjunath has some large clients under his belt and has always to be on toes for any kind of action that needs to be carried out. Managing clients from African countries like Kenya, Zambia and from India as well, his day is usually packed with variety of experiences – though a very difficult yet interesting lifestyle. While in India, Manju’s day starts around six in the morning, when his alarm sweeps his dreams to give him a wakeup call. Followed by the old habit of checking emails before even getting out of the bed, Manju describes the ritual as a vital part of his morning routine. Manju, which friends and team members call him, shares that ‘‘After being lagged due to time difference, getting updated with the latest stories-incidents at other locations and addressing them is necessary part of my morning routine.’’ As he quips, “After a long, tiring journey from one location to another, you might not be in a good mood and would just want to wrap yourself in the blanket. However, you must be alert and at your best while interacting with senior client executives and top officials. Keeping yourself aware about recent happenings and news not only helps you to be updated but definitely helps to strike a chord with people. Finally, what we work with is people and teams!” Challenges, Lifestyle, Vacations? As management consultant, there are several basic challenges which have to be tackled by the consultant at each and every segment of the day. Starting with managing demanding schedules to handling different projects at the same time after travelling over weekends. Speaking of which, Manju describes some of the most basic challenges he faces in his daily life. The very first one is being able to mingle with a completely new workforce at the clients’ site and motivating them to do more. “It is always a difficult task to change or modify the daily mindset of the operators and encourage them to produce two more units than their usual daily productivity”, adds Manju. Another big challenge according to him is to create balance between the different divisions of the organization and operators by working as a bridge between them to achieve the desired goal. “The projects are always typically result oriented, and since I have to meet everybody’s expectations in the organization, from MD and Chairman to middle management and operators; aligning the mindsets of all these parties towards a common goal under the same circumstances is obviously a challenging job yet a satisfying one, that a consultant has to do in his everyday life” as quoted by our Faber of the Month. He adds that it is the value addition for all involved stakeholders is what keeps him going to achieve more. A consultant must always try to be creative and innovative. “Clients expects us to be magicians and thinks we should be able to create something out of the box when required and should be able to deliver the same in a very short span of time. These obviously creates an impact on our lifestyles – in a better way and differentiates us from other corporate personnel. We plan our work schedules as well as personal development activities a whole month in advance and hence must convince the client teams to come together and follow the schedules as planned.” After an entire day of checking-in, grinding with the problems, coming up with solutions and most importantly implementing it on the floor along with client teams, attending client meetings, debriefing, planning, responding to mails and a lot of work, a consultant is none other than a Superman of the corporate world. In his last question of the interview, Manjunath mentioned that a consultant works 24*7, which after the session seemed astonishingly true to me. Considering the human nature of a consultant, even he needs sleep, and needs to log off for the day. Manju usually leaves the office around 7 in the evening when in India and around 6 while working in the African Countries. It is then when he hops back in the cab and returns to his place, again checking emails for any further updates, managing different sites and planning for the next client engagement. Upon inquiring about his reasons for opting consulting life, Manju very passionately, mentions that he is a consultant by choice. “What brings joy to me is sense of achievement each day, being part of non-routine endeavors each day, it is a kind of expedition which enables me to create value for different industries, different segments of people, different geographies!” adds Manju as we were wrapping up. However, in midst this expedition, Manju makes it a point to catch up with family over series of phone calls and goes for a swim once in a while to keep fit for everyday demands. Manju, who originally hails from relaxed land of Goa, is completely opposite himself and wants to make most out of every minute. And it is tempting for him to create value, connect dots on different client shores! Faber Manjunath Powar is one of the lead consultants at Faber Infinite Consulting with operations in Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. He holds a masters degree in Operations (Major) and Finance (Minor) with his 1st degree being in Mechanical Engineering. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Delivering exponential results, yet again!](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-exponential-results-yet-again/): Heraclitus very well said that ‘Change is the only constant’. In the last edition of iFaber, we brought to you a success saga from Zambia. Similarly, this time, we are bringing another extraordinary tale from the Textile capital of India, Gujarat. We are glad to announce and would like to congratulate Peass for winning the Gold at “International Convention of Quality Control Circle” held at Philippines. Peass is one of the leading manufacturers of textile machinery with various branches across India and plant located in Navsari Gujarat, India. We got an opportunity to have a talk with Mr. RG Yadav, Plant Head, Peass and would love to share the enriching conversation on growing trends, effects of demonetization and GST on the textile machine manufacturing industry of the nation and much more. Faber Infinite (FI) – What are your views and opinions on the impacts that demonetization and GST implementation had on the Indian economy and Textile industry? Mr. RG Yadav (RGY) – What I believe is that to establish and control the Indian economy, there was a need of removing black money from the mainstream market. Again, demonetization was a very good step taken by the Government of India, and I strongly support the decision. I understand that there were some initial glitches created by the decision, but these can always be solved by the Government organizations by reviewing the amendments. Coming to GST, to be honest, it was a need for the Indian market. There is always room for improvement and so is the government doing post its implementation by monitoring it closely. Hence, at Peass, we strongly support both of initiatives taken by our government.   FI – The manufacturing PMI index fell after the implementation of demonetization last November and GST this year in July. What is your take on this and how it has affected the textile machine manufacturing industry? RGY – As I already said, that these two were wise decisions taken by the government. It may have been a wrong decision to implement both the bills in such quick successions, but these are going to benefit the Indian economy in the longer run. Coming to textile machinery manufacturing industry, we are associated with all segments of buyers, be it small, medium range or big corporate groups. Implementation of these two bills did influence the purchasing by small and medium size organizations. However, it is slowly picking up and we are very hopeful that it will be back on track by the end of this year or by early 2018.  FI – What are the challenges textile machinery manufacturing industry is facing in terms of manpower, skills and cost in manufacturing? RGY – There are always cyclic disturbances in the textile machinery manufacturing industry. Changing and fluctuating economy of neighboring markets, cost cutting in purchase or reducing the manpower. So, these cyclic disturbances have always been present in the industry. However, coming to labor, I do not think that there is any shortage of labor in India. Industries are getting enough manpower to carry out their production processes in the country. FI – Faber Infinite has been associated with Peass for a very long time and the transformational journey has been termed as ‘Gati se Pragati’. Can you please brief us about how this journey has been for you and how Faber has helped team Peass? RGY – Before availing the services of Faber Infinite we were involved in many activities like cultural or attitude improvements in plants etc. However, we were not able to reach our desired goals. I must say that Faber has done extremely good job and after associating with Faber, the pace of improvements in all the directions accelerated tremendously. The initiative not only delivered desired exponential results but led to the culture of continual improvement on the floor where last person on the ground is sensitive and appreciative about the growth and improvement, which in true sense meaning of ‘Gati Se Pragati’. As a result, our two teams from workshop and assembly respectively have won several national and international competitions, including Gold at the International Convention recently. So, yes, Faber Infinite has helped us in achieving a lot over the past few years. FI – What comes to your mind when you hear the name Faber Infinite? RGY – Well, to be short and simple, Faber Infinite and its team is very knowledgeable, supportive and vey committed towards their objective. Their endeavors shall definitely help progressive organizations which look for growth and improvement to achieve their goals. We at Faber Infinite would like to thank our client Peass and Mr. RG Yadav for sharing his thoughts on this entire transformational journey along with demonetization and GST. We really honor our association with them and wish them good luck for the upcoming journey in the years to come. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya  
- [Want to Be a Better Leader?](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-be-a-better-leader/): “A leader is a person, who just does not direct his team on how to conduct the work, but also walks the journey with the team supporting, guiding and encouraging them as per the situation.” When you are a leader for the team, you have proved yourself to be better than the other in the organization. Being a leader does not mean that your efficiency and your creditability is for a day, or the duties are for a limited time. Rather, being a leader is a consistent job, where you just don’t have to prove yourself but you have to prove the accountability and creditability of the team as well. To be a better leader, the best thing can be to be a good self-reflector, and the reflection should be mainly of yourself. You don’t have to spend your entire day on reflecting upon yourself and trying to understand what are you exactly up to? All you have to do is spend 15 minutes of your evening time in isolation contemplating and reflecting upon yourself. Following are the points that you need to reflect upon: 1. Organise yourself: Every individual has his own set of work to do and his own to-do lists to complete, and apart from that he has to see to his team’s task, assign them work accordingly, and even manage to take feedback and updates from his team with regards to their work. This all needs to be done within the stipulated time period of the office hours. So keeping all the tasks in mind, it is very important, that the leader should organize himself first, as per the priorities and plan his day in advance so that his working can get organized. 2. Discipline Yourself: Every individual always organizes himself and plans his tasks for the next day at work. But what outstands a good leader is that he disciplines himself enough, that he follows his plan for the day at work. Like any employee, there are many urgent tasks and activities that come up on the said day. For being a good leader, the leader should be disciplined enough to stick to his organized plan for the day. More importantly being disciplined means doing one thing at a time, and focusing upon it completely till it isn’t complete and perfect. 3. Accept Your Short Fallings: No one is perfect always, but what is important is an employee accepting his mistakes. Acknowledging your shortcomings, and working on improving it, are the attributes of a good leader. No leader is born a leader, and no leader knows everything, but what outstands them from others is that they are acknowledging their shortcomings and working on them to improve so that they attend perfection. 4. Know the kind of Example you want to be: Every individual in life looks up to his role model for inspiration. In the same way, in an organization, the employees look up to their leader for not just inspiration but encouragement too. So it becomes the sole responsibility of the leader as to what kind of example do you want to set to your team. If you as a leader decides upon what kind of example do you want to set for your team, you will behave accordingly towards your team, and based upon your behavior will the success or failure of your team will depend. So, it is very important to keep a check, whether what kind of leader do you wish to become, and whether you are working upon the same. 5. Make your Team Stronger: Once, you have reflected upon yourself and found out as to how you can make yourself better, you then need to reflect upon your team as well, to try and understand, as to how can you make your team better and stronger. This is never a one day process, but a leader, can try to touch one attribute or quality of the group, and help them in developing it, and making it stronger. Thus, gradually the leader can help in making his team stronger and better step by step, one at a time. Don’t burden yourself with how to develop yourself to be a better leader, rather just spend 15 minutes of your day on reflecting on yourself, and work towards your reflection. Have a Transforming Tuesday!! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Work Beyond Boundaries!](https://faberinfinite.com/work-beyond-boundaries/): A recent survey says the number of people in the global workforce will reach 3.5 billion by 2030 — and still, there will be a shortage of skilled workers. This will result in increased global competition for talent. Organizations & teams will need new skills, attitudes, and behaviors that help to work in a global environment. One shall need to become more flexible and adaptable and think beyond boundaries. To embrace globalization following four key factors can make a huge difference: Ability to adapt differences:  It means the ability to adapt work practices that may seem culturally foreign. This is an important one because global work will bring employees in contact with cultural differences and culturally diverse practices. However, the ability to adapt smartly to these differences could be the difference between success and failure. And two, ability to adapt difference makes work life easier in a global organization because employees are open to learning and exploring new territories. Looking for common factors among cultures:  This makes it easier for the employees to accept the differences in the culture. For example, a French employee would find similarity with a Japanese co-worker by understanding that both the cultures are result oriented and focus on continual improvement of processes. Looking for common factors is very important for a global workplace because it brings employees from diverse cultures closer, which in turn renders to be more effective and efficient collaboration and teamwork.  Share a sense of belonging to the global organization: Share a sense of belonging to the global organization, as this will make it easier for you to relate to the values and goals of the organization. For nurturing job satisfaction, commitment, and better performance you need to be one with the organization globally. Global Interaction: Research says that when interactions are high, there is a greater ability to develop trust and shared vision among international co-workers. Interactions are also an important factor for sharing knowledge across locations. As such, knowledge sharing across boundaries can become more explicit; sharing information or best practices can become more advantageous, and learning from one another’s common experiences can quicken the spread of business competencies across the global organization. The above-mentioned attitudes and behaviors are what make a successful global corporate player. However, you might have already adopted few, or all, in your current job role. Or maybe you’re looking for ways to advance yourself and your team members. In either case, we can pick up from above pointers and become global players, thus helping our organizations to strengthen their global presence. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Another feather in Saurer Peass’ Cap!](https://faberinfinite.com/another-feather-in-saurer-peass-cap/): We have always believed that winning is the only option and our client Saurer Peass has achieved what we believe in. On behalf of the entire Team Faber Infinite, our heartiest congratulations to Saurer Peass for winning the Gold at ‘International Convention of Quality Control Circle, Philippines’. It has always been a pleasure to work with Saurer Peass; believing in each other and sharing the same goal of achieving the untouched limits. Our client Saurer Peass participated and presented two projects: Equipment Effectiveness Improvement via Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Manpower Productivity & Throughput Improvement via Line Balancing and Layout Improvement This feat holds a special place in the name of Saurer Peass as the whoppers beat companies participating from 26 countries including industrialist nations like Japan, China and South Korea to win the Gold. About the Conference: International Convention of Quality Control Circle, is an International level quality conference which is organized by The Quality and Productivity Association of the Philippines (QPAP). This year the conference was organized in Manila, Philippines. About Saurer Peass: Saurer Peass is one of the leading manufacturers of machinery used in textile industry. Founded in 1962, the Peass industries have grown to be a well-recognized name in the industry. They have also collaborated with manufacturing giants like Scheller GMBH, Germany and FR Mettler Sons, Switzerland. We wish Saurer Peass a wonderful journey ahead and hope that our mutual goal of limiting the unlimited is achieved soon. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay Krishna & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [4 Steps to embark on a Continuous Improvement Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-embark-on-a-continuous-improvement-journey/): In every organization there comes a point, where we want the employees of the organization, not just to improve but also to be consistent with their improvements. Lean Improvement is a continuous improvement philosophy which helps organizations to sustain long-term and achieve operational excellence. An organization that is stagnant towards changes and who believes that they don’t need any outside help to improve leads nowhere, rather an organization that believes they have to work to become better and looks for a source to who can help them, not just become better but sustains longer. This Tuesday let us look at ways to become lean and walk on the path of improvement and growth: Create a vision In today’s competitive world there is always pressure on cost reduction, manpower productivity improvement, increasing market share, increasing profits, becoming more efficient and effective, etc. What is the demand of the hour is – Change? Every organization needs to change to cope with the changing global scenario. When an organization decides to change for improvements, it doesn’t happen just one fine morning. It is a gradual process and well-planned process. The employers need to explain their employees as to why the change is happening. This can be done if the employers share a vision with their employees, and explain them the importance of change. The employer should share facts and figures with their teams, as to how these changes, will help the organization to stand in the global competition. It will be even better if the seniors show a different picture to each department in a way that would convince them to accept the change. A training Program is Must In every department for every employee when a change is being introduced, everyone might not accept them. Thus a training program needs to be created, to understand what the employees think about the change, and how to exactly prepare them so that they work and behave accordingly and thus the new strategies are implemented successfully. This time period is even the best time, to set up bold objectives for the employees and the organization. As the employees are being trained on how to accept the new strategies and how to follow it, during this time, the employers should set bold objectives, that will give a right route to the training programs, thus helping the organizations to grow. Use Lean tools for creating Short-term Wins It is very important for the employers to create some short-term wins for the employees. This can be better done by using various training tools for the employees. Lean management provides various training tools, such as Pareto Analysis, 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagramming, 5S, Value Stream Mapping and various Kaizen events. This will help to keep the employees learn better. Set bold objectives for improvements The employees need to buy into the idea of change. If it has not been well accepted by them then there will be no improvement. They will not work towards the change, and also They need to accept that the new way of working is the better and superior to the older way, and also they need to be challenged and expected to work in a new way. They will fail otherwise. What is expected of the leadership team is persistence and commitment to the new way of thinking. It is a journey. Short terms improvements can happen quickly, but to transform the business you need to go a long way. So start the continuous improvement journey, keep improving and thus keep growing. Have a Transformation Tuesday!!
- [Purposes Aren’t Found we need to Build them](https://faberinfinite.com/purposes-arent-found-we-need-to-build-them/): In today’s world, we cannot live without any purpose or aim in life. No matter where we are, as an individual or as an organization, nothing can sustain without an aim or a purpose to it. A life without a purpose, and an organization without an aim is like, one walking in the far of dense forest, walking till the forest leads you. There are many organizations and companies coming up today. They are unique in their own way, and just like them, their aims are different. An organization should always have their aim and goals which are unique, and which outstands them from the others. Here are a few ways, of how we focus ourselves, in deciding the goals and purpose of our organization, and in achieving the same: Find your own aim:  No Organization is in the market without any aim. Everything is done for a cause, and all we need to do is find that cause. From the organizational perspective, when the leaders of the organization come together, to start the organization, they come together with an aim/goal/vision to achieve and thus change. After many combinations the organization zeros down on one aim which becomes the goal of the organization, and thus it is how the aims, and purpose of the organization comes into existence. Your purpose will build a roadmap:  An organization once started, plan up small steps called as purpose. The purpose is their small stepping stones, which act as targets to the employees and the leaders of the organization. These small purposes are then distributed to every employee. The purpose then penetrates down to each employee thus becoming the KPI for an individual employee. This will help them to develop themselves as well as the organization. With the completion of these small purposes, the leaders build a roadmap for their individual employees, which in turn builds a roadmap to achieving the goals of the organization. The roadmap changes as we achieve:  As the organization starts achieving their departmental purposes, the roadmap that is set for the individual departments keeps changing, depending upon the speed of the employees of the team achieving their individual purposes. Every employee is given their individual purpose, followed by their departmental purposes. With the speed, the employees fulfill their individual targets and their departmental targets, the leaders of the organization are likely to change the roadmap that has been set for the entire department. Thus, find the aim for yourself and the organization, build a roadmap, and walk the path to achieve the goals of the organization. Have a Transformation Tuesday!
- [IS BEING PROACTIVE DIFFICULT?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-being-proactive-difficult/): Every organization carries out certain changes which they feel are needed for achieving the goals and aim of the organizations. Those changes are then carried regularly, and the evaluation of those changes or new strategies are carried out at equal intervals, and gradually it becomes the culture of our organization. Keeping that culture into continuity is what becomes a responsibility and duty of not just of the organization but of its employees. Steve Olsen defines the cultural change in the best manner, he says, “When an organization attempts a cultural change, it ends up becoming a cultural war, but don’t get discouraged, that cultural war is a good war!” Any change, no matter how big or small it may be, the changes take a while to show its results. A change once brought needs to be continued always, and to maintain the continuity, the employees along with their organization need to become proactive in implementing those changes and continuing them. How can you help your organization in being proactive? This Tuesday, we share some of the actionable pointers to be proactive: Request for help:  Every organization tries to bring about some strategic changes in their organization, but they are unaware of which strategic change is righteous for them. So rather than taking decisions on their own, it is better to request for help, from the people who are willing to help. Find out the best fit: After getting help over the strategies, the next step that the organization should do is to get the best fit from all the alternatives. When a third party gives solutions, they give options, only the organization can decide, which technique fights best for their organization. Reason with continuity: Any change in the first instance is never accepted by anyone, and even after the change is accepted, it is very important, to explain the organization as to why is it important to maintain continuity with those changes. Simplicity at its best: When a change is being introduced, it is always better to keep the change simple. As everyone might not accept the change wholeheartedly, it is always better to keep those changes simple and less complicated so that it is accepted. Encourage people: It is always not necessary that all the employees accept the change with the same enthusiasm. Many times it even happens that the employees might be against those changes, so it is always better that the organization should encourage the employees who are against the changes and help them see the benefit of the changes. Openness is desirable: Every employee working in the organization works thinking it to be their own, and they have all the rights to know as to what is exactly happening in their organization. The organization should be open and transparent to their employees, as much as to the clients. Being Creative: Every change needs to be different and creative, if the same change is followed in the same monotonous way, no one accepts it or shows it with the same enthusiasm. The change needs to be defined in a more creative and different way, that the employees look forward to the changes. Be appreciative: The organization should appreciate the employees at an equal interval, to let them being acknowledged, and make them feel good, that the hard work of the employees is showing results. This will encourage the employees to work better. Let us be proactive and build a culture of continual continuous in the organization to become more efficient and profitable. Have a Transforming Tuesday!
- [Cost Management: 5 ways to Transformation Effectively](https://faberinfinite.com/cost-management-5-ways-to-transformation-effectively/): Cost management practices have been prevalent in both big and small organizations over the years. The reasons why organization suffers, is because according to them this is an initiative they have taken for transforming their organization to better productivity and profitability. Organisations go cost cutting across all the boards, and level employees, but they fail to do it strategically, and make the cost cutting effective for the organization rather than just a transformation. Every organization which implements the cost management initiative, have their own reasoning behind it, some say that they do it to make the right trade for long term plans, while as other believe it to be a part of their strategy for achieving futuristic goals and fuel up their growth. Once organization decides upon cost management process for their organization, many underestimate that it may go wrong as well. We here bring to you 5 mindset shifts which can help to organise the cost management initiative effectively for your organization: Build a connecting link to the cost and strategies: As the organization decides upon cost management, don’t frame it as a loss to the organization, or a major issue for the organization, rather than look at it as an opportunity towards increasing the value of the company and all stakeholders. Every cost need not be an expense to the organization. It is better, to actually link all the expenses that you do with the strategies. Re-define your cost, in terms of your strategies: Every organization, has their own goals to accomplish and for those goals they have their own strategies to follow. So as per your strategies link your costs to them. Carry out the process of cost management not to just sustain your present year expenses, but aim for multi-year investments as well. This will help the organization in deciding as to what is the organization needs to do, to win the market. Create a Parking Lot: Creating a parking lot means, to creating a section in which you list down all your expenses as you follow them. Once you list your expense, tally each expense to your strategy, and accordingly categorise them. This will help in clearly deciphering all cost heads. Differentiate between Good cost and Bad costs: Once you link upon all your expenses to your strategies, create a balance system or a cost management account. Which you specify all the costs, and differentiate them as per the good cost and bad cost, and spread awareness among your team towards to the good cost, so that they understand them and follow it. This will lead your team, in focusing on the good cost, which indirectly focuses on the costs related to your strategies. Develop continuity: Keep a continuity in what you do. As you develop a cost management, keep revising the concept to your team at equal interval. This will keep the concept fresh, and the team will be directed in focusing on the cost related to the strategies, and thus help to curb the unnecessary expenses. The organization needs to be proactive, and needs to keep following the process that they took up to manage the cost effectively. No process can be a one time process, and no results can be accomplished within a day. Keep continuing in what you started, as a onetime process. Cut fat & not muscles! Have a Transformation Tuesday!
- [Connecting the Dots – Leaders to Strategic Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/connecting-the-dots-leaders-to-strategic-leaders/): In today’s scenario, it is extremely important for every organization to have leaders who are expert with strategic excellence and have a holistic view. An organization, should try to develop their existing leaders into strategists. Every organization has leaders for various functions, so it is always advantageous to develop those leaders into strategic leaders. This will act as an advantage to the organization, cause every function leader knows, exactly what their teams are capable of doing, and they know the strengths of the organisation very well. They are best to analyse which strategies will enhance their organization, and they are the best people to know, how to put those strategies into actions, which will help them reach their respective goals. This Tuesday let us look at how leaders can become strategists? Below are the 4 steps, as to how can we make our leaders as strategist: Build a connection between the business strategies and leadership strategies:  ‘Leaders are not born, they are created!’, this phrase is what needs to be followed. The organization should first select the kind of leader they want. There should be number of shortlisted candidates for the strategic leadership position Let the change seep in the whole organization: Imbibe the culture of change management in the whole organization. Align all the employees in the organization with the news goals and metrics. Engage all the employees in the change initiatives. Only when all are aligned then can we achieve success in the change initiative. Train the leaders with relevant programs: Every leader needs to be trained with the duties that they are supposed to do, or the strategies they have to plan and implement. They just cannot be put on field to bring the changes. They need to be given information and training both theoretical and practical, such that it helps them to understand and decide exactly which strategies to implement for growth. Develop in the leaders a higher aim and goal: Any organization or individual works better when they are given a higher aim to reach. Like the quotes go, ‘Aim for the stars you will at least reach the sky.’ So, if every leader is given an aim which is higher than their personal aim, they will make it their mission to achieve the aim, thus enable strategies such that they work for the growth and development of the organization. Lets work towards making leaders who will face the challenges in this fast changing global economy and respond effectively to the constantly evolving business opportunities and challenges and thus pave a path to sustainable growth. So let’s embrace the opportunities and challenges strategically to sustain growth. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [How to Deal with Crisis?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-deal-with-crisis/): Change is not welcomed by the majority. Change brings in a feeling of uncertainty, whether it is political change or change in the organization structure; team members tend to lose focus and become inefficient. What should the manager/leader do in such cases? How will he/ she manage to keep the team focused? How can the manager help to cope up with such situations that bring distraction? This Tuesday, sharing proven pointers that can help you overcome the feeling of uncertainty in difficult times: Manage yourself: The manager will be better able to help the team if he/she is first able to manage his/her stress and apprehension. The manager needs to start with himself/herself. As goes a famous saying – Everything starts with you. Accept the uncertainty: Empathize with your team member feelings and worries. Do not ignore their worries and emotions. Though you want them to be focused, ignoring their feelings can prove to be dangerous. Go talk to them, discuss how you can work together as a team to overcome the crisis. Accept that stress is normal: Some of your team members might be calm and organized, while others might be stressed and ineffective. Make your team members understand that stress and apprehension are very normal and help them overcome it by sharing your experiences so that they feel they are not alone. Understand what your team wants: Talk to people personally and understand what are their issues or concerns. Understand their point of view. Try to understand what they think or feel even if you don’t feel the same or you don’t agree with the same. Make them feel you are together in the problem. Make them feel you really care for them and want to help them. Help them and advise them, it will make them feel better. Encourage them to take care of themselves: Encourage the team to sleep well, eat well, exercise well to kill stress and improve efficiency. Help them balance work life. Meditation or mindful breathing helps to calm worries and keep the mind at peace. Keeping the above mentioned points in mind, lead your team to be focused and more efficient during tough times and deal with the crisis. Transform yourself for better results and have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya  
- [The Five S Way Never Fails](https://faberinfinite.com/the-five-s-way-never-fails/): Time and again, it has been said and agreed that Five S is a fundamental tool for all the improvements. It is a Japanese philosophy that is based on waste elimination through workplace organization. The focus is on effective workplace organization and standard procedures and processes at the workplace. Five S eliminates waste, reduces non-value adding the activity with the aim to improve quality, effectiveness, and safety at work. These are five words starting with S in Japanese and same in English. The Five S are as follows: 1. Sort 2. Select 3. Shine 4. Standardize 5. Self Discipline “A place for everything, and everything in its place” is the mantra of the 5S method. Some of the benefits of Five S are as follows: 1. Improve Quality 2. Lower Costs 3. Promote Safety 4. Build Customer confidence 5. Increase equipment effectiveness and efficiency 6. Reduce Downtime Team Faber Infinite launched a Five S implementation initiative at one of the largest HDPE and PVC pipes manufacturer in India. The objectives of the initiatives are: Roll out the 5S program for entire Client Unit Create the organization structure for Five S journey Strengthen the review mechanism of Five S through steering committee mechanisms Train the member and create champions for Five S implementation Create model zones in the area of implementation Demonstrate the best way to deliver PEEP in model zone Prepare a detail action plan for all zones with target date and responsibility So far, within short time of implementation, client team has seen tremendous benefits. Some of which are mentioned below: Space saving after removing ~100 Red tag items from model sub zone Searching time has been reduced from average 3 mins to 20 sec Layout has improved Space saving of 750 sq.ft (approx.) after scrapping 45% of items identified in the red tag registers covering 80% of the plant area. Everyone and all types of organizations can benefit from rolling out a structured Five S initiative. Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as those are the business that can realize the greatest benefits. However, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant — from hospitals to television stations — all types of businesses, and all areas within a business, will realize benefits from implementing a structured Five S movement. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Faber at CAYE 2017 Summit - China](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-at-caye-2017-summit-china/): We are glad to share that Faber Infinite is one of the seven business ventures from India invited for the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAYE 2017) Summit in China. We are humbled to represent India amongst 52 Commonwealth nations. Jalay Pandya representing Faber Infinite is one of the youngest leader from India. The Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAYE) works to strengthen and support the ambitions of young entrepreneurs in Commonwealth regions. These regional networks ensure they have a combined voice and representation at forums to influence policy development on youth entrepreneurship. These coalitions seek to champion the cause of young entrepreneurs at the local, national, regional and international level, through its engagement with governments, the media, the public, and other relevant stakeholders. They are committed to achieving measurable progress towards the development of youth entrepreneurship and innovation within Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Canada and the wider Commonwealth. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Fundamentals of World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/fundamentals-of-world-class-manufacturing/): It could be known by different terminologies. Some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it LEAN and some call it Operational Excellence. Finally, to sum it up, all world-class organizations have different frameworks or structures. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world-class performance. World Class Manufacturing is a management philosophy. That helps to eliminate waste, improve efficiency and effectiveness of man and the machine, streamline the process, optimize inventory levels and the most important improve employee morale. It aims to inculcate the culture of continual improvement in the employees. WCM trains the employees to accept change and imbibes the thought Change is Permanent. It is based on the principle that there is always room for improvement and we as an organization should continuously work towards it. Team Faber strongly believes that World Class Manufacturing (WCM) practices. otherwise as we call it Operational Excellence (OE) practices always help organizations to be more effective and efficient and in turn helps them to perform better. In this field of WCM / OE, team Faber has several modules that can be customized to build and sustain high-performing teams. 5 Principles of World Class Manufacturing: • Operational Excellence Foundations : The focus here is to work on elimination of waste and non-value adding activities in the organization. Physical workplace improvement is also part of OE Foundation and tools like Five S can be deployed to strengthen it. As a part of OE foundations, Team Faber looks at the basic stability of man, machine, material, and methods. • Flow Management : Material or information flow improvement can be achieved via traditional yet powerful Value Stream Mapping (VSM) tool. The aim is to identify every non-value adding activity and all inefficiencies in the process and to reduce/ eliminate it. It is done using Current and Future State maps. It also involves maintaining optimum inventory levels by various inventory management modules, Kanban implementation, supply chain management, milk runs and other tools. • Equipment Management : Machine health is as important as managing the human resource. Equipment management ensures that the machines are up and running and are performing at rated capacity and quality levels. Team Faber Infinite delivers this through deploying elements from the house of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM): Autonomous Maintenance (AM), Planned Maintenance (PM), Kobetsu Kaizen (KK), and measurement matrices like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). • Lean Six Sigma : Lean Six Sigma is Quality Management framework which aims at the elimination of waste along with the reduction of defects in the process. It can be achieved by using tools like Total Quality Management (TQM), 7 QC Tools, Low-Cost Automation, Poka Yoke, Six Sigma Achievement (DMAIC) and others as applicable. • Sustenance Management :  All the above can be achieved, but what is important and difficult is making Operational Excellence (OE) a part of organization’s culture. As the organizations start reaping gains with OE practices, it needs to understand that it is not a one-time process, it needs to be a continuous activity. 90% of the organizations which start structured improvement initiative complain that they do implement OE tools but sustenance has always been an issue. To solve this issue of sustenance, Team Faber Infinite Consulting helps client teams with Daily work Management (DWM) framework. DWM is a methodology that focuses on preserving and improving the performance of an organization’s productivity, quality, cost, delivery, safety, and morale. To conclude I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin- “Whenever you are finished Changing, you are finished”. So watch out for the change, accept it, work on it and sail smoothly in this competitive world. Ready to take your manufacturing to the next level? Unlock the secrets of world class manufacturing and drive operational excellence. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to the fundamentals that will revolutionize your production processes. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your manufacturing operations! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Gamification: Shift in Training Trend](https://faberinfinite.com/gamification-shift-in-training-trend/): As the famous quote goes – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Just imagine if fun or play element is embedded in the workplace training and learning experiences. The same has been incorporated by Faber in its unique fun learn fun technique as well. As the organization needs to upgrade the skills needed for various individuals, Faber Infinite content development and delivery team have evolved several simulation exercise and games to enhance the learning experiences and improve the efficacy of the training modules. This, in turn, helps the employee to develop skills by fun method yielding to higher retention and leading to improved performance for the organization. Faber Infinite offers a wide range of training programs across industries and sectors as well as across functions and positions via combination of simulation games, group exercises, group activities, class room tutorials coupled with experiential learning. Below are glimpses of training sessions conducted by Team Faber Infinite 1. Preview of the training session at world’s leading locomotives manufacturer: Power packed training modules on Lean Principles & Application in Software Development were conducted for Young Leaders at world’s leading locomotives manufacturer in India. Objectives of the training session were: • To understand the foundations of lean management via simulated factory • To understand the wastes/ inefficiencies in software development and manufacturing as well • To understand the importance of lean management along with proper understanding of Operational excellence and Six S in business • To know how lean can be applied in software development Participants who represented various streams were delighted by the outcomes and learnings. Some of the feedback shared by the participants: Participants who represented various streams were delighted by the outcomes and learnings. Some of the feedback shared by the participants: • Fun learn & fun concept of training makes the training extremely effective • Real life example reference helps to understand the topic easily 2. Preview of the training session at one of the leading Bearing manufacturing organization: As part of a 12-month training plan, yet another training workshop with the objective of highlighting Importance of Operational Excellence Skills via simulated games was conducted at a leading bearing manufacturing organization in India. The key takeaways of the workshop were: • To understand the foundations of Operational Excellence (OE) via simulation exercises • To understand the OE Foundations, 8 Wastes in Lean and its importance • To understand how to identify different Wastes on Shop floor • To understand 6S and its importance • To understand the method of implementing 6S and its benefits                 The training program was extremely well accepted and highly appreciated with overall training program feedback of 98%. Few feedbacks shared by the participants is as follows: The training program was extremely well accepted and highly appreciated with overall training program feedback of 98%. Few feedbacks shared by the participants is as follows: Points very well delivered with simulation games with a lot of ease and details All topics are helpful for growth of the company and many such training programs should be done 3. Preview of the training session at one of the established textile manufacturers: Yet another training session was successfully delivered on Good Manufacturing Practices at one of the established textile manufacturers. The objectives were delivered via group exercises and simulating real situation by means of games. Some key elements touched during the session are as follows: What is Lean or Operational Excellence? How Lean Works? How can it be applied to your place of work?  What is Six S? How to cultivate Total Employee Involvement? Faber Infinite has rich experience in the field of training and development. We have been successfully delivering training programs at clients from different industries and sectors across the globe. Training and development should be a continuous process in the organization. It should be a journey as every phase will need a newer version of the employee and the organization. And this shift in the training trend has been yielding extra ordinary results across the globe. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Do Organizations Really Need Consultants?](https://faberinfinite.com/do-organizations-really-need-consultants/): There always has been debate and jokes on getting consultants on board from various domains. Most of the times the organizations are in a dilemma on hiring a consultant. They are bewildered about the value a consultant will bring to their organization. Let us look at the top 5 reasons why should organizations hire consultants? 1. Building Momentum in the Thought Process: In most organizations, there are employees who assigned to work on a certain set of problems. Considering the routine tasks, the team may reach a point beyond which they are unable to drive it further, and that is where a good consultant comes into the picture. A good consultant questions you and challenges the status quo in such a way that it aligns your thought process, pushes you beyond your boundaries. Thus, a consultant helps you, in building the momentum in the thought process by asking you the right questions and providing the pointers of the solutions. He/ she ensures that the thought process never stops but rather helps in building a culture of continuous improvement in the organization. 2. Bringing common sense into actions: In any organization, the solution to most of the problems is the usage of one’s common sense. That’s where a third eye always helps and that’s what a consultant does. He applies the philosophy and gets solutions to most of the problems. So by implementing changes, which might appear insignificant, one can get larger results and achievements. 3. Find the most fitting solutions: Many times, there are solutions provided for the problems in the organization but the team members fail to justify or miss some aspect of the action and looking at the larger picture. A consultant connects the dots and acts like a coach, he understands the problems from the team members, he analyses problems, verifies the problem from the management’s point of view, customer’s point of view, supplier’s point of view, employees’ point of view, thus taking into account aspects of all the stakeholders. He then tries to figure out what solutions can be deployed to resolve the problem. He analyses and finds the missing links in solution and thus designs a full proof solution which is accepted by everyone. In Japanese, it is called Poka-Yoke. 4. Safety first: It is often said, that good consultant prevents an organization from heading towards mishaps. It usually happens that the organization is aware of the problems, and it also knows about the severity of the problem, but at times they either tend to ignore it or avoid it from disturbing the routines of the employees as well as the organization. It eventually becomes a norm and way of living. What good consultants do is they alert organizations with the forthcoming problems, and helps them in taking preventive action. Thus helping the organization from accidents that may happen in future which can be dangerous to the organization. 5. Lastly, consultant acts as a catalyst: Catalyst is a chemical agent which does not take part in the reaction but speeds up the reaction. Many times, organizations are driving some improvement initiatives since years. However, time and again, the top management or the members of the organization, all of them have shared their apprehensions pertaining to the speed of the journey. They have opinionated that the pace of these improvement programs is not fast enough. That is where a consultant will add value. He/ she will act like a catalyst to ensure that the improvement process speeds up substantially. He/ she will thoroughly analyze the initiative and will figure out reasons for slow speed and, thus identifying the gaps between the implementation of the program and redesigning the program and re-implementing it. So, what an organization can achieve in five years, a good consultant can help in achieving it in a year. In today’s competitive environment speed is the name of the game. To win the race you don’t have to be slow and steady, but fast and consistent. A good consultant not only motivates you in becoming fast and consistent but creates systems for you to become a reliable, proactive and progressive organization. To sum it up I would share insights of an interview of a famous player, he was asked a question, “You are no. 1, I can see you have a coach who is not even no. 10, then why do you need a coach?” The player answered, “I need a coach not to tell me what I am doing right, but to point out my mistakes.” And that’s the role of the consultant for the organization – the value addition a Good Consultant can bring into any organization. Have you engaged right set of consulting outfit for your organization?   Written By Faber Vishal Kulkarni – Director Faber Infinite
- [Excellence is not an act, but a habit](https://faberinfinite.com/excellence-is-not-an-act-but-a-habit/): As Aristotle puts it, excellence is not an act, but a habit. We are glad to bring similar such saga of resilience from Zambia. Zambia as known as one of the leading producer of copper in the world. Although the market has not been stable over the years, due to varied reasons, there is a spirited manufacturer – Strongpak Ltd which lived excellence in true spirits. Strongpak is now one of the largest manufacturers of Plastic Polymer woven bags in Zambia and the neighboring countries. The manufacturing unit of Strongpak is located in Kitwe, the Copperbelt Region of Zambia. Faber Infinite Consulting is proud to be associated with Strongpak over the last 2 years now. We are glad to share glimpses of our discussion with Mr. Ruben, Country Head of Strongpak Ltd. on how the Zambian economy is doing, and how is the manufacturing industry coping with the changes, sustaining and how Strongpak has been growing despite all odds. Faber Infinite (FI): Mr. Ruben, we understand that Zambia has been going through lots of ups and downs. What are your views on the Zambian economy? Mr. Ruben GS. (RGS): The economy of Zambia was weak in 2015-16 as there was a crash in the prices of the commodities, due to factors like the decrease in oil prices, elections around the corner, and the copper industry not doing so well. The year 2017 is on the road to recovery, it is trying to gain momentum as prices are trying to stabilize and conditions of the market are improving. With the improving conditions, there are hopes that the year of 2018 will be much better over the past 3 years. FI: What are the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector of Zambia? RGS: Zambia is a landlocked country. The manufacturing sector has a smaller market share in Zambia, the reason being, high cost of manufacturing cost when compared to many other countries. FI: How is Strongpak managing to overcome the challenges faced in the Manufacturing Industry? RGS: With the higher production cost, the customers of Strongpak get an opportunity to shift to the alternative products. This being the major challenge, Strongpak focuses on improving its Operational Efficiency. It may be related to reducing the cost or increasing the productivity. Strongpak has successfully improved in terms of productivity. Strongpak successfully managed the wastage parameters as compared to the competitors in other countries. This way we are able to provide our customers prices of products which are at par with the global prices and at good quality. Operational Excellence is the reason for the survival and progress of Strongpak. We have been applying operational excellence principles and working on operational excellence projects, not only in terms of manpower, material, management, productivity, but also in terms of technology we use. We have always selected the best possible technology which will give the best operational excellence, in terms of better efficiency, cost and quality. FI: The transformational journey at Strongpak is termed as Buyantanshi. How has Faber helped you in your Transformational Journey? RGS: Team Faber has been associated with Strongpak, and they have very well understood the business challenges for Strongpak as well as challenges related to Zambian economy. Like in every relationship, both parties should be on the same page. Faber has expert resources and skills in the domain of operational excellence, which gets them to pick the right tool for the issues being faced. Faber has applied the Operational Excellence tools and techniques as per Strongpak requirements and along with Strongpak Team, they tried to solve the exact issue faced by the company. This turned out to be a win-win situation to both, Strongpak and Faber as well. FI: What does Strongpak think of Faber? RGS: The methodology recently introduced at Strongpak for involving maximum employees for multiple small projects has benefited the employees and the organization as well. Faber has tried to use the methodology which best fit the issues, thus avoiding the usual constraints faced when imitating the operational tools applied at other companies. Faber has been a partner in the journey of continuous improvement. This engagement has been mutually beneficial to Strongpak as well as Faber. For Faber, this journey has helped understand the challenges in a new economy. For Strongpak they have seen many business improvements in the domain of operational excellence. We at Faber thank our esteemed client Mr. Ruben for sharing his insights on the transformation journey. Working with Strongpak has been a real honor and we value our association with them. We congratulate and wish Mr. Ruben, Mr. JP, and Strongpak team all the success for many more years to come.
- [96 Days to Go - Make them Count !](https://faberinfinite.com/96-days-to-go-make-them-count/): New Year comes every year and so do our new year resolutions, but how many times have we stood by those resolutions and fulfilled them?  Have you realized that more than half year has passed by and our new year resolutions are still on the first page of the book or pinned on the pin-boards? Research says that out of all the population only 8% people succeed in fulfilling their new year resolutions. While as 80% of people forget their resolutions by February. On reality check, we just realized that only 96 days remain for the year to end, and where are we? But as famous people and their quotes have gone by: “it is never too late than never.” There are proven facts which say that 90 days are enough to restart and achieve maximum momentum. How can we fulfill our resolutions in the next 96 days, something that we haven’t completed in last more than half a year? Here there are 7 steps that one can do to achieve and live up to the  resolutions: 1. Take one step at a time We wish to do a lot many things or want to accomplish everything on our resolution lists. It is not always possible to achieve everything, but we can shortlist the things based on priority. According to its importance, we can try to achieve one thing at a time. Rather than trying to climb the ladder quickly, and then slipping, it is better to take one step at a time and achieve one resolution as per our priority. 2. Every act has a reason Everything that is done in the organization or every decision taken in the organization is done for a reason. In any organization, nothing is done suddenly, it is done to accomplish something, and there are a proper research and reason behind that action. At the same time, when certain decisions were taken don’t give the required results. Find its reason as to why was the decision was taken, and then decide, whether the reason is righteous for the decision, or could there be something else. 3. Know your draw-backs When a tool fails, or a decision is proved wrong, it doesn’t mean that it is the end, it is a stepping stone of trial and error. At that time, rather than giving up, the organization can come together, and try to analyze the incident, and then accordingly list down the drawbacks form the incident. This will give a clear idea to the employees as to what to pay attention while trying something new, and help the employer to decide criteria before beginning something new. 4. Pull your socks Pulling up your socks doesn’t mean doing everything hurriedly, it means taking up the responsibility of your own work and duties, and being accountable to be same. This will help everyone in the organization may it be small or big, to know who is responsible for which work, and assign it accordingly, thus systematizing the work. 5. Learn to say ‘NO’ No two individuals in one organization are same, and nor can they work in the same manner. If one can complete all the work quickly it doesn’t mean that the other too is capable of doing it. Just overloading yourself with the work which cannot be completed by you doesn’t make any sense. Rather it is better that we learn to say ‘NO’, and accept only that much work, which you know can be done by you. 6. Get feedback from your employees The employees always are the better person to get feedback from. They know exactly what sort of changes would be required to help them perform well in the organization, in turn improving the performance of the organization. It is better to take feedback from the employees occasionally. 7. Celebrate your achievement Every organization keeps achieving a few awards of recognition for their performance. These awards and recognition should be celebrated not just with the top management, but will all the employees, as they are equally involved in bringing this success to the organization. When the achievements are celebrated with everyone, the employees feel acknowledged and in turn, get motivated to perform better. 96 days more to go, pull up your socks to gain maximum momentum in achieving your goals. Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo.
- [Nine Moves to Build a Dream Team !](https://faberinfinite.com/nine-moves-to-build-a-dream-team/): Do you find your employees inefficient at work? Are you planning to provide some form of motivation so that they can be more productive? Planning to give them any form of monetary or non-monetary motivation? But do understand that only monetary motivation cannot be a key factor to improve employee performance and productivity. Rather they would prefer non-monetary motivations such as acknowledgement for their work, appreciation for their efforts, a bit of flexible timings for their work and growth opportunities or prospects in the organization. Let us look at the fundamental aspects of employee motivation that will help them perform efficiently at their work: 1. Empathise, Empower and Assure Progress A boss is always a boss no matter where he is. It is easier for a boss to be influential and take decisions, but it is motivating for the employees if at equal intervals the employees are given the chance to take a few decisions. Apart from empowering them to make decisions, a boss should also empathize with his employees. He / She must give them assurance that he is there not just for the growing organization but equally takes responsibility for employee growth. It is encouraging for the employee when the boss guides them and shows them the path that they are progressing on. 2. Praise with Sincerity The employees don’t wish for huge praises and acknowledgments from their boss. Just a small ‘Thank you’ from them, encourage the employees and boosts their morale. They tend to perform better and efficiently, waiting to receive more small acknowledgments and appreciation from their boss. 3. Build a Community Building a community just doesn’t mean to build a team for the growth of the business, or for a project, but rather building a family. The team in the organization should be made as a family. Like in any family, when the interactions are done face to face, over a gathering, or lunch. An outing together, or going out for lunch with the employees, act as icebreakers between the employees and the boss. 4. Create an incentive Plan for the Employees It is better to ask your employees, to choose their own incentive plans. The employees like to be involved in the decisions which are being done for them. So while preparing incentive plans for the employees, it is better if the employees are asked for the type of incentives they wish for, and accordingly, prepare the incentive plan and their criteria for achieving those incentives. 5. Know your employees as person Every employee is different, both professionally and personally, and so is their behavior. They don’t behave the same at all the places. Every boss will know its employees as the employee of the organization, as their subordinate to achieve the vision of the organization, but the boss should try to know his employee as a human being, try to talk to him as a friend, this will make the employee feel wanted and known to his boss. 6. Provide Flexibility to your employees An employee feels blessed to be a part of any organization, where the comfort of the employees is thought of. If the organization or the boss provides flexibility to their employees to work at their convenience once in a while, this will not just boost the employees, but also help them to perform more efficiently than the organization expects them to do. 7. Always try to be connected No matter where the boss is, he should try to stay connected to his employees, in one way or other. In the era of emails and WhatsApp, where staying connected is just a click away, the boss should try to stay connected to his team and employees. This will help the boss to guide his employees on the right path, train his team in the right direction, and help them perform better. 8. Provide prerequisite to the employees Providing different types of perquisites, like work from home options, helping them to provide time for the work they like, or the giving them the opportunity to choose their own projects as they would like to work upon. This will motivate the employees to perform better, and deliver the necessary results required. 9. Encourage the employee to learn desired skills Every employee wishes to gain some skills, they desire to achieve some unique skill to make themselves unique. A boss should always try to encourage their employees to achieve what they desire to learn and achieve. This will encourage the employee as this shows that the boss thinks about the growth of the employees as well. So appreciate your team, connect often with them, empathize, encourage, empower, laugh and perform better with each day! Thanks and have a Transforming Tuesday.
- [Assertiveness Formula: ‘Cos what you allow, will continue!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-assertive-speak-up/): We all like to put forth our opinions over everything, irrespective whether we need to speak or not. If it had been a perfect corporate world, we would have openly shared our opinions about how much your co-worker is bothering you? How much has your patience being tested? You could also express that part of you that feels underappreciated and marginalized. But sadly all this cannot be done since we might end up in to conflicts. It feels pushy and overly aggressive to be assertive in the organization, especially if you are shy, or timid, or from a background where you are trained to be quiet, as it is inappropriate to talk back. At the same time; it might feel awkward and unnatural if you aren’t inclined to voice your opinions. Speaking up might sound hard but it is not impossible. Voicing your opinions with an “assertiveness formula” can help. Let us chalk out this “Assertiveness Formula” into three steps 1. Start with a compact and objective Statement Your statement should be short, and to the point. It should not be emotional and should be even handed. It should be such that you are just trying to draw the attention of the other person, in a way that minimizes his defensiveness. Keeping the subject line as short and to the point, it leaves you with an advantage for the opposite person to not to discontinue immediately or not to disagree. 2. Describe the side effect of an act or incident The next step, you should try to explain as to what problem were you facing, or what behaviour of the opposite person offended you, or what is the issue that you are facing. The goal here is to build a cause-and-effect reasoning, linking an objective statement of their action to the impact that the action has on you. 3. End with an Expressive Statement Once you explain how a particular action has offended you, you can end the conversation with an expressive statement saying, how you have felt with the action or what issues you are facing after the incident. So you being assertive in your statement should end with an expressive statement, where you are trying to express your feelings over the action or issue that happened with you. A thoughtfully drafted assertive statement is most effective and impactful when mentioned on the spot, or at the end of the conversation. Keeping it to the end, or at the beginning of the conversation will likely get it to be pushy, and the opposite person to whom you aim to speak at will feel uncomfortable to discuss over it, no matter how well it is framed. In spite of having the above formula to be assertive in hand, it might not always be easy to explain your point of view to others, nor is it necessary that the person to whom you wish to speak to will react positively to it. To talk assertively, you will need to accumulate as much as evidence as possible to prove your statement of the negative effect it has had over you. Your main motive is not to offend or have an argument, but rather to provide a clarity and specificity over the issue that is being faced. Assertive statement should never be used as a harp to harm the other, but rather should be used positively, so as to solve the differences. Everyone may not see in the same way as you see it, but that doesn’t mean you are wrong. Everyone just has a different way of seeing a particular picture. One can put forth its statement, and let the other decide how he would want to react over it. Every reaction may be positive, or may not be positive, and there are chances, that the decision doesn’t come in your favour too. What is more important, is that you drawing the courage to voice your opinions and concerns without being adamant or arrogant. Be assertive, speak up, without being forceful, and have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Solving the Succession Puzzle !](https://faberinfinite.com/solving-the-succession-puzzle/): Infosys has been back in headlines. The news has been about the difference of view between the co-founder and the current leadership on how to run things. We will avoid taking any names since this article is not about people but it is about leadership and succession planning as the name of the title suggests. It is the responsibility of the board to develop processes to address significant decisions such as leadership and succession management. It is not a one-time event. It is a continuous process that goes beyond the appointment and entry of a new leader. Some people might think succession planning is waste of time and efforts. But it is the most important aspect of the business. This will involve reviews at regular intervals and polish the way the game is played by the board and the CEO. This is of more importance if the CEO is an outsider as in case of Infosys. He might have a different way of operating. There are companies who have implemented this mechanism and benefited. Succession planning also involves clear delegation in a phased manner especially in the areas that form the foundation of the organization i.e. value system and culture. It is the ultimate capability that any CEO should have – the ability to preserve organizations values that are fundamental building blocks of the organization. Board governance also plays a major role in succession planning and management. Recent events show that companies such as Infosys who have been the epitome of governance too have encountered failure in major events. Having seen the crisis at Infosys where besides the CEO, other senior managers left the organization, succession planning is vital. It need not be done for every position. The advantages of succession planning are as follows: Ready availability of trained, experienced people who are ready to take over and step into key positions Candidates are completely aware and abide by company values and culture Availability of resources from within the company so that it becomes easy to cope with future needs Encouragement for the employee which will keep them with the organization Well defined career goals and objectives will keep the employee motivated and focused Succession Planning Methodology: Engage senior management: Both the CEO and senior leadership team should actively collaborate towards succession planning. They should collectively set the expectations and plan the process and make it happen Design a roadmap for the future leaders: Understand the leadership skills needed to achieve organizations strategic goals. Assess the potential of the current employees to meet the future needs and emerge as leaders Develop future talent: Identify budding future talent/leaders, then identify their development needs and follow a systematic approach to nurture that development Search for new talent to fill gaps: There will be instances when you will not be able to fill the gap with the current resources. So have an effective hiring and on boarding process to assimilate new talent in the organization Review and Improve the process of developing leaders/talent: Like any other process, this is also not a one-time event. It is a continuous and repetitive process. Collect data regularly to understand and improve the process of leadership development. So succession planning should be part of every organization/function/team. It should be the vision of the organization. Without a succession plan, it is difficult for the company to grow and cherish its human capital. The company will not be able to assure a continuous availability of well equipped and trained employees who will smoothly take over when the current managers and key personnel retire or move on. Thus succession planning is much more important than the time many companies allocate to it. So plan well for a better future of your company and have a transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Why is Change so Hard?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-is-change-so-hard/): Whether the change involves diet, exercise, habits, dependencies, organizational change or anything else, change is one of the hardest things any of us will ever try for. Across industries and sectors, the record for organizational change is unimpressive. Research says that 50-75% of change efforts fail. The only constant in any business is change, change has an interesting way of affecting people that can often result in resistance. The biggest stumbling block to successful organizational change is people. Before making any changes it is important for any organization to think through following: • What is the change? • How important is the change? • Whom will the change impact? • How will it impact them? • How will they react to the change? Understanding the above aspects will make the process of implementing the change easier and smoother. There will always involve resistance to change and it will be from people in the organization. Let us look at why people resist: 1. Fear of the unknown: When the change happens without prior intimation, then there will be resistance from the people. They need to be helped through the process of understanding how will change impact their work. If this is not done they will push back against the change due to the fear of unknown 2. Trust in leadership: The leader needs to build the feeling of trust in the team/workgroup. The team will be more accepting to any changes if they trust the leader who is the catalyst of change. If there is lack of trust in the leader then this lack of trust itself can manifest into resistance to change. 3. Insecurity: This type of resistance occurs when companies are making a change in the organizational structure or if there is any sort of restructuring or downscaling. People are always insecure of their stability and fear the same. 4. Timing matters the most: Putting too much change on the employees over a short span of time can cause a lot of friction and resistance. Timing is very important. Change needs to be implemented at right time with the right level of insight and understanding. 5. Individual’s perception of change: Different people have different level of tolerance when it comes to accepting change. Some of them enjoy as they feel it is challenging and gives them the opportunity to explore and learn new things and thus grow professionally and personally. Others avoid change since they are happy with the set routine cycle. Now that we have understood why people resist change, let us look at how we manage this resistance: 1. Identify the source of resistance: Identify which individual or group has the biggest potential to oppose positive change. Then you have to separate them. Doing so begins with understanding their perspectives. They might be doing this because either they don’t agree with your analysis of the problem or they think they have unique experience, expertise, or information that hasn’t been sufficiently considered. Another reason people might resist is that they feel rushed. They don’t have enough time to assimilate the new road or manage with the situation emotionally. 2. Talking with the resistors: As you talk to people who resist change, keep in mind the below pointers • Forget efficiency: Change cannot be hurried into. It needs to be introduced subtly. It does not happen over email or webcasts. You need to personally talk to your people about it. If an individual or a work group is of importance to your organization, and they are resisting change then you need to talk to them in person, show to them the reason behind that change and give them the time they need to accept it. • Focus on listening: Being a good listener is the first step, to introducing the change to the people. However great your business plan is, you must make everyone feel understood. • Be open to change yourself: Have an open attitude. Be ready to learn something new and edit your plans if needed. If a resistor senses you are listening only to get what you want then he/she would not open up and definitely won’t get involved in the change. Make the resistor feel that their opinions/feelings matter when making decisions related to change • Have multiple conversations: In the first conversation, listen to the reason of resistance and understand it. In the second conversation, your goal is to make clear that you have reflected on what you heard; to summarize what will be different, or not, in your approach to the change based on that conversation; and to explain why. Do not respond immediately in between the two conversations, as the resistor would feel that you have not fully analyzed their point of view. But do not wait too much as well, since at that point the person feels ignored and elapsed. Effective change management is critical to the vitality and progress of every organization. Where most people trip up is in failing to manage resistance effectively. Doing so requires an ability to listen to your resistor, analyze their aversion, consider their thoughts and feelings, and explain how it has changed your thinking, if not your plan. This is a time-consuming but effective process. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Want to Lead in Today’s complex World? Here’s How…](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-lead-in-todays-complex-world-heres-how/): The challenges in today’s world are extremely complex. We need leaders who can think clear, fast and act decisively within the complex systems. We have leaders in every field, like Warren Buffet who is the leader in financial market, Bill Gates who is a leader in computer software, and Late Steve jobs who has proved himself a leader in electronic gadgets. Leadership in today’s volatile and complex world is about deeply listening to a diversity of voices and then taking action. Below are 4 effective ways, to help yourself and your organization become a leader, irrespective of the sector/industry: Keep a true commitment to change in the face of challenges and Uncertainty: When we come to terms with the fact that change is needed in the organization, it is not that we realize and implement the change. To make a systematic change, we need to first understand the need for that change, and then accept that the road to that change will be challenging. Apart from that, the road to the implementation of change will be filled with a number of drawbacks and a lot of patience to build the ladder of change. A change can never happen within a day or a week, nor will the results of change, be seen any soon after implementation. What is important is not to introduce the major change, but rather break down the major change into short-term enforcements which won’t be resisted and further help in leading to the success of the implementation of the major change. Ability to listen and a capacity to understand other’s viewpoint: In any organization, or in any group, the leader should always be a better listener than a speaker. Listening just does not mean to hear what the person is saying, rather hear, understand and empathize with the speaker. With the skill of being a good listener, the leader is gifted with the capacity to understand other’s viewpoint too. With being a good listener, it helps the leader or an individual to take better and efficient decisions. Listening helps to analyze, and make corrective decisions. Although listening may consume a lot of patience initially, but it helps to carry out work easily in latter stages. It helps to map out and understand the context in order to generate and implement the decided strategies and actions for the organization. Inspire commitment at all levels, not just the top. Address the root cause of the incidents, not the incident as a standalone: An organization is not made of the top-level management alone, rather an organization is that pyramid, which is strengthened from the bottom level of the organization. Thus, if some strategies are being implemented in the organization, or changes being introduced, it should not just be done for the top-level alone. The changes should be done justly at all the levels of the organization. Along with that, the top level should be open to accept and acknowledge the changes from the bottom and middle level as well. This will make the other levels feel important in the organization, and the top level will get to witness results quickly, as the other levels, accept their commitments wholeheartedly. When there are problems and incidents in the organization, rather than looking at the incident and trying to solve it temporarily, it is better to take out some more time, and invest a bit more, and try to find the root cause of the incident, and solve it such that the incident is permanently resolved, and there are no chances of any such incident occurring again. Be open to new ways of working, and show the willingness to innovate, adapt, and take risks: Never be satisfied with what you have achieved, and at the same time never compare yourself with others, Until and unless, we don’t take risks, there is no scope of growth for us as an individual or an organization. Just by taking the risk doesn’t mean that we indulge ourselves in everything, taking the risk, means to first decide, whether the risk is worth indulging in, and second; whether it will help us in becoming better. Always take a calculative risk. For every organization it is very important, to keep getting better, and to set new short-term goals for itself, to reach its vision. To do this, the organization should compare with itself, and try to improvise in their own strategies and become better than they were, thus stepping up to become leaders in their fields. Thus improve your organization’s performance through leadership. Successful leaders never stop learning. They learn from their mistakes and they learn from their success. They are always adapting themselves and mentoring others for the better. Written  By Faber Ancita Lobo.  
- [Congratulations to Team Strongpak !](https://faberinfinite.com/congratulations-to-team-strongpak/): Excellence is a habit and our client Stronpak has this habit of winning. We congratulate them for winning another award.On behalf of Team Faber Infinite, our heartiest wishes on winning the company of the year award from the Kitwe Chamber of Commerce & Industry on the consumer manufacturing category and the second price for industrial manufacturing category. Working with Strongpak has been a real honor and we value our association with them. We wish them all the success for many more years to come.
- [What is Important – Attitude Or Intelligence?](https://faberinfinite.com/what-is-important-attitude-or-intelligence/): We usually find people climbing the ladders of success, and we admire them saying that they all are intelligent personalities and that is what leads them to success. A new research carried out at Standford will change not just your mind, but your attitude too. Research suggests, “A person’s attitude is a better predictor of his/her success than his/her IQ” According to the research, a person’s attitude falls into two categories: 1. Fixed Mindset 2. Growth Mindset A Fixed Mindset is a person who believes that they know themselves the best and agree that if they are challenged with something more than they are capable of, they tend to feel hopeless and overwhelmed. While for a person with Growth Mindset; although knowing their limitations well, they believe they can improve with efforts. They outperform those with a fixed mindset, even if they have low IQ. Where a Fixed Mindset prefers to take the road most commonly traveled and prefer a smooth going life, while keeping the obstacles at bay, a Growth Mindset, on the other hand, embraces challenges, find a route through obstacles, and learn from their criticism. There are a few strategies that will help you develop a growth mindset: Don’t Stay Helpless: In our life, we all have faced such situations where we are helpless and no matter how much efforts we put, we cannot come out of it. At this juncture, we have two roads, either learn from it and move forward, or let it drag you and consume you completely. In situations as such, one must give oneself time to understand the situation and try to find ways to deal with it, rather succumb to the feeling of helplessness. In the world history, there are many personalities who have fought this situation, Steve Jobs the founder of Apple Inc., was thrown out of his own firm for ‘his idea of launching Apple electronic devices’, Walt Disney known for Mickey Mouse, was fired from Kansa City Star, saying that ‘he lacked imagination and had no good idea.’ Had these people succumbed to rejections there wouldn’t have been Apple devices and no Mickey Mouse Club House in our childhood. Be Passionate: Passion is what makes you outstanding. Everyone is not blessed with the same quality, but what we lack in talent, can be complimented through passion. Having a passion and zeal to achieve something in life will take you to different levels, even if we have less IQ. The best example of passion is Late Dhirubhai Ambani the owner of Reliance started from a pump attendant but his determination, passion, and zeal made Reliance what it is today. Take Action: It is not that the people with a growth mindset are born with some super power, they are born just like any normal being, but they never let setbacks and fears affect them, rather they sort actions to overcome it. They do this because they know that there is no perfect moment to move ahead or for the things to happen, rather they sort ways and take actions to empower their failures and worries into positive focused energy. Walk an EXTRA Mile: It is not in literal sense, that they walk an extra mile to be successful, rather they try to differentiate themselves from others. Martial Art fame Bruce Lee had once said, “Quit and you might as well be dead. If you always put limits on what you can do physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are no plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his levels and break his limits.” Expect Results: People with a growth mindset attitude, know that they will keep failing from time to time, but they won’t stop trying with the fear of failure or with the results that actually motivate them and gives them a chance to try and rectify their mistakes. Be Flexible: Being flexible is a lot important for an organization. Being flexible means accepting the change, living by the change, and trying to differentiate themselves from the competitors. Everyone encounters unanticipated adversity. People with an empowered growth oriented mindset embrace adversity as a mean for improvement, as opposed to something that holds them back. Being flexible is to face the unexpected challenges and flex until they get the results. Don’t Complain: Complaining and giving excuses is a sign of fixed mindset. Never complain when things don’t go your way. A person with a growth mindset looks for opportunities in everything, so there is no room for complaining. So go bring it all together. Transform your attitude and grow leaps and bounds personally and professionally. Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Is AI going to change lives for the better?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-ai-going-to-change-lives-for-the-better/): Technology is transforming by the day and so is Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is a big play field and is growing leaps and bounds. AI is a technological advancement that makes the machine do a task that otherwise requires human intervention. Some of the activities with AI are designed includes Speech recognition, Learning, Planning, and Problem-solving. Facebook’s AI Experiment: Abandoning Chatbots and the Unintended Consequences There are experiments conducted and experiments are all about trial and errors. One such headline that grabbed attention was Facebook abandoning their chatbots. Facebook has been working with AI in its chatting features. Researchers at Facebook built a chatbot earlier this year that was meant to learn how to negotiate by mimicking a human. But when the social network paired two of the programmed robots nicknamed Alice and Bob to trade against each other they started to learn their own bizarre form of communication. The bizarre discussion came as Facebook challenged its chatbots to try and negotiate with each other attempting to sell hats, books each of which were given a value. But they quickly broke down as they started to chat with each other in a language only they understood. Since all this was incomprehensible to humans, Facebook had to abandon the experiment. The Phenomenal Promise of AI: Simplifying, Accelerating, and Improving Our World It is as concerning as it is amazing – simultaneously a glimpse of both the awesome and horrifying potential of AI. Scientists and tech luminaries, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Steve Wozniak have warned that AI could lead to unforeseen consequences. Machine learning and artificial intelligence have phenomenal potential to simplify, accelerate, and improve many aspects of our lives. Computers can consume and process massive quantities of data and extract patterns and useful information at a rate exponentially faster than humans, and that potential is being explored and developed around the world. You like it or not, it is a change that will come sooner or later but we need to proceed with caution though. We need to closely monitor and understand the self-perpetuating evolution of an artificial intelligence and always maintain appropriate checks and balances. What is your take? Have a Transforming Tuesday! Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Three Crucial Tips for Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/three-crucial-tips-for-employee-engagement/): Employee Engagement is a major problem for most of the companies.  It plays a crucial role in keeping the employees hooked onto a particular company. Here, hooked on does not refer to being clinged to the company just for the sake of staying or because of the challenges encountered in getting a new job. It means that they stay with that company because they want to because of the emotional connect and positive approaches they have developed for the company over the period of time. In real sense, what is Employee Engagement? In simple words, employee engagement refers to the type of relationship any employee has with the organization in terms of emotional attachment and a positive and enthused approach towards work which keeps them engaged with the organization. This keeps him on his toes to work the best for his beloved organization. Having said that, organizations are facing challenges in sustaining their best employees. Many organizations lack employee engagement. In thi article, we will talk about some Tips for Employee Engagement. Below are few pointers which would help you to sustain your employees, to keep them motivated and to keep them engaged: Focus on Employee Performance: One common mistake that we often make is that we focus only on outcomes. We await the final outcome and its result. Obviously the end result is important but also the process undertaken to achieve those results are equally important. Hence employee performance is an important parameter that needs to be taken because the outcomes depend on the performance. Performance metrics tell managers how employees stack up to expectations, where they are succeeding and struggling and what changes in behavior are most effective. Guide with the help of visual tools: Once performance is gauged the next step involves guiding the employees wherever they would be making mistakes. Mere judging without guiding won’t bring any results.  Guiding needs to be very effective. To make it impactful, visual tools can be the right aide. Visuals impact more than words or numbers. Thus use visuals to explain the performance, the flaws and the areas of improvements which would make the process easy to understand and remember. Reassessing the set expectations: Once the employees are given guidance and feedbacks about their performance. The last step would be to reassess the set expectations alongside the employee roles in achieving the same. This step is very important to assess the achievements with reference to the expectations. This exercise of involving employees in and reassessing employee roles is perfect for reminding employees of the value they bring to the company and for helping them understand how much they can learn and grow. Employee engagement holds extreme significance today. Hence measures should be taken to help Improve employee engagement with the help of proper trainings, discussions and employee involvements for the development of the organization. Written by Faber Ramya Pillai
- [Productivity improvement is inversely proportional to Cost incurred – A Myth?](https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-improvement-is-inversely-proportional-to-cost-incurred-a-myth/): Ever thought of an increase in productivity at a low cost? Or substantial improvement in productivity with available resources? Ever thought of an increase in productivity at a low cost? Or substantial improvement in productivity with available resources? Well, Faber Infinite knows that productivity improvement is significant for every organization and considering the same we have been successfully helping organizations in achieving productivity improvement with the existing/available resources. Amongst the core values, one value which Faber lives by is ‘Fabulous is Tangible.’ By this, Faber Infinite believes to, commit to maximizing Return on Investments (ROI) for clients. It has lived by its value of under committing and over performing. A brief of the successful approach adopted by Faber Infinite to help one of the clients is as follows: • Basic Stability of physical workplace and processes: This involved identifying all the inefficiencies in the system. The inefficiencies or wastes in the system include overproduction, waiting, transporting, inappropriate processing, unnecessary inventory, unnecessary/ excess motion, and defects. This was followed by establishing and rolling out process standards across the operations. This helped in workplace management, maintained a standard work environment and these were the foundation steps towards building continual improvement culture. • Materials Waste Reduction: Material cost being one of the key cost elements and hence material wastage reduction initiative was adopted to optimize and reduce waste of resources via focused improvement projects. It helped in reduction of wastage of resources thereby saving on the costs. • Problem Solving Projects: Another important step was to analyze the reasons for the shortfall of resources and failure to deliver planned throughput. Post proper root cause analysis, the reasons for the shortfall was determined. Shortfall arising due to lack of skilled manpower, defects, material unavailability, etc. were resolved by structured problems solving tools and methodology of 8D to reduce and eliminate the impact. • Equipment Health Management: Autonomous Maintenance is a proven pillar of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) which was adopted here to restore the basic condition of the equipment and tools etc. By a structured roll out, it helped to improve and sustain the working conditions, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It further enabled to increase efficiency and quality of operation of machines and manpower. These were some of the proven methods which were adopted by team Faber to assist the client with an immense improvement in productivity (by almost staggering 40-45%) without incurring any additional cost. These tools and approaches were implemented in such a way that it met the clients’ needs, gifting them the maximum returns. Faber has taken such initiatives at multitudes of its clients across industries including complex engineering industry where the client is one of the largest manufacturer of cryogenic tanks to textile machine manufacturing industry to the ceramic manufacturing industry. The solutions are applicable across industries and sectors. These concepts are industry neutral and can be deployed at your organization as well. For more details about our services and unique offerings get in touch with our expert team at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Why Leaders Eat Last! - 8 Key Learnings from this book](https://faberinfinite.com/why-leaders-eat-last/): As a part of the Faber series, we are here again with excerpts from another leadership book – ‘Why Leaders Eat Last?’ the sequel of ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek. The core purpose of this book is not to help others become better leaders so that they can jump up the corporate ladder, motivate subordinates, or increase productivity. The message of this book is that we need better leaders so we can have a better world; empathy is at the heart of his argument. Leadership is not a position you have, but the person you are. When leading an organization, you don’t want a team of dedicated followers ready to do your every whim, you want people who can lead themselves and those around them to accomplish the tasks. This book is more of a biological view than of a management view which shows the acts of great leaders sacrificing their own comfort for the good and betterment of those in their care. It reveals the hidden dynamics that inspire leadership and trust. When danger is present, the group expects the leader to mitigate all threats even at the expense of their personal well-being. Understanding this deep-seated expectation is the key difference between someone who is just an “authority” versus a true “leader”. Below are the 8 Key Learnings from this book: 1. Cultivate a Circle of Safety Use the Circle of Safety to invest time and energy to guard against the dangers outside. This will be helpful to freely exchange information and ideas to move the organization forward. 2. EMPATHY is a Crucial Commodity To develop and cultivate the Circle of Safety the Biggest habit to develop within us is EMPATHY. Empathy to treat the employees with equal respect and dignity. It is a core tenet of Workplace Management. 3. Autonomy Matters Lack of control at Work = Stress + Emotional Strain. The best solution to over autonomy matters is to give employees more control. 4. Environment is Everything The environment of work should be encouraging. And meet the basic human needs to live, to learn, to feel valued and signify so that the employees thrive to work. The leader has the rights and responsibilities to set up the environment that he wishes to see in the organization. 5. Get to know Your ‘HAPPY CHEMICALS’ The 4 ‘Happy Chemicals’ in your Brain + Body Endorphin: The pain-masking chemical• Dopamine: The goal achieving chemical Serotonin: The leadership chemical Oxytocin: The chemical of love the main chemicals in our body ‘Selfish Chemical’ and ‘Selfless Chemical’ depend upon us with what to react. 6. Become a Long Term Leader The impact of leadership is best judged when one compares pictures of themselves over a period of week or month, and there is a stark difference. 7. The ‘Welch Way’ is the ‘Wrong way’ Sinek solidifies his argument that leading for long-term is better than leading for the short-term by comparing two such leaders. Two large organizations both of which you’ve probably heard of: The short-term leader: Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric The long-term leader:  Jeff Sinegal, former CEO of Costco Sinek compares GE vs Costco by measuring profits via the rise and fall of their stocks and then connecting those ebbs and flows to the decisions made by the leadership. 8. Short Term Vs Long-term Leadership The best difference between a short term leadership and long term leadership. When any CEO holds their position for more than few years, they end up taking decisions on their OWN PERSONAL INTEREST than as a LEADER FOR THE ORGANIZATION. The book shows us the real meaning of a leader, and what is the difference between a leader and a boss. It gives us an insight into thoughts to ponder upon, whether we wish to be a leader in the organization or just a boss. It demonstrates the depth and breadth of leadership cascades from the executive board to management, which in turn cascades down the daily basis shaping of the culture of the organization. Written By Faber Ancita Lobo
- [Essential Skill Analysis to Improve Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/skill-analysis-driver-to-improve-employee-engagement/): Lot has been said about employee engagement. A recent survey by a leading analytics organization says that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. This study was conducted across 142 countries. The survey means that about 1 in 8 workers roughly 180 million employees in the countries studied. They are committed to their jobs and likely to be making positive contributions to their organizations. In this article, we will discuss about some Important Essential Skill Analysis to Improve Employee Engagement. The bulk of employees worldwide — 63% — are “not engaged,” meaning they lack motivation and are less likely to invest cautious effort in organizational goals or profits. And 24% are “actively disengaged,” indicating they are unhappy and unproductive at work and accountable to spread negativity to coworkers. In rough numbers, this translates into 900 million not engaged and 340 million actively disengaged workers around the globe. Such alarmingly low levels of engagement among global workers continue to hinder gains in economic productivity and life quality in much of the world. Some Factors to Improve Employee Engagement The findings also reveal differences among employees with different job types and at different skill levels within countries. Recognizing these differences can help managers understand how these factors could affect workplace characteristics. And help them identify specific barriers they must overcome to build more engaged workforces. Regardless of region or industry, businesses seeking to adapt to rapidly changing global economic conditions must learn how to maintain high-productivity workplaces. Also grow their customer bases in widely varying social, cultural, and economic environments. Skill gap analysis and further training/ sensitization the employees and better fitment are couple of key drivers for better employee engagement. Team Faber Infinite has rolled out an exceptional proven approach to analyze the skills of the employees. This skill analysis platform PriZma is devised to help organizations overcome the challenges relating to skill development and engagement among employees. PriZma aids to analyze the opportunities associated with employees with respect to skill development, provide solutions to overcome the challenges and would enable to understand the desired skills for the employees to perform better. Apart from focusing on the gaps and coming up with the solutions for the same, PriZma will also facilitate to make a learning plan considering the needs and training requirements of the employees. Faber helps Organization to Improve Engagement Team Faber has been helping organizations to conduct pertinent and customized skill analysis by deploying PriZma. Organizations are finding it exceptionally helpful and comfortable using PriZma. Moreover, it helps them to get appropriate results enabling them to design the way forward to impart training. And all this is conducted at a click of buttons, eliminating all hassle and subjective feedbacks! The expert team of Faber Infinite has designed the platform considering its vast experience of dealing with various traits and skills requirement, coupled with cloud based IT systems, making it effective, efficient and error free! Since people spend a substantial part of their lives working. As a result, the quality of their workplace experience is undoubtedly reflected in the quality of their lives. If as the research says 1 in 8 employees are fully engaged or active, so a majority of them display negative experience at work, then the global economy will continue to remain sluggish. Hence increasing workplace engagement is vital to achieving sustainable growth for companies, communities, and countries — and for putting the global economy back on track to a more prosperous and peaceful future. Team Faber can justly help you save from such a distressing future and can deliver the most appropriate results. For further details, get in touch with our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Grow Your Topline Multifolds!](https://faberinfinite.com/grow-your-topline-multifolds/): Selling is one of the core concerns of several organizations worldwide. With the increase in competition, it is a dire need to withstand oneself in the market. In fact, it is among one of the most difficult tasks, which needs serious measures to tackle the problems associated with it. There’s no magic wand which can increase the sales over a period of time, however, Faber Infinite has devised a remarkable approach to create and raise demand, increase sales and enable organizations to sell better. One of our clients – a leading FMCG player in Africa, was able to achieve a significant increase in sales with the Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite.  Below are few of the key drivers of the approach: • Customer Needs: Customer needs are at the focal importance for the growth of sales, without which sales cannot take place. Customer preferences and choices need to be taken care of while designing and rolling out any sales plan for the market. As a part of the project, the team conducted a thorough market study and understood the customer demands and trends. Traditionally, the client has been into frozen segment, however, the market study revealed that demand is for fresh products and is one of the key changes to be incorporated in the product mix. • Competitive Analysis: The second vital task is to analyze the competition & competitors in the market. One needs to know the strengths of competitors and weaknesses of self to come out with a clear, successful strategy. On same lines, a thorough study was conducted to understand how the client fares in terms of distribution and pricing in comparison to the competition. • Value Delivered: Every organization adds value and passes it on further to their stakeholders with their products and services. The values delivered by a product include its benefits, advantages, and features. These factors need to be critically identified and communicated to the customers in an appropriate way. • Team SWOT: The most important factor that can make or break an organization is its team. Hence, it is extremely important to understand the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the team. Team Faber conducted SWOT analysis for the client sales team and assisted them via sales training, assessment, and recruitment. The sales team structure of client team was improved to suit the requirements. • Team Alignment: Team Alignment is yet another important aspect, as it can further help to clear out the confusion of who’s handling what and how. There will be no confusion regarding the same and also will bring in • Sales Management: The standards for overall sales process management including all the aspects such as financial planning, logistics planning, and customer service were established/ improved for smooth order processing. All these factors need to be addressed for increasing the sales. Today, almost after six months of engagement; the sales have almost doubled and sustained at improved levels. Needless to mention, that it positively impacts profit margins. Along with revenue growth, the consulting team has initiated working on operational excellence parameters as well for the client. Similar exercise has been conducted for a dairy industry client as well, with phenomenal results. Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite is industry neutral and can be deployed across sectors/ geographies. Team Faber Infinite has been proficient in providing sales training, designing and implementing sales growth strategies across various industries and sectors. The practice of the above framework, designed by Faber Infinite has helped a number of happy clients willing to increase their sales growth. Please contact our expert team, for further details and sub elements of the framework to accelerate your sales growth. Written by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [See how our Inventory Management Module helped](https://faberinfinite.com/how-inventory-management-module-by-faber-infinite-helped-our-clients-during-recent-gst-roll-out/): GST seeks to unify the entire country into a single market with only one value-added tax levy on all the goods and services across states at the point of consumption, subsuming up to 16 different taxes and levies that were imposed. This is expected to make the movement goods across the state borders smoother, faster and easier, though some experts have raised concerns over the complications that could arise out of a multiple tax-slab structure. However, managing inventories during this moment of change has got real challenging. In today’s era of changes in the tax system, inventories in the supply chain pipeline can make or break the situation for any business. As it is said, it the supply chains which compete and not the organizations! Hence tracking and maintaining optimum inventories is critical and also it is difficult to estimate where, what, how much is required. Over stocking has issues with blocking the working capital and under stocking has huge risks of opportunity loss attached to it. Inventory Management Consultants of Faber Infinite Consulting has worked closely with a client struggling with inventory management and implemented an accurate and fitting Inventory Management Module based on scientific calculations developed by the team Faber Infinite. This system is capable of equipping the client to understand the current inventory situations, future state of inventory details, proposed savings in each component, what needs to stored and most important in what quantities. With this inventory management system in place, the impact of GST on the distribution business has been minimum. It can be attributed to having right and optimum stocks in the pipeline. The scientific inventory management module is industry neutral and has capability to resolve supply chain and inventory issues from the root in any organization. It also assists in deciding how much to order and when to order. The system takes care of inherent delays attributed to either supply uncertainties or demand variations upto 2 sigma levels – which is capable to cover 95% of the variations. With the Kanban system implemented, the system gets more flexible, responsive and agile now. Reduction in wasted efforts / wasted time, the unnecessary time wasted in searching and managing excess inventory comes as cherry on the cake. The overall savings in inventory value for the said engagement (after implementation of inventory management module) is a mix of positive and negative savings. Positive saving is achieved by controlling over stocking while negative savings results are to avoid under stocking. Team Faber can help the clients across industries and geographies to have systems in place that are futuristic. Written By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [7 ways to Lead your Team through Ambiguity](https://faberinfinite.com/7-ways-to-lead-your-team-through-ambiguity-2/): Dealing with ambiguity is a capability that is quickly pushing its way to the top of the list of pre-requisites of a good and capable employee. It is also considered as an important survival skill down the organizational chart. Acting with less information, adjusting to change, working without any direction, assuming what is possible in an uncertain future – these are skills no longer reserved for senior management. This is definitely not easy, but during such times it is more important to actually connect at a human level with your employees. You need to build an understanding of what your team is thinking and how the team feels. The team needs to know that you are working in their best interests. Today, we are going to talk about 7 ways that will help a leader help his team deal with ambiguity. Understand your own emotional reactions Begin with you. In times of uncertainty, if you are not performing and leading the team in the best possible capability, then accept and admit it. Discuss your concerns with someone you trust the most. Get your aggression relieving session done in private. In uncertain times, nothing will calm and inspire your team more than you and your confident attitude to get over such situations. Be clear about clear situations It is normal to feel like everything is uncertain in times of uncertainty. But that is never true. Be clear nd confident on what you know, what will not change irrespective of the situation and something that your team can always count on. Know what is true and what is not Everything put together you might get more information. So do such exercise more often. Get all the members of the team together and get information. But try not to focus on what you already know. Depending on the area of expertise of the people understand and get information from the team members. Such brainstorming sessions can help you gather more information. Stick to your decisions When you make a decision, stick to that. Do not allow second-guessing options. If at all you still want to change the course of action, do that with all the confidence and boldness. But if not, then let the plan go as decided. Motivate those that take risk In the past, if you reacted negatively when someone had approached with new ideas, accept it, and commit your teammates that you would support in case of calculated risks. Allow all the members to work and think in full capacity and also allow the flow of creativity and innovation. Be prepared for alternative situations as well Since the future is uncertain, it is very difficult to be assured of it. But one needs to be prepared for the future as well. Develop alternative plans. Discuss and develop contingency plans as well. Engage your teammates The more people you engage in problem-solving, the less scary the problem becomes. Engage people from other departments for some cross-functional collaboration. Get this approved from a third party. Hence, the most important message that we want to give via this article is to keep your calm in such situations and focus on all possible outcomes. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal and Faber Mayuri
- [Inventory Management and On Time Delivery via Lean Tools](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-via-lean-tools/): Did you know one of the leading steel mills was able to cut down the lead time by 60% just by implementing lean principles? The large division of a steel mill had been losing money for many years. The parent company was seriously considering shutting down. Apart from the poor financial performance, the division had a lot of cash tied-up in inventory, had a higher lead time and delivery performance problems. In the case of this organisation, they were not working as an ideal steel mill. While there is a series of standard objections, one of the most important is local optimization. This organisation’s measurement and reward systems were typical like – everyone was only trying to maximize the efficiency of the individual operating unit. This certainly results in a different set of operating rules at each unit. One unit wants to run by grade, another by thick to thin, others by wide to narrow, light to dark, and so on. Usually, this optimal schedule can, and often do lose sight of the customer promised date. Also, these queues extended lead times, hide defects, increased handling damage, added difficulty to the scheduling process, tied up cash and space, caused excessive expediting, etc. The organisation began by educating the management teams on the lean transformation journey. The goals for inventory reduction and on-time delivery were set, and commitment was attained. Brief overview introduction classes were provided to all the employees about lean. Then scheduling rules were removed, internal teams were formed to circulate the process, kanban controls were initiated, etc. Inventory Reduction through Lean Tools Inventory reduction goals were pushed down the verticals of the organization. These goals were readily understood at the unit level: Kanban limits, i.e. a specific number of coils allowed in front of an operating unit, were to be reduced to an agreed amount over a specific period of time. Apart from that, other prime factors in achieving World Class operating performance was done by controlling the order booking. Strict capacity loading rules were implanted to assure that the mill was not overloaded. Within the span of 10 months, $16 million was generated by inventory reduction, lead times were cut by 60%, the average lot size was cut by 65%, average coil mass was increased by 9%, on-time delivery improved by 40%, profitability improved by $5 million and much more. The same can happen in your organisation. So, have you implemented lean tools? 
- [Key to become a pro at crisis management.](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-become-a-pro-at-crisis-management/): In the journey of leadership, there will be times when you will face crisis. You will feel that your decisions are not going as per your willingness, or nothing works the way it is supposed to, your network does not seem to help either. You face various downfalls. But what matters is how you adapt to the mistakes you made during the time of crisis. This defines the true ability of a leader. Whether it is an error in judgment or failure of an entire plan. Every leader does face a crisis at some level in their life. That is the time when the leadership really matters. Hence, in this article today, we present to you the various ways a leader can adapt to get through the time of crisis which will helps the leader. Don’t let your mind control you In crisis, leaders usually find themselves in a stressful and tense atmosphere. There are a lot of mental, physical and psychological pressures that can divert you thus making you restless. You might end up shouting at others in the team. In situations like these, you might find giving up being the best option. You should rather think and understand that you have are much more in control than you think. It is this time when you should take charge of your thoughts, emotions and the way you deal with issues. Over time, a good leader will become proficient at exercising self-control. At times, a regular reminder of the vision and mission of the organisation can help you and your team promote self-control. But, when other things do not work, find ways to get a good night’s sleep and start fresh the next day. Be Positive to Become Productive Positivity leads to higher productivity. But, when you are not feeling positive, you can either get caught in the negativity around you, or you can choose to change it into something positive. There’s always a choice. Your subordinates look up to you at the times of tough situation. They even observe how prepared you are to fight the tough situations. Hence, at the toughest times, demonstrate an overall positive attitude and work on a game plan with the intention to keep your employees inspired and productive. Managing expectations At the time of crisis, people want to get over it as soon as possible. And being a leader, it is your duty to learn from the situation and you will be expected to find a way out of the situation. Being a leader, you will have to learn how to handle the situation by managing the expectations of your subordinates as well. Also, make sure your subordinates are informed and updated about the situations and the timings it might take to get out of the crisis. This will help them understand the hard work done by a leader to get them out of the situation. Don’t take it personally A good leader doesn’t take failures personally. Because they know that failures are the stepping stone to success. Not necessary every strategy or decision that you take will be right and yield fruitful results. At the time of crises, you must be calm and composed. Make sure you get out of the situation as soon as possible. In situations like these, the more you take things personally, the more difficult it gets to maintain your calm. Hence, to become a pro at managing crisis at your workplace, you can follow the pointers mentioned above. It will help your ship sail smoothly even at the time of crisis and will make you stand out of the crowd.
- [Friday Fact - On Time in Full delivery with Continuous Improvement tools!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-on-time-in-full-delivery-with-continuous-improvement-tools/): Did you know, one of the leading producers of sheet metal stamping, forming and painting was able to attain ~100% on-time delivery by implementing lean and Kanban techniques? The organization was facing pressure from its clients to reduce the lead time and improve on-time delivery. This led to serious problems like losing some big clients. These clients were demanding the shipment very next day and the organization was failing to fulfill the same. The organization had spent months trying to make the change on their own, with minimal success. But the lead times were still too high and delivery performance was not at all good or acceptable. Later, the organization decided to adopt lean, Kanban and continuous improvement techniques to upgrade their practices towards adapting change and improving their services. Everyone in the organization was briefed about the need for change and an absolute schedule. They explained to their employees the importance of the commitment they give to their clients while making an order. They explained that a commitment is a promise and when it is broken, it doesn’t feel good. This is why the organization adopted a policy that the day ends when the work ends not the other way around which used to happen before. Overtime was authorized and was basically automatic if they had the need to achieve the daily schedule. The other issue the organization was facing was creating a flexible team. As the majority of the organizations, the workforce of this organization was also on the first shift. This was a problem since many orders were received later at night and had to give for shipment on the next day itself. Hence, the organization needed to change the balance of the shifts. Targets were set to progressively move toward the balance of the day and night shifts. This was later accomplished via various other ways. Weeks after implementing these tools on-time delivery reached almost 100%. The average lead times were reduced from 2 weeks to 3 days. Set-up times and lot sizes were reduced by 75%. Total inventory was reduced by 50%, and much more. These tools have helped the organization to regenerate its place in the market and regenerate its prestige in the mind of its customers. So, have you started implementing such tools and techniques?
- [Be a Leader, Inspire Others!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-leader-inspire-others/): Becoming a leader is not an easy task. The job title comes along with major responsibilities. One of which is to keep inspiring and motivating others. Leadership is not just a title but a characteristic to live by. It is difficult to adapt as per different cultures and different mindsets to make sure you lead everyone the best way. Leadership is a support system for people of the organisation. Organizations should support leaders to reach greater heights and success. Several senior leaders expect their employees to follow them just because of their title or their place in the organization’s hierarchy. The truth is various employees do follow the leaders just because of their place in the organization’s hierarchy. This would not help the leaders to get the best work out of their employees/team. Below mentioned are pointers leaders must demonstrate to become an inspiring leader every employee would look up to! Adapt actions that inspire A leader should not only ask the employees to follow the commitments, but they should themselves demonstrate the commitments they are seeking from their employees. Employees will learn from the leaders because it will inspire employees to act in the same way. Passion The nature of the vision and mission of an organisation is critical for making others feel like their work has a meaning beyond the tasks they perform daily. Hence, at times, leaders must help their team by explaining the vision and mission of the organisation. Communicating this on a regular basis will help a leader reinforce the reason your organization exists. Listening An inspirational leader listens to the employees in their organization. Talk to the team, listen to their ideas about working on various projects and much more. A leader must not listen just for the sake of listening; they must make sure they give a chance to their employees to implement the ideas. This will help them feel that their ideas are listened to and taken seriously. Involvement To experience encouragement, employees need to feel involved and engaged. Involving employees goes beyond the range of just listening and providing feedback. For real involvement, employees need to feel connected to the actions so that the involvement leads to the accomplishment of the goals or final decisions. Hence, refer to these points to make sure your team follows you not just for the sake of it but for real. As John Quincy Adams quotes – “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” 
- [Productivity Improvement for FMCG Industry using Lean tools](https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-improvement-for-fmcg-industry/): Did you know, one of the FMCG organizations was able to improve its productivity by 4x just by implementing lean solutions? The organization is one of the leading FMCG product producers. They were not being able to meet the sales forecast because the product prices were low. The senior management team also considered adding an additional 20-25 production works to achieve the demand. But after doing so, quality defects started bothering. 99% of the time there was a defect in the product and most of them were identified and corrected internally. Productivity Improvement in FMCG Industry The organization later decided to implement lean and five S. Employees were asked to form Natural Work Teams (NWTs) and work collectively in a new cellular layout designed to implement the process. Five S and Kanban was used to reduce inventory that was in work in process and was able to conduct uninterrupted replenishment of parts. Various new innovative solutions, components, and hardware standardizations were suggested and implemented. Common tools that were needed, but in constant short supply, were bought and kept in precise and accessible locations. A turntable was constructed for easy lifting of heavy machine parts. Before implementing these processes, each employee from the production department was expected to produce 1.8% of the primary unit each day. But after implementing the processes, each individual employee was capable of producing one unit every 15 minutes, 4 units per hour, and 32 units per day, with 99% perfect quality using only 4 assemblers. Here, you can see the improvement in productivity by more than 4 times. Work in process and finished goods inventories were under control, and there was no need to hire additional production staff. As you can see, implementing continuous improvement initiatives helps organizations not only save time and money but also utilize it properly and increase the overall productivity to meet the target demands. So, have you started implementing lean and continuous improvement initiatives to improve organizational productivity?
- [A healthy mind lives in a healthy body](https://faberinfinite.com/a-healthy-mind-lives-in-a-healthy-body/): In today’s busy and stressful life, it is becoming very difficult for people to keep up with their health. But one thing they miss to understand is better the health, better is mental health, decision making, productivity, and much more. In this Transformation Tuesday, we are going to talk about how leaders can benefit from a healthy lifestyle to excel at work. Exercise Exercise is a very effective part of anyone’s life. It doesn’t just help one staying physically fit and healthy but also helps to stay mentally fit and healthy. Exercise helps one improve energy and reduce stress. It also helps in having a clear thought process, provides better solutions for problem-solving, improves focus, improves creativity and much more. Apart from that, it improves mood, confidence along with the sense of wellbeing. Eat Healthy It is shown in various researches that the type of food you intake, helps you a lot for the long term health of your brain. Eating healthy keeps you stay fresh and healthy. It reduces the risk of falling sick and hence leads to regularly showing up at work and working with a fresh mind. Nutrition plays a vital role in improving workplace productivity. Research has found that poor employee health is a leading cause of decreased productivity worldwide. Obesity and related health problems also impact workplace productivity. It was also found that those who have better health, they will be able to work longer and achieve higher results over the period of their life. Rest Since we all know, stress has become a part of one’s day to day life. Continued stress happens to get one in trouble. Stress and hormonal changes occurred due to stress affect the brain. Hence relaxation and rest are necessary. One should take breaks in their day to day work only to rest. Rest and relaxation help one handle ambiguity and uncertainty better. Sleep Sleep is one of the most important factors in everyone’s life. Sleep is a critical aspect of good health, mental sharpness, and consistent energy. In fact, we can work even better with no food than no sleep. A leader should have a healthy and fit lifestyle to be successful because as an English proverb goes – “A healthy mind lives in a healthy body”
- [Friday Fact -  Kanban for improving product line capacity](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-kanban-for-improving-product-line-capacity/): Did you know, one of the global producers of cables and assemblies was able to improve the capacity of the product line by ~35% by implementing Kanban? The global leader was facing issues regarding reducing setup time and work-in-progress inventory. Along with that, they were also facing quality issues. This was because of the long and common product runs that they were not able to reduce lead time. To solve this issue, the organization began by streamlining the processes and equipment. Along with that, the organization established a Kanban system in between cable processing functions required upstream processes to stop building products that couldn’t finish because of the resources and equipment running at full capacity.   Later, the organization level-loaded the production areas via Kanban and then established new procedures. Also, 5S was implemented along with Kanban to clean and organize the machinery and areas for maximum efficiency and quick changes.  By implementing these tools and techniques, the machine setup time that used to last for 3-12 hours has now fallen down to less than 35 minutes which added ~5 hours of additional up-time per machine, per day. Implementing these improvement initiatives helped the organization increase the capacity of this product line by ~35%, resulting in several million dollars of potential additional sales per year.  So have you started implementing continuous improvement initiatives that will help you be more profitable? Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to know how?
- [4 Steps to Reduce Employee Turnover](https://faberinfinite.com/steps-to-reduce-employee-turnover/): In today’s time, where the organisations turnover is directly related to employee productivity and retention, organisations should invest in preparing a turnover remedy, making quitting jobs less likely. A majority of turnover takes place in the first three months of an employee’s stay within an organisation. Leaders should start focusing on factors due to which employees leave and work towards reducing employee exit. The reasons why employees are leaving could be; unclear concepts about the nature of the job or a misfit with organisational culture. Hence, organisations need to look out for the below-listed points to make sure they don’t lose on employee turnover. Mostly all the organizations generally have recruiting processes in place where HR has a standard process across departments. There are other sources as well such as corporate websites, job search websites, walk-in interviews, etc., maintaining constantly open positions, and continually screening and interviewing candidates. These functions are necessary but do nothing to address the issues that lead to turnover. Hence, to improve the recruitment process, organisations should implement a process specific to the departments. Recruitment needs to be thoughtful. It cannot be the same across verticals or departments in the organization. Organisations should start giving incentives to those employees who refer their friends or family members for the recruitment. These hires have low turnover because their family members or friends would have already informed about the nature of the job. Once an employee accepts an offer, well structured and organized onboarding is critical for creating a good first impression, goodwill, and a strong foundation of understanding and skills. This process of onboarding happens fast so that the employees are on board as soon as possible. The exiting employees say – one of the reasons for quitting the job is that they don’t understand what is expected of them and how to execute their tasks. Except for the initial training received during the onboarding, it is good to provide new hires with additional opportunities to acquire new skills. This clearly shows a culture that believes in investing in its employees and gives them the tools and techniques to upgrade themselves and thus succeed. This will make employees even more productive because they now know how to excel at their jobs. Employees might even set their goals on staying for a longer period than they had intended as they contemplate advancing within a company whose culture, they find supportive. Organizations must also pay attention to cultivating a work culture that reduces turnover as much as possible and keeps employees engaged. And to make that happen, organisations need to invest time and resources in training and developing frontline managers to be better leaders. They must engage with their teams and show a few critical behaviours consistently like; building trust, inspire teamwork, and coach effectively. Hence, these pointers if considered by the organisations, they will be able to reduce the employee turnover ratio.
- [Friday Fact - Japanese techniques that can help you save millions!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-japanese-techniques-that-can-help-you-save-millions/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading flexible printing organisations was able to reduce the change over time from 5 hours to 30 minutes, just by implementing Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)? One of the world’s leading flexible printing organisation was facing issues with long changeover and setup times between products which lead towards creating considerable machine downtime. Apart from that, on the basis of the demand forecast, organisation had to also plan on buying additional equipment to be ready for the forecasted increased demand. Along with that, organisation was also facing quality issues and raw material wastage on a recurring basis which was an unavoidable issue for business. So, the organisation called a board meeting to discuss these issues and to plan on how to solve them. The meeting came to a conclusion on using Japanese tools and techniques to resolve and avoid the issues for the future. The organisation began by using and implementing SMED methods to reinvent the entire operations process and create a process that reduces the occurrence of downtime. Apart from that, the organisation also implemented 5S and ergonomic tools to properly show needed items only and minimize the risk of injuries and operator exhaustion. The quality issues were addressed and reduced by implementing a series of these strategies. Along with that, the raw material wastage issue was resolved by strategic procedure and an innovative setup. On the basis of the colour coding system, the number of colours that were used in the operations area, the setup or changeovers were taking on an average of 5 hours of machine downtimes. But after implementing the SMED strategy, all the setups and changeovers were completed within 30 minutes irrespective of complexity. This improvement nullified any need to buy extra equipment to meet the forecasted demand. The employees from the third shift were also shifted to the second shift which helped the organisation increase their throughput. Raw material waste was decreased on average by 25%. These same techniques were applied to other six similar machines throughout the plant. Each of those seven machines saw an increase of approximately 5 hours per shift in additional uptime which lead to resulting in an additional 70 hours of capacity per day. The implementation of these techniques resulted in saving annually ~$3 million which was accomplished without adding a single piece of capital equipment or additional employees. Hence, as you can see, implementing these Japanese tools and techniques are helping manufacturing organisations save millions without investing any additional capital. The same can be done in your organisation. So, have you started implementing such continual improvement tools and techniques that yield such phenomenal results? 
- [3 Ways Leader can Improve Team Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/ways-leader-can-improve-team-performance/): In today’s era, we see at many places, productivity is directly proportionate to leadership strategies and tactics. But many times, those strategies can become ambiguous. It is sometimes difficult to say how each strategy will have a direct impact on the bottom line of the organization. Hence, one of the things, except for a strategy, a leader should keep under consideration is a leader should keep its team engaged, influenced and encouraged for achieving common goals. A leader can always follow the below-listed pointers to make sure he/she is helping the team to improve its productivity; The goal and vision of the organization is something that a leader should always discuss openly with all its employees. Defining goals and vision openly helps the employees set their internal goals as to what are they supposed to achieve, when and how. This also helps the employee understand what is being expected out of them and how are they supposed to fulfill those expectations. Also, when a group is supposed to perform together to achieve the same goal, it Improve Team Performance. Every employee in any organization works hard to receive rewards and recognitions. Also, it has been proven, when an employee is recognized, the other employees also try to work just as hard to be able to recognize and this altogether improves the productivity of an organization. This also motivates the employee to work harder and generate wonderful results for organizational success. One of the best ways to engage the team members is by delegating the responsibilities to them. When a person feels responsible, the person tries to work even harder to make sure that the responsibilities that he/she has been given are achieved and fulfilled successfully. Hence, delegating the authorities and responsibilities helps the leader create and identify another leader and helps the organization achieve exponential results.
- [Improve your Saving and Profits through Lean Management](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-management-to-improve-savings-and-profits/): Did you know one of the leading medical equipment manufacturing organisation was able to reduce $1.7 million by implementing a lean solution? In this article, we will walk into Improve Savings and Profits through Lean Management.  The manufacturing facility of the organisation produced electro-mechanical medical devices. The plant was vertically integrated. The organisation produced its own circuit board assemblies, cable assemblies, and the box-build final assembly and test. The process was driven by an ERP system with various level bills of the raw material, shop order travelers, pick lists, lot sizes, and stock room transactions. But the organisation was facing a huge costing issue. The manufacturing costs of the products were too high, the lead times of the final products were too long, and they had a lot of money tied up in inventory. Now to balance it, the management team along with the organisation had set the goals of inventory reduction. In the beginning, the efforts were focused on the ERP planning process. The bills of the raw materials were challenged and compressed. Along with that, the production lead times, and lot sizes were cut down. Parallelly similar efforts had begun within the various production departments. Continuous Improvement through Lean Manufacturing Also, new manufacturing techniques were introduced to the cable assembly, wire harness departments, and final assembly. The Kanban controls were established by implementing Kanban tools in both, within the subassembly areas as well as in the final assembly areas. This helped the organisation eliminate a lot of non-value-adding reporting steps and stock room transactions. Various shifts were introduced and balanced to allow the product to continuously flow across the entire process, and not just the bottleneck operations. The consecutive examination was initiated, followed by guaranteed steps. After successfully implementing the lean tools, in less than six months, the organisation was able to reduce inventory by $1.7 million, cut the lead time from 8 weeks to 5 days, cut the first pass failure by 60%, improved on-time delivery by 100% and much more. Hence, as you can see, implementing simple lean management tools in your organisation can help you improve your savings and profits. So, have you started to implement lean tools in your organisation?
- [Reasons why organizations should have Empathetic leaders.](https://faberinfinite.com/reasons-why-organizations-should-have-empathetic-leaders/): Empathy is something that the world today needs the most. It is something that is being searched by most of the employees in a leader. As humans, we would always wish that as we work for the betterment of the organization, the leader should understand that employees have a life beyond the organization. Leaders should support the employees who are facing issues managing work and home. Employees look forward to an empathetic leader as they need someone especially their boss to understand what they are going through. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us talk about why it is necessary to become an empathetic leader; Improves leader – employee relationship When a leader becomes an empathetic leader, an employee looks up to him expecting that he will understand the situation the employee is going through. When a leader understands the situation of the employee and helps the employee take corrective actions, he is building a bridge of understanding between him and his employees. Improves productivity When the employee feels understood and being listened to, he/she tends to make sure the bond that they have with their leader becomes stronger. The best way to do this is by making sure they are working hard to help and achieve the desired results and thus impress the leader. As this continues, the employee ends up increasing productivity which in turn helps the organization grow.   Improves organizations credibility The leader is the face of the organization. Without a doubt, every firm needs great employees who can help the firm achieve its desired reputation in the market along with the goals and the targets. But, if the leader is mean, it will leave a bad impression on the mind of the employees. And once this happens, the employees start conveying this message amongst their organizational circle. Hence a lot of people start seeing the leaders from a negative point of view. It is only a matter of time until these employees switch the organization. Every new organization these employees will go, they will share this negative experience that they had in their previous organization. And once this has spread out, the decrement of the credibility of the organization is only a matter of time. This is why being an empathetic leader is key to an excellent organizational reputation. Apart from this, every employee an organization has is definitely going through some hard phase of their life. Which is why it is very important for an organization to have empathy towards their employees and understand that they are not machines. They are as much of a human as much their leaders are. A leader must understand that just like a leader needs time for their personal life, their employee also needs the same.
- [Winning Strategy for Farms in Africa](https://faberinfinite.com/winning-strategy-for-farms-in-africa/): As per a research published in a recent article written by – Xinhua, it is stated that the Kenyan flower sector is experiencing a high cost of labor, energy, and farm. These are some of the major challenges currently faced by the sector. Because of these challenges, many organizations have also planned to reduce the headcount and some of the organizations have planned to shut down their farms. Not just this, other reasons such as climate change, drop in rainfall and others are also some of the reasons why Kenya flower farm industry is facing a crisis. Team Faber Infinite has been helping farms in Africa with its proven Farm Operational Transformation Toolkit from Organizational Transformation Framework© by Faber Infinite Consulting to sustain in the market with lesser production cost and more profits. We have been working with leading flower farms in Africa and helped them get over issues such as: Low Land and Labour productivity High manpower cost Issues related to water High Inventory High rejection rate We have helped farms reduce costs by improving productivity. We have worked on both field productivity as well as packhouse productivity. Field productivity was improved by the implementation of standard work and elimination of non-value adding activities. Packhouse productivity was improved by redesigning the packhouse layout and workstation design. Another burning issue in farms is a high rejection rate. Team Faber Infinite has helped farms reduce the rejection rate by more than 35% in the field as well as packhouses by the implementation of quality management toolkit. To balance the cost factor, many organizations that are not optimized, have either overstocked or understocked inventory, blocked their capital cashflow and have started reducing the headcounts in the farm to balance their operating costs. Due to certain policies, many farms are facing challenges for inventory management of fertilizers and chemicals. As a result, farms were stocking a lot of inventory, resulting in cash flow problems. Team Faber Infinite has helped farms maintain optimum inventory, with the implementation of inventory management toolkit by Faber Infinite. All these initiatives have helped the client increase the overall production and reduce the cost per stem by more than 25%. Another concern that the farms in Africa are facing apart from the cost issue is water. Because of the irregular rain patterns, the farms are facing issues with irrigation. This leads to improper growth of flowers, which causes an increment in the rejection rate. Also, due to the unavailability of proper resources of water in the country, many organizations are planning to shut the farms. In situations like these, Team Faber has helped organizations devise and implement strategies to save water in order to run and sustain the business. We have helped organizations identify ways to conserve water in every possible way. We have also helped them improve their irrigation, which can lead to the healthy growth of flowers and thus reduce or nullify the rejections rates. In situations like these, team Faber with its specially designed and proven framework for Farm Transformation has helped many leading flower farms across Africa to maintain a balance between the cost of production and manpower without reducing headcount. Team Faber has been helping farms improve productivity per person in the packhouse, reduce wastage of water, optimize inventory, reduce rejections to name a few. Some of the results delivered at various client farms include: 25% improvement in flower production 83% improvement in the value-adding ratio 45% reduction in lead time in the packhouse 39% improvement in harvest productivity 47% improvement in manpower productivity for packhouse 53% reduction in inventory carrying cost Team Faber has been persistently working towards building competitiveness in farms. We have been helping clients embark on the journey of continual improvement and organizational transformation for business excellence. The same can be done for your farms as well. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to know-how! Read below to know more about how Team Faber Infinite has been helping and supporting transformation in farms: Transforming Farms Building Excellence in Flower Farms Case Studies – Commercial Farms We would like to thank our Organization Transformation expert Mr.Vishal Singh for sharing his valuable insights on issues faced in commercial flower farms in Africa. We sincerely appreciate his efforts in helping us come up with this informative article that will help numerous commercial flower farms across geographies. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah 
- [Supporting Transformation in FIBC (woven fabrics) Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-transformation-in-fibc-woven-fabrics/): Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) industry is currently a sector to watch out for. Due to the increased production of horticulture products and chemicals, the demand for bulk packaging has increased as well. And with increased product demand, organisations are lacking to fulfil the orders on time and in the stipulated budget. In this article, we will discuss about the Transformation in FIBC Industry and few Challenges faced by Industry. Faber Infinite Consulting has been working extensively in the domain, catering to FIBC, Block Bottom bags, big bags, geo textiles, etc. Faber Infinite team has been instrumental in shaping the continual improvement journeys for more than dozen such industries. Sharing key pointers to be considered for the Operational Transformation in the sector. Few of the challenges faced by the industry are as follows: • Overall productivity As mentioned above, there is increasing demand in the industry, so the organisations need their employees to work harder and deliver more results in the same working hours. This is difficult on the employees’ part and they feel burdened with the increased work. We all know that in cases like these, it is difficult to explain and get the results from the operations department. In such scenarios team Faber has helped various leading FIBC manufacturing organisations in improving the overall production of the organisation. Team Faber has helped the organizations by eliminating inefficiencies from the processes and by standardizing process parameters. To share the results, we have helped the organisations save manhours by ~25%, improve throughput by ~33% and much more. • Equipment challenges Many a times, we face technological challenges such as break down of machines, machine not working at its optimum output and much more. Due to multiple breakdowns, it hinders the employee productivity and overall output. Hence, to reduce the impact of equipment challenges on the business, team Faber has been helping organizations improve Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) & reduce Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) by improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It in turn also helps to reduce and eliminate the wastages and improve the loom output. We are glad to share that by implementing these processes at one of the leading FIBC manufacturing organisations, we were able to improve OEE by ~12%, MTBF from 3 hours to 10 hours, reduce wastage from ~7.2% to ~3.3% and ultimately increased the loom output by ~30%. • Other challenges Apart from the challenges stated above, there are a few challenges that organisations face similar to the quality of the product, employee skill development, employee training time, raw material wastage and much more. Team Faber has been helping the organisations optimise all these parameters and is delivering phenomenal results such as; 39% increase in production with the same resources 38% reduction in manpower cost 33% reduction in changeover time 31% reduction in material waste 27% increase in production using OEE 70% elimination of wastage in roll changeover 66% reduction in bobbin cutting wastage Similar results can be delivered in your organizations as well. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to embark on the journey of organizational transformation. Ready to support transformation in the FIBC (woven fabrics) industry? Fill out the form below to access exclusive resources, expert insights, and innovative strategies. Join the movement and drive the future of the FIBC industry. Take action now to stay ahead of the competition! For further details, read the links below for more information: Case Studies – https://faberinfinite.com/case-studies/woven-sack/ https://faberinfinite.com/whats-your-story/ https://faberinfinite.com/delivered-successful-results-yet-again/ https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-make-in-india-to-make-india-a-first-world-country/ https://faberinfinite.com/unnati-the-transformation-journey/   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah
- [Cost Optimization/Reduction Consultants](https://faberinfinite.com/cost-optimization-using-value-stream-mapping/): In today’s highly competitive market, cost factor plays a significant role in sustaining the competition. Every organization is working on cost reduction for their products or services. But, while working on cost reduction it is equally important to preserve the value of the product / service. Hence, to explore the ways of cost optimization, Team Faber Infinite was invited by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) of India, where our expert team conducted a workshop on ‘Cost Optimization using Value Stream Mapping.’ The objective of this training workshop was to help people understand the value and cost associated with a product or service. Once people understand this, they will come-up with better ways to implement Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and thus reduce cost without compromising quality. This training workshop covered ways to generate and quantify the value and cost associated with product and much more. Objective of Training Workshop: Help participants understand the value and cost associated with a product Know how to identify and quantify value and cost associated with product Use the concept of VSM for cost optimization & reduction Understand how to design future state map of processes with less cost The participants of the workshop included managers from improvement departments, value stream managers/ production managers, team leads/ managers – operations department and others. This program included tutorial sessions for explaining concepts of VSM, experiential learning via case studies so that people can have real-life examples of how VSM has been implemented and how it has been beneficial to the organizations, how they can use it in their organization, and much more. Key takeaways: Understand the detailing about value and cost associated with product Understanding how to reduce cost involved in value stream with ECRS technique Knowing how to conduct PPQ analysis for VSM Understanding the structured approach to drive cost reduction program The workshop was extremely interactive and was highly appreciated by the participants. We thank all the participants for joining us and team ACMA for inviting us. Value Stream Mapping can help your organization as well. So to reap the benefits of Value Stream Mapping contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Discover the power of Value Stream Mapping to optimize costs and drive efficiency in your business. Don’t miss out on this opportunity! Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert strategies for cost optimization today! Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah
- [Keep Learning – Don’t Settle](https://faberinfinite.com/keep-learning-dont-settle/): In every organisation, there are always new team members joining in. It is for the organization and team to ensure the new member in the family is comfortable in the new culture, new work schedules, new teams. Today, in this edition of iFaber, we had a chat with the youngest member in our team – Mr. Sarang Vasaikar, who has joined the presales team at Faber Infinite Consulting. This is first step in the corporate journey that he has embarked on. The excerpts of the journey are mentioned below. Faber Infinite (FI) – Hello Sarang, Can you share your journey so far with our readers? Sarang Vasaikar (SV) – It has been almost a month that I am in the system and it has been a smooth start since I have joined. This is my first job and there is so much to learn, so much to experience. I am glad to share that, I have received all the needed support from the management team, from my own department to help me learn and adapt new skills required for my job profile. I can say, the journey so far has been like an enjoyable roller-coaster ride, as every profession has its own ups and downs in every organisation. I have made mistakes, but I have learnt from the mistakes as well. The team at Faber Infinite has been very supportive, I can say I have learned a lot. FI – What made you sure that this organization is the right fit for your personal development? SV – So I will begin first with my personal goals and interest. I always wanted to work with a management consulting organisation, since it gives you exposure to different industries. I always wanted to improve my skills and qualities of building and maintaining public and business relations. And so far, at Faber I have been able to achieve more than expected. Being new and working with an organisation like Faber Infinite is so far one of my biggest achievements. FI – Being a new member on board, what is that one thing that made you feel comfortable with the team?            SV – To be honest, I never felt like a new member or like an outsider. I can say that Faber team played a major part in making me feel like their family and like one of their own and comfortable in a completely new culture. The induction at Faber is so well planned and well thought that it makes it very smooth and easy for a new member to not only accommodate in the system but excel. Besides the training and induction, the team bonding activities, the ways of celebrating festivals are planned in such a way that you interact with all team members across offices and functions. This helps you to interact with people beyond your function and office location. This is one of the best things about teams at Faber Infinite. FI – What advice would you like to give to people aspiring to join the Faber family? SV – For people who want to work with a global management consulting organization, Faber is the place to be! This is an organization that is working on building competitiveness across industries and geographies. We have more than 200+ clients across 8 countries. There is a lot to learn. Those who want to join the organization should be ready to accept challenges and work on new projects across industries. We are working in the domain of business, strategy and operational excellence. This is the place for those who love adventure, every day is a new challenge and new learning. FI – What is that one thing about this organization that makes you come to work every day? SV – Faber Infinite for me is like my 2nd home now. And I love to work over here because as I mentioned above, I am learning a lot and not just that, I am able to achieve all my personal aspirations. And apart from that, every day is very fulfilling, I am happy learning new things and interacting with the teams. FI – Which of your personal aspirations, you see accomplishing here? SV – As I have mentioned above, I always wanted to work in a business management consulting and at a place where I can learn how to build and maintain public relations and business relations.  When we enter the corporate world, I guess that is when you get out the reality strikes upon you. You have always been thinking you know everything and can do everything. But as you enter a real corporate organisation, that is when you realise that all you knew was just a small amount from what the actual world has to offer. And here, as I have mentioned above, I am learning, learning and learning every new day. This is my biggest achievement that I have been able to accomplish here so far. My aim is to gather as much knowledge as I can and team Faber Infinite has been supporting me in my professional aspirations. I want to look back at my career and be proud of the work that I did and the things that I learnt. Team Faber Infinite has been helping me fulfil my aspirations with every new day. I believe in what Steve Jobs has quoted – “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” Thank you, Faber Sarang, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah
- [Leveraging the Pharmaceutical Opportunity: White Paper](https://faberinfinite.com/leveraging-the-pharmaceutical-opportunity-white-paper/): Leveraging the Pharmaceutical Opportunity: White Paper Pharmaceutical industry is one of the key industries for any country. We shall be focusing on both important streams of the Indian pharmaceutical industry namely; API Formulations We are glad to roll out a detailed white paper on the Indian Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) industry. Sharing a glimpse of the white paper! The Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market is predicted to have a relative CAGR of 4.93% during the forecast period (2019-2023), as per a research. The APIs have been recognized as an asset for multiple pharmaceutical brands owing to the effectiveness of the products.  Rapid urbanization and growing healthcare awareness have affected the increasing healthcare expenditure, and this has been a global trend. Branded generic drugs are relishing a higher adoption rate, and the case is the same for the speciality medicines. Among the other factors, rising contraction of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and others have given a lift to the need for APIs in the market. Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market has seen a relentless growth in volumes and value, mirroring the growth drivers for the overall pharmaceutical industry. However, everything is not easy enough for the Indian markets. With plenty of opportunities, several challenges come along. Though this year has seen a significant impact of supply disruptions from the conventional supplier base i.e China and India, impacting either API availability or economics. The lack of supply or higher prices of inputs has led to the escalation in API prices, affecting the cost of finished drug in majority of the cases. The market is also getting pushed by the intense need for commercialization of drugs that would curtail the cost and increasing expenditure in research and development and can turn out to be a boon for the global API market. Patent expiry of various biological drugs can open the market beyond APIs. However, getting skilled professionals in this segment is difficult and thus it is hampering the production. The medicines are also not instantly accessible in developing countries and are failing to delve into the opportunities given by the developing countries. By manufacturing process, the market is segmented into captive manufacturing and contract manufacturing. The captive manufacturing segment is anticipated to dominate the market. Once a stronghold of Europe, this market is now gently shifting towards the Asia Pacific (APAC). Low manufacturing cost and high demand for generic drugs are going to boost the APAC market. To survive into one of the most promising sectors of today’s economy, one must tap into the areas of improvement to grab the opportunities with both the hands to stay profitable. Enhancing performance at an active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing plant entails a unified and futuristic approach that contains framework to boost operations management, inventory management, quality control, overall equipment effectiveness improvement, maintenance factor improvement, changeover time reduction, cleaning time reduction, yield improvement and assurance. We have worked with clients from the API industry, where we have helped the client in organization transformation through: Cleaning time reduction OEE improvement of machines Breakdown reduction Yield improvement Cost reduction through various continual improvement initiatives   To mention, we have worked with one of the worlds leading API manufacturer, where we helped them save more than INR 7 Crore through continual improvement initiatives drive. This drive was based on the 4 Ms – Man, Material, Machine and Method. We also helped the client in quality management and quality control, lead time reduction for the batch released and productivity improvement in quality department. While the market for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) has been exceedingly profitable, it faces crucial challenges as well. Escalating regulatory forces, the firmer bargaining power of purchasers, rocketing costs, low-cost competition from Asian suppliers, slowdown in drug approvals, and drug failures are forming challenges for research-driven pharmaceutical organizations, contract manufacturers and generic drug firms. These changes necessitate more than just compliance with specifications. Process understanding and robust continual improvement framework is the key to moving from counteractive actions to more efficient incessant improvements. Achieving manufacturing excellence necessitates process understanding. The biotech /pharmaceutical manufacturing industry tends to focus too much on what one thinks, and regulators want to see, rather than what one needs to do to improve the process. All this should lead towards improvement in the practices to reduce costs, wastage, rework, and improving the quality, productivity, profitability to be into one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Indian economy. This whitepaper attempts to address the mentioned issues along with its proven solutions. It covers 10 pointers for advanced Pharmaceutical Operational Excellence journey, which is need of the hour today! These 10 points can decide the future of Operational Excellence at your Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Operations. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to get your copy today. Written & Compiled By Faber Manasi Chandak
- [Client Speaks – Building Trust with Clients!](https://faberinfinite.com/client-speaks-building-trust-with-clients/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a reputed market player in fans, domestic pumps and lighting for over 20 years. We had a chat with Mr. Sanjay Khanvilkar – Head Quality and Business Excellence, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd.? Sanjay Khanvilkar (SK) – Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. is a new company. It was formed at the end of the year 2015, after demerging from the original Crompton Greaves Group owned by Avantha Holdings Ltd. The reason behind this was the company was facing some drift issues due to its sick operation units. And the organisation decided to sell out the Consumer Products Business Unit to the new USA based Advent International Corp. and Temasek Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. and this is how the complete demerger happened. Due to the demerger, almost every department of the organisation was in a mess. The middle level management was struggling to put things in place. These were the kind of setbacks the organisation faced. After the demerger, the board decided to divide the organisation in separate verticals based on the product lines like lights, fans, electrical appliances and pumps. Earlier, there was just one vertical, but after the demerger, the product line was divided into these 4 verticals. FI – We understand every industry has its own challenges. What are the challenges unique to your industry?  SK – After the demerger, we had to create entire organisation from the scratch along with all the necessary departments in no time. And while doing this, the management took great care of the brand image which couldn’t afford to get affected by any means. We also had to make sure the availability of the products at all the places CG had been catering so far. To maintain all these things while building the organisation from the scratch was a biggest challenge. There were no departments like IT, Production Planning, Manufacturing, Forecasting or other departments. There were no standards or systems in place. There was no IT support. So, initially, everyone had to work on the manual basis. To overcome these challenges, the company began with SAP implementation on urgent basis. But it took some time to get in place. So, these were the cumulative challenges the management faced at that point of time. There was no right organization structure in place. Positions like Central Quality head, central planning head, etc were absent. Also, the teams were working in silos and there was no cross communication happening due to lack of standardisation. The rewards and recognition system were absent, due to which the team morale was down. Not only the organization structure but the right competent people were also not on boarded. These were few of the challenges that we experienced. FI – As we know you have manufacturing setups in Goa, Baroda, Ahmednagar and Baddi. You are operating in such diverse locations. How do you manage to operate from different locations? What are your suggestions for organizations that are operating across such diverse locations? SK – Correct, we are working from different locations but working at different locations in different cultures isn’t new with Crompton. Since the systems are now in place. When I say systems, I mean building the right DNA. We did this with gap analysis at all our manufacturing locations. With gap analysis, we found out how each of the plant locations is different from the ideal set of parameters. We started from scratch and took a years’ time to standardise and put in place all the processes. Crompton always wanted to create its own DNA. Which would have been possible only with the help of implementation of the standards. So, the company came up with specific standards to be maintained and followed in every department of the organisation. So, this is advice for organizations which operate from such diverse locations. Standardisation helps in maintaining the same set of standards by following the same protocols at each location. FI – Over the years, the consumer electricals landscape has seen a lot of changes. Companies are working on innovation, improving operations and driving efficiencies across the supply chain. Can you share more about the continual improvement initiatives at Crompton, to be ahead of the curve? Especially, with LED industry coming up so quick and it being dynamic, how does it impact the entire supply chain? SK – So basically, there are three aspects; any organisation is firstly driven by the cost parameter. Once the pricing is set, the next aspect is the availability of the product. There are other organisations as well, which are into manufacturing of similar products like us. So, when the consumer goes into the market to purchase our product and doesn’t find the same, he is not going to wait for the availability of our product. He will quickly move on to another brand. Hence, the availability of the product is very necessary. Later once the person has purchased the product and started to use it, then the quality comes in the scenario. So, these are the three aspects we must keep in mind from the buyer’s perspective. And to meet all these three parameters, the organisation needs to be agile in terms of switching over the production line to achieve the demands. Secondly, we should be flexible, and we should be more productive in terms of the value conversion from the raw materials to finish goods, and the third thing is to make sure that whatever is being produced is able to match the quality standards. And to make this all achievable, there must be minimum number of errors. So, in our case we have seen the constant dynamism in terms of exponential growth. And to stay competitive in this market,
- [Friday Fact - Quality – the only way towards organizational success.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-the-only-way-towards-organizational-success/): Did you know, Whatsapp, one of the top communications applications, is now being replaced by another app? For a long time, Whatsapp security breach has been the talk of the town. This disadvantage of the app has become one of the biggest advantages for other secure messaging and calling apps such as Telegram and Signal.  On the basis of research, in iOS, Signal has jumped to 39th position from 105th in the download category in India. Similarly, in Google Play, it Jumped to 31st position from 255th in the download category in India.   It was stated that Whatsapp had its highest active users in India with 400 million users. But on the basis of research, the WhatsApp app ranking dropped from the 1st position to 4th position in the most downloaded apps in Google Play.  It is said that Telegram and Signal are run by a US-based non-profit organization. As compared with other communication apps, this app has higher security features and updates than others. It is also said that Telegram is using such protocols that check on every single message that a user gets via various ways to determine the authenticity of a message. Apart from the encryption, the app has features that check the length of the message, the number of characters that are being used while the message was sent and while it is received. On top of it, this also provides you with self-destruct message options where you can set a timer after the completion of which, the messages get deleted.  Whereas when we talk about Whatsapp, due to its weak security provision, it is easy to hack. Apps like Telegram and Signal gives protection towards not just messaging but also towards file sharing and video calling.  Whereas when we talk about Whatsapp, due to its weak security provision, it is easy to hack. Apps like Telegram and Signal gives protection towards not just messaging but also towards file sharing and video calling.  Hence, as you can see, finding out the problem in one app or process or organization can be an opportunity for others. No organization can claim that there are no backdrops in them, but when the root cause of the problems are identified and solved, then the organizations mold into a completely different yet better version of themselves.  Whenever we talk about the up-gradation of the quality of any product or service, we always recommend finding out the root cause of the problem that led to questioning the quality of your product or service.  Quality is not just for the product/service, it affects the brand identity as well. It affects the way your product is perceived by the consumers. It gives a pathway to other organizations to think of product/service to replace your product/service. Quality is very important. it should be a habit and culture of your organization. Have you started paying attention to the quality of your product/service?
- [Be Different – Be A Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/be-different-be-a-leader/): We have seen many articles that talk about how to become a leader, how to have a positive side of the leader, how to become everyone’s favorite etc. But today, in this article, we bring to you, a few abstract pointers one must deploy to become a Different Leader. A leader is a person who has been an employee once, so it is obvious that he/she is supposed to be highly understanding of their teammates. But here are a few points a leader usually tries to avoid thinking them as negative pointers. Conflicts can be healthy By saying this, we are trying to convey that as long as the conflict is about the ideas and ways to improve organizational performance and not any personal bias or issues, the conflicts are healthy. Since such conflicts bring out various dos and don’ts for a company to undertake while working on the ways to improve organizational performance. This also allows other people to understand the thought process of different people under different circumstances and helps the organization identify the best ways to improve performance. Allow new ideas to enter Many times, when a subordinate or a teammate comes up with new ideas, they hesitate to bring it in front of their leaders. Because they feel that they are not as experienced as their leaders or might have faced a similar situation in the past which would have made them feel that their ideas don’t stand a chance in their organization. A leader should support the viewpoints of all their team members. By saying this, we don’t mean that you agree to all their ideas but allow them the right to express it even if it doesn’t reflect your point of view. It takes a lot of courage for someone to speak up and express a different point of view in front of a leader. A leader should always acknowledge and encourage those team members who come up with new or unique ideas. Ask for feedback While a person is in the position of a leader, it makes them feel that asking for feedback from their subordinates or teammates might make them look less leader. But, in reality, asking for feedback genuinely helps. It helps you understand other ways of doing the same thing or even quicker or better ways. It can show you how others feel when you step your feet in their shoes. This helps you enhance your leadership skills. These are some of the points which are rarely used by the leaders but are highly effective to become one of the greatest leaders.  
- [Friday Fact - Reduce Air Pollution by implementing Preventive Seiso](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-reduce-air-pollution-by-implementing-preventive-seiso/): Did you know almost 10,000 lives are claimed every year in Delhi (capital of the country – India) due to its increasing pollution?  Delhi – the Capital of India is one of the most polluted cities. A few of the major causes of the pollution in Delhi are because of the industrial smoke, stubble burning, and vehicle smoke. There are sayings that planting more trees can help the place purify. But the pollution of Delhi won’t be cured solely by just planting trees. The state authorities will have to come up with “Preventive Seiso.” Seiso is a Japanese term from its Five S methodology which means to make everything clean. With Preventive Seiso, here we mean to come up with the strategies to cure and clean the air from the root cause. Here is a powerful example of how getting to the root cause of air pollution have helped cities get over with the pollution.  Toronto faced similar challenges in addressing its urban air quality issue. In 2004, one of the researches claimed that air pollution in the city led to 1,700 premature deaths and 6,000 hospitalizations per year. When the same research drew a survey in 2009, it stated that improved air quality over the subsequent decade resulted in the reduction of premature deaths and hospitalizations by 1,300 and 3,550 respectively. These improvements in the health statistics were based on improvements and steps taken towards air quality in Toronto over the first decade of this century. Sulfur Dioxide reduced by 79% and Nitric Oxide reduced by 36%, Carbon Monoxide reduced by 78%, and Particulate Matter25 reduced by 30%. The air quality improvements were driven by reductions in emissions in Toronto, Ontario, and the U.S. Great Lakes states that are substantial sources of upwind pollution for Toronto and Ontario. Toronto Public Health estimated in 2014 that 51% of the premature deaths and 45% of the hospitalizations were attributable to sources outside of Toronto.  The air quality improvements in Toronto were driven by a variety of policies, but Toronto’s story is unique in that a key policy was the decision by Ontario to eliminate coal from its electricity generation. The Toronto Board of Public Health, on several occasions in the early 2000s, advocated for converting Ontario’s coal-fired generators to natural gas. The political support for such a policy extended beyond Toronto to much of the rest of Ontario. Concerns about the health impacts of air pollution were a key driver of the move to phase out coal. The emissions reductions from the electricity sector during this time were substantial. Between 2004 (the year before the first coal plant was retired) and 2013, PM10, SO2, and NO2 emissions from electricity generation declined by 90%, 91%, and 65%, respectively. Phasing out coal in electricity generation was the most significant among the many policies Toronto and Ontario adopted during this time frame to reduce local air pollution. In 2013, the Ontario electricity sector emitted less than 4% of the Sulfur Oxides in the province, down from around 30% a decade earlier. Nitric Oxide and Particulate Matter10 emissions also dropped sharply (from 12 to 5% and 7 to less than 1%, respectively). The coal phase-out in Ontario was a key part of improving Toronto’s air quality over the past decade. Similarly, there have been several cases of air pollution reduction in various cities! Hence, as you can see, when the root cause of the issue is found out and worked upon, it can help the city reduce air pollution by a significant amount. The same Preventive Seiso can be implemented in Delhi as well.  This approach can also help any organization that is dealing with similar issues. So, have you started applying the right tools to reach the root cause?  Data References: International Gas Union
- [4 key Leaderships to Achieve Organizational Success](https://faberinfinite.com/key-leadership-traits-to-achieve-organizational-success/): Effective leadership is not just about informing your team to get the work done. It is more than that. It is also about managing and supporting the entire team. Those employees who feel supported by their leaders will be happier, more productive and connected with the organization. And this affects the bottom line of the organization. It is highly important for the leaders in today’s era to understand the ways to bring the entire team together to successfully achieve the vision of the organization. Below are a few traits a leader must possess to create a winning team to achieve organizational vision and mission; Engage with your employees in an open communication Many times there are employees who might not express but in reality, they are too frustrated to be a part of the team. This impacts their productivity. A leader needs to understand that a fresh and healthy mind is directly related to higher productivity. Leader should always have one on one meeting with each member in the team to have a check on their productivity and discuss the issues they are facing. A leader should help them find solutions so that the employees feel understood and supported. Coach towards the collaborative and committed environment Don’t just order your employees about the work, this would not generate the right level of engagement you are looking for. An effective leader must explain to their team members what is required and how it can be done rather than just ordering. Set clear expectations and goals A leader must clearly set goals about what is expected from their employees. This is a real key to success. When the expectations are not clear, the employees are confused. Unclear expectations make it difficult for the employees to perform because they feel whatever they will do, it will mostly dissatisfy their leaders. They do not know which way to go since the goals and expectations were never clear. When expectations are not clear, the employee tries to work harder and harder to make sure he fulfills unsaid expectations. But when the hard work is not appreciated and in addition to that when the employees are told that whatever they did was not sufficient, employees tend to feel demotivated.  They begin to think that if their hard work is not being appreciated and neither is it helping to achieve the goals. They feel then why should they even continue working hard. This is a point that every leader in every organization should understand. Every employee understands that leaders definitely have high expectations from them. But, unless the expectations are clearly said out, there is a lot of confusion and frustration that an employee feels on their part. Hence it is very important to set clear expectations and goals in the very beginning so that the employee knows what and how is he/she supposed to work to achieve the goals successfully.  Allow your employees to share new ideas. A lot of leaders don’t allow their employees to come up with new ideas and to share or implement them. Leaders feel that the employees are not as experienced as them, so whatever their idea is, it definitely would not work. But what leaders need to understand is, the employee wishes to achieve organizational success just as much as they want. So, if an employee has come up with an idea, a leader must listen to it at least. Many a time there might be some new things or ways that have come up into the market which the leaders don’t know about yet, but which can help them successfully achieve their goal.  Apart from this, if employees will never be acknowledged for the new ideas, they would feel it is better not to achieve success and work monotonously. But, by listening to and sometimes even letting them implement the new ideas can make them feel motivated to work even harder and find new ways to achieve organizational success. These are a few pointers that every leader should implement to achieve organizational success with the help of the team. 
- [Optimise Cost through Supply Chain Management](https://faberinfinite.com/optimise-cost-through-supply-chain-management/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of agriculture solutions was able to reduce inbound logistics cost by 28% by implementing supply chain cost reduction techniques? In this article, we will discuss about how to Optimise Cost through Supply Chain Management. The organization was sustainably growing for the last few years, the company was able to achieve a significant part of the growth through acquisitions. Usually, when organizations grow through this medium, they always face complexity. In the case of this organization, they started to face supply chain complexity along with the increased cost. Over the years, they tried a few ways to address these issues, but everything was in vain. In the year 2012, the management decided to shift from short-term methods to long term strategies to resolve the issues. That is when they decided to implement supply chain cost reduction techniques. Cost Optimisation through Supply Chain Management The organization acquired various brands under its umbrella. Hence, the product portfolio of the organization was pretty much vast now. Initially, optimization planning, sourcing and inbound logistics were managed by the internal team for a lot of countries with the use of various supply chain management tools and systems. Because of the decentralized environment, inbound logistics and transport management were separate fields. There was inadequate transparency in the supply chain. The entire organization did not take advantage of synergies and economies of scale. These issues happened due to the backdrop of an unpredictable and seasonal market. The organization than planned to implement a supply chain benchmarking exercise to reduce cost. Within a year of implementing these techniques and strategies, the organization received freight cost reduction of around 18%, reduced inbound logistics costs by 28%, increased network performance by 25% and reduced the inventory almost by the quarter.    Hence, as you can see, supply chain management has been helping various industries and sectors to optimize their costs and improve their profits. So, have you implemented supply chain management in your organization yet?
- [3 Steps to Implementing Change with Strong Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/implementing-change-with-strong-leadership/): In today’s evolving and constantly changing the world, it is necessary that when changes happen in organizational culture, a leader under his/her leadership should make sure that the team thrives in the best possible way to successfully implement the change. Here we listed 3 Steps to Implementing change with Build Strong Leadership.  Many times, we have seen that when change happens or when change initiatives are taken, most of the employees fear the change and begin to resist the change. This fear and resistance lead to the unsuccessful implementation of change.  The leaders of the organization need to understand that change is not an easy concept to implement. When the organization is planning to begin implementation of change initiatives, they should take preventive measures for those employees that resist and fear to implement change.  Below are a few points that can help a leader help his team implement the change easily;  Have a healthy and structured collaboration plan A leader should make sure he involves all his team members from the planning to the implementation of the entire change initiative process. This helps the employee put across their fear factors and doubts regarding the safety of the job. This also helps them work together with the team to accomplish the vision of successfully implementing the change initiative Establish a well-structured communication plan A well-structured communication plan includes schedule, steps, ways, and other things that are going to take place for implementing the change initiative. This is very important to be communicated to the team so that they are prepared for the things that are going to come across and they can clear their doubts well in advance. Half of the resistance is created due to improper communication between the leader and the team where the team is not instructed and informed about the process and the steps taken for implementing the change.  A leader should be committed towards the successful implementation of change A leader must be sure of his/her own beliefs towards the change. Change is not easy for anyone. Hence, before helping the team on taking up the challenge of implementing change, the leader themselves should be able to accept the change. Because, if they won’t, then the team will never be able to successfully implement the change. So, before asking the team to co-operate and believe the terms of change, a leader himself /herself should implement that first.  The above points will help a leader in successfully implementing the change initiative.   A leader must be sure of his/her own beliefs towards the change. Change is not easy for anyone. Hence, before helping the team on taking up the challenge of implementing change, the leader themselves should be able to accept the change. Because, if they won’t, then the team will never be able to successfully implement the change. So, before asking the team to co-operate and believe the terms of change, a leader himself /herself should implement that first.  The above points will help a leader in successfully implementing the change initiative.  
- [Improve productivity with inventory management](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-productivity-with-inventory-management/): Did you know, one of the worldwide manufacturers of lifting and material handling solutions were able to save around 70 weeks per year in labor costs, by cutting the process-time down? The company mostly manufactures to order and customize as per their customer requirements. The organization uses to maintain a manual system for yard management at the transfer center, which generates excessive costs for something that should have been a relatively simple process of locating customer units to prepare them for delivery. As mentioned, the organization used a manual system of wallboard and sticker which was a low-tech solution for identifying equipment items in the yard. While inexpensive in itself, the solution cost around six minutes per person whenever an employee had to locate a unit in the yard. Along with that, it also took a considerable number of hours to be spent each month taking physical inventories and updating the company’s ERP platform. Improve Productivity through Inventory Management Seeing these results, the organization decided to implement inventory management as well as supply chain management tools. The organization decided to replace the outdated manual yard management process with a new, digital solution. Decision-makers chose a yard management software product and then had the transfer center surveyed before initiating a pilot project covering a small portion of the yard. After a successful pilot, the company approved the solution for full-scale implementation, replacing stickers, yard maps, and wallboard with electronic tracking and digital inventory management.  With the help of this, the company was able to save around 70 weeks per year in labor costs, by cutting down the process-time. Inventory management and supply chain not only helped the organization in monetary terms but can also help them reduce waste of time and improve productivity. Have you implemented inventory management yet?  
- [Leadership begins with your people.](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-begins-with-your-people/): One of the most important aspects of leadership is that leadership should begin with your people, team, and subordinates. Putting the team ahead of the individual leader helps the leader see things from the team’s point of view and understand what steps need to be taken and what needs to be avoided. As a leader, one must recognize people who are not able to perform at their best and provide support and feedback to them. When you understand this and take your focus away from self, it will change you as a leader. Below are a few points that can help you work towards valuing your people more; See your people as your biggest success             A good leader supports those around them, focuses on developing them, helps them succeed and watches them grow into the people they want to become. When people succeed, it shows the reflection of their leaders. So, work hard on your people. Your people are your biggest asset and without them, a team can fail. Recognize, acknowledge and appreciate your people. Every employee of the organization works hard, and everyone wishes to be valued for their hard work. And a leader must always recognize and give credit to its people for the fabulous work they do. Make a deliberate effort to call out your top producers in a meeting and recognize them. When others see a co-worker being recognized, it will inspire your team. Everyone will work harder to be the next person who is appreciated for the good work. Know your people Would be definitely knowing your people’s names and their positions and what they are working on, but do you actually know them? Do you know where they have come from? Do you know what have they done in the past before they began working with you? Most importantly, do you know their hopes and dreams? Getting to know the teams in more detail and personal manner will make the teams feel valued and increase their respect for the leader. Leave your ego There are going to be people who are performing better than you. You will have people in your team who have significant achievements. People may get another degree, get a certification, or move on to a new position in the organization. One of the best compliments a leader can receive is to have one of their team members move on to a better opportunity. Leader needs to be proud and not jealous. Empower your people Before taking any decision, everyone wants to be trusted. Hence, empower your people to make certain decisions. Do not short-change them. Give a chance to the members of the team to prove themselves and shine rather than ignoring their abilities and doing it yourself. If you have a big presentation coming up with your management team? Give chance to one of your top-performing employees to give the presentation. Giving them empowerment will help them be more confident and they will strive for larger goals. Leadership is a gift as well as a privilege. You should always value your teammates. Each of them plays a vital role to keep the organization going. When you will put your team’s needs and interests ahead of yours, you will be an even more successful leader.
- [Improve turnover with Total Quality Management (TQM)](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-turnover-with-total-quality-management/): Did you know, one of the world’s renowned airline company was able to increase turnover by 23% by implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) tools? In the year 1987, when the company was privatised. The management believed that if they want to be the best and world-class organization. They will have to use those strategies and processes that would create a vision and encourage their employees to gain their trust. This could only be possible by implementing a TQM program. In order to be the best in the industry, the management team of the company decided that they must win through teamwork, customer satisfaction, profitability, and reputation. Along with the way to implement the strategies. The organization found out even the places where they want to implement these strategies. And Also conducting a study to diagnose the current situation within the technical workshop, obtaining support and full commitment of TQM concepts from all the levels of management. And educating staff according to the principles of TQM and make necessary changes in management style, changes in policies. So that procedures and work practices that would be apt and would facilitate the new organizational culture required. and starting the quality improvement process, and reviewing progress made and fostering a sustained commitment from all levels of the organization. Turnover Increased through Total Quality Management (TQM) The approach taken by the company in collecting quality costs involved  breakdown of employee activities related to quality in three main heads, namely: Anticipation – activities that provide performance right the first time, Assessment – activities that check if the concept of right first time is done, Failure – activities resulting from the failure of the concept right first time. Knowing how to bear the cost of quality has had a significant contribution in educating staff on the concept and principles of TQM. It also helped in strengthening and justification of the need for training personnel in accordance with TQM, to overcome any skepticism about Total Quality Management (TQM), to promote considerable debate on this issue and to ensure that the improvement of individual project activity can be measured. Right after two years of implementing the TQM methodology, the organization was recognized as the best in the aviation industry, by customers and competitors. The organization launched its TQM program in September 1988 and by the end of 1989 the benefits of the program were seen. also turnover increased by 23%, there was an increase in the number of passengers who used the company’s services. Passenger load factor increased from 79.1% to 81.3% and aircraft fleet had grown to 33 aircrafts. Hence, as you can see, Total Quality Management (TQM) has helped the organization improve the overall turnover that too within a short span of two years. Have you started implementing Total Quality Management?   
- [5 Strategies to Reduce Employees Stress](https://faberinfinite.com/5-strategies-to-reduce-employees-stress/): Doesn’t this happen every time we receive a deadline from the boss that we all start to panic? For a few people, this happens quite often, which can feel great in the beginning but disappointing later. But this shouldn’t repeat. Here we listed 5 Strategies to Reduce Employees Stress. Instead of pushing for deadlines, the leaders should encourage their teams to manage themselves along with other members of the team. Hence, in this Transformation Tuesday, we present to you, five strategies for leaders to empower their teams and manage their scope of work. 1. Investing in employee’s professional growth and development A leader will always invest in an employee’s professional growth. Since employees who feel valued, are more likely to be concerned about an organization’s development. One of the ways to do this is by providing additional professional as well as personal learning opportunities outside the regular job role. Managers should have knowledge regarding their employee’s goals, skills, and aspirations and refer to this matrix when they are to assign the tasks. 2. Don’t begin with profit conversations It is necessary that your employee has the knowledge that money matters, but they should also know that their managers are valuing transparency and integrity just as much as money. Let your employees know that it is completely up to them to achieve their goals, but the manager is always there to support them. Rather than pitching in while the project is not going as desired, step back and focus on mentoring. Likewise, if overstepping the agreed budget of a project means fostering creativity and opportunities to produce great results, a trusted leader will do their best to push these projects forward — knowing the professional benefits will overshoot the temporary financial loss in the long run. 3. Give them opportunities to share their story Every employee should be given an opportunity to share their experience and success with other teammates. This will encourage a positive and healthy competition between the teammates which will motivate them to give their best achieving their goals even with everything else and without managers stepping in and urging constantly to get things done. Apart from that, this will help in setting a company wide forum for every employee to showcase their work. 4. Stay connected Don’t think that all your employee believes in a goal from the beginning. While leaders believe independence encourages professional growth, they also know it is important to remain engaged with employees to ensure everyone understands how their role and work fits into the company’s overall success. 5. Act selflessly This is the most difficult part, to act selflessly. Try to encourage a culture where the practice is to say we and not me first. This is beneficial for the organization in the long term. When employees are assigned responsibility for their own actions, they also feel more empowered. As a result, they are more likely to be proactive and take initiative. This helps to build a company culture of motivated achievers, rather than timid followers. Hence, implement these strategies to help your employees overcome a stressful environment and work with their fullest productivity.  
- [Inventory Management for World Class Production](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-for-world-class-production/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of machinery used in agriculture, construction, and forestry was able to reduce delivery lead time by 38% by implementing Inventory optimization tools? The organization has a diverse product range, which includes heavy machinery and industrial equipment which is made by order. Retail activities are highly seasonal, with the majority of sales occurring between the months of March and July. But the organization had longer lead time. which made them come up with a statement that they want to build their business just as good as their products. To improve its supply chain and Inventory Management, they implemented a few tools. Increase Production through Inventory Management The company divided the implementation journey into five stages. Each focusing on a six-month period. Each new project would begin on the lessons learned and the success of the preceding one. In the beginning, the focus was on setting a multi-stage distribution network. To reduce the order lead time, the organization divided staging inventory into 3 locations. at the factory warehouses, at intermediate sites called merge centers, and at the dealers. The merge centers hold high-volume, non-configurable products. They are closer to the dealers to make sure they do not run out of stock whenever required and to ensure delivery within 1-2 days. Later, it focused on enhancing shipments into cost-saving, multi-stop truckloads. Dealers’ assigned shipping days could be reduced because less volume was flowing from the factory warehouses. After the completion of the implementation stage, the project had shown a substantial saving of $2.7 million and the delivery lead time was reduced by approximately 38% for 89% of the shipments.     Inventory management can improve your supply chain and optimize inventory, reduce lead time, and much more. So, have you reaped the benefits of implementing inventory management tools at Faber Infinite.
- [Seek advice, more than the feedback!](https://faberinfinite.com/seek-advice-more-than-the-feedback/): Receiving feedback plays a huge part in anybody’s life. Feedback can be both positive or negative. It is on the individual on the receiving end to decide how he/ she takes even feedback whether it is negative or positive. But, when the research was conducted, it was found that giving advice is better than giving feedback. When we are asked to give someone feedback, we look at the end result on which a final comment is passed with the statement of whether or not the end result is fruitful. But when a person is asked for advice regarding something, the person is asked about the opinion of whether or not the process of the task carried out correctly, was there any other way or better way to generate the same or better result, the solution of what else could have been done and much more.  When a person is asked for advice instead of feedback, there is a broadway opened for suggestions for areas and ways of improvement. Many a time we have heard that one should always take feedback from their colleagues. However, research suggests that feedback either have no impact or negative impact on the performance. The feedback we receive is often too ambiguous — it fails to suggest what could have been improved, or how it could have been improved. When the research was conducted, it showed that when people sought advice instead of feedback, they received effective inputs. In one study, a few people were asked to share their inputs. Few of them were asked to share it in the form of feedback, while others were asked to share it in the form of advice. And it was found that those people who gave their feedback were found to give ambiguous feedback, generally praising comments. And when it was compared to those who were asked to provide “advice”, they suggested 34% more areas of improvement and 56% of different ways to improve. It is seen that usually feedbacks are linked with evaluations. Whereas, when people are asked to provide advice, people focus less on evaluation and more on possible future actions. Organizations have a lot of opportunities to learn from peers, colleagues, and clients. Despite its prevalence, seeking advice is often an effective strategy for promoting growth and learning.
- [Standards Make Organisations Operationally Fit](https://faberinfinite.com/standards-make-organisations-operationally-fit/): Team Faber is engaged with one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural engineering equipment. We have been helping the organization improve its overall productivity by cost reduction, waste elimination, product quality improvement and much more. One of the standards implemented at the client site was setting norms for Processes in Assembly, Fabrication, Balancing and Bending Operations via classical Time & Motion Study. This standard has been designed and implemented by one of our expert consultants –Mr. Anoop Kulkarni in collaboration with the client team members. This standard defined time standards for operations across the above mentioned 4 departments enabling production planning and scheduling. It also helped convince the works committee on standardization as per ILO guidelines. We have been helping organizations set standards and become operationally fit. Contact us if your organization wants to be operationally fit & efficient
- [Standards Make Organisations Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/standards-make-organisations-productive/): Team Faber Infinite has been engaged with one of Africa’s leading sugar manufacturing organizations in Zambia. Team Faber is helping the organization improve its overall productivity by cost management, waste elimination, improve product quality and much more. At the client site, to eliminate waste and remove unproductive activities, we have implemented a standard – Job Instructions/ Card for Agro-workshop. This standard has been designed and implemented by one of the expert consultants –Mr. Vijay Hondadakatti in collaboration with the client team members including Mr.Rajesh, Mr.Balu & Mr.Prabhu. The objective was to eliminate the confusion of work allocation for operators, establishing and improving efficiencies, thereby improving throughput. The standard also helped identify the non-productive activities in the organization, helped analyze the issues and identify the ways to solve them. It also helped the operating team to schedule planned maintenance. Implementing one simple standard can benefit the organization in various ways. So, when are you planning to implement standards in your organization to see such wonderful results!
- [Standards Make Organisations Smart](https://faberinfinite.com/standards-make-organisations-smart/): Team Faber Infinite has been instrumental in implementing standards not only at different client sites across geographies but at our own offices as well and working towards making our offices SMART. Sharing glimpses of a few standards implemented at our offices. At our office in Pune, India, we have implemented – Availability Matrix. This matrix is a people-oriented matrix, as consultants are mostly onsite helping clients craft growth opportunities. There are times when team members from other functions want to collaborate with the consulting team. This matrix lets you know the availability of the consultant so that you can assign them the task for which you are accountable and can thus match the deadline. It helps reduce excessive discussion loops amongst the team regarding work allocation. At another office in Ahmedabad, India, we have implemented Daily Work Management (DWM). DWM is the framework that provides the ability to manage departments, functions, and processes, wherein processes are defined, standardized, controlled, and improved by the process owners. It ensures that daily jobs and objectives are accomplished strictly on daily basis with a perfect control system built in! At another office in Vadodara, India, we have implemented Kanban. Kanban is basically implemented for inventory management. Kanban has helped in knowing the quantity of inventory available and used. Similarly, optimum levels can be maintained to avoid over and understocking of inventories. It has also helped in the easy sorting of the inventory and setting the right replenishment model, where we follow PFEP (Plan For Every Part) methodology!
- [Supply Chain Management for cost reduction](https://faberinfinite.com/supply-chain-management-for-cost-reduction/): How a Global Dried-Fruits Producer Cut Finished-Goods Spoilage by 30% — and What Your Business Can Learn Did you know one of the world’s largest producers of dried fruits achieved a remarkable 30% reduction in finished-goods spoilage simply by transforming how it planned and operated its supply chain? What makes this case fascinating is that the company wasn’t facing any dramatic operational crisis. Their distribution operations appeared stable, orders were being fulfilled, and the system seemed to be working. Yet beneath the surface, margins were eroding due to hidden inefficiencies that standard reporting failed to capture. This story is more than an operational success — it is a real-world demonstration of how structured planning, accurate forecasting, and network redesign can unlock massive value in any business. Let’s break down how the transformation happened, what challenges were uncovered, and what lessons any organization can apply. The Hidden Challenge: Costs Invisible Inside a “Working” Distribution System At first glance, the company’s distribution structure seemed functional. Warehouses were operational, logistics was running on schedule, and customer service levels were consistent. However, senior management observed troubling patterns: Rising end-to-end supply chain costs driven largely by production overruns and inefficiencies. High spoilage of finished goods, leading to financial waste and poor asset utilization. When the company dug deeper, it discovered two major root causes that were silently driving up costs. 1. A Suboptimal Warehouse Network The distribution network had grown organically over the years rather than strategically. The company was operating 25 warehouses, many of which were redundant or poorly located. This created excess handling, duplicated safety stocks, and inflated fixed operating costs. 2. Manual, Fragmented Forecasting Forecasting was being done using spreadsheets and locally maintained demand estimates. Without a unified system: Forecast accuracy was poor Production plans did not match real demand Excess inventory accumulated Warehouses filled up, fueling even more spoilage The manual forecasting approach created a chain reaction: inaccurate forecasts → excess production → excess warehousing → spoilage and cost inflation. This “hammer effect” showed how one weak process (forecasting) triggered downstream inefficiencies throughout the supply chain. The Smart Approach: Phased Supply Chain Transformation Instead of jumping into an expensive all-at-once overhaul, the company adopted a phased improvement plan, supported by a modern supply-chain planning platform. This approach delivered benefits in sequence, reducing risk and increasing organizational buy-in. Why Phased Transformation Worked Each module delivered measurable ROI before the next phase began. Employees learned gradually, enabling smoother adoption. Teams validated assumptions early, preventing large-scale mistakes. The company avoided overwhelming the organization with massive change. A key element of this transformation was the implementation of Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) — a structured, cross-functional process that aligned demand forecasting, production planning, and supply chain execution. Instead of planning week-to-week, the company could now anticipate resource requirements months in advance. The Five-Phase Improvement Journey Here’s a practical breakdown of the five major phases the company followed — a blueprint that other organisations can easily replicate: 1. Assessment & Baseline Creation The company analyzed its existing operations, identifying: Inventory levels Forecasting accuracy Warehouse utilization Transportation patterns True cost drivers This baseline clarified where value was leaking and where the highest returns could come from. 2. Forecasting & Demand Planning Enhancement The business replaced manual spreadsheet forecasting with: Standardized tools Centralized data inputs Statistical forecasting Clear roles and governance This step alone significantly improved visibility and eliminated guesswork. 3. Network Optimization By modelling distribution scenarios, the company redesigned its warehouse footprint. This resulted in a dramatic reduction from 25 warehouses to just 8 — slashing fixed costs and streamlining inventory flows. 4. S&OP and Capacity Planning S&OP connected sales, production, supply chain, and finance into one unified planning rhythm. This helped: Balance capacity with demand Reduce overtime Improve production stability Create realistic demand-supply alignment 5. Continuous Improvement & Governance Finally, the company monitored KPIs in real time, enabling continuous tuning of: Forecasts Inventory norms Logistics decisions Production schedules Because each step delivered results, the organization recovered its entire investment before the full program was even completed — a significant achievement. The Results: Tangible Improvements That Built Long-Term Value The transformation delivered measurable improvements across key metrics that matter most in supply chain performance: ✔ 30% Reduction in Finished-Goods Spoilage Better planning meant producing the right quantities at the right time, drastically reducing waste. ✔ ~20% Increase in Forecast Accuracy More accurate demand signals minimized overproduction and stockouts. ✔ 17% Reduction in Overtime Costs Smoother production schedules reduced costly last-minute overtime pushes. ✔ Warehouse Network Reduced from 25 to 8 Optimized warehousing significantly lowered fixed logistics costs. ✔ Transportation Costs Stabilized for Two Years Despite fuel price volatility, efficient routing and planning kept logistics spend flat. Together, these improvements generated a more resilient, efficient, and profitable supply chain. Why Their Approach Worked — and Why It Can Work for You The success of this case rests on three foundational principles: 1. They solved the real root cause Instead of reacting to symptoms like spoilage or overtime, the company addressed core problems: forecasting and network design. 2. They implemented change incrementally Phasing improvements created quick wins, built confidence, and minimized disruption. 3. They connected planning to execution S&OP ensured that demand, production, and logistics operated in sync — something many organizations still struggle with. What Your Organization Can Learn — Practical Takeaways If you’re facing rising supply chain costs, inventory issues, or warehousing inefficiencies, here are steps you can begin immediately: Measure your current KPIs — forecast accuracy, spoilage levels, inventory turns, and warehousing costs. Eliminate fragmented forecasting — even a simple standardized process is better than scattered spreadsheets. Optimize your network footprint — fewer warehouses can often lower total cost dramatically. Institutionalize S&OP — ensure sales, operations, and finance operate on one shared plan. Adopt a phased transformation model — avoid big-bang failures and build momentum gradually. Conclusion: Smart Supply Chains Create Smart Businesses This dried-fruits producer transformed its supply chain not by luck, but by disciplined planning, data-driven forecasting, and structured execution. A 30% reduction
- [Conversations managers should have with employees](https://faberinfinite.com/conversations-managers-should-have-with-employees/): Any employee that has newly joined the organization or is a fresher, needs to be properly guided about the organization, his job, and role, about the vision of the organization, and much more. To make the new joiners aware of these factors, managers and seniors need to coach their juniors well. Seniors should focus and converse about the issues employees are struggling with. Issues like; how to build flexibility, how to influence others, how to job craft and, how to break out of a mantle run.  These skills are vital and each of them needs different conversations. When these skills are fully and distinctively addressed, they can produce results that can refine short-term success along with long-term career satisfaction. The relationship between the worker and its manager accounts for 70% of the variation in employee engagement. Which means those managers who invest their time in addressing these issues increase employee retention and build a connection that keeps the team inspired, innovated and doing their best work. So, let us have a look at what a manager should include in those 4 topics of conversation to generate the best worker-manager relationship. 1.       How to build flexibility: Many a time, those employees who have had a bad experience with their past jobs, tend to avoid conversations. Managers should make the employees comfortable enough so that they can voice their negative feedback but not reside in it. Hence, keep communicating with your employees about their thoughts and views over the dynamics of the team. This kind of question will help you figure out what your employee is experiencing. Once you have gained an understanding of why your employees are thinking negative or what makes them react negatively in a certain situation, ask them those questions that will help them get out of their heads and reflect on what really happens. Later, the last step for the manager is to help their employees to figure out what future choices they can make to navigate future situations differently. 2.       How to influence others When any employee struggles with a poor networking relationship, the manager can help the employee see the situation from a different perspective to find new ways to engage and build relationships. A study showed that 39% of coaching conversations focused on helping employees influence people helped them build a network and created the desired impact. 3.       How to job craft The main point of this conversation is to help the employee reflect on what is most important to them. As this can help them shape a compelling vision for their future. Doing meaningful work matters to almost all people. And those who do not feel a sense of purpose, tend to burn out easily. 4.       How to break out of a mental run out Many a time the employees get stuck while trying to solve problems. While doing that, if they don’t find a solution, then either they give-up or try another time with the same method. Managers can help their team think from a different perspective. Use this part of the conversation to help your employees identify where their thinking has stuck and seek out new ways of inquiry. Start by asking them; What problems are they trying to solve, What are they most concerned about, and what are the different ways that they have tried. The goal of the manager is to get the employees to identify what problems they are actually trying to solve. Once the employee seems to understand that their current plan of action is defective, encourage them to think about alternative solutions by considering all of the information they have collected. For managers to build employees into future leaders it will require them to help employees adopt a type of mindsets that will shift their attitudes. If employees can master those mindsets, they can find satisfaction, stay engaged, and fulfill their long-term potential visions. To do that, the first step is figuring out what employees need from their manager so that you can have the right conversations.
- [Friday Fact - Lean - Crafting excellence in the oil industry](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-lean-crafting-excellence-in-the-oil-industry/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest oil companies were able to save up to $5 million just by implementing lean principles? One of the oil companies in California is using and implementing lean principles to improve various key processes, which include drilling new wells and repairing existing wells. Also, the company depends mostly on its enterprise-wide lean effort to help increase the number of crude barrels pumped every day at its extensive Baldridge oil field. Roughly, the organization pumps around 1,50,000 oil barrels every day. The total revenue of the organization in the year 2011 was more than $5.6 billion. Until 2012, the company managed a 66-square mile oilfield with 300 employees and 2,500 contractor workers on site. The company implemented lean concepts to improve various processes. The most important process was drilling of new wells and the careful and cautious management of operating wells in order to ensure maximum output and uptime. A specific branch of the organization has 7000 producing wells, with more than 1000 new wells that are being drilled every year and other 1200 wells being retired per year. The lean implementation for process improvement has proven to be a major reason for an organization’s success. As per the President and CEO of the organization, the employees have learned to map out the steps in a process and improve them regularly. They have developed a culture where people in the organization are committed to continuous improvement and the team is always on the efforts to improve each day. Although the organization is not into the business of manufacturing, the company has a manufacturing mindset. The employees perform numerous repetitive tasks each day which people from the oil industry believe are nonrepetitive. But the organization has proven otherwise. And the organization is appreciated for implementing lean saying that this is an innovative application of lean in their business. By implementing Value Stream Mapping, the employees and the contractor both were able to adopt lean methods. For the organization, those things that were easy to translate from the manufacturing sector to their operations were things like single-piece flow, process improvements through continual improvement principles, and eliminating a lot of waste. For the year 2012, the organization expected to drill around 1200 wells. But this incurred a lot of costs as oil prices increased, inflation also had kept pace. For the organization, it was a challenge to handle all this work and not have it cost three times as much. The organization kept the cost per foot of drilling steadily by $100 for the past decade and this was only accomplished by going from a functional organization to a lean organization. In the year 2011, the organization was able to incur a total savings of $5 million including $3.7 million from process improvement and $1.1 million in the reuse of materials. Hence, as you can see, the lean and continuous Improvement principals have been helping organizations apart from manufacturing incur millions of savings. So, have you implemented lean and continuous improvement principles yet?
- [Steps to build strong Leader - Employee relationship](https://faberinfinite.com/steps-to-build-strong-leader-employee-relationship/): In any organization, it is very important for the leaders to have a good relationship with their employees to make sure the employees and the organization grow together. To ensure this, there are a few steps every leader must consider while keeping employee engagement intact. Smart leaders make sure employees are engaged with their organization because highly engaged teams bring creativity and passion in their work. All of this is important to make sure the organization grows well and to have the best employee retention because good employees won’t stay with dissatisfaction at work. How can a manager establish a good relationship with the team? Building Trust: In any organization, it is very important to gain the trust of the employee. If the employees won’t trust their managers, the organization would suffer. There are a few leaders who might choose to rule through fear, but this will only lead to employees who are working for what is enough to keep their jobs. There are a lot of things a manager can do to gain the trust of its teams. One is being open and honest about the changes that will come in the future and the way the employees will be impacted. Such kind of things makes the employee feel understood which builds trust between employee and leader. Build Understanding It is important for a leader to empathize with the employee. This will help the employee to be open with the leader. The employee will be able to pitch ideas better. It will also help the employees to discuss issues or concerns at work openly. Seek Opinions When a leader asks its employees about their opinion on the discussion that is being taken in a meeting along with the team, it makes the employee feel worthy. This will make the employee feel trusted by his opinion and will make the employee feel needed. Leaders should hence seek opinions from the team. Be respectful Leaders must be respectful of their teams. Employees should be respected and never insulted. Disrespecting anyone doesn’t take much of the time and energy but respecting someone takes efforts. And it doesn’t just improve the relationship, but it also shows the employees the way they should treat their subordinates to lead the path. Lead with integrity A leader can show that he/she is trustworthy as a leader by staying by their words with their teams. A leader should show integrity. Tell them things you will do, and then do exactly as you said. Show them that your leadership is in alignment with the organizational values. Reward them their acts with integrity. Show trust and in return, ask for their trust. Be trustworthy and honorable and communicate the same. Hence, these are the pointers that will lead the relationship between leader and team to a beautiful track which will help the organization grow leaps and bounds.  Discover the key steps to foster a strong leader-employee relationship and unleash the full potential of your team. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to expert insights and actionable strategies. Start building a foundation of trust, motivation, and success today!
- [Building Culture of Continual Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/building-culture-of-continual-improvement/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a reputed global leader in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals plastic packaging. They have over the years acquired the reputation through continuous improvement initiatives and a professional approach to the management of manufacturing pharmaceuticals plastic packaging. We had a chat with Mr. Vishnu Jajoo – Managing Director, Shriji Polymers India Ltd. Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Shriji Polymers India limited? Vishnu Jajoo (VJ): Shriji Polymers India Ltd. is into manufacturing of packaging materials made from plastic especially for pharmaceutical applications. The products are specifically for oral solid dosages for generic applications in the USA and Canadian markets that include regulators such as US FDA and Canadian Health and Safety. We have our filings with US FDA and Canadian Health and Safety. We are catering to all those pharmaceuticals manufacturers who are in turn selling their medicines or formulations to these regulated markets of North America. So, this is a niche about Shriji Polymers. Our 98% of business comes out of this and other 2% of business is now getting developed from a different product ranges which is again pharma applications which include laboratory reagents, packaging, and certain other dosing devices and many more related to pharma industry itself. FI: The industry that you are working is a combination of manufacturing and pharma industry. Your organization must be following best practices from both the sectors. Can you explain how does your organization handle this?  VJ: We are into manufacturing packaging material for pharmaceutical applications, so we have to be in line with different manufacturing practices that need to be adapted as what pharma is doing. Because the packaging that we are manufacturing for pharma doesn’t go for any kind of sterilization or processing. It is directly getting used by the end customers for packaging. So, we own the responsibility of using cleanroom atmosphere while we are manufacturing and hence, we ensure dust-free / contamination-free product manufacturing. So, we have created such an atmosphere where we undertake the manufacturing with all the necessary units, air conditioning, and systems in place which is exactly in line with the pharma application. FI: We understand every industry has its own challenges. What are the challenges unique to your industry? VJ: Our biggest challenge is to keep up with the different regulatory requirements from the regulatory bodies of different countries like US FDA and Canadian Health and Safety. So, we must always keep ourselves up to the mark with all the regulations that they are bringing in from time to time. Another challenge is to keep our teams trained, so training is another important factor. Another challenge is to ensure that our teams are put into a right culture so that they do not use any shortcuts and follow the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) norms that have been set into the manufacturing business. FI: As we know you have manufacturing setups in Ujjain, Indore, Hyderabad, China and the USA. You are operating in such diverse geographies. How do you manage to operate from different locations? What are your suggestions for organizations who are operating across such diverse geographies? VJ: So, as I mentioned the most important aspect is team culture. There must be a great team leader who ensures that the team culture is built in the right way. I have always focused on putting the right leader for every location and each geography. So, the respective leaders then ensure that the team is aligned to the organizational goals and the systems and processes are in place. Once the systems are in place, you don’t have to worry about the different locations or geographies. FI: Over the last decade, the pharmaceutical packaging landscape has seen a lot of changes. Companies are working on innovation, improving operations and driving efficiencies across the supply chain. Can you share more about the continual improvement initiatives at Shriji Polymers to be ahead of the curve? VJ: As you know that this industry has gone into changes and improvement into packaging style, so innovation is very important. The efforts are basically to tie up ourselves with more of the packaging development departments and conception development departments of the formulators, so we are able to keep ourselves at par with the changes that they are thinking about. We work hand-on-hands with them to come up with the solutions in compliance with their needs. So, for that, we have always put in efforts to keep our infrastructure, our technology, our mold capabilities in line with the requirements of the customers changing demands. FI: As a part of the continual improvement journey, Shriji has been working on efficiency, changeover time reduction, productivity improvement across different sections. We would be glad to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers. VJ: Our journey with Faber has been young, so definitely we are seeing great results through important changes taking place. It is a seed that Faber Infinite has implanted into our team and our organization to see things more towards in an organized manner. We are very happy, as these were the few things we have been talking about since quite some time, however it was Team Faber Infinite which has put those things in place and implanted it very effectively into the downline team. Their role has been very good since they translated and formalized the thought process of our management team in every department of the organization. We are happy to see such phenomenal results. Now our teams have started talking about continual improvement and are ready to take up initiatives related to efficiency and productivity improvement, change over time reduction to share a few. All these things are the talk of the town for the shop floor guys. This is a huge improvement that we can see. Even when I interacted
- [Building Trust Across Sectors and Geographies](https://faberinfinite.com/building-trust-across-sectors-and-geographies/): A consultant is a catalyst who helps organizations transform! They are the ones who work on the shop-floor/ gemba (real place of work) with the client teams to help them transform & grow smoothly. They are on several client sites, from one country to another, from one industry to others. But they never give up on the idea of helping organizations transform, as per the expectations of the management teams. In this edition of Faber, we had a chat with yet another transformation specialist from Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Vijay Hondadakatti. He has helped various clients across geographies and industries. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Hondadakatti. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? How does a typical day look like for you? Vijay Hondadakatti (VH): I am a Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting and I work with clients in their organizational transformation journey. Every organization that I work with is different, and so are the challenges in the transformation journey. I work with clients to implement various continuous improvement initiatives. A typical day looks like a new game every day. So, being a sportsman if I relate to sports, I know the rules, I know how to play, but the categories are changing as the playgrounds are different and the people along with whom I am playing are different as well. So, for me, a typical day at work looks like a strategic game. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? VH: The first and the foremost thing is trust that has been put on me by my team and by the client. The trust that I along with my team can change the scenario of the organization, by providing them value addition in tangible terms. This for me is the most rewarding aspect of my job. And also, when the teams implement new improved way of working in their organization and it delivers results, is more rewarding because as an external catalyst we have accelerated the speed of change! So, it is again something that is highly fulfilling. Because it is challenging to work and contribute in an industry, where teams bring domain expertise and experience, and you create an environment of revisiting the processes and defining improved ways, along with taking the client teams into confidence as well. And in return, once the unimagined results are delivered, getting wonderful feedbacks and that sense of satisfaction, is working best for us. It is something you would cross rivers to experience! FI: Which was one of the biggest challenges that you have faced, and what did you learn from it? VH: One of the biggest challenges that I have faced till date is most of the times when we go on a project at client sites, the client expects us to create wonders overnight. They expect us to do everything in just no time. However, one should also understand that the whole point of improvement is not the end result but the process as well. It is due to the systematic process and the tools – techniques, due to which the client will not only reap those phenomenal results but would be able to sustain it after the consulting engagement. But what I learn from this is that clients have trust in us, they expect us to deliver better results in a very short span of time. So, if not on the very next day, but in a short span of time, we show them the desired results. FI: How has the organization helped you grow? Are your personal aspirations and traits aligned with your role? VH: See, my point of view towards life is learning new things in each and every step of it. And especially when it comes to your work, I like to learn and practice new things daily and these are the exact goals of Faber Infinite which is implementing new tools under the guidance and support of the mentors. So, whenever I learn something new, I go on the field and implement with the guidance of my mentors, for which I see the results. So, these are also a few of my personal aspirations which are aligned with my role here. As I mentioned earlier, being from a sports background, this is what I have learned from my childhood. Learning new things and implementing them. As you can see here, it is not only about learning but also about implementing. So, it is like, practice what you preach – which is the exact same thing I am able to do here. FI: In what ways the accomplishments are recognized. Share with us one of your accomplishments and how was it recognized? VH: Faber is a very transparent organization. To measure its employee’s performance, it has a monthly performance management system which tracks your monthly performance and productivity. And the best thing about it is, the KPI’s are set on the basis of your job role and department. It measures your performance monthly and you yourself evaluate your score which gives you a chance to see your performance graph which boosts your performance to work even hard and improve from the present. For me, accomplishment is something, I believe, that I get from the client deliverables. Because, when you offer a service, and when the feedback comes directly from the end-user, from the Gemba saying that what you have implemented has changed the scenario of the organization and it never looked like this before. And it is more pleasing when the client says that he is going to teach these tools that he learned to his children as well. So, you see, it is not just the client’s place, the organization that is being affected, but also, the personal life of those people who are getting trained for these techniques. This was from one of the clients from Malawi, saying that my friend, I have never seen this factory in
- [Quick Changeover Delivered Within GMP Norms!](https://faberinfinite.com/quick-changeover-delivered-within-gmp-norms/): Every industry has a need for growth and development along with improving quality, output and customer satisfaction. Pharmaceutical and Life Science industry is no different! The pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. Where the manufacturing dynamics are complex, market demands are varying and are governed by different regulatory norms. Hence, it is necessary for the organizations from this industry to have the most agile manufacturing setups which can easily adapt changes, but at the same time stick to the statutory regulations and GMP norms. The Indian pharma industry is one of the largest providers of generic drugs. Considering the regulations that the industry must follow, organizations need to be up-to-the-mark and to deliver products on time in lesser cost and with desired specifications. Hence, under such a broad umbrella of regulations, it is difficult for the organizations to keep up with the factors like lower manufacturing cost to satisfy the customer demands and to generate most out of the investment. There are multiple opportunities that organizations from the pharma industry can cash on. Improve Efficiency using Organizational Transformation Team Faber Infinite Consulting with its proven Organizational Transformation Framework© integrated with other lean practices has helped organizations from the pharma industry to reduce changeover time (P-type and C-type) and thus helped to improve material flow, reduce production loss and output variability. Our expert team has been delivering phenomenal results across 8+ countries, with 200+ clients and 10,000+ projects. Recently at one of the large pharma companies, we have worked with the client to increase the production by ~30% with same resources via improving equipment efficiency and performance and by a reduction in changeover times.   We helped the organization reduce its changeover times and see drastic results, such as save 48% of change over time in the granulation process, 8% of the time in capsule filling, 12% of the time in compression, and 20% of the time on packing lines. We also go one step ahead with the client and work on the sustenance of the benefits delivered. The client is highly satisfied with the results delivered. The proven framework by Faber Infinite is helping organizations from pharmaceuticals and life sciences sector grow leaps and bounds. We assure a 50% reduction in equipment changeover time. Embarking on the journey of organizational transformation is the way forward for the pharmaceutical industry. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com to schedule our free complimentary analysis.
- [Improve sales by 33% in 11 months](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-sales-by-33-percent-in-11-months/): Sales tend to be one of the main concerns for growing organizations. With increased competition, it is difficult for organizations to sustain in the market. Also increasing sales seems to be one of the challenges encountered by organizations across the world. In fact, it is among one of the most difficult tasks, which needs serious measures to tackle the problems associated with it. We have a proven solution for this challenge. There is no magic wand, which can increase the sales immediately. However, Faber Infinite has demonstrated methods and framework to create, raise demand, increase sales and enable organizations to sell better. Increase Sales using Sales Growth Framework Team Faber Infinite Consulting has a proven and unique Sales Growth Framework for improving sales. There are various factors involved in increasing the sales in an organization which need to be studied in detail. These factors include internal as well as external factors. This powerful framework enables organizations to keep sales trends upwards taking into consideration both internal and external factors. It would be interesting to know how the Sales Growth Framework can suit various industries. Yes, this framework is applicable across industries and geographies. One needs to pick and customize what suits the setup, environment, and way of working. We are glad to share that at one of our esteemed client sites. Team Faber has been able to deliver remarkable results which helped the organization improve its sales. One of the leading FMCG brands from Africa has engaged with Faber Infinite to improve sales. We have successfully improved the new product sales contribution grew from 0.8% to 2.9%, sales grew by 85% in counties, where it was difficult to find a foothold. The client is involved in growing, processing, and packaging of high-quality tea, having nationwide presence. Team Faber was also engaged by yet another leading FMCG organization from Africa to deliver remarkable results which helped the organization improve its sales. Remarkable results were delivered in a span of just 11 months, which increased fresh and frozen chicken sale by 150%, increased feeds sales by 30%, increased client base by 35%. The client is dealing in dressed chicken, cut-ups, day-old chicken, table eggs, hatching eggs, poultry equipment, and animal feed. As you can see, Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting can help organizations improve their sales exponentially, in a short time. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com, to join the sales improvement club of Faber Infinite Consulting.
- [Dealing with Tough Times](https://faberinfinite.com/dealing-with-tough-times/): Over the period, we have seen the emerging of the manufacturing sector as one of the highest growing sectors of India. Indian manufacturing sector set its foot as the 6th largest manufacturing sector amongst other countries. India is also said to achieve 5th position in the same by the end of 2020. The manufacturing sector in India has the potential to touch US$ 1 trillion by 2025* (Source: https://www.ibef.org). There is a possibility that the sector might account for 25-30 percent of the country’s GDP and create up to 90 million domestic jobs by 2025. This sector is a highly emerging and evolving sector. And with spurts of ups and downs, the organizations in this sector must be proactive to face numerous challenges. On a simple note, organizations can be classified into two categories, namely, proactive or reactive. Proactive companies build muscles while reactive companies build fats. Many times, we have seen that there are a few organizations that believe in strengthening their internal processes by eliminating waste and by sustaining a structured program focused on building operational excellence. Whereas others believe in cost-cutting. But will this work? Just imagine, if any company which is stock rich and fat rather than being fit, it loses the ability to respond to the change and in turn compulsorily has to react to the changing markets. This dynamic behavior can be related to the amount of stock lying in the supply chain. One of the researches in the past showed that those organizations that worked hard in leaning their supply chains survived and emerged stronger in the changing market in comparison with those organizations who did not. Those organizations were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and agile. Organizations that have not leaned their supply chains has witnessed more intense problems. And during change and tough times such organizations had to drive immediate change in the price and order deliveries which inevitably forced these companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. In contrast, organizations who adapted operational excellence practices were able to adapt, manage and survive the rapid changes in the market. It is also said that operational excellence is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. Operational Excellence ensures the basic stability of operation in an organization where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, reduced throughput time and encouraging quality ratios are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide the customer satisfaction index. As we have always said, the customer is the king and it is important to satisfy their expectation levels that will help the organization lead in the market. So, identification of fats – the waste in the organization, cost-benefit and time-benefit analysis of the problem is the key. Organizations that want to cut costs should not cut the muscles, rather they should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost-cutting.  So as Benjamin Frankly rightly said – “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the fat in the system and start attacking it, to sail smoothly even in the tough times. Hence, the right set of targets and systems, lean tools and techniques, skilled and motivated team – all in all, excellence in operations, business and people is the key to growth and development.
- [Lean Tools to Improve Revenue and Save Time](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-tools-to-improve-revenue-and-save-time/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest and well-renowned coffee chain stores were able to improve customer satisfaction by 20% just by implementing continuous improvement tools. One of the world’s largest and renowned coffee stores was seen using 1/3rd of its total man hour in moving and reaching for things that were never at the same place. It took way too long for the people to make one beverage. This time is assumed to be non-value adding which restricts them from connecting with their customer. When observed, it was found that most of the time was consumed at the time of filling the glass with whipped cream and drizzle the chocolate or caramel over it. This step was slowing down the production. This step itself took all of the six seconds of the entire process. Which is why they planned to move those items near to where drinks are handed to customers and decided to carry out this step at the end of the entire process. The actual time saved in this step by implementing this small change was 8 seconds from a total of 45 seconds of the coffee-making process. After this, from the process of coffee making, 2 seconds were cut in each step which is actually saved 23 seconds of time for making one coffee. 23 seconds might not seem much at the surface, but when combined, it is a significant saving. Increase Revenue in Coffee Industry Hence, saving this time would allow the store to serve more customers which wouldn’t have been possible if they wouldn’t have made layout and process improvements. Along with that, by implementing other lean tools, time saved per week at one of their stores were counted at 1.5 hours per store per week. With the help of these tools, the stores saw a jump of customer satisfaction from 56% to 76%. Along with that, the stores also saw a 9% increase in total transactions. All this happened in a span of 2 months since the implementation of the tools. Hence, as you can see, lean tools are for all those who are into making/manufacturing of products. It has been helping numerous organizations from various industries to improve their capacity which in turn helps in improving revenue. So, have you started implementing lean tools in your organization?
- [8 Steps to Build Strong Leadership Foundation](https://faberinfinite.com/8-steps-to-build-strong-leadership-foundation/): Leadership is not just a role that you play in the organization, it is an art of living that needs to be imbibed. There are a lot of theories around what kind of a leadership one should incorporate, to become a great leader, what all things a leader should avoid and so on. Today, in this Transformation Tuesday we are going to talk about basic things a leader must incorporate to build a strong foundation for leadership and to give assurance to the team. 1. Transparency When a leader adapts transparency, there are lesser chances for them to be challenged by those that oversee them. Another reason why a leader uses transparency is to help those around them embrace change, which can be achieved through a combination of communication, informed debate, shared decision-making, reaching a consensus and using social media. People and followers should be aware as to why and how a leader has come to a decision and in what all ways it will affect them. Those leaders that adapt transparency are not micromanagers; they believe in giving due credits to their followers when success occurs and take the blame for failures. 2. Learn from failures Failure is a negative word and has a negative impact, but the studies show that experiencing failure is necessary for any leader as it has the power to shape them. It is a powerful way of learning survival, renewal and innovation. Accepting and learning from failure enables us to change and inspire others. Leaders must be ready to take risks and fail otherwise great rewards can never be achieved. In the process, leaders achieve great perspective about people and who it is they can trust. 3. Trust Trust is one of the core principles of leadership. In the past, leadership was limited, special and a skill set of powerful people. But today, that vertical model of leadership is less effective. Today, success is achieved by collaborating with someone a leader has no power over in pursuit of common goals. In other words, a good leader no longer trusts only in power but places their faith in the power of trust. And, in any relationship, a leader is the trustee and in order to be effective, must be trustworthy as well as willing to take the risk of placing trust in the people around them. 4. Confidence A good leader symbolizes confidence. No one would like to follow a leader who isn’t self-assured, and people can see through a mask of confidence. Those leaders who can convey their goals and stand by their decisions are far more effective than those who are trying to hide their insecurities behind a mask of arrogance. Even after facing failure, good leaders can trust their gut and take any decision. Those leaders who are confident are generally happier, create better bonding, remain open to take risks, accept feedback, think for themselves, recognize success and are more motivated. 5. Decisiveness A leader makes any decision carefully, but once they have made their mind, they cannot easily go off track. This shows commitment, which creates consistency, both of which are traits that work well in leadership. 6. Humility Humility is an important trait to keep leaders grounded and connected with their followers and the people around them. To be honest, having truthfulness and listening to employees will only help gain their respect, which will pay off when it comes time to exercise decisiveness. The best leaders always have an open and broad mind and they are very flexible. They are also able to adjust to the new ways of thinking or alternative methods when necessary. These leaders take criticism in pace and view it more as an opportunity for growth than an assault on their character. Whereas it is true that everyone loves confidence, humility creates a likable persona, making others more comfortable with their position. 7. Creativity A lot of decisions a leader will encounter will be unique to the business and which will require more thought process rather than simply throwing a canned solution at it. In such a situation, teams will often look up to their leader for innovative thinking, so being able to tap into previous experiences and a treasure chest of new ideas will pay off for any leader. 8. Build a strong Exit plan As a leader after you transform the organization and leave with your head held high you should also leave an equally strong leadership behind. Many leaders don’t do this. They want people to talk about how great leaders they were because the current one is not up to the mark. So, it should be prime responsibility of the leader to build other strong leaders who are as good as them. Leadership styles should be molded as per specific situations and businesses, these 8 pointers can provide the tools necessary to guide an organization on the path of growth and success. Some people are inborn leaders, but the above-mentioned qualities anyone can display with the right amount of determination and practice.
- [Adapt change to survive the competition](https://faberinfinite.com/adapt-change-to-survive-the-competition/): Did you know, 18,500 employees lost their jobs at one of the leading FMCG organizations because they did not adapt to change? In this article, we will talk about How Adapt Change to Survive the Competition in Food Industry. One of the international FMCG brands has now shut down by killing 18,500 jobs, its factories, and other assets. So, what went wrong with the organization? The organization was a well-known brand for its junk food product range. But, as the popularity of the junk food faded more than a decade ago, the company that was established 84 years ago, struggled with increasing labor and commodity costs. Transformation Journey to Survive The first time the company filed for bankruptcy was in the year 2004. In the year 2009, the organization came out of bankruptcy. The organization also tried to adapt to the changing demands and needs of the market. They even hired new and private bakers but this lead to increased debts which further made it tough for them to invest in new equipment. At the same time, their workforces were unionized and there was a demand for high labor cost. The organization had a net loss of around $1.1 Bn over the revenue of $2.5 Bn in the fiscal year 2012. And the next January, the organization filed bankruptcy again. Hence, as you can see, any organization that operates in today’s era needs to be proactive and ready to adapt to the changes in the industry. Because in such a competitive era where your competition Is always striving to serve the market better, organizations need to build the culture of transformation and change for their sustainable development. So, are you aware of what is happening around? Are you facing resistance to change from your employees? Contact us and we will help you sail smoothly on this journey of transformation.
- [6 Habits to Become Great Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/6-habits-to-become-great-leaders/): There is always a difference of one step for becoming a great leader from a good leader. Since a long time, a lot of research has gone by trying to conclude the difference between a good leader and a great leader. Also, there are a few things great leaders do differently from good leaders which makes them a great leader. Here in this transformation Tuesday, we are going to talk about the difference between a good and a great leader. We will look at points one can adapt to become a great leader. Leading along with managing A lot of people misunderstand that leadership and management is same. Whereas, these are two completely different disciplines. The good leaders can be great at managing teams and making sure of projects getting done on time and within budget. They get things done on time with no compromise on quality. But many a time, they lack the quality to inspire, engage and emotionally connect their teams to the organization’s mission. Good leaders set goals for their team members and help them to fulfill their vision. Whereas great leaders involve their teams to take part in the planning process of goal making and inspire them to collectively find ways to achieve the team goals. Focus on tasks along with its results Good leaders believe that only the results matter not the tasks, neither its process and nor the efforts that are put in. This is not the right approach. A great leader should always give equal importance to the task and the process that is followed to come to the results. The great leader shows and sometimes even walks the path along with the team to achieve the goal which will inspire, engage and encourage its team. Serving from the bottom Great leaders are genuine helpers for their people. They put the needs of the team above their own needs. Not only the “needs” that are associated with the success of the mission but also the individual needs of every team member. Their organizational chart looks like an upside-down pyramid Inspiring and allowing creativity and innovation Once the goal has been set and agreed by the team, great leaders know how to align rituals, behaviors, and actions for achieving the results. Innovation and creativity are imperative not only for keeping the team members engaged but also for delivering the best possible results. This mechanism is the cultural foundation of the best performing teams in the business. Developing themselves along with others Great leaders are constantly looking for self-improvement. Not just in their ability to lead their teams but also in their mental and physical wellness. They are usually enthusiastic readers and fitness devotees. Most importantly, they always look forward to transparent feedback from those around them. Good leaders are only open to feedback whereas great leaders implement those feedback and act. They know that if they cannot religiously work on self-development then how will they develop others. Transformational not just transactional  Transformational leaders go beyond managing day-to-day operations. They craft strategies for taking their companies, department or work team to the next level of performance and success. A transformational leader focuses on team building, motivation, and collaboration with employees at all levels to lead to positive change. So try these 6 habits and become that great leader that you are meant to be!  
- [Friday Fact - To Reap Benefits Embark Today](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-to-reap-benefits-embark-today/): Did you know, one of the international banks from Singapore was able to save 250 million customer hours by implementing Kaizen? In the year 2009, the bank was well known for being a bureaucratic and slow processing bank. But later the team decided to go lean. They were inspired by the automotive sector and the implementation of continuous improvement initiatives in the sector. They initiated a project called Red program. They started an organizational transformation journey called Process Improvement Events. They began this program with a five-day process in which they planned to eliminate non-value-adding activities. It leads to a reduction in the time and effort it took to open a retail account by mail. On the first day, they created a current state map for the process of opening an account. Current state map is a map that shows the current process and glitches in the process that can be resolved or eliminated. On the second day, the team created a future state map for opening the account and this time they tried to eliminate as much waste as possible. They estimated the subsequent levels of effort and end-to-end time. This was much better but it was a theoretical exercise on paper. On the third day, they began with decision making. It all started by talking to the senior management who were responsible for the process and risks. Later they asked the executives to review the current and future state map, to go through the change implementation list and share their views on whether or not the team should proceed with the change initiatives. On the fourth day, based on the inputs from the senior management the solutions were refined and an implementation plan was developed. On the fifth day, the team presented those solutions to the management and went ahead on implementing the changes. As a result, when it was calculated, by refining that one process they reduced the turnaround time for opening a new account by post from 21 days to 5 days. Also, in the beginning, they ran a 5 Process Improvement event, later they stepped that up to 50 Process Improvement events and then over 200 Process Improvement events. And at the end of the RED program, they also estimated to reduce customer waiting time by 250 million customer hours. Hence, the continual improvement initiatives are not restricted to be effective only in the manufacturing sector. They can also be applied to the service sector. Such organizational transformation initiatives not only give tangible gains but also provide intangible benefits to the organization. So, have you embarked on your organizational transformation journey?
- [We put our skin in the game. Pay when you see the results!](https://faberinfinite.com/we-put-our-skin-in-the-game-pay-when-you-see-the-results/): In this world, where people are asked to pay before seeing the actual results, there is a high risk of getting tricked. Many times the provider over commits just so that you agree to pay the charged price and then underperforms because it doesn’t matter as you have already paid them the price for the results they never achieved.  Isn’t it scary? Especially in the world of Business Management Consulting, where one might question the return on investment or assurance? What if we don’t see the results? We all go through such questions, right?  But we have good news for you! Faber Infinite Consulting – one of the top trusted Business Management Consulting Organizations, serving across the Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East, has the ability to achieve exponential results by implementing its unique and proven Organizational Transformation Framework©️ – by working on the Gemba at client sites along with the client teams. Apart from being just management consultants, team Faber Infinite Consulting makes a valued partnership with its clients to go beyond boundaries, achieve goals, develop insights, revitalize teams and deliver tangible results. And the best part is that it comes with a strong assurance! You pay when you see the actual results!  Team Faber Infinite Consulting strongly lives by its value, ‘Under commit and over perform!’. We believe that clients should achieve the committed results. For such a transparent and sustainable relationship with clients, Team Faber assures the results via a combination of Fixed and Performance Linked Fees (PLF) Framework. We put our skin in the game! This framework based on the deliverables of the engagement which are defined at the beginning of the journey in terms of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The KPI includes the baselines, targets, improvement rates, weightage percentages, and actual achievements compared to targets, improvement percentages according to the performance.    With the help of the performance liked fees structure, we have driven numerous successful transformation journeys and delivered phenomenal results. Such value creation has helped Faber Infinite as one of the fastest-growing and trusted management consulting organizations. To know more about our services, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com or visit https://faberinfinite.com/case-studies/ for use cases.
- [5 Tips to Become a Successful leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/5-tips-to-become-successful-leaders/): There is a lot of curiosity in knowing how leaders work or what makes them great leaders. There are different school of thoughts. In this article, we have combined a few of the best pointers as to what a one needs to inculcate in their life to become a great leader. Read today’s Transformation Tuesday to incorporate some of the best leadership practices for becoming the best leader. 1. Close your open-door policy. Open door policies are inert ways to simplify communication and do more harm than good. This makes deep work and strategic thinking without imagining about virtual implication which is impossible for the managers. And the worst part about it is, research shows that half of all employees won’t go through the open door with problems or ideas because they fear the results.  Hence, now it’s time to close your door and open your calendar. Recurring, weekly one-on-one meetings are a far better way to proactively facilitate communication, and pre-scheduled “office hours”—perhaps an hour each day—is the best way to facilitate time-sensitive communication. 2. Not bringing phones in the meeting. It is seen that when someone uses their phone in between the meetings, it looks rude and unprofessional to the others. No matter how important your work on the phone is and even if you had no intention of hurting others feelings but these actions, actually do that. Even if it is for writing down the important notes. A research discovered that when it comes to comprehension and memory, writing down the notes in the book is far superior to typing notes in a phone. To avoid distraction, to remain mindful and present, and to maximize recall, a leader should leave their smartphones on their desk and use good old-fashioned pen and notepads in meetings. 3. Don’t have any rules. Every time a leader sets rules, it takes away a chance from the employees to make a choice or a decision. And it becomes “leaders” company, not the employees. Rules crowd out conversation. Managers become rule enforcers instead of leaders. In place of rules, incorporate standards or guidelines that are rooted in company values. Use these standards as topics of discussion starting with recruiting and onboarding and continuing throughout the employee life cycle. And when someone deviates from the values–the standards–well that’s a time for some feedback, that’s a coachable moment. 4. Don’t look out for being liked. It’s normal to want to be liked, but it’s a problem if you have a need to be liked. A need to be liked require managers to withhold direct, constructive feedback. It can lead to delayed decision making in the hopeless quest to get universal agreement. You don’t need to act strictly at work but realize that your teammates need a leader who will coach them and who will make a few tough decisions to protect them or advance the company. 5. Lead with Love. Leaders should love their team members. It’s the warmth, connection and caring we feel for our work, and the teammates who work just as hard as us. It is said that those leaders who care about their teammates and express the same are the ones that achieve high employee engagement and business outcomes. Hence, these are some of the best and important key pointers one should inculcate in his/her life in order to become a best and successful leader.  
- [Friday Fact - Driving cost optimization to land on moon](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-driving-cost-optimization-to-land-on-moon/): Did you know, the Chandrayan 2 (Indian spacecraft 2) only costs $140 million for the overall project which is $99,860 million less than what the USA spends on its Apollo missions of NASA? The Chandrayan 2 that launched from GSLV MK III on 22nd July 2019. India is said to be the first country in the world to achieve the soft landing at the south pole of the Moon. The total costs of the project was calculated to $140 million. This mission is at its highest peak due to its low costs. Because when the project was compared with various other projects, the results were as under ·         China’s Chang’e 4 Lunar Craft cost $8.4 billion on its entire project in 2017 ·         USA ‘s Apollo Missions costs $25 Billion that makes it around $100 billion in current prices. ·         Russia’s Moon Rocket costs $20 billion dollars in the 1960s Now you might wonder why, as to how India was able to reduce its pricing in today’s scenario whereas other countries are such high? The answer is the reduction in wastage which leads to minimizing & optimizing the mission’s costs. The Chairman of ISRO stated that they kept a very strict watch on each and every step of the development of their spacecraft or rocket which helped them wastage of products and which lead them to minimize the mission costs. And almost the entire Chandrayaan 2’s orbiter, lander, and rover were designed and made in India which also helped them pay in the regional price which saves a huge amount when it is compared to be paid in foreign rates.   And this is just the beginning to lead the competition of the space missions. India is also planning to send a manned mission into the orbits by 2022. Hence, as you can see, reduction in the wastage can lead to cost minimization which in return will help you lead the competition and sustain in the market. Even the space crafts have adopted and implemented cost optimization through wastage reduction, did you start implementing cost optimization? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Add Humor to be Better Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/add-humor-to-be-better-leaders/): It is said that a leader should always be serious and strict to lead and guide its team better. But the new theory says that a leader should also have humor. Humour is light-hearted for the business, something that dilutes the communication. Whereas, business is about making money, achievements, productivity, and much more. But, don’t we all learn best in the moments of enjoyment? One of the researches shows that leaders who use their sense of humor while change happens to do better at their jobs than those who do not implement humor. Such engaging leaders get along well with their clients, associates, and teams. They find more creative ways to solve problems and are even more productive. Laughter releases stress and boredom which leads to improving the creativity, collaboration, analytic precision and productivity of the teams. It also helps boost confidence and productivity. A study showed that babies laugh almost 400 times a day while people over the age of 35 years only 15 times. And it also showed that we laugh significantly less on weekdays than we do on weekends. Work is indeed a sober endeavor. If creativity, innovation, and higher emotional intelligence are the prerequisites for any leader in today’s corporate world, how do we foster these right brain functions? Humor can help in achieving that. So, let us see further in this article how does humor help leaders in any organization; Building Relations Using banters, laughter, wisecracks while communicating is a good way to create a bond, a rapport.  A leader needs to create that liking and half the battle is won. Such banters help leaders get to know other people and start building genuine relationships. Helps improve the presentation and speech It is a fact that audiences remember the speech that contains humor, and which makes them laugh. Humour is very important and is a must-have trait for better speech and presentation. And a leader would need to deliberately put in humor if it does not come naturally. But, at the same time leader also must keep a balance of the humor. It is just to use that perfect amount of humor to make sure your message is delivered and accepted. Creating a happier and lighter work environment Who doesn’t want to work in a lighter, happier and mood-lifting work environment? The work environment plays a vital role in any organization. There will be people who love their work but not the work environment which might be due to their boss, subordinates or other things which unfortunately leads them to leave the organization. But, if you see successful organizations, it is mainly due to its work environment and culture that makes them successful. Humor helps to create a lighter mood, dilutes the anger, frustration, stress, and cheers up the employees. So, even if the other person is stressed, or has an excessive amount of work, this will help them relax and work with more focus. Humour goes a long way in the workplace culture. Humour can spread positive energy in the work environment, creating harmonious organizations. It is quite difficult to inculcate this quality but you must give it a try. Begin including humor in bits and pieces in your speech and see the results. At times you might feel as if you are making fun of yourself and going against your beliefs. However, a part of the goal in loosening up as a leader is to have the ability to mock yourself and still be okay with it. To others, especially people who look up to you, this signals that all is well. There are various types of humor from sarcastic, to laugh out loud, to observant to clever. Being authentic to your own style further enhances your leadership brand. Usually, you can tell when people are genuinely amused at your jest or if it is faked. So, as you can see, it is not a funny business. Lightening up the environment leads to productive business results. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Operational Excellence - A Road-map to Organizational Success.](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-a-road-map-to-organizational-success/): Did you know, one of the global diversified technology manufacturers and multi industrial leaders have been able to achieve 12% improvement in quality by implementing operational excellence practices. It helped them win the award for “Best Achievement of Operational Excellence” in the manufacturing sector. In this article, we will discuss about Operational Excellence is Road Map to Organizational Success. The global diversified technology manufacturer launched a manufacturing excellence strategy in 2013 to achieve the vision of becoming the world’s most operationally capable company. This strategy was based on the following 4 foundation parameters: Customer focus Zero tolerance for waste Stable production environment Organize around pull and other nine principles that offered a comprehensive model with clear roadmaps for employee engagement to drive manufacturing excellence and thus grow business via this new way of manufacturing. To enable the strategy, the organization brought in a web application for evaluating a baseline, establishing action plans and real-time reporting to measure the progress of their high performing teams which were accountable for the improvements on the shop floor. They also got in nine principle subject matter experts, enterprise support teams, and worked on the incentive structure. The customized manufacturing way of the organization was introduced in September 2014 to all the operations leaders across plants of 300+ business units of the company across the globe. After the initial deployment, the company went ahead with an accelerated phase in the year 2015 which focused on building manufacturing capabilities, implementing quick wins and removing waste in one model line to determine results and to drive adoption of the customized manufacturing system. Increase Manufacturing Excellence through Operational Excellence The plant that has made the highest progress by adopting this manufacturing system recorded a 22% reduction in safety recordable incidents, a 12% improvement in quality, 68% improvement in employee retention and almost a 3X increase in energy-saving projects. A near doubling of customer satisfaction for customers of plants that achieved Level 3 of manufacturing excellence maturity, as a result of improved product quality and on-time delivery, among other measures. Hence, as you can see, by implementing the operational excellence practices, the organization was able to achieve one of the biggest achievements by winning the award and being recognized as the Best Achievement of Operational Excellence in Manufacturing. So, as you can see, there are multiple benefits both tangible and intangible, that any organization can achieve by implementing operational excellence practices. So, have you started implementing Operational Excellence practices? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [5 Qualities of Great Leaders!](https://faberinfinite.com/5-qualities-of-great-leaders/): Today in this competitive world, great leadership is the need of the hour. And if you want to become great leaders who attract quality teams, then the only key to success is to become a quality person yourself. Leadership is a great challenge though. Not all the people who are leaders have something to offer to their subordinates and followers. To become a great leader, it is important for a leader to refine their skills. All leaders should keep on working on themselves until they become really effective leaders. In this article, we are going to talk about 5 pointers a person must possess and incorporate in their daily routine to become an effective leader. Learn to differentiate between becoming strong and impolite. Many leaders think that they are impolite because they are strong.  They think humiliating someone is a sign of showing their power to the subordinates. But that is not true. A leader is a true leader only when he knows the difference between possessing power and becoming impolite. Learning the difference is an extra step one must take to become a powerful and capable leader with a wide reach. But unfortunately, a lot of leaders mistake rudeness with power and strength. Hence, for a leader, it is very important to keep a note of this point. Learn to differentiate between kindness and weakness. Many leaders don’t possess kindness because they are not weak. Many leaders associate kindness with weakness, whereas truth to be told, those leaders who don’t possess kindness are the weakest leaders as they will never be able to lead their teams in the best way by incorporating Intelligence Quotient +Emotional Quotient +Decency Quotient which is a must-have quality in any organizational leader to become successful. Mistaking kindness for weakness is wrong. If we check the history, few of the best leaders were one of the kindest people. Kindness is not weakness; it is a type of strength which is not seen so often in leaders. Because of which, the leaders fail to understand their team members and subordinates which leads to unsuccessful leadership. Hence to become a great leader, one must possess kindness. Learn to differentiate between bold and bully. A lot of leaders misunderstand bully with boldness. Whereas boldness is the characteristic that defines your personality and bullying is an act of weakness which takes place out of rage or fear. The difference between boldness and bully is that boldness is a key to win the day and bullying leads to loss of real talent. Bullying does influence others, hence to build your influence on others, it is necessary to walk in front of your group and to be able to take the first arrow and tackle the problem first. Discover the first sign of trouble. Just like farmers, if you want any rewards at the time of the harvest, you need to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You’ve got to seize the moment. Learn to differentiate between humble and timid Some leaders mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a quality; timidity is a disease. It’s an illness. There is no cure for this, but it is a problem. Humility is almost a God-like word—a sense of amazement, a sense of wonder, an awareness of the human soul and spirit, an understanding that there is something different about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grip of the distance between us and the stars yet having the feeling that we’re part of them. Learn to differentiate between proud and arrogance It takes pride to build your ambitions, fulfill your goals. It takes pride in your community. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. The key to good leadership is to be proud without being arrogant. Do you know what is the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It is intolerable. If someone is smart yet arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant yet arrogant, that is just too much to take. Hence, as we know, life is unique and so is leadership. The skills that work well for one leader might not work at all for others. However, the above listed fundamental skills of leadership can be adopted by the leaders to work well, in the community or at home. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Standardization can help you save billions](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-standardization-can-help-you-save-billions/): Did you know, the government of India has saved ₹ 90,000 crores with the help of Aadhar card scheme? Aadhar card is a card that has a 12-digit unique number issued by the Unique Identification Authority via details of a person’s biometric such as iris scan and fingerprints along with the demographic information like date of birth and address. Aadhar card scheme was launched in India in the year 2009. With the help of Aadhar, India set out to be the first country to give a unique identity to every citizen. The key reason to establish this was to use this number for all the interactions with the state which would thus help the government eliminate fraud, make taxation more efficient, and ultimately save money. The vision seen in 2009, has finally shown results. When calculated in 2018, the government said that the Aadhar is the game changer and has helped them in saving around ₹ 90,000 crores by eliminating duplicates, non-existents and fake beneficiaries. India with the help of Aadhar can save up to ₹ 77,000 crores – estimated by the digital dividend report of the World bank. Until 2018, in the last 28 months over 1.22 billion Aadhaar numbers have been issued. Nearly 99% of the adult population of India who is above the age of 18 stands covered with Aadhar. 2,579 crore authentications have been undertaken till 2018 and every day, 27 crore authentications are said to be completed. Under the direct benefit transfer scheme, till 15 December 2018, 635.2 million bank accounts had been linked with the unique identity number. The overall number of subsidy transactions through Aadhaar is almost around 425 crores. The overall amount of subsidy transferred through Aadhaar has now equaled ₹ 169,868 crores. This unique technology is only implemented in India. And to your surprise, the government has also transferred $12 billion electronically into the bank accounts in real-time to the world’s largest cash transfer system. In the new era of the data economy, identity authentication, paperless transactions, frictionless payments, these are all very important layers and that is what India has adopted. India is the world’s only country where a billion people can do completely cashless and paperless transactions on their mobile phones using this infrastructure which has dramatically reduced costs. Hence, as you can see, the Indian government has standardized its process by linking all its government schemes, various financial services, bank accounts and documents to Aadhar. By doing this, the government has been able to remove all the non-value adding activities and standardizing processes which ultimately leads to identify fraud accounts enrolled under governments scheme and eliminating them. The cost which was prior used to provide the unknown fake accounts has been eliminated and by standardizing the process the government has removed all the non-value adding activities thus saving time, energy and money. Ultimately the government has saved ₹ 90,000 crores and used it in more productive ways at efficient places? So, as you can see, standardization can help eliminate the non-value adding activities which can thus lead to saving a huge amount. So, have you started implementing standardization in your organization? Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [5 Key Qualities of Good Manager](https://faberinfinite.com/5-key-traits-of-good-manager/): According to research, 70% of the total employees were found partially committed to their work and not being able to deliver their best performance. The research also says that to reverse the crisis, individuals who understand human nature, know how to motivate and inspire their teams should be put at the managerial roles for all the functions of the organization. Organizations today work towards increasing employee engagement levels across business units. This will further lead to higher productivity, improved profitability and lower attrition rate. What is the Problem? The problem is companies fail to choose the right candidate with the right talent for the managerial position. Only 1 out of 10 managers actually possess the right talent for the position. Moreover, when the organization fails to hire the right talent, it costs billions to the organization. What is the Solution? While experience and skills are equally important, it is the specific or distinct talent in individuals- the natural patterns in the ways they think, feel and behave which predicts great management performance. Exceptional managers possess the following five key traits: Motivational skill to engage the employees and aligning the team with the mission and vision of the organization Posses the assertiveness to drive fruitful outcomes and the ability to overcome resistance and adversity Creating a culture of clear accountability and responsibility Building relations that create transparency, trust and open dialogue Making decisions based on productivity and not politics. Hence, while finding managers to hire, organizations need to hire someone who can pull off all these five traits. When the manager possesses all the above-mentioned traits, the engagement level of the employees will double. May be potential talent is hiding inside your walls The managers with the above-mentioned traits may be present in the organization itself. There might be team members who have the potential to manage teams. Organizations always do not look for the right resource from outside. If looked properly the potential talent might be within the team. Hence, if ever your organization experiences high employee turnover, remember that the only way to stop this is to look at the managers in the organization Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Let Us Make World a Better Place](https://faberinfinite.com/let-us-make-world-a-better-place/): Giving back to society is the most important responsibility of any organization. Even at Faber, one of our core values is giving back to society. Team Faber has always stayed by their values. We believe that we get a lot of good things from the society and when we get the opportunity to give back to society, we never miss it. The recent example of Faber’s contribution is the celebration of this Independence Day with the students from Zilha Parishad Primary School of Rajegaon run by Zilla Parishad Pune, a district from Maharashtra. Talking about Team Faber Infinite’s involvement, we have decided to adopt this school for transforming it into a World – Class school. We have received an overwhelming response from the students and the staff. They all wish to work towards the same goal of making their school world-class and thus attracting a maximum number of kids to school. Faber has taken this initiative to help them and guide them in this transformation journey to make their school best in class. We will be working on the following 4 principles: World-class infrastructure World-class processes World-class teachers Leading to world-class students This initiative will be called SAMRUDDHI –named by the students and the staff members of the school. We decided to embark on this transformation journey on this Independence Day. Team Faber was invited for the flag hoisting and to announce the news of transformation initiative for the school to make it world-class. Along with this, to inculcate the importance of sports in the school, we gifted them sports kit. Team Faber is all set to transform the school into a World-class school and help the students have a brighter future! Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Team Faber Supports Agriculture Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/team-faber-supports-agriculture-transformation/): India stands at number 5 when it comes to Agriculture and is the primary source of livelihood for 58% of the total Indian population. The food industry of India is assured for enoromous growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. India is ranked 5th in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.(Source- www.ibef.org) Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been helping organizations across geographies not only in agribusiness but also in the industries supporting agriculture. We have been providing support to this industry for more than 7 years now. To give an example, we have been associated with one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural engineering equipment. The organization is also a world-wide top performer in agricultural engineering with tractors, agricultural balers, and green harvesting machinery. We have helped this organization improve manpower productivity of the existing teams by more than 20%, which thus lead to improved overall productivity and thereby reduced costs. Which improves the overall competitiveness of the organization and in turn thus benefitting the farmers and end-users. In another case, team Faber Infinite has been engaged by a leading bio-fertilizer manufacturer, where we have helped them increase sales of their eco-friendly fertilizers. These fertilizers are fully organic and help farmers increase yield returns and take good care of their crops. With the proven Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting, we have helped this organization in improving sales and making distribution stronger so that the Bio-Agri Fertilizer is available across the nation. Team Faber Infinite Consulting, with our proven framework – Organizational Transformation Framework©, has been helping organizations across the value chain in the Indian agriculture industry to drive business performance and operational improvements and thus help the clients build capabilities to sustain industry-shaping transformations. All this can be done in your organization as well. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com and join us in the mission to improve the agriculture industry to serve both farmers and nation better, by delivering superior results. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) through continual Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/total-productive-maintenance/): Did you know, one of the worlds renowned automotive manufacturers and suppliers has been using and implementing Total Productive Maintenance since the 1990s? The organization has a lot of production units across the world, out of which Belgium’s production unit was the highest producing plant amongst others. The growth of the organization was the decades of efforts that the organization has put in. To improve its production, one of its production managers visited Japan to understand Japan’s local production system. In the 1990’s the organization started to decisively implement TPM – Total Productive Maintenance methodology. The maintenance was fully integrated within the production system of the organization. The maintainability and reliability of the equipment were given more attention. As a result of their Total Productive Maintenance efforts, this organization became the first manufacturing company of Europe to achieve Total Productive Maintenance world-class award. Total Productive Maintenance through Continuous Improvement The same year, this organization was taken over by another organization where the acquisition required the organization to align its production system with other acquiring organization’s production system. After thorough analysis and benchmarking of a few plants, it was found that though this organization had a big lead in different manufacturing techniques but, there was one problem. The approach of this organization was not uniform across different establishments of its cars. After which the acquiring organization created its own manufacturing system which helped this organization to make the approach identical across its cars. Based on this model, a common maintenance process was established across the organization, maintenance tools were introduced, and training was initiated. As a result, the organization started to produce, 2,50,000 cars a year along with 8,000 assets, 828 robots and on a 9.8 miles long conveyor belt. At present their technical availability is 98.7% which makes the organization a top tire performer in a world-wide car manufacturing industry. Hence, as you can see, even the world’s leading manufacturers are reaping fruitful results with the help of Total Productive Maintenance, have you started implementing TPM in your organization yet? Revitalize your operations with Total Productive Maintenance! Discover the power of continual improvement and enhance productivity. Fill out the form below to access exclusive resources and take your maintenance strategy to the next level. Start your journey towards operational excellence today! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Embrace the Change](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-embrace-the-change/): Did you know, one of the worldwide aerospace industry suppliers has been implementing Total Productive Maintenance since 1996? In the year 1996, a unionized aerospace industry supplier organization recognized it was facing a problem. They were lacking on-time completion of their orders and their customers were pushing for shorter lead times and cost reductions. Approximately 80% of their maintenance hours were used for emergency work orders. In October 1997 over 1660 hours were consumed by unplanned maintenance in just one area. But 10 months later that number dropped to less than 30 hours. There was a decrease of around 99%. In another sector, they were able to decrease almost 98% in the number of unplanned maintenance hours in a time span of 8 months. The Continuous Improvement Manager of the organization attributes their remarkable success to a dedicated and hardworking maintenance team implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program. The organization started implementing TPM from a small area which was critical to their process but was experiencing chronic problems. Apart from machines, there was a huge resistance in the people of the organization towards TPM. To remove the resistance, the organization started with training sessions. The training begins by cleaning, inspecting, lubricating, and performing corrective work on a piece of machinery and once it was cleaned, they would paint the machinery. In the beginning, the people were unwilling to participate in TPM events. But later when they started noticing the improvements accomplished under the TPM events, the acceptance within the team increased. The organization created Equipment Improvement Teams (EITs) to work on resolving equipment-associated issues. The top management acknowledges the work done by the EIT teams for solving all the problems and working dedicatedly towards implementing TPM for successful organizational transformation. The organization described TPM as one of the most successful co-management programs ever started in the organization. Hence, as you can see, even this organization saw resistance to the organizational transformation initiative through TPM. However, with efforts by the team, everything was resolved, and the results were out. The organization was also able to save a lot of time on its manpower. They were able to align teams which further lead to shorter lead times. Today, with competition in industry at an all-time high, TPM is one of the key frameworks which stands between success and failure of equipment/ machine/ asset for any organization in its journey of continual improvement. Hence, the benefits of TPM have been seen across the organizations and industries, so have you started implementing TPM? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Positive Leadership : 4 Key Strategies to Organizational Success](https://faberinfinite.com/positive-leadership-key-strategies-to-organizational-success/): Positive leadership is one of the most important factors for any organization. Positive leaders play a key role in generating the optimal performance of individuals, groups, and organizations. But how can one become a positive leader? And what differentiators are required for positive leadership? The conceptual framework of positive leadership has resulted in different forms of positive leaders such as transformational, servant, spiritual, authentic, and ethical. Transformational leadership: The transformational leadership was introduced for the first time in oppose to the traditional concept of transactional leadership. In the case of transactional leadership, the leader trades for something they desire in exchange for a reward. Whereas transformational leaders are those who would motivate and transform their teams to achieve not just organizational goals but mutual – organizational as well as personal goals. Servant Leadership: Servant leaders are those who place their followers’ needs, interest, and aspirations above their personal needs and aspirations. The thoughtful choice is to serve the development and success of the organization over its own. This way, the theory of servant leadership highlights the concept of service to others and the recognition that the role of the organization is to enable the formation of individuals who can help create a positive organizational environment. Spiritual leadership The objective of spiritual leadership is to motivate and inspire team members through hope towards a vision of providing service to key stakeholders in the organization. It is based on the values of selfless service to result in a highly motivated, committed and productive team. Authentic leadership Authentic leaders are brilliant with deep moral convictions. They are those whose behaviour is strongly inspired by the ethical principles for the benefit of the group. They are greatly aware of their thoughts, emotions, skills, value system and perception by others, they possess a high dose of confidence, optimism, hope, resilience, and moral strength and avoid behaving inconsistently even when their followers. Hence, one can become a positive leader when he/she incorporates these leadership styles. Organizations need more positive leaders to grow better. Hence, we hope this article has helped you serve your organizations better. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Applying Lean beyond Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-applying-lean-beyond-manufacturing/): Did you know, one of the leading hospitals was able to lower the mortality rate by 13%, in just 30-days by the implementation of the Lean principles? One of the leading medical centers used a platform which tracks the progress of the hospital’s congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. The program that the center implemented included the application of lean tools and principles. This program used deep data analysis to track mortality rates of CHF patients and provide real-time information to medical professionals. The medical center implemented lean tools and techniques in the year 2015 and in the first year, the hospital reported strong improvements in two areas. In the first 30-days of implementation CHF, patient mortality rate recorded 13% decrease in 2015. The readmission rate for CHF patients dropped to 14% in 2016. Not just this, the lean principles also helped to redesign the work area in the sterile processing center. The clinical laboratory at the center reduced the time traveled by 167 miles a year, saved lab space by 825 sq ft and reduced specimen processing turnaround time by 20%. It also utilized manpower by transferring 11 full-time equivalents for other critical work. The average length of stay for the patient decreased from 6.3 days to 5.7 days. So the process became more efficient and effective. As you can see, Lean goes beyond manufacturing industry as well. It has applications in the service industry as well including healthcare and hospitality. It helps in making optimum use of healthcare resources thus lowering the patient mortality rate. So, have you started implementing Lean principles? Compiled By Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Improve Revenue with LightHouse Exercise©](https://faberinfinite.com/find-the-true-north-with-lighthouse-exercise/): Organizational Transformation is a journey of continual improvement initiatives. Have you implemented organizational
- [Organizational Transformation Catalyst – Mr. Survashish Chattopadhayay](https://faberinfinite.com/organizational-transformation-catalyst-mr-survashish-chattopadhayay/): One of the key drivers for any successful organizational transformation process is the organizational transformation consultant. He/she plays a vital role in delivering phenomenal results to the organization that they are working with. In this edition of iFaber, we had a chat with yet another talented transformation consultant from Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Survashish Chattopadhayay. He has helped several clients across the world, in multiple industries. He is a Chemical Engineer with a Masters in Operations Management; Specialized in Strategy and Operational Excellence with rich experience in Lean Six Sigma Deployment. He believes in changing paradigm and building consensus during the transformation projects while pursuing excellence. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Chattopadhayay. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? How does a typical day look like for you? Survashish Chattopadhayay (SC): I am a Transformation Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting, leading, coaching and hand-holding our clients towards operational excellence. A typical day at a client location looks like a scene from DiCaprio starrer movie ‘Inception’. To elaborate further, we start by nurturing an idea for continuous improvement in the minds of the team and achieve the so-called ‘impossible’! FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? SC: The reward is in the journey itself, pun intended; since our delivery model incorporates Transformation Journey where we deploy tools to facilitate the culture building and growth. A simple comment from the client’s team on how our tools and techniques have made an impact on their journey and benefits achieved makes the whole journey meaningful and worthwhile. FI: Which was one of the biggest challenges that you have faced here, and what did you learn from it? SC: a Biggest challenge I face is from the ‘Know It All’. I simply believe that life is a continuous improvement journey and closing oneself from learning is like choosing to die without losing your breath. I have learned that such people really exist on earth! We need to have our patience around them and eventually, we hold the power to change the world and everyone in it. Overall, such experiences have helped me become more humble and appreciate all situations and take it calmly. FI: How has Faber Infinite Consulting helped you grow? Are your personal aspirations and traits aligned with your role? SC: Faber Infinite has helped me challenge my capabilities every day, presented me with opportunities to grow bigger than I was the day before. It has nurtured the craftsman in me! My personal aspirations of impacting the lives of several people in a meaningful way are very much, aligned with my role. FI: In what ways the accomplishments are recognized. Share with us one of your accomplishment and how was it recognized? SC: Accomplishments at Faber are recognized on a monthly basis through our transparent Performance Management System (PMS), where we get 12 opportunities in a year to hit the bullseye. Apart from this, we have brownie points & much-awaited Faber of the Year award which is meant to reinforce behaviors in sync with the Faber culture and goals! I was awarded brownie points for good work done at our client end and by a motivating video message put up by my reporting manager all across our Faber family! FI: Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you at Faber Infinite? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life at Team Faber? SC: Mr. Vishal Singh has made a huge impact on me at Faber Infinite. As a mentor, he has ensured the best quality service is maintained during project delivery and also, he continuously encourages his teammates to achieve beyond the imaginable. We spend maximum time of our life at the job and hence the way we perform at work shapes our future. Hence, our mentors play a major role in changing our destiny. Thank you, Faber Survashish, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments.
- [Building Excellence in Pharmaceutical Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-pharmaceutical-industry-2/): The global pharmaceutical industry has been one of the most successful industries in recent history. As the industry matures, it is facing a variety of new and complex challenges in the face of globalization and fluctuating market dynamics. As a result, pharmaceutical companies are taking an assorted set of strategic and operational actions to increase revenues and sustain profits. The pharma industry stands out among other manufacturing industries for the astronomical amount it employs every year on research and development – a blunt contrast to the relatively low-tech level of manufacturing. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are addressing the challenges of manufacturing effectiveness and efficiency with strong cost-containment initiatives to advance operational excellence and quality management frameworks. Operational Excellence (OE) has become the umbrella adopted by organizations across industries, including pharmaceutical and life sciences, to refer to the thrust for continuous improvement in all areas of business performance, to ensure its performance equals or surpasses that of “best in class” organizations. The philosophy of operational excellence looks back on an extensive history. The underlying concepts that changed over time have their origins predominantly in the Japanese automotive industry and spread thereafter into most other industries. Today, OE has gained thrust and became a priority for top management and workforce even for pharmaceutical manufacturers across the world. The role and insight of operational excellence within the pharmaceutical industry have changed expressively, over the last decade. Concepts that are realistic in numerous companies have grown from single, standalone techniques with a rather limited scope towards transformation programs aiming to bring an organization’s competitive edge. Operations are diverse with transformation is a series of continual improvement activities, along a value chain ranging from supplier to client. Operations Management designs, functions, and progresses supply chain systems and offers the pharmaceutical industry with a knowledge base to endorse the use of finest practices and operational excellence within pharmaceutical operations management. This whitepaper is designed to provide a deep understanding of operational excellence in the pharmaceutical industry. Unlike other continuous improvement initiatives that are employed to reduce costs or improve productivity, the goal of Operational Excellence is overall business growth. When an organization accomplishes it, management can occupy most of its time to become intensely integrated into guiding innovation and product development. Way Ahead With the more and more number of firms entering the pharma business, the competition is immense when it comes to cost, quality and availability globally. To survive in such competitive age companies must have to push themselves towards the next phase of the pharmaceutical industry. Looking at today’s scenario, the pharma industry must pull their socks for the future starting from today only, as none can bear even a day’s loss. Here is a broadway ahead for the pharma industry The constant decrease in cost to stay lucrative Plant Load Optimization to optimize productivity Shop Floor Operational Improvements to ensure the optimum quality output Suppliers and Supply Chain optimization Health, Safety and Environment as core Identifying the barriers in executing the above Formulating and executing strategies and practices to overcome challenges Information Analytics Sustenance mechanism to get future-ready for Industry 4.0. The Faber Infinite team has designed and implemented proven frameworks which have delivered results in terms of profitability, cost and productivity improvements. Remarkable results have been achieved through these designs, proper execution and refining of systems and processes. Our clients have achieved increased profitability, sustained productivity with the systematic and precise implementation of these excellence frameworks. Contact our expert team to explore more. To read more, you can download the whitepaper: https://faberinfinite.com/white-paper/ Written & Compiled by Faber Manasi & Faber Mayuri
- [Webinar – Productive Employees make Profitable Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/webinar-productive-employees-make-profitable-organizations/): Which organization does not want to increase its profitability and improve the performance of its teams? People and Profit always go hand in hand. When your teams are highly productive, the organizations will eventually start maximizing profits through sustainable improvements. Mere increasing customers is not enough to improve profitability. Making operations efficient and improving the team’s performance is another way for creating a better organization with increased profitability. Team Faber Infinite has been helping clients across industries and geographies by supporting transformation journeys. Based on our experience in the industry, sharing the outline of webinars conducted by our expert team. The webinars widely acknowledged and were well received by the audience. In these webinars, senior partners at Faber Infinite narrated the ways an organization can build high performing teams and how organizations can maximize their profits by implementing sustainable improvements. The first webinar – ‘Maximise Profits through Sustainable Improvements’, talks about how the profitability of the organization can be maximized. It highlights the challenges organizations are facing today. and how the historical markets were more or less monopolistic. However, today the markets are buyers markets and it is the buyer who is dictating the prices and the products. Hence, in today’s world customer is the king. In such a scenario, when the profit margins are not healthy and when on the other side the overheads are going up, it is definitely going to affect profitability. In such a competitive scenario, how will one survive? The webinar outlines ways to maximize profitability – watch the webinar here. Webinar tries to answer the following: How leaders can deploy the steps of organizational improvements and ensure sustenance? What framework can help organizations set-up and lead complex organizational improvement efforts? What factors lead to the highest chance of success in leading organizational transformation journeys? What can be learned from other organizations’ attempts to achieve exponential profits? The webinar was conducted by Mr. Jalay Pandya – Founding Partner and Director at Faber Infinite Consulting. He is a Business Transformation Expert with rich experience of Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence and Change Management Practices. The second webinar talks about the 5 I’s of building high-performance teams! In today’s era, to sustain in the globally competitive market, it is necessary for the organization to have full involvement of its people as people form the base of any organization. A recent survey revealed that high performing individuals increase productivity index by 20-25% and those who exercise their strengths daily are 8% more productive and 6 times more likely to be engaged. Not just this, but there is 1.9 times increased likelihood of having above-median financial performance. Every business aspires such statistics for their organization. However, it is not easy to achieve such numbers and hence these “Five Is” – Involvement, Importance, Improvement, Impartial, and Incentivising – of Performance Management System (PMS) by Faber Infinite can create that impact. Each of these ‘I’s is a step towards high-performance teams if implemented with due diligence under expert guidance. Webinar tries to answer the following: How to move from subjective to objective measurement? Generate 11 more improvement opportunities Dashboard to identify performance at all levels in the organization Employee KPI’s aligned with organizational goals The webinar was conducted by Mr. Vishal Kulkarni – Founding Partner and Director at Faber Infinite Consulting. He is a Capacity Building expert with rich experience of Organizational Transformation, Strategy Development and Change Management Practices. To know more about how it can be implemented in your organization, watch the webinar here We received a huge positive response from all our attendees. We look forward to hosting such webinar interactions in the future as well. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri    
- [Always Striving for the Best – Karirana Estates Limited](https://faberinfinite.com/always-striving-for-the-best-karirana-estates-limited/): In this edition of iFaber, we have brought to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a reputed global leader in the production of tea from Kenya – Karirana Estates Limited. They have over the years acquired the reputation through continuous improvement initiatives and a professional approach to the management of the tea business. We had a chat with Mr. Joseph Ngige, General Manager, Karirana Estates Ltd. Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Karirana Estates Limited and about your journey at Karirana Estates? Mr. Joseph Ngige (JN): Karirana Estates Ltd is an integrated tea company – where we are involved in primary production of tea from growing to processing to packing for export in bulk form as well as in value addition of tea for direct sale to consumers, using our Eden Tea brand. We are an integrated tea company as opposed to a traditional tea company which is just involved in processing in bulks for export. The company has been in operation for the last 63 years, having started in 1956. We are one of the 100 tea companies that operate in Kenya. From the value addition side, we are also one among the 200 tea packers licensed by the Tea Directorate of Kenya. We started the transformation journey mainly because of the competition that we faced from the 100 tea companies and 200 tea packers who are essentially operating in a cut-throat environment. We wanted to survive as well as create wealth for our shareholders and develop a sustainable way of operations. So we decided to focus on Operational Excellence mainly to help us align our operations and remove all the non-value adding activities in our value chain and basically manage not only cost but also improve the level of productivity. After addressing the operational issues we started looking at other aspects of transformation that is the strategy. We wanted to grow and sustain at the same time. That is where the element of Strategic Excellence came in, to help us identify how to grow our business beyond what other tea companies in Kenya were doing. Not every organization performs well, but we wanted to stand out among the players in the tea industry in Kenya FI: We understand that the tea industry is affected by both internal as well as external factors, can you share some challenges unique to your industry? JN: One of the most critical external factor to affect the tea industry is the climate. Tea growing is a climate-dependent activity. The issue of climate change is a critical concern for the tea industry. Irregular rains, longer droughts and extreme temperature conditions are the major concerns. Over 90% of the Kenyan tea is exported, so we are dependent on markets like Pakistan, Egypt, UK, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran and UAE. Now the top five markets absorb 80% of the tea from Kenya. Only 5% of the tea is consumed locally, the rest goes for export in commodity form. So that means any happenings in these markets like price variations, political issues, currency devaluation affects us. Besides all the tea is sold in USD so the volatility of the USD also affects us. Tea is a global commodity so Kenya is competing with all other producers in the world including China and India. However, we are the highest exporters of tea. Another external factor is to manage the price at the global level due to the demand and supply situation. These are a few of the external factors that affect us. Internal factors include the high cost of labor and wages. Other internal factors include the cost of energy and fuel. We use a lot of energy for electricity and fuel for steam boiler. Infact energy cost is as high as 30% of the factory cost. As a result, the cost of production becomes a significant issue that one has to deal with. FI: Considering the above, how important is Operational Excellence (OE) and Strategic Excellence (SE) to your industry? JN: Both OE and SE are very critical. If we begin with OE, we are talking about cost-effectiveness which is very critical to our industry. You also improve efficiency across the value chain and reduce waste across the value chain and improve productivity per unit. So OE comes in handy as it helps to address the effectiveness of the operations and thereby helps you to improve productivity and achieve cost leadership. In the commodity market, you have to face global competition. Also in terms of value addition, we are competing with 200 packers across Kenya. So we wanted to figure out how to stand ahead of the competition. Tea packaging is a red ocean and we need to find out what we can do differently as compared to other packers. SE is critical to identify strategies that you can pursue to make a difference as compared to the competition and help you sustain growth despite the competition. It gives profit above growth for that matter. So you have SE to help you grow in the market and OE to grow profitably in the market. FI: Over the 5 years, Team Karirana has been associated with Team Faber Infinite in various continuous improvement initiatives. Can you share more about the journey and the outcomes of the initiatives that have helped Karirana stay ahead of the competition? JN: Transformation journey has addressed both Operational Excellence and Strategic Excellence. Team Faber has guided us in this journey by giving us support in areas like building cost leadership, building quality leadership, delivering customer service leadership and safety. So they assisted and guided us in implementing activities related to OE like housekeeping activities, inventory management, value stream mapping and application of Autonomous Maintenance (AM) to increase the effectiveness of machines and lower the cost of production. It has also helped us to
- [Learn the art of Leadership from Sports](https://faberinfinite.com/learn-the-art-of-leadership-from-sports/): Sports, many people look at it just in terms of entertainment. But what a lot of people misses out on is the way different type of leadership planning is implemented to win the competition. In this article, we will show you how to implement which kind of planning for successful leadership implementation. To win the competition. Strategic planning: The strategy is one of the most important parts of any leadership planning. Thinking strategically means planning which battle to fight first and how to arrange the task force as per the battle to win. A lot of professional tennis players and golf players do not compete in each and every tournament. They carefully map their seasons in a way that they give themselves the best chance to win the tournaments that matter most. One of the business strategy fundamental is to know where and when not to fight. Tactical planning: Tactically planning means arranging forces within the battle. Hence, where to play tactically means how to make the best use of all those resources that you have got in hand to generate the best results possible. In any sport, no player would be aware of the new move the opponent is going to make. But they most definitely would have investigated each other playing in past tournaments to see which of their shots would work best against the other during the match. Implementation of tactical planning often shows the difference between success and failure of an effort. Personally planning: In any organization, where to play personally is at the heart of every time-management, delegation framework and system. In place of trying to win at every point, the best time managers focus their efforts on the points that matter the most. Then those who recognize their own relative strengths and gaps enrolls others with complementary strength to help them get more done than they could ever do on their own. Hence, to be able to become the best player in this competitive world and to win your battles, implement the above-given leadership planning pointers in your leadership skills and in your organization. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [4 ways to sharpen your leadership skills](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-sharpen-your-leadership-skills/): Successful CEOs often talk about the importance of multidisciplinary skills, but what does this look like in practice? Hence to incorporate multidisciplinary leadership skills, follow the below-attached pointers; Improve Your Soft Skills Every leader should be able to be a public speaker, a motivator. For which they need to have an improved set of soft skills. This helps the organization find its leader to follow. In any organization, the employee looks forward to the leader. If the leader is not a good spokesperson, he will not be able to command or motivate his team better. Hence to be able to lead the team in a better way, every leader should have a good set of soft skills. Evolve Your Systems Thinking Systems thinking means reflecting on how the small parts of an organization can work together as a whole. In business, systematic thinking means considering how people, technology and other processes work together. This allows an organization to see patterns and build solutions. It also helps the leader to appreciate that a complexity which is a part of life and not necessarily something frustrating to deal with, so, the leader can own that complexity and think about it in a way that’s fun to deal with. Progress with Your Company A founder of a start-up or small business can get started by investing more hours or money into their business, but that’s not possible while the company grows. Leaders can no longer be involved with everything going on in the business. They must have people that they trust and people who can run parts of the business. A leader may reach other parts of the business when its company employees around 50-75 people. Beyond this, the leader must separate themselves from mundane operations to lead effectively and focus on strategic decisions. Find the Right People If you seek to solve problems, you must start with your people. You must develop solutions for your people, for how they really are and how they really think. Ultimately, upgrading your leadership skills is a continuous process and not a one time project. It takes dedication, patience, commitment and empathy with the team. As you go through those entrepreneurial valleys and grow, you need such amazing people around you to be able to run the business and deliver things together. It’s not just about you it is all about the people you take along with you. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Continual and Sustainable Improvement in Textile Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/continual-and-sustainable-improvement-in-textile-industry/): Textile Sector, one of the oldest and the largest contributors to economies across India and many other countries. The Indian Textile Industry has evolved drastically with the passage of time due to globalization. Also, the government’s interest to improve the quality and standards of the industry has brought significant change in the textile industry over the years. It now comprises of both hand-woven sector and highly automated textile mills. Power looms, knitting sectors and hosiery are the key sectors of the textile industry in India. In this article, we will discuss about Continual and Sustainable Improvement in Textile Industry. Faber Infinite Consulting has been closely working with clients from the textile industry for crafting an extremely effective and holistic operating environment. We have been delivering phenomenal results promoting continual improvements and sustainability. At Faber Infinite, we have been helping our clients to evaluate and accelerate this process rather quickly with our specially designed and proven methodologies. We specialize in providing consulting services for transformation journeys including Operational Excellence, Strategic Excellence, and much more. Our experience in the Textile Industry: We are a highly trusted organization for organizational transformations when it comes to the textile sector. We have a vast experience in the consulting domain with a cumulative experience of more than 300 years, supporting more than half a dozen textile manufacturers. Faber Infinite delivered tangible results across 8 countries and have touched more than 5,000 people in the textile industry. Faber Infinite strives for excellence and continuous improvement and has supported organizations in the textile industry in their transformation journey. Some of the typical improvement areas are listed below: Reduction in Machine Breakdown Improvement in Employee Productivity Improvement in Employee Satisfaction Improvement in Customer Feedback Improvement in Machine Productivity Reduction in wastage across the processes Tangible results delivered at clients from the Textile Industry: Improved productivity by 20% Reduced soft waste by 80% Reduced hard waste by 88% Reduced machine waste by 50% Improved first-grade quality production by 5% Improved skill index by 75% Reduced maintenance cost by 44% Improvement in mean time between failure of spinning machine by 140% Faber Infinite Consulting has been an avid supporter of the textile sector and has always believed in creating a more optimized world with the help of the textile industry. We believe in innovation and would always like to believe in the same and support the textile industry to achieve – continual and sustainable development. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Six Sigma for Sustainable Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/six-sigma-for-sustainable-growth/): Did you know, one of the world largest defense contractors is using six sigma methodologies to streamline their business process since the 1990s? The world’s largest defense contractor has been using Six Sigma methodologies to streamline their business processes. For more than 25 years the organization has been applying these methodologies and strategies to achieve their goal of corporate sustainability. You might wonder how Six Sigma strategies that have been originally designed to reduce and eliminate errors in manufacturing processes be used for corporate sustainability. In this article, we will talk about Some Strategies Six Sigma for Sustainable Growth. This organization provides a strong example of how implementing Six Sigma methodologies can broaden the horizons of the organization to address issues regarding the sustainability within the organization. The strategic development of powerful metrics and a detailed plan of action inherent to the Six Sigma environment has helped the organization make impressive progress toward corporate sustainability goals. Apart from this, implementing sustainability goals as a part of corporate culture has helped this organization maintain and grow its success. In the year 2013, after the release of the company’s sustainability report the president and the CEO of the organization said that their commitment towards sustainability continues to accelerate their business strategy. For the six sigma project, it is important to set metrics identifying goals that align with corporate mission and values. To apply the methodologies to improve sustainability ratings and triple bottom line performance, the organization divided its project into 4 areas such as; Operational Efficiency, Resource Efficiency, Product Performance and Supplier Sustainability. Cost Reduction using Six Sigma Methodology In organizational efficiency, re-examining physical space allowed the organization to accomplish the same outcomes with minimum physical space. Using less space helped the organization save energy and other resources used previously. By implementing this, the organization reduced 20% of its total costs. In resource efficiency, Six Sigma strategies helped the organization to reduce the use of water and carbon emissions by almost 20%. Also, landfill materials was decreased by 36% and energy consumption was reduced by 12%. In product performance, the organization has developed partnerships to build alternative waste disposal options, energy options and address climate adaptation challenges. In supplier sustainability, setting transparency as a goal was the basis of the relationships between the organization and its suppliers. By improving the processes which are used to guide decision making with regard to the company partners and vendors, the organization has set higher standards for social and business conduct across the different partners of the organization. Six Sigma strategies can help develop and monitor the metrics created for the projects with clear goals. The company has made huge contributions to the communities. The organization has also donated over $25 million to civic programs around the world. Hence, as you can see, Six Sigma which is mainly known for the reduction and elimination of errors in manufacturing processes can also be used for corporate sustainability. So, have you deployed Six Sigma yet? Image Source: Industry Week Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [5 Tips to Implement Employee Mindfulness](https://faberinfinite.com/5-tips-to-implement-employee-mindfulness/): In today’s busy world we all forget to take care of ourselves and our health. We forget to become mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way to synchronize the mind and body. In simple words, it is about being aware of the present. This could be the breath you take, the sound of the clock ticking, the aroma of coffee or tea at your table and so on. Mindful working helps you increase your concentration power. It increases your observation power and receives more information. Practicing mindful working can help you become creative. But most importantly, it will give you mental hygiene and happiness in today’s stressful life. The main reason behind this is that the more we are aware of ourselves and surroundings, the more we are in control of our behaviour, actions and emotions which can lead us to better professionalism. Along with the path of your career, it will also boost the quality of life. Below listed are a few pointers that will help you live a mindful life in a busy life. Be aware of your breathing The first step is to be aware of your breathing, it should be an effortless and simple activity. While inhaling and exhaling, take a few moments every day to do that consciously. Concentrate The next step is related to concentrated breathing; here you need to be focused on how your muscles move up as you inhale and exhale. As you focus on your breathing it will help you improve your concentration. Be aware of your body posture Have you felt drained at work or gone home with body ache? The next step is to be aware of your body posture. Relax your shoulders. Take control of your body posture, focus on the pain and pressure you are feeling. This will provide you an opportunity to intervene. Relaxing muscle tension When you become aware of your body, you will be surprised to notice that most of your voluntary muscles are tense as if there is a forthcoming threat and your body is prepared to react back. This happens due to an imaginary mental threat because of work pressure. Once you are back home, relax your muscles and neutralize unnecessary physical responses. By doing this, you set a feedback mechanism for your body to relax even in stressful situations. This helps you to think clearly and make better decisions under pressure.  Take a walk to take a break This is not something like walking on water or flying in the air, but it is walking on earth being aware of it. The next step is called walking meditation. Something as simple as taking a walk will help you become aware of your surroundings, and be in the present. Try practicing the above-listed pointers it will help you improve your observation and thus will help you become a mindful and an observant employee. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Friday Fact - Implement Quality at Source](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-implement-quality-at-source/): Did you know, one of the world’s renowned aircraft manufacturers faced a loss of $5.9bn due to the quality issue? Boeing, one of the renowned aircraft manufacturing organizations had to face a huge downfall this year when one of their planes crashed in March 2019 where 157 people died. This was not for the first time. Another one crashed in October 2018 where the plane went down into the sea of Jakarta that killed 189 people. Since the news of the crash broke out in March 2019, the aircraft has been grounded and the company has been trying to convince the regulators. Before the grounding, several deals relating to 737 max aircraft were paused, one of it has been valued worth more than $5.9bn. Boeing has recognized that it had to rectify flaws in its 737 MAX plane simulator software which was used to train pilots, after two deadly crashes that happened in the span of 6 months. As per the company, their simulators were unable to replicate certain flight conditions that lead to two crashes. The company is at present working on its simulator software and has provided additional information to the device operators to confirm that the simulator experience is demonstrative across different flight conditions. This was the first time when the company admitted the fault in its aircraft. After being grounded, there is no date as to by when the aircraft might be ready to fly again. In the first week of July 2019, the company announced that it would give $100 million to help those families who were affected by the crash. Hence, as you can see, that the cost of poor quality cannot only cost you money but it can affect customer loyalty and goodwill of the organization. Quality is not just a measure of product or service, and companies should practice quality at source – Right the First Time. Have you started already? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [3 Tips for Employee Learning and Development](https://faberinfinite.com/3-tips-for-employee-learning-and-development/): Employees that continuously learn are the most productive and engaged.  One of the research found that 94% of employees are more likely to stay with a company if the company invests in their continuous learning and development. It has been seen over the years that despite the employee’s willingness to learning, not much of the organizations provide their employees with effective training. One of the studies shows that nearly half of the organization’s employees are uncomfortable to ask for learning budget. Those employees that don’t have much of the training are likely to turn stagnant in their career and have a higher chance to leave their present company for more engaging job opportunities. Is your organization having any strategy in place to encourage employee learning and development? Below attached are a few key tips your teams to ensure employees have resources they need for continuous growth. Set a budget aside: As we just saw, that the employees hesitate to ask for a budget for any kind of training. It is the responsibility of the organization to be transparent about any learning budget available. One of the ways for determining a learning budget is by allocating a stipulated amount to an individual employee, which can be used by them throughout the year as and when learning opportunities come up. When employees are to complete a certification course, attend an industry event or find another learning opportunity, encourage them to explain the need and how the opportunity will help themas well as the organziation impact and grow. If the organization invests in the employee’s training and development, the employees feel inspired and valued to be part of the team and can continue to drive great results for the company to benefit from a similar approach. Convert managers to coaches: At a few organizations, training and development are handled by the HR department. However, the reporting manager of each employee has the most knowledge about the strengths and key areas of improvement of the employees. Managers should help HR to drive successful employee learning and development. For continuous growth, managers should meet their teammates individually once in a month or should find another way to review overall skills and prospective learning and development opportunities. Collect employee feedback: To ensure the success of the learning and development program employee feedback is essential. This helps the managers and the organization ensure utilization of the resources the employees are being provided for their growth and development. The organization can also consider sending a survey to its employees so they can share their feedback about the learning opportunities, what was great about the training, what was missing, and it can be thus improved further. Once the feedback forms have been collected, outline an action plan for the next steps of improvement and share it with the employees to maintain transparency. This will help the employees ensure that their feedback is being considered. Hence it is evident, from the bottom to the top, each and every employee should have learning and development resources available for their continued growth. When you commit employee about their learning, it will ensure that employees don’t hesitate to reach out for help. As these growth opportunities will ultimately lead the organization to increased productivity, profitability, and employee engagement at the organization. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Lean in Hospitals](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-lean-in-hospitals/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest health care organizations is known for the quality of health they provide by implementing lean practices? The pediatric surgeons at the world’s largest health care organization compete harder to perform surgeries on time at their clinic and surgery center due to the efficient flow of patients, families, and the care team. The inoperative time, which is the time from the application of medical dressings to incision of medical dressings that are placed in 50% lesser than for similar operations performed at the main campus surgery center. 99% of the times, operations begin as per schedule. More than 90% of patients and families rate this clinic around 9 or 10 for overall care amongst other clinics. One of its clinics, reduced total cost of inpatient care by 25% while improving patient satisfactory level by nearly 100%. Therefore, the patients are rating their care 5 out of 5. For 5 years no medication errors occurred for patients in hospital including the pharmacy department. The staff of the otolaryngology department of the clinic begins their day with a group discussion to identify problems and discuss their potential solutions. The daily discussion of the group, which include physicians, has improved internal communication and teamwork. In less than a year after starting the group discussions, the appointments waiting time decreased by 28%, departmental capacity improved by 10%, and patient satisfaction increased from 4.3 to 4.7 on a scale of 5. The emergence of Lean success stories in the health care industry, a constantly changing environment that highly necessitates improved quality and efficiency, are encouraging health care leaders to consider Lean practices for their organizations. Hence as you can see, Lean implementation is sector neutral. It can be used in any sector and service sector can also benefit from lean and grow leaps and bounds. So, have you started implementing lean to grow many folds? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Overview of Value Stream Mapping - Faber Infinite Consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/value-stream-mapping-for-industry-4-0/): What is Value Stream Mapping? Value-stream mapping, a lean-management technique, involves analyzing the current state and devising a future state for the sequence of events guiding a product or service from the initial phase of the process to its delivery to the customer. benefits of value stream mapping Value Stream Mapping is a tool that has been used successfully by a lot of companies; a quick Value Stream Mapping exercise for “getting started for smart manufacturing” will yield a lot of results. It has always encompassed information flows, and thought leaders in this space have already acknowledged the benefits of Value Stream Mapping that it harmonizes flawlessly with Industry 4.0 initiatives – i.e. smart manufacturing, machine learning, automation, internet of things, and others. Value Stream Mapping in the Era of Lean and Industry 4.0 For more than thirty years, companies have extensively adopted Lean manufacturing mindset to continuously improve their operations. Moving towards the amalgamation of digital and physical systems as part of Industry 4.0 transition, businesses can customize both ideas and concepts, to take operational excellence to the next level. Lean and Industry 4.0 philosophies are often complementary and can give phenomenal results, as manufacturing finds its way through the 21st century. There is a wave of change that is emerging. Organizations are competing for a competitive position as they attempt to describe this phenomenon. Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) are few concepts being tried extensively. Although the current transition is enabled by technology, there is a timeless underlying impulse: which is material velocity and production efficiency. Manufacturing or operations managers aim to accomplish a higher level of production efficiency. Excellence experts are calling it ‘Lean Industry 4.0’. The primary concern of Lean and Digital Manufacturing will always be to address rapidly increasing challenges. Hence, this article presents a holistic methodology to include – Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – to improve processes considering Lean and Industry 4.0. Value Stream Mapping through Lean Manufacturing For many organizations, Value Stream Mapping has become one of the most powerful Lean Manufacturing method for holistic optimization of value streams. The elimination of non-value-adding activities is one of the vital principles targeted by Value Stream Mapping Consultants. In recent years, Industry 4.0 has been further called out to address the increasing complexity and dynamics of modern production systems. The objective is to have greater levels of digitization, integration and automation of data and material flow for a factory and beyond the factory boundary including the suppliers, vendors and customers. Value Stream Mapping helps to make more transparent and clear decisions and helps improve production systems. Value Stream Mapping is the tool that Lean practitioners have been using to envisage— and quantify the efficiency of— their system. It is not the only tool that one can use, and it is always argued that the most imperative thing you can do is use any tool to get it on paper (virtual or otherwise). Until one establishes the process, information and material flow using robust Value Stream Mapping methodology, one doesn’t really know what they are (current state) or what they could become (future state). Value Stream Mapping is a tool that has been used successfully by a lot of companies; a quick Value Stream Mapping exercise for “getting started for smart manufacturing” will yield a lot of results. It has always encompassed information flows, thought leaders in this space have already acknowledged benefits of Value Stream Mapping that it harmonizes flawlessly with Industry 4.0 initiatives – i.e. smart manufacturing, machine learning, automation, internet of things, and others. Improve Productivity using Value Stream Mapping Value Stream Mapping is a well-accepted, widely used and complete method for mapping, analyzing and designing value streams in order to reduce and eliminate waste. The new, promising opportunities of digitization and Industry 4.0 to integrate information flows, lower lead times and improve flexibility. Other than productivity in complex environments can also be addressed by Value Stream Mapping. A large number of guidelines and maturity models are available for Industry 4.0. However, no sound method with a step-by-step-guidance for designing value streams holistically exists to date. As it differs organization to organization. No matter how fundamental tool – Value Stream Mapping is, it forms a base for further improvements in productivity and process flow. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been an ardent supporter of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) across industries and sectors. We have always believed in providing more optimized business solutions with the help of Value Stream Mapping. We believe in innovation and always support the same across industries and sectors to achieve the ultimate goal – continual improvement and sustainable development. Team Faber Infinite has been delivering phenomenal results at several organizations – right from leading lighting solutions company to the largest engineering company to the leading supplier of Indian Railways and many more! Here is a path-breaking methodology by Faber Infinite on – Value Stream Mapping (VSM) for industry 4.0 .  That will help organizations to see information and process inefficiencies from traditional as well as industry 4.0 perspective and design future-ready lean value streams. Approach – Value Stream Mapping for Industry 4.0 Faber Infinite Consulting has been helping clients improve material and information flow using the following steps: Gemba Walk Data Collection Detailed data analysis PQ analysis and value stream identification Target setting Team formation and team orientation Current State Mapping Process redesign exercise – Lean and automation perspective Future State Mapping Detailed implementation plan Risk mitigation Conclusion Industrial IoT is a powerful framework with huge potential, but it is merely a framework. This framework is incomplete without LEAN thinking. It is only lean thinking only that leads towards the IIOT. In fact, it makes lean thinking more vital than ever so that we stay focused on value creation. Value Stream Mapping being the very base for Lean management detects the areas for improvement by comparing the current state with the desired future state. Which will ultimately take the organization
- [4 Key Strategies on Customer Centricity](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-on-customer-centricity/): We all know that the customer is the king. Without having a good customer base, one cannot survive in the market. In earlier days, customer loyalty used to be a luxury for any organization. But in today’s world, customer loyalty is not a luxury anymore. In fact, it is a necessity for the growth and the sustenance of the organization. Hence without a loyal customer, there is no business. In this article, we will discuss 4 Key Strategies on Customer Centricity. Below given are a few pointers that will help you create a strong foundation and customer loyalty for the growth of your organization; Customer First: Since ages, we have been listening to this, that customer comes first. The needs demands and satisfaction of the customer is to be placed at the highest priority by any organization. An organization is supposed to have a complete idea of who its audience is, what is their need and how you can fulfill that. To assure this, roll out a research form where you ask your existing customer about how satisfied they are with your products/services, what else they expect from your organization and what changes would they wish to see in your product/service (If any). Study your research and based on the feedback, try to implement a few changes that highlight the feedback. In the end, the organization should focus on making a profit, but this is possible only when the organizations understand their customer and their expectations. Perception V/S Reality: For business owners, it is easy to think that they have done everything they can to reach their customers. They have created a help page, have run product/service promotions on social media, and worked hard on marketing. Despite this, there is still a chance that they are not being able to reach the actual customers. The best way to get feedback is by asking the customers. Reaching the customers and asking them how they got to know about our organization and why they keep coming back. Listen to the feedback you receive and allow them to become an external part of your business model. Have feedback forums through which you can identify the needs of your customers and adjust your business model based on their feedback. It is precious information straight from those who matter the most. Building Relationships: One of the recent studies found that 80% of the customers are more likely to stay with the company if they have a personal touch with that company. Hence, it is very important for the company to make its customers feel recognized and appreciated for their loyalty. There are plenty of ways through which you can make your customer feel valued and needed. One of the best ways to do that is by going into the market and communicating face-to-face with your customers rather than just advertising about customer loyalty on your website. Another way to do this is by informing them regularly about what you do. Do not assume that everyone knows everything about your company. Sometimes, it is good to spread information about your other products in person with your customers. This way, they might even get to know about some new products that are launched in the market. For example, people love to go to farms where the farmers and growers sell their products directly. One of the reasons people attend this is because they enjoy the personal experience. Being able to interact directly with sellers, trying the products, and listening stories behind the products. Hence, why not implement this in your organization as well? Where you create such campaigns to meet face-to-face with your customers and show them how you process. This even helps to build and strengthen the bond of trust between the buyer and seller. By establishing this relationship, you are informing your customers that you want to provide them with a holistic experience of the range of their products and not just a product, which will keep them coming back for more and more. Communicate often: Once you have established a relationship with your customers, make sure to keep the channels of communication open. Keep sharing news about your new products, upcoming sales and promotions, along with any big or small changes you are planning for your business. But when you are talking about communication, do not overload the mailbox or the inbox of your customers. Make sure you are doing this at proper intervals. This might turn your customers away. Give your customers just more than your offering for the money that they pay, and you will receive the loyalty in return. When a customer feels known and valued, they will keep coming back again and again. These pointers will help any organization not just create a strong foundation and customer loyalty, it will also help the organization stay connected with their existing customers. Hence, next time whenever you feel you are losing sight of your customers, read these pointers to get them back. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Improve Productivity with Lean Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-productivity-with-lean-manufacturing/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading manufacturer of industrial construction and agricultural equipment has been using lean manufacturing process for decades? The organization is known for taking care of its customer relationship. It states lean manufacturing as a time-based strategy that emphasizes on lead time reduction through eliminating waste in each area of production, including customer relations, product design, supplier networks, and factory management. The goal of the organization was to produce products as per the customer demand with the highest quality while being productive and safe. We all know that Lean has been encompassing five key measurable elements: quality, cost, delivery, safety, and morale. Continuously Improvement using Lean Manufacturing The lean journey of the organization began 16 years ago when the company decided and implemented a single process for all of its welding production. At that time, about 40% of the organization’s 220 production welding stations used pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW). Also, the company used 8 different models of welders from at least 3 different vendors. The first step of the organization was to standardize the process for all welding production, reduce the number of welder models from 8 to 2 and select a lean welding partner. After implementing lean, the organization started seeing results; production rate increased by ~38% on its lean model line, the line that best exemplifies lean principles. It produces brush chippers. The raw materials were converted into finished goods within days and not within weeks like before. The organization saw an improvement of around 200 % to 300% for 4 years continuously. After implementing Lean, the safety issues and severity rate reduced from 10% to 15%. The company was finally at a stage where they had Zero long-term corporate debt. After implementing lean principles on its terrain leveler line, the number of non-conforming welds dropped by 500% which caught through internal audits, which was from 6.68 to 1.36 welds per measurement period. Hence as you can see, the lean manufacturing system has been helping organizations from across the industries for decades. Have you started implementing Lean manufacturing? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Six Surprising Facts of Five S](https://faberinfinite.com/six-surprising-facts-of-five-s/): Five S is a system that helps an organization improve its workplace along with the workplace culture. It also helps reduce waste and optimize workplace productivity. Five S’s is a combination of the following five S’s: Sorting, Systematic Arrangement, Shining, Standardisation, and Sustenance. There is one additional S that is as important as the other facts of Five S, which is: Safety. Hence, it is also termed Six S (Five S + Safety). Five S philosophy is a good beginning point for all the improvement efforts aiming to eliminate waste from the manufacturing process and ultimately improve the bottom line of the company by improving products and services and lowering costs. A lot of companies are looking forward to making their operations more efficient & effective. This concept is highly attractive to any manufacturing facility looking for improvement in their bottom line by reducing costs. “Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place – PEEP” is the objective of this method. The Five S methodology is a simple and universal approach that works in all kinds of industries across geographies. It is essentially a platform for other manufacturing improvement frameworks such as Just-In-Time (JIT) production, cellular manufacturing, Total Quality Management (TQM), or Six Sigma initiatives, or Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and is also a great contributor to making the workplace a better place to spend time. The above mentioned are few of the known facts of Five S. In this article, we intend to share 6 surprising facts of Five S: Five S can save time and improve your efficiency by 20% An international survey has found that an employee loses up to 2 hours of his/ her fruitful time per week searching for lost information or digital documents. But with the help of 1st S – Sorting, you can save those 2 hours. Another research by Harvard Business Review shows that the clutter at the workplace is leading to stress, which is costing businesses up to $190 billion every year. But, with the help of the 2nd S – Systematic Arrangement, you will never lose even a penny! It can improve your visuals and save search time by 90% As per research by Thermopylae Science + Technology, the human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster and adapts them. Via Five S & Visualisation, around 90% of the total information can be transmitted to our brain through visuals, which is the 4th S – Standardisation. It is practiced by the world’s leading Fortune 500 companies Five S is more than mere housekeeping, and hence, it is practiced by many of the Fortune 500 companies. It is the foundation for all improvement initiatives. It has helped companies save millions from their original expenses and has helped them invest in the same for further improvement. It is applicable in the service sector as well and has helped a bank save up INR 30 million Five S has helped one of the leading Indian banks save INR 3+ crore rupees in the last decade. The bank is implementing Five S and has also claimed to have saved on an average INR 7.5 crore (INR 75 million) with the help of the quality control programs conducted at the bank. It was Five S that contributed up to 50% of the savings. Earlier the retrieval of the documents used to take about 2-3 days, but now it takes only 30 seconds. Just by spending 10 minutes every day for Five S, companies can save millions Five S has helped several organizations with millions of rupees. They were able to do this just by spending a fixed few minutes (~10 mins) each day for practicing Five S. Progressive organizations allocate specific time for conducting Five S activities on the shop floor. Bonus fact: Couple Safety with Five S and your Five S initiative will go a long way As per data reported by Business Standard, in the year 2018, 121 employees died on the job in India’s top firms. This shows that workplace safety is one of the most important aspects of any organization. The employees of any organization are the most important asset of the organization. So, making sure of their safety should be the prime duty for any organization. 5S is more than cleanliness; it boosts efficiency, reduces waste, and applies to any workspace. It improves employee morale, enhances safety, and fosters long-term success by promoting continuous improvement. Ready to optimize your operations? Explore Customized Supply Chain Solutions for growth and efficiency. Team Faber Infinite has been working with clients from across the industries and geographies on Five S. We have helped the client deliver phenomenal results. Call us to benchmark and audit your Five S practices and thus become best in class. Contact us Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [5 ways to Boost Employee Productivity and Satisfaction](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-boost-employee-satisfaction-and-productivity/): Improving the productivity of the employees is one of the most important as well as an increasingly difficult goal of every business. Along with technology advancement, workplaces are becoming more flexible and less traditional. Also, research shows that the new generation of employees’ value office perks more over office pay. As the trend of the workforce is shifting, the leaders are getting confused about how to balance flexibility and productivity. But these terms are not on the opposite ends rather, they can go together. Happy employees will always be productive ones and vice versa. Below attached are a few pointers to be considered to improve the workplace for boosting workplace productivity. Make it comfortable: It is difficult to overlook the importance of a good office chair. We now know how important role ergonomics play in the wellbeing of employees – and their productivity. Employees spend a maximum number of hours parked at their desk. One of the biggest threats to employee productivity is the absence of the employee due to an injury and most of the office injuries happen due to repetitive strain. In addition to protecting the physical wellbeing of your employees by correcting their posture, providing them quality chairs, etc will help boost their morale. You need to show your employees that you care for them by investing in their daily comfort. Make it greener: Do you know, being around nature can increase the productivity of the employees by 15% or more? Sitting indoor in a closed-door office can make it boring for the employees to work. Including some greenery in the office where everyone can see at least one plant from their desk will spread positivity, reduce stress and illness, improve memory, it can also boost the creativity and will thus help to boost employee productivity. Adding energy booster: Caffeine is the best when it comes to reducing stress, boredom, boosting the energy level and improving creativity. Coffee will help the employees stay awake and fresh even when they have had a difficult time sleeping all night and still be able to work with a fresh mind. Keep employees hydrated: Almost 75% of the employees forget to drink enough water while at work. This can impact their immune system and concentration which leads to decrease in productivity. Hence, some organizations gift their employee’s refillable water bottles with the organization’s logo and thus get some easy brand exposure. Allow listening to music while working: In our last article, we spoke about how employee’s productivity can be boosted by listening to instrumental music. Such music helps the brain to focus and concentrate well on the task, it helps reduce stress and increase the speed of execution. Music helps in improving productivity. Hence, occasionally when the employees are working on a repetitive task, we can ask them to listen to instrumental music which will reduce their boredom and errors in the task and boost the speed of completing the task. Small changes as mentioned in this Transformation Tuesday can help you transform the organization and help boost the productivity of the employees. Thus these small investments can go a long way towards improving productivity. Discover the power of employee productivity and satisfaction. Unlock the secrets to boosting performance and morale in your workplace. Fill out the form below and unleash the full potential of your team today! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Quality Comes First](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-comes-first/): Did you know, one of the world’s biggest car manufacturer recalled 45,000 cars in India? In the year 2014, the world’s biggest manufacturer of cars and who is also well known for its quality had to recall one of the world famous cars due to quality issues. The organization had to recall 44,989 cars which were manufactured in between 2005 – 2008 from across India to rectify and change the faulty cable of the steering wheel. This move was the part of recalling 6.39 million cars from across the globe in 2014. As per the organization, the campaign was done due to the error in the spiral cable mounted on the steering wheel. The fault had led to the continuous enlightening of the airbag warning sign on the instrument cluster. In addition to which the driver’s airbag could have also got deactivated. At that time the organization said that it was working on obtaining the necessary replacement parts. Once the replacement parts were available, the car owners will be contacted by the authorized dealers of the organization. The repair was free of cost and was expected to take one hour per vehicle to repair. The campaign had to be conducted at the time when the organization was facing labor issues at two of its plants. Around 4,200 workers had gone on a hunger strike demanding to increase their wages. Due to this issue, the reputation of the organization for quality and safety had detained. The reason behind this is, the company was fighting to protect its brand after the recalls of the vehicles. Apart from this, the first biggest single day recall happened in the year 2012 where the organization recalled 7.43 million models of its other well-renowned cars to fix faulty power window switches. This was the second-biggest recall till the day where they recalled 6.39 million cars of 1 model out of 25 other models which had other quality issues as well, faulty cable errors on steering wheel, seat rails, engine starters, and windshield wiper motors. Being the second biggest recall, the company was paying around $1.2 billion to settle against US crimes for being blamed for the dozens of deaths. Also, the share prices of the company dropped down by 3.07%. A total number of 1.08 million cars were recalled from Japan, 2.3 million cars from North America, around 770,000 cars in Europe, and 62,000 cars in China in the year 2014. Hence, as you can see, the world’s renowned car manufacturer who is known for its quality and safety had to face a downturn due to issues in quality and safety. No matter how good you are in terms of quality or safety, you need to be constantly careful about quality and safety. Or else, you too will face a hard downturn like this organization did. So, have you started paying attention to the quality of your offerings?
- [Yoga and Change Management: Science or Fad?](https://faberinfinite.com/yoga-and-change-management-science-or-fad/): Today, on the World Yoga Day, as the world is promoting the benefits of yoga; it would be pertinent for us to draw a parallel to its relevance to the business world! In today’s ever-changing era in business, change is the only constant. And, hence change management is just as important to business, as yoga is to body. Both Change Management and Yoga have been backed by science since ages. And like yoga can deliver healthy life, ‘structured’ change management efforts can lead to successful business operations! Let us see how Yoga and Change Management are similar and how it can help one’s body and organization; Improves health: As we all know, Yoga helps in improving health by improving the respiratory system, by making the body flexible, thus helping individuals become stronger and more confident. Similarly, Change Management helps an organization reduce the fear of time needed to implement change, reduces the resistance to change, makes the organization stronger for any business transformation activity and much more. Reduces stress and anxiety: As Yoga helps your body to reduce anxiety and stress, similarly Change Management helps to reduce the stress and anxiety of the employees as they are working on a transformation initiative. We have seen that resistance to change in the organization could be due to stressful and anxious situations which may arise while implementing change. Hence, change management is necessary for the organization to prepare its employees for change and eliminate anxiety and stress. Improves the quality of life: Yoga improves quality of life. It helps us live a better and healthy life. In the same way, change management will improve the quality of the organization’s offerings, manufacturing processes, functioning, and culture, etc. This will help organizations become more profitable, lean and offer services of high quality. Minimizes the possibility of defects/ disease: Yoga makes your body stronger and increases your immunity. Likewise, rolling out structured change management helps organizations reduce and eliminate all kinds of defects – wastages and cultural gaps. It will make the process stronger and optimum making the end result defect and error free. Improves flexibility: As yoga is effective in increasing the flexibility of your body, change management backed by proven approach is known for improving the flexibility of the organization. Thus, making it easier for organizations to adopt any change initiative in a more effective and enhanced manner. However, flexibility also promotes innovation, speed and improves the coordination process within the organization. This International Yoga Day, let us take a step in making yoga and structured change management the way of life and move ahead in achieving health and prosperity in our professional as well as personal lives. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Improve Leadership Skills in a different way!](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-leadership-skills-in-a-different-way/): Horses, the mirror of human behavior. Horses have a special structure in their herds just like a human group which is why, the horses will only accept those horses as leaders who are confident, understanding and best at communication. If there is any tension around, the leader will pick it up from the air which is why they need a confident and strong leader to guide them. A survey showed that how an organization with the help of the horses improved the leadership skills of their leaders. Below attached are the pointers the team learned from the horses. Improve understanding and observation: A group of horse is left in a ground to run and a group of leaders are supposed to observe their behavior. Just like human groups, a herd of horses also have a social structure. Each of the horse has its own unique personality and their own place in the group. The team of leaders has to observe who the leader is and who the followers are, which horse sets the pace and which one is distracted or slagging off for the playtime. This exercise will help the leader improve their observation skills. This will help them better understand each employee’s personality and nature to see who can motivate the team and who needs some extra attention. Improve delegation: Delegation of work is easy but to get the work done is not easy. When a leader assigns a task to their group member, he/she can only keep making sure that he/she encourages the employee and shows him the right direction to get the work done but in doing so, he/she has to make sure they don’t overstep. To make sure the leaders learn this skill, the leader is given a flag and asked to stand in the center of the circle and lead the horse to run two to three rounds. Now, obviously the horse cannot understand your language, but he/she can understand your body language and your voice tone. So, it is the task of the leader to begin the horse with walking, then running and then to finally stop. Now the leader can only do that verbally or by the body language or move around a little within the radius of 3 meters from the center of the circle. Now, as you can see the leader can do nothing but to guide the horse what he/she is supposed to do, this will help the leader to improve its delegation skill. Improve collaboration: When the top manager assigns any project to its junior, the manager is always in the fear that will the junior be able to pull it through? Will he/she be able to find the right path of the project? Hence one manager has been asked to sit on the horse and junior is asked to lead the horse with its rein. This way, the leader who is seated on the horse will have to trust the junior for leading the horse in the right direction and reaching the final destination. This will improve the relationship between the leader and its subordinates. And will help to build the trust between them. Improve communication: Many times we have seen this that in a few situations, the leader is unaware of the results seeing which the team starts to lose the trust in the leader. But here, in a circle, 3 people are placed. Two blind folded and one with open eyes to direct. Those who are blind folded are the leaders and the teammate along with the horse. In this, the person who is not blind folded is supposed to lead the team to reach the destination but just by his instructions. And the leader is supposed to lead the horse and the teammate. This way, the teammate will start developing the trust for the leader that even when the leader is not sure of the results, he/she has the power to pull it through. Hence, as you can see having an exercise with the horse will help us a lot in terms to build a strong leadership qualities and further strengthen the relationship with our fellow group members. COmpiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Going Beyond Excellence with Lean Tools and Techniques](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-going-beyond-excellence-with-lean-tools-and-techniques/): Did you know, there is something known as Caterpillar Production System (CPS) just like Toyota Production System (TPS)? Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of mining and construction equipment, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric, diesel and natural gas engines (Source – https://www.mindsumo.com/caterpillar) . The invention of CPS happened in a little tricky way! In the year 2005, the company realized that their factories could win awards in the area of efficiency and productivity. So, Caterpillar decided to launch their own production system to raise the manufacturing standard in order to be competitive. That is how CPS was invented. CPS is an order to delivery process which was implemented across the enterprise to achieve quality, cost, velocity, and people goals. CPS is based primarily on the Toyota Production System (TPS) philosophy. CPS also embraced a lot of lean manufacturing concepts like; Poka Yoke, Standard Work, Reducing Waste, Continuous Improvement. And to your surprise, CPS was not merely implemented in their factories but was also implemented across other verticals like – Purchase, Product Design, Quality, and Supply Chain. The implementation of CPS created a remarkable transformation for the organization. Till 2008, the organization capitalized on the economic boom that started in the year 2004. The Sales and revenues crossed $51 billion, exceeding the goal of 2010 of $50 billion which was far ahead of the target, also, profit per share was recorded at $5.66. Apart from this, the organization had to go through a downturn due to the recession period in the year 2009-2010. But, to everyone’s surprise, the organization emerged to become a classic example of emerging strong after the recession with the help of continuous implementation of the Caterpillar Production System. Even after such hard times, the company recovered itself. The sales and revenue increased by 31% which was $42.59 billion, from 2009. Also, the profit per share rose up to $4.15 from $1.43 in 2009. Hence, as you can see, the lean tools and techniques can be molded in any form and will always help you grow leaps and bounds. Here we saw a classic example of the organization customizing lean manufacturing tools in their own way. The objective of the initiative was being competitive but as they saw phenomenal results they decided to work beyond excellence. Just like Caterpillar, any organization can customize and implement the lean tools and techniques to accelerate their growth. So, have you started implementing lean tools and techniques in your organization? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Music: Key to Boost Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/music-key-to-boost-productivity/): Good productivity in the workplace is an essential point to be recognized as a powerful and best employee. But there are very few techniques available to improve the same. A lot of people struggle with lower productivity and try all that they can to improve the same. Still, they lack somewhere in the implementation phase as not all techniques are as handy to be used while at the workplace. It is good if you find a pleasant and convenient option like listening to music. Almost all of us love listening to music while working which many a time helps us boost our productivity. But not all music creates the same impact while working. Listening to the music that you like causes to release a chemical called dopamine in our brain which makes us feel good and eases our anxiety. Research showed that when the patients from pre-surgery were asked to listen to their favorite music it lowered their level of stress hormones than those patients who took an anti-anxiety drug. Music has the power and capacity to light-up your mood, improve your focus and boost your mental and physical performance. But there are these 6 rules listed below that should be used for using music to improve productivity: A big no lyrics: Lyrics kills your productivity. You might have noticed this, whenever you are listening to music with lyrics while working on something, then you are more focused on the lyrics of that song. You focus on what exactly is the song about and what is it trying to narrate. 90% of our focus is on the song and the lyrics of the song than how and what you are working on. Familiar music is the best: Research shows that when have you have been listening to a piece of specific music for a long time and if you listen to the same music while working on something, it just helps you to focus better. It becomes more relaxing and helps you concentrate better. The unfamiliar music causes you to lose the focus as you try to pick in the new sounds and new notes. Listen to music while working on a repetitive task: When you are asked to work on a repetitive task, it creates a sort of boredom as it is a monotonous task. But it is also something that needs perfection and should be error free. So, while working on something like that, listen to the music. Listening to the music while at the time of repetitive tasks, helps you complete the task quicker, with lesser errors and lesser boredom. No music is best for cognition task, except for one: Research showed that repetitive, relaxing, low-information based background music improves the concentration, focus and boosts the performance by reducing the stress even more than while working in silence. In such a situation, listening to natural sounds like ocean waves, rainfall, birds chirping, also you can listen to the calm and soothing piano music and classical music. This helps you the best. Listening to Upbeat music can help boost physical performance: A study shows that listening to motivating music, helps improve physical performance by increasing the capacity to exercise more and harder while delaying fatigue. Upbeat music has also helped increase alertness levels. This is incredibly important for those hard-driving entrepreneurs who are putting in long hours to work. Listen to the music in between the tasks. Another research shows that if you cannot listen to music while working on your task then listen to music in between two tasks. It will still help you improve your productivity. As it clears your mind for the next task and releases tension for the next task. This helps you improve your focus and boost your performance. The conclusion here is, music makes the world go away and helps you improve and increase your productivity. Just follow the notes listed above and you’ll be able to boost your productivity. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Go Lean to become World Class](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-go-lean-to-become-world-class/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading sportswear manufacturing organizations was able to reduce 50% of its defect rates by implementing lean manufacturing practices at their factories? In this organization, the manufacturing operations of its sportswear have been under regular scrutiny for years. It is after allegations on the organization for utilizing sweatshops to manufacture its products in the 1970s that the organization was labeled for abusive labor practices. This negative publicity made the organization establish a standard – code of conduct for its suppliers. At the same time, it helped create the apparel industry partnership that drew up the code of conducts for its factories. Ever since then, it had established a new set of working standards. It has also adopted a new strong auditing system to monitor labor practices in its factories and restore consumer faith in its brand. In the year 2010-11, after implementing lean manufacturing, the organization saw a vast difference in the result. Because of the implementation of the lean approach, the company has started manufacturing in a better way. It showed results in both – wasted materials and wasted time by ensuring their supply chain has operated more efficiently. After implementing the lean approach, the organization did not just reduce material waste or time waste, but it also worked on eliminating lost time and lost material from its processes as part of its sustainability agenda. The organization was able to achieve 50% reduction in defect rates, 40% faster lead times, 20% improvement in productivity and 30% reduction in time taken to introduce a new model. Hence, as you can see the lean approach when implemented, not only gives you tangible results but will help improve organizational culture. Today this sportswear manufacturer is known for its organizational culture and quality. So, have you started implementing lean practices in your organization to become world class? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Improve Productivity through Mental Health Wellness](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-productivity-through-wellness/): Mental health – is equally important as physical health. In today’s world, mental health is said to be a prime area of concern. As per research, the estimated cost to the global economy due to lack of productivity by depression and other anxiety disorder is around $1 trillion per year. A lot of organizations focus on physical health and the ways to improve productivity along with that. But a very few employers are Improve productivity through health wellness. These organizations organize sessions for employee welfare, subsidize the therapy bills of their employees, or give allowance for life coaches training or even offer sabbatical breaks to their long-time employees. Research has also shown that the organizations which used to only consider physical illness like heart disease and diabetes have now also started to look at other factors like depression and anxiety. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at ways in which we can improve the mental wellness of the employees: Allow Flexibility: In case of use of mental wellness allowance, give the employees the flexibility to use it as they want to. It must be such that it will help them to improve mental wellness. They can use it in a number of ways like massage, therapist appointment, meditation classes, and others. There is an organization in New York City, which gives its employees an allowance of $50 per month. In which the employees use the allowance for therapy appointments, while others spend it on massages, meditation, gym memberships, etc. Employees Buy-In: While several top organizations offer mental health allowances, not much of the employees who are also addicted to something or the other would take advantage of this benefit. The reason behind this is, many a time, the workforce is not even aware if something like this even exists. So, it is necessary to spread awareness about this amongst the workforce. Also, employee buy-in may not work as efficiently and effectively as it should be in larger organizations. What might work over there is the openness of the management team about their past experiences with the mental health and how they overcame that. This can help the employees understand that mental illness is not shameful and can be treated in its early stage. Easy Accessibility: Opening the workplace dialogue and explaining coping strategies can go a long way in helping the employees with their mental health. But many a time, few people might require professional help. Although your health insurance covers mental health, it is very difficult to find a therapist who will accept insFaberurance and take the patient. Under such circumstances, you can look for collaborating with the therapist who might accept both. This will help the organization and employees. Bringing In Professionals: Another way can be by bringing in professional help for conducting in house group sessions. Hiring a therapist who will be conducting sessions once a year where he/she takes the sessions for all levels of management including bottom level, middle level, and top level. This will help the employee bring in better points of view for their tasks and will help them see things in different ways. This will also help the organization know, understand and solve issues that the organization was unaware of. Track The Progress: It is important for the organization to have a track of the performance after having such sessions. Only this can show the impact of how beneficial this is and how can it help improve the productivity of the organization. If the organization fails to keep track, then it will never know the progress and thus all the investment will not be worth. Hence, the above-listed pointers will help you improve your workplace productivity with the help of employee mental health wellness. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Lean Strategies to improve Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-strategies-to-improve-productivity/): Did you know, one of the fortune 500 companies – which is a leading courier service company, was able to save thousands of man-hours and $2 billion USD just by implementing Lean Management? In the year 2008, when the world was facing a great recession period, this organization decided to deploy Lean Management strategies to eliminate waste and reduce its costs. The company, which is typically known for delivery of the mails and packages is also committed towards the maintenance of its aircraft which it uses for the delivering deliveries across the world. For the maintenance, the MRO team performed bulk aircraft repairs. The MRO – maintenance, repair and operations team which also conducted one of the major services – C-checks, which also meant the relative maintenance of the aircraft. The C-checks services are one of the costliest and most time-consuming services. The company used to get this service done across the world in all the countries where its express facilities were provided. Amongst all of those, let us talk about one of its one such services of LA in the USA. Continual Improvement using Lean Strategies Before implementing Lean, the crew of the company was able to complete around 14 C-checks a year. But after implementing Lean, the crew has reached at a point where it could complete 30 C-checks a year. Before the implementation of Lean, the C-checks used to take around 32,715 man-hours a year. But after implementing the improvement changes, now the crew can complete the exact same numbers of C-checks within 21,535 man-hours. The actual man-hour was cut short by the help of one investigator that found that on an average, the employees spent around 1.3 to 2.4 hours each day walking to recover the parts. Because of this, there was seen a lot of delays in the service and repair. Due to which the company had to outsource its C-checks with the third party MROs, which used to cost the company around $2 Billion per project. But now after implementing Lean, within a year, the company saw a drop in wasted time to 0.47 to 1.3 hours a day. Which has saved the company $2 Billion as the C-check is now performed by the internal staff only. As you can see, the lean management strategies are not just implemented or beneficial to any specific industry or sector. It is used by progressive companies to eliminate the wasted and reduce its external cost  and by using its resource at its full capacity. Be it large or small, the organizations across the world have been deploying continual improvement frameworks and seeing fruitful results. Have you rolled out continual improvement journey yet? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Organization Transformation Catalyst – Mr. Amit Pawar](https://faberinfinite.com/organization-transformation-catalyst-amit-pawar/): Consultants are the backbone of any organization’s transformation process. A consultant plays an important role in delivering the best to the organization that they are working with. They work round the clock, across boundaries and industrial sectors. Despite the hectic schedule they are always on time and deliver the expected results. In this edition of iFaber, we had a chat with yet another talented consultant from Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Amit Pawar. He has helped several clients in multiple industries in diverse paradigms. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Pawar, Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at FICS? What three words would you use to describe your role? Amit Pawar (AP): At FICS, I work as a Management Consultant. And as a Management Consultant, my role includes working with the clients in their organizational transformation journey. No organization is the same, neither are the ways in which the organization operates. So every journey is different and has different challenges and as a part of the organizational transformation journey, I work hand – in – hand with the client teams for the implementation of different improvement initiatives. If you ask me about the three words that would describe my role I would say; Go Getter, Finest Implementer and Customer Delight. As you know, being a consultant we need to get on the gemba (shopfloor) and work along with the client and their teams. It is a challenging job to work along with the client teams. Being a subject matter expert, I need to be always prepared to help the client solve their problems on time. As a consultant, we need to be highly energetic, have a good understanding of the client’s problems and support the client teams. Also, we work with the client teams from the top management to the shop floor levels to make sure that implementation is successful. I always aim to be the finest implementer and have been recognized for the same and being awarded as well for the exceptional situational leadership quality. Lastly, about Customer Delight, as you know, when any company hires an external consultant to help them, their expectations get higher and it is our job to fulfill the same and give them the desired results. Not just this, I have helped clients to get beyond what they have expected out of us. This is what we call as delighting the customer! FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber? AP: So, usually my day at Faber begins by wishing everyone a good morning with a cup of tea in my hand. I sit down to check my to-do-list which I prepare on the previous day and start finishing my tasks as mentioned. I interact with my peers and soak in the vibrant environment around me. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? AP: Consulting is a very challenging role. On each and every step, you find challenges. And the most rewarding thing about it is to be able to overcome those challenges and be ready for the new ones. Because it boosts your confidence and keeps you out of your comfort zone. And about all what makes it worthwhile, if I were to talk about myself, I have always wanted to get into consulting. After I finished my studies, I got into consulting and now, it’s been long years that I am into this role and this is something I feel worth putting all my efforts in because I am happy that at the end of the day, I am accomplishing something that I have always dreamt of. FI: What is your personal mantra? AP: My personal mantra is – Do not wait for the perfect opportunity or perfection in anything that comes to you. You should be able to make sure whatever opportunity you have or whatever task you are assigned to, you make it perfect. FI: What is on your wish list for your next five years at Faber? AP: As I mentioned earlier, I have always wanted to become a consultant and I am blessed to have the same profile here at Faber. And if I were to say about my goals for the next 5 years here, I would like to become just as hardworking and efficient as our top management and see myself in the list of top management. Although that position has its own challenges and power, pros and cons, I would still wish to become worthy to be seen at that position and lead a successful team and organization. FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? AP: As I mentioned earlier, consulting is full of challenges. To give you an example, as you know we have been working in 12 different regions including India, the biggest barrier that every consultant would face is language and culture. Not just foreign countries, even here, the organizational culture of each organization is different and you have least of the time to understand that and mold yourself into that. Because you have to work hand-in-hand with the teams, so it is necessary that you make them feel comfortable with you. So, these are a few of the biggest challenges that I face. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? AP:  I think if I were to change one thing about working here, then it would be to have more interactive sessions between consultants. As you know, our consultants work in different industries, different companies and different client locations, this session is one of those few times when each individual can communicate about their experiences and challenges and the way they overcome them. This helps other consultants because if any consultant faces similar challenges to that of others, they will have an idea of how to manage such issues or challenges. Although we do have such kind of sessions, but I think this should
- [Texel Industries - Journey towards Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/texel-industries-journey-towards-excellence/): In this edition, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients – Texel Industries Limited, leading geomembranes manufacturer of India. Mr. Shailesh Mehta – Managing Director of Texel Industries shared his views on the challenges and opportunities in the technical textile industry and how progressive organizations from the geomembrane manufacturing sector have been working towards continual improvement and organizational transformation. Below is an excerpt from the interview Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Texel Industries – a global manufacturer of Geomembranes. Mr. Shailesh Mehta (SM): Texel Industries Limited is engaged in manufacturing geosynthetic textile products which have various applications in agriculture, aquaculture, civil engineering and disaster relief. Over a period of 30+ years, we have made several pioneering efforts in India to introduce geosynthetic textile-based solutions, particularly in the field of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Civil Engineering. Our products are known for their strength and durability. We are now also providing turnkey solutions for water conservation and aquaculture and waterproofing of buildings. FI: That’s wonderful Sir! We understand every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? SM: Our industry is a labor-intensive industry like any other technical textile industry, and we take pride in providing employment to thousands of people. But having said that, the labor-intensive nature of the operation brings in challenges like delivery of goods and services on time and of correct quality. Some of our products are cyclic in nature, overcoming the challenges becomes a primary objective of the organization. Our products are being used by farmers for water conservation, which makes it imperative to ensure correct quality as water is a precious commodity for the farmers. If not stored in the proper manner, it can bring about great suffering due to the loss of crops. These are a few of the challenges unique to our industry. FI: Progressive teams of Texel are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? SM: Since its inception, Texel has always been a pioneer and innovator in terms of new products and technologies. We as an organization continuously evolve various innovative solutions for optimum utilization of our products by our customers. Innovation is a way of life for Texel. This core philosophy differentiates our organization from others. We are proud to say that we brought in the concept of water conservation and water storage by using reinforced Geomembranes to line water reservoirs on the farms across the country and it has helped immensely to increase the rural livelihoods. We are the first company to manufacture Geo Tanks, used for small scale aquaculture activities which can bring path-breaking innovation in fish farming. FI: We are delighted to know that Sir! We would love to understand more about the transformation journey at Texel Industries Ltd. SM: Texel started as a small company in 1989 with a top line of 500 – 700 lacs per annum. As mentioned earlier, the innovative spirit of the company was entranced right from the humble beginnings, the research and development activities carried on by our dynamic Technical Director Mr. Naresh Mehta who is BS and MS in Plastics Technology. We have developed various products like Pile Liners and Reinforced Geomembranes. The management gained the courage to expand due to the fast market anticipated for water conservation and water harvesting technology. Texel expanded in 1994 with ultra-modern machinery and pioneering efforts in introducing the concept of water harvesting ponds on the farm itself. The government of Maharashtra and other states took our advice to formulate the schemes for farmers wherein the farmers were encouraged to put up water harvesting ponds on their farms by extending subsidies for such activities. Correct methods and correct technical specifications were formulated by us and presented to various state governments which led to substantial conservation of water with result that 1000’s of ponds are made today all over the country and a huge quantity of water is harvested and stored in the farm itself bringing a revolution in the field of horticulture and aquaculture. Besides introducing innovative products and technologies, Texel undertook the transformation journey to raise the bar in the quality and efficiency standards on the shop floor. Faber Infinite worked with Texel to help the company in its journey towards operational excellence. The results are encouraging, and the journey continues within the organization to achieve higher excellence. FI: We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers. SM: Faber Infinite has been instrumental in bringing awakening at the lowest level on the shop floor, in areas of operational excellence and innovative production process. We can say the journey is still on and Texel hopes to achieve the highest level of excellence in its operations which will prepare the organization for creating further innovative products and technologies in the coming future. We sincerely thank Mr. Shailesh Mehta and team Texel Industries for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights.
- [Grow with Value Stream Mapping (VSM)](https://faberinfinite.com/grow-with-value-stream-mapping-vsm/): Value Stream Mapping (VSM) has been around since quite some time now, as a lean business practice tool. In recent times, it is evident that this tool has been helping organizations define and increase material velocity and eventually have a positive influence on customer experiences and profitability. What is Value Stream Mapping? Value Stream Mapping is a process that allows an in-depth visualization of all steps in one’s work process. It puts all the important steps on the display which are necessary to deliver the value from the beginning to the end. It lets you visualize each and every task that a team works on and provides the status reports in a single glance about the progress of each task. The main objective of creating a value stream map is to check all those places where improvement in the process can be done by visualizing both the value-adding and wasteful steps. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a flowchart method to analyze, illustrate and improve the steps which are required to deliver a product or service. Like other kinds of flowcharts, it uses a system of symbols to represent different work activities and information flows. Value Stream Mapping is especially used to search and remove waste. Items are listed and mapped on the basis of adding value or not adding value from the customer’s standpoint, with the goal of rooting out items that don’t add value. There are a lot of advantages of using Value Stream Mapping like; as it demands for mapping the process, it will help visualize where the shift in job occurs which discovers the bottlenecks of the process and comes up with ways to improve. Mapping the process allows the organization to analyze its work process in depth and provides hints for places where the changes need to be incorporated for driving improvement in the way the work is done. Faber Infinite Consulting has been helping clients from across 40 industries and has a vast experience of consulting and implementing solutions in all kinds of industries including engineering, automotive, pharmaceutical and much more. With spread across more than 12 regions, we have helped some of the world’s largest organizations with Value Stream Mapping Consultants. While being associated with these organizations, we have supported and successfully completed transformation journeys for organizations across industries and regions. Some of the typical improvement areas are listed here: Improvement in throughput (production output) Improvement in productivity Reduction in throughput time Reduction in non-value adding activities Reduction in distance traveled Reduction in change over time Improvement in production planning Streamlining activities Few of the tangible results delivered at client sites include: Reduction in production throughput time by 46% Reduction in distance traveled by 51% Reduction in change over time of the machine by 50% Reduction in cycle time was identified by 50% Reduction in inventory by 39% Improvement in productivity by 40% Improvement in inventory management by 20% Improvement in component by 16% Improvement in indirect inputs by 21% Improvement in the value-added ratio by 100% No matter how traditional or fundamental tool – Value Stream Mapping. Is, it forms a base for further improvements in productivity and process flow. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been an avid supporter across the industries and sectors. We have always believed in creating more optimized business processes with the help of our Value Stream Mapping approach and consultants. We believe in innovation and always support the same across industries and sectors to achieve their ultimate goal – continual improvement and sustainable development. Recently, team Faber Infinite has delivered phenomenal results at several organizations – right from leading lighting solutions company to the largest engineering company to the leading supplier of Indian Railways and many more! If you want to embark on the journey of excellence like other progressive organizations contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Ready to supercharge your growth with Value Stream Mapping (VSM)? Unlock hidden efficiencies and drive continuous improvement. Fill out the form below to access expert guidance and embark on a transformative journey towards accelerated growth!
- [Operational Excellence – Foundation for Industry 4.0](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-foundation-for-industry-4-0/): Industry 4.0, a transformation which is highly spoken about in today’s era, is about to happen in a very short period. Which is why being prepared for the transformation is a need of the hour. Every progressive organization and its members at all the levels need to be prepared for this next phase of the industrial revolution. The best way to prepare for it is by working on strong foundations of Operational Excellence. Industry 4.0 is definitely bound to roll out with a lot of changes and disruption. As this happens, the processes and equipment will need to be more operationally equipped to be able to support the way Industry 4.0 operates – which is why organizations need to gear up for establishing & strengthening Operational Excellence for successfully reaping benefits from Industry 4.0. Operational Excellence: Operational Excellence is the pursuit of conducting business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, increases speed and enhances flexibility to achieve competitive superiority. From a core manufacturing point of view, there are three pillars of operational excellence; they are production planning & control, manufacturing execution and operational effectiveness of people, processes and assets. Tight coordination among these three pillars is required in order to achieve overall operational excellence. Now you might wonder how operational excellence is the foundation of Industry 4.0. Hence, to uncover this confusion, team Faber Infinite conducted a webinar on Operational Excellence – Foundation of Industry 4.0, which was attended by the top management of different organizations from engineering, pharmaceutical, textile, and much more. Glimpses of the webinar as mentioned below: Agenda of the webinar: Explain the foundations for Industry 4.0 for manufacturing organizations Highlight the essential ingredients to be prepared Demystify the ways and means to launch the journey to Industry 4.0 Clarify the results expected The webinar was conducted by Mr. Aakash M Borse – Founding Partner & Director – Faber Infinite Consulting. In this webinar, he covered the following: Making most of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Smart manufacturing Challenges of IIoT and Smart Manufacturing and how to overcome them The role of Operational Excellence, the potential of the IIoT, and how it enables smart manufacturing How Operational Excellence helps to achieve benefits like – lower costs, more efficiency, easier inventory management, lower payback time, enhanced productivity and much more. To know more about how this can be implemented and be beneficial for you, watch the webinar here: https://bit.ly/2JK/0FF2
- [Improve Profitability with Enhanced Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-profitability-with-enhanced-productivity/): Improved profitability, increased revenues and lower costs sound perfect for any business. But in the era of extreme competition one cannot achieve this with the same traditional practices and approach. What could it be done then? If the competition is doing more with less, then manpower productivity could be one of the issues. Low-output from operators post a serious problem within an organization, forcing companies to adopt innovative techniques and practices to increase manpower productivity. In the modern competitive world, productivity is a fundamental concept in assessing the economic performance of organizations. Therefore, productivity improvement has become a key objective for industries. An on-going concern for management and business heads is productivity. Regardless of the size of the businesses, boosting productivity is essential to enhancing profitability and maintaining competitiveness. Productivity on the manufacturing floor relies on a combination of efficient employees, equipment and processes. Why do we need Manpower Productivity Improvement? As manpower productivity is directly related with benefit and cost of ROI calculation, we need to look at these two crucial points in a macro to micro to nano level in order to sustain the growth momentum as well as to tide over the hitches and pains pertaining to them. Most of the organizations have started realizing the importance of manpower productivity in order to meet global challenges. In today’s world of economic globalization, competition in any business is getting tougher and tougher. Therefore, in order to overcome this challenge, to delight customers and increase the bottom line, competing organizations should make a paradigm shift in their business approach. Customer orientation, business objectives, cost reduction, increased profit, the shorter cycle time of a process and better ROI are the trending buzzwords in the business. In the modern competitive world, productivity is a fundamental concept in weighing the economic performance of organizations. Therefore, productivity improvement has become a vital objective for industries. Manpower productivity is one of the crucial ways to measure efficiency in an organization.  The relationship between manpower and the organization is simple: Shop-floor manpower is directly proportional to productivity. The more and efficient people are available to work, the faster are the organization’s projects completed and the organization can take more projects. Conversely, a lack of adequate manpower stops businesses from completing tasks on time. The lack of productivity results in a reduction in revenue and profit, which in some cases means the business cannot stay operational. Lagging manpower productivity can be a symptom in a diagnostic test for the business. If manpower productivity is low, this could spell lower profitability and higher cost. In order to increase manpower productivity, the business must have smooth – optimized and benchmarked processes in place. Productivity growth affects business decisions, capital investment profitability and savings. Faber infinite reduced Manpower Productivity by ~20% Team Faber Infinite has delivered significant results in major industries across geographies by improving productivity and ultimately throughput and reducing labor costs. Team Faber has improved the manpower productivity by ~20% and reduced labor cost by ~25% in one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles and industrial products across the globe. Faber Infinite has also delivered tremendous results by improving manpower productivity by ~40% and reducing throughput time by ~20% at world’s second largest and India’s largest manufacturer offering comprehensive cryogenic liquid and gas transportation, storage and distribution solutions to the industrial gas industry, oil field service industry as well as LNG industry. Faber Infinite has also improved manpower productivity by 33% and reduced labor cost by 30% in the world-leading provider of compressors with presence in over 180 countries. 90% manpower productivity improvement has also been delivered in one of the leading pharmaceutical organization with presence across the globe. To summarise, it impacts total output, capital productivity and various costs incurred by a company, and not only on manpower costs. Hence, it is not a waste of time to improve manpower productivity. An organization’s output is as much dependent on shop-floor manpower productivity as it is on capital productivity. Similarly, it is necessary to increase manpower productivity just as it is necessary to increase capital productivity. This calls for a total approach to productivity for the effective running of an organization. This white paper talks about the importance of Manpower Productivity Improvement, its possibilities and impact on overall business in further details. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com for rolling out organizational transformation journey successfully. To read more, you can download the whitepaper: https://faberinfinite.com/white-paper/ Ready to take your profitability to the next level with enhanced productivity? Fill out the form below and gain access to game-changing strategies that will revolutionize your business. Don’t wait any longer – start maximizing your profits today!
- [Resolve Quality issues with 8D Methodology](https://faberinfinite.com/resolve-quality-issues-with-8d-methodology/): In today’s world, where the quality of any product or service plays a vital role, it is the need of the hour to understand and resolve the quality issues. Organizations need to know how to manage and maintain the quality of their offerings and also how to resolve the issues related to quality. For all those organizations who want to work on quality, Team Faber Infinite Consulting has rolled out a path-breaking workshop on – “Problem Solving with 8D methodology”. It is an extremely powerful and unique training program designed by Team Faber Infinite. This training and certification program shall help the organizations learn more about how to resolve quality issues using 8D methodology. It will help them become more efficient and effective. Faber Infinite Consulting is glad to share about one of the recently conducted workshops on Problem Solving With 8D Methodology along with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Ahmedabad on 24th and 25th May 2019. It was a 2-day interactive session with a combination of live case studies from the industry, simulation exercises, group work along with the conference room tutorials. The objective of the workshop was: Understanding the foundation of quality and quality management Knowing the framework of 8D methodology Understanding how to resolve quality issues using 8D methodology The workshop covered topics such as; What is the foundation of Quality and Quality Management? What is 8D Methodology? When to apply 8D Methodology? How to describe the problems correctly? How to identify the root cause of any quality problem? How to establish a corrective permanent corrective action based on statistical analysis? Relation of 8D & Failure Modes and Effective Analysis What is 8D tracker? The training was conducted by one of the directors and founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Vishal Kulkarni who has more than 17 years of experience. Participants from the varied industry attended the sessions and were highly satisfied with the program. The session was extremely well received by the attendees. We would like to thank all our attendees for joining us in this engaging and informative workshop. To learn more about the 8D problem-solving methodology and similar other programs, feel free to reach us on consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [4 Ways to Be Proactive and Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-be-proactive-and-productive/): Many times it happens that even after working efficiently for a whole week we feel that the work is getting piled up. But there is a chance we have not been managing work well. What if we were to tell you that you did not work as efficiently as you thought for a week? As per research, an employee is only productive for 12.5 hours a week. And, for almost a 40-hour work week, the cost of lost productivity will keep on quickly adding up for the business. In this blog, we will discuss about the 4 ways to be Proactive and Productive. During a slow day or week, you find it boring to work on the tasks from your to-do-list which are not urgent. You try to pass the time by chitchatting with your friends and colleagues, by scrolling your social media timelines, by searching for online purchase and much more. But, this shouldn’t affect your contribution to the business, right? Below listed are ways to keep contributing to the business even on the slow days or weeks; Pay attention to your professional development: A study has found that one of the reasons the employee’s professional development is held back is because they are too busy to pay attention to it. There are things like webinars related to your industry which you were not able to attend because you were busy or because you were reading articles that you have kept in your reading list. So, now is that time when you can read those articles that were pending or watch those recorded webinars. Or, get your hands on the upcoming training sessions happening around you to enhance your skill development. Or, work on other initiatives such as doing a certified course in the area of focus. Hence, if your professional development has been put on hold because of a busy period at work, a slow day or a slow week is the perfect time to focus and march on developing your skills. Speak with your colleagues: When you don’t have an endless to-do list, you can take some time to meet and speak with the colleagues you have meaning to connect with. Like, if your superior too is having a slower week, discuss your long-term career goals with them. This will help ensure that you are continuously working on projects which will help you grow in your career. Apart from meeting with your superiors, you can also utilize that time to meet your colleagues from across the company. This can include having coffee or lunch with a co-worker you have friendly relations with. Or meeting someone from a different team if you are interested and planning to switch career paths. Be organized: During busy days, you might wish you had an organized and clear workplace instead of a cluttered desk. When you run into a slow period take time to clean the mess on the desk at the workplace. One of the ways to get organized is by implementing a project management process or tool, to help your whole team stay on track with larger projects. Or on a personal level, you can rethink how you organize your email inbox or weekly to-do list. Then, once you’re busy again, you’ll be glad you’re that much more efficient.  Ask for other tasks: Another way to pass a slow work day is by simply asking for more work. By doing this, you can show your manager that you are a proactive and eager employee who wants to help the business grow by asking to take work off his or her plate. By completing this work, not only you will help your manager, but you’ll also learn new skills you might not have otherwise had the opportunity to work on. Beyond helping your manager, you can also take on projects you are passionate about, outside of your regular list of responsibilities. Or you can offer to help another team with their project and, at the same time, learn more about how other teams in your company work. The steps mentioned above are just a few ways you can ensure that you are productive even when you have a low workload. If you put all your best effort into positively contributing to the business at all times, you will help your organization grow, and as a result, grow in your career.
- [Operational Excellence for World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-for-world-class-manufacturing/): Did you know, worlds eighth largest automaker an Italian-American organization was able to improve its productivity by 75% just by implementing Operational Excellence? The organization began using Operational Excellence (OE) and management in order to establish the basic World Class Manufacturing (WCM) to manufacture products of higher quality by eliminating losses and improve its work standard in all its factory fields. The organization defined the initiative with the intent to raise their performance and standards to the level of World Class Manufacturing. The initiative included improvement of quality and maintenance, management of cost and logistics and much more. The main reason to begin with this initiative was to increase the productivity and the flexibility in an elementary technology unit of a mechanical subgroup in the organization’s assembly process at one of its plant with PDCA approach. With the help of the PDCA approach, 4 workstations were analyzed an in various sub-phases of the production process, 41 kinds of Non-Value Added Activity – NVAA (MUDA Analysis) were found. After the completion of MUDA analysis, the places where the solutions were applied were found to have a lean process. Faber Infinite Consulting helps organization to Improvement in Productivity by more than 75% Once, the organization completed the implementation, the results were found as; improvement in productivity by more than 75%. And also improvement in ergonomics by more than 85%, optimization of logistics flow, and much more. As you can see, Operational Excellence (OE) is helping organizations across the world find hidden opportunities towards becoming world class. The above-mentioned case is one such example of one of the fortune 500 companies, which is already renowned as the world best manufacturer. Hence what growth stage the organization is at, there will always be hidden opportunities for better and sustainable growth. Have you started working towards operational excellence of your organization? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Boost Confidence with Positive Feedback and Challenging Goals](https://faberinfinite.com/boost-confidence-with-positive-feedback-and-challenging-goals/): Confidence is essential for every employee for being recognized by his teammates and supervisors. There are times when an employee does great work but is not appreciated and his contributions are not being recognized. Results do not always speak for the hard work the employee is doing. The management may not know the reason why the project was such a success. This is the reason why being confident is necessary. Not bragging all the time about your hard work for the success but sometimes it is necessary to confidently speak about your hard work which made the project a huge success. It is said that confident employees are more engaged, they have great self-reliance and that is just one of the many reasons why creating a team with confident players works for everyone’s advantage. But, not everyone comes to the office ready strengthened with confidence, or even sometimes one of your most confident employees can suffer from self-doubt in challenging times. But luckily, there are many ways a leader can boost the confidence of the employee. Here are two of those ways; Set challenging “GOALS”: If the goals do not challenge, push or stretch your employees and if they just must work as normally like any other day then it sends a message to your employee that you don’t consider them capable of taking on difficult tasks. Difficult goals send a message to the employee that you have faith in them and that they will get the job done under any circumstances. Research has found that 15% of people think that their personal goal for that particular year will help them achieve great things and only 13% of people thought that their goals will help them maximize their actual potential. The research also showed that most psychologically motivating goals are those where there is a rough chance of 50 percent success. Most of the goals are easy but smart and realistic goals are those which are difficult to achieve and have a 50% chance of success. So, take a step back and ask yourself what kinds of goals you are giving to your team. Test the difficulty level of the goals by asking your employees what new skills they will require to learn to achieve a goal. If they do not need to learn something new, try increasing the difficulty level of the goal by 30%. Also, ask your employees if they think they can achieve a goal easily. If they say that they know they are able to do it before they even start working, try making the goal 20% harder. Keep altering the goal until you get it right. Give more “POSITIVE” feedback: Research says that 71% of the managers say that they know most of their employees can achieve excellence but only 18% of the employees say that their managers do a good job by communicating their positive feedback. One of the problems in this is that managers tend to discuss what went wrong in the project rather than talking about the good things or positive things about the project. One of the reasons behind this is that they usually get credit for being great problem solvers, but they get almost little or zero credit for being great praise givers. And, obviously, for being recognized as a great problem solver, you need to have a problem first, something negative, which needs fixing. Managers usually communicate more about a problem than they do about something positive. As good employees listen to something negative, it affects their confidence level as well as their performance. It is necessary to pull yourself out of this cycle by tracking the interaction of the employees for a couple of days. If the negative interactions are more than the positive ones, then do not be depressed. Just start looking for moments in which you can give positive reinforcement, which is different from praise. Positive reinforcement is a teaching tool that allows employees to learn when they do something right by getting verbally rewarded. This triggers a reaction of an employee saying that the reward felt good and he thinks that he will work the same way again. A lot of people have the talent, skill and right attitude to be great performers but somewhere they lack confidence. Get into potentially building confidence through positive feedbacks and challenging goals. Combined by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Is Quality your priority?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-quality-your-priority/): Did you know, the world’s largest printing products manufacturer has benefited from Total Quality Management just within a span of 5 years? On July 29, 1975, the company entered into a consent decree with the regulatory commission to settle an anti-trust lawsuit against the company. Back then, the company had grown to control somewhat like 86% of the market on the basis of accumulating and licensing of patents. The marketing practices of the company had to be abandoned and their patents entered the public domain. The company had spent millions of dollars on product development through one of the research centers for introducing a few products and concentrated heavily on growth. As per the research, as the company grew bigger, engineering and designing departments became inefficient because of the increasing layers of procedures, management and controls. By the year 1979, the failure of the company was about to take a strategic direction to account for the new market realities that allowed new competitors to consolidate their positions. In the beginning, the company was not much concerned with its competitors because they were making small, desk-size units and this company was making huge-output for central copying-locations. However, on the basis of research, the drop in return on their net assets in the year 1976 was from 25% to 5% in 1979 and within the ten years between 1974 and 1984, the market shares had fallen from 86% to 17% along with the revenues falling from $1.15-billion to $290-million. From this, it became clear that the business processes of the company had become outdated and the company had to fully reinvent itself. The company under the leadership of its CEO remade itself from tip to toe with the help of – leadership through quality. Total Quality Management approach identified the performance gaps, namely that they had been comparing their output only with their own products and not with their competitor’s product outputs. With the help of operational benchmarking, the defects per 100 products fell to a defect per thousand products. The number of their suppliers fell from 5000 to 300 because lately the company found out that their Japanese competitors usually had 1000 suppliers. There was a 13-times improvement in the proportion of their defective parts. There was around 40 % decrease in unscheduled maintenance, 27% drop in their service response time. By the year 1989, every employee of the company had received at least 28-hours of training for the problem-solving and quality improvement techniques. Also, the company invested more than 4 million man-hours and $125 million in training its employees about quality principles. In the year 1989, the company received Baldrige Award for an outstanding return of their quality initiatives within the immediate period of 5-year from the foundation of quality, which was laid in the year 1979. As you can see, the company has highly benefited through TQM (Total Quality Management) within the span of just 5 years. Any company that implements TQM, shall start seeing the benefits in their quality in a very short time. Quality plays a vital role in any organization and in any sector. Make sure you play that role well to come up with flying colors. As you can see, these concepts are being used successfully by large organizations since more than 5 decades. These concepts are timeless and relevant even today. So, have you started working towards quality management? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [4 key points to Improve Employee Engagement - Faber](https://faberinfinite.com/4-key-to-improve-employee-engagement/): Employee engagement is one of the most powerful things which requires a lot of efforts and not money. It is a myth that employee engagement is very costly. Employee engagement is mainly done by managers. Those managers who invest in developing strong relations between themselves and their employees, experience increased engagement and loyalty. Here we listed 4 key points to Improve Employee Engagement. Recent research found that only 13% of the employees are engaged in their workplace. So, engaging the employees is a need of the hour. Below are the pointers that will help organizations to engage their employees: Create an internal leader: The companies should create the leaders from within the organization through proper guidance, support, making available the necessary resources, and clarity around processes and expectations. Once the employees are clear of what their goals are and how to achieve them. They will become more innovative on their path of achievement. Managers can help those employees by mentoring them and making a career path for the employee through the journey in the organization. The career mapping exercise helps an employee in what they should do and how to reach their career goal by achieving the milestones along the way. Those employees who focus on achieving their final goals, stay engaged and strive to achieve their personal goals with their manager’s support. Managers can help create the leaders from within by investing enough time teaching their employees about the necessary skills they would need to achieve excellence in their position. This process will not only boost the confidence of the employees but will also help them in staying completely loyal with their organization throughout their journey. Implementing wellness habit: A study shows that 80% of people consider additional benefits and office perks over the pay raise. While Google is known for all the extra facilities and perks such as a professional chef, haircuts and spa and on the campus dry cleaning, companies with smaller budgets can make smaller adjustments without making huge financial investments. The organization can start maintaining a pantry where it can stock healthy and nutritious food for its employees keeping the employee health under consideration. Doing this will help the company maintain the health of the employee so they do not fall sick and miss a day at work. The company can also gather the employee’s time for quick exercise and stress-relieving activities which will help them become more productive and efficient in their tasks. Ask for feedback: Asking your employees about what their views are on a specific task can make them feel how important their views are. This makes them feel that their points are being taken into consideration. There are times when you just ask the opinions of the employees and do not apply them. But if you repeat that every time then the employee will understand that you are only trying to show that you consider their point but, you don’t care about their views and opinions. Employees believe and are likely to have faith in their management and future of the company if they are kept in the loop for what is happening in the organization. The best way to do this is by keeping the flow of communication transparent to foster their trust and build engagement between the employee and the company. Celebrate the victory: Expressing the appreciation will help the employee feel valued and make them feel their efforts are recognized by their managers. A study found that appreciating the employees on a regular basis will increase their satisfaction level, loyalty and customer satisfaction level is increased as well. In the end, employees want to be valued for the efforts they put for the organization who in return values their health, development and role within the organization. Removing the organizational hierarchicy barriers that restricts the top from the bottom. It is not just a trend but the way the workforce is shifting to adapt to the new generation of workers. Companies can build thriving cultures without lavish budgets and luxurious employee perks. Simple efforts go a long way. Hence, employee engagement is easier than you thought. All you need is to put in some efforts to make it work. Transform your workplace culture and boost productivity with improved employee engagement. Take the first step towards a more motivated and connected team. Fill out the form below and unlock the strategies to enhance employee engagement for a thriving organization! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Friday Fact - Cost Of Poor Quality](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-cost-of-poor-quality/): Did you know one of the biggest car manufacturers of the world had to recall 22,834 of its cars due to poor quality in the year 2018? In the year 2018, the company issued a recall for 22,834 cars to fix the faulty front passenger airbag inflators. As a matter of fact, this was the 8th recall for the cars that the company manufactured which contained the model of the cars from the previous generation which were manufactured in the year 3013. The airbags inflator had the threat of being installed with intense internal pressure when activated. The airbag inflator casing might break which could have resulted in safety risk or injury to the vehicle occupants. Therefore, the company had to call all their cars back for replacing the defect in airbag inflator. In the year 2017, the company had to recall 41,580 units of its car which were the previous models to correct the faulty air bags. In the year 2016, the company recalled 1,90,578 units of cars again with the previous generation of the model for rectifying the faulty airbags. The reason for the company calling back the cars is because the third-party vendor who is in charge of manufacturing and fixing the airbags is working for other companies as well. Hence not just this car manufacturing company but the other companies as well which were purchasing their airbags from the same 3rd party vendor had to recall their cars to rectify the fault of the airbag inflator. In total, around 100 million cars were recalled by almost 13 auto manufacturers around the world. This fault caused the death of at least 12 people and had injured almost 180 people for which the vendor for airbag inflator had to pay $1 billion as compensation. Hence, as you can see that poor quality caused not just money to the company but a lifetime loss of the trust of its vendor. Quality shouldn’t be a point to be implemented at the time of manufacturing. It should be right from the source. Till the date, we have seen how quality has made companies fall from the sky at the same time raise from the ground to touch the sky. In this case, we looked at how severe the cost of poor quality is? It can affect the lives of the customers. There are companies where quality has created greater disaster which has not only cost them money but has brought the business to stop or closure. Understanding this paradigm, companies have started practicing and implementing quality at source – Right First Time. Have you started yet? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Why is Change So Difficult?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-is-change-so-difficult/): It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one that is most adaptable to change – Charles Darwin The contemporary industrial world demands innovation from the companies to stay in the run and this demand has made the need of organizational change more prominent than ever. Many organizations have successfully gone through this change process and have achieved exponential growth and development. However, many still dread the process because of the resistance the process faces. First of all, one needs to understand that resistance to any change related process at the workplaces is quite normal and natural. Changing the work culture and process at the workplace can impact the sentiments of anyone, be it someone from the top level management or people working on the ground. It is in our nature to resist change and that is what makes the organizational change a very dreadful process for many. Here is what one needs to know about the exact reason behind the resistance to change. We live by our habits – As humans, we define our lives by the habits we culture in our day to day routine. We tend to live in our comfort zones and do things within the same limit. In a research, it was found that humans are most comfortable in getting involved in highly repetitive activities every other day. This is one of the main reasons why people resist change and faces difficulty in managing it. Change inflicts stress and tautness – Change at the workplace can make the employees and team members anxious and stressed. The thoughts about how the change will impact their jobs, positions, roles and responsibilities and other related aspects make the employees insecure which consequently results in resistance to change. This happens mostly in the employees who have been associated with the organization for a very long time and have followed certain business projects. All we want is stability and certainty – Human brain craves for certainty and does everything possible that can help one in avoiding uncertain situations. Change in any organization can make the employees uncertain about the coming situations and might feel that their stability is at stake. We know that change can result in problems as well – In our daily lives, we always anticipate the results and mostly we expect the outcomes opposite to what we desire. This negative anticipation goes in the same manner when we talk about organizational change. Employees anticipate negative outcomes and ultimately resist change thinking it will create more problems than solutions. Organizational change acts as the pillar in the journey of an organization which supports it and helps it in achieving the desired growth rates and profitability. Change is bound to face resistance however, it is important for the leadership to not get intimidated by it and handle it strategically for the success of the transformation journey. Written and Compiled By Faber Kishlay and Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact- Winners Never Quit!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-winners-never-quit/): Do you know that six sigma developed by one of the most renowned American cellular company which helped them achieve 800% improvement? Yes, it was Motorola! Since 1980s, Japanese companies started posing a threatening competition to the American counterparts. The Japanese came up with unique methods which helped them offer their products at much lower prices than the American companies and captured the entire market. Seeing this, Motorola’s management decided to slaughter Japanese companies by one of its own creation of “Quality”.  The company called for a meeting of all its engineers. They ordered them to implement all the best quality management tools that have been developed so far and create its own unique methodology. Which would be base on Motorola’s competitive quality improvement program. This was how the Six Sigma was developed. Company while testing for its standard in the market, came to realize with the help of statistics that they needed to improve by 1000% within 5 years. Which was a ratio of 10:1 of quality improvement to get its position back into the market. The news flew into the market like wind about the fact that the company is using its stakeholders’ fund to achieve the goal that can be only be achieved in dreams. But the company did not pay any attention to this and kept working towards achieving its goal. After 5 years, when the results were declared, the company came up with flying colors by achieving its goal and shutting everyone’s mouth who doubted their capabilities. But, when they measured their standards with the Japanese companies they realized that they were still lagging behind. Again they decided to set the same. But this time time, they were to achieve their target within 2 years. Once again, the critics began to drag down their attempt. And again, Motorola shut everyone’s mouth by achieving its goal. Which is why the third program was launched. Again with the same 1000% or 10: 1 improvement in the quality program. But, this time, at the end of the program in 1991, Motorola failed. Unfortunately, when their targets were measured, they had only achieved 800% i.e. 8:1 of ratio. Seeing this, even the critics & media went under shock and applauded their initiatives. The news of Motorola defeated the Japanese threat and Six Sigma became the biggest buzzword. Every other company in the market started to plan the Six Sigma implementation for reaping the same benefits as Motorola did. This is how Six Sigma was born! No criticism should heap into your way if you are focused to achieve your target. Motorola, after all the criticisms it faced did not even for once thought of giving up. These quality tools have been in use from more than three decades. Are you using it and reaping the benefits? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Role of Leadership during Organizational Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/role-of-leadership-during-organizational-transformation/): In this evolving industrial world of 21st century, the only thing that is constant is organizational change. The fact that any organization’s journey depends on the decisions the leadership takes itself speaks out how crucial is the role of leadership development in any organizational change. Leading change from the front is one of the most difficult tasks in any organization since it deals with various important aspects of the work culture. Moreover, the leadership might also face resistance from the employees during the change initiative which will further put more challenges in the way of achieving excellence and continual development. Leadership and Organizational change Organizations aspiring to grow and captivate the opportunities in the modern world might face some serious challenges that obstruct their way. These challenges may include outdated systems and software, lack of an upgraded culture in the organization. And also inefficient talent acquisition programs, sharper marketing and sales strategies to penetrate and proliferate the market and much more. Moreover, the challenges for the organizations might also increase twofold with the resources depleting rapidly, fear in the team members, fatigue, and incorporation of various training programs to learn the new systems and many more situations like this. The leadership plays a key role here to have an all-round development of the organization and garnering maximum benefits from the change management process. Ingraining leadership development programs that equips the managers with emotional intelligence and desired skills that helps them in successfully leading the teams through the change can give the required support to the organization. Change Management in Organizational Transformation In any change management initiative, it is always an advantage to have a skilled and aware leadership that can steer the ship in any direction whenever needed in order to avoid the storm. Implementing an effective leadership development program will not only allow the organization to have such people but will also help them in improving on their 360-degree feedback and overall emotional and attitude analysis of the team members included in the change process. This entire process of leadership development should always keep some things in mind like ensuring that. It doesn’t get forced on the participants, they enjoy the experience and ultimately adds value to their skill sets, providing the employees with enough training. So that they can engage efficiently and make the most of the opportunities that comes in front of them, promoting data collection and encouraging transparency in the work culture of the organization. Any organizational change process needs efficient and able leadership in order to be successful and yield optimum results. It all starts with a change in the mindset that forces the organization to take time, pull more resources out, budgets and other related aspects. It all needs able and developed leadership so that everything stays on track and the organization does not face any loss. In this critical time of growing competition, it has become quintessential for the organizations to invest in leadership development programs and gain the most from the market opportunities.
- [Friday Fact- The return of the Toy of the Century](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-the-return-of-the-toy-of-the-century/): Do you know, the winner of the title “Toy Of The Century” by Fortune magazine- The Lego Group struggled for 7 years to get back to their place in the market? Yet after 7 years, they came out with the flying colours. Wonder what would have happened? How they might have managed to get back in just 7 years? The Lego Group generated the loss for four out of the seven years from 1998 through 2004. Their sales dropped down by 30% in 2003 and by 10% more in 2004. The biggest reason behind this was the poor supply chain. The supply chain of the Lego Group was outdated by at least 10 years. The poor customer service and on the spot availability of the products was gradually destroying the com­pany’s franchise in key markets. The company owned the toy market in the year 1950’s when its bricks first became popular. For nearly 6 decades, the company had the great business. But, when in 1990, its competitor firm started regearing their supply chain the Lego Group did not pay attention to that. And that is when the system started to fail. This is when the company decided to inherit the organizational transformation. To rebuild profitability, the company had to redesign each and every aspect of its supply chain along with eliminating inefficiencies & improving their innovation capacity. Since the mid-1990s till 2004, the company shifted towards video games, TV programs, and retail stores. But this diversification made it more complex for the company, and the red ink continued to flow. The CEO of the organization would often visit the gemba, asking managers when he saw that an item had not been resolved since his previous visit. “This is still here?” he would ask. Finally, after a painful but impactful transformation, the Lego Group made its first profit after 7 years. It approximately saved €50 million ($67 million) and forecasts savings in excess of €100 million ($135 million) in coming two years. Their stock turnover also increased by 12% in 2005. And in the same year, the Lego Group announced its first profit of €61 million ($72 million) since 2002. In 2005, its turnover increased by 11% and profits up by a staggering 240%. In here, the gains are not just limited to operations. The supply chain redesigning and restructuring the ideas and implementations impacted the most. The Top Management believed that getting the right product at the right time to the right place at the right cost was an important early step in grappling with an array of strategic challenges. “ The transformation journey for Lego groups was painful but was a necessity. The Top Management said that as per their perspective, the supply chain is a circulation system of the company which you have to fix it to keep the blood flowing. If big and profitable names like these had to inherit the organizational transformation to sustain in the market, have you initiated your organizational transformation journey to keep the blood flowing? Write & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Accelerate Sales with Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerate-sales-with-faber-infinite/): Sales is one of the most aspired factors for every organization, since increased sales results in increased revenue. Every other organization faces various challenges in improving their sales numbers and counter the increasing competition to withhold their position in the market. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has a proven panacea for improving sales and has a powerful framework that facilitates the organizations in keeping the sales trends northwards in the charts. This proven solution by Faber Infinite has helped clients grow sales by 25-40 % within 12 months. Team Faber Infinite has been proficient in providing sales training, designing and implementing sales growth strategies – actual hand holding – across various industries and sectors. The practice of the above Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite has created the number of happy clients with phenomenal sales and revenue growth. The Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite focuses on external as well as internal drivers affecting the sales performance for any organization. It depends on the organization and its ecosystem, what elements impact them and needs to be worked upon. External drivers a) Customer Demands – Customer and its demands are very important to improve sales numbers. To have higher sales, it is very important to understand customer demands and decipher the market opportunities and design the sales strategy accordingly. b) Competitive analysis – Analyzing your competitor and its strategies is another important factor that impacts the sales of an organization. It helps you in coming out with a precise strategy in terms of 4P of marketing to counter their tactics. c) Value delivered – Organizations should be able to define, demonstrate and communicate value delivered by its products or services, in order to retain the customers and improve sales. The value delivered by a product/ service should be communicated in terms of  features, advantages and benefits. Internal drivers a) Team SWOT – Teamwork is the most important internal factor that drives the sales numbers of any organization. SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of sales team can push the team and its members in making the extremely effective team. b) Team Alignment – Team alignment helps the members in getting a clear view of the structure and hierarchy of the organization. This enables one to have clarity about roles and responsibilities, further leading to alignment towards organizational sales goals. c) Sales management – Managing the overall processes involved in sales – relating to financial and logistics planning and customer service – is another important internal driver that plays a vital role in the sales of an organization. Correct measurement metric can do wonders for a successful sales growth initiative. With the increasing competition and advancement in technologies, it has become very imperative for the organizations to create a profound sales strategy to keep them in the run and subsequently increase revenue. The ability to make profound relationships with the customers and providing the market with what it needs is the only way to keep an organization in the loop and achieve excellence. If you want o to join our elite clients who have achieved 25 to 40% sales growth in less than 12 months, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber  Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Transforming Family Managed Business](https://faberinfinite.com/transforming-family-managed-business/): If the current Indian scenario is taken into consideration, one will notice that more than 60 percent of the companies are family run and were found to be doing quite well in the last 30 years. Family run businesses were the key beneficiaries in this period. However, with the advancements in technologies and globalization, the barrier on the companies has now been lifted and consequently competition has been increased exponentially. Challenges and Family run businesses The global growth in prospects and opportunities to exploit supply chain are dwindling and falling costs have dramatically slowed down the profits for such companies. Moreover, Family Businesses also lack internal structures around which the sustainable business muscle is built. The biggest challenge family-run businesses face is that they struggle to build and manage the businesses that help them in leading and thriving in the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) Business Excellence and related transformation practices can really help such family-run businesses in tackling the growing challenges and improve their productivity as well as profitability. Many people still believe that transformation journey is only for large companies and will not cater to the needs of small or medium sized organizations. It is a complete myth. Team Faber Infinite was recently called upon to address the ‘Family Business Transformation Summit’ which was held in Surat and share with the emerging family driven businesses – how operational excellence can help one in transforming a 20th century family run business to a fast-growing 21st century business conglomerate organization with the help of operational excellence, irrespective of the size of the organization. Operational Excellence and Family run businesses In the modern industrial world, there are many deficiency tags such as the high cost of capital, operational efficiencies, delayed deliveries, reduced margins amongst many others obstruct the growth of the family-run businesses. These factors make it very difficult for the organizations to compete in the market with independent owners and investors. To achieve, exponential growth, the organizations need to get Fitter, Faster, Better and Efficient. This can be achieved by implementing Operational Excellence and transformation practices. Faber Infinite and Family run businesses At Faber Infinite, we know that operational excellence is the need of the hour and every organization should implement it. We help family-run businesses to gain the maximum and most optimum results with our structured Organizational Transformation Framework integrated with Strategic and Operational Excellence to counter every problem such businesses face in the 21st century. Key Faber Infinite Differentiators Hands on implementation experience in Organizational Transformation/ Operational Excellence practices Expert consultants serving clients from Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East Proven delivery methodology appreciated by select Fortune 500 organizations Focus on implementation and not mere boardroom consulting/training. We take pride in calling ourselves as ‘Implementers – Hands on Experience’ Recognized as one of the trusted and fastest growing management consulting organizations by various leading forums Estimated minimum ten times return on investment in the first year of implementation. Results delivered! As always… We believe in delivering more than what our clients expect. Below is a list of typical results we delivered at various client sites.  Improvement in cash flow by 25 percent Reduction in costs by 20 percent Profitability of the organization improved by 20 percent Growth in revenue of the organizations by more than 30 percent Customer satisfaction index improved by around 25 percent A drop in lead time by 60 percent as a result of Team Faber Infinite’s efforts Improvement in equipment uptime by more than 45 percent Productivity of the organization was improved by 65 percent Inventory reduction by 60 percent without any stockouts Quality of the products delivered by our clients was improved by more than 50 percent Team Faber Infinite understands the various complexities of the evolving industry and always tries to push forward the organizations to achieve their goals. We understand the need of family-run businesses and design and formulate our frameworks and structures as per the requirements to help them maximize the outputs. We have assisted several family businesses of all sizes across geographies and industries, and have helped them in becoming the beneficiary of present time opportunities again. If you are also a part of family run business and aspire to achieve exponential growth and profitability, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [7 QC (Quality Control) Tools for Process Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/7-quality-control-tools/): Quality is one of the major concerns both for the manufacturer as well as for the consumer. Everything ranging from sales and growth is related to the quality of the product that is served to the consumer. Quality Control (QC) is one of the major aspects of the various processes involved in manufacturing that facilitates the organization in improving the quality of the product and standardize it across all platforms. Team Faber Infinite was invited by the Auto Industry at Indore Management Association to conduct a power packed workshop on ‘7 QC tools for Auto Industry’. It was a huge hit with more than 30 participants from various organizations like Mahle group and others. About the 7 QC (Quality Control) tools The seven QC tools is a designation given to a fixed set of graphical techniques identified as being most helpful in troubleshooting issues related to quality. The application of these tools is very easy and a large number of problems can be solved effectively. These quality products satisfy customer needs and improve the productivity. About the workshop The workshop was focused on bringing awareness about the 7 QC tools and their benefits with which organizations in the auto industry can thrust their production process and achieve excellence and continual improvement and sustainable development. Objectives of the workshop To understand the 7 basic tools for quality and process improvement To learn how to apply the 7 basic tools of quality to problem-solving or daily work Workshop coverage The workshop covered various aspects of the 7  QC tools that will drive quality improvement and production processes of the organizations. Elements like Quality Principles, Quality & Statistics and Fundamentals, Applications of 7 QC tools were covered effectively in the workshop. Leaders from Quality and Production function attended the workshop Key benefits for the participants The key takeaways of the workshop are as follows – Use of 7 QC tools to resolve quality related problems Quality related issues can be revealed more effectively using the 7 QC tools Perception of benefits that will be derived using the 7 QC tools How 7 QC tools can be used to discern productivity issues and enhance opportunities Practical understanding about how to increase profitability using the 7 QC tools Practical understanding of how to improve customer satisfaction using the 7 QC tools Outcomes of the workshop Through this workshop, participants learnt about how to use these Quality Control tools in their daily work or as a part of the structured Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) approach for the problem-solving methods. Team Faber Infinite has been helping organizations through workshops like these.  This workshop has helped organizations in providing the necessary information to the employees about the various tools and techniques that add value to the products and services of the organization and improve their profitability. Team Faber Infinite has been conducting such highly impactful workshops on the regular basis at various client sites and in association with industry organizations to support the industry and help the clients in achieving something which we believe in – Excellence. For more information about such workshops or other training programs, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com  
- [Challenging the Challenges](https://faberinfinite.com/challenging-the-challenges/): Its the team members and their passion, which truly makes Faber Infinite Consulting a diverse and unique place to work. We have some amazing people with many backgrounds and different personalities, who have a real passion for what they do. Today we will be talking to Ms. Nirali Chauhan, who is a Functional Analyst for the technology vertical at Faber Infinite Consulting. Nirali is experienced and skilled in HR solutions, employee training, skill gap analysis, problem-solving techniques, data analysis and research. She is always ready for new challenges and explores new tasks. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with her. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite? Nirali Chauhan (NC): I work as a functional analyst at Faber Infinite for the technology vertical of the organization i.e. Prizma. With the digitalization and digital revolution, everything has now come into the context of technology. We support clients with technology platforms for Skill Analysis – Performance Management. My role here is as a functional expert is enhancing these tools – understanding client requirements and delivering it with robust technology enabled solutions. Currently, I am working on tool that bridges the gap between expected skills and the current skills of the employees. I look over the designing and content of the software, product testing and then execution of the same. FI: What three words would you use to describe your role? NC: If I were to describe my job in three words, they would be Eagerness, Involvement and Innovation. These words just don’t describe my current role here but are related to everything one does, be it personal or professional. FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber? NC: I am a person who always looks for change, challenges, and creativity and that is applicable to my work as well. Building a software requires a lot of innovation and thinking. So my day at Faber is full of innovation and challenges and I enjoy it to the fullest. FI: What is the most rewarding thing about your job? What makes it all worthwhile? NC: I would say that if your clients are satisfied, you are at the top of the world. It makes you more satisfied and content. Moreover, the management here is very appreciative and supportive. They listen to you and take in your suggestions. Looking at my interest in human resource, I was given an opportunity to lead the HR function. This not only helped me to give a holistic view of the organizational functioning but it further sharpened the software development process. The responsibilities of HR lead helped me utilize my full potential. Things like this make it all worth for anyone’s time and efforts and that’s what I feel is the most rewarding part of my job. FI: Your motto or personal mantra? NC: I would like to mention two things here. First, “it is ok if things do not work for you”. Things will not always go in your favor and instead of getting depressed about it; one should accept it and work more to get it in your court. The second mantra for me is “speak through your inner self”. Everyone nowadays is affected by the outer world and no one knows what goes inside one’s self. It is very important to let that confident inner self of you speak to the outer world because at the end it will be you and your confidence that will either make it or break it. FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? NC: According to me, challenges are the only factor that drives you in thinking forward and helps you in getting the best out of you. As a functional analyst, the biggest challenge I face is making the developers understand the kind of functionality I want from the technology platform. Everyone has a different way of understanding and it really gets challenging at times when I wanted something else and the technology team comes out with different functionalities. This leads to a lot of wastage of time, work and resources. This is something that I feel is challenge and I put my efforts to address it from the root cause – as our lean philosophy talks about doing it Right First Time. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? NC: To be very honest, I am very happy with the opportunities that Faber Infinite is providing. It is helping me develop my skills and grow at the same time. I am happy with the things just as they are. FI: How has FICS helped you in your career development? NC: When I completed my MBA, I started working in the HR domain. But lately, I realized that I had more interest in research and analytics. So I decided to work in analytics and technology domain. Since then, Faber Infinite gave me the opportunities in my career that I was looking for. I have seen exponential growth in my career graph. The journey has just started and I hope to grow and learn more with Faber Infinite in time to come. FI: What do you like most about Faber Infinite? NC: Culture! Faber Infinite has a very friendly culture and everyone at the workplace is very friendly and supportive. The management is also very appreciative. They listen to you and your suggestions and always motivate you to voice your opinions. Such kind of environment helps one in growing and becoming more confident and that is something I like the most about Faber Infinite. FI: Tell us something which we do not know about you NC: To answer this, I would like to share my funda or modus operandi. I am a very spiritual person and I believe that spirituality helps you in every turn of your life. Talking about spirituality and my professional life, it helps me to keep complete involvement in my work because I believe it is my devotion and dedication towards anything that I do. Second thing, it is my faith in God that gives me enough confidence to challenge
- [Building Excellence in Pharmaceutical Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-pharmaceutical-industry/): The pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries of the world which highly focuses on quality and effective systems. Achieving excellence along with continual and sustainable development is very important in this industry to be competent. In this edition of our newsletter, we bring you one such tale from the pharmaceutical industry, when an organization tackled all the challenges and has been moving on the path of excellence. Mr. Sanjay Jain – EVP (Operations) for Amneal Pharmaceuticals shared his views on the generic pharma industry and how progressive organizations from the pharma sector have been working towards continual improvement and organizational transformation. Below is an excerpt from the interview. Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about the global generics pharma market in the world? Mr. Sanjay Kumar Jain (SKJ): Generic pharma market is growing across the world and there are many reasons contributing to it. The population is growing old and everyone wants to live a healthy long life. With the changing lifestyle/food habits, the diseases have increased; be it obesity or diabetes. Moreover, the improvement in the per capita income of the people has also made the drugs more accessible for the people. These are the few main reasons why we are witnessing such growth in the pharma industry. With the current growth rate, we expect the total pharma industry to be around USD 1.12 trillion by 2022. (source: https://www.business-standard.com) FI: Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? SKJ: The pharmaceutical industry is a highly regulated industry since we are dealing with the medicines and hence safety, quality is given the highest priority. A unique industry challenge, I see is, for companies to sustain the regulatory compliance and meeting expectations of various gatekeepers like FDA and other authorities while exporting goods to USA, Europe or regulated markets. Another challenge, which I see, is the competition among the generic medicine manufacturers. This is also impacting spent on R&D by the pharma companies. Research and development are essential for the future growth of any pharmaceutical organization to develop complex products and invent new molecular entities. FI: Right sir! Moving ahead, progressive organizations in the pharmaceutical industry are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is it that differentiates these organizations from others? SKJ: Progressive organizations have defined a vision to achieve their growth targets and goals which they set for a certain period. What I see is that they heavily invest in R&D for the development of more complex generic products and the niche products that will take them to another level in the coming years. They have clear strategies for the regulatory filing of the newer products to avail the sales exclusivity, specifically in the US markets. The most important thing is maintaining the robust quality systems and satisfy the regulators during the audits with respect to compliance which happen regularly. Manufacturing quality products at a very cost-efficient price for the customers to win their confidence and loyalty. Such factors make these organizations more competent and more efficient in their progress and future growth. FI: We would love if you could share some success stories of the transformation journey you were a part of. SKJ: In recent past when I have seen regulatory sanction on some of the pharma companies in the industry like warning letter, import alert etc because of poor quality systems and a few data integrity issues. These occurrences inspired my team to implement high-quality standards at pharma manufacturing sites where the systems are quality and compliance driven. The auditor should be happy and satisfied when he/she sees reviews the systems. In Amneal, I have faced multiple US FDA inspections in the last six years and our audits were concluded without any non-compliance or minor observations in all these inspections. It gives a lot of confidence when the auditor audits you, challenges you on every aspect and is satisfied with the compliance level. I am proud to be a part of such organization. FI: That’s wonderful sir! It definitely is a feat. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the organizational transformation journeys you were part of. SKJ: Faber founders are very young, energetic, knowledgeable and experienced people and when we met them we knew that they are going to add value to our organization as consultants. Team Faber Infinite organized multiple workshops, training sessions for the employees, closely monitored every process, creating milestones and helped us to reduce throughput and cycle time… and save capital for the organization. Not only that, the entire interaction with our employees has helped us in bringing value to our organization and to the stakeholders, with increased employee accountability and ownership. I really appreciate Faber Infinite for their role and help in our transformation journey. We sincerely thank Mr. Sanjay Kumar Jain and team Amneal Pharmaceuticals for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Everyone matters](https://faberinfinite.com/everyone-matters/): Continual improvement is something that is desired by every organization in the contemporary industrial world and every organization has implemented some tools and techniques to achieve it. It is an organized and systematic method to identify the opportunities and structure the work processes in a manner that reduces waste as well as benefits the organizations. With the growing competition, the need for continual improvement has increased manifold and it has become a quintessential part of the organizational development process. Many people start with the continual improvement journey but forget the main constituent i.e. the people involved in the entire process and ultimately fail in getting the desired results and numbers. Ideas and small changes For any organization to have a successful continuous improvement process, it is very important to have the entire team involved in it who actively participates in the process and believes in the organization to help them in achieving the desired results. Moreover, people have to understand that continuous improvement is not something which can be achieved only by bringing very drastic changes in the work process and organizational culture. It is something that starts with small changes in the organizations that are actually creating large roadblocks in achieving it. These small changes can produce impressive results for the organization and can have a very positive influence on the organization and its work culture. Everyone involved matters! Continual improvement can only be driven towards success if it involves every concerned soul in the organization. Everyone needs to pitch in ideas and actively provide inputs to leadership about the required changes that can improve or purify the processes of mistakes and uncertainty. Every soul in the organization is an important asset to the organization and every idea that comes into light can do wonders for the organization and its work culture. Moreover, it will also impose the sense of belongingness in the employees’ minds and will ultimately encourage and motivate them to do things in a better and more efficient manner to collectively achieve organization’s objectives. Any transformation journey impacts various departments and controls of the organizations and the people involved or working in those departments. Hence, it becomes quintessential for the organizations to include everyone and garner an all-round support for the organizational transformation. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped hundreds of clients across industries and geographies in achieving continual improvement and in sustaining it. Our structured and formulated Organizational Transformation Framework© impacts the tiniest corners of every organization and rectifies in the desired time period so that the organization can garner the most optimum results. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com   Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Want to drive successful transformation? Start with this simple habit.](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-drive-successful-transformation-start-with-this-simple-habit/): Transformation journey is a journey of changes. A path which is not easy to drive yet once you drive to the final stage, the results are wonderful. You might have heard about many organizations have started working on transformation journeys. But there are very few organizations that make through the journey. Are you also planning to begin with the transformation journey or already on board? Want to know what right these other organizations are doing to make through the transformation? Start with this simple habit! Priortize well, apply PARETO principles: The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. PARETO’s principle serves as a general reminder that the relationship between the inputs and the outputs are not balanced. For example, if you can figure out which 20% of your time produces 80% of your results then you can spend more time on those activities and less time on the other non-value adding activities. Similarly, by analyzing the characteristics of the top 20% of your customers who represent 80% of your business, you can find more clients like them and thus increase business Hence, one must understand and prioritize the challenges, solving which will help the organization in the long run. Pareto principle can help in several ways. Say, we take example of improving profitability, which entices many. It is almost a common scenario in any business that approximately 20% of your sales efforts (team, products/ services, geographies, etc) produce 80% of your revenues. Depending on your business objective, the Pareto Principle can be used to determine whether you need to focus your effort and resources on the 20% of sales efforts, that get most of your business to further sharpen the 20% efforts or to focus on the 80% of other sales efforts which are struggling to bring business. Next on the operations front, if we look at identifying and fixing issues – A Pareto analysis can be useful method for prioritizing problems so that you can determine which issues have the greatest impact on the outcome of a given situation. This not only allows you to identify the problems, but it also allows you to take corrective actions to resolve the most important problems affecting your business. Therefore, one should not begin with the transformation journey without well-defined goals and roadmap. For eg If we talk about Five S, rolling out “sorting” all the times does not mean that one is leading towards continual improvement. Sorting is just one of the steps. If one follows, all the steps of Five S at right situation, then one can reap real benefits of the Five S process. Hence, don’t just do things with partial impact and without prioritizing. It may lead to sub optimal results. First, understand what you are planning to do, go through its process, plan how to implement, analyze and implement it thorough for delivering the desired results. Team Faber Infinite has been helping organizations in their transformation journey using their unique Organizational Transformation Framework©. We have worked with clients across sectors and geographies and delivered exponential results at the client site. To know more about our offerings contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal &  Faber Mayuri.
- [Resolve conflicts and build trust to have strong leadership teams](https://faberinfinite.com/resolve-conflicts-and-build-trust-to-have-strong-leadership-teams/): The global business environment is constantly changing and it has now become essential for the companies to anticipate it and bring the required changes in their work and culture in order to remain competitive and profitable. Leadership teams play a very crucial role in keeping the company productive and it is very important for any organization to have efficient and intellectual leadership teams. To build profound teams, it is important that the organizations pay special attention to trust and conflict resolution and align them around the mutual goals to gain the maximum benefits. Trust and Vulnerability In any organization, it is usually found that every team performs in a different manner and comes with varying outputs. In a research conducted by a group of psychologists, it was found that the reason behind this varying success of teams is largely dependent on how stronger the bond is between the team members and how they treat each other. In simple terms, teams that had members who trusted each other based on their vulnerability were found to be more successful than the others. It is important for any organization to culture the sense of comfort among the team members while being vulnerable with each other. Below are the three factors that can help the organization in building trust among the team members – Communication methodology and style Individual histories Work methodology and culture Healthy conflicts and their benefits Many a times, organizations feel very uneasy just by the thought of conflicts. Obviously, one can’t eliminate conflicts from the workspace entirely but can make use of the healthy conflicts that arise the in the working processes of any organization. Disagreements are bound to arise in a team since every human being thinks in a different manner and has its own perspective. Such conflicts can help the organizations in developing new ideas and concepts and in full-proofing their working environment. Although, one should be able to differentiate between disagreements and personal attacks and it should be avoided at all costs. Healthy conflicts should also need to be resolved quickly in order to have a smooth flow of work in progress and also to enable a better communication between the team members that will ultimately benefit the organization and will improve its productivity and profitability. Leadership teams play a very important role in garnering the organizational development and executing the transformation journey. Resolving conflicts and building trust are the two most important keys in optimizing the working culture of an organization and subsequently have a profound leadership team. It will also help you in increasing the engagement at the workplace and building a positive and enriching environment at the same time. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Friday Fact- Every Feedback Counts.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-every-feedback-counts/): Can you imagine a car being allergic to the Vanilla ice-cream? The General Motors Pontiac was into making extraordinary rides. So extraordinary that it happened to not to let its owner carry a parcel of vanilla ice-cream back home. You must be wondering why would a car do so? One fine day, the Pontiac car division of General Motors received a complaint from one of its customers, saying that “My Pontiac car doesn’t like vanilla ice-cream.” But the complaint seemed too funny to be to be taken seriously. The customer knew this, which is why he decided to rewrite the complaint. In the complaint, the customer shared his story with General Motors. There was a tradition in the customer’s family where each night after family dinner, they would vote and decide which ice-cream to eat. Once they decided the men would go and buy the ice-cream. It was all going fine till the customer purchased the Pontiac. After the customer bought Pontiac he observed a weird scenario. Every time that he got Vanilla ice cream, the car just would not start once the man would get the parcel.  This was not the case for any other ice cream. For all the other flavors the customer could get the ice-cream home. After this was brought to the notice of General Motors, the company felt the need to check for the cause. The company decided to send an engineer to get it solved. The engineer would accompany the customer to buy ice cream every night. And to the engineer’s surprise, the complaint turned out to be true. When the engineer got vanilla ice-cream, the car did not start. There was nothing left unchecked – the gas used, the car model, the time it took to drive back and forth. Finally, one fine day, the engineer realized that it took the man a lot longer to buy other flavors of ice-cream. Vanilla being the fast running item it was stored in front of the store, so it took lesser time to get vanilla flavor compared to other flavors. And this was just the clue the engineer needed. The answer was vapor lock! Because of the car stopping and starting in a short while, fuel would turn to vapor and couldn’t move through the system thus causing the engine to die. Because vanilla ice-cream took little time to buy, the engine didn’t have time to cool down. And so, the mystery was solved. You see every feedback counts. Do not take your customers feedback lightly. You never know what kind of mysterious problem it might solve and help you to improve your products or services.   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Why your Operational Excellence Journey is going Wrong?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-your-operational-excellence-journey-is-going-wrong/): You might have heard about Operational Excellence quite a lot of times. Hearing it opens up the ways how you can cut costs and increase profits. Just because it talks about cost-cutting and increasing profit many organizations might find it lucrative. But that should not be the case.  Let us look at a few points you should keep under your consideration before beginning with your Operational excellence journey. These points will help understand Operational Excellence better and thus reap greener results for your organization: Do not follow the crowd: Many times people think of starting operational excellence just because it’s highly in trend and every company around is using it. But in such cases, organizations often do not have the required knowledge, expertise and resources to begin and thus do not get desired results with Operational Excellence (OE). In such cases, before beginning with the OE, you must obtain all the knowledge about it. You should understand the need, how long it will take to give the desired results, how will it help your organization, etc. Before beginning with any new thing, first know and understand its cause and effect. Do not take it as a burden: Many a time’s organizations begin with the OE journey but afterwards they feel as it is just a collection of tools and a burden to their regular routine. No, it is not. Operational excellence is not just the collection of the tools, rather than that it’s more of a culture. Operational Excellence initiatives should come from and be embraced by everyone in the organization. No matter what is his or her education, skills, expertise and position in the company. Higher OE expertise: Many organizations believe that having just a few of the internal employees with some knowledge of OE is enough to begin with the OE. But it’s not true. The knowledge of those people might help you once the journey has begun but does not help you to begin and sustain the journey. Only the skilled and experts can correctly help you with your OE journey implementation. No one else. Pay attention to the bottom level: Organisations mainly follow the top-down flow of command. It mostly pays very little or no attention to its bottom level. But you need to understand that bottom level is key to success for your OE journey. They are the actual implementers. If you do not listen to what’s coming up from there or ignore it, you might never succeed. OE is something that will need 100% participation from all the levels of the organization. Hence, keep all the levels engaged and involved in the OE journey. It’s a journey: Companies many a time implement a few operational excellence tools and methodologies and consider it as the end of the OE process. But, Operational Excellence is a journey without the destination. If you truly want to be successful in your OE journey, your organization and your people will have to take time to challenge the status quo. It is surely difficult in a fast-changing world, but it is mandatory if you want good results from your Operational Excellence efforts. Hence, Team Faber Infinite has been helping organizations in the operational excellence journey. We have worked with clients across sectors and geographies and helping them in their operational excellence journey. To know more about our offerings contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Struggling to Stay in the Air?](https://faberinfinite.com/struggling-to-stay-in-the-air/): One of India’s oldest privately-owned airline is struggling to stay in the air. Since some time the airline has been giving one bad news after another. First, there were news about the airlines cutting cost by trimming employee salaries by 25%. Then they deferred to release the financial results and now the decision of the civil aviation ministry to audit the company. All these started after the airline reported huge losses due to high fuel prices and a weak rupee. However, the CEO of this airlines recently quoted that there are various transformation initiatives that have been identified and are being implemented. The airline is confident that the implementation of the transformation initiatives will help them to address the current problems. They have recently quoted that some of the transformation initiatives are already delivering positive and favorable results. The airlines have been working to achieve greater operational efficiency. They are implementing a host of measures to optimize costs and increase revenue while retaining focus on clients. But the bigger question is, what is the right time to work on transformation initiatives? The answer is, there is no right or wrong time. Any organization should always strive to improve and work on different transformation initiatives to remain effective and efficient. Transformation initiatives are like a marathon race they demand persistence and speed; it is just that, there is no finishing line. It is a journey without any end. It is a known fact that most of the employees resist change. Research suggests that 90% of the change initiatives fail due to employee resistance. Organisations have to find the right place to minimize the resistance. One can not be too fast for the employees to accept change and too slow that it becomes boring for the employees involved. Transformation should be a continuous process. It should not happen that when there are problems in the organization then you go for such initiatives. Team Faber Infinite has been working on transformation journeys with organizations across industries. We have been helping organizations to excel and perform right things in the right manner at the right time. We have been helping organizations in designing and implementing the transformation initiatives to become more effective, efficient and agile. We have been helping our clients to build successful organizations, always striving for excellence, by establishing a culture of continual improvement; in order to transform. To know more about our offerings and service contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay, Faber Mayuri & Faber Jalay.
- [Business Lessons from Mother Nature](https://faberinfinite.com/business-lessons-from-mother-nature/): We all have faced a certain period when we feel upset and everything feels to be going wrong. And then a walk into the lap of nature makes us feel a lot better – relaxed and composed. Great scientist Albert Einstein once said, “Just look deep into mother nature and then you will understand things better”. We completely agree with this and almost all of us have felt the soothing hand of nature sometime in our life. Well! Businesses can also work in the same manner and looking and understanding the nature will help you a lot in accelerating the growth of the organization as well as make it more efficient and competent. Below are four business lessons mother nature teaches us in order to have a substantial growth and development. Evolve or else you will be eliminated Times are bound to change and sometimes it will get tough and formidable. In such times, one must understand that there is no way one can carry deadweight with them. One must adapt the circumstances as it is and must evolve to excel and grow in the tough times. Questioning yourself is one of the great methods how you can evaluate yourself and then implement policies to bring change. Moreover, create a more sustainable work culture that will not only help you grow but will also allow you to explore different dimensions of your business You can only grow by performance Fitness drives performance and it is one of the major factor nature takes into consideration and no matter if you are a tiger or a giraffe, if you are not fit, you will never grow. This teaches us a very important lesson that can be used by one in grabbing opportunities and growing businesses. Leadership of any organization should be very clear and focused with the promotion mechanism and should promote people only based on their performances. Factors like gender, caste, religion etc. should always be avoided while promotions. Produce less waste The hard-toxic wastes which we see around nowadays are a result of the human actions. If one will look in the nature, one will find that nature produces very or almost no waste that harms the cycle of biodiversity and utilizes everything to grow and develop. In similar manner, one should work towards reducing the amount of waste produced at the workplace. Even small steps such as utilizing the paper efficiently can help one in making a big difference in terms of wastes. Survival is the topmost priority Survival is the most important thing one should keep in mind and just like every other organism; you should also do everything that can ensure survival in the toughest times. Working hard is the primary method to ensure your business’ survival. You must be focused and dedicated to have a sustainable and growing business. Nature is the greatest teacher and it keeps communicating with us in different ways. It is very important for us to trust, observe and learn from mother nature. One must remember the fact that nature has the solution to every problem, it is just a matter of perspective and objectivity. Written and Compiled by  Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Are you looking for accelerated growth?](https://faberinfinite.com/are-you-looking-for-accelerated-growth/): Accelerated organizational growth and development is something every organization desires very dearly and constantly make efforts to achieve it. However, very few people know that accelerated growth can’t be just achieved by plain implementation of tools in a random manner. It requires a structured implementation of framework and a core module that will guide the growth process along with helping the organization in sustaining it. About the webinar Team Faber Infinite, Global Management Consulting Firm recently conducted a webinar on ‘Why a coach is required for accelerated growth in an organization?’ Our guest speaker Mr. Jalay Pandya, one of the founding members and Director of Faber Infinite Creative Solutions enlightened our viewers on this topic and shared some valuable insights to help them achieve the desired growth rate. Moreover, he also focused on how to formulate the entire journey in order to have efficient and more productive methodologies ingrained into the working culture to boost the growth processes. Consultants, Coaches and Accelerated growth Many people misunderstand consultants and coaches as the same person which is not at all true. Consultant who will help you identify the issues and  will tell you the probable solutions for your problems while coach is one step ahead of consultants. Coach not only will come in and tell you about what is going wrong but will also hold your hands and will walk you through the entire processes and will ensure that the problems do not repeat in the future. For an accelerated growth in this competitive modern industrial era, it is very important for the organizations to have a coach beside themselves who will help them in turning around the things for the good. The need of a coach intensifies for an accelerated growth in today’s era because a coach will help you in almost everything, be it taking risks, pushing yourselves or most importantly in changing the mindsets of the people. They will guide and motivate you and will help the organizations believe in themselves and in their potential. The webinar talks about many such things which signify the vitality of a coach in an organization aspiring exponential growth. A coach in an organization is similar to the breathing process in an individual – both helps us survive and stay competent. To view the entire webinar and know more about the importance of a coach in an organization for accelerated growth, view the full webinar at; Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- Invented by mistake.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-invented-by-mistakes/): Do you know the Post-It notes that you use, was invented by-mistake almost 5 decades back? Can you imagine, the invention was a solution without a problem? Yes, in 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a chemist at 3M Company was trying to invent a super-strong adhesive. Instead, he ended up inventing a unique, low-tack adhesive that would stick to things but also could be repositioned multiple times. As the invention was a solution without a problem, Mr Silver had to promote his invention within his company- 3M itself through both informal as well as formal ways like a seminar. Until the time he finally got to sell that to one of his colleague – Art Fry in 1974. He used to sing in his church choir. He was frustrated because of the bookmarks he used to mark his place in his hymnal which kept falling out. Which made him buy this right after the seminar. No application for the lightly sticky stuff was apparent until Fry’s idea. The 3M company was initially skeptical about the product’s profitability, but in 1980, the product was introduced across the world. Today, Post-it notes are sold in each and every part of the world. As per Einstein “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” As you can see, not every mistake is wrong or bad. Sometimes mistakes also open up completely new and unseen pathways for you. So, do not fear the change, do not follow the same routine. Adapt new things and change the ways for opening up to something amazing and unseen. Although everyone knows Post-It notes as an amazing success story, what they forgot is that it took more than a decade for the product to finally get the internal support to reach its target market. Sometimes, you just need a passionate and dedicated team who really see the value in something to keep pushing, delivering and improving a product until they find a way that shows the right value for it to become a success.   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Empowering the Forging Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/train-to-empower-and-excel/): Employees are the backbone of any organization and it is the employees that take the organization forward and contribute in its development and growth. Forging industry is one of the growing industries in the 21st century and has shown immense potential and opportunities for growth and development. In an industry such as forging industry, it is very important for the organizations to have trained and skilled employees in order to maximize their productivity, profitability and competence. Team Faber Infinite Management Consulting Firm recently has been invited by one of our clients, who happens to be one of the leaders in the forging industry, for building competitiveness. The idea of the engagement is to build “Operational Excellence for Business Excellence” by strengthening key leaders of various functions including the President of the organization. Below are some of the glimpses of the workshop. Objective of the workshop To create awareness among the employees regarding Business Excellence To make the employees aware about how to enhance profit using operational excellence To make the participants of the workshop aware of the different tools and techniques of operational excellence. The workshop enlightened the participants about the various aspects of the Operational Excellence and shed light on various techniques that will ultimately add value to the business of the organization. It also made the audience aware of how Operational Excellence is the need of the hour and can change the course of the journey of the organization. Team Faber Infinite Consulting inputs has been appreciated by the entire batch and the participants felt extremely confident and motivated for Operational Excellence, its tools and techniques and related aspects. President of the organization along with the team was delighted by the outcome of the workshop. In his words, “I should thank you for very nice presentation in such a short, simple and clear manner. I have undergone many pieces of training workshops but your way of presenting the content was EXCELLENT!” Modern times have changed and so has the need for the tools and techniques that will assist the organizations in achieving their goals and targets. In such situations, it is very important for the organizations to train their employees in order to imbibe in them the required skill set needed to excel in their work and fields. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has helped many organizations across industries by training more than 50,000 people. We are constantly devoted to help organizations achieve and sustain continual development. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Organization Culture – The vital success theory](https://faberinfinite.com/organization-culture-the-vital-success-theory/): Culture of an organization defines the potential and capabilities of an organization to innovate and improve. It plays a crucial role in keeping the flow of the organization and its work. Culture of an organization acts as the core fundamentals that will direct and drive any process or system. Hence, it is very important for an organization to have a culture which supports and promote tools, techniques and ethics that will ultimately improve the company performance, productivity and profitability. In short, having a good culture is a proven theory to success. Moreover, it is not important for an organization to have an employee centric or a very friendly environment when it comes to good culture. In fact, an organization can rally a brutal culture for its employees as well. Culture. But why? The reason why culture is more of an important aspect for success rather than innovation, positioning, people or segmentation is that culture forms the DNA of the organization. If the DNA gets impacted or affected, no matter how efficient methods or advanced technologies you use, it will impossible for you to rectify the defect and move towards achieving excellence. This is how important the culture of an organization is. Let’s talk about strategy Simply put, strategy is a set of actions to be performed in a series to get desirable results and achieve targets. One can say that a lot depends on strategy as well and not on culture. But, what good is an excellent strategy if it cannot be supported by the culture of the organization. You can note down a strategy on a piece of paper but when it comes to culture, you must learn and polish it constantly to stay in the front. Any strategy no matter how well it is woven is completely dependent on the culture of the organization. And Branding… Branding plays a very important role in driving an organization towards success and generates more sales for the company. However, even branding is not independent of the organizational culture and depends extensively on it to do its job. In this case also, company culture plays a critical role in creating a brand by aligning the manufacturing processes with the marketing. Culture is an imperative factor that is hugely responsible for driving the organizational transformation and improves the efficiency of the processes of the organization. Moreover, it also showcases the approach with which an organization initiates any processes, be it any internal or organizational. It is key for the organizations to start focusing on their organization’s culture to thrive in the coming days and make the most of their resources and capital.   Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Can Lean and Innovation Work Together?](https://faberinfinite.com/can-lean-and-innovation-work-together/): Lean manufacturing has attracted many eyeballs lately and has proved to be a useful tool for the manufacturers to garner profits and increase their revenue. Lean tools and techniques not only help the leadership in achieving benefits at the top levels, but also helps them in benefitting at lower levels as well. Many companies across the world have ingrained lean manufacturing into their manufacturing processes and have managed to make their organizational culture more efficient and productive. However, many people might complain that lean manufacturing and innovation does not go hand in hand and they face a block in their creative and innovation part. In an ideal space, one would expect lean and innovation to align but it does not completely. However, many companies do manage to eliminate this tension between lean and creativity or innovation while some others may not. Innovation will need more resources and funds to be researched and evaluated if it will be sustained in the market and will result in profitable returns or not. Whereas, lean focuses on increasing the efficiency, quality and productivity of the manufacturing processes of an organization. It is here where organizations might feel a difficulty in innovating. However, one should be very clear that lean do no stop anyone from being creative or innovative. Innovative ideas can flow from anywhere if given the chance and opportunities. Also, the leadership should trust their employees and should always encourage them to use their talents and potential to the fullest to have optimum results. This may also result in organizations gathering some critical data for the innovation to live and stand through the competing markets of 21st century. Once the ideas and concept are finalized and worked upon, lean can again come into play. In fact, lean can a play a very crucial role in building the product line right from the bottom after the primitive stages of the process. It can help the product in gaining the right potential and to sustain the competitive advantage in the market. Lean can also help the organizations in identifying new markets for the product as well as improve the quality function for the product gradually. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions has been one of the leading supporters of lean tools and techniques in manufacturing and has helped various clients in different industries across regions to utilize lean tools and keep innovating at the same time. With the structured modules, we make sure that every manufacturing facility makes the most optimum use of their resources and talents on hand to have a better productivity and profitability. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com   Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [One more from Taiichi Ohno](https://faberinfinite.com/one-more-from-taiichi-ohno/): Image source: https://history-biography.com Do you know that in 1970’s the Western world was disturbed by the Japanese manufacturers? The Japanese had captured a substantial share of the US market and were offering products that even the domestic manufacturers were not able to match. People began to ask – What is it that the Japanese are doing right? Can we implement it? Initially, everyone thought it was the Japanese culture — attention to details, team goals come before individual goals, order, neatness etc. But gradually they understood that it was a new approach to manufacturing – Just in Time. Just In Time is originated from Japan and was invented by Kiichiro Toyoda and Taiicho Ohno in the year 1950. JIT is based on the Kanban System; a logistical process by which signals are issued by using colored cards, signs, flags or lights.  Two main components of JIT philosophy are planning elimination of all waste and continuous improvement of productivity. Faber Infinite has been helping clients deliver phenomenal results using JIT, are you using it? Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri.
- [We Can Do It](https://faberinfinite.com/we-can-do-it/): Change management processes are quintessential in driving the organization towards their goals and targets in the evolving times of 21
- [Transform – Go Beyond Your Form](https://faberinfinite.com/transform-go-beyond-your-form/): We are in 21st century and it has gradually become one of the most competitive and tough times to compete in the market and sustain your place. Manufacturers nowadays face various problems and difficulties in sustaining their growth in this constantly changing industrial world. Operational Excellence is the key to tackle such obstacles in the present era. However, operational excellence alone in the production processes will not be able to change the course of the organizational journey altogether. For a complete deviation towards excellence, organizations must start changing themselves right from the bottom, from their work culture and lean manufacturing does the same! It changes the maintenance and operations processes from a reactive center to a proactive aspect in the manufacturing process thus ultimately increasing efficiency and productivity. How to sustain the cultural change? Ingrain pro-activity in status quo To sustain the cultural change, one should start changing their mentality and thinking processes about maintenance and operations. One should be proactive in the maintenance processes and should anticipate it rather than waiting for the scheduled maintenance or for the machine to breakdown before turning an eye to it. Move around and see Lean manufacturing is a collective effort and should be assessed by everyone. Moreover, one should go out and analyze the processes, systems and controls to find the root cause of the problem and create a counter plan to eliminate it from the manufacturing processes. Maintenance and operations both need to go hand in hand to achieve balance in the processes. Continuous improvement Continuous improvement is not always a high costing process. Keeping the balance between maintenance and operations can also be achieved through data analysis. Data can assist the leadership in curating many frameworks that will ultimately add value in the product or to the customers. Small initiatives on individual levels can also inflict change in the working culture of the organization. Appreciation Teams managing operations and maintenance also play a crucial role in keeping the organizational processes aligned with the lean practices. Hence, it is very important to respect the team members and appreciate their efforts occasionally to keep them motivated and encourage them to do more and better. Take the team together Nothing can be done or achieved alone, and the leadership has to understand that. Teamwork can create wonders and push the organization to new heights. Taking the team together in every situation throughout the journey will not only help in achieving the desired goals and objectives but will also increase harmony between the team members which will ultimately add value to the organization. Change management processes are difficult to handle and sustain. Cultural change can play an influential role in creating as well as clearing the oath for the organizations to achieve excellence and attain continual and sustainable development. Organizations must shift themselves from being reactive to proactive to end their transformation journeys on a successful note. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [5 Myths of Operational Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/5-myths-of-operational-excellence/): Operational excellence is a proven methodology to provide support to the organizational framework initiatives. The objective is to achieve continual improvement and sustainable development. However, many a times, when the topic operational excellence is discussed, many misunderstand it. They consider it as another gimmick that will only add to their costs without adding any kind of value to the product served to the customers. To be honest, these myths need to be broken for the method to flourish the market and thus help organizations in achieving optimum results. In this blog, we will be discussing some of the most common myths related to operational excellence. Operational excellence is just another corporate propaganda Many people believe that operational excellence is just another corporate propaganda that looks good on paper but fails to provide results both on organizational as well as on individual level. However, this thinking is completely baseless. The proof can be taken from companies like General Motors who is expected to save more than $3 billion and witness a 20 percent revenue by 2020 because of operational excellence and related tools and strategies. Operational excellence is the solution to any problem Many people also believe that operational excellence is a cure all for the problems occurring in their organization. It is important for the companies to start with realistic goals. Starting off with very high and unrealistic goals will ultimately hurt their confidence and can also produce unfavorable results. Operational excellence depends largely on where it is started and on the driving force that pushes it throughout the system. Operational excellence is a costly methodology Any quality improvement strategy comes with a cost and so does operational excellence. But it is important to note it as an investment rather than expense to the organization. Many companies who are largely benefitted with operational excellence are those who implemented it with a distinct thought process than just costs. Operational excellence is only for large and bigger companies It is a total myth that operational excellence is only for large companies and will only benefit the companies with bigger contracts and manpower. Operational excellence and the consequent benefits can be achieved by any company with hard work, motivation, commitment and right strategy. Bigger companies might gain publicity for their operational excellence programs, but in reality it can be applied by everyone. Operational excellence only focuses on cutting costs Operational excellence is much more than just cutting costs. It has been quite evident from the above facts that companies save a lot on their expenses as a result of operational excellence. Operational excellence is more inclined towards improving efficiency and productivity rather than just sticking to costs. To be successful, you must get all-in with operational excellence and its tools and techniques. Team Faber Infinite has helped 150+ of clients in various industries across geographies in successfully implementing operational excellence processes and benefitting from it. With our structured framework, we have helped many clients in achieving excellence and attaining continual improvement and sustainable development. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Discover the truth behind 5 common myths of operational excellence. Don’t let misconceptions hold your business back. Fill out the form below to debunk the myths and unlock the path to operational excellence. Take action now and revolutionize your operations! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - Uncover the Hidden Inefficiencies](https://faberinfinite.com/uncover-the-hidden-inefficiencies/): Did you know, Jidoka has been helping organizations like Toyota build extra-ordinary quality since more than even 125 years before Industry 4.0? It was used in automated weaving machine by Japanese inventor Sakichi Toyoda. This was further developed by Toyota & then included in their production system. In Japanese Jidoka means, Building quality into the process or automation with a human touch. The main objective of Jidoka is to produce free of defects. Jidoka has different meaning with different aspects at different place/sector but ideally it was used with the principle- automation with a human touch. It was first ever used by Sakichi Toyoda in 1896 for a simple device that might stop the shuttle on an automatic Weaving Machine if its thread broke. This meant that it helped & prevented the machine from not only producing defects but also alerted in a way that one operator could now operate several Weaving Machines rather than have to stand there attending just one, in case something went wrong. This principle is known as Autonomation or automation with a human touch. Faber Infinite has been delivering phenomenal results using Jidoka, are you using it? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Lessons Learnt from High Performing Lean Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/lessons-learnt-from-high-performing-lean-teams/): Lean is the future and every organization should implement lean and its practices in their work culture to have higher productivity and profitability and simultaneously achieve the desired goals and targets. However, many might feel less informed or updated about the lean practices and might want to learn the key lessons that can help them in implementing the lean culture efficiently in their organization. This blog is for all such readers of ours as well as for them who have already implemented lean transformation journey and aim to enhance their journey and experience. Below is a list of five key lessons which we learn from high performing lean teams which will ultimately help you all. Lesson 1 – Gain support from an executive sponsor for your journey Adopting lean and its practices can consequently change the entire manufacturing philosophy and processes of an organization. Moreover, lean is a continuous process. It needs time and support for implementation and execution. Hence, it becomes very important for any organization implementing lean and its practices to garner support from an executive sponsor who will support the entire transformational journey. In a research study, it was revealed that more 69 percent of the lean teams achieved success by using executive sponsorship as one of the key tactics in the journey. Lesson 2 – Do not create a fuss about experience Experience can play a very crucial role in any lean journey. However, this does not mean that inexperience should be discouraged. In a study conducted by a group, it was found that 88 percent of the lean teams that were identified as beginners slowly made considerable progress that contributed to overall organizational growth and development. It is crucial to take the inexperienced along with the group and motivate them to achieve optimum results. Lesson 3 – Avoid being involved in everything. Instead be a master of one at least One is very likely to tend to implement various strategies in their lean journey right from the start. However, this is a very unorganized approach to start with the transformation journey. One should implement one strategy at once, introduce it to the team and work on perfecting it throughout its aspects ad core values. Once, a strategy is perfected, the team should then move ahead with another strategy and implement it. Lesson 4 – Keep the flow smooth The ultimate motive of lean and its journey is to add value and transport it to the consumers. It is every important for the leadership to keep the flow of value steady and enhance it whenever required to smoothen the consumer experience. Lesson 5 – Enjoy the journey It is very important for the team to enjoy the entire lean journey rather than stressing over about it. Being in sync with the process and being aware of the strategies involved in the process will automatically enhance the experience of the team and its members throughout the lean journey. You can achieve your goals only if you enjoy the process and are thoroughly into it. Every lean team has its own journey and needs different tools and strategies to achieve their goals and targets. One should be very precise with the methodology they use to achieve perfection in their lean journey and consequently excellence. Despite all the difference, every lean journey must have the above given characteristics to have a clearer path and subtle journey that can help the organization develop and grow exponentially. Team Faber has been helping organizations across regions and sectors in their transformation journey. For further details contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Produce Momentum Towards Success](https://faberinfinite.com/produce-momentum-towards-success/): Change is the need of the hour and it is really important for every organization to carry out change management processes in an efficient manner throughout the transformational journey in order to have optimum results. Although, many change management agents and leadership of the organization implementing change management processes might face difficulty in creating a smooth flow of the change management processes and maintaining the momentum. Maintaining the momentum is crucial in any change management process since it provides stability to the organization’s change management processes and adds value in the end product. Below are some of the key rules that will help you in maintaining the momentum of the change management process in your organization. Be open to accept new allies. They will help you in unexpected ways You should be open to accepting new allies and their feedbacks in order to build momentum throughout your change management process. Your allies can be present in anywhere at any unexpected place. It may be someone opposing your decisions that might have come up with a very apt and efficient suggestion. Such people will add value to your journey and will assist you in achieving excellence in your change management journey. Do not ignore the opposition instead pay attention to motivating them Opposition will help in molding your change management journey for the better. Moreover, any change management process needs to be supported by all the levels in order to have a holistic approach towards any problem and consequently for an effective solution. The opposition will help you in finding out the mistakes that might impact the overall health of the change management journey. They are bound to criticize you, but it is your responsibility to take them along with you in order to have a optimized and effective change management journey. Make agreement with the fact that everything will not go the way you want to Every now and then there will be some aspects or people which will be out of your reach and capabilities. It is then, when you need to realize this fact that and stop spending your resources and time. There will be people who will not be happy with whatever you do and despite your efforts; you might have to part ways with such people. It is important to do that since it will help you in focusing on the transformation journey as well as remove the excess burden of resources. Moreover, during your transformation journey, you need to be open to question and challenges and should constantly analyze yourself as well with below questions Am I open enough to accept new allies that can benefit me? Am I constantly listening to my opposition and motivating them to be a part of the journey? Am I ok with the fact that I might not be able to win everyone? These questions in the above concept will help you in keeping your change management process in check and in maintaining the flow of the journey. Furthermore, it is the momentum that will help you in establishing the change tools effectively to achieve optimum results and will constantly push you towards achieving continual and sustainable development. Team Faber Infinite has been helping clients across industries and geographies to keep the momentum through the transformation journey using Systematic Audit and Improvement Loop (SAIL) and Daily Work Management (DWM). There have been exceptional results that we have delivered through such transformation journeys at the client site. For more details contact at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Sustainability is much more than what most understand!](https://faberinfinite.com/sustainability-is-much-more-than-what-most-understand/): Sustainability is the growing trend in the modern industrial world which has been constantly assisting managements of various organizations in achieving financial independence as well as efficient management of resources. However, there are certain companies that face challenges in implementing the sustainability strategies in the business and work culture and are unable to optimize it accordingly. Many organizations have various tools and strategies integrated in their systems to analyze their drive and analyze their financial performances and very few companies ingrain sustainability processes to analyze their non-financial and social impact data of company. The main reason can be assessed as the failure and unawareness in the corporate about sustainability and its relative aspects. The first and foremost reason on which the success of sustainability depends is that sustainability process should be independent from any other processes involved in the work culture of the organization. Keeping it independent helps the process in providing crucial analysis of data to the organization which further supports the decision-making process for the leadership of the organization. One must understand that sustainability is not just a collection of feel good initiatives that will clean the image of the organization along with imbibing a culture of society-friendliness in the minds of team members and employees. Instead, it is the collective efforts that will push forward the company in keeping the changes occurring in the processes and work culture balanced thus, creating a harmony between usage of resources, investments and technological developments. There are various benefits of applying sustainability tools in the organizational framework the most important of them is that it benefits the organization in terms of comprehensive and effective decision making that impacts the overall health of the organization. Moreover, it also helps in benchmarking of processes and control by the means of keeping regular track of the processes and then comparing it with the peers’ data. Sustainability processes might have a very basic start in the process of data keeping. However, with increase in the time duration of the implementation of the sustainability process, the need to have a real-time collection of data increases exponentially. Keeping a balanced track of data that is updated in every sequential interval is the key in keeping the sustainability process abridge of the obstacles and problems that might occur in the change management processes. Along with this, in the final stages of sustainability, the framework the company produces for the reporting part will not only showcase the initiatives but will also help the leadership in aligning the organizational strategies with the sustainability processes. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Not just skill, build attitude as well.](https://faberinfinite.com/build-attitude-and-not-skills/): Employee Training is essential to the success of any and every organization. It helps employees to build skills and competencies required to improve top line & bottom-line results for the organization. Faber Infinite offers a broad range of training programs that are well received by today’s most demanding organizations. Here we are sharing glimpses of another two-day training session on ‘Foundations of Lean and Business Excellence’ conducted by Faber Infinite at world’s leading manufacturer of airplanes and trains. The client has been doing exceptional work in the domain of Operational Excellence (Lean) and took assistance to conduct training for its team of young leaders on the culture of lean management / continual improvement and business excellence. The two-day training was a combination of interactive tutorials, team/group work, simulation games, team building exercises that assisted the participants in experiential learning. In this globally competitive environment, where Business Excellence is the only way to grow and sustain in the market, organizations appreciate the importance of Business Excellence and Lean principles and are training their young leaders. Team Faber infinite unlocks the concept of achieving world-class performance and implementing steps in Continual Improvement / Lean Journey and help organizations emerge stronger. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Be Lean - Emerge Stronger !](https://faberinfinite.com/be-lean-emerge-stronger/): SMEs are the backbone of any country’s economy. In a study done by an international research organization, SMEs constitute more than 50 percent of the global employment and 90 percent of the global trade and commerce. The development and growth of SMEs play an influential factor in the global economy and any country’s GDP. Lean and related practices can contribute drastically towards this objective especially on the financial side. Many people believe that lean and its practices are more suitable for big corporates and companies in the manufacturing sector. However, it is a myth! Lean and its tools and techniques can ring a drastic change in SMEs as well. In fact, with lean, SMEs can fathom big opportunities that will ultimately add to the growth of the company and involved team members and individuals. LEAN transformations and its results in terms of financial performance in SMEs The majority of managers of SMEs come out to be very firm and rigid on their stand to avoid lean and its practices in their organization and work culture. However, in a research, it was found that SMEs practicing lean practices outperform their competitors by a pretty huge margin. The research was analyzed on the below two factors – EBITDA (Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) ROIC (Return On Investment Capital) The research concluded that though the non-lean practicing companies perform better than lean practicing companies in the first couple of years, the lean companies heavily outperform their competitors after the first three years of practicing lean. It was noted that EBITDA margins improved from 11 percent after three years to 50 percent after seven years. Also, ROIC improved from 4 percent in the first year to 148 percent after the seventh year. There is always a time lag between the adaption of the lean manufacturing practices and the financial performance improvements of the organization. Two main reasons for this time lag are as follows: Operational Issues– The initial negative effects and operational difficulties that the lean practices might have on business processes include layout changes in the plant, redefining the work standards, changes in the production planning and other processes etc. Financial issues – Lean transformation journey starts with the objective of waste elimination and reduction in the variability of the processes. This might have financial impacts like the freed-up resources might be used for other processes but not in reality due to resistance by the employees and technology constraints. In any case, the impact of lean and other improvement initiatives is not immediate on the balance state and the profit and loss statement of the organization. However, it becomes visible over a period. The impact depends on other factors like strategic decisions by the management, engagement of the employees in the transformation journey and the sustainability initiatives by the organization. Lean and its practices are known to create opportunities for the organizations. It has been observed that lean creates a positive impact on the income statements that define the financial activities of any organization in any sector or industry. It ponders growth and development and can assist the organizations in creating a more optimized and suitable environment for their operations. So let us make lean a habit and build muscles of the organization and burn fats (non-value adding activities) and emerge stronger than yesterday. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped various SMEs across different industries in various regions in implementing lean and its practices efficiently and ultimately improving on their processes and controls thus benefitting financially. Moreover, we have also assisted organizations in maximizing the output from such practices thus moving forward towards continual and sustainable development. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Design of Experiments](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-design-of-experiments/): Did you know that Design Of Experiments started in 1747, where while serving as surgeon on HMS Salisbury, James Lind conducted out a systematic clinical trial to compare medications for scurvy. This methodology for design of experiments was again proposed by Ronald Fisher, in his books: The Arrangement of Field Experiments (1926) and The Design of Experiments (1935). Much of his revolutionary work dealt with agricultural applications of statistical methods. Design of experiments (DOE) is an approach used in numerous industries for conducting experiments to develop new products and processes faster, and to improve existing products and processes. When applied correctly, it can decrease time to market, decrease development and production costs, and improve quality and reliability. Design of Experiments, a very powerful method for determining cause and effect relationships. One of the most powerful tools in the lean six sigma toolkit. Team Faber Infinite has been successfully using this tool in engineering, textiles, commercial farms and many more industries to eliminate errors and improve yield. This tool has been successfully delivering results since 1747, are you benefiting from it?
- [Faber Partners with CII for Defence Conclave-2018](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-partners-with-cii-for-defence-conclave-2018/): Around a week back, India celebrated its 72nd Independence Day. Freedom that has been achieved after struggling for it. India has been thrice in war with its neighbouring nations in these 72 years of independence and the defence forces of the country have always protected its territory. Defence and aerospace are two industrial sectors with very high importance in the security as well as the economy of any nation. The development of these two sectors is vital for a country’s growth and development. Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) recently organized a defence conclave which focused n the development and growth of the defence and aerospace industry to make the country self-dependent and strong at the same time. The event was supported by Faber Infinite Creative Solutions as the knowledge partner. Current Indian Defence and Aerospace scenario Defence – Defence is one of the most important strategic sector for India. Interestingly, India has the second largest army on the entire world and hence it becomes very important for the nation to be very active in this sector to comply with the demands of the nation’s defence forces and ultimately become self-dependent in the defence sector. Currently, India spends more than $3.5 billion to support its armed forces. Out of this, 70 percent of the defence hardware is usually imported from countries like Israel, Russia, Japan and United States of America. Aerospace – With a population of more than 1.25 billion, India is no doubt one of the largest markets in the entire world when it comes to aerospace industry. Indian aerospace is the fastest growing sector and is likely to become the third largest by 2020 if it continues to grow at the same rate. About Defence Conclave 2018 India possesses immense potential in the defence and aerospace industry and development in this sector can really boost the Indian economy and strengthen the country’ place in the global world. With the ‘Make in India’ initiative in action, the motive has been made quite clear by the Modi government – Come and manufacture here. We will support you. Keeping this factor in mind, and also considering the potential and opportunities for micro, small and medium industries, CII organized its second defence conclave and focused and discussed in some key points that can possibly impact and change the course of defence and aerospace industry. Below are the key points that were focused and discussed throughout the conclave. Make in India – Vision to reality : Building a global hub for defence manufacturing Business regulatory framework for Defence and Aerospace manufacturing. Defence Production Policy and Defence Procurement procedure. Skill development and accreditation in Defence and Aerospace industry. Ease off the government – private sector collaboration. Building a sustainable ecosystem for Defence and Aerospace industry Defence manufacturing challenges in self-reliance. The conclave also acted as a tool to help the attendees explore this space and get a hold of the message that manufacturing ring has opened the defence industry for private sector participation and simultaneously paving the way for foreign original equipment manufacturers to enter into a strategic partnership with Indian companies. The conclave was attended by various CEOs and MDs of selected group of companies, policy makers, Unit/Plant heads, Engineers, Professionals, Executives, Leaders, Corporate representatives, Practicing managers and Executives from a wide range of industries. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions is very happy to be a knowledge partner for such an event. For more information about the event and the report, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Do Not Fight Old, Build New](https://faberinfinite.com/do-not-fight-old-build-new/): Transformational journeys are no doubt the most talked about aspects of any manufacturing business. It is the key which unlocks the hidden potential of the organization and helps in development and growth of the organization. It helps the organization move towards the goal – continual and sustainable development. It is also one of the most critical aspects that decides the future of the organization and also plays a major role in gaining or losing the credibility for the manufactured product. Our Experience Faber Infinite Consulting has been a strong and profound supporter of Operational Excellence and resultant transformation journeys. We believe in creating a more optimized world with the implementation of efficient and organized structural programs that helps the organization in growing in a holistic way. We have been involved in this industry for more than 5 years and have helped hundreds of clients in successfully completing their operational excellence journey. We also have expertise in training people and have already trained more than 20,000 people in manufacturing industry. Client work done and appreciation Faber Infinite has been associated with one of the leading automobile component manufacturing company for the past one year and has delivered excellent results over the period of time. The client initiated Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) back in the year 2003 and has continued it since then. Team Faber got associated with the organization last year and has then helped the organization in thrusting up the numbers and objectifying the operating environment for optimum results. We understand TPM and its pillars have been adding value to organizations by working towards Zero defects, Zero accidents and Zero breakdowns. However, with TPM approach the improvements are local and in the larger organization wide improvements are missed out. We initiated a new program at the manufacturing sites of the client called Value Stream Mapping (VSM). Through this, we have helped the client in achieving tremendous results in a short span of a year. The impacts have been so fulfilling, that the client who has been practicing TPM for more than a decade, surpassed its own benchmark in this very short time span. Whilst achieving this part of excellence, we have also helped the client in creating a Manufacturing Excellence Roadmap for the next 3 years and in various other aspects of manufacturing like inventory management, manpower productivity and much more. Results delivered We helped the client improve the throughput time by more than 23 percent in the span of a year. Inventory was reduced by around 33 percent as a result of the efforts by Team Faber Infinite. Manpower productivity was increased by more than 19 percent after the involvement of Faber Infinite Consulting team. Order rejection rate was also reduced by more than 12 percent. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in excellence and has always directed their efforts towards achieving it. We have always focused on creating a better working environment for our clients and manufacture better quality products. We believe in creating a system that provides optimum results and concentrating our efforts towards achieving it. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Five Reasons Behind the Failure of Strategies](https://faberinfinite.com/five-reasons-behind-the-failure-of-strategies/): “A vision without a strategy remains an illusion” – Lee Bolman, As Lee Bolman says, it’s important to focus on strategies to achieve goals by breaking away the illusions. Any organization works on strategies when it is the need for radical change. The strategies can be either good or bad as all the decisions are taken by keeping under consideration the financial position, environment, economics and business goals. In this blog, we will discuss about the Five Reasons Behind the Failure of Strategies. The strategies fail, irrespective of being good or bad, and it is very difficult to point at any specific reason. The implication of strategy depends largely on the cultural nuances, emotions and experience of the decision makers. Yet, this is one of the prime reasons for the failure of strategies.  Below are the reasons to create balance: Association: In the strategic decision-making team, there are going to be people with different mind-sets, agendas, thought processes, experiences and learnings. If these diverse ideas are not placed properly, it can create disputes with in the organisational culture which will affect the final execution timeline of the product. The organisation must understand its environment to understand the implication of the strategies on its people and organisation. Adaptability: The strategy cannot stay stagnant through-out the time. It has to be flexible as per the time period and the condition. The inability to change the strategy as per the trending market scenario can lead the organisation towards the major downfall. It is important to ensure that the strategy which is being made is dynamic enough to be changed as per the diverse market condition. Bridge the gap: It is not necessary that once the strategy has been shared, the team will understand it entirely on its own. It is important for the organisation to arrange the meeting and look forward to bridging the gap by answering the queries regarding strategy and its implementation and making sure no one leaves the meeting with a doubt in their head. Individual Behavior: The organization must keep under consideration that the behaviour of every individual is different. Every individual function in different way. And there is a high possibility for any individual to be an obstacle in a smooth execution of strategy. The Perfect Plan: There is no perfect plan ever. While discussing the strategy with the team, the organization should ask every team member to come up with the possible errors along with their solution they think might occur while implementing the strategy.  But still this will only help to solve the inbuilt issues. The external issues still can occur at any point of time. So, before initiating any strategy it is necessary to ensure everyone’s involvement from the team and everyone’s commitment towards the success of strategy. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Faber Infinite Partners with CII](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-partners-with-cii-2/): Manufacturing industry is one of the leading industries in the present era with tremendous scope of development and growth. It is also one of the highest contributor’s to a nation’s GDP and clearly supports the economy of a country. Hence, maintenance function of manufacturing industry has become one of the quintessential aspects to boost the augmentation of this industry. Team Faber Infinite feels utterly happy to bring you a brief about the 8th Maintech event organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) where Faber Infinite was the knowledge partner for the event. About the 8th edition of Maintech event Maintenance in any manner might be considered as a health care for the manufacturing industry and it is a well known fact that a good health will allow one in creating and producing good wealth. Hence, it is very important to prioritize maintenance. The 8th edition of Maintech focused on the same theme to underline the fact and promote maintenance as a technical core activity in every manufacturing organization. The key motive was to aware the organizations about the importance of maintenance techniques and processes and ultimately help them reduce the losses that might incur due to production stoppages and in turn maximize the efficiency of the production facilities and consequently productivity and profitability. Maintenance techniques and processes also play a very crucial role in improving the product development quality and hence should be given more importance in order to align the industry with the standards and also to produce best quality products. The event had three technical plenaries as follow – Technical Plenary 1 – it focused on the power quality and cost optimization of maintenance techniques and also included important areas like predictive maintenance strategies, their importance and relative aspects. Technical Plenary 2 – It focused on Motors and Drives and key areas like global motor maintenance strategies, basics of drives and future technologies etc. Technical Plenary 3 – This plenary focused on transformers and switchgears and important areas like new trends in switchgears and future technologies in transformers and maintenance practices in transformers. The 8th edition of Maintech proved a be very resourceful for various organizations and was attended by various CEOs of selected organizations, MDs, Policy Makers, Plant heads, engineers, professionals, executives, leaders, corporate representatives, practicing managers and executives from a wide range of industry. Team Faber Infinite Consulting is glad to be the knowledge partner for such an event and pledges to promote maintenance strategies in its work culture. For more information about the event and report, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written & compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- 125 years and still continue with the same spirit](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-125-years-and-still-continue-with-the-same-spirit/): Do you know, the famous Dabbawala system is 125-year-old system of lunchbox delivery, it operates only in Mumbai and acts as a connect between homes and offices of lacs of people. This system started in the hills of Dharmashala and all the way travelled to the heart of Mumbai. It was started by the then 30-year-old Mahadev Havaji Bachche, a farmer by profession. Dabbawala’s practices supply chain in a very efficient way by moving daily more than 1,75,000 lunches through approximately 4,500-5,000 dabbawala’s across Mumbai. According to a report by The New York Times in 2007, the industry of the dabbawalas continues to grow at a rate of 5 to 10 percent per year.  The food-delivery system has a surprisingly high rate of accuracy, so much so that their error rates are 1 in 8 million only. Out of the 260,000 transactions in six hours every day for 52 weeks of a year, the dabbawalas are six sigma compliant for their remarkable accuracy So, what are these dabbawala’s doing right? Are you practicing what the dabbawala’s are ? Few things that stands out are; The over usage of the technology: Mostly organisation thinks that their technologies can solve most of the issues. But that’s not true. Most of the issues are aligned with either the process or the execution or the expectations. which needs human skills to solve and not the technologies. Focus on the entire chain than just some specific aspects: Don’t just focus on the individual aspects of your supply, focus on the entire system, products/services and information and the chances for the success will be much higher. Communicate every bits of the information: Make sure that any and every details regarding your supply chain is being communicated with your peers. Don’t make it complex: Don’t make it complex by adding extraneous value. Understand what your customers want and focus solely on that.
- [Why 70% change initiatives fail?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-70-change-initiatives-fail/): “Change is the only constant.”- Heraclitus Change! We have been focusing on change and its benefits for a long time. One has to understand that with the evolving time and technology, one needs to change him as well as the processes in order to keep up with the competition and simultaneously grow and generate more revenues. Many companies and organizations do commit to change and change management process but shockingly, more than 70 percent of change initiatives fail. Why does it happen? Ever wondered? If you also initiated a change management process and failed to convert it into something big, this blog is for you. About the webinar The webinar focuses on ‘Why 70 percent change initiatives fail?’ and discusses about the possible reasons that impacts an organization’s change initiative. Our guest speaker, Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, one of the founding members of Faber Infinite Consulting enlightened our viewers on this and also focused on the importance of change initiative in an organization’s quest to achieve excellence and continual growth. Moreover, he also discusses about possible alternatives that will allow the organizations to overcome the obstacles to sustain the change management processes. Why 70 percent change initiatives fail? Change initiatives are an organizational process and needs involvement from all the three levels of management i.e. top management, middle management and lower management. Below are the three most important factors that decide the course of any change management process. Absence of any of these three will only result in unwanted consequences. Top management’s commitment Every organization’s important decisions are taken by the top management and it is the top management that decides and directs the path for any change management process of an organization. It is important for the top management to be efficiently committed towards execution of a change management initiative. Acceptance by middle management Middle management forms the backbone of any organization and any change initiative’s success depends largely on the way the middle management accepts it. In many cases, it is seen that middle management’s views, opinions and acceptance is not considered while implementing the change initiative. This ultimately results in its failure. Getting your value adding assets involved in the change initiative Value adders play the role of creaters for change management when it comes to the shop floor. It is one of the important aspects on which the entire change management initiatives stand. Also, it is important to get the value adders involved in the process since they have a better floor knowledge and experience and their opinions and inputs can add value and efficiency to the entire initiative. How to overcome? Every problem has a solution. To overcome the failures in change management processes, every organization must need to counter the above three factors. Below is a short descriptive method with which organizations can crack change management initiatives and achieve their desired goals. Every change management initiative’s work is done 80 percent in the planning stage and 20 percent in the execution stage. Many times, the top management agrees to the initiatives in the planning but fails to demonstrate and provide the required support and resources. This sends a negative signal to the lower management which ultimately impacts the initiative. Middle management might feel scared and insecure as a result of the change management process. They might fear to lose their job and importance in the organization. Hence, it is important to take them into confidence and convince them of the fact that nothing of such sort will happen and their positions in the organization will be safe and secure. While implementing change management initiatives, the middle management’s core focus should be on that and not on any other initiatives that run in parallel. Get your lower management and value adders involved in the entire process since the change initiatives are usually implemented and controlled from the gemba – the real place of work. The raw and real data comes from the people who work on the shopfloor and hence, their involvement is necessary. Moreover, rewards and remunerations can also encourage increased participation of the value adders and ultimately assist the organization in achieving optimum results with the change management initiative. Team Faber has been working in this domain for a long time and has helped various clients across different geographies in successfully implementing and sustaining the change management initiative. The webinar also discusses on various other aspects that can help the organizations in achieving better and optimized result with change initiatives. To view the webinar, visit   Written & compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.   
- [Be patient – Success does not happen overnight](https://faberinfinite.com/be-patient-success-does-not-happen-overnight/): “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”- Saint Augustine Have you ever noticed a bamboo tree plantation? In a typical bamboo plantation, bamboo plants do not grow for almost four years and the growth over the ground is almost negligible. But, is the fifth year, that the bamboo plant grows more than 80 feet in a span of just six weeks. Ever wondered or questioned why does it happen? The bamboo tree also requires the same three things – water, sunlight and soil still it takes almost four years to show some visible growth? Well, it is patience! It might sound cryptographic to some. But let us explain why? In the first four years, you might think that the bamboo tree is not growing. However, the bamboo tree keeps growing underground during this period in order to have a foundation strong enough to sustain the 80 feet growth in the fifth year. Bamboo tree plantations set an excellent example for every other organization. In similar manner, patience in corporate world does the same and plays a crucial role in building the foundation of an organization before visible growth start inflicting the charts. It is very important for any organization to have a strong core organizational foundation before they start putting burden and responsibilities of the entire structure on it. Lessons to learn from bamboo tree plantations Success does not come right away Success is a continuous process and can only be achieved by constant efforts, patience and perseverance. One can never become successful overnight. Moreover, you have to patiently wait to receive desired results from your efforts since it takes time to produce a cumulative effect and ultimately conclude with profitability. Success requires strong foundation Just like any other building, to build a building of success, excellence, quality and profitability one has to build a very strong foundation to support and sustain the growth and development. Patience helps you in building the required foundation on which you can build your organization and move towards achieving the impossible. Success is about your consistency Success is totally dependent on your consistency. How consistent you are with your products, quality will say a lot about you and will simultaneously help you in building a reputation in the market. Moreover, consistency will also help you in customer acquisition and retention which will help you in growth numbers. Do not forget to nurture your dreams Your dreams will define your choices and your path towards achieving your goals and targets. Hence, it is very important for an individual to nurture their dreams in order to keep themselves motivated and encouraged. Also, your dreams decides your limits, hence, nurturing them plays a very crucial role in achieving excellence and success in any organization’s or individual’s journey. Believe without doubts Doubts only creates and produces obstacles in your journey towards excellence and success. It is very important for anyone to believe in their principles and methodologies in order to be successful. Having a second mind on will not only confuse you, but will also shake the very foundation on which you are trying to build and grow. Patience and persistence will pay off Patience and Persistence are two of the most underrated factors that decide the success of any organization. One has to be patient and persistent with their efforts. They have to be consistent and should keep working until their time arrives. Being patient will help you in building the foundation as well as learning the important aspects that will ultimately help you in fulfilling your dreams and goals. Success is not an overnight journey. One has to be very consistent and patient with their efforts in order to achieve excellence. Giving up after a short period is not the solution and will eventually push you at the last spots in the race to become the best. Patience will pay off and you will reach the place where you always wanted to be, just believe in yourself and keep working hard! Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [6 Fundamentals of Production Planning](https://faberinfinite.com/fundamentals-of-production-planning/): Planning is the key process in manufacturing and an efficient planning can do wonders for the manufacturer or the organization. Planning plays a crucial role in cases of setbacks when the company needs a more organized approach to solve the problem and simultaneously pushing the production process in the forward direction. Every other manufacturer designs its own production plan and builds it on its own certain driving factors. However, every production plan has one thing six common factors that determine their effectiveness. In this blog, we will be covering the six basic Fundamentals of Production Planning in detail. Customer Demand Customer demand is the most basic principle of production planning. The manufacturer must be aware of the quantity that needs to be manufactured for the customer before planning the production process. Moreover, the production and supply to the customer should be at reasonable rates. The whole concept of production planning is to give the manufacturer an idea about the multiple varying situations that may arise during production so that he can efficiently comply with them. Materials Raw material forms the platform for any production process. A minimum amount of raw materials required for the production process should be kept in inventory to ensure smooth and continuous movement of production processes. Moreover, having the required amount of raw materials inventory will also help the manufacturer in saving costs which he might end up spending on excess raw materials. Equipments Equipments form the backbone of the production processes and play a quintessential role in keeping the production on schedule. Having an equipment force with optimum running and working capacity can help the manufacturer in avoiding breakdowns related to machinery. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) plays a key here by determining the availability, performance, and quality of the machinery. Manpower Manpower planning helps the manufacturer in directing the human efforts towards the production process along with the machinery force. Machines may do their work, but it is the human labour force that adds value to the entire production process by managing the machinery and other aspects of the production process. Moreover, the reason why manpower planning is important is because it will help the manufacturer decide various factors like the amount of workforce required. If overtime is needed or not, and to assort to various variations that might occur during the production process. Processes A production plan is also made to keep the processes intact and undisturbed. It makes sure that new processes do not impact the ongoing processes that are being used to deliver outputs for various mechanisms. Moreover, planning processes also helps in setting up the background for new operations to start in a frisk rather than complying with it in a whole new order. Controls Controls refer to the various platforms that are used to control and identify defects and obstacles that might need to be changed. It also helps in standardizing the product and production processes for better outputs and exceptional deliveries. It also assists the production management team to efficiently implement processes to rectify the problems impacting a healthy production process. Production planning is undoubtedly the most important aspect of any production processes. One can also call it the ‘mother’ of any production process since it creates a more suitable environment for the production. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have been supporting its clients in creating and designing production plans to avoid the unwanted obstacles and consequent losses. We have helped hundreds of clients in almost all industries across geographies in benefitting from production plans. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri. Check other consulting services on Faber Infinite: Operational Excellence Consulting | Strategic Excellence Consulting | Design Thinking & Excellence Consulting
- [Friday Fact - Everything Old Is New Again !](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-everything-old-is-new-again/): Do you know, Training Within Industry (TWI) is a program created by US Government during World War II to support the war production effort when millions of non-military personnel (civilians) were needed to be quickly trained to do production jobs as soldiers went off to war. By the end of World War II  over 1.6 million workers in over 16,500 plants had been trained and certified. The objective of TWI is to deliver a better-skilled workforce, improved labor and management relations, productivity improvements and a focus on continuous improvement. However, following the World War and the shutdown of government program, TWI faded away and took a hold at Toyota in Japan and it is said to have influenced the Toyota Production Systems development.  TWI has been helping organizations since the 1940’s to change the culture to lean. Are you practicing TWI in your industry?      Image Source – This photograph from the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site museum collection, taken by Kaiser Shipyards photographer Louis Lee, shows the launch of a ship at the Vancouver shipyard during World War II.
- [10 golden rules of Inventory Management](https://faberinfinite.com/10-golden-rules-of-inventory-management/): Inventory plays a crucial role in complying with the demands and in creating value for the manufacturer as well as for the customer. Moreover, inventory is also one of the wastes that impacts the business and minimizes the profits and profitability of the organization. Hence, it becomes important for any business to maintain enough inventory for the demands. In precise terms, Inventory Management is the collected activities of employees maintaining an optimum number of required items available to comply with the demands at optimum costs in the market. Inventory Management Inventory management is about understanding situations like supplier conditions, product requirements, and lead times and then managing inventory to control the overall cost. Balancing various inventory management tasks means keeping an eye on three basic aspects. Lead time Supplier Conditions Demand variations Before we move ahead, let us have a look at the various types of inventory involved in the manufacturing process. Types of inventory Raw material Work in progress Finished goods Spares/Consumables The 10 golden rules of inventory management Any inventory needs to be efficiently managed for the demands. Below is a set of rules that can help an organization in optimizing their inventory for achieving optimum results. Air free – The inventory should be managed in an organized way using vertical storage and keeping it air and dust free. This can be done using lean tools like Five S. FIFO – FIFO (first in, first out) is a very interesting concept that enables the organizations to be in loop and avoid the risks involved in inventory management to a certain extent. In simple terms, it is an asset management and valuation system that helps the manufacturer in selling out the commodities manufactured first at the earliest. This can be done with lean tools like Five S, and the manufacturer has to take care to keep replenishment and removal on different sides. Bend free – What we mean here by bend free is to keep the employees as far away as possible from bending to either pick or transport materials and products, since bending a lot might result in injuries which will ultimately affect the working and productivity. Count free – Poorly arranged inventory and spares inside the warehouse are bound to result in messy storage and pathetic accountability. This will further result in a waste of time and incur extra work. Hence, inventory should be neatly arranged and should be made visible and count free. Again, Five S is the solution to this. Search free – Materials and products in an inventory warehouse should not be kept together. There should be proper segmentation for every different type of tools or materials to have an organized inventory. This will help one in avoiding the time incurring in searching and retrieving the desired material. The systematic arrangement of the tools and equipment with a structured index will help to save time and improve productivity. Heavy material on the ground – Heavy materials should be kept on ground since keeping it at height will make it difficult to access them and might result in accidents and mishaps. Hence, as a precautionary safety measure, heavy materials should be kept on ground. It will also lead to easy access and less damage to inventory. Fast consumables near the entrance – Materials should be arranged in the inventories as per the rate of their consumption. If items that are consumed at a rapid pace are kept at the far end of the warehouse, it will incur more motion and time to access them and transport them to the desired place. Climb free – Spares should always be kept at places where they are easily accessible. Keeping them above normal heights will consequently make them more difficult and riskier to handle. It becomes more convenient for an individual to access them if they are kept at lower levels. Adequate lighting – Lighting plays a very crucial role in helping the inventory management identify the defects and abnormalities occurring inside the inventory warehouse. Adequate lighting makes it very easy to identify such defects hampering the efficient Adequate ventilation – Adequate ventilation should be provided in the warehouses to keep healthy working atmosphere. Lack of ventilation makes it uneasy and difficult for an individual to work efficiently. Conclusion Inventory is no doubt the backbone of any manufacturing industry. Hence, it becomes quintessentially important for any organization to be alert on their inventory side. Team Faber Infinite has helped dozens of clients improve their inventory and ultimately achieve excellence and continual and sustainable development. The objective is to efficiently and effectively provide the right materials at the time when it is required and with right quality standard maintained. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Maintain accurate records, regularly audit stock, and keep optimal levels. Use forecasting, organize inventory, and implement reliable tracking. Set reorder points, follow FIFO, focus on high-turnover items, and continuously improve. Ready to optimize your inventory? Explore Supply Chain Solutions to drive growth.
- [To gain, let go of some!](https://faberinfinite.com/to-gain-let-go-of-some/): Improvement is the only constant companion for any organization that will help them in achieving their goals and targets and embark on the path towards excellence and success. Many organizations have been constantly changing their work culture and controls and patterns hoping the change will result in improvement in their productivity and profitability. However, to gain such characteristics, you have to let go of some things. Wonder what? Below is the answer. Two ways of improvement! There are basically two ways through which any organization can improve in their work, productivity and profitability, either by adding good and better controls, systems and processes in their work culture or by deleting the existing inefficiencies. In our previous posts, we have already talked about what to ingrain and integrate in one’s processes to achieve improvement, in this post we would be talking what to delete or let go! MUDA MUDA is a Japanese term which means uselessness or wastefulness. MUDA is a key process in lean manufacturing process which happens to be the parent process for change management and operational excellence processes. There are basically seven types of wastes MUDA consists of: Transportation Inventory Motion Waiting Overproduction Over processing Defects To read more about these inefficiencies in the system you can refer to our blog on 7 Viruses in Your Operational Excellence Quest MURA MURA is another Japanese term which is very popular in the manufacturing industry when it comes to wastes. It means unevenness or irregularity. Variations in process will ultimately disrupt the consistency of the organization and will also hamper the quality of the services and products the manufacturer provides. Eliminating MURA from the manufacturing processes is an effective way to increase profitability of the organization. Processes like Just-in-Time system and FIFO are very effective in tackling such wastes in ingraining regularity and evenness. These tools are also designed to maximize the productivity of the organization and minimize the overhead storage. MURI MURI refers to the physical strain or overburdening of the machines or human labor that might obstacle the company’s improvement journey as a result of irregularity or unevenness in the production processes. One must let go of such pressure from the production floor in order to allow the components as well as the employees to work at their most optimum levels. Various advantages of eliminating MURI from the production processes are as follows – Increase in employee morale and energy Improved quality Increase in productivity Reduced and minimized costs It is very important for any organization to eliminate the wastes manifesting the process in order to avoid redundancy and errors in it production processes and ultimately achieving excellence. It is not necessary that improvement can only be achieved by adding various tools and techniques into the production processes. Sometimes, the best way to achieve continual and sustainable development is to let go of the infecting inefficiencies and wastefulness.
- [Be as a Honey Bee!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-as-a-honey-bee/): Honeybee, the first word that usually pops up into our mind when we hear “HONEY”. Well, do you know that the honeybee does not just gives us honey but also teaches us about life as well as business. So, lets learn some of the lessons from the honey bees which are as below; Team: Honeybees know that any task can be done independently but believes that team work is best and most efficient. Bees in their entire life keep on switching their jobs with each other as per the requirement of the team. They never say no to any work. They know how to focus on one particular job & at the same time if they need to help someone else with their job, then they also know how to multitask. They consider their team as a family. And they will always make sure every work is being done in its particular manner and at their particular time. And will always help the one that needs. Give your 100%: Honeybees believe in complete dedication to each task that they work on. In the team, if any job needs to get done, then any bee that will be available will grab that and get it done. This makes them incredibly efficient and harmonious with their group. Implementing change: Bees are nectar & pollen collectors, whenever they will read that any flower is with negative charge, they will change their charge only till she collects the nectar & pollen. So this is how a bee works towards implementing the change for their work that needs to get done and gets that done as well in all the circumstances. Backbone of each other: Honey bees, being a team worker always makes sure that they help each other. Whenever any honey bee is unable to work for its team, the other available bee will jump in and get the other bees work done. They believe in supporting and helping each other. They will never let any bee into the trouble. Honey bees provides us the model of precise and compassionate community which can be only achieved by attentiveness, hard work and communication. Hard-work, passion and dedication is what honey bee has to teach us. So let’s learn these lessons from the honey bee this Transformation Tuesday and work towards being a bee! Written and compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Quality means doing it right when no one is looking!](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-means-doing-it-right-when-no-one-is-looking/): Quality means doing it right when no one is looking- Henry Ford QUALITY! As of now, Quality is non-negotiable and is the most important thing that will do wonders for your organization. No matter what industry you belong to or which sector you operate in, quality is will be the key to unlocking excellence and continual development. Quality is not something that could be showed off or followed for a certain period of time for inspections and quality checks and then put away. The main motive behind quality is to provide better and optimum products along with optimized services. Henry Ford, one of the world’s renowned businessperson and the founder of Ford Motors conveyed the same and the reason why Ford Motors is one of the largest automotive companies in the world is providing quality services. One has to understand that there is no shortcut and rather than choosing some easier or faster way to do something, it is best that one stick to the right and ethical thing that will not only help the service provider or manufacturer but also leave a good impression on the consumer. Moreover, the thing that is more important is to be consistent in whatever you do and direct your efforts towards providing the most optimum and standardized products to your customer. You can’t be one person in a day and turn into a completely different person when the sun sets. Your test for quality is most important when no one is looking and checking on you or your work. The substantial product you provide then will be the central pillar around which your brand image, reputation, identity and client base will revolve. Quality :- Important for the Organizations In a competitive world like today, customers demand quality and durable products and services. Hence, it has become important for the organizations to be very rational with their quality standards and relative practices. True quality is about maintaining high standards and integrity, even without external oversight. It drives long-term success and builds trust. Ready to elevate your operations? Explore Customized Supply Chain Solutions for growth. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been a supporting system for hundreds of clients across geographies in improving and sustaining the quality of their products and nourishing the quality control systems and controls at the same time. We have been part of various transformation journeys regarding quality for various organizations. Our structured framework has proven to be helpful for almost every segment of the industry. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.    
- [Friday Fact- Proven Quality Tools.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-proven-quality-tools/): Do you know, that lean has been around since the 1940’s and Six Sigma has been around since the 1980’s. Before Six Sigma there was Total Quality Management (TQM), and before Lean there was PDCA. These quality improvement concepts have been working since so long! Are you using them?
- [Take care of Each One the best way!](https://faberinfinite.com/take-care-of-each-one-the-best-way/): Customers are the king in any industry no matter what time of evaluation it is. Customers help one in building businesses and one has to understand that it is the customers that will help the manufacturer in increasing their revenue. However, building business is not just about acquiring customers. The main source of revenue is retaining the existing customer base that will bring repetitive orders for the manufacturer. In this blog for Transformation Tuesday, we will be discussing some of the key customer retention strategies. Heighten the customer experience It is very important to create peaks in customer experiences in order to build customer loyalty. Keep the customers surprised by giving them rewards they do not expect at regular intervals. Such low cost initiatives go a long way in helping the manufacturer build a strong customer loyalty. Keep testing email strategy with incentives and offers One should never go out from testing email strategies. Providing the customers with content and product they need is one thing but aligning your emails with content to promote more customer engagement is something that will help you in keeping your customer with you. Make your customers feel appreciated by creating VIP programs Creating a VIP program to engage customers with you is another formula for customer retention. Making the customers feel appreciated through rewards for their loyalty will motivate them to keep coming back to you for your service. Walk hand in hand with your customers Keeping up with the customers is the biggest challenge and the most important aspect of customer retention. One should always walk with the customers, understand their demands, and ultimately provide the desired service or product for retaining that customer with him. Never lose your passion and be engaged at all times Passion towards what you do can create wonders. You should be very passionate towards what you do and provide your customers. While trying to engage your customers, you should also be engaged to your work towards providing best service to your customers. Ingrain limited time promotion programs You might have seen various companies offering limited time promotions to their customers. Ever wondered why? It is to motivate more customers to avail their services as per their needs and requirement. Well, I guess you got the answer now! Promote and practice transparency Transparency builds trust and it is very important for one to build trust and transparent relations with their customers. When there will be trust, it is very obvious that your customer will prefer you over the competition for their needs and services. Promise what you can fulfill Inability to provide what you promised is one of the biggest retention killers in today’s industrial world. Promising what you cannot fulfill to your customers will only result in killing their trust and your credibility in the market. Hence, always promise only what you can fulfill and for doing so, it is very important to know your limitations and abilities. Create loyal customers around your product You should know that new people do not connect directly to your product. They first connect to the community built around that product and then come to you. Hence building a loyal customer base around your product can help you in making the customers feel that while buying the product, they are entering in a community of people who share the same interests. Make social shares more rewarding Many customers are potential buyers who will come again to you to buy another round by understanding or sensing a sense of importance or urgency of your products and services. You can concrete these relations through various social sharing competitions by featuring customer photos and rewarding them. It is a unique and very innovative idea to connect with the customers and ultimately retain them. So as Steve Jobs said – “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”
- [Why resist change](https://faberinfinite.com/why-resist-change-3/): Change is the only constant. It is an inevitable phase that has the potential to either create or diminish one’s influence or prominence in the market. Organizational Change Management is one of the key aspects that can help the organizations in circling around and captivating their long-term and desired goals and objectives. It is noted that more than 95% of the organizational change management programs end up being a failure and does not create much of an impact on the organization’s work culture, productivity or profitability. There are many other inefficiencies as well which intricate the organization’s change management programs if they are not looked after well and executed in an innovative manner. As we stand on the important juncture of the year, we are glad to release the white paper on ‘Why Resist Change?’ and about the various challenges and resistances which hamper the development and growth of many organizations indulged in change management programs. Team Faber Infinite has been one of the most prominent runners in crafting development and excellence through the means of organizational change management programs. We believe in ingraining a fruitful and innovative work culture in the organization and ultimately help them in thrusting their numbers and figures. With immense experience in various industries in the domain of Change Management, the white paper highlights key elements of Organizational Change Management, challenges and ways to overcome them. Please click here to download the insightful whitepaper. Organizational Change Management Recently, Faber Infinite Consulting rolled out the white paper on Organizational Change Management: Why Resist Change. Mr. Aakash Borse, one of the founding members and directors of Faber Infinite Consulting shared his views with the audience with organizational change management and its relative concepts. With his immense experience in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Management Consulting and Operational Excellence, the discussion focused on the various forms of resistance that might intrude on an organization’s change management program. To know more, listen to the Webinar on Why Resist Change. Click here to watch the webinar on Organizational Change Management Written & Compiled By Faber Priyal, Faber Manasi & Faber Kishlay
- [Best ways to Improve Net Gross Profit](https://faberinfinite.com/best-ways-to-improve-net-gross-profit/): Higher costs are one of the most frustrating aspects of any business. Many organizations implement various programs in their facilities to reduce costs but ultimately end up harming the process (and thereby margins) rather than just costs. In this fast-moving industrial world, it is important for one to control their costs to grow and move ahead in the chain. Team Faber Infinite delivered an extremely powerful and unique workshop connecting operations and finance at Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) of India. In this article, we will discuss about Best ways to Improve Net Gross Profit. It is always difficult for a finance manager to attribute how operational excellence practices will help save money and will be thus reflected in the profit and loss statement. Every organization works on different processes and there is always a possibility to eliminate waste in the process. With this approach, Team Faber made the teams understand that waste and price both can be reduced thus increasing the profitability of the organization. Cost reduction in any organization can happen in different forms: Reduction (production time, waiting, inventory) Elimination (wastes, bottlenecks, barriers) Modification (systems, designs) Innovation (equipment, tooling, methods, materials) Traditionally it was common for organizations to achieve higher profits by increasing sales. On the other hand, organizations that follow a lean approach they work on improving the profits by reducing costs. Organizations should focus on improvements in the organization such that they eliminate non-value adding activities or eliminate waste/ inefficiencies. When we say waste it means any activity that adds costs or time but does not add value. Working on the following wastes or inefficiencies or Muda – Overproduction, Waiting, Transportation, Excess/ Improper processing, Inventory, Defects, Motion and Unutilized Human Potential using operational excellence tools and techniques, organizations reduce costs and thus improve margins. As a part of the workshop, Team Faber explained the different tools and techniques that can be used to achieve operational excellence and thus cut the fat in the process and build the muscles. Here’s how we can help you in cost reduction Team Faber Infinite has formulated various structured frameworks that have proven to be highly efficient and effective in the practical implementation of Operational Excellence and related tools. Our structured frameworks make sure that the operational excellence journey rolls out a holistic approach towards every aspect of the manufacturing and management processes. Many might misunderstand that generating revenue alone increases profits. However, this is not entirely true. Profits can never be achieved just by working on the top line. It is extremely important for the manufacturer to constantly brush up the lower half of the hierarchy as well. There are many wastes that impact the manufacturing processes and tends to reduce the profitability of the organization. Controlling costs incurring at the initial stages is a turning point in the journey towards cost reduction. Operational excellence turns out to be a perfect solution to this since it consistently looks up the entire manufacturing process and relative aspects involved in the business. Team Faber Infinite has been a strong supporter of Operational excellence and our solutions are designed to deliver exceptional results to our clients. This solution includes integrating finances with operations to make the finance managers sensitive to the wastes incurring costs on the finances and thus, charting a way out for them to attain a greener patch in their journey. Capital is an important resource that moulds the shape of an organization. Hence, cost efficiency is one of the key aspects organizations need to work in order to have better outputs, both from the management as well as the production side. Also, while reducing costs, one must implement the management programs in such a manner that it does not affect their profits and margins. Team Faber Infinite has helped many companies in successfully implementing various programs that have helped them in reducing their costs dramatically. This has ultimately helped them in improving the profits as well. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri    
- [Excellence is not an Act, It’s a Habit](https://faberinfinite.com/excellence-is-not-an-act-its-a-habit/): Excellence is the key to stay in the run in the contemporary industrial world with cut-throat competition. Running behind excellence and ingraining practices that promote excellence is the only way one can achieve continual and sustainable development. Like our every newsletter, in this edition, we have brought you a saga from the world’s sixth-largest automotive lighting manufacturer and India’s second largest auto component manufacturer – Varroc Engineering Limited. Mr. Anoop Sharma, Associate Vice President – Operations (Electrical & Electronics Business Unit) – India shared his thoughts and views about his Operational Excellence journey and how Team Faber helped them keeping their core values intact while delivering quality product to their clients and ultimately propelling them towards excellence. Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000 readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about your company Varroc Group, which happens to be one of the largest automotive component manufacturers. Mr. Anoop Sharma (AS): Varroc Group, founded in 1988, is a global tier-1 automotive component manufacturer and supplier of exterior lighting systems, plastic and polymer components, electrical-electronic components and precision metallic components to passenger car, commercial vehicle, two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and off-highway vehicle (OHV) OEMs directly worldwide. With 36 world-class manufacturing facilities and 16 R&D centers in 12 countries, Varroc group is on an exponential growth trajectory clocking a sale of 1.6 billion USD in 2017-18. The company is one of the leading global passenger car lighting suppliers and amongst the top 2-wheeler automotive component supplier in India. Varroc offers the best design solutions that give customers a competitive edge in their market. Varroc’s vision is to be an INR 200 billion company by the year 2020. FI: That’s wonderful Mr. Sharma. Going ahead, every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? AS: Automotive sector is a very competitive market. It is not an easy market to be in and survive different technological disruptions. According to me, the first challenge is to be ahead in technology trends. There are many new norms that have come up in the automotive industry and more are planned in the coming years. Organizations need to be ready for disruptions in the market. Being able to cope up with technology upgrades and establishing your leadership through the transition is a challenge in our industry. Another challenge, I feel, is keeping employees up to date with new technology & retaining them as well. A happy and engaged workforce that adapts fast to the changes will not only help the company to grow but also support the customers to grow as well. FI: Progressive teams of Varroc are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? AS: One thing we have always talked about and believed in is ‘Excellence’. As an organization, all our efforts are focused on achieving excellence. This is something which sets Varroc apart from other companies. Other differentiating factor is our core value SHIPS, which we are proud of. They comprise of Sincerity, Humility, Integrity, Passion and Self – discipline, and form the core guiding principles for employees across the spectrum. It is these values that bind us all together and help us in creating a better level of understanding and bonding between the employees to ensure better performance and opportunities for the organization to grow. FI: We would love to understand more about the operational excellence journey at Varroc. AS: We started our Operational Excellence journey back in 2007-08 with Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program with an objective to grow and comply with our clients’ demands. We achieved remarkable results from this and grew significantly. Since then, we have come a long way and the importance of Operational Excellence has also grown. We are witnessing growth at a very fast pace and it becomes crucial for us to evolve our approach for a continuous and sustainable development. For this, we initiated a program called “Manufacturing Excellence” under which we are developing and executing different initiatives to get excellence in different areas of operations. We are marching towards upgrading all our manufacturing facilities into lean, clean and visually pleasing ones. FI: We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers? AS:  As I mentioned earlier, we started with TPM to set us on a growth trajectory but decided last year to change our approach for better operational results while keeping TPM as the base tool. This was when we got associated with Faber Infinite. We have secured very good support from Team Faber in terms of planning & executing our different excellence programs to achieve desired goals. Value Stream Mapping is one of the first initiatives where we engaged with Team Faber for training purposes and identified the scope of increase in throughput. Later, Mr. Vishal Kulkarni from Faber Infinite got involved with us to create a framework for our Manufacturing Excellence roadmap and has really helped us by providing valuable inputs. Team Faber has been instrumental in sharing important methodologies with my team and helping them in implementation for a foolproof operating environment along with making our processes greener and eco-friendly. We believe that improvement is a continuous process and we will continue to better our practices. With Team Faber Infinite, Varroc looks forward to achieving more in the future and it will be a long-term and fulfilling journey for both parties.  We thank Mr. Anoop Sharma and team Varroc for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Going Above and Beyond](https://faberinfinite.com/going-above-and-beyond/): Business Creation has been one of the most anticipated roles for any organization. It is one of the most fulfilling and prioritized tasks that helps the organization in building its client base and garner more profits in this competitive industrial world. Business creation and its relative processes play an important role in keeping not only the organization but the clients as well up and running. Aditya Gupta, our hero on the field has helped several clients in a number of ways. In this edition of iFaber, we have brought to you something different, something unique direct from the field and first-hand experience of client delight and client servicing. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Aditya Gupta, our business creation leader. About Aditya                                                                                    Born and brought up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Aditya holds a masters degree in marketing management with his first degree being in Computer Engineering. He has been an important asset for many organizations with experience of more than three years in client servicing and business creation. He is a curious individual who has a very keen heart for exploring and knowing core concepts. Another important and interesting fact about Aditya is his immense interest in Cricket. Aditya happens to be a huge cricket fan with in-depth knowledge about cricket and has a deep insight into facts and analogies. Journey at Faber Infinite, aspirations, passion and much more! “I have always wanted to do something that creates and adds value and can impact lives and I always work towards achieving this goal of mine”, says Aditya. In the contemporary industrial world, I aspire to become a value-adding and instrumental figure for my clients and the organization. When he was prompted with the question about his passion, he said, “Cricket will always be my passion. Earlier I wanted to become a fast bowler and somewhere in my heart, I still do!” He further added, “I am a big fan of former Indian Captain, Sourav Ganguly. I have always found him very passionate about his team members, his captaincy and himself about the way he led the entire Indian team and achieved perfection. In the same manner, I also want to achieve absoluteness in whatever I do and create. It helps me to look for solutions for my clients and prospects and offer them world-class exponential business results.” Aditya describes his journey with Faber Infinite as a phenomenal and quite a learning one. “With the company having expertise in various industries across various locations, I believe it has added to my skill set and has made me more prominent and effective in offering the best to our clients and prospects. Moreover, I want to add that with the operations management background and all the professional resources, I am equipped to understand business challenges (said and unsaid both) for my prospects and helping them achieve the unexpected. There are several such real client stories from the central Gujarat region.” Challenges Talking about the challenges, according to Aditya, one of the biggest challenges any business creation manager faces is to build relationships with the clients or with the prospects. “It is extremely important to build trustworthy relationships with the clients and prospects if you want to conduct business with them”, says Aditya. Meeting several new leaders from the top management and providing them with tools and solutions with assured results to achieve their unfulfilled business goals is what Aditya does day in day out, in his fulfilling career at Faber Infinite. Various other challenges like uncovering the real client needs, defining the challenges of the clients to the operations team and designing apt solutions to ensure successful transformation journeys is what he gives utmost attention, with which he creates amazing and fruitful results. Problem Solver Aditya has not only been a business creation manager but has also established himself as an efficient problem solver among the clients and team members. Many clients have been benefitted with his services which includes a client saving capital by few crore rupees and helping the other in obtaining a long desired certification via improved processes, which helped them to build credibility in their processes and products. What’s the way forward? “I have always liked to be the captain of my team and would definitely like to look forward to leading a team of my own at Faber Infinite which I could lead from the front and help more clients.” Furthermore, he also wants to keep moving ahead with the philosophy of his life which is to grow and make people happy. He wishes to create a more fulfilling world with a pleasing environment around him and his team members. Aditya has been an instrumental individual in assisting several clients for Faber Infinite. With his experience in the field, we look forward to growing together and achieve heights that are yet to be explored. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Building Engineering Excellence to Drive Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/building-engineering-excellence-to-drive-growth/): Engineering sector has been one of the leading sectors in the 21st-century industrial world and is likely to reach US $45 billion by 2020. Faber Infinite Consulting has been one of the active participants in crafting an extremely efficient and holistic operating environment for the engineering sector and have always delivered results promoting continual and sustainable development in the engineering sector. At Faber Infinite, we have devised various proven solutions and frameworks that have helped organizations grow and paint their charts in green. We specialize in providing consulting services for transformation journeys including Operational Excellence, Strategic Excellence and much more. Our experience in the engineering sector Faber Infinite is one of the most trusted organizations for organizational transformation when it comes to the engineering sector. We have a vast experience of consulting in all kinds of industries including engineering. With spread across more than 12 regions, we have supported more than two dozen major organizations in the engineering sector. While being associated with these organizations, we have supported and successfully completed transformation journeys for organizations worth approximately INR 21,000 crores. We also have a detailed performa of training and inducting skills in the employees and have trained more than 25,000 people in the engineering sector. Some of the typical improvement areas are listed below: Improved production planning Reduction in throughput time Improved machine availability and performance Daily work management Reduced changeover times Inventory management and E-Kanban Quality improvement (Right first time) Tangible results delivered at clients from the Engineering Industry Machine availability in the manufacturing unit was increased by more than 20%. 17% reduction in stock out incidents was observed after the involvement of Team Faber Infinite. Team Faber also helped an organization in reducing almost 38% of the work content and cycle time for selected processes. A whopping 40% increase in productivity was witnessed in the organization after being associated with Faber Infinite Consulting. Team Faber also helped the organizations in controlling their costs by helping them reduce manpower and labor costs by almost 55%. The overall manufacturing cost of the manufacturing units was also cut down by almost 33%. A 46% reduction in throughout time was also noticed at client sites once Team Faber took charge. Inventory was also reduced by almost 53%. Manpower productivity was increased by more than 50% after the implementation of structured frameworks by Team Faber Infinite. Value adding ratio of the organization was doubled with the help of Team Faber and its solutions. A 77% improvement was observed in the Transportation Index. Customers were also satisfied with the manufacturing unit’s products since we also helped the organizations improve the quality by more than 71%. A 10% in rejection of the orders was also achieved. Employee skill index was improved by almost 45% with the training provided by Faber Infinite. Ready to drive growth through engineering excellence? Discover the strategies and tools that can take your business to new heights. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert insights and resources. Unlock your engineering potential and accelerate your path to success today! Faber Infinite Consulting has been an avid supporter of the engineering sector and has always believed in creating a more optimized world with the help of engineering. We believe in innovation and would always like to believe in the same and support engineering sector to achieve our ultimate goal – continual and sustainable development. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Empower Employees to Realize their Dreams](https://faberinfinite.com/empower-employees-to-realize-their-dreams/): Training and Development is one of the most essential parts of an organization. It is a pre-planned procedure that is undertaken for the employees of the organization to improve their knowledge, skills, attitude and social behavior. Every organization in today’s competitive world makes their employees undergo training to make them efficient enough to sustain in this competitive world and help the organization grow. Training and Development is that part of the organization which helps its employees stay updated with the new technologies and new trends of markets. It develops the skills of the employees and helps him/her to concur the tasks. There are two reasons behind the training and development program, and they are as follow: Change: Change is one of the biggest factors which makes training and development necessary. More likely the changes are due to technology which changes the way business functions, competes and is delivered. Development: Development is another reason for the training and development program. 360° development of the organisation as well as of employee is must as per the recent market trend. It helps them stay up-to-date.  Bellow are the advantages of training and development program: Enhancing the quality of work force: Training and Development program is initiated mainly for improving the work quality of the employee’s. It focuses on specific work zones to improve the work quality. Improves employee growth: Any employee who will undergo training and development program will be trained to work better in his/her job. As it provides all the needed skills and practice to its employees which shapes them to develop professionally. Avoid being obsolete: Training and development helps the employee fetch all the new and recent details and makes them up-to-date for operating new technologies and reducing the fear of not being aware of new trends. Orienting new comers: When there is any new comer in the organisation, it is very important to give them training so that he/she can be aware of what the organisation is, what work they are supposed to be doing and how about the organizational work culture and environment. Implementing the plans: Every organisation plans some particular activity and targets and expects its employee’s to efficiently work for that and achieve the targets. The training and development program help the employee understand about how to bridge the gap between the planning and implementation and achieve the targets. Health and safety of the employees: Training and development program teaches the employee about what all kind of risk’s will be there in their job description and how to tackle and to solve that.  As Robert Kiyoaski rightly said – “Confidence comes from training and discipline” , so train your employees and make them more confident to deliver exceptional results. Written & Compiled By Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Leadership and FIFA world cup](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-and-fifa-world-cup/): Leadership is one of the most important qualities that can keep an organization immune from various infections and problems. In the recently concluded FIFA World Cup, we got to see some exceptional leadership traits from Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. There were many lessons that were worth learning and glorified her role and image as a leader of the world. In today’s contemporary industrial world, we really need to ingrain the below-mentioned leadership qualities in order to thrust the organization towards excellence and continual development. Keep your team motivated The leaders first and foremost responsibility is to keep the morale of the team high and positive. The Croatian president traveled day in and day out and still managed to take out time to cheer the Croatian national football team in every match they played. Even after the loss in the final, she kept aside her emotions and was trying to cheer Luka Modrić, the captain of the team.  Lead from the front A leader is supposed to lead the team from the front. He should be able to guide the team towards excellence and keep the balance of the team at the same time. It is very important to lead the side from the front and represent. The same character was displayed by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović when she appeared cheering for the team in all the matches. Eliminate position based differences Position based differences are one of the most common causes of conflicts and chaos in any team. It is the leader’s responsibility to eliminate such differences and create an environment of equality among the team members. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović did the same and wore the Croatian jersey instead of her corporate clothes while cheering the national team. This displayed the kind of equality practices she follows in her daily routine.  Understand your responsibilities and duties A leader should always understand his duties and responsibilities and should carry them out before deadlines and must not compromise with the quality. The Croatian president managed to keep an eye on all the matters concerning national affairs and never overlooked them in any situation. Never take advantage of your powers Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović refused to accept pay for the days she took off to cheer the national side. While traveling, she traveled through economy flights and cheered the national side while sitting in the public stands. She cheered the national team even in the rains without asking for an umbrella. This shows the kind of gratitude a leader must display. He should never start taking advantage of his powers for his benefits despite having a very high influence in the hierarchy. Appreciate your competitor It is important for a leader to appreciate his competitor. It establishes a humble image and showcases that you have accepted the defeat and will want to come back stronger after learning from your mistakes. The Croatian president did the same when she went and shook hands with the French national team members and officials after the loss in the FIFA World Cup final.
- [Do Not Build a Business Build People](https://faberinfinite.com/do-not-build-a-business-build-people/): Employees are the soul of any organization. It is the employees who push the organization towards its goals and objectives par excellence. Therefore, employee retention is one of the most clinical as well as a critical aspect of any organization. Retention of employees who add value is more important than hiring any new labor as the existing employee has a better knowledge and understanding of the company’s hierarchy, working culture and systems and controls. In this blog, we will focus on the employee retention strategies. Invest in improving the professional skills of the employees Providing funds and helping the employees in learning new skills that can ultimately help them in new and profound opportunities is one of the best ways to keep the employees engaged in the company’s projects and retain them for a longer period. In a study conducted by a research organization, 42 percent of the employees feel more secure about their future and their jobs when they are provided with the opportunities to learn more and grow consequently. Communicate your expectations clearly and build policies likewise Employees feel confused when they are not aware of what exactly is expected of them. Not making their jobs clear also creates a chaos in the system which ultimately will lead to tension between the two parties and subsequent elimination of the employees from the project or the organization. A clearly specified policy along with the job specification and expected results is the best way to keep the employees in the loop. It also improves the feedback mechanism of the organization. Benefit the employees in actuality Benefits are the commodities that attract everyone in the world. It also lures the employees and motivates them to stay glued to your organization. Also, while offering benefit packages to the employees, make sure that you are actually giving the benefits. Being a cheat will never let you help in retaining the much valued human labor. Build and grow communication Communication helps you in growing and building relations with the employees. One must always focus on creating a culture of open communication with the employees to promote a better understanding between the two parties and help everyone involved grow. Employees must be your priority. Make them feel valued Employees define the organization and its work culture. Hence, employees must be a priority for the organization as well. Employees spend a lot of time in the company facility and devote more than half of their day to the company. Therefore, they must be treated properly in return. Protect them from the extra burden Burden infects the employees’ works with inefficiency. You can never compensate the amount overburdened with benefits and incentives. Overburden can lead to the human labor losing their focus from their work and can also increase the stress levels. It also impacts the routine of the employee and might also impact their health. Place the employees in important projects and push valuable work towards them Every employee desires to contribute to the meaningful aspects of the organization’s work and wants to be a part of the most important projects and work. Assigning work and projects to the employees that do not utilize their potential to the fullest will only make the employees uninterested and unsatisfied. Hence, it is always necessary to assign the work to the employees by judging and analyzing them precisely and according to their caliber and potential. Crack the code why employees stay at any organization To retain the employees in an organization, it is very important for the employer to crack the code about why any employee would want to stay at any organization. Making exit interviews a crucial part of the work culture of any organization is an important pillar that might give the employers an insight about what changes they should make in order to keep the skilled labor in their party. Employee retention is the most important aspect of any organization’s journey towards excellence and continual and sustainable development. Providing proper objectives and following the policies will not only keep the organization in the run to be the best but will also help them in retaining the much valued skilled labor that is highly important in today’s competitive world. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Welcome change with open arms](https://faberinfinite.com/welcome-change-with-open-arms/): Change management programs are have now become a trend in today’s manufacturing industry which has resulted great numbers for the implementing organizations. With the success numbers going up, many organizations now have started to ingrain change management programs in their work cultures. During any change management program, it is imperative for the organization to know the hard art as well along with the implementation processes. Whilst this, many companies face difficulties and ultimately fail in their conquest. In this blog for our Transformation Tuesday, we will be telling our readers about the hard side of the change management in order to have them prepared for their change management programs. 1. Time Span Many companies believe in this myth that the longer the change management programs run, the more is the chance for their failure. The result is exactly opposite. In a research, it was discovered that longer projects are more likely to garner positive numbers than the ones who run for shorter time periods. Every company should conduct a review of the progress made after every two months and should analyze the discovered data to find the loopholes and areas of improvements. Breaking down the entire target into fragments and scheduling them is another effective way which can help the organization in minimizing the risks involved and getting the optimum results from the change management programs. 2. Performance candor Performance of an organization during a change management program depends entirely on how do the team members and individuals perform. It is very important for the leadership to clarify the roles and commitments of the individuals and teams. Also, defining accountability is a very crucial aspect in order to restrict the system from getting infected with chaos and inefficiency. Moreover, defining roles also helps the leadership in making the optimum use of an individual’s skills and efficiency in their field of expertise.   3. Engagement Engagement of employees and leadership at the same time is an important pillar in thrusting the change management processes towards success. The executives involved need to back up the entire processes in order to keep the system in loop. Furthermore, engagement from the leadership will ultimately encourage the team members to engage themselves in the process which will consequently result in green numbers. Increased engagement will also improve the communication mechanism of the organization and will motivate them for feedbacks. 4. Attempt In any organization, employees are already busy with their daily routine. Hence, during any change management program, it becomes very difficult for the leadership to generate efforts from the workforce towards change management process as well. It is really important to design the program and implement it in a manner that the workforce gets enough time and space to contribute towards the change management program along with the regular work load. It should be done in a manner where delays are avoided so that the team can stay on a cost efficient path. Change managements are not easy to manage and needs an all round support throughout the journey. It is a delicated process that needs proper attention and full proof methodologies in order to produce better numbers and greener graphs.
- [Strategist - The 5 in 1 member of the organization](https://faberinfinite.com/strategist-the-5-in-1-member-of-the-organization/): Strategists are key individuals or group that takes care of the processes involved in making, evaluation and implementation of various strategies in an organization. They play a crucial role in driving and steering an organization towards the path that will lead them to their goals and objectives. A strategist is known for thinking outside the box and procuring creative solutions to complex problems interfering in the working processes of the organization. For a strategist, it is very important to focus on Emotional Quotient (EQ), Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Spiritual Quotient (SQ) while devising the outlines of any strategy or its implementation process. A strategist needs to be very focused and concentrated towards his tasks and should be very thorough in research and analysis. Moreover, he should keep this in mind that concept, rules, power and politics are the four supporting pillars in the creation of any strategy in an organization. The end result of a strategy is responsible for determining the future steps as well as the scope and opportunities of an organization. Below is a list of various kinds of strategists one might find in an organization – Board of Directors Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Entrepreneurs Senior management SBU level executives Corporate planning staff Consultants Middle level managers Executive assistant Roles of a strategist in an organization Palm reader – A strategist should play the role of a palm reader in an organization. He should be able to foresee the future of the organization and should use his imagination to develop and implement strategies in order to determine the tier in which the organization will compete. A chiseling force – The strategist should be able to carve the path for the organizations with his innovative and effective strategies. From defining the targets and competition to creating a roadmap to achieve them, a strategist should always be the artist of the organization. He should act as a chiseling force and which resembles the role of a sculptor in an organization. Politician – A politician is known for influencing the public with his words and deeds and knows how to use his power. The same applies to a strategist in an organization as well. A strategist should be able to know the importance of power in the organization and should always keep the team and its members motivated either by his plans and strategies or their results. Sage / Guru – A strategist is a guru or a sage in an organization who imparts morality and ethical values among his colleagues and co-workers in the organization. It helps in unlocking the potential of the team members and makes them aware of their purpose and role in the organization. Reliever – A strategist should also play the role of a reliever in an organization thus busting the insecurities and doubts of the team members and bringing out their creativity, energy, passion, innovation and self- assurance.   Strategist is one of the key members in the organization who can change the outlook, number and graphs of an organization entirely. Unlike any other employee of the organization, strategists are given the responsibility of accelerating the growth factor of the organization as well as improve the quality of the operating environment as well. Written and Compiled by Faber Kishly & Faber Mayuri.
- [5 Key Strategies to Successful Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/5-key-strategies-to-successful-leadership/): Being at one of the top positions in an organization is one of the toughest jobs to do since it assigns you with the responsibilities to improve the way the company operates and consequently help in garnering profits. It is very obvious for one to face extreme pressure when starting with the leadership team and as a result, one gets off with a quick start. However, the secret to being successful is being relatively slow, analyse and then act. In this article, we will discuss about 5 Key Strategies to Successful Leadership. It is important for a new leader to prove his worth. One should remember that he was brought in so that he can help the organization in delivering better and for this; going with speed is not the only viable option. A new leader should start out with smaller goals like working on the costs, giving an eye towards production, strategizing to increase revenue and others. Instead of approaching complex and controversial problems right at the start, he should take things slow and steady. Moreover, bringing in a new leader is not just about the management, it is also connected to the emotions of the workforce and team members. Hence, going on harsh right in the start might result in more problems and obstacles like strikes in the organization. Here is how you can slow down! Being a leader and leading the team from the front is a fast yet a very spontaneous job. The tempo, decision-making process, strategizing and everything else is at a very high pace and the leaders need to be very quick and intuitive in order to keep things smooth. Below is a detailed guide over handful techniques that will help one in keeping the things a bit calm in such a fast-moving operating environment. Gain control over the flow – A new leader inherits the system created by its predecessor and hence should first eliminate the mismatch between his and his predecessor’s work culture. Making a proper balance between his work and predecessor’s can help one in slowing the things down and improve decision making. He should also be able to control the flow of information in the organization in order to have the critical approach while making judgments. Once in control, start reflecting – Once you have control, you obviously have more time. This will help you in understanding the data being thrown at you more efficiently. It will also help you in gaining trusted advisers – both inside and outside the organization.  Moreover, reflecting the data you get will also help you in making crucial decisions that will ultimately influence the roadmap of the organization. Make sure – It is very important to make sure that you do the same that has been asked to you. Especially in a one-on-one decision, it is very important to make sure that you have been understood by the listener and vice versa. Furthermore, if you ever feel that you are forgetting some things, it is very helpful to repeat the visual parts of the discussion in your mind. Keep asking – Self-questioning and self-analysis is very important to help one in learning and analyzing before putting forward the next step. Moreover, asking questions about the decisions and processes of the team members helps in procuring more possible alternatives. It also encourages and promotes the feedback mechanism among the team members. Think and respond – If you are at one of the top positions in the organization, your words and responses will be taken very seriously. Hence, taking a pause and thinking before you speak anything might turn out to be utterly beneficial to you. Also, thinking will help you in adding creativity to work. Being a leader is a position of responsibility and demands one to be patient and hard working. Quick runs towards success are most likely to be a short one and will ultimately end up doing more harm than good. One should be wary of quick wins and should take things in control before running behind complex and controversial targets. Remember, being careful and patient is the key to be a competent leader adding value to the organization. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Planned Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/planned-organizational-change/): Planned changes are the stairs for achieving the targets that are usually almost impossible or very difficult to achieve. Organizations implement planned changes in order to achieve its goals at a faster pace with the motive of increasing profitability and satisfying the economic needs of the members. Human work is also affected as a result of the planned changes implemented by the leadership of the organization. It might sound simple and a textbook methodology to increase and improve the numbers. However, planned changes are the most critical ones to implement since you run towards an objective and have to be quite certain throughout the process. In this first blog in the series of change management process, we will be focusing on the steps that can facilitate in implementing the planned changes in an organization efficiently. 1. Planning for change – Planning is the most primitive stage in any change management process. Planning includes identifying the areas of improvement and analyzing whether the change required is strategic, process-oriented or employee oriented. After determining these factors, below given steps can be brought in the frame: Determine goals and objectives – With the changes to be implemented, the leadership of the organization must decide what goals and targets they want to achieve with the implementation of the change management processes. Assign an agent for the change – The leadership of the organization must assign someone to look after the change management processes. It can anyone with expertise in the field ranging from consultants to the existing managers. Spot out the problem – The agent assigned must analyze the problem and work towards collecting the data to spot out the key issues in the work culture and processes. After this, solutions can be derived from the collected data. Choose a methodology – An efficient and effective methodology for getting rid of the problems must be chosen for the change. While doing this, emotions of the employees must be considered for a better co-operation and achieving mutual benefits. Devise a plan – As per the methodology selected, a plan should be devised. A detailed framework and an organized structure can help the agent as well as the leadership in getting an early analysis of the change process. Develop a strategy – Build a strategy for the change processes as a part of the last step of your planning. Decide the factors ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ and push out the plans through a suitable channel. 2. Check change processes – The changes implemented are likely to face resistance from individuals, groups or from team members. Hence, the leadership should work on farming an environment where the employees accept the change rather than feeling that it is forced upon them. Driving forces – These forces are the forces which tend to initiate any process and thrust it in the forward direction towards completion. Restraining forces – These forces resist the change processes and pull them back. It is usually exhibited as a result of fear to change and insecurities that are usually associated with it. 3. Execute and implement the change – Once the planning and the establishment of favorable conditions have been successfully completed, it is then crucial for the management to push out the plan through efficient and consistent channels. While doing this, an efficient communication system should be put up in place to assist in the implementation of the change processes. Moreover, a small briefing to the team members and the employees will also motivate acceptance of the change in the system. Any kind of change in an organization and its working culture plays a crucial role in determining the future of the organization. Amongst these, planned changes need to be carried out in such a manner that it gets passed through all the layers without being resisted. Keep watching this space, for the next article in series where we will talk about the model for change management which is one of the most effective models to manage change. We at Faber Infinite have been helping clients across industries and geographies to plan change management process and implement the same using different tools and techniques. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Craft Excellence in Service Sector with Lean](https://faberinfinite.com/craft-excellence-in-service-sector-with-lean/): If I ask you to apply lean and its practices in your service sector organization, would you accept it readily? I bet, no! “Lean is not for service sector! It is only for the manufacturing industry.” This is the most common misconception among the people involved in the service industry. People might say service sector and the organizations have a very complex situation and would not benefit by the lean practices. But think about it. Service sector and its work culture are very complex and that is the most important reason why lean and its practices should be ingrained in the service sector. With complex structures and variables and long cycles in place, lean philosophy and its tools turn out to be a perfect solution that can help the organizations achieve their targets and goals and thrust their numbers in the green zone. It is claimed that more than 40% percent of capital in the financial services sector is spent on wasteful activities that in no way adds value to the services provided to the customer. Similarly, in other sectors, due lack of proper knowledge and training, capital and resources are wasted in non-value adding processes. One should understand that lean is not only about manufacturing. It is more towards standardization. Lean focuses on creating more viable and standardized work processes to eliminate problems and inefficiencies that affect the working of the organization. It helps in improving the critical thinking ability of the team members so that the problems can be solved efficiently and more value addition can be done in the work culture. A classic example of lean methodology creating a difference in the work processes and numbers is WIPRO initiating lean practices back in 2004 and achieving tremendous results from it. According to a research report, WIPRO first launched the lean initiative in the year 2004 and was able to achieve more than 10 percent improvement in efficiency of the work processes in every 8 out of 10 projects. Inspired by this, the IT sector giant then rolled out more than 603 lean projects in the organization by the end of the year 2006. While most of the companies think that lean is for manufacturing and struggles in implementing any other improvement processes, WIPRO set an example for the other. The goal of lean and its tools is to eliminate the waste, open up the work processes and reflect improvements in the usual hierarchies of the organization. Lean helps in unlocking the hidden potential of the manpower and the controls and optimizes the processes so that the organization can get the most optimum benefits. Despite being stereotyped to the manufacturing sector, lean is undoubtedly the most impactful and revolutionizing methodology to inflict excellence and development in any organization hence, must be ingrained in growing sectors like services. Team Faber Infinite has been working with organizations across sectors on lean management and has delivered tremendous results. To get more information about our offerings contact us at consulting@faberinfintie.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [What Yoga is to Body, Lean is to Business!](https://faberinfinite.com/what-yoga-is-to-body-lean-is-to-business/): The world is celebrating International Yoga Day today and promoting the integration of global health, harmony and peace in the society. Yoga has proved to have substantial effects on an individual’s mental, physical and spiritual health. LEAN practices are also a proven and healthy methodology to improve the health of a manufacturing facility and consequently improve the work culture and relative aspects of an organization. It might not be wrong to say that lean practices in today’s corporate world are equivalent to yoga for an individual. LEAN and Yoga are quite similar to each other in their own manner and are very relevant to each other. Various benefits of the yoga for the industrial world are as follows – Improves flexibility – As yoga is effective in increasing the flexibility of an individual, lean practices are known for improving the flexibility of an organization. The improved flexibility of an organization helps it in adapting to change more easily and implementing change management plans in a more effective and enhanced manner. Moreover, flexibility promotes innovation and speed and improves the coordination process. Enhances the overall structure – As yoga helps to enhance overall structure of the human body lean influences the overall working of an organization and how it runs. Lean practices are known to optimize the overall structure of the organization and efficiently implement the strategic changes. The structure of an organization also defines its overall goals, purpose, strategy or mission of an organization. Hence, an improvement in the structure will largely influence these factors as well. Prevents breakdown – Yoga takes your joints through their full range of motion. So regular yoga prevents cartilage and joints break down. Similarly, breakdowns, be it machinery or communication are one of the most hated timeframes in any organization. Organizations that are prone to breakdowns twice a year are likely to have a loss of around 15% in their annual business. Hence, it is very important for an organization to control these breakdowns and minimize their damage. Lean practices help the organizations in putting up a framework for the work processes as well as for the controls that pivot the working of the machinery and manpower on the floor with a detailed schedule of check-ups, feedbacks and others to ensure a smooth and continuous run of the organization. Improves blood (communication) flow – Yoga helps to increase blood flow. All the relaxation exercises that are done in yoga helps to get more oxygen to cells as well as improves blood circulation. Communication flow in an organization is equivalent to blood flow in an individual. It is very important that the message conveyed from one department reaches the receiver in the precise and intact situation without the interference of any noise. A bad communication in any organization will not only create chaos but will also put the entire working of the facility in a tender and lament situation. Improves quality – Yoga helps to improve the quality of life thus making us physically stronger and mentally peaceful. Quality defines the path any organization will run on. A better quality product and service attracts customers as well helps the organization in retaining the customers. Lean helps the organizations in removing the waste from the facilities and establishes quality controls for a better end product. Moreover, lean also helps in creating a better quality work and the operating environment by ingraining green practices in the work culture. It also promotes safety across all departments thus making the work processes immune to any mishaps. Improves balance – Yoga helps to improve the balance physically, mentally as well as spiritually. Similarly, balance is the key factor that helps anyone in achieving the desired goals and objectives. Lean is a proven tool that helps the leadership in attaining a balanced and a more substantial equation with the middle and lower management of the organization. The systems controlling the work processes on the floor is also brought on a leveled floor with the implementation of lean practices. It also helps in keeping biases away and puts forth a systematic and potentially more opportune environment for everyone. Increases strength – makes you more competent – Everyone in this world wants to be competent and have more strength than the others. It is not a hidden fact that competency helps in keeping them in the race and probably beat everyone at the finish line. Lean practices make an organization more competitive and help them in building a strong rapport with themselves in the market. It ultimately helps one in becoming the shark in the ocean! LEAN practices are an efficient way to remove toxicity from the work culture of an organization and ingrain efficiency and better productivity. The basic concepts of yoga and lean are same and with their ultimate objective being integrating freshness and health in an individual or organization. This International Yoga Day, let’s take a step in ingraining yoga in our work culture as well and move ahead in achieving health and prosperity in our professional as well as personal lives. Stay Fit! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Move On and Accept Change - Part II](https://faberinfinite.com/move-on-and-accept-change-part-ii/): Organizational change is one of the most quintessential aspects of an organization’s journey towards excellence and sustainable and continual development. In the last blog of Transformation Tuesday, we covered one aspect of resistance that might obstruct the transformation journey of an organization i.e. Individual resistance. As mentioned in the earlier Transformation Tuesday article, the kind of resistance that the leadership of an organization might face during organizational change are as follows: Individual resistance Group resistance Organizational resistance In this Transformation Tuesday, we will cover the remaining aspects of resistances that might incur during organizational change. Group resistance –  It is a very obvious and quite understandable fact that while working in the same company, people are likely to get acquainted and form an informal group amongst themselves. During the organizational change, it is very likely that these groups start resisting change. It happens mostly when the members of the group start considering themselves superior to the other groups and feel insecurity against their cohesiveness and belongingness to the group. Organizational resistance –  Organizational resistance is the resistance which resists the change at the organizational level itself. Some organizations structure themselves in a way that they resist the integration of new ideas and change and to continue their work in the same conservative manner. A classic example of such working groups is government agencies where the people continue their work in the same old manner even when change is desperately needed in the working culture to keep up with the changing trends. Insecurity about Power – Power drives everything and the leadership of the organization usually resists change because they see change as a threat to their power, position and influence in the organization. Participative decision making or self-managed work teams are some of the key change practices that are seen as a treat by the top management. Group torpidity – Another factor that influences organizational resistance is a threat one feels to his belongingness to the group. The magnitude of resistance depends on how loyal and integral of the group the individual is and on the manner in which the group resists the change. Structure of the organization – An organization is built by closely knitting various departments together. This often motivates the official structure of the organization to resist change since job and flow of information is very tightly commissioned in the hierarchy of the organization. Threat to experts – Change is also resisted when it starts to threaten the expertise or specialization of individuals or of groups. Pressure on the resources of the organization – Adequate resources are needed in order to successfully execute a change journey in the organization. When the change starts putting pressure on the resources of the organization especially on the financial side, the organization is likely to resist it. Waste – Top management of an organization also resists change when they anticipate that the new change will ultimately sink the huge amount of capital that has already been spent on the training of the employees and on the assets that were once considered useful and important. Resistance to change is linked to human reactions and attitude. There is no logic to it. Every individual reacts to change as per his/her attitude. But we as an individual or group or an organization should understand and accept the fact that if you are not changing yourself then there is a big problem in your approach because personal or professional front change is only permanent. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Standardize to Win the Race!](https://faberinfinite.com/standardize-to-win-the-race/): Coca-Cola is a renowned name all across the world. It has been in news for a long time in the Indian political scenario. Irrespective of the current news Coca-Cola has always managed and maintained their standards in every country they serve. Presently Coca-Cola serves more than 1.2 billion servings in over 200 countries all around the globe.  Unlike any other food or beverage MNC like Pizza Hut or McDonald’s, Coca-Cola has managed to keep its taste the same in all of the 200 countries. Standardizing the processes and keeping the product of the same quality is one of the crucial factors that drive growth and development in any company and the same has happened with Coca-Cola. The fact that Coca-Cola used to send out salesmen advising the vendors to serve coke between the temperature ranges of 36-40 degrees and not over it shows how inclined the company was towards standardization. Below are some of the strategies Coca-Cola used to standardize their product all across the globe – Standardizing all components and processes Standardizing all components and processes involved in manufacturing helps one in expanding their market and increasing their grip over various other product lines that are consequently created due to the availability of component sections across several products. This will not help you in keeping a tab on costs but will also assist in widening the global sales spectrum. This will also help one in minimizing the testing costs incurred while launching a product at some other geographical location with a different process of manufacturing. Moreover, having a standardized process enables one to push new products quickly into the market and capitalize on the potential needs of the customer. Packaging Packaging also plays an important role in boosting the sales of the product. Coca-Cola understood it very early and tweaked their packaging a bit to boost their global sales. Furthermore, they used a timeless font on all of their products they launched in the market thus, gaining them brand recognition and helping them in reflecting differences from the competition. They sold the same product in every other country but with a different and appealing packaging for the local consumers. Variation in quantities A well-standardized product when sold in different quantities keeps the company to satisfy the consumer needs and keep up with their sales at the same time as well. Usually, people don’t buy products in bulk while manufacturing and hence it opens up the door for you to channelize your product in different quantities among different marketing channels. Product price all across the world Another hard-hitting strategy adopted by Coca-Cola was to standardize the price of the product as well across all the geographical locations. For more than 70 years, Coca-Cola sold its product at the same price in the United States. This, along with the standardization of other processes helped them in keeping up with the costs, helped them in eliminating risks and keeping the product same everywhere. Standardization, as said above is a very important factor that keeps the company in the race in today’s competitive market. It may not seem an easy task, but believe me when I say that with standardization, one can keep up with the competition and might also be able to surpass them. We at Faber Infinite have been helping clients across the industries and geographies to work on process and product standardization. To know more about our offerings on standardization contact us on consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Change to Succeed!](https://faberinfinite.com/change-to-succeed/): Organizational change is one of the quintessential aspects of an organization’s journey towards development and success. The extent of change and its implementation defines the thrust in numbers the company will witness. However, change comes in proximity to the human workforce and has a very close relation with human attitudes towards it. It is highly important to get to know how the human labor will react to the organizational change in order to have a smooth and efficient implementation of various processes, systems and controls. It is also important in determining the kind and magnitude of resistance the company will be facing while implementing the change management processes. Below are the forms of employee reactions that can incur during organizational change – Acknowledgement and acceptance Acknowledging the change and accepting that it is happening depends on the perception of the employees and can vary with time to time. Accepting the change is one of the crucial factors that drive the organizational change in an organization. If an employee thinks that the change is going to benefit him in any sort, he is likely to accept the change. However, if he is unsure about it, the company is more prone to facing resistance from the employees. Resistance Resistance is not likely to infringe on the process of change every time. It arises as a result of insecurities and doubts that clouds the employee’s minds regarding the change. Employees are more likely to resist the change when they believe that they will face certain sort of harm as a result of change occurring in the organization be it financially, personally, in work cultures or in the position of the employee. Lack of interest in work also motivates the workforce to resist the changes going on around the floor. Moreover, humans are more prone to getting used to their daily routine and find themselves comfortable in it. This is another possible reason why the company might face resistance in implementing he change management processes. Detachment Any change in the organization is either accepted or resisted by the workforce. However, there are times when the company fails to bring out any kind of reaction from the workforce through the change processes. This happens because of the thinking processes of the employees who either think that they will not be affected by the change or fails to understand the impact the change created in the organization. As a result of this, they stay aloof of the change processes and are likely to remain detached from it. Forcing change on the employees Any force greater than the other is likely to overtake it. The same happens here as well. If the force of change is greater than the force of resistance exhibited by the workforce, change is likely to overtake it and the employees are then bound to accept the change. It is important for the employees to adapt to this change and work in a manner to procure balance in the organization. Any sort of imbalance in the company is bound to create chaos and havoc of the controls and systems implemented during the change. Adequate steps and processes should be taken here to manage individuals as well as groups to motivate them to keep the approaches neutral and balanced. Team Faber has been helping clients across industries and geographies in the change management journey. We have delivered some really great results. To know more about the offerings contact us: consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Let's Football the Lean Way](https://faberinfinite.com/lets-football-the-lean-way/): Lean six sigma has been known to bring out the optimum efficiency of the processes by reducing the wastes and improving qualities for quite a long period now. It has been a widely discussed topic on various forums and chat rooms. Six Sigma is not just limited to manufacturing industry but can also be applied in various other fields like advertisement, human resources, health care and even in sports! Yeah! You heard it right. Even in sports!  Lean Six Sigma concepts can be very helpful in creating more competent sportspersons. Like the concepts used in various industries, six sigma can also help the sportspersons to remove wasteful processes from their training sessions, train in a more efficient way and analyze and improve their control over the game Let’s Football the six sigma way! Football world cup kicks off today and the whole world will have their eyes stuck to their television sets. The entire world will be in anticipation and be guessing who will emerge as the winner. But what if I say that Lean Six Sigma can help a team in getting the edge over the other teams and dominate an entire tournament? Would you believe that? I guess no. But let me help you with it. Lean Six Sigma along with DMAIC method which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control can help a team in finding out the weaknesses of the opposition and then training their players to exploit it. It is a very obvious fact that in a team sport like football, it is very difficult to exploit the weaknesses of one particular individual and then go on to winning the match. However, with the use of Lean Six Sigma DMAIC methodology, one can train their players by defining the objectives, measuring their current abilities, analyzing the patterns in the opposition and then improving the game of its own team by training them in accordance to gain control over the match. Let us look at it in this way, suppose if a team can analyze the opposition and the pattern in which they play and are able to find a weakness, say goalkeeper’s inability to stop in a particular area of the goal, the team can then train their players to exploit this and ultimately win the match. If the goalkeeper only saves 20% of shots taken at him, it would surely be a significant contributing factor to the team’s losses. Lean Six Sigma is undoubtedly one of the most effective methods to remove various kinds of wastes from the processes. The discipline that is ingrained once the methodology gets implemented plays a crucial factor in directing the processes towards efficiency and in standardizing them. Lean six sigma not only removes wastes but also provides the leadership with a detailed framework and assists them in reconfiguring the overall organizational culture. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Move on and Accept Change!](https://faberinfinite.com/move-on-and-accept-change/): Here is how successful people decoded organizational change and its resistance Life is all about moving on, accepting challenges and looking forward to what makes you stronger and more complete. But the fact is that change is not easy to accept, both on an individual as well as on an organizational level. There is always some resistance to change. There may be several reasons for resistance to change of which, the key pointers are mentioned below. Individual resistance to change Team resistance to change Organizational level resistance to change. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the factors affecting resistance to change at an individual level: Fear of Unemployment – For example, in an organization, if there is any change in the technology,  employees fear that the change might lead to technological unemployment. Generally, any new technology needs skill enhancements and hence, the employees resist change. Apart from this, the employees also fear that the change will create an impact on their stream and their technology or work methods have been outdated and that as a result they will be pushed out of the workforce. Fear of loss of income – Change is bound to make employees and team members insecure about their financial situations. In organizations where pay or salary is linked to employee productivity, employees fear change as they feel that change might lead to decrease in productivity and that it might further lead to loss of income. Since finances are related to livelihoods of the people, a degrade in the lifestyle as a result of the loss of employment also gives birth to resistance. Inertia – Human beings are habitual of their daily lifestyle and are quite resistant to change their daily routine. They feel more comfortable in their routine and likes to stay away from complications that threaten their comfort. Moreover, we tend to depend on the programmed responses of our minds rather than exploring the unexplored for difficult situations. Hence, when confronted with the change, individuals resist it fearing that the new environment will be more cumbersome to handle and getting accustomed to. The sense of being unsafe – Change creates a sense of unsafeness or insecurity in an individual. One is likely to feel insecure about his job when confronted with change. Furthermore, the unclear picture of how things will be after the change is also that forces the individuals to resist changes. Unknown things and aspects of work culture are bound to threaten security and hence produce resistance. Improper Communication – Communication drives everything. An improper or inefficient communication between departments about change and controls might create chaos and hence push the employees to resist the change. A clear communication is a necessity in order to get the word out clear to everyone. The magnitude of change – The magnitude of the change that is being carried out in the organization also influence the kind of resistance the organization will face from the employees. If there is a small change that hardly affects the daily routine of the unit, it is likely to go through the system without even being noticed. However, a change concerning a greater number of people is likely to face more and greater amount of resistance. SO! This was all for this Transformation Tuesday. Stay tuned for the next article of the series – Resistance to Change in our next blog! Happy Transforming!
- [Plastic is not the problem Irresponsibility is!](https://faberinfinite.com/plastic-is-not-the-problem-irresponsibility-is/): Plastic and ban on its usage have been one of the most controversial issues of modern times. Every now and then there is a protest or petition against the usage of plastics in some part of the world. It is true that plastics are polluting our environment and are creating a ruckus of the biodiversity. But, is plastic really a threat to our society by itself and is banning the only solution? Or do we need to change our outlook towards plastic, its usage and wastage for more efficient management of the material? We have to understand that the evil which has been associated with plastics is not because of them being in the market, it is because of the way they are being used! Even the theme of the World Environment Day 2018 “Beat Plastic Pollution” conveys the message to tackle the pollution and disposal management rather than just simply banning it. A short overview If facts are to be believed, we produce more than 300 million tons of plastic waste all around the globe every year. Out of this, only 10% percent of the entire waste is recycled. The remaining amount of plastic waste is left untreated. However, the point to be noted here is plastics is a fascinating material which can be used again and again over the period of time and it is the human population that is using it irresponsibly over the years. Why should plastics not be banned? Plastic industry is one of the largest industries all around the world and contributes a major share to global trade and economy. It is a magnificent material created by the mankind. Unlike its alternatives, plastic bags and containers can be used in various versatile ways and can be used again and again thus providing a very effective alternative to paper and jute bags. Moreover, banning plastics will only have adverse impacts in the natural resources since a ban on plastics will only force the population to move towards any other source like paper bags for their needs which will ultimately end up in depleting other natural resources. Instead, we should change to eco-friendly plastics which are biodegradable in nature and still serves to all the fields catered by single-use plastics. Apart from this, the lives of millions of people will be impacted as a result of a ban on plastics. The employment of millions of people involved in the plastic manufacturing industry will be in jeopardy and they will be forced to live on the streets. A classic example of government considering the employment as an influential factor in banning the plastics was seen in Australia when they introduced a bill that focused on reducing the use of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) plastics rather than completely banning it because of the impact it would have had on the employment. Plastic alternatives are not exactly better! Many say that plastics are destroying the biodiversity and we should move to other alternatives like paper, jute and cotton bags and others. But has anyone ever thought if shifting to such sources is viable enough or not? According to a research by US Environmental Protection Agency, paper bags are much more harmful to the environment. It generates 70% more air pollutants and 50% more water pollutants to the environment since it consumes more than four times of energy to be produced. Recycling of paper bags also takes up more than 85% of more energy than that of plastic bags. Coming to landfills, paper bags take as much as 9 times more space than plastics and still decompose at the same rate. Moreover, plastic bags have a lower carbon footprint than its alternatives. In a study done by the Chemistry Professor of the University of Oregon, he concluded that plastic bags have only half of the carbon footprint when compared to cotton and paper bags. They use fewer chemicals and resources and produce less greenhouse gas when manufactured and pushed in utilities. Possible alternatives! Banning plastic and its products just because they decompose at a very slow rate does make sense but is definitely not a viable option when the material possesses more pros than cons. However, it is true that plastics have created pollution and has deteriorated natural resources. But at the same time, we have to understand that it is because of the human acts that plastic has turned into a curse despite being a magnificent creation. Governments across the globe should work towards educating the people to use plastic and its products carefully and in an organized manner. A more organized way of waste collection and management should be taught and integrated into the system. Furthermore, more focus should be shifted on the removal of plastic wastes through various methods like recycling and reusing across the geographical locations in order to minimize the damage that has already been done because of irresponsible and careless use of plastics by the people. Many governments across the globe are already practicing such practices like many European countries have incentivized the waste collection processes and are rewarding the people to encourage more active participation as well as creating proper infrastructures for waste disposal. To encourage people to recycle Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles, the Gujarat government will soon set up around 20,000 to 25,0000 recycling machines across the state, which will pay for every bottle that is recycled. Making the announcement at a function held to celebrate World Environment Day at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said this will give incentives to both rag pickers as well as common man to recycle PET bottles, which is one of the biggest sources of plastic waste generation. “Not all plastic PET bottles get recycled. Only those that the rag pickers pick get recycled. We want to incentivize the common man to recycle and the recycling machines is a step in this direction,” said Rupani. (Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-now-gujarat-govt-to-pay-for-every-pet-bottle-you-recycle-2622534) Spiritual leader and founder of Isha Foundation Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev explains how plastic can be a boon for
- [Sustain Gains](https://faberinfinite.com/sustain-gains/): Equipments are the most important part of any manufacturing facility. The downtime and repairing costs of machinery is a very expensive and getting more expensive day by day. To tackle and reduce the downtime of machinery, many companies store spare parts of such machines at the manufacturing facility itself. However, as a result of this, companies fail to diagnose the real problem behind the failure of machines in the first place and consequently suffer from another downtime with time. This not only increases the costs of manufacturing by increasing the expenses on spare parts but also creates a very drastic impact in the productivity as well. This is just an example form the manufacturing setup. To avoid this and sustain the gain achieved, companies need to implement some corrective measures. A regular analysis and timely check-up and service can be a great alternative to keep the processes in check. Prevention Many people face troubles in sustaining the gain and fail to keep the graphs up. Prevention can be one of the most effective measures to keep the processes on the higher pitch. Instead of blaming oothersfor the problems and feeling content at solving the problem on a temporary basis, one should ask themselves questions that can lead themselves to the root cause of the problems. Many times, the same questions can also help the organizations in increasing the competency of the organization while ingraining preventive corrective measures in the system at the same time. Corrective measures are for every department Corrective measure should be implemented in every department involved in the manufacturing processes. It should not be limited only to the quality department of the production facility. One will definitely not be able to sustain the gains achieved from corrective measures by just applying them in the quality department. A thorough involvement of company’s resources in filling the gaps in the manufacturing processes in every department can only result in overall engagement thus consequently boosting the sustenance. Keep a tab on processes with high risks Processes carrying high risks are needs frequent audits in order to yield high results. Auditing these processes frequently is one of the most efficient methods to improve quality of products in automotive and aerospace manufacturing industry. It also provides the leadership with an insight if the corrective measures implemented are working in the desired manner or not. Ignore short term costs and focus on long term ROI Most of the companies fail in sustaining the developments because they worry too much about the incurring costs. One should focus on prioritizing quality rather than slip thinking about the costs. Corrective measures yielding permanent results might be expensive but leaves a concrete impact on the manufacturing processes. Quality must be treated as the foremost priority in order to provide a better customer service as well as acquisitioning and retention of customers as well. It is yet a very misunderstood concept. Corrective measures can act as a catalyst for any organization in sustaining the benefits achieved in the processes involved. Avoiding these will only result in recurrence of problems which will ultimately impact the various processes, systems and controls involved in the manufacturing processes of any industry. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [World Environment Day 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/world-environment-day-2018/):   Looking after the environment of our planet is our responsibility!  World Environment Day is one of the most important dates in the calendars to encourage and promote green initiatives and appeal to people to protect the environment of planet Earth all across the globe. United Nations started this in 1974 and the event is now widely celebrated. The theme of World Environment Day 2018 is “Beat Plastic Pollution” which invites everyone all around the globe to ingrain various actions in their daily lifestyle to minimize the heavy pollution caused by the use of plastics. The human population has constantly used plastics and consequently now relies on plastics more than ever. This has ultimately increased the burden of plastic waste on mother Earth. With more than 100 countries celebrating green environment, India hosts World Environment Day this year. The nation has put forward various actions to support the green initiative. Tamil Nadu state government has banned the plastic manufacture and use of plastic products (except in packaging of milk, curd and medical items) for a year in the state. Taking the same initiative forward, Indian Railways has also decided to abolish the practice of using plastic boxes for food packaging and has moved to biodegradable substances for the same. On this World Environment Day, let us come together and take some concrete actions to counter the environmental pollution. We must engrave that there is no Planet B in the universe in our minds. This is our planet and it is our responsibility to look after it and nurture it for us and for the coming generations. Let’s take a step closer towards a clean and green environment. Wish you all a Happy World Environment Day!
- [Be Objective to Achieve Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/be-objective-to-achieve-excellence/): Performance Management System (PMS) is one of the most talked about methodology in today’s world. Now a days many organizations are actively ingraining Performance Management System in their work culture in order to become more efficient in their work processes. What is Performance Management System? Performance Management System is an ongoing process of a transparent two-way communication between the employer and the employee. Its aim is to achieve the overall organizational goals in a definite period of time for which it is implemented. Key objectives – Eliminate subjectivity and measure employee’s performance objectively. Provide continuous feedback to the employee for improvement Facilitate smooth and unbiased objective based appraisals Promote star performers based on competence and performance Identify the training and development needs of the employees Determine the effectiveness of various programs Team Faber has helped organizations in successfully implementing Performance Management System in their facilities as well as at other workplaces. We firmly believe that objectively analyzing data and performances of various employees along with feedback is one of the prime motivators to thrust upon the numbers and help companies achieve their goals and targets. Our Experience Faber Infinite Consulting has been providing its services to its clients all over the world for more than 6 years now. We are known for achieving the targets and goals and have helped the companies in sustaining those growth numbers and development. We are currently supporting around a dozen clients across 8 countries in three different regions in implementing and garnering the most optimum results with Performance Management System. Being involved in these projects, we have successfully touched and trained more than 10,000 people.  Key Benefits of Performance Management System Among the various benefits of Performance Management System, the key benefits are listed below – Objective based Performance Management System removes subjectivity from the work culture, thus reducing the chances of favoritism Transparent system eliminates doubts from employees’ mind about the calculation methodology Extremely useful & easy to manage It facilitates the leadership in building high-performance teams High inter-department synergies Enhanced employee belongingness It promotes unbiased rewards and recognition methodology Re-organization & uniform work loading as derived from utilization Differentiators of Performance Management System offering by Faber Infinite Team Faber is a very avid and strong supporter of Performance Management System and suggests various companies to integrate this in their work culture in order to have a better and more efficient performance analysis of employees.  Some of the key differentiators are mentioned below – Performance Management System provides 12 improvement and review opportunities to the management per year against the traditional system which provides just 1 annual review Performance of an entire organization can be gauged in one dashboard; be it company performance, departmental/ team performance or individual performances PMS provides a holistic approach. A hierarchy driven weightage of company performance along with departmental and individual performances. It provides timely feedbacks and encourages ‘Team win’ over ‘Individual gains’ and helps the employees in evaluating themselves rather than depending on the management of the evaluations   Team Faber has always focused its efforts on improving the work culture of the modern industries and guide them to achieve continuous and sustainable development. Achieving excellence is what has always driven our work methodology. With Performance Management Systems, we believe the working labor of an organization can be made more productive and efficient, Moreover, with improvised evaluation, we encourage more and more participation of employees as well as motivate them to achieve what we have always believed in – excellence! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Parivartan – Making a Difference](https://faberinfinite.com/parivartan-making-a-difference/): Transformation journey is one of the quintessential stops in the road of achieving continual and sustainable development and growth. Team Faber is known for helping its clients achieve their targets by supporting and guiding the transformation journeys. In this edition of our newsletter, we bring you a tale from the floors of the largest manufacturers of cryogenic storage and distribution equipments of India – Chief Operating Officer at Inox CVA – Mr. Deepak Acharya opens up about various details of the company’s transformation journey. Excerpts below: Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 20,000 readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about the largest manufacturer of Cryogenic liquid storage and transport tanks in India Mr. Deepak Acharya (DVA) – We started our journey back in 1992 with a tie-up with a Japanese company who helped us in design and manufacturing of cryogenic vessels. We started with a target of 25 vessels per year and slowly developed our products to become a global player. We basically serve in four verticals namely, industrial gas, oil and gas, LNG and cryoscientific area. We have contributed to various projects that include ISRO and even in the Big Bang experiment carried out in Geneva, Switzerland. We started with an annual turnover of mere Rs. 5 lakhs. From then till now, we have come a long way and have reached a turnover of more than INR 450 crores from our India operations. We now have global presence with facilities in USA, Canada, Brazil and Europe to serve the various markets across the globe. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? DVA – When we started the company, we realized that the usual time for delivery of tanks by foreign companies was around 10-12 months. So we decided to keep 6 months as the initial target for us. Once we started growing, we saw that customers still wanted a shorter delivery time and hence we reduced ours to 3 months which created some difficulties for us. This was our primary challenge. However, after our association with Faber Infinite, we are actually cruising with it. Team Faber has helped us in streamlining in our operations, modified our earlier layout, established a standard line system and also in removing other bottlenecks that were actually creating obstacles in growth and development.  In addition to Work Pack system and Window Planning; we also implemented philosophies like Five S suggested by Team Faber integrating it with Safety and Synchronization in our workplace which has helped us tremendously in productivity. With all this help, we are now able to produce one tank per day thus producing 25 tanks in a month at our facility. FI – Progressive teams of INOX CVA are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? DVA – At Inox CVA, we strongly believe that people are our main strength because there are brilliant individuals who have helped us in developing this company. Moreover, we believe in having a customer-centric approach and try our best to be flexible with the demands of our customers. Our products are unique, which is another strength of ours. We also focus on complying with the industry standards and competition by including various modern technologies in our production processes. We want to provide efficient and quality product to our customers and that’s what we keep working on. FI – INOX CVA has rolled out the path-breaking organization transformation journey – Parivartan. We would love to understand more about it. DVA – As I said, we started our company in 1992 and till the last few years, we were working in the same fashion. It actually forced our business to become monotonous. It is then when we realized that things need to be changed. We felt a need to have a catalyst to change things for good. This is the basic concept behind ‘Parivartan’. With ‘Parivartan’, we aimed to find gaps between the present working methodologies and correct them to improve our productivity, quality and safety.  We also focused on creating a more effective operating environment with this. We implemented various projects to cut down our costs to meet with the competition and with ‘Parivartan’ we really got a thrust from downline of the hierarchy with the success of such projects. Team Faber also helped us in correcting the management of our bill of materials (BOM) which ultimately helped us in becoming more cost-efficient. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views about Faber’s role in the growth numbers? DVA – Faber Infinite played a very active and effective role in this transformation journey of ours. The consultants involved from Team Faber managed to have a great connection with the people from all layers of our workforce. They managed to hold hands of our workforce on the shop floor which consequently made people believe that things can change. They tried to help us in a very efficient manner by correcting the mistakes by training the people in a very effective manner which really helped the people in acquiring various advanced skill sets. They helped us substantially in improving things because though we knew how we can improve things, the methods which were required were taught and implemented by Team Faber. In short, the whole philosophy of problem-solving was taught to us by Faber Infinite Consulting. We thank Mr. Deepak Acharya and team INOX for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [What's Your Story?](https://faberinfinite.com/whats-your-story/): Transformation initiative of an organization defines the progress and development organization will witness as they move through the transformation journey. It will not be wrong to say that transformation initiatives are the key and one of the most vital influencers on which the business depends to innovate and comply with the increasing competition and customer demands. Challenges and difficulties are an obvious part of any transformation process. Every industry faces its own set of challenges while going through a transformation phase. Faber Infinite is a global leader in transformation consulting and specializes in helping the companies across industry verticals to tackle their challenges and move ahead on the roads of success and growth. We have a solid reputation to manage organizational change without forgetting the sustainability aspect of change. As mentioned earlier, every industry faces a whole different spectrum of challenges in their own respective transformation initiatives. However, there are two challenges that remain the same in almost every transformation initiative namely, lack of engagement and sustenance. Lack of engagement – This is one of the basic challenges that need to be tackled in order to implement a successful transformation initiative. Many employees of an organization undergoing change are apprehensive of the change. Though being aware of the fact that transformation initiatives are going to help improve the processes employees are reluctant to change. This apprehension amongst the employees about their future and their roles is the biggest hindrance to employee engagement. Team Faber has been actively steering many transformation initiatives and has been supporting clients to successfully implement and go through the transformation initiatives across 8 countries with approximately 100 clients in more than 50 different industries. Throughout these transformation initiatives, we have collaborated with more than 1000 teams and have helped over a million people to go through the transformation processes and embrace the change. Sustenance – Sustaining the transformation in the organization is another common problem which troubles the organization to the core. Faber Infinite has helped a number of companies in this aspect of transformation initiative. With the help of Team Faber and its services, one of the largest engineering companies in India managed to save around INR 32 million in the first year of the transformation initiative. The same internal team continued to work and sustain the developments and increased the savings to a total of INR 87 million in the second year. Key differentiators of Faber Infinite A global leader in organizational transformation consulting A record of producing minimum 10 times return on investments A result driven team of change management experts Modules and methodology which have proved their effectiveness in various industries Commit stakes with success linked fees Results delivered through Transformation by Team Faber in various industries 44% improvement in Manpower Productivity along with 37% improvement in Production throughput time at one of the world’s largest Cryogenic Tank manufacturer. The client also witnessed an increase in monthly revenue by INR 17 million with the same infrastructure in place. Team Faber helped a client in Tea processing industry of East Africa to improve its On Time In Full (OTIF) by more than 171%. A 56% improvement in inventory and 121% improvement in production were also witnessed at the client site. The client managed to improve its annual turnover by USD 1.2 million with the same infrastructure after Faber Infinite’s involvement. We helped a client from Textile machinery manufacturing industry to improve its manpower productivity and unit production per day by more than 167%. The client also saw an improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) by more than 26% as a result of Faber Infinite’s services. We have worked with a client in the logistics industry in improving the vehicle availability by more than 22.5%. The annual turnover also increased by more than 6.3 million KSH. We have worked with Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) and woven sack sector and helped in reducing wastage in the plant by more than 31% which helped the company in saving around INR 1.2 crore. The manpower cost was also reduced by 28%. There are many more case studies to share. This is just a glimpse of the results delivered at few of our esteemed clients. We have a broad experience in the vast range of industries and geographies and we ensure that we understand the needs of client’s business. Team Faber Infinite along with the client team moves through the transformation initiative from organization’s goals and principles down to smallest of the nuts and bolts to provide the maximum output. There are boundless opportunities and vast challenges in the initiative of transformation and Team Faber is confident to support in discovering the opportunities, crafting the systemic solutions and polishing the method of locking the gains. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Yet Again Faber of the Year!](https://faberinfinite.com/yet-again-faber-of-the-year/):   In the modern era of the competitive industrial world, it might not be wrong to say that consultants are the pioneers of excellence across industries across the globe. They play the role of a fulcrum in the transformation journey of any organization by flexing themselves to the needs of the organization and still providing exceptional results without a crack. Irrespective of the geographical variations, consultants are the drivers of continual development in today’s industrial world. In this edition of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite, we will peak into the life of our Faber of the Year for two consecutive years, Mr. Abhishek Pandey. Early life and Background Hailing from a small town in Orissa, our Faber of the Year holds a bachelors degree in electronics & instrumentation and has hands-on experience in different industries in various improvement projects. In his early career, he has worked for multiple manufacturing companies in the automobile sector. From Good to Better……… Abhishek’s journey as a consultant is quite appealing and inspirational. While working as a Production Engineer, there were many instances when our Faber of the Year was not satisfied with the processes and found scope for improvement for better efficiency. Because of this, he represented his company in many change management initiatives in his early years which we believe is a very fascinating event for any tech-savvy person. This slowly increased his interest in consulting. Abhishek is an expert in various lean and operation excellence tools. He is an expert in preparing operational excellence strategy and deploying the same for different sectors. He has experience in identifying opportunities, implementing the operational excellence tools and delivering excellent results across sectors. His skills have been utilized to improve and establish new business/ operations practices across several sectors. He has also led Organizational Design solutions and rollout for businesses across various sectors and geographies. He has been engaged as Transformation Program Lead. He has training and consulting experience in Operations, Materials/ Logistics Management, Quality Management Systems, and LEAN. His expertise in methodologies like 360-degree transformation, LEAN and ability to apply it across industries leads to improvements and quality consulting engagements that generate high impact benefits for the client’s top line as well as bottom-line. He has worked with clients across a range of industries including government or public sector project in India and Africa, Pharmaceutical, Engineering industries, service sector, Plastic industry, Process, automobile, Textile, Farm (Flower, Wheat & Barley) etc. “Being a consultant, I feel there is much more to learn than being any other professional. In other jobs, an individual is limited to just one field, while a consultant goes on exploring multiple fields which helps him to learn and grow to the higher level”, says Abhishek. Challenges – the other term for Consulting When asked about challenges, Abhishek had quite a reply which showcased why he won Faber of the Year for two consecutive years. “First and foremost challenge that any consultant faces is building bond and accord with the team he has to work with. One can’t just impose things on the team members and expect results from the implementation. One has to bind the team together and move ahead with the entire team.” Moreover, there are some other challenges as well as understanding the technical aspects of various factors on gemba as well which a consultant enjoys solving with his zeal and passion. Abhishek specializes in woven sack industry; however, he has worked in many other industries including plastic, chemical, engineering, trading, farm and many more. Consultants are never off duty! A consultant is never off duty and Abhishek avidly agrees with the statement. “A consultant is like a doctor in an organization who checks on the health of the workplace, finds the improvement areas and suggests methods to improve. The only difference is that he has to be more focused and involved with the patient than a real one.” A consultant can let his thoughts run freely in any direction. Since he is linked with many industries, the scope for learning becomes manifold for a consultant. This is the key driving force that keeps the consultant on his toes to work and thrive even in a very hectic schedule. Motivation, Inspiration and Achievements As mentioned earlier, Abhishek has won the title of ‘Faber of the Year’ for two consecutive years and has been awarded as ‘Faber of the Month” multiple times. To achieve these, one has to constantly motivate and encourage themselves to stay on the top. When asked about what keeps him motivated, Abhishek replied, “I like creating big changes; changes that can actually shake the gemba for good. This really keeps me moving and helps me in doing better every day. Apart from this, I always thrive to add value to the client with my work since it is the client who is paying you to bring improvements in the organization. Feedbacks from the clients and support from the team actually pushes one in achieving something good, something concrete and undeniable.” Abhishek is one of the senior consultants at Faber Infinite and has been involved in dozens of projects across various regions and has delivered exceptional results at the client sites. He is known as a team player and has received excellent feedback from almost all of the clients he has worked for. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Delivering Results Yet Again!](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-results-yet-again/): The agricultural sector is one of the most basic and fundamental sector which has been making considerable contributions to any country’s GDP. Farms and agricultural lands are now recognized as one of the most opportune and potential business sectors. They are not just a primitive source of income but now have caught the attraction of many industrialists for investments with quintessential opportunities of garnering profits. Faber Infinite with expertise in Operational Excellence Practices has been working with leading commercial farms across 8 countries with an objective to build competitiveness and higher returns on investment (ROI) based on the principles of Operational Excellence and Continual Improvement. We have been working with leaders in the industry with an objective to build a transformation culture. Faber Infinite’s Farm Transformation toolkit specially developed for farms helps them to increase the production, manpower productivity, reduce rejects and other wastes. Exceptional results have been delivered across various farms ranging from flower, tea, wheat, soya, vegetables, etc. Our experience in Agricultural and Farming sector Faber Infinite has always focused on delivering results and is known for the same among the clients. We have a cumulative experience of more than 200 years in this domain where we have provided our services and delivered results in more than 8 countries across 3 different regions. We cater to the needs of dozens of clients in commercial farming. Moreover, we also have experience in training the manpower to keep them abridge of the latest trends and have trained more than 10,000 people from this domain. Typical Improvement Areas It is very important to identify areas that need improvement in order to reach the root cause of any challenge and then work on it to improve the system. Some of the key areas of improvement are as follows: Reduction in rejection of flowers Productivity improvement of land Quality improvement Inventory management Flow improvement in pack house to improve ‘On Time in Full’ supplies to customers. Increase in labor productivity Reduction in customer complaints Improvement in transport operations of flowers Reduction in energy and fuel cost Cold chain Improvement Projects Physical Workplace improvement Lead Time Reduction Daily Work Management to sustain improvement Results Delivered Again… Any transformation journey or implementation of modules is evaluated by the results it delivers. We are proud that our highly effective implementation journey has delivered phenomenal results over and over again with time. Some of the benefits achieved are mentioned below: We helped farms in generating potential additional revenue by ~11 MN KSh / Annum An improvement in flower production by more than 25% was witnessed as a result of Team Faber’s efforts Farms achieved ~83% improvement in Value Adding Ratio (VAR) in the post-harvest process (cutting to packing) Farms also saw a 45% reduction in Lead Time for pack house after the involvement of Team Faber At the same time, a 21% reduction in inventory for pack house was also achieved More importantly, farms were able to increase their harvest productivity by more than 39% and packhouse productivity by 47% Field rejection reduced by 68% Packhouse rejection reduced by 71% Customers felt more satisfied and a drop of more than 70% was seen in customer complaints The implementation also helped farms in reducing costs by reducing inventory carrying cost by more than 53% 18% reduction in the number of touch points and 49% reduction in was achieved in distance traveled in Pack House Faber Infinite also helped its clients in saving ~9 MN KSh / Annum Water saving in Pack House was also increased to approximately 93,600 litres on an annual basis Reduction in dead plants in Green House by 60% Increase in customer satisfaction index from 50% to 85% Faber Infinite Creative Solutions believes in creating a more holistic and opportune farming sector by increasing the conditions of this sector. We believe that creating a sustainable structure for every industry is important and we thrive to build one for this sector as well. We very firmly support the companies of farming sector and very avidly push our efforts in the forward direction to help the industry grow as well as create a paradigm of overall development for those involved too.   Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Train to Gain Profitability](https://faberinfinite.com/train-to-gain-profitability/): Competitiveness in the 21st-century corporate world has forced many organizations to ingrain various tools and techniques in order to gain profitability and move on the road of continuous development and growth. Five S is a very efficient workplace organization tool to improve the efficiency of the manpower and tools by reducing various wastes. It also helps the organization in increasing the morale and engagement of the employees due to improved workplace environment and work culture. Team Faber recently conducted a training workshop at Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) on how to improve employee engagement at the workplace using the improvised Five S + Safety (Six S) training methodology. Objectives of the workshop The primary objective of the workshop was to create awareness among the employees and leadership about the various engagement benefits of the Five S + Safety (Six S) methodology. Understand the various other benefits of the tool and instill the various processes associated with it Make the workforce aware of the importance of safety and other relevant systems and controls Feedback! Feedbacks play an important role in any kind of maneuvers and impact the morale of the team as well. The training workshop conducted by Team Faber at ACMA was received extremely well. The overall feedback of the entire workshop was 84% and the topics covered were rated relevant and innovative by the participants. The course structure and workshop method were also praised by the leadership at ACMA. The training workshop was one of the many successful workshops organized and conducted by Team Faber at various organizations. We focus towards the goals and objectives of various organizations and create modules as per the need of the corporates. Moreover, we also assist companies in training the workforce to keep up with the changing trends of the ever-evolving industrial world of 21st century. At Faber Infinite, we are profoundly inclined towards helping the companies in achieving excellence and continual improvement with our various specially crafted training modules.
- [Focus on "Purpose"](https://faberinfinite.com/focus-on-purpose/): Many motivational speakers and philosophers have focused on the word ‘Purpose’. Defining one’s purpose is one of the key aspects of using the potential of an individual, a team or of an organization to the fullest. People need to realize that defining their purpose for themselves will not only help them focus but will also keep them motivated towards doing better and achieving more. The purpose of an organization is a very powerful tool to rally the workforce towards delivering better. It improves the communication as well as infuses a sense of value in the stakeholders. Below are some of the reasons why defining purpose leads to success. Be the answer for “Why you and not them?” The customers in the modern world are now more sensible and demanding than ever. Moreover, with the increased competition, they now have more options as well. Hence, one really has to be unique and expert in their services and products. The customer now buys products not because what you do, but because why you do it. One must ingrain uniqueness and novelty to their products and services in order to get hold of the attention of their customers. The organization’s purpose should be to make the customer feel appreciated and touch their hearts. They should be able to bring value to the customer and fulfill their needs with authentic and reliable products and services. Make the team members believe in something meaningful Employees from the most critical aspect of an organization. The organization needs to create something that is able to garner profound interests of the team members. The employees should feel inspired by the organization’s work immensely and should be able to keep themselves abridged with the same. They need to feel appreciated and valued in the work culture of the company and should be able to sync themselves with the values and principles of the organization. This really creates a motivated staff and drives them to deliver better. Apart from this, it also drives positivity in the workforce, making them more optimistic and consequently delivering optimized and efficient results. Decisions in sync with purpose keeps the company on the right tracks Whatever the purpose be of on organization, it should be crystal clear and definitely more than an agenda. One must evaluate their decision-making process to see if it is true to their purpose. One should also put forward a statement such that even the leadership cares about the ‘purpose’. Working together as a team towards fulfilling the objectives of the company is a very powerful tool that can emphasize efforts of the individuals towards the purpose of the organization. Furthermore, putting forward the core belief of the company can create an opportune as well as holistic and better operating environment for all. So, go define the purpose and unlock the potential of individual, team and most important the potential of the organization. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Problem Solving Methodology with 8d (Eight Discipline) Techniques](https://faberinfinite.com/problem-solving-methodology-with-8d-technique/): Eight Disciplines (8D) is a problem-solving methodology that helps in finding solutions to complex problems. It’s a process of working through details of a problem to reach a solution. It may include mathematical or systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual’s critical thinking skills. It is a unique technique that helps: To enhance creativity Improve ownership of the problem Develop structured thinking among employees Improve teamwork Enhance ‘flow of information’ among team members Helpful in developing multi-tasked team members The purpose of this methodology is to identify, correct, and eliminate recurring problems, and it is focused on product and process improvement. It establishes a permanent corrective action based on statistical analysis of the problem and on the origin of the problem by determining the root causes. here we listed 8D methodology. Steps of 8D techniques through Problem Solving methodology   1. Establish the team – Identify and make cross-functional teams for specific problems. Train the team on team-oriented problem-solving techniques. The objective of this step is to make teams more efficient since working as individuals is often less proficient. Working in groups maximizes the potential of the outcome. It will also help to get people with different product and process knowledge to work together.   2. Define the problem – This is the stage where you need to most accurately describe the problem. An adequate problem  description is equal to at least 50% of its solution. Problem description is the starting point to further step of analysis and proper understanding of the nature of the problem for the team as well as people from outside. Take time to clearly define the problem with facts. Good problem definition is critical to determining the root cause. 3. Take short term action / Containment Action – Containment is the systematic search and quarantine of suspected nonconforming product throughout the supply/delivery chain. 4. Determine root cause – When identifying root cause the team should focus on why the issue occurred first, and then secondly on how the defect was missed.  There are different techniques that are used to determine the root cause. Asking Why 5 times is the simplest technique. 5. Develop corrective action – Once the Root Cause is found it’s usually clear what the Corrective Action needs to be. The Corrective Action must address the Root Cause!!! There may be multiple Corrective Actions and some actions may address Contributing Causes – this will make your solution more robust in case other factors change in the future. Corrective Action for the problem itself (Occurrence) plus the “Detection” issues need to be implemented to address the full dimension of the issue 6. Implement / Validate corrective action – It’s necessary that we “maintain the gain” The Corrective Action has to address the Root Cause, so it’s important that a follow-up audit verifies that the Root Cause was eliminated! Someone with a vested interest who was not part of the Corrective Action team should be chosen to follow up. In some cases, verification should be done soon after implementation and again after several weeks to verify that the change really is permanent. 7. Prevent recurrence – Addressing the Systemic issues is key to Preventing Recurrence. We need to share these best practice solutions, so others can learn from our work. 8. Recognize the team efforts – Permanently eliminating problems is extremely satisfying in itself but team members provide an important service by working on the problem, so management should recognize the efforts of the people participating in Corrective Actions The 8D Corrective Action process is necessary for continual improvement. It should be a part of any organization’s culture and needs to be ingrained into DNA of the organization.
- [Get Lean to Stay Lean!](https://faberinfinite.com/get-lean-to-stay-lean/): Lean manufacturing is one of the hot topics for waste reduction and manufacturing in large quantities all around the world. It is one of the most sought out manufacturing process to reduce ingrain efficiency in the manufacturing processes and reduce wastes (MUDA) at the same time. It is also widely recognized as a proven method to improve labour productivity as well. In this blog of our transformation Tuesday, we will enlighten our readers with tools to reduce the amount of waste in their production processes which will ultimately help them in beaming their steps towards lean manufacturing. 1. The Five S Program We have earlier also talked about a lot about the benefits of 5S tools and methodology in implementing lean principles in any manufacturing process at any manufacturing facility. The 5S program provides a detailed and scientific framework for workplace management ensuring better efficiency and higher productivity. Below is a detailed version of 5S program. Sort – It is one of the primary steps to reduce waste in any manufacturing process. It includes removal of any non-value adding activities by running various sorting activities. Set in Order – Keeping things in order ensure a better and smooth operation of various processes involved in a manufacturing process which is essentially required for better productivity. It also helps the manufacturer in keeping the quality of the product to an optimum level. Shine – Shine is basically about keeping the workplace clean and organized to assist in the various system controls and tools in keeping the wastes to the lowest levels possible. Standardization – Operating under a given set of standards is highly important in any manufacturing facility. It is very important that the equipments used in process and the manpower involved is highly inclined towards the standards set and operates under the same. Sustain – The last step in the Five S program is to sustain all the above-discussed steps for a successful implementation of the Five S program at a manufacturing facility. It also includes performing regular audits, training the workforce and various other steps to keep the processes on the track and holding them from pivoting to any other direction. 2. Ingrain 3Ms Ingraining 3Ms (Muda, Mura, and Muri) in any waste reduction process is quintessential for the success of the process. Muda – Muda stands for waste and what it conveys is reducing the amount of waste to almost a negligible quantity in the final product of the manufacturing process. Mura – It stands for balancing out the imbalances in any production process thus making it more optimized and facilitating in reducing waste products. Muri – Muri refers to stress which arises due to working rigorously for long hours. This must be kept under control to ensure a smooth flow of processes across the facility. Lean manufacturing is the need of the hour of today’s competitive manufacturing industry. Ingraining it will not only help in reducing wastes but will also assist the manufacturers in saving time and money, reducing the defects, better inventory management, logistics, controlling overproduction and in many other aspects of manufacturing. Its benefits are countless and quite profound when implemented in an organized and efficient manner. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Customer Service is the key to Customer Retention](https://faberinfinite.com/customer-service-is-the-key-to-customer-retention/): Customer services are a vital Influencer in keeping the business at the brim of profits. It is a well-known fact that customer retention is more important and effective in a business rather than customer acquisition and providing better customer services helps one in doing the same. Poor customer services are more like an ill stratum of system ingrained in the business operations. According to a research report, as a result of poor customer services, businesses have lost more than $75 billion annually which is more than 13% of what the companies were losing in the year 2016. When talked about customer services, one can never neglect the importance of human communication and connection that makes a customer feel important and appreciated. The leadership of an organization that includes CEOs and Directors should keep an eye on providing better customer services to the customers rather than just focusing their strategies on quality and cost. Many might think that quality and cost are the only key players in moving a market and customer services area mere propaganda to keep the customers in the loop. Such approaches to businesses are very fatal and unethical. Obviously, cost and quality do play a huge role in attracting and acquiring the customers, but at the same time, better customer services help one in keeping the customers; in retaining them and gaining their trust and confidence which will ultimately boon the business of the company. There are various factors that differentiate a good customer service from a bad one. Below are some of the key points one should remember while devising a customer service guideline and structure. 4 key points of Customer Service Training of employees to keep them updated so that they can answer the questions satisfactorily. Building a better infrastructure so that the customers do not need to wait while seeking answers or help. The behavior of the employees plays an important role in making the customers feel appreciated. Aware and trained technical team to provide the much needed technical assistance. What to do? According to a research, more than 39 percent of the people said that they will never turn back towards some company where they were not provided a better service. This is a very huge number that is impactful enough to ruin many businesses. Moreover, it impacts the brand name as well. Hence, the question is, what should companies do to provide better customer services and consequently retain them. Team Faber has been helping companies focus more on creating a more sustainable structure of customer services rather than just for the namesake. We help them design a well-devised customer strategy that can assist them in creating a better customer experience. Apart from these Team Faber, there are various other points where we assist organizations, training of the employees, providing enough attention to the customers, resolving their issues at the earliest and many more that can make a customer feel satisfied. And most importantly we inculcate the human touch that is the most important connection with the customer. Though we live in a digital world, there is nothing more than the human touch that can make a customer feel more appreciated. Faber preaches that the key to better customer service is keeping the connection, complying with the needs of the consumer and ultimately holding onto them. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [4 Steps to Create Engaging and Productive Work Environment](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-create-productive-work-environment/): In the modern competitive corporate world, creating a profound engaging and productive work environment is a challenge for many organizations. The productivity of an employee is largely dependent on his engagement at his workplace. It is very important for the leadership to keep the team members motivated in order to have a better engagement of the employees and subsequently better productivity. Planning and Engagement at work The engagement and productivity of the employees are highly circumstantial and depends on what kind of planning. They use in their daily work culture along with the kind of disruptions and blockages they face in their daily planning. Usually, the work process of an employee is impacted or influenced by two planning methods in this modern corporate world – a) Time management planning, and b) Contingent planning. Time Management Planning Time management planning is basically managing one’s tome, prioritizing and scheduling tasks, making to-do lists etc. It is used by many employees across the globe. The other planning method used by the employees is Contingent planning. Under this, the employee makes his daily plans as per his time but also takes in consideration the disruptions that he might face during his work period. In this order, he prioritizes things and proceeds to get his tasks done in the planned duration. Contingency Planning The reason to explain the difference between the two planning methods above is to make the people aware of the basic difference between the two planning methods. One might ask the role such planning methods play in increasing engagement and productivity of an employee. The answer is very simple, when a person can evaluate the disruptions he might face and plans his day according to that. He obviously, in turn, is more aware of his schedule and has enough time in hand to prepare himself for the desired work after the disruptions, be it emotional, work-related or any other in particular. Guide to plan your day! One should always plan his advance and should spend sufficient time planning it. Giving time for planning is the key to have a better and more productive day. Anticipate the kind of the day you think you will have and plan accordingly. While planning, also think of the possible disruptions you might face during the entire day. Prioritize your tasks, make to-do lists and move on with scheduling of your tasks that you have been assigned for that day. You can also include some of the pending work which you think you can give time to complete in that given time period. Outline the entire plan, take your breaks, and engage yourself with your work on the next day since you are quite aware of the possible distractions and the amount of time you need to pivot your attention from the same. One can move on with time management planning method if he feels that he might not face any kind of disruptions or distraction the next day while planning. Both the above-mentioned planning methods are supposed to make the employee more engaged in his work and consequently become more productive. However, contingent planning has an edge over time-management planning method. It is a very obvious fact that with an increase in the number of interruptions, a time management plan will start to fail thus adding a burden on the employee which might end up frustrating him. Although, contingent planning methods are more precise. The reason they are not being used by many employees around the world is because they are not known by many. However, recent trends show that there is a serious need of a better engagement of employees for better productivity and contingent planning simply unties the knot for you! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Craft customer centricity for holistic development in business](https://faberinfinite.com/craft-customer-centricity-for-holistic-development-in-business/): Customers are the sole influencer in making a business profitable. It is very important for any businessperson to keep his customers satisfied and contained with the services he provides. One has to realize that retaining a customer is a much more important factor in building a business than acquisition one and has to rebuild his policies and work culture keeping the customer satisfaction in focus along with the aim of creating a viable operating environment for the workforce. Customers in the 21st century are a lot more advanced and demanding than ever. Nowadays, they look for options that are hassle-free, cost efficient and provides quality and value at the same time. Hence, becoming customer-centric is the need of the hour if one wants to stay in the run in this competitive market. But, before moving on to the ways to become customer-centric, let us first have a look at why is it difficult for one to become customer-centric. Reasons why it is difficult to become customer centric! Every company has its work culture and runs on its fundamental values and ethics and believes in them in order to achieve their targets and goals. However, many times, sticking to the same work culture makes a company rigid and inflexible to the changing market and customer demands. Becoming customer-centric demands a change in work culture and integrating customer services protocols in the company does not only need a change in the work culture but also demands to transform the entire company. Seven pillars of customer centricity Experience – Customer experience is key to building a business. Companies which are good in satisfying their customers share a more positive and impactful brand name with them. Loyalty – Companies should keep a record of their loyal customers and should constantly introduce various interesting offers and reward offers to keep the customers interested. Communications – Communication plays a very important role in creating a healthy relationship between the company and the customers. Companies may create customized message and dialogues to make the customers feel special. Assortment – Companies should be able to cater to the demands of the customers and should assert their products in accordance with it. Promotions – Promotions are a great way to leverage customers. Promoting your brand creates awareness as well as helps you in harvesting trust among the customers towards the brand. Price – Pricing plays a key factor in attracting the customers. Companies should price their products in line with the perception of usage of products by the consumers. Feedback – Hearing customer and their feedbacks and responding to them can create an emotional bond between the company and the consumer.  Customer Experience is the key! Customer experience is the key to creating a loyal customer who is attracted to the company and its services for a longer duration of time. It is one of the most important jobs of the customer to create an exceptional aura of the company and its services that the consumer feels delighted and keeps returning to them to get products and services as per their need. Moreover, a better customer experience also helps the company in gaining credibility in the market among other consumers who can later turn into a viable prospect for the company. This clearly indicates towards the fact that customer experience is the key to unlock potential growth numbers and seep into continual development. Team Faber has been helping organizations in doing business with the customers in such a way that it provides a positive customer experience before as well as after the sale to drive repetitive business, profits and loyalty. Organizations need to go that extra mile and work towards providing more than the goods or service.
- [Achieve goals through Performance Management System](https://faberinfinite.com/achieve-organization-goals-with-performance-management-system/): Performance Management Systems are one of the most quintessential processes of communication in an organization in order to achieve the goals and targets set by the leadership of the organization. In precise words, it is a framework that provides the company with a roadmap to create a program that can help one in achieving a continual and sustainable development through the fiscal year. Performance Management System (PMS) plays a very vital role in creating a more optimized development program. Even Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has been talking about its vitality and has recently asked the leadership of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) to develop a framework to promote and encourage development activities in around 100 cities across the nation. The primary aim of Performance Management Systems is to make efficient use of employees’ skills and resources to achieve the set goals, targets and objectives. Characteristics of a good Performance Management System: A well-planned concept and standardized guidelines for the employees about their collective contribution towards the company’s objectives and goals. A good PMS elucidates development plans that include personal development and takes in the account already set objectives linked to company’s strategies and work plan throughout the year. They also include training sessions and its guidelines as well as focuses on feedback mechanism of the company as well. A well-designed Performance Management System implicates itself over the course of time and does not limit itself to just one or two fiscal years. it is an ongoing process that motivates all the parties to indulge themselves in an active plan that focuses on achieving development. It also helps in making the employees realize their roles and responsibilities in helping the organization in achieving their targets. An important feature of Performance Management System is that it reduces the communication gap between the departments and help in establishing an effective communication system across the various department of the company. The leadership is well informed with the implementation of performance management system. It provides the managers with a detailed assessment of various topics and also provides a clear framework along with it. It focuses on information and data and helps the company in gathering that through meetings and discussions rather than promoting emotionally driven huddles with very little information to flow through. It works on a previously defined performance period and is flexible to the changing demands of the organization no matter the change be in objectives, demands or strategies. Performance Management Systems are a proven schema of a step-by-step process to move constantly towards growth and development and achieve them in a defined period of time. They have various benefits. Performance Management System for Growth and Development It adds consistency to the work culture of the organization and helps the organization in providing genuine job feedbacks to the employees. Motivates the workforce to do better and add value to the organization through their work and also helps the organization in retaining the uplifted morale of the team members. Creating a whole plethora of learning lessons and training to keep the workforce updated and competitive with the evolving commercial world. It also saves leadership’s times and helps in avoiding conflicts and issues that might force them to pivot their focus from the objectives. Establishes an evaluation system to keep the managers updated about the strength and requirements about and in the workforce. Team Faber has been helping organizations across industries and geographies to successfully design and implement performance management systems. We follow a holistic approach that has a hierarchy driven approach with weightage for company performance, departmental performance and individual performance. It provides timely feedback, there is an elimination of favoritism, transparency, team win over the individual win and includes evaluation by self and not by the boss. It is a two-way communication between employee and employer for a defined period of time with the objective to achieve organization goals. Ready to supercharge your goal achievement with a Performance Management System? Unlock your team’s full potential and drive success. Fill out the form below to discover how to implement an effective Performance Management System and start achieving your goals today!
- [You are what you measure !](https://faberinfinite.com/you-are-what-you-measure/): ‘You are what you measure!’ The above sentence is quite apt in its own way. In the era of digitalization, data has become one of the key entities in building and running a business successfully. Whatever you measure, whatever you calculate plays a vital role in influencing your work strategies, work culture and improvement plans. In short and precise words, data has become the driver of decisions in this modern 21st century. A proper set of data helps one in molding a more optimized and holistic approach towards the development schemes and makes them more impactful and effective in the due course. It defines the way one would move ahead in business and encompasses the kind of future it will witness. In short, it defines who you are and what will you become. Among the many important benefits of data collection and analysis, some of the most important ones are listed below: Data collection and analysis helps in structuring and defining the findings of data collected from various different sources. Gathering data and analyzing them during problematic situations helps one in breaking the entire situation in bits and pieces thus, making it easy to be solved or tackled. Analyzing data once it is collected helps one in chunking out the important pieces out of huge sets of data. Data adds value to the research and puts away the biases that might affect the conclusion of the research or improvement programs. Data management programs are incredibly important for businesses as they help the companies to work on their vulnerabilities and fix their operations in by working with the huge loads of data. Uncovering patterns and correlations can prove to be extremely advantageous for the companies as a means of data analysis since it can be used as an effective medium to unearth the hidden potential of the company and can be played over it. Data management is the key to unlock success in the digital industrial world of 21st century. It might not be wrong to say that data today is the key influencer in decision making in many organizations. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions has been a very avid supporter of data collection and management and understands the importance of data in today’s competitive world. We have carried out and have been involved in a countless number of data management programs and have helped numerous companies in achieving continual growth and sustainable development. Moreover, we have also assisted many companies across industries and different regions to collect and analyze data and articulate dashboards in accordance. This has subsequently helped the companies in having a clear insight into the system and their particular requirements to create a more sustainable operating environment.
- [Drive Transformation Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/drive-transformation-journey/): There are various factors that contribute to successful transformations in any organization. Any large scale change or transformation such as going from being good to becoming great involves cultural change, employee engagement, top management engagement, cost reduction, a clear vision and well-defined strategies for growth and improvement. For any transformation big or small following factors should be considered: Employee Engagement – The people who will be the part of the transformation should be engaged in the journey right from the beginning. Leaders need to identify the underlying mindset that needs to be changed in the organization. There should be a clearly defined roles and responsibilities structure for each employee who is the part of the transformation. Strong leadership – Strong leadership and maintaining energy for change among employees are two factors of success that strengthen each other when implemented well. For example, when leaders ensure that there is a sense of ownership and accountability among the staff members, the results show a 70 percent success rate for transformations. When employees take the initiative to drive change, transformations have a 71 percent success rate. When both factors are implemented well, the success rate rises to 79 percent. Spread the positivity – Organizations transformation should be celebrated as success and the focus should not solely be on change and the need for change. Focusing on the positives early in the journey also connects strongly with success Companies that undertake transformational change have to succeed at the basics, such as creating clear, stretching targets and defining a clear structure.  
- [A satisfied customer is the best business strategy](https://faberinfinite.com/a-satisfied-customer-is-the-best-business-strategy/): In April 2017, a 69-year-old doctor, David Dao, was forcibly removed from a United flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport because the flight was overbooked. The man was dragged up the aisle of the United airplane by an airport security officer after he refused to get off the plane. It was a video that very few people will forget. But can people forgive United? Many customers have moved on and are once again focused on other issues like price and convenience, but a new survey found that some have yet to put the issue to rest. Consumer perception of United is still far below what it was this time last year. This issue highlights that any organization needs to take care of the internal as well as external customers. Customer centricity should be the focus of any organization. They should work towards building it. What a customer expects today is that organizations should walk an extra mile to give that wow. Team Faber has worked with one of the largest engineering company in India to deliver an extremely successful customer centricity improvement program and the results have been extremely good. Team Faber has been helping organizations in doing business with the customers in such a way that it provides a positive customer experience before as well as after the sale to drive repetitive business, profits and loyalty. Organizations need to go that extra mile and work towards providing more than the goods or service. While working on the customer strategy, organizations should focus on customer happiness and satisfaction. This is what we call customer delight. It is the most important aspect of any business. Customer needs to be treated like a kid. We should continuously keep that enthusiasm in the minds of the customers. Organizations should provide the customer with quality along with variety and engagement. A satisfied customer will stick longer with an organization. Like kids customers too have certain demands and it is the responsibility of the organization to fulfill them. It is also the organization’s responsibility to keep the customers excited and on the edge with varieties and different engaging plans and strategies. Customer both internal, as well as external, should be treated as a kid. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Change is never Painful](https://faberinfinite.com/change-is-never-painful/): Change is a part of life be it personal or professional and there is no way of getting around it. So we need to accept that change is the only thing constant even though it can sometimes feel uncomfortable, it is what builds our business and keeps us growing. Leaders cannot control change, but they need to plan for the resistance to change from the start of any change management program. They need to understand the most common reasons why employees resist change. Few of the reasons for resistance are as follows: Fear of unknown Lack of clarity on change Lack of trust Lack of skills or competence Lack of understanding on the need for change Change in the status quo Any change will always begin with denial followed by confusion and gradually there will be acceptance to change Team Faber has been working with organizations across industries and geographies helping them in the transformation journey. We help organizations manage change. We imbibe the culture of ownership and accountability. We work on the behavioral aspect of people so that there is a sense of ownership among the people and they work to change for better. We have been helping organizations design objective-based Performance Management System which not only helps them to measure individual performance but also track the performance of the organization as well as department level. This brings in a lot of accountability in the team and helps them to work towards improvement. Team Faber has been helping organizations design structured rewards and recognition system to ensure there is motivation and to ensure that such change initiatives do not fail. Team Faber has thus been driving the transformation journey for organizations across geographies and sectors using its unique Organizational Transformation Framework© For further details contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri 
- [Change Starts with Me!](https://faberinfinite.com/change-starts-with-me/): Change is a very old phenomenon. Change has what created worlds and also destroyed them. The world we live in today came into existence with such a similar phenomenon. The changed behavior between to particles which lead to birth to the first of what we today call as humans. Change is what has created opportunities for who embraces it and creates problems for who resists it.  Change is what leads to the evolution of new civilizations and extinction of who failed to predict and act upon it. But change has much more positive effects than negatives. Change in people’s thinking and working capabilities has brought advances in many sectors such as technology, healthcare and many more. But none of these changes happened overnight. They all had their challenges and struggles but had one thing in common, the willingness of a single person to bring change. The Indian freedom struggle began with the willingness of single person Mahatma Gandhi. Today we live in the enlightened world due to the willingness of a single person Thomas Alva Edison to build an electric light bulb. The one thing that we all are hooked to our cell phone was invented due to the willingness of a single person to change something, Alexander gram Bell. These examples clarify that change is more about you than them. If you want to change something you are the one who has to stand up and start walking towards it. People may join you in your journey you have to take the first step. Mahatma Gandi took the first step and his followers joined him towards quit India movement but it all began with his first step. With change, there should be accountability and responsibility. When you promote change you should not be dependent on the team or the people around. You should take the initiative and work towards the change for improvement. Organizations should work on imbibing the value of change management for improvement. They should work on the behavioral aspect of the manpower. They should help to imbibe the sense of ownership among the employees so that they accept the change for better and for improvement. Secondly, they should design an objective based Performance Management System which not only helps to measure individual performance but also track the performance at the organization as well as department level. This brings in a lot of accountability in the team and helps them to work towards improvement. Thirdly they should help them to design structured rewards and recognition system to ensure there is motivation and to ensure that such change initiatives do not fail. So let us join hands together to be the change we wish to see around us and not wait for the change to happen. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Build and develop quality controls with Poka Yoke](https://faberinfinite.com/build-and-develop-quality-controls-with-poka-yoke/): More than 200 million eggs were called back in Northern California in the United States of America after they were suspected of contamination with salmonella, a type of bacteria that causes serious illness and deaths, particularly among children and elderly people. The above incident is a clear portrayal of a mistake driven process that has affected a lot of individuals in the country as well as the trade and commerce. The above incident is associated with one of the largest poultry farms in the US who produced around 2.3 million eggs a day. Mistakes are a part of businesses. It is the mistakes that rectify our mistakes and guide us in building more efficient processes capable of providing optimum results. They control the entire drive and help one to steer the business to garner more revenues and better platforms to conduct businesses in order to strengthen the foundation of the business. Poka Yoke is a great way to proof your businesses from mistakes and keep mishaps like these at bay from happening in the businesses. ‘Mistake Proofing’ or ‘Inadvertent Error Prevention’ that acts and facilitates the manufacturer in avoiding mistakes and errors from sabotaging their business platforms and the model. It is a lean manufacturing process that assists the manpower in optimizing their work processes and avoids equipment related mistakes. Poka Yoke is a great method to avoid human errors and fool-proof the manufacturing process from errors and mistakes. Its purpose is to eliminate product defects and subsiding the errors involved in the process. The term on a broader concept defines the behavior-shaping constraint in order to train the workforce to design a process which is error proof and more efficient in providing results that are desired by the manufacturing unit. There are basically three types of Poka Yoke that can be used to remove errors and prevent their recurrence in a manufacturing unit. The three are mentioned below: Contact method – It identifies the defects in the product by testing the product’s physical attributes like shape, size, colors etc. Fixed value method – Fixed value method or constant method helps the operator in identifying missing rotations or steps that might have been left out during the manufacturing process Motion step method – This method checks if the prescribed motions for the manufacturing has been followed or not. It is also called sequence method. There are many advantages of using Poka Yoke in the manufacturing systems. They are as follows: Helps in reducing training time for the workforce It helps in eliminating many operations that are related to quality control It also helps the operators in focusing on other tasks by reducing their work from repetitive operations It encourages more and more team members to involve in work improvement oriented approaches that ultimately adds value to the work processes of the organization Reduces the rejection rates of the manufacturer’s products Reduces the reaction time of the organization in an emergency or in situations of need Team Faber has been helping clients across industries and geographies with Poka Yoke techniques which helps them to eliminate product defects and subsiding the errors involved in the process thus leading to improvement and growth.
- [World Day for Safety and Health at Work - 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/world-day-for-safety-and-health-at-work-2018/): Safety! We have been talking about this for a long time. Safety is one of the most underrated yet, the most important aspect of any workplace. International Labour Organization (ILO) has declared 28th April as the World Day for Safety and Health to create more awareness about the occupational hazards at the workplace and promote strategies and tools and techniques to prevent these occupational hazards. One must realize that safety comes first. Manpower is the asset in possession of any organization and protecting the assets is key in order to achieve success and better revenues. Being safe is a very profound feeling that can help the organization in getting the best out of the labor force. Encompassing safety measures at the workplace will create a more holistic and better operating environment for the organization under which the organization can nourish their goals and work culture to achieve the unexplored. On this World Day for Safety and Health, let us take a pledge to create a better and safe environment and work consistently towards it to secure our future from mishaps and accidents and move ahead together to achieve safety and better health standards at the workplaces! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Crafting Excellence in FMCG Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-excellence-in-fmcg-industry/): Fast-moving consumer goods or FMCG sector is the 4th largest contributor to the Indian economy. With the evolution in the industrial sector of the country, the demand to move consumer goods has been exponentially increased in the past few years. More and more sects of the industries are now associating themselves with the FMCG industry. It is expected to reach the US $1.1 trillion by 2020 in the Indian sub-continent itself. Faber Infinite Creative Solution has been an active participant in crafting excellence in the FMCG industry and helping companies to achieve continual and sustainable development. At Faber Infinite, we have devised various frameworks and structured programs to tackle the various rising challenges in the evolving industry of FMCG. Our Experience in FMCG Industry Faber Infinite is known for delivering results. We are present across 3 regions in more than 8 countries and are currently assisting more than half a dozen clients from FMCG industry to tackle various challenges such as supply chain management. Faber Infinite has a decent amount of experience in providing consultancy services to the clients since it is involved in this industry for more than 5 years now. We have also trained more than 10,000 people in the industry and have helped the companies bring out the optimum productivity from the manpower and workforce in the FMCG industry. Typical Improvement areas Identifying the improvement areas is one of the key tasks to push the transformation journey. Team Faber Infinite is highly experienced at identifying the key improvement areas for varying from client sites as per the circumstances and has a very rich history of successfully completing various projects in order to deliver the desired results in those particular improvement strata. Material wastage reduction Inventory management Improve machine availability and performance Improvement in manpower productivity Physical workplace improvement Elimination of non-value adding activities and inefficiencies Improvement in People Alignment and Development Huge potential to increase production output Benefits delivered by us An improvement of 30% in manpower productivity was witnessed after the involvement of Faber Infinite Creative solutions at various client sites. Around 2 million USD of working capital was released through inventory management as a result of services provided by us. Team Faber’s services helped companies increase their sales by more than 100% Reduction in equipment cleaning time by more than 35% was also witnessed by various FMCG companies Team Faber also helped companies in reducing customer complaints by more than 40% by reducing errors in packaging Transport Index was also improved. Around 27% improvement in the movement of manpower and material was achieved by Team Faber Faber Infinite also facilitated companies in space management and helped companies free up around 9000 square meters of space Around 20% reduction in wastage of packaging materials was also seen as a result of implementing various modules specially designed by Faber Infinite Creative Solutions. Faber Infinite strongly believes in supporting the FMCG industry and promotes evolution and innovation in order to achieve new heights and growth numbers. We have always believed in innovating and improvising to move forward in order to achieve the most desired entity – continual and sustainable development. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [The Winning Way 2.0](https://faberinfinite.com/the-winning-way-2-0/): Winning is always something everyone has always craved for. No one in the world wants to lose in any manner. Winning Way 2.0 by Harsha and Anita Bhogle is one such book that emphasizes on learning from sports for the managers. “To lose is not a crime, to not offer 100 percent is.” These words from the book exactly summarize the kind of parallel paradigm the books run on and teaches some quintessential lessons to every one of us struggling in our lives to make it better. Below are some of the key lessons we stocked out from the book for our readers in this blog. Learning while Losing Failure is an invaluable teacher. Being unsuccessful in something does not mean the end of the world. One should embrace failure and should take away learning form it to come back stronger and more prepared and be sure to taste success. Learn to anticipate risks The book teaches us one very crucial aspect of tackling any obstacles in our life and that is anticipating the risks involved in any particular process. Anticipating risks allows one to prepare themselves for the challenges to come and avoid failures consequently. It also makes one aware of their vulnerabilities and of certain situations where one is fallible. Turning things around Turning adverse situations around in one of the most important and crucial ability of an individual that helps him in steering his ship to favorable conditions in storms. One should focus on stretching the time period of happiness and prosperity but should also be honest with him and stick to the basics when the things go south. Explore the positive side of the mistakes Mistakes are unarguably one of the best teachers of life. No one likes to commit mistakes in their lives. Although, one should realize that mistakes are the most efficient teacher who are capable of teaching us the most untouched and unexplored lessons of our lives. Hence, instead of cribbing over our mistakes, one should try to explore the positive side of theirs. Leaders and their responsibilities Leaders play a very important role in leading a team and guiding them with precise and accurate commands towards the target. It is the very job of the leader to be open to suggestions and should motivate and encourage the team members to actively participate in the team meetings and pitch in their feedbacks for better procurements and processes. Values and Principles Values and principles act as guides and references that help the leadership in building the core of the organization and make the ship sail on it. Values and principles are the fundamental requisitions of any team that keeps the team members on their path towards the collective goal and motivates them to stick to ethics and fair play. Realize the true meaning of Winning Winning is not always about achieving our goals and reaching the desired numbers. Sometimes winning is also about committing mistakes and learning from them and subsequently become wiser and stronger while still being in pursuit of our goals.  Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Focus on Energy](https://faberinfinite.com/focus-on-energy/): With competition increasing in the 21st century, our life has now become more and more hectic. Many people in today’s corporate and industrial world now face the problem of a hectic lifestyle and find it difficult to efficiently manage their time which consequently affects them physically, mentally and emotionally. Investing long hours in work is neither the solution nor an effective way to counter the increasing workload. One must understand that time is a finite resource and will eventually run out. However, energy is a completely different aspect of the story. Leadership in the organizations need to realize this and should invest more in the labor force rather than investing to get more from the workforce. Keeping the team members motivated and encouraging them to be involved in the work processes will not only bring efficiency but will also play a very crucial factor in the work management. Establishing a disciplined daily routine is a key factor that will help the organizations and the employees in keeping the energy level at the brim and working with better focus to get optimum results. These rituals will not only reenergize them but will also help them in bonding with each other as well as customers ultimately adding to their satisfaction making them content and happy in their lives. Physical Fitness Inadequate and improper diet and nutrition and lack of exercise are likely to diminish the physical energy of an individual and furthermore restrict him from focusing on other energies as well. Having a high metabolic and physical energy is very quintessential in achieving the desired. Establishing and carving out a daily routine to increase the physical energy in a very vital counterproductive measure to keep the energy levels of team members at the brim. Now, the question here arises is what to do and what not to do in order to re-energize oneself physically? The answer to the question is simple. Proper nutrition, exercise and intermittent breaks from the work are some of the crucial parts of a disciplined daily routine in order to increase the physical energy of an individual. Emotional Quotient Emotional energy is the driver asset for all of the energy banks of an individual. One must be aware of his emotions and should be able to figure out how he feels in certain situations. It is a very obvious and known fact that people tend to perform best when they are filled with positive energy. The main question here is how to stretch the time period when we are filled with positivity and how to keep ourselves abreast against all odds. It is very important for an individual to take considerable intermittent breaks and become more capable physiologically to avoid friction in their relationships as well be more aware of what to say at what time. In this way, people must learn to cultivate positive energy and drive on it to get profound and crucial changes. Mental Health Mental energy helps one in channeling all of the energy of an individual and focuses it in a proper and efficient manner to get the desired results. One must understand that in today’s world, there is no place for distractions and any kind distraction will prove to be very costly in the course of time. Furthermore, this has to be realized by the leadership that multitasking is a myth and should encourage more employees to focus on one task at a time to get the task optimized for better results. Focusing on tasks that have a more long-term benefit and could lever the work process in the longer run is another efficient method to channelize your mental energy for greener and stronger results. Spiritual Energy Human spirit’s energy is one of the most underrated aspects of this paradigm. It is important to address the above three paradigms of energy, but at the same time, it is also important to look into the spiritual energy of an individual. It defines the energy of meaning and its purpose. Focusing on improving the spiritual energy of an individual will collectively add up to the above three and will have a more concrete and permanent impact. In order to be able to explore the energy of the human spirit, one should be able to prioritize his stuff and should work accordingly. One should be able to get to the core in order to bring out the best of him through these rituals. Energy is more prevalent than time and should be given that importance. Today, everyone wants to get the best of each other and the same is followed by the organizations and its employees as well. However, in order to give the best and get the best, one should start focusing on being more energy inclined rather than time. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Delivering Incredible Results Industry after Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-incredible-results-industry-after-industry/): Pharmaceuticals sector is one of the most sought out industries of the nation. Indian pharma sector is the 3rd largest all across the globe in terms of volume and 14th largest in terms of value. With India gradually climbing the steps of supremacy, the role of pharma industry has been drastically transformed in the nation’s growth and development. Faber Infinite Creative Solutions has been a profound supporter and has contributed the most on their part in the collective mission to revolutionize the pharma industry and integrate various tools to add value and efficiency in this sector. Faber’s Infinite expertise in Pharmaceuticals sector Faber Infinite has stretched themselves to more than 3 regions in over 8 countries in order to help companies achieve operational excellence and sustainable development. Team Faber has been involved in various projects and has expertise in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API – Bulk Drugs), Formulations and Biotech. At Faber, we believe in tying a perfect notch and we have done the same with more than half a dozen clients with the kind of value we bring with us and with our services. The company has been involved in providing consultancy services to various companies for more than five years and has a very rich record of delivering exponential results. Apart from this, we have also trained more than 10,000 people in order to help companies possess a more skilled and quality labour force that can help them keep pushing the numbers for them. Areas in which improvements were witnessed Identifying improvement areas and making it go through a transformation process is one of the most challenging and important aspects of achieving crafted and valued results. Team Faber has a very bloated and gliding history of being very precise and mechanical with their incision and process building systems that have managed to help the companies see better and brighter paradigms in their businesses. Below are some of the typical improvement areas: Throughput / Output improvement at production line by Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Inventory Management Yield Improvement Batch size optimization through Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Production Planning Loss-Reduction through continual improvement Initiatives Daily Work Management to sustain improvements Manpower Productivity Improvement Releasing hidden capacity by Change Over Time Reduction Improvement in QA/ QC processes Benefits delivered We have always believed in the philosophy ‘numbers speak more than words’ and have focused on delivering results. Some of the tangible benefits achieved by Team Faber while helping many organizations achieve sustainable and continual development are as follows: Manpower productivity was improved by more than 40% after the involvement of Team Faber Inventory Turnover Ratio was improved from ~6 turns to ~15 turns An increase of 27% and 53% was seen in two units respectively in the production of vials Savings in Inventory Carrying cost was also increased by almost 25% per annum Team Faber helped companies achieve an improvement in annual sales by KSh 100 Million Team Faber helped various companies explore their hidden capabilities and helped in releasing these strata by adding ~50 production hours per month at packing lines 30% reduction in cleaning time was witnessed with Team Faber’s involvement An increment was witnessed in TVC (Total Variable Counts) of Powder Enzymes by ~31% and ~158% respectively Reduction in standard deviation in production time of Powder Enzymes by 62% was achieved with Team Faber’s tools and techniques that were deployed at the client sites. Zero Batch Rejection after the Implementation of DMAIC methodology Team Faber believes in crafting excellence and pushing strategies and techniques towards evolution and transformation to bridge the collective difference and achieve a more holistic business model with a better potential of garnering revenues. We have strongly supported Pharmaceuticals sector and will continue to extend our hand to one of the growing and most prominent industrial sectors of the world – Pharmaceuticals sector. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [World Earth Day 2018](https://faberinfinite.com/world-earth-day-2018/): So we are again here! World Earth Day! Amidst the various climatic changes observed throughout the world and steps to counter it, the quintessential feature of viewing the bigger picture has never been more important. We have been constantly using natural resources for our purposes without realizing that we are creating a void in nature’s heart. We can be the change only if we start taking small steps towards going green. A collective effort of these small steps is bound to create a bigger change in the thought processes of many towards Earth and its environment. We are the change catalyst of the 21st century and a huge chunk of our future as well as of mother Earth depends on us and our actions. At the World Earth Day 2018, let us all take a moment to think about how we can integrate and implement ‘Go Green’ initiatives in the manufacturing processes to achieve and create a more holistic and sustainable environment for the generations to come. On this day, let us pledge to incline our efforts towards complying with the green initiatives and work simultaneously to garner a whole new and freshly procured environment for all! Happy Earth Day 2018! Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Can Indian Burger Become Next McDonalds?](https://faberinfinite.com/can-indian-burger-become-next-mcdonalds/): Today in this competitive era of globalization, being different in the market is the highest business priority. Standardization is the key to success and growth. Standardization of processes, people and technology can be a winning strategy for organizations. Working in silos ultimately results into lack of control over operations. With standardization organizations can achieve cost saving, manpower productivity improvement, increased customer satisfaction and improved competitiveness. Not standardized processes result in higher maintenance costs and unpredictability of results even with slight variation in situations – both of which results into higher cost of operations. Standardization on the other hand ensures reliability, certainty, consistency and flexibility of operations. McDonald’s is the best example of how an organization has standardized the processes to an extent where the core focus of the organization is on finding solutions to core business priorities like product development, growth and marketing. McDonald’s is no longer “manufacturing” a burger, but instead customers are experiencing the service side of a standardized operations. This is achieved along with reduced manpower costs and consistency of product and experience – which ultimately builds brand value for McDonald’s. Will the well-known and favourite Indian snack – Vada Pav be able to create the same brand equity as McDonald? Vadapav is believed to have been invented in 1966 by a Mumbai resident, Ashok Vaidya, who opened the first vada pav stall opposite the Dadar railway station in Mumbai. This was often a quick, inexpensive snack for the workers who passed every day on their way to the textile mills in suburbs such as Parel and Worli in Mumbai. Vada pav was in a short span of time very popular among the Mumbai residents. Vaidya still is a Mumbai icon. There is a documentary film made on him, called Vada Pav Inc. The strikes through the 1970s and 1980s ultimately led to the textile mills’ terminations, as a result, many former mill workers opened vada pav stalls of their own. There have been several instances where initiatives like Jumbo King have been made but none of them have been as impactful as McDonald’s. There is nothing even at the national level in India for vada pav. This is because of lack of standardization. Lack of standardization leads to variations. This, in turn, leads to waste of time and energy. There needs to be standardization of processes and products. The whole process should be standardized in such a way that it is independent of the location or people. Standardization is the most strategic, yet simplest way to achieve differentiation for the organization. Repetitive and non-value adding work can be eliminated to a large extent saving the energies of the organization for more strategic initiatives. This is applicable to any industry, be it Auto, Pharma, Chemical, FMCG etc. Team Faber has been working with clients across geographies and industries on process standardization. We have worked with teams to maintain a balance between standardization and customization so that organizations remain competitive. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Standards could have saved Titanic?](https://faberinfinite.com/sop-could-have-saved-titanic/): It was this week in 1912, that the RMS Titanic sank – one the most drastic and tragic incident that took place in the waters on 15th April 1912. With more than 1,500 people becoming a victim of poor standard operational measures, the incident will always be remembered as a failure of management and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). It is a known fact that Titanic was warned various times before its sail about sea ice, but no one really cared. Apart from this, the ship continued to sail near to its maximum speed ignoring all the warnings by other vessels, before the lookouts spotted the iceberg in the trajectory of the ship. Furthermore, more lives could have been saved if resources life jackets and life boats would have been efficiently used as per the safety measures. In one of the lesser known accounts, it looks for all the world like an ordinary key but an unremarkable piece of metal could have saved the Titanic from disaster. It is thought to have fitted the locker that contained the crow’s nest binoculars, vital in detecting threats to the liner lurking in the sea in the pre-sonar days of 1912. Catastrophically for the Titanic and the 1,500+ lives lost with her, the key’s owner, Second Officer David Blair, was removed from the crew at the last minute and in his haste forgot to hand it to his replacement. Without access to the glasses, the lookouts in the crow’s nest were forced to rely on their eyes and only saw the iceberg when it was too late to take action. One, Mr. Fred Fleet, who survived the disaster, later told the official inquiry into the tragedy that if they had had binoculars they would have seen the obstacle sooner. Had a proper handover SOP or Standard Operating Procedure been followed, it could have been significant in this accident to save the ship and the 1,500 lost lives. SOP is a step by step guide with instructions compiled to assist and facilitate the operators in carrying out a complex or difficult task and routine operations. Through SOPs one can create a full proof system and can build efficiencies along with the controls. SOPs also add uniformity to the procedures and standardize them for error free environment while reducing the chances of mishappenings. It also improves communication between the departments and reduces the chances of miscommunication. In the incident of world’s largest and claimed unsinkable ship gloating down to the seabed with over a 1,500 people on board, a precise handover SOP module could have acted as an anchor for the Titanic to stop the mishap. Below are the few key pointers that if taken care of could save such tragic incidents from happening again. Why-Why analysis – A why-why analysis is a very efficient method to ask oneself about the problems and identify the root cause of those problems. It allows one to track the footprints and get a detailed analysis of the mistakes that led to the project being unsuccessful. It also helps the company in gathering data which can be very useful for the organization in change management processes. Detailed set of procedures – A detailed set of procedures can regulate the panic among the workforce in case of an adverse situation. A standardized set of instructions to be followed in critical situations will not only guide the people to rally themselves to face the situation but will also help them in procurement of the solutions and strategies to tackle the problems and obstacles. Muda Management – Muda refers to waste and is the mother of all inefficiencies. A proper waste management system along with efficient controls and systems can help one in getting rid of the discrepancies in the systems and establish a more propounding process that can ultimately add value to the project or the organization. The RMS Titanic could have saved by implementing a well-devised SOP. Similarly, SOPs have a very imperative role to play in any organization and could really help them in maintaining the order and systems.  Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Is auto sector really lean?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-auto-sector-really-lean/): The automotive sector is one of India’s fastest and largest growing industrial sectors. More and more MNCs are now entering in the Indian market and are exploring the unexplored market base present in the country as well as taking advantage of India as manufacturing destination. Moreover, along with exports, the improvement in the living standards of the nation’s population, the demands for better and high-performance automotive have significantly increased. However, amidst all this, one thing that everyone has ignored is the real pull from the market in the automotive sector in terms of customer demands. In a recent series of events, a discount of more than Rs. 1.5 lakhs was given to the consumer on the previous model of a car after the launch of a new one in the series. The launch has created an issue for sales of the previous versions. This is just not limited to one automotive company the trend is seen in almost all the models of many well-renowned manufacturers of automotive and vehicles. The question here arises is automotive sector really lean when it comes to the practical applications. Various automotive companies are facing similar challenges. Various dealerships across the country have now complied with the face-lifting of the old models and have either pulled themselves out of the market for the previous versions or are offering heavy discounts on them. This has changed the market dynamics for the auto sector! The automotive sector at present is very contributive in bringing some respite to the increasing huddle of unemployment in the country. However, despite having such high numbers and potential, this sector is yet to make optimum use of the resources and apply lean concepts with further diligence. The auto sector in the last fiscal year achieved its highest number till date and shows a tremendous amount of potential. Automotive sector has been leader in LEAN crusade for ages and various other sectors have been emulating the automotive sector for optimum results along with efficient use of resources. The automotive sector needs to take this crusade a notch further and be real leader in the LEAN philosophy in order to set sustainable example for other sectors to follow. With the developments and advancements in the sector, the challenges and obstacles have also increased and are now at their peak. Getting lean in real terms, will provide the necessary thrust to the sector ultimately leading it to a better platform and making it a more dominant and profound sector for opportunities. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Integrate safety with proper measures](https://faberinfinite.com/integrate-safety-with-proper-measures/): We have always focused on the importance of safety and the benefits it can bring to the workplace if introduced properly. A workplace is supposed to be safe from injuries and accidents for the employees in order to have a full-fledge flow of work and better and improved productivity. Many a times, people realize the importance of safety but fail to implement certain measures properly. In this section of the blog, we will discuss how to successfully implement our safety plans into action. Repetition is the key Repetition makes one remember certain idea. When everyone is repeatedly told about a particular idea, he/she is bound to remember it while at the workplace or at his home. People usually make mistakes and become a victim of accidents and mishaps when they do not focus on safety measures while working on complex projects or things that are highly stressing. Repeatedly reminding them about the safety measures to be carried out at the workplace while doing any kind of job is one of the many ways to keep accidents out of the gates of the workplace. More humorous yet intrinsic approach While working on serious and important projects, reminding employees about safety in the same old approach is not going to help. Getting creative and adding humor to the messages regarding safety is a more compelling and impactful method to keep the employees updated about the safety measures. Moreover, it also lightens the dull environment which usually gets build up while working monotonously on the same thing. Remind in different ways Again, reminding and telling people in same way to make them aware about the importance of safety and safety measures is a dull and quite monotonous way of keeping the employees in loop. One should focus on adding various ways and integrating them in the work culture of the organization in order to constantly remind and update the workforce about the safety measures. Adding variety will also keep the employees more interested in the process and keep them motivated towards adapting the safety measures. Convince the whole team Involving your workforce in the entire process is one of the most important ways to successfully implement the safety measures in the workplace. Furthermore, it is the manpower who usually faces the workplace hazards and are more prone to accidents and mishaps, hence, involving them in this and getting their reviews and feedbacks can help one in building a strong foundation for the ‘safety building’ in the workplace. Rewards and demerits Recognition and acknowledgements are two most thought about things in the workplace. Everyone likes to be recognized about the good work done and feels happy and motivated when rewarded for the hard work. It is a great way to keep the workforce motivated towards complying with the safety measures. However, there are always exceptions and the leadership should address them as well. They should be strict about their approach towards non-compliance and should present a very strict and dynamic front when it comes to demerits. It should not be demoralizing but should be effective enough to prevent repetitions. Be Proactive The most quintessential parat in implementing safety measure is anticipating the hazards and preventing them before things go south. Leadership should be proactive when it comes to safety and instead of shouting safety in response of an accident, they should anticipate the safety hazards. Analyzing the workplace, noting down the hazardous areas and working on them is the only solution to stop accidents at the workstations. Safety leads to happiness and motivation A safe environment will encourage the employees to focus on the work and will ultimately improve the productivity and quality of the produce. An effective safety plan to for the betterment of the operating environment rather than complicating it will make the workforce realize that they are the top priority for the company and will induce a sense of being a marquee asset. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Right Data Collection is the Key](https://faberinfinite.com/data-is-the-key/): There is a reason why every company today is running towards collecting and gathering more and more data. In the 21st century, if there is anything that matters the most – it is ‘data’. Data is the key to unlock the solution of every problem that is hampering growth in the modern industrial world. Machine learning nowadays is highly influenced by data and poor data can completely rupture one’s machine learning process. Data is responsible for driving analysis and helps one in predicting and speculating upcoming events of the future. Hence, one needs a valid and error-proof database to create a holistic and more fruitful operating environment. With the evolution of the industrial world, the complexity of the problems has also increased and is now needed to be addressed more aptly and comprehensively. For this, one doesn’t only need one particular type of data; but more diverse and well-versed databases to plan effective and more comprehending models. Below is a list of steps that should be taken by the leadership to advance with an aggressive and rigorous approach for a decorated execution of a program. Make your objectives clear and analyze if your data can support you in achieving those objectives One should have a very clear and cool head before he jumps into creating databases and using them to achieve his goals. Data can only be helpful if used in the right manner at right time and place. Data collected should also be able to support the cause and should be concrete enough to steer the entire transformation process and streamline the controls and systems. Infuse time to implement data into projects Time plays a very crucial factor in any data management process. It has to be infused in the entire implementation plan to get the best and the most optimum results out of the project. One should take enough time to build efficient data quality fundamentals and execute them in the projects and its respective processes. Training and replicating the processes of the predictive model will help one in eliminating the root causes of errors. Develop and maintain an audit check while preparing the training data Original training data keeps the processes in sync and helps one in bracing themselves for jumping between steps. Original data also helps in suggesting improvements in the predictive model and keeps it in the loop with the targets and numbers to be achieved in the process. Distribute responsibilities Distributing responsibilities is an effective way to engage the workforce in the entire process. It also assists in an effective execution of the project plan. Moreover, providing one with the charge of data quality after taking the model off the shelves helps in tracking its progress along with the effectiveness of the measures taken. Obtain quality assurance Quality assurance adds value to your product as well as provides the customer with the assurance that the processes involved in the product manufacturing is as per the standards and produce is trespassed through rigorous quality checks for a better and worth the money output. Right data collection is extremely important and the key to success. Team Faber Infinite has been working with clients across industries, geographies and regions to collect the right data, build right dashboards and execute right improvement plans. Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri  
- [Five Ways to Manage Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/five-ways-to-manage-organizational-change/): Change management is a very important and crucial task with a very unpredictable nature and perilous to conduct. The question many people ask here is why one should address change management? It is just another process that has been tried and tested by many and thus does not particularly needs to be addressed in the work culture. However, people here forget the fact that many companies who implement change management processes fail to get the anticipated results from it due to a proper and precise utilization of the tools and the controls involved. In this article, we will discuss about the 5 ways to Manage Organizational Change. Inability to address change and the change management processes Many companies and their leaders fail to address their change management processes. They forget the importance of the change management process and the main reason with which it has been introduced in the work culture of the organization. Moreover, addressing change management processes keeps the leadership in the loop and updated of the progress made and the requirements to achieve the already set targets. Not showcasing the incentives and benefits for the employees Employees feel motivated and encouraged to do better quality work when their efforts are recognized and acknowledged. Also, rewards and incentives act as a catalyst in the entire change management process and enlightening the workforce with the benefits these change management process will bring to them is a pretty great idea to lift the morale of the team members and encourage them to embrace the changes and innovative techniques. Lack of training and skills Training plays a very important role in helping the employees adapt to the change and improvising with the varying and innovative tools and techniques. Employees are usually afraid of the change and many a time is stereotyped to the old work processes. They fear failure while embracing the change in the working culture of the organization. However, by the means of training, one can get used to the new tools and techniques thus subsiding dear and ultimately adding value to the company and its growth. More focus on tools and techniques rather than principles When it comes to implementation of various tools and controls, blindly following theory and principles might not help. Every situation has its own set of obstacles and needs a different approach to be tackled. Hence, in a change management process, leadership should focus more on the implementation of tools and techniques alongside creating a holistic system and control structure rather than going completely by the book hoping to see anticipated changes and growth in the productivity and revenues. Subsiding blame culture in the work processes Blames are the worst part of any work process that has failed in achieving the targets. It not only demoralizes the team members as well as adds to the mediocrity of the failure and evaporates the gist to do better and avoid the same mistakes in the next attempt. Leadership or even a team member should never blame anyone for the failures. Instead, they should analyze the situation and come to a conclusive result with the factors that are responsible for the failure of the change management process. Asking ‘why’ instead of ‘who’ is only going to lead the organization towards its goals and targets. Discover five powerful strategies to effectively manage organizational change and lead your team to success. Ready to embrace change and drive positive transformation? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to our expert insights on managing change successfully Written & Compiled By Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [5 Future Leadership Trends](https://faberinfinite.com/5-future-leadership-trends/): A leader who wants to be truly exceptional should be aware of all the current happenings and trends that are affecting their organization, their industry or sector, their team members, and themselves. Today organizations across geographies are witnessing massive changes in the macroeconomic factors that are impacting the cash flow, success, and morale of the employees in the organization. Being a good leader needs a lot of unlearning and learning of new skills and techniques. Changes happening around should serve as indicators, on how to improve the way the organization has been operating. Disruptions in the organization can be challenging, exceptional, and unknown like what the organizations are facing today. But leaders should consider every challenge as an opportunity and figure out new ways of operations that were never implemented earlier. Let us look at some of the leading trends that will help you lead better even in times of crisis: 1. Offer Flexibility Leaders should be clear about the requirements and the expectations of the work quality and the efforts that are expected from the employees. But at the same time leaders should be open to discuss and try new ways of implementation that provide flexibility to the employees and teams. A recent study has shown that 90% of the employees believe that their excitement for work would increase if their leaders were more lenient with the time schedules. 2. Managing Remote Workforce As flexible working increases so are the challenges related to managing the workforce will increase. Leaders should follow some of the below mentioned general strategies to manage the challenges of the remote workforce: Leaders need to build and maintain relationships based on trust, as the work now would not be done under the direct supervision of the leader. Leaders should set well defined and clear standards for the work expectations and the employee conduct A leader needs to be in constant touch with the employees and should maintain positive morale thus enhancing the organization’s culture Improve communication and restrict quarantine by getting employees face-to-face via online video calls. 3. Manage Accountability With the remote work option, the need for accountability in leaders and teams is increasing rapidly. A leader should manage accountability with the employees to ensure that the bonding in the teams is reliable and robust. 4. Build High-Performance Teams As the world is changing at rapid speed, employees should grow, morph, and adapt as per the changing market demands and the needs of the business. So employees constantly need to acquire new skills and upgrade themselves. Leaders should have clearly defined processes as to how they are assisting their teams to acquire the new skills needed for the growth of the organization. Leaders cannot themselves develop new skills in their teams, but they can inspire and confront them to take the necessary steps and thus build high-performance teams. 5. Human Resource a Strategic Role Human Resource plays a strategic and most important role in an organization when there is a change and the employees are trying their level best to cope up with the new ways of operations. When employees are struggling to manage work and home, struggling to take breaks while fighting the distraction from family and kids, internet connectivity issues, and many more, it is the responsibility of the HR to offer support to assure work continuity without affecting employee’s personal needs.   Being a leader today is frightening, but you always have your colleagues and teams, to help you sail through the tough times.  All in all, leadership will keep undergoing changes as organizations are facing a more complex and competitive environment than ever before. As a result, the competencies of the leader who succeeds in the modern-day business world is changing.  Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Inspirational Life Lessons from IPL](https://faberinfinite.com/inspirational-life-lessons-from-ipl/): The cheers and the music are back again with a lot of excitement. This is yet another season of the second highest paid league – Indian Premiere League (IPL). We are really stunned by the facts that Wikipedia has to offer about IPL. There is no greater delight for cricket fans to see great players share the same ground and screen. Though all of us have different teams that we are supporting and want to win in the IPL, there are inspirational life lessons that we can learn from different players. We should learn and implement such life lessons to excel professionally as well as personally. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the lessons we can learn from some of the top performers of IPL: Virat Kohli We all know him for his aggression. The amount of self – discipline that Kohli has, gives him confidence to use his aggression positively in the game on the field. Already being a best ODI (One Day International) player he always works on improving and being better than his own self. We should learn the self-discipline  and the urge to compete with the self and become the best version of himself/herself with each passing day. MS Dhoni The calm attitude of this player helps him to get through the toughest of the times. Being calm even under unmatched tension of the game has been the USP of this player. Even after numerous remarks on his fitness due to age, there has not been a single time when he failed to prove himself with a comeback. Always strving hard and not settling for something because it is an easy option is a life lesson to learn from MS. Dhoni. He believes – Keep Calm and Focus on your Goal. His calm and composed attitude helps him strategize better on the field. AB De Villiers He is a perfect example of determination, discipline and pushing ones limit such that everything appears like magic at one point in time. He is an all rounder and he has had a number of injuries in his career, but that has never stopped him from getting number of international records to his name. What we can learn from him is that there is no limit to what you can learn and master. Hardik Pandya Being true to your passion is what we can learn from him. He is a very keen and fast learner. Hardik Pandya teaches us that talent can only help us achieve short term goals if not matched with the eagerness to learn from experience. Many a times we get carried away with our initial success and do not put efforts to improve further. Hardik teaches us that passion is needed for success. Shane Watson If he fails with the bat, he proves himself with his balling. Whether batting or balling he always gives his best in the game. He believes that no one can control the results and it can only affect ones performance. Thinking about the results or outcomes can only consume our time and efforts, so it is not worth thinking. What is under control is the efforts that we put in and whether is the best that we can do. Rishabh Pant He denotes that age is just a number if you want to follow your passion. There are no defined rules, age or boundaries to when to start unless you know what you want to achieve. After all the negative reviews or comments that he received after the India Australia series, he showed that all the critics should be used to improve your skills and shape the game further. He has been passionate about his work. There was an instance when India had a match and his father expired but still, he did not miss the match. He teaches that do not let any event come in the way of your goals and passion to build a success story. He is a personification of motivational life lesson that if you have made your mind for something, you need to make every possible sacrifice and struggle to achieve it because no opportunity knocks your door twice. Kane Williamson He is a consistent player who has style and class. For him consistency is the key, and you cannot see a lot of variations in his performance graph. Learning from mistakes is another great learning from him. He also teaches us that you need to be agile and adaptable to the changing formats to be competitive. For him, every match is a learning be it a success or failure for his team. Even after his team loses a very important match, he accepts the defeat with grace only to learn from the mistakes that they have committed in the match. Dwayne Bravo He is a versatile player. He teaches us that you cannot be a jack of all trades. You need to focus on one thing at hand and master it. He also teaches that you practice and work hard right from the beginning then you can enjoy on the judgement day. This means that we should work on the projects from the beginning only then we can relax on the project delivery day. He keeps doing different dance moves, singing, cheering his team, boosting their confidence and all forms of enjoyment. This is the best quality to pick, we should enjoy what we are doing and take the whole team with us in the journey. Yuvraj Singh He is the one army of his team who would keep playing even after 9 wickets have been lost. He teaches us that we are not defeated until we decide to lose. He teaches us to play to win and not to finish the match. He has fought with cancer and in his case even cancer could not distract his from his goal. He teaches us that we should not find reasons for failure. We should work on our goals as nothing can come
- [5 Ways to Master The Art of Never Giving Up](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-master-the-art-of-never-giving-up/): In today’s situation, it is more difficult to stay consistent than to give up. It takes time, effort, and patience to continue when the going gets hard. Especially in these COIVD times, which has brought us to understand that no matter how difficult it gets, together we can conquer all the hurdles and challenges of life, and giving up is not an option at all. Recently, we saw a similar situation in the famous sport – cricket, Indian Premier League (IPL). In one of the matches between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, Rahul Tewatia showed such amazing spirit that it changed the entire game and broke the record of highest successful matches in the history of IPL. At the beginning of the match, Rahul was not able to fight against the competition. He kept trying but was not able to match the desirable outcome. As a result, people started to take a toll over him on social media asking him to get out and let other players play so that the team can win. At the peak of that very moment, he came back and hit 5 sixes in one over and changed the entire game and got it in favor of his team. It was then when all those who were trolling him for his game, started to praise him. This shows how patience, efforts, and not giving up can deliver good results. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how we can master this art of not giving up – 1. Keep up the hard work No matter what you are doing and how difficult it seems, if you want to yield good results, you must work hard. Nothing can be achieved overnight; no success can be achieved without hard work. If you want to become successful in what you do, it will demand hard work so we should give more than 100% to achieve success. 2. Have faith in yourself For all the hard work and the dedication that you have put in, it will never go worthless. It will take time and effort, but it will always show the desired results. You might fail in the beginning, but you will rise above it and achieve success when you keep faith in yourself.   3. Stay motivated One can conquer all the hurdles in life if he/she finds the right motivation. It is very important to stay motivated. One can work hard all day long, but if there is no motivation then there is no way the hardship would continue. Hence, to make your way through success, one needs the right motivation. 4. Do not let others define you In the journey towards success, there will be many people who would make fun of your failures. But do not let them get to you, do not let them decide who you are and why would you not succeed. These are usually those people who have lost their way towards success and are trying to bring you down as well. Hence, stay focused on your journey and show them who you are. 5. Hard work always pays off Hard work can never let you down. There is no way you cannot succeed if you work hard to achieve it. Hard work always pays off and paves its way towards success. There will be hurdles, and you might feel that you cannot do this anymore, but it is possible to see the glorifying success only when you have experienced failure and hurdles. There is no one who will not succeed if he/she has put in hard work. We should learn from your past failures and go ahead, work harder, and achieve all the success. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Reinventing Supply Chains to Benefit from Vocal for Local](https://faberinfinite.com/reinventing-supply-chains-to-benefit-from-vocal-for-local/): With the pandemic hitting the economies across the world, people are trying to adjust to the new normal. Due to lockdown and closed country borders, businesses are still struggling the most with the supply chain disruption. The fact that the virus originated from China which is referred to as – Factory of the World, has only aggravated the damage from an economic point of view with a considerable percentage of supply chains stumbling in shock and deteriorating with each passing day. As per a survey conducted by a global institute for supply chain management, 75% of the organisations reported supply chain issues in some of the other forms due to COVID-related transportation restrictions. Another learning from the survey shows that more than 50% of the organizations had no contingency plan in case of supply chain issues leading back to China. Over 50% of the organizations also mentioned about the delays in orders a problem because of the supply chain collapse from China. While people are comparing this current situation to the Spanish flu situation of 1918, but there are several differences between the trade practices post World War I and the world that we live in today. To quote an example, when the SARS virus hit the world, China contributed only 4% of the world GDP and today it is 17-19% of the world GDP. The economic conditions and equations are completely different. Supply Chain Management for Manufacturing Manufacturing is a very complex process today. The components and sub-components that make a product are sourced from different parts of the world. The raw material required to make these components come from different countries and continents. The finished goods are then sent all over the world. This huge dependency on transport and logistics makes import and export very difficult with the current disturbance in the supply chains.  For example, India imports more than half of the APIs from China. With the government policies and restrictions along with the logistic issues due to COVID-19, Indian pharma organizations are challenged to meet the export numbers. Also, India being the largest supplier of generic drugs across the world, this could cause a worldwide shortage. With global integration, economies across the world are dependent on low-cost production geographies like China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and many more. With the pandemic originating from China and spreading to other countries across the world, the need for diversification has become more evident than ever. After manufacturing and procurement, even distribution has its own set of challenges. With the lockdowns and the curfews, there are situations where there is a demand for essential products, big challenges in the luxury items segments thus affecting the retailers. To overcome this struggle, many organisations came forward and started manufacturing and supplying the essential goods that used to be imported from other countries, to avoid any interruption in the supply chain. For example, India used to import all the PPE kits. But because it could not import any further and it falls under essential goods, India started to manufacture it on its own and now India exports the same! Recently there has been a lot of focus on self-reliance and being ‘Vocal for Local’ for having extremely robust and responsive supply chains. To be self-reliant, responsive supply chains and operational excellence are two sides of the coin, and below are the 3As: Availability, Affordability, and Adaptability to build a robust ecosystem. 1. Availability To become a self-reliant ecosystem, one needs to focus more on the availability of goods that have need and demand in the market. To make that happen, manufacturers will have to strengthen two parameters: Research and Development (R&D) Last Mile Reach For building a self-reliant ecosystem, manufacturers should research about products that they want to offer as a substitute for foreign brands. Only thorough research and highlighting the key features will attract the customers to use the local brands more than foreign brands. Along with R&D, organisations also need to make the products accessible even at remote places for the people to use the local brands across the country. If the availability of the products is not ensured until the last mile, customers will have no other option than to use foreign brands. Hence, the supply chain needs to be strong enough to make this happen. 2. Affordability The costs of the substitutes should be affordable and the total cost of ownership (TCO) should be not higher than the imported goods. If its higher, than the customer, is going to buy the imported ones. How can we optimise the cost to make it equivalent to the imported products? Research says that the production cost in India is 10% to 12% higher as compared to South East Asia. Also, apart from that, the inefficiencies in the supply chain, losses such as productivity, damages, poor infrastructure, etc.  are added to the selling price. To avoid all these extra expenses, organisations need to incorporate operational excellence throughout the supply chain. This will help organisations cut unnecessary expenses and losses and thus deliver the goods at the right prices. 3. Adaptability To become a self-reliant ecosystem, one needs to be agile and deliver goods and services at the expected quality levels. Organizations need to gear up and adapt to the futuristic thought process to deliver goods on time as per the demand. Organizations need to start looking at the bigger picture if they want to become part of a self-reliant and competitive ecosystem and deliver the best quality products at the right time. If these 3A’s are incorporated in the operations, there is nothing that can hold us back to become a successful self-reliant, and robust ecosystem. Let us all work together and make supply chains leaner and competitive by implementing the Operational Excellence framework by Faber Infinite and get set to become a world leader. Click here to watch the video!  
- [It is Time to Rethink Performance Management](https://faberinfinite.com/it-is-time-to-rethink-performance-management/): In times of COVID, where the organisations must operate with limited manpower, it is difficult to achieve the desired output. Due to this situation, there are constraints regarding production throughput, productivity, quality, on-time delivery, etc. Hence, to enhance and achieve the desired results, organisations need to have effective Performance Management System. Also, with current constraints of cost optimization and layoffs, it is all the more important now to motivate an existing workforce! Most of the organisations are struggling with their performance reviews at present because there is no estimate of what to set as a goal for the present situation and how to achieve. Hence, a comprehensive performance review system by Faber Infinite consists of evaluating the situation, setting the standards, goals, eliminating non-value adding activities, and much more to motivate performing team members. This review consists of a 1-on-1 review between an employee and manager which focuses rigorously on the individual’s competence to accomplish their job responsibilities. In addition, it considers the team and organization performance appropriately in the individual Performance Management System as per the hierarchy in the organization. What is the Performance Management System (PMS) by Faber Infinite Consulting? Performance Management System by Faber Infinite is a tool that will help the organizations immensely in times like these. It is a regular process in which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor, and review an employee’s work objectives and its total contribution to the organization. Except for reviewing employees and organisational performance annually, PMS is a continuous process of setting goals, reviewing progress, and providing on-going coaching and feedback. It is a simple yet powerful system that can be administered every month! With the in-depth understanding and hands-on experience of working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, we have devised and crafted an extremely powerful and robust Performance Management System which is delivering phenomenal results across the industries even in times of such crisis. 7 reasons why you should integrate this highly effective and robust Performance Management System by Team Faber Infinite Consulting at your organisation– Faber Infinite Consulting PMS has been helping leading organisations from various industries to achieve higher growths and results even in times of COVID crisis. We have been supporting various organisations to achieve desired goals even with limited resources. The same can be done for your organisation as well. Contact our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com and deploy PMS by Faber Infinite Consulting to sustain this cut-throat competition post-COVID. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Best Athletes are Made During the Off-Season](https://faberinfinite.com/best-athletes-are-made-during-the-off-season/): In these different times, when remote working is a new norm and everyone is getting ready to bounce forward into the new normal, we have the time to upskill our teams. It is now when each organisation can help improve and improvise the skillset of its employees. In times of COVID, where operating with full strengths is dangerous and difficult, it is the right time to train your athletes (employees) to get set with an upgraded version of themselves by upskilling. Progressive organisations across the world are investing in employee upskilling initiatives. This in turn will help them achieve greater growth in times to come as well as organizational development. We, at Faber Infinite, have been supporting several organisations by rolling out comprehensive virtual online trainings which are helping organisations stand out amongst their competitors. These programs are focused on various elements relating to operational excellence. Recently, we are engaged in training employees of India’s largest thermal power producers to prepare them for the times to come. We are training more than ~3000 professionals on enhancing overall productivity, quality, and cost-consciousness. Productivity enhancement training shall focus on the overall organisation’s productivity to improve on-time delivery & efficiency ratios. The objective is to focus on improving the overall performance to sustain post-pandemic competition. The quality enhancement program is designed to focus on overall organisational quality including work quality as well as product quality. This will help the organisation deliver better output and reduce the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ). Improving Cost consciousness is yet another customized program to focus on cost optimization, which will help the organisation enhance profits by reducing the overall costs. These specially designed power-packed programs will set the foundation for the new normal and help the organisation thrive in the post-pandemic situation. Not just this, we have been running several training sessions on various different topics since May 2020 and rolled out numerous batches with many ongoing programs. We are glad to receive extremely positive feedback from the participants from across the industries, sectors, and geographies. So make the best use of this opportunity and prepare your best athletes for the times to come! Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com today to plan training programs for your organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Transforming Organizations for Rapid Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/transforming-organizations-for-rapid-growth/): Post-COVID, the entire world is getting used to the new normal. Organizations have transformed in a way where getting back to the old strategies is not an option anymore. In times like these, it is mandatory for organisations to set the foundation for new normal. The foundation for new normal should include post COVID strategies, sales strategies, cost optimisation for better realization in limited time and with limited resources. To help organisations adapt to the post-COVID situation sooner, Team Faber Infinite has rolled out various proven frameworks. These frameworks will help organisations for sustainable growth and transformation in the post-COVID situation. It will also help organisations to adapt to the change to the new normal in a better and faster way. A glimpse of the frameworks below. 1. R-A-C-E Framework With the pandemic hitting the world, organisations must have realised that there is no certainty in the future. The future is unpredictable, and organisations need to be ready to face any Black Swan Events and to survive through that. To be able to do that, organisations will have to re-evaluate their current business strategies for the financial year, develop smart goals, and ensure better control over business plans and revenues.   The R-A-C-E framework will help you be prepared for the industry 4.0 & for uncertain situations like these. Grab this golden opportunity for turning your organisation into a futuristic organisation. 2. Sales Growth Framework In times of the shrinking economy, it is becoming difficult for organizations to improve their sales and sustain themselves in this market. Post-COVID, every organization, is trying to adapt different ways to sustain and grow. But the only way to sustain in such a crisis scenario is by deploying a unique Sales Machine, which will support to create a path for improving sales to sustain. The unique Sale Growth Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting is helping organisations improve their sales, supporting organisations to unlock the potential for demand generation, and helping sales force over achieve its targets even in the time of COVID. This framework has been helping organizations for years to thrive in situations as this and help them emerge stronger. Deploy our unique Sales Growth Framework to see fabulous revenue growth. Both frameworks have been crafted to prepare organisations for the future and are customised as per the need of the organisation. These frameworks have helped our clients to be prepared for the crisis as well as emerge stronger in times of crisis. Don’t delay the decision to change. Because “Your Industry Will Survive! Will You?”  Get in touch with us today and get started on your journey towards the new normal. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [We Are Back In Action](https://faberinfinite.com/we-are-back-in-action/): Change is imminent and so is new normal. Today, when the entire world is surviving through the pandemic, everyone is trying to adapt to the change. As we continue to navigate through the changing tides posed by the novel coronavirus, in addition to safety our priorities remain the same. Like always, the growth and development of our clients is our top priority. Though work environments have changed, our commitment to your business remains the same. Hence, team Faber Infinite is glad to announce that “We Are Back in Action with our Onsite Consultation – as that is what we are known for!” Our focus has always been doing everything we can to maximize our client’s profitability and stay prepared to navigate tomorrow’s challenges. The consulting support never stopped, as we were continuing the engagements and projects online. Now, as we bounce forward into the new normal, we are thrilled that we are back in action to support our clients in their transformation journey – on-site – The Faber Way! We are supporting our clients by working together with them on the gemba for their transformation journey. Considering the situation, we are working on the gemba with all the necessary precautions. Team Faber has started working with clients from the FMCG industry in India, supporting their transformation journey in this new normal.   Our support to sectors touching humanity has always been a top priority and the same reflects in our engagement with one of the global giants in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing industry. We are supporting them in improving overall productivity and profitability with powerful Time & Motion Study so that the industry can produce more to support the needs and demands on time in the global market. We have also restarted working with one of the leaders from FIBC industry in India, supporting their transformation journey, by mainly focusing on throughput improvement and wastage reduction. The same support can be initiated for your organization as well. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Enhance Performance by Lean Facility Design](https://faberinfinite.com/enhance-performance-by-lean-facility-design/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a pioneer in India for Auto Control Cables & Gear Shifters with Push-Pull Cables. We had a chat with Mr. Rahul Kejriwal – Executive Director at Remsons Industries Limited. Excerpts of this interesting interaction are as mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Remsons Industries Limited and about your journey in the organization? Mr. Rahul Kejriwal (RK) – Remsons Industries is a pioneer in India for Auto Control Cables & Gear Shifters with Push-Pull Cables. It started almost over 65 years ago, founded by Mr. V. Harlalka, a visionary and a pioneer in the Auto Ancillary Sector at the time when there were very few automobile companies in India, Remsons commenced its operations at a time when only Mahindra and Bajaj were present, even before Maruti Suzuki entered India. The industry size was much smaller, that is when most of the family business owners started the journey in the automotive sector. In those times, we had to be dependent on the technologies which were developed in India. This was because there were too many restrictions to bring foreign technologies, for joint ventures for foreign exchange because India was in great deficit at that point in time. There were many other challenges like power as well in the industry. Hence, all the machines and technologies were developed in India. This is the era from where Remsons began its journey. Later, it graduated to multiple units, we got Global OEM customers and started exporting our products from the year 1996. In the cable industry, most of the technologies that have been introduced in the country have always been first introduced by Remsons and then followed by the other organisations.  Later, many multinational organisations started to enter and set their base in India, post 90’s after the Indian economy was globally opened. All the technologies that are globally available today are also available with Remsons. So, we started by manufacturing Pull Cables, then we started Cable Assemblies, later we went into manufacturing Parking Brake levers, and then Gear Shift Mechanism with Push-Pull Cables. Today Remsons is a full system supplier with Design, Production, and Validation Capabilities. I joined the organisation somewhere in the year 2000, while I was still completing my education. The journey has been phenomenal. I have seen the organisation in the transition from my grandfather’s times to the new generations joining in, the cultural changes, the OEM transformation, the technological changes, and the changes in working patterns. From how it was a family-run business to how it has shaped to a more professionally run business today. Even today, the transition phase is on which is an ongoing journey. Recently in the last couple of years, the organisation has got a good boost in its growth. We have started to look for global expansions, some joint ventures that will give us multiple growth very rapidly. So, it has been a highly interesting and fascinating journey for me. FI: Great Sir! Further, we understand every industry has its own challenges. What are the challenges unique to your industry? RK: Our industry is very labour oriented. So, our challenges have always been to find and hire the right skilled, productive labours that can be retained for long. Along with that, our products are low-cost products. So, the slightest change in the raw material, labour cost, or the power and fuel costs directly affects the overall profitability of the organisation. So, to maintain that balance well is a challenge.    FI: What is your strategies post COVID to get back to normal?    RK: Remsons Industries is into a range of automobiles such as two-wheelers, three wheelers, four-wheelers, light, and heavy commercial vehicles. We are also divested into the Farm Sector. So, this has helped us a lot during the post COVID recovery. Like, the two-wheeler industry is doing great at present, both in the OEM as well as after-markets. Light commercial vehicles are also doing very well at this stage. So, we are trying to maximize the sectors which are pulling businesses like Farm, Two Wheelers, Light Commercial Vehicles, Exports. But every day is a new challenge due to material movement, raw materials availability, intermittent lockdowns happening, the employee’s exposure to the virus, isolation requirements, the work needs to be managed. Work from home has put a lot of stress since it is not time-bound and the work-life balance is lost which was supposed to be the other way around and now everyone is waiting for offices to start.  Because over calls and meetings any work is bound to take more time to finish than when in a collaborative face-to-face meeting. All the above-mentioned factors are affecting productivity as well. FI: How do you plan to work on productivity and profitability strategies post-COVID?  RK: We have a lot of new laborers because the old ones have migrated due to the COVID situation. So, we need to train new employees. A lot many other factors are affecting the cost of the organisation. The raw material costs are premium, the labour costs are premium, everything has been at more cost, but the product prices are not going up. So, these challenges are tough, and we are trying to hire more skilled staff, trying to train them faster so that things can go back to how they were. Also, the festive season is coming up, so the demand is very high and we have to meet the OEM’s requirements which require high productivity. FI: Team Faber has been associated with Remsons Industries Ltd in the Lean Facility Design journey. Can you share more about the journey and the role of Faber Infinite along with the outcomes of the project – that has helped Remsons stay ahead of the competition?  RK: We engaged with Faber for a
- [5 Ways to Promote Mental Health and Wellbeing](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-promote-mental-health-and-wellbeing/): Employee wellbeing has always been the most critical factor in an organization’s success. Without healthy and productive employees’ organizations would not survive or recover the business costs. Research says: 1 among 5 are suffering from mental illness 2/3rd do not get treatment due to multiple reasons like ignorance, disgrace, cost issues, delay, and lack of access to treatment According to WHO, mental health issues are the biggest issues of the century with depression being the leading cause But should organizations or employers be responsible for the mental health of their employees? Yes, they should, and below are a few of the pointers that can help them improve the mental health of the employees: Create a positive workplace There is still a shame surrounding mental health. By opening, people fear that they would be ignored or isolated, would be considered as abnormal, and thus considered as ineligible for the job. Employers and managers have a very crucial role to play by educating employees about mental health and creating open channels for communication. This can help create a positive work culture that promotes employee engagement and attracts talent. Early prevention We happen to spend 60% of our time at the office. There is a lot of stress at work including meeting deadlines, working with people of different behaviors and personalities, stress related to job security, need to learn new skills, and many more. In the middle of all this, educating employees about the ways to cope with stress makes a lot of sense. This approach will help to address issues much before they become trouble for the employee as well as the employer. Provide treatment to reduce the impact This is where the HR of the organization will play an important role. It is the responsibility of HR to find the best in quality and evidence-based solutions for success. It can be done through maybe a benefit plan or a wellness counselor or online programs or a combination of the mentioned options to help reduce the issue of suffering for the particular employee and thus help them perform better at work. Improve engagement If you are physically fit, you are healthier and thus you perform better. This goes the same as your mental health. If you improve the mental health of the employees it will make them mentally strong and they can handle stress thus improving their decision making, performance, and productivity. In this way, you can help the employees to be the best version of themselves. Cost-saving When organizations take care of the mental health of the employees, they end up saving costs. This is because employees that are mentally fit tend to be less absent, tend to be more productive. This helps organizations to grow. Organizations should have effective mental health resources in place for productive and engaged employees that deliver growth and sustenance. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [To Improve Teams, Work on Self First](https://faberinfinite.com/to-improve-teams-work-on-self-first/): Teams are a complicated system of members with diverse skill sets, experiences, viewpoints, behaviors, and tendencies. Both the team members and leaders should work together to make this complex system meaningful and sustainable. This is possible only when both the leader and the team members work together on three fundamental parameters: Inner Self-Awareness Leaders should understand their own emotions, opinions, and values. If they do not understand their own feelings and emotions, it is less likely that they would understand the team member’s feelings and emotions. Leaders should check what they are assuming about the team member. They should check on facts and clarifications. Leaders should pause and reflect. Leaders should not be impulsive to rush into a conclusion. Leaders should learn a lot about themselves. This will help them to understand the team better. Outer Self-Awareness Leaders need to understand how their words and actions affect others in the team. Most of the time leaders and team members are not aware of how their behavior impacts the team. As a result, it is difficult for leaders to identify and use their strengths that will make them more productive and profitable. Leaders should also keep an eye on the behavior that has a negative impact on the team. One way to build outer awareness is by starting to observe team members’ reactions and gestures during team discussions. Another way is to ask the team members for their feedback like: How is the leader helpful? What is the leader doing is not helpful? If there is anyone thing that you want me to change as a leader on high priority? This can be one of the ways. Other can be by getting one on one feedback from the team members. Be Accountable Leaders Successful leaders do not hold others accountable.  They hold themselves accountable. This sounds simple but it is not. When faced with a challenge or discomfort, many of us have this habit of blaming others, or defending ourselves or just avoiding the discomfort altogether. But a leader as well as the team member should be highly accountable for their work. They should take personal responsibility to solve the issue or problem. They should not leave the problem unless it is solved. A small change in the mindset will have a significant positive impact on the entire team. Work together as a team to build and strengthen the above mentioned three capabilities. Form these new habits to be effective teams. Invest time and energy needed to build these foundation skills so they can be better at tackling business opportunities and challenges. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [5 Essential Elements of Progressive Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/5-essential-elements-of-progressive-organizations/): Progressive organizations work on continuous improvement. When it comes to the change management initiatives there are several factors that affect the success of the initiatives. There are certain activities which when included and followed in the right sequence. They will help the organizations sustain and benefit from the change management initiatives. This Transformation Tuesday lets us look at 5 elements that are essential in bringing stability to the organization thus assisting it to excel continuously for sustainable growth in business. Objective The reason for any change management initiative is to understand the larger picture of why the change is being implemented. When the objective is very well defined, it will create a positive effect on the team and the team gets charged up to work for the initiative. It helps the entire organization to understand the need for the change initiative. Lack of defined objectives will keep the employees disoriented and will take the focus away. When the purpose is defined then the whole organization works towards achieving it. It also helps organizations to come up with the most difficult situations. SMART Goals One the objective or the why part of the transformation journey is defined, organizations should move on to setting clear expectations on the goals. The goals can be hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, they must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic, and Relevant, Timebound). If the goals are clearly defined, then the transformation journey is meaningful and fast. Right Tools and Technology Once the why of the transformation journey and the goals are defined, organizations should look at defining how of the transformation journey. Using the right tools and techniques to achieve goals is imperative. It is necessary to use a structured methodology with the right tools, techniques, and technology to achieve short-term and long-term goals. Discipline Why some organizations even after well-defined objectives, SMART goals, right tools, and techniques, do not achieve success is because of lack of discipline. Leaders should have constant self-discipline to master the art of achieving goals. Discipline helps to achieve the real purpose. All progressive organizations focus on doing things right now and thus eventually cultivate the habit of discipline. It is the bridge between the purpose and the achievement, and all the organizations should work towards making the bridge stronger. Assess yourself Organizations need to assess themselves and understand what went wrong and what needs to be done to improve. Teams in the organization need to do the analysis of the things that went wrong and how can they be improved. It should be a continuous improvement process that the organizations should follow. Organizations should focus on the above-mentioned elements and gain long term profits. And sustainable growth through employee engagement, teamwork, and self-assessment. Unlock the full potential of your business by optimizing your supply chain with expert solutions designed for growth, efficiency, and innovation. Ready to streamline your operations? Explore Customized Supply Chain Solutions now! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri   Contact us 
- [6 Ways to Ensure Growth Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/6-ways-to-ensure-growth-culture/): As organizations grow the dynamics in the organization begins to change. It does not remain the same as it was when there were only founding members in the organization. Change is not always good. None of the organizations would want the culture to fall behind when the organization is growing fast. Culture must be in sync with the growth of the organization. In case of lag, between growth and culture, it cannot be ignored. Organizations should consider this change as an opportunity to reshape the culture as the new business dynamics. Let us look what we leaders can do, so that the employees in the organizations move in the right direction: Keep communication open in all directions As your organizations grows it is difficult to be in touch with every employee in the organization like the old days. So, you need to use different mediums of communication like – emails, phone calls, video calls and keep motivating the employees so that they are aligned to the organizations culture. You also need to communicate to the employees how important is their contribution in the growth of the organization. Get employee feedback Leaders need to observe company culture. It is difficult to quantify, still they should keep observing the organization’s culture. This can be done by getting feedback from the employees. Besides asking for feedback during meetings , organizations should conduct anonymous surveys where employees can share somethings that they cannot share openly otherwise. Share growth culture related stories Leaders should share stories that highlight their culture. Leaders can discuss stories where the organization went above and beyond for a client or an employee. Stories that should be memorable and effective. Promote employee engagement Create an engaging work environment. Encourage celebrations at office. Such initiatives will help to improve employee morale and employees will appreciate the gesture. Management should have small meetings with leadership in the organization. These meetings will enable management to identify opportunities. Management should demonstrate the values of the organization Management and leaders should follow and stand by the organization’s values. Leaders should set the right tone for teams in the organization. For instance, even when the organization is rising in growth, not living by the cultural values sets a wrong tone for the business. Build Internal Teams to Promote Cultural values Leadership team should build internal teams or champions who shall share the vision and goals of the culture but shall also spread it throughout the organization. Leadership should build such internal champions who will share the company’s vision.  As organizations grow quickly, leadership should ensure that the culture does not lag as it is very rightly quoted by Bryan Walker – “Culture is like the wind. It is invisible; yet its effect can be seen and felt.”  
- [Be Agile To Be Successful](https://faberinfinite.com/be-agile-to-be-successful/): Business agility is the ability of the organization to adapt quickly to the changes in the market both internally as well as externally. It is a measure of the proactiveness and nimbleness of the organization to adapt and be flexible to the changes happening in and around the ecosystem. In today’s tough time’s businesses need to follow the agile philosophy and be customer-centric at the same time. The future is unpredictable, and with the ever-changing technology, it is the need of the hour to adapt and evolve as soon as possible. Employees in such organizations are more flexible, adaptive, and innovative. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the difference between a traditional and an agile firm: The objective of the firm In traditional business, the focus is on making money whereas in agile progressive agile firms the focus is not on money-making. In agile firms, the focus is on delivery and customer-centricity. Organization structure The traditional business follows bureaucracy, it involves juniors working and reporting to the managers. Traditional organizations work like football teams where there is a coach who makes all the decisions about the strategy, about who will play when. All the decisions are communicated by the coach to the players in the team. In contrast, agile organizations, work as basketball teams where the coach is not on the field. All the decisions are made by the players on the ground and they are responsible for their decisions. Research says in traditional organizations 50% of the time is spent reporting what is done, what are they working on currently and what is the plan for future. Team dynamics In traditional organizations, teams work as silos. They do not work in coordination. They compete. In contrast, agile teams, interact easily with each other. They do not work as silos. Teams operate together as a network where information can flow in any direction. Teams in agile organizations work with the same connectivity, enthusiasm, and collaboration. Human Resource as Machines In traditional organizations, management considers employees as capital assets and try to control them and make them predictable. They also consider the organization as a machine. In contrast, agile organizations, value their employees and treat them with a lot of empathy. Agile organizations value every stakeholder in the system, including employees, clients and vendors, and other service providers. Being agile is multi-dimensional, but the focus will always remain on creating value for all the stakeholders. Agile organizations have a network of teams that are empowered. They have processes that support rapid decisions and learning. They are technology-driven and people-centric organizations. In short, today’s scenario is pushing organizations to become more agile. As quoted by Bill Gates – “Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react and reinvent.”, organizations today need to focus on being agile to sustain and survive the competition. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [5 ways to Improve Team Performance with Mindfulness](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-improve-team-performance-with-mindfulness/): Mindful is being aware of your thoughts and then choosing how to behave consciously. Mindfulness helps to lessen stress, increase job satisfaction, improve focus, and leadership skills. But is it enough? But when it comes to the ability of individuals and teams should both the teams and individuals practice mindfulness? What is team mindfulness? how to Improve team Performance? Team mindfulness is when all the members of the team together observe the thoughts of all the members in the team and then consciously choose to behave in the right way. This attitude of teams collectively taking decisions and behaving in sync leads to greater teamwork agreements. Moreover, mindfulness helps organizations improve bottom-line results. Mindfulness has a positive influence on the team’s motivation. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the ways you can improve your team’s motivation with mindfulness: Relieve stress One of the most affecting factors at work is stress. Stress if not managed properly can affect the employees mentally as well as physically. Organizations should include mindfulness programs like meditation, yoga, etc. It would help to reduce stress and increase the tolerance level of the employees. With reduced stress, employees can focus on their tasks with an open mind and thus be more productive, creative, and innovative. Improve the team’s confidence Employees should not fear their bosses. They should respect their bosses. Mindfulness exercise involves both the team leaders and the employees in the team. Leaders should interact with the employees in various engagement activities beyond the mindfulness programs. Such engagement activities will not only improve the confidence of the team members, but it will also improve the confidence of the leaders as all the members get inspired and motivated to work towards the same vision and goals. Improve health Healthy employees will produce healthy results. Employees and teams who perform mindfulness exercise, relieve stress, apprehensions, and annoyance. When employees perform mindfulness activities, they are vigorous and energetic, and this produces the best results. Improve optimism One of the reasons that team motivation decreases over a period of time Is because of a lack of team bonding and bad emotional connection with the members of the team. So the HR should keep engaging teams with different team-building activities, and sessions that help boost their morale and motivate them. Mindfulness can be a catalyst that helps the organizations to develop emotional intelligence and positive attitude. Empathy Last but not the least, mindfulness helps to build empathy that is usually lacking in the corporate world. There is a rat race in the corporate world where employees are working on meeting targets, they are competing for the bonus and they do not act like humans with feelings and emotions. There needs to be a way to develop empathy among team members. Mindfulness can help in that case. Mindfulness makes one aware of their feelings as well as the feelings of employees around them. Mindfulness will help organizations in the long run to build team motivation and overall growth of the organization. It is an investment that organizations need to make to improve the productivity and performance of the employees and the teams. It is no longer a buzzword that only big organizations are using as a secret of their growth. It is the way to go for all organizations big or small. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Company Culture – The Backbone of Any Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/company-culture-the-backbone-of-any-organization/): Company culture defines the values, vision, and mission that make up the ecosystem of the organization. It is the culture that attracts new talent and motivates the employees to give their best. It is the company culture that drives all the employees in the organization to work for a common goal. It is one of the top challenges that organizations around the globe are facing. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at different types of culture: The team is given the highest priority In this type of culture, team bonding and cross-functional communication Is given the highest priority. In this type of culture, there are formal and informal events that are planned to improve employee engagement. This type of culture promotes employee empowerment and gives a certain level of flexibility to the employees, to keep them happy and motivated. In this type of culture, information is shared openly with teams. This type of culture also promotes collaboration and communication within teams so that the team is on track to hit the company goals without compromising on individual employee needs. Companies like Netflix follow this type of culture. Privileged corporate culture This type of culture promotes innovation and forward-thinking. Organizations with this culture hire only the best and promote fast growth. Their teams should be the trendsetters in the industry. In this type of culture, organizations encourage employees to think out of the box and push themselves beyond the boundaries daily. Companies like Google and Facebook encourage this type of culture. Traditional hierarchical corporate culture There is a clearly defined hierarchy in this type of culture. All the decisions are well calculated and based on data. In such a culture, the bottom line is always given the highest importance. Organizations that follow such culture, encourage a dress code, and have well-defined practices that make it difficult to accept change and implement new technology. Generally, government organizations are the best example of this culture.  Horizontal or flat corporate culture This type of culture is more popular with start-up organizations. This is a flat culture in which everyone contributes, and each employee is equally important. Since the company is new the work culture is flexible, and employees are encouraged to do secondary research to improve the company strategy further. This type of culture is seen in start-up technology organizations, where everyone is open to help others and they generally follow an open door policy. Tribe culture This is a type of culture where an organization operates like it is one big family. This type of culture is mostly found in smaller start-up organizations. There is a high level of employee engagement and a strong emphasis on teamwork. Communication across functions and hierarchies is mostly not formal and open.  Culture can be improved. Culture is how employees behave when no one is seeing them. It is how the employees in the organization interact with each other, their value system, and the way they make decisions. Culture is what motivates and retains talent in organizations. As Gary Vaynerchuk rightly quotes – “ Company culture is the backbone of any successful organization”, organizations should have the right culture in place, otherwise, even the best strategy would fail. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [9 Tips to be More Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/tips-to-be-more-productive/): Rushing into deadlines is the new normal. When we rush into the work, we end up making mistakes. We tend to focus on short term goals. We forget looking at the big picture and long-term goals. This has impact on business. We should learn to keep balance between short term and long-term goals and also We should work such that we are more effective and achieve more. We should not just focus on execution and implementation but also should focus on outcome and end results. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at ways and means to be more effective: As Stephen Covey said do not be trapped in the activity trap without understanding you are climbing against the wrong wall. Working longer and harder is not always the solution. We need to focus on right priorities and work smarter. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Learn How to work on Multiple Projects](https://faberinfinite.com/learn-how-to-work-on-multiple-projects/): Few members of the team have the liberty to work only on one project at a time. The majority of them are switching between the projects. Switching between tasks is stressful and needs a lot of focus and energy. How can we manage time, stress, and growth if you are working on multiple projects with multiple teams? How can we focus on what is more important? We need to start with some planning and a few rules that we must follow to stay focussed: Prioritize and Sequence work We need to big pick one task and focus on it sequentially rather than switching between tasks. We should start with tasks that are more important and are of high priority. We should first look at tasks that need a high level of concentration. Plan for the outcomes and work on the actions needed to achieve those results. Always look at the bigger picture. Focusing carefully on tasks puts you in a reactive and time-bound mode. It is essential to look at the bigger picture and put the tasks in the right sequence when we are working on multiple projects at a time. Establishing and Conveying Expectations When we are working on some important tasks, we need to keep ourselves away from all the disturbances. For example, when working on important tasks that need a high level of concentration, we should disengage ourselves by telling our team members not to disturb. We should also document the progress. It helps the team feel empowered and in control of the situation. Improve your development Under time pressure, the objective for each member is to provide help where they already have deep knowledge, rather than spending in the team’s development and growth. You need to take ownership of your development goals and work towards the progress. Figure out who else on the team would you want to give exposure to. Make your development goals clear, to both your team leader and members. After identifying your development goals plan for actual learning. Keep time for reflecting on the plan. Across the world, today working on multiple projects at a time is the new normal. There is stress and there is risk associated with it. But each of us who is working on multiple projects should learn the art to switch between projects. We should learn to focus our energy. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Unlock Your Potential with Continuous Efforts](https://faberinfinite.com/unlock-your-potential-with-continuous-efforts/): In any organization, all the functions work together for the growth and development of the organization. Each function in the organization is equally important and necessary. The key role of the Marketing function is to streamline the efforts to the best interests of the organization. In this edition of Faber, we bring to you yet another transformation catalyst at Faber Infinite – Ms. Priyal Shah – Executive Marketing and Communication at Faber Infinite Consulting. Priyal has been a star performer and is always ready for new challenges and explores new tasks. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with her. Faber Infinite (FI): Hello Priyal! Tell us how you got started in your career at Faber Infinite Consulting. Priyal Shah (PS): I started my career with Faber Infinite Consulting immediately after my graduation. I was referred here by my placement committee faculty. I joined team Faber Infinite in the year 2018 as a part of the Marketing and Communication team. FI: What attracted you to this job specifically?  PS: I always wanted to work in the field of marketing and communication. This is the profession where you must be creative and technical at the same time. This job gives me the opportunity to follow my passion and that is to write, create, and build relations. Secondly, Faber Infinite is a management consulting organization that works with clients across geographies and sectors, thus provides me an opportunity to learn about how different industries operate. Every day is a learning experience and that is what I love about my job at Faber Infinite. FI: What can you tell us about our organization?   PS: Faber is one big family. Everyone at Faber is equal. We have an open-door policy at Faber Infinite. The best part about Faber is its culture. The team is welcoming and accommodating. We at Faber Infinite practice what they preach. We believe in the growth of all the stakeholders including – vendors, employees, clients. It is an organization, where the seniors are open to discuss ideas and opinions. For Faber, their employees are its biggest assets which bring in a sense of loyalty towards the organization, which is rare in today’s scenario. Even in these tough times of pandemic, we have a strict policy of no layoffs or furloughs. All of us at Faber is working hard to thrive through these tough times and we know we would emerge stronger. FI: What makes you passionate about your work at FI? PS: The one thing that makes me passionate about working at Faber is the learning experience. What I love are the perspectives and ideas I am exposed to daily. Every day there is something new to learn, not just restricted to my function but even from the other functions. Being a part of this industry and contributing to the marketing and communications team, gives me a broader view of the knowledge across industries. FI: How has your skillset grown over time? PS: When I started with Faber, I was a fresher and completely new to the corporate setup. All that I knew was what was taught to me in my university. After joining Faber, I picked up a lot of new skills through training and mentoring by the seniors in the organization. Over time I kept practicing new skills to further improve, strengthen, and accelerate my career growth.   It has helped me grow professionally as well as personally. It has been a wonderful journey so far. With the limitless opportunities at Faber, I have a lot to learn and improve. FI: How does Faber Infinite celebrate the accomplishments of its employees? Share with us one of your accomplishments and how was it recognized. PS: At Faber, all the team members are recognized for their hard work. The rewards and recognition at Faber are the best, to keep the motivation high. Having said that, in January 2020, I was fortunate to be recognized with 3 awards included special recognition for my commitment and dedication. It means a lot to me. All my hard work has been rewarded and celebrated. This motivates me daily to go beyond and work harder. FI: Where would you like to see your career in three years?   PS: I look at seeing myself as the Chief Marketing Officer. I know, it is a long way to go to reach there and there is a lot to learn to reach that position but that is my immediate goal for now. So, I would give my best to meet my aspirations and make my organization grow higher.  I believe growth never stops and life is full of opportunities, it is just that you should have the potential to keep building on your progress and laying the foundation for your best self. You can always do more and be better. As Winston Churchill rightly said – “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking your potential.” Thank you, Faber Priyal, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck in all your future assignments
- [Learning and Upskilling with Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/learning-and-upskilling-with-faber-infinite/): Learning and upskilling is a way of growing. One who stops learning stops growing. In the times of pandemic, when the entire world was struggling to identify new ways of learning virtually, team Faber Infinite has been helping several learners with its extremely valuable and popular training programs. These programs focused on varied subjects related to the world of Operational Excellence. These programs had participants from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. These programs were training and supporting the person to upgrade their technical skills, which can further help the organizations become lean and agile in upcoming times. Participants were from various departments, not just from corporates, but also from the education industry. Since post COVID, industries would look for highly skilled workers, we have been training students from engineering fields thus helping generate higher employability possibilities. The training batches on the following subjects were scheduled on a recurring basis, due to high demand.; Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (Accredited by Council for Six Sigma Certification from the USA) Certified Operational Excellence Manager Lean Manager – Bronze Level (for corporates) Lean Practitioner – Bronze Level (for students) We have been running these training sessions since May 2020 and already rolled out several batches with many ongoing programs. We are extremely glad to receive such unprecedent responses from the participants. Sharing a few feedbacks here; Ms. Veena Rajai – HR Head – “They are not just consultants; they are mentors and coaches.” We are glad to share a quick snippet by Ms. Veena Rajai, HR Head. She shares her views about their partnership with Team Faber and the online training conducted by us. Check how Team Faber Infinite has been helping people and organizations across the globe here. Mr. Saurabh Khonde, Purchase Engineer – “The trainers are highly experienced. They explained the concepts in such a way that the participants from all the domains can understand the concept very well!” Have a look at a quick feedback snippet shared by Mr. Saurabh Khonde, Purchase Engineer who shares his experience about one of our Certificated Operational Excellence Manager Online Programs. To listen to his feedback, click here. Ms. Megha Desai, Planning Manager – “To all the professionals in any sector of the industry, if you are looking for Lean Six Sigma Certification, please go for Faber Infinite Consulting” Sharing a quick snippet from one of our participants, Ms. Megha Desai, Planning Manager. To listen to her feedback, click here. We sincerely appreciate such patronage and views about the training programs by Faber Infinite. It is such faith that encourages us to deliver fabulous results. These are the few of the feedback shared by our participants from various sectors and industries. If you too want to upgrade your skillset to bounce forward Post COVID-19, register for our upcoming training sessions now! Limited seats available. Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (Accredited by Council for Six Sigma Certification from the USA) – Click here to register Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Beyond COVID – The Way to New Normal](https://faberinfinite.com/beyond-covid-the-way-to-new-normal/): Who knew that a virus would send almost the whole world under lockdown and affect billions of lives and businesses! Hopefully, all organizations return to business soon. However, given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, everything is bound to change. Organizations must adapt to a new reality. A reality where businesses will not only have to go through massive sanitary and health changes but also operational challenges. COVID pandemic has shaken business practices and operations, from lost productivity to late deliveries, inventory management to liquidity management and cater to a number of issues faced by almost every manufacturing organization. As consumers and companies reacted to coronavirus pandemic lockdown, shortages developed of almost everything from toilet paper to protective medical gear (PPE)! In such uncertain testing times, how can businesses manage cost and just-in-time production to ensure survival? This is a critical time for businesses and manufacturers, as they evaluate how to restore business processes and operations to a profitable level, all while countering the effects of an unstable economy. To ensure that you make the right decision with the right data and information, Team Faber Infinite has collected perspectives from various organizations across geographies and sectors on the key concerns of Covid-19 on business. Team Faber Infinite surveyed businesses and professionals globally, to understand how this health crisis is impacting their business now and over a period, and to ensure relevant and timely information specific to the current scenario. The results of the global survey on the impact on business from the Covid-19 crisis are as below. In the face of this exceptional crisis, all organizations need to respond promptly and effectively to ensure both short-term survivals and to build resilience to chart a path to longer-term recovery. The core part of the report focuses and the major challenges like sales, inventory management, manpower productivity, production, and quality, and how to turn these massive challenges into meaningful change. Here are the glimpses of a few of such challenges: In the survey, 62% of the participants considered sales as the biggest challenge they are facing because of the pandemic. Inventory management is a major worry for almost 34% of participants: According to the 39% of participants, manpower productivity is a real concern because of the corona pandemic Quality is a concern for 33% of the participants amid coronavirus Production is a major worry area for all now. Increasing production without additional CAPEX is a dream to all especially in these tough times of corona pandemic. Team Faber Infinite has been helping organizations in these tough times to overcome the challenges: We have been supporting organizations sustain and improve sales in these tough times within a short span of 4 to 13 weeks, with our proven Sales Growth Framework. With the help of robust Lean Supply Chain module by Faber Infinite for supply chain and inventory management organizations can improve end – to – end flow, speed and reduce lead time by identifying and eliminating all non-value-adding activities With the help of the Manpower Productivity module by Faber Infinite, many organizations across geographies have successfully improved the sales without compromising the throughput. Team Faber Infinite’s DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) module helps organizations across sectors to improve and sustain quality. Organizations can increase production with the operational excellence module by Team Faber Infinite. The road ahead will be more important for ensuring a profitable survival by streamlining processes, decreasing cost, reducing wastage, and continuous improvement by deploying the transformation strategy and modules of Team Faber Infinite. Read the full survey report for more details. Covid-19 impact on a business survey by Faber Infinite Consulting and practical recommendations can be found here. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Manasi
- [Delivering Results in Agro-Industry in Kenya](https://faberinfinite.com/delivering-results-in-agro-industry-in-kenya/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a leader in the agro-based industry in Africa. We had a chat with Mr. Leon Grundlingh – Director: Technical & Product Development. Excerpts of this interesting interaction are as mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) : Hello Mr. Leon Grundlingh! We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Hygrotech East Africa Limited and about your journey in the organization? Mr. Leon Grundlingh (LG) : Hygrotech has been in Kenya for more than 20 years. Hygrotech is a South African company with subsidiaries in many sub-sahara countries like Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Hygrotech East Africa is based in Kenya. About 2 years ago, Mr. Stuart Millar, Managing Director of Hygrotech East Africa, bought all the shares from Hygrotech in South Africa. Hygrotech East Africa is now privately owned and we use the well-known name, Hygrotech, in the agricultural circles in Kenya and Tanzania. We are a vegetable seeds company dealing in the agricultural industry. We import and sell vegetable seeds, foliar feeds, and agricultural adjuvants in Kenya. Our sister company in Tanzania, Triahem focuses mainly on agricultural chemicals for the Tanzanian market. What makes Hygrotech different is that we don’t just sell the seeds. We offer an A-Z, sustainable solution to our clients who are vegetable growers by providing them seedling trays, growing medium (hygromix), foliar feeds, chemical disinfectants and fungicides, and most importantly, the vegetable seeds. Along with the vegetable industry, we also service the coffee -, tea -, wheat – and flower industry in Kenya. My role: Studied and worked as a plant breeder in South Africa at Hygrotech. I am based in South Africa. I travel to Kenya every 2-3 months. I am heading to the Technical and Research & Development department. My role is to find new products suited for the Kenyan environment both on foliar, chemical, and vegetable seeds. We test these new varieties and chemicals at our trial site in Naivasha which is about 2 acres big. For example, all the new peas and beans varieties that we want to commercialize in Kenya we first put it through stringent tests for three growing seasons, check its adaptability to the climate in Kenya and from there we do semi-commercial trials in other counties. Only if the seeds are adaptable, they will be promoted to semi-commercial trials at leading farmers. 2.  What are your strategies post COVID to get back to normal? As Hygrotech East Africa, we are very fortunate to be in the vegetable segment of the market. The flower industry suffered in this time of the COVID pandemic has collapsed as the necessity of vegetable crops is higher compared to flowers. So, every crop that we grow in this period is still being exported to the European Union, hence because of that, the vegetable market did not collapse. When the pandemic struck, the crops being exported was much more of a necessity than the flowers. Almost every crop we grew in Kenya including peas, beans, and broccoli are exported to Europe by minimizing the risk of contamination to the people. Luckily in the case of vegetables, there were even lesser chances for the contamination since they are cooked. Our business falls under the essential services and we were are taking all the necessary precautions like sanitizing ourselves, using disinfectants, wearing the PPE kits during both visiting client sites as well as while entering our own premises. 3. How do you plan to work on the sales strategies post-COVID? The sales strategy is going to be a bit different as a lot of the small companies in this industry have suffered. Some of them have even closed. We have to pick up the pieces and start the exports again with them. Apart from that, the most important part of our business is selling seeds to the local people in Kenya. As a company, we need to try and support the export companies that suffered. Our renewed focus post-COVID-19 will be on the local market. This strategy was developed by the support of Faber Infinite Consulting. They assisted us in improving our sales by implementing their proven Sales Growth Framework, which helped us focus on improving our local sales. It is one of the areas where we can grow further as a company. In the marketplace, it is important to listen to the client’s needs and address their requirements, so the focus is also on providing the clients what they need. 4. Team Faber has been associated with Hygrotech in sales improvement initiatives. Can you share more about the journey and the outcomes of the initiatives that have worked for Hygrotech to stay ahead of the competition? When team Faber joined us, we were their first client in this business segment in Kenya. Mr. Behnur from your team was very keen and quick on learning about how we as an organization operate. He went ahead to understand the people in the organization, went out in the market to see how we as an organization can bridge the gap between what the market needs and what we have to offer and how our competition has been operating. After that, we had several workshops wherein we brought our entire team together and embarked on this journey of continuous improvement. Since it is a continuous journey, we knew it would take a lot of efforts and it would not show quick results.  We have been serving the export vegetable and flower growers along with the local growers. Our aim with intervention by Faber Infinite was to focus on the local growers, the local sales team that services the clients. We have got representation all over the country in all the counties that are of agricultural importance to Kenya. With the help of Mr. Behnur, we put the sales strategy in place. We have put sales targets
- [Leaders - Visionaries or Operators?](https://faberinfinite.com/leaders-visionaries-or-operators/): You must be thinking success can be achieved by focussing on a good strategy. But gone are the days when leaders talk only about strategy and do not focus on implementation. Today, we need leaders who can make big promises to clients and help the organizations deliver on time. Leaders should focus on both execution and strategy. They should start with an executable strategy. Next, they should also ensure that their organization is working on the change. And last but not least leaders should ensure that everyone in the organization is motivated to work on the journey for change. But how does the leader ensure a smooth combination of execution and strategy? A leader must focus on the following three areas to close the gap between execution and strategy: Strategy planning Are you ready for the execution of the strategy? Do you have the skillset and capabilities ready for execution? If not available can you build the skill set needed for implementation or execution? Are you getting the teams ready for a change? A leader needs to consider all the above-mentioned questions and build a strategy around it with a strong plan for execution. Strategy follow up Leaders should meticulously follow up with what has been decided. Leaders should be clear about what the strategy is. They need to communicate it to everyone in the team and make sure that e everyone understands it completely. Leaders also need to make sure that they are taking steps to build the skill sets needed for the strategy to succeed. The strategy should be such that it is reflected in the goals and targets of the organization. It should also reflect on the goals and targets of the employees. Strategy execution Leaders should ensure that the teams in the organizations are not working as silos. They should work together and manage cross-functional challenges to allow the organization to win. The leaders should also involve the management team in the execution process. Leaders need to keep motivating the teams and keep employees at all the levels informed about how they are fully related to the vision and mission of the organization. There is tremendous scope for growth for organizations that can succeed at the execution of the planned strategy. Leaders who can be both executors and thinkers and can easily switch between the two beliefs are the ones who can help their organizations grow. So as Winston Churchill quotes – However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally measure the results. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [4 ways to Build Resilience to Be a Better Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-build-resilience-to-be-a-better-leader/): A resilient leader is a person who considers failure as a temporary setback and can recover fast. A resilient leader is optimistic and always keeps seeking opportunities even in tough times. When in doubt a resilient leader works towards finding ways to move forward and avoid hindrances. Being resilient is an important trait that a leader or even an individual should possess. Leaders need to work on building resilience. This Transformation Tuesday let us look at 4 ways to increase resilience: Look at Different Perspectives One of the most important traits that a leader should possess is looking at a difficult situation from a new or different perspective and making most of what is available in the situation. For example, if a most valued employee resigns, leader should not focus on the resignation and the loss of the good resource but should look at this as an opportunity to hire a new talent. Leader should assess the benefits of the situation. Leaders should rethink and look at alternative perspectives to both the situation and leader’s rection to the situation. Get Sleep Sleep is very important because it allows your brain take and process inputs. Leaders usually compromise on sleep to get more work done. Sleep is a default biological source of resilience that many leaders do not utilize. Good sleep can help improve creativity and attention of the leaders, which are very important traits of good leadership. Try other substitutes If leaders do not get good sleep, they should try other ways like a short nap, meditation, a walk, a invigorating break maybe. These ways help you take your attention away from the specific problem situation at hand and give you a chance to think beyond stressful thoughts. Such tricks will help a leader to lead better Power of Positivity Being positive helps to recover from failures or setbacks. Research has proved that when individuals are in positive state of mind, they think more clearly and openly than when they are in negative state of mind. Leaders should look for good in all the situations. Show gratitude to your teams. Positive thinking and emotions can build sources of resilience that you can store in reserve when in stress at work. Resilience is not just needed in professional life. It is equally important on the personal front as well. Resilience gives the leader as well as an individual the power and strength to bounce back and be best at whatever he/she is doing. Let us work on building resilience to bounce back from problems and obstructions. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [7 Tips to Be More Productive with Work From Home](https://faberinfinite.com/tips-to-be-more-productive-with-work-from-home/): Today all of us are experiencing working in the digital world. There are pros and cons to it. There is a better work-life balance and more flexibility to work. But, working virtually can be challenging at times, especially for those who are not familiar with the technology. In this Transformation Tuesday, we decided to put together some tips on how to effectively structure your day to remain productive and energetic. Work From Home Tips: Design a daily work routine To make it simple, do what you would do in the office. Follow a certain schedule, structure your work and your breaks, create rituals. This will help you stay more focused and keep your energy at a good level. Stick to your working hours In the same manner, as you create a daily work schedule, retain your working schedule as much as you can. Work for specific hours per day (preferably office follow office timings – 10 AM TO 6 PM). If there is any change in the plan for some reason, discuss it with your manager beforehand. Keep your team members informed about your working hours so that they can reach out to you. If you be available to them – they will be there for you, too. Stay online It is important to stay connected with your team and colleagues. Check your e-mail and messenger messages regularly to attend your team’s requests and questions. Keep your calendar updated and get on-time into the meetings with your camera and mic functioning properly.  Create a workspace Have a dedicated room/desk/corner, where you can sit comfortably for work. This will help you concentrate more. Keep all essential items within your reach. If you live with family or roommates, be transparent with them about your expectations during work time, especially when you are in calls/meetings with colleagues, customers, and partners. Limit distractions Whether it is scrolling through social media or cooking your lunch, it is better to bifurcate work from personal duties. This will enable you to retain your focus and dedicate your time to your duties. Share your thoughts with your manager and team Working remotely sometimes can lead to the fear of missing out. Remember that your manager and team members are always there to hear your ideas and updates. Ask for their feedback to improve your performance and feel free to openly communicate your concerns with your teammates. Remember to socialize Bonding with colleagues is important. Having them around only virtually can become confusing. The good thing is you can still get to know them during 1:1 meetings and calls. Share a laugh whenever you can and socialize. We trust that you know how to balance things. Get into formals / Official dress code Try to change into work clothes the same way as you would head to the office. Do change out of your work clothes when you finish work hours every day. It helps to shift your mental state and draw a boundary between work and home. The biggest challenge in working from home is disengaging from work. Changing clothes will help you feel like you are not always working. I am sure most of us already follow these guidelines, I request you to follow these tips for better and improved productivity during work from home.  Compiled By Faber Aparna
- [6 Steps to Building a Culture of Continual Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/steps-to-building-a-culture-of-continual-improvement/): Building a culture of continual improvement is not just about executing several improvement projects. It is much more beyond implementation. It requires to drive sustainability and embed the culture of continual improvement over time in the organization’s genes. This whole process is guided by some core principles:  Improvements can be small changes, they need not be big innovations The concept is important because large changes are difficult to accept and there is a lot of resistance from the team. By approaching small or incremental changes leaders can reduce the resistance and increase the speed of implementation and improvement. Value employee ideas The success of continual improvement projects depends largely on the employees. Leaders need to follow bottom up approach in this case as the employees are the closest to the problems or issues and thus better trained to solve the problems. Employee empowerment is equally important in this case.  Leaders can ask employees what can be done to solve the problems and then empower them to implement small changes to for improvement. In this way small ideas can create bigger impacts in the organization. In this process leaders should not shy away from employee complaints. Good leaders give opportunity to the teams to complaint and work upon the solution to the problems with small improvement projects. Incremental improvements are not expensive Employees work on projects that help to improve processes with the small changes. These small changes can mean eliminating non-value adding processes thus reducing waste and adding more value to the customer. So, these small improvement projects will not only be inexpensive, it has huge impact on the bottom line. Employee ownership and involvement By empowering your teams allow them to take charge of their own work. Let the change originate from them. When ideas come from them people will work more efficiently as they see value in the suggestions made by them. This will improve employee involvement and thus deliver better and faster results and increase the chance of success and sustenance. Continuous feedback mechanism Continuous feedback mechanism is must for organizations working on continual improvement projects. It might be an issue in traditional organizations, where coaches do not have the visibility they need to keep up with everyone doing the improvement work, senior leaders can’t engage without a major time commitment, meetings are tough to schedule, and communication gets lost in inboxes. Organizations with modern culture allow senior leaders to follow the improvement initiatives and get 360-degree feedback. Improvements should be measured Every change implemented should be measured. The impact of the change should be quantifiable. This makes it easy to understand if the change or the solution can be applied to other problems. Positive return on investments should be there and it will help the organization to grow and be more profitable. Making continuous improvement part of the organization’s culture is an excellent and cost effective approach to managing the organization’s most difficult challenges.  Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Five Mindset Shifts to Transform Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/five-mindset-shifts-to-transform-organizations/): There are various factors that affect business and make it successful. Leadership skills is one of the factors. Leaders are always working on innovation to stay ahead of the competition. Leaders do not solely depend on technology developments. To create a motivated organization, they work on creating the right mindset. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the five mindset shifts required by leaders to make business successful: Focus on purpose and not the numbers Leaders should focus on delivering the results to the customers. Leaders help develop a mindset where the teams think if they are adding value to the customers? This mindset will not only allow organizations to define and understand useful measures of success, but also dig deep to understand if they are serving the purpose. Break traditional hierarchies and focus on networking Allow teams to collaborate and work together thus leading to innovation. Remove the traditional system of hierarchy. This will make the employees feel more valued and important. As a result, they will be motivated to perform better and contribute to the success of the organisation. Empower your teams When employees feel encouraged to act, make decisions and provide feedback, they are more likely to perform better and create value for the organization. Leaders should invest in training and career development of the teams, thus leading to more success and growth of the organization. Drive teams to test new ideas It is the leader’s responsibility to drive teams to take that risk and experiment and innovate. Leader should help teams build a mindset that helps them to experiment and fill the gap between opportunity and success. Without taking risks, organizations cannot progress and transform. So leaders should help teams to build risk taking mindset that experiment to develop innovative products and solutions. Be transparent Leaders should work towards building a mindset where all the lines of communication are open, there is no traditional hierarchy, there is transparency in the system and the employees can move forward. This can be a challenge at times, but a progressive organization will always act based on the data and the feedback (positive or negative). For the teams to perform to the fullest, leaders need to identify their mindsets and transform the organizations accordingly. The more we empower teams, motivate them, the more we can promote innovation and valuable developments. So, follow the quote – “To change your life, you have to change yourself. To change yourself, you have to change your mindset” Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Faber Infinite - Supporting Clients to Fight Black Swan Events](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-supporting-clients-to-fight-black-swan-events/): With no vaccine to control the virus, the world feels fearful due to the collapsing economies, unforeseen period of its stay, and the long-lasting effect it is, and it will put across the globe. Few schools of thought refer to this unpredictable and unexpected situation as a Black Swan Event. Nassim Nicholas Taleb in the year 2007 in his book – The Black Swan – The Impact of Highly Improbable gave this concept to the world. He was the one who predicted the 2008 meltdown as well.  Broadly put, a Black Swan event is an event that is unpredictable and unexpected as to when will it occur or what damage will it cause or for how long will it stay. A combination of these situations is a Black Swan Event. In times like these, businesses around the world are struggling with the limited manpower, shortage of raw material, maintaining social distancing norms at work, broken supply chains, and many more. This situation has affected the way businesses are done. Usually, when everything is normal, organisations tend to ignore the practices to avoid the impact of unpredictable situations like the Black Swan Event. But when situations like these arise, organisations tend to panic and try to identify ways of survival. In short, most of the organisations around the world are not always prepared to face unexpected events. It is then when they tend to collapse. However, organizations practicing Structured Continual Improvement programs have demonstrated better readiness, resilience, and adaptability as compared to organizations without any such practices in place.   In times like these, the organisations that have been practicing productivity improvement through workflow management, time and motion study, and multi-skilling through training within industry (TWI) have been able to find ways to evolve and adapt sooner, even with less manpower. Organizations with LEAN and agile supply chains have been able to respond to the demand and supply variabilities better as compared to fat supply chains. These are just a few of the tools and techniques from the continual improvement toolbox that has helped the organizations to sustain these tough times! Time and again, it has been proven that these practices differentiate great organizations from good organizations and build them to last. Similar agility in strategy, sales, new product development is crucial to offer newer solutions (products and offerings) to the market and stay relevant. Team Faber Infinite has been supporting clients across continents to survive these hard times via robust Organizational Transformation Framework by Faber Infinite. The Chief Executive Officer from one of our esteemed clients, which is a global leader in the engineering industry said, “We are constantly working on Lean Manufacturing methods for improving productivity. Our organisation is one of the few organisations which has started line-production in heavy engineering sector. We have also modified the shop layout for the smooth flow of men and material movement. Thanks to Faber Infinite Consulting, which helped us in creating work culture for LEAN Initiatives.” The Managing Director of one of our clients, which is a leading pump set manufacturer of India, adds “Our organisation has been increasing operations efficiency through various initiatives like reducing inventory turnover ratio, eliminating inefficiencies, performance enhancement, people’s safety first, improving customer service, cost reduction, etc. The support from partners like Faber Infinite Consulting is an integral part of this improvement journey.” For one of our clients, which is one of the leaders in the agro-based industry in Africa, our proven Sales Growth Framework (SGF) helped to improve overall sales. The client, which was dependent on export sales (with 70% of its volume from exports), in the current year, started working on improving and enhancing their domestic sales with Faber Infinite Consulting. Today, when the exports are badly hit due to Covid19 (and is contributing only ~20% to ~25% of total sales for the last quarter), it is the domestic sales that have come to rescue. Domestic sales volumes are not only hitting their targets but exceeding the overall goals and helping the organisation survive through these tough times. The appropriate Risk Mitigation Strategy along with the Sales Growth Framework came as a rescue for the organisation. Had it been not implemented, the situation would have been grave. Team Faber Infinite is and has been preparing our clients to be more resilient in situations like Black Swan Events and survive through the tough times. Continual improvement practices are more relevant today than ever. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com and prepare your organisation to fight and survive tough situations like these. Join the league today, contact us to book your slot! To know more, how our clients and organizations are thriving in this crisis, read the Economic Times article here. https://bit.ly/2XlcLsB Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [The Success Mantra - Think Positive](https://faberinfinite.com/the-success-mantra-think-positive/): Positive thinking is a process of crafting thoughts that can process and convert energy into reality. Positive thinking is not about forgetting the negative thoughts. It is about moving ahead of those lowest points in life and making that impact. Positive thinking can be achieved through a few different techniques that have been tried and tested. This Transformation Tuesday, here are some tips that will help to train your brain to be positive: Start on a positive note Make it a ritual to start your day with a positive thought. Tell yourself that it is a great day. May be listening to a motivational song. Maybe you can compliment someone for the good work. Share something positive and uplifting. Focus on good things Challenges are a part and parcel of life. When you are facing challenges or issues, focus on good things no matter how insignificant they are. If you look for good things you will find your silver lining. For example, if an important meeting is canceled, do not be sad about it. Take it as an opportunity to finish other pending tasks. Practice positive self-talk You need to motivate yourself by taking positive to the self in crisis. This is the best therapy. You learn to master the art of being mindful of the voice in your head. Research proves that the slightest of the change in the way you talk to yourself can influence your ability to manage your feelings, thoughts, and emotions when under stress. Surround yourself with positive people Surround yourself with people who will help you to grow, who will lift you up and show the brighter side of any situation. This will increase your chances of success. Do not over analyze Do not over-analyze any situation. It is very easy to lose focus when in stress. Always follow a three-step approach to – Stop, Breath, and Refocus. Overcome fear Do not let vague fears hold yourself back from doing what you want. Be fearless and take that chance in life. And finally exercise regularly and eat and sleep well. As Louise Hay quoted – “Every thought we think is creating our future”, so think positive and create a beautiful future. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [The Era of Consulting 4.0](https://faberinfinite.com/the-era-of-consulting-4-0/): In today’s tough times, where safety is of utmost importance, organizations cannot ignore the importance of Operational & Manufacturing Excellence for sustenance. Operational Excellence (OE) enables organizations to maintain and improve production capacity, equipment efficiency, manpower productivity, reduce production cost and much more to survive in the cut-throat competition. Amid these tough times, organizations should continue with their OE journey without any hurdles. An able consulting team can play an extremely crucial role in the uninterrupted & accelerated implementation journey. But the pertinent question comes up: how can an organization host external consultants in times like these? Team Faber Infinite identified these challenges and crafted a special product that will enable the consultants to work closely at the real workplace with the real challenges and provide real solutions beyond the virtual conference room meetings. Our consulting and technology team has come up with an all-new exclusive Augmented Reality (AR) Enabled Platform – Consulting 4.0. It enables our consultants to be present at the real workplace in real-time, virtually. This platform enables rolling out all the consulting support that is needed for a smooth, uninterrupted, and successful implementation of an improvement journey via the Augmented Reality Platform. As per the principles of the Toyota Production System – Go to the Gemba (real workplace), is critical. We, at Faber Infinite, will provide the support not merely via a discussion or a conference room meeting but by witnessing the facts and observing the real workplace via the AR platform. In these tough times, the consulting support for the successful implementation of your improvement journey is more essential now, than ever! Contact us for the online and virtual support, which will be nothing less than a real-time shop floor support provided. With the help of this AR platform, you can resolve chronic issues like equipment performance and maintenance, production, yield improvement, quality issues, change overtime reduction and much more. To make sure you not only survive but thrive in this competition and current situation, our forward-looking team brings to you a path-breaking Augmented Reality Enabled Remote Consulting 4.0 Platform, that allows the consultant to be present at the real workplace (Gemba) virtually! Watch the explainer video here. Book Your Demo Today! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Why Answer Why?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-answer-why/): Clear communication is very important as a leader. It is more important in tough times when the situation is not normal. Both employees and customers are always looking for information. So, the leaders always make efforts to put a lot of information in the presentations and reports that they are going to share with their teams. A leader needs to answer what, how and why for the teams to work effectively. For example, only if the leader communicates to the teams that they need to work on additional projects compared to their current workload. How will the team react to this? Will they start planning for the work? Will they work on the schedule? No, they will first ask – Why? because they will not do something new or additional unless they are motivated to do so. Leaders should focus on the “Why” and here are the three ways to help leaders to get to the core of the Why – What Questions Ask your team some good what questions like – What will we get in return if we do or do not perform a task?  What does the future hold for us? The best way to get to the root of Why is by asking What multiple times till there is no what left unanswered. Considering Why is not enough Just digging the Why is not enough. A leader needs to articulate why. Once the leader has successfully communicated the Why, he/she needs to follow up on the actions of the team. If the necessary actions to complete the tasks listed in the Why are completed. Address the resistance Address the doubts and the resistance that the team is facing. Discuss with them why you eliminated certain ideas? Tell them what was the thinking that went behind the elimination process. By sharing your views on the ideas that you considered, looked at, verified, and then eliminated, you will demonstrate that you have considered all the possibilities. Answering Why is the way of relating to the team. It will add a layer of influence to your communication. When the team knows why they are being asked to do a task or project, they are more likely to do it.  In tough times like these, both the customers and the employees need the knowledge from the leadership more than ever. As the leaders pursue to inspire and motivate their teams to succeed, do not forget to include the Why. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [4 things Every Business should focus on to be Successful](https://faberinfinite.com/4-things-every-business-should-focus/): What is it that you focus on first thing in the morning? What do you focus on when you come to work? As you are looking at your daily calendar what do you focus on? When you are looking at your weekly calendar, what do you focus on? Because whatever is your focus, decides how you feel, how you react, how you utilize your time, what you pay attention to, etc. Everything in life is driven by focus. For example, if you choose to find something wrong in what someone is working on, you will end up finding mistakes. If you focus on something right that someone is doing, then you will find it. If you focus on looking at the losses in the past, you will miss planning for the future. Everything is driven by focus. As a business owner what you decide to focus on decides the outcome. Hence you should always focus on positive things to get optimal results. Below are a few things that a business owner or entrepreneur should focus on every week: The number one issue that all business owners should focus on is getting more revenue. Everything else is secondary. Since focus determines everything about the business, the primary focus should be getting more revenue. Once you deliberately choose to focus on driving the top line revenue every week, it will make a big difference to your business. Along with the top line what is equally important is the bottom-line –  profitability. In the end, what is important is profitability and not sales. What matters is what is left after everything else is paid off. It is not either/or situation. Both sales and profits are equally important. Your focus should be to get a lot of sales and then the next focus should be to generate the right net profit. So, the focus should be to drive sales and improve profitability. When we say capacity it can be manpower availability, it can be the skill set of the available manpower, it can be technology, it can be availability of the required equipment, it can availability of the leadership team, etc. It is the ability of the organization to scale as per requirements. So, business owners should work towards making their business scalable and towards creating additional capacity before it is required. As a business owner, you should always work towards hiring the best resource. But it does not stop at hiring the best people but at the same time, you need to get the best out of the people whom you recruit. All the team members have more potential then what they present so the focus should be on improving the team’s performance. The better your team performs better is the utilization of the capacity. So, push your team to do the best. If you want to build a more scalable and successful business, these are the four things you need to focus on – sales growth, profits, capacity, and team performance. If you focus on these four pillars week on week, then you will succeed. Focus on these four pillars for accelerated and sustainable growth and success.  Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [5 Steps to get back to New Normal](https://faberinfinite.com/5-steps-to-get-back-to-new-normal/): Getting the manufacturing operations restarted is a big task in these tough times. Organizations need to follow a structured approach to stabilize operations, improve throughput and increase profits. Follow these five steps to get back in action: 1.      Planning Do you know the cash flow and liquidity status of your organization? Do you know the availability of labour and the risk associated with it? Check your demand and supply? Have you analysed your available labour force to make optimum use of the production schedule? 2.      Supply Chain Organizations need to evaluate incoming and outgoing supply chain. Do not consider only material when you evaluate supply chains. Due to the crisis, the situation is different across the globe. Design an alternate sourcing strategy. Consider all the possible factors affecting the supply chain example change in tariffs or currency fluctuations and many more. 3.      Skill Gap Analysis Identify the critical skills and roles needed in the manufacturing process. Once you identify the skills make a chart for all the roles that need to upgrade skills. Make a training plan to fill in the skill gaps and evaluate the new skills that you need to bring into the organization. Organizations need to be connected to the teams and empathize with them and encourage them to take bigger roles and greater responsibilities in these tough times. 4.      Connect with Stakeholders Work with both upstream vendors or suppliers and downstream customers. Relate to them continuously to understand the challenges that they are facing. Work towards finding solutions and making the process seamless. 5.      Safety First Apply operational excellence tools like 5S to operate a facility while keeping employees safe from typical injury exposures and the coronavirus. Also, safety walkthroughs are important – especially when changes have been made on the shop floor and people are in new roles. Further organizations should also make design changes keeping in mind social distancing. They need to consider sanitation and PPE requirements. Safety should be a priority for employee well-being. As we are exiting the lockdown from a pandemic, we have only one chance to get it right. Follow the above-mentioned guidelines and give your organization and your employees the best chance to get back to the new normal and even become more profitable and productive. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Embrace Change and Maintain a Positive Attitude](https://faberinfinite.com/embrace-change-and-maintain-a-positive-attitude/): In any organization, all the functions work together for the growth and development of the organization. Each function in the organization is equally important and necessary. The key role of the HR function is to streamline the efforts of every employee to the best interests of the organization and the team member. In this edition of Faber, we bring to you yet another transformation catalyst at Faber Infinite – Ms. Aparna Khasnis – HR Manager at Faber Infinite Consulting. Aparna has been a star performer and is always ready for new challenges and explores new tasks. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with her. Hi Aparna! Our audience would be keen to know more about you and your journey so far? Hi, I am working in the HR domain for more than 6 years now. I opted for Masters specializing in Human Resource Management, as it gives me an opportunity to drive the required changes in the organization, understand people and improve quality of life for all the stakeholders involved. I am associated with Faber Infinite since last 2 years and enjoy my work, whether it is – recruitment, setting and revising policies, appraisals, employee engagement – all gives me a great sense of satisfaction and keeps me in high spirits.  With the way organizations are working globally in the current COVID situation, how is Faber coping up with this change? The dramatic spread of COVID-19 has disrupted lives, livelihoods, communities, and businesses worldwide. There are certain circumstances or decisions, that are not in our power to control. We believe, we can and will do our best to deal with the situation and move forward. On similar lines, we at Faber Infinite decided to go for ‘Transformation Digitally’. We migrated to providing online support to all our clients worldwide in their transformation and improvement journeys. Bounce Forward Talks series with various industry leaders and decision-makers, by our marketing team was extremely well received – ‘cos of the value add! Our team is working every day – across times zones – to provide the required support, conducting online workshops & training sessions for our clients. Team Faber also designed various new online training programs, certification programs for industry professionals and students as well. How are the team members in your organization made to feel safe while dealing with this change? When the initial cases of coronavirus appeared in the country, we at Faber infinite decided to work from home, even before the government made it mandatory.  We called back all our consultants working on the client sites – India as well as Overseas – to their respective base locations and asked them to self-quarantine. For us, our team member’s health and well being is the topmost priority! At Team Faber, team members are the most important assets. Faber is always being transparent about current realities. We share and get feedback from our team members about new business strategies, financial situations, and new prospects – because we believe that we all are in this together and will come out of this together. All our team members feel valued and appreciate it. As we know, due to the economic crisis, organizations across the world have started layoffs and salary cuts, how is your organization dealing with this issue? I am extremely proud to be associated with Faber. During these tough times, where major organizations are laying off employees in huge numbers – at Faber, the first reaction was that there will be no layoffs. We strongly believe that our team members are our key asset. They are the foundation of Faber and they have always been treated as family members. To support our team members, we took a flexible approach and also brought opportunities and positive outcomes. We came up with loyalty incentives, hybrid compensation policies, where we created an opportunity for everyone to earn that extra amount.  We try to push everyone to go for that one extra mile to achieve the targets, so collectively we achieve more together! How has the management reacted towards the global crisis, and what are your further plans to thrive through this crisis? Our management comprises of resilient leaders.  They are working on new business models that are likely to emerge and spark the innovations that will define the tomorrow. It was management’s firm decision that at Faber Infinite family, NOT a single soul shall be laid off! In such a crisis situation, employee engagement is most important and how is HR working towards ensuring the same? Having people around you with whom you can share feelings, discuss problems, and receive advice is an essential part. As an HR, we play that crucial role of listening to all the team members. As employee engagement & learning initiatives, we rolled out LEARN from HOME series – internal training sessions. Various webinars were conducted by external as well as interna experts to equip and upgrade our team members with new skills. At Faber, as we say fun and learn goes together, this lockdown also presented an opportunity to unwind and participate in activities like internal fitness challenge and online games with all Faber families. It was extremely chirpy of all our team members to recreate the epic “Hum Honge Kamyab” song, to spread the positivity and salute our Corona Warriors. At Faber, we try to keep everyone engaged and positive, which is the need of hour when one is locked down! Is there anything you would like to share with other HR leaders and organizations for dealing with this situation? We are living in a complex world with changes all around us. Naturally, this can make us feel uncertain or fearful about the present and future. I would suggest, that we must be more flexible and with a resilient mindset. Accept what is not in your control and embrace change. Maintain a positive attitude. Take care of your team members and they will take care of your business! Thank you, Faber Aparna, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and
- [Post-COVID Readiness (CORE) Assessment](https://faberinfinite.com/post-covid-readiness-assessment-core/): “When you follow the CORE workout routine in the gym every day; it will shed out the fat and strengthen the muscles. Similarly, this CORE Assessment will help organizations to eliminate inefficiencies and give a much-needed muscular strength to the businesses.” Coronavirus is the new challenge faced by the world disrupting the way people live and work globally. More than 3 billion people were under lockdown for about 2 months around the world compelling most business organizations to enact the remote working directives, to ensure the safety and well-being of employees. As we all know, the world is a global village and so is the business, and this global and interconnected nature of today’s business environment poses a serious risk of disruption of global supply chains. These disruptions have resulted in substantial loss of revenue and an adverse impact on global economies. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way organizations operate. So, to be prepared to restart, organizations must review existing working patterns and accelerate the development of new working patterns, programs, and strategies. This can enable employees to work productively during the disruption and make it easier for businesses to improve cash flow and profitability. Organizations must identify the exact challenges. They should focus on the identified challenges and put efforts to make the business ready to operate post-COVID. There will be many changes right from how individuals commute, enter workplaces, interact with others, manage tasks and operations and much more. In a post-COVID world, not only the safety of the employees but also the safety of business productivity and profitability will be important. Especially in a country like India, where the government is planning to lift the lockdown restriction in phases subject to certain conditions, new challenges for the business arises. And business organizations cannot make any mistake in getting ready to reopen their business operations after a long time as the world of work will never be the same again. Business needs to develop a strategy to counter the damages including safety and productivity of the entire workforce. Coronavirus pandemic is challenging the businesses to think in different and unique ways to restart their operations, as the disruptions caused by the pandemic outbreak have left deep impacts on businesses. It has impacted supply chains, cash flow, productivity, the layout, all this taking into consideration the guidelines issued by the government. So, the question is – Is your organization ready and prepared enough to restart? A company’s overall COVID-19 impact assessment and action plan in the short term will determine an escape plan for businesses. The organization needs to prepare well in advance and get ready to restart with the business operations to ensure the smooth functioning of the business to remain productive and profitable post-COVID. This requires a complete assessment of the impact on the business model, both short term and long term. To overcome the coronavirus pandemic impact by identifying the exact challenges and identifying the areas of focus, Team Faber Infinite has devised a robust COvid REadiness (CORE) Assessment using more than 200 years cumulative industry experience. CORE will help the organizations understand the implications of coronavirus and, more importantly, the best position of the organization to be resilient post-COVID by identifying the business-model risks and opportunities that the Covid-19 pandemic presents.  CORE assessment by Faber Infinite Consulting has 5 stages as under: 1. Online conclave with the senior management team of the organization A detailed structured workshop with the leaders and senior management team regarding the various aspects of the business will help to identify the major strengths, concerns, opportunities, and threats for business continuity 2. Data collection Historic data regarding more than 20 parameters/ ratios relating to costs, delivery, quality, capacity, manpower productivity, efficiency, breakdowns, inventory ratios, safety and others will be captured 3. Data Analysis Team Faber Infinite will look at the core dimensions of the business model like capabilities, manpower productivity, existing layout, material, cash and information flow, inventory ratios, breakdowns, customers, value propositions, value adding ratios, etc.  Secondly, team Faber Infinite will also analyze the connections between these dimensions and identify exact challenges 4. Capturing the voice of the organization Once the data will be collected and analyzed, one-to-one or online meetings with functional heads will be conducted to discuss the data collected, validations, gaps identification, and planning the way forward. 5. CORE (COvid REadiness) Plan A docket will be devised containing the guidelines for accelerated growth, while keeping in mind regulatory requirements like social distancing, hygiene at the workplace along with elements like improving inventory management to improve cash flow and material flow, improving manpower productivity, to name a few. Also, team Faber Infinite will help to define realistic objectives for the organization, during and after the crisis. Certainly, Coronavirus is a huge backdrop for businesses across the globe – compelling organizations to assess their current practices, reinvent their working patterns, and strengthening their fundamentals. Leaders must consider the outcome of the assessment as they decide to reopen and get back to normal as soon as possible. Businesses can ensure smooth operations and improvements in productivity post-pandemic by taking this assessment. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Manasi
- [Announcing Top 3 Online Training Modules](https://faberinfinite.com/announcing-top-3-online-training-modules/): As the world is facing one of the biggest challenges – Coronavirus, are you ready to upgrade your and your teams’ skills to be ready amid these tough times? In these tough times where organizations are looking for ways to thrive, we at Faber Infinite are glad to announce online training modules that will support you improve your skillset and lead your organisation to thrive through these hard times. After a huge success of the first batch, we are announcing another batch of a power-packed online training program that are game-changers in this scenario. So far, we have had participants from across the globe and from various industries. Our flagship online training programs include Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (Accredited by The Six Sigma Council of USA), Operational Excellence Manager, Lean Manager (Bronze Level), and many others are sought after courses. Details of the programs: Certified Lean Six Sigma Training Program  This extremely powerful and unique online training is certified by Accredited by Council for Six Sigma Certification from the USA, to upgrade your skills in today’s tough times. This training and certification program shall help you become a Lean Six Sigma Expert. Register today to embark on the journey towards becoming a Certified Lean Six Sigma Expert! We are starting new batches from 15th June 2020! To register and know more details about this program click HERE Certified Operational Excellence Manager Training Program Going ahead with this hit, we are ready for the launch of our next Online Training Series. Register today to upgrade your skillset to create unique expertise that will change the way you work and become a Continual Improvement Manager to create countless opportunities for growth in these tough times. We are starting new batches from 22nd June 2020! To register and know more details about this program click HERE Certified Lean Manager – Bronze level training program Lean Manager – Bronze level certification will help you to be ready and more attentive to achieve success. Register today to acquire Lean Foundations and Flow Management skills to sustain growth and development in these tough times. We are starting new batches from 22nd June 2020! To register and know more details about this program click HERE Register today to upgrade your skills and be ready for the future.  Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Be Agile and Bounce Forward](https://faberinfinite.com/be-agile-and-bounce-forward/): In tough times like these, everyone is trying to find a solution to help them sustain in such a crisis and emerge stronger. As we are facing the COVID – 19 pandemic everyone is seeking how to react post-COVID? To address this situation, Young Indians (Yi) & Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in collaboration with Faber Infinite Consulting presented interview series (live web interview & interaction) with various industry leaders to seek their insights on how respective industries would react and cope up in post-COVID times. We spoke to industry leaders from industries such as – Heavy Engineering, FMCG, Automotive, Pump Manufacturing, Packaging, FIBC Packaging, Electrical, Education, and many more. The details of the Bounce Forward Leaders are as follows: Industry Organization Leader Heavy Engineering InoxCVA India Mr. Deepak Acharya, CEO FMCG Pravin Masalewale/ Suhana Masala Mr. Anand Chordia, Director Automotive Varroc Engineering Mr. Arjun Jain, Director Automotive Sanjeev Auto Ms. Maithilee Tambolkar, Managing Director Pump Manufacturing Waterman Industries Mr. Bharat Patel, Director Packaging Jhaveri Flexo Mr. Alay Jhaveri, Director FIBC Packaging Emmbi Industries Mr. Makarand Appalwar, Managing Director Electrical RR Global Mr. Sumeet Kabra, Director Education T.I.M.E Institute Mr. Manek Daruwala, Founder & Director For those who have missed out on the series, you can catch the recording of the interview webinars on our official YouTube channel – http://ow.ly/I9Sb50zueW1. After successful completion of the Bounce Forward Talk Series, we are glad to present to you the quick pointers/ learnings compiled from the series that covered webinars with industry experts. To read this report and equip yourself to emerge through these tough times, click HERE for the POST COVID READINESS REPORT. This report consists of the important key takeaways delivered by our industry specialists to help the fellow industry members strive through tough times and emerge stronger. We would like to share our sincerest gratitude with all our speakers for joining us to share their wonderful thoughts and advice, which is need of the hour, with all our fabulous audience to Bounce Forward post-COVID-19! Also, thanking all participants and patrons without whom this series would not have been possible! We at Faber Infinite convey our sincere thanks to Young Indians (Yi) Ahmedabad Chapter, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Round Table India (RTI). We would sincerely like to express our gratitude and acknowledge all the speakers for providing their valuable inputs and support. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Cash Fit is COVID Fit](https://faberinfinite.com/cash-fit-is-covid-fit/): Covid-19 pandemic took the world with a complete surprise like a typical “Black Swan” event. Coronavirus has created a bloodbath in the world of business. To control this pandemic, governments across the world are taking measures that have a major impact on all aspects of routine life and more impact on businesses. The measures taken to cope up with this pandemic has brought an unexpected turn in the global economy. There was no manufacturing, no sales, and no business in many sectors. Several businesses are running out of cash. Business leaders are now facing immediate challenges, including managing the cash flow as ‘cash is the king’. A company’s post-COVID-19 strategy plan should include cash flow management as an integral element. Just like health experts are recommending to wash hands, wear masks, maintain social distancing and avoid crowd for not getting infected by a coronavirus, business experts are recommending the organizations to actively evaluate their cash flow requirements, assess potential risks to their customer base and supplier network, and develop appropriate action plan under various scenarios to save the business. One of the most important elements of cash flow management is inventory management, and the importance of inventory management is even more in such pandemic situations. So, the question comes – Is your organization taking the right steps to overcome the cash challenge in tough times? Just like businesses are taking care of the health of their employees, liquidity health of the business also needs to be kept under focus, as it has a huge impact on sales orders, receivable collections, and cash flow. It is the right time for organizations to shift the priorities as in addition to the health crisis, COVID-19 unexpectedly thrust a number of new economic priorities in such a challenging business environment. Accuracy of inventory management is getting more and more vital as businesses cannot afford to take any more risk in the current business environment – where the business is running out of cash.  To limit the locked-in value, businesses need to focus on effective inventory management. As it is said that “too much stock is money that sleeps needlessly.” Optimizing the cash flow is essential in this challenging period. Businesses are required to reduce the stock (without impacting the service levels) in a planned way to reduce its value and increase the cash flow. The need of the moment is to find a balance to establish a optimum stock value and maintain the business activity with the help of a robust inventory management mechanism. Such extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary solutions. It is high time for any organization to rethink and revamp its inventory management mechanism. Using hands-on cumulative experience of over 200 years, team Faber Infinite offers an online consulting workshop to optimize inventory costs by 20% to 30% in span of 1 to 2 weeks only. C-FIT Inventory Management Module by Faber Infinite Consulting includes. Detailed inventory analysis along with your team Training on Inventory Management Modules to all the key members Continuous online assistance on solution implementation Live online support by senior consulting partner Complimentary Monthly Reviews and Audits C-FIT inventory management module deliverables include: Phenomenal financial savings with a reduction in inventory carrying costs Immediate cash improvements after implementation Projections of future inventory levels and procurement cycle (with improved accuracy) Improved internal stock handling efficiencies Optimize your logistics workflow Reduce manual inaccuracies For more details contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com. We believe any organization with the right inventory management practices can go LEAN to bring cash flow improvements, without affecting the service levels. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Manasi
- [Client Speaks – Commitment Shall Deliver Good Results](https://faberinfinite.com/client-speaks-commitment-shall-deliver-good-results/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a leading manufacturer and exporter of decorative high-pressure laminates. We had a chat with Mr. Vishal Dokania – Director Durian Laminates. Excerpts of this interesting interaction are as mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Durian Laminates and about your journey in the organization? Vishal Dokania (VD) –The company – Durain Laminates started around 15 years ago. The parent company of Durian Laminates is Durian Industries which is into wooden furniture, plywood, veneers, doors, and much more. Durian Industries has been around for 4 decades. The laminates were added as a complementary to the interior space. So, around 15 years ago Durian Laminates started and we have been growing at a very fast pace. We have quadrupled our production in the past 12 years. Starting from one production line to 4 production lines, we have recently acquired one more unit so now we have the capacity of 6 production lines in Durian Laminates. Talking about my journey, I started around 11 years ago with Durian Laminates. Before joining the family business, I was in the USA for around 9 years. I completed my Graduation in Computer Engineering and my Master’s in Business Administration in the USA. After that, I decided that its the right time to come back to India and join the family business. Initially, there were a few challenges like understanding the work culture, social norms, and a few other things. Also, most of my time, in the beginning, was consumed in transforming the organisation digitally such as setting up systems, infrastructure, leveraging technology, ERP implementation, and so on. In the first 8-10 years, I was mainly looking at the factories only, now I am working with the overall organisation. FI – What are your strategies post COVID to get back to normal? VD – We at Durian have developed quite a few strategies. Few of them worked and few of them even failed. As we all know, this is such a volatile where there is no guarantee of when the lockdown will come to an end. It is very difficult to foresee what is going to happen next. There were a few challenges for setting up and starting the factory after we got permission to resume the factory with 50% staff. Our focus has always been on the safety of our workers. Now gradually we have started the factories though at a slow pace. Our head office is functional as well. Our distributors are resuming back to work and a few of our galleries have started as well. We are obviously even looking at reduced output this year, maybe by around 60% to 70%. All of this depends on the govt policies and the mindset of the consumers. There are too many parameters and too many variables to have a strong contingency plan. We are focusing on one week at a time as there are too many variables and too many changes happening around. We have also considered a sizeable cut in the revenues for this year. If you ask for my perspective it will take a year and a half for things to change in better ways. We are still hoping that by the time Diwali hits, we should be up with almost 100% production capacity. FI – How do you plan to work on the manpower productivity strategies post COVID? VD – At the beginning of the lockdown, in the first two months, the entire staff was given proper remuneration. Even our labors were staying at the facility given by Durian. We made sure that the food and the infrastructure is up to the mark and no one should get infected by the virus. To maintain that, we even kept our quarters locked so that no one can go out or no outsiders can enter the quarter to make sure everyone stays safe. We ensured the safety of all our employees. Later the workers could leave based on government policies. Many of our supervisors who are locals or who stayed back, took place of the workers to fill in the gaps. There is a shortage of workers, and we are trying to get as many workers with the help of our contractors. But it will take a little effort to get the right skilled people. We are also trying to train workers from across the units so they can be utilized when needed in the other units. We have very attractive rewards and recognition schemes for our employees based on their productivity levels so that they stay motivated. FI – Team Faber has been associated with Team Shakti in continuous improvement initiatives. Can you share more about the journey and the outcomes of the initiatives that have worked for Durain Laminates to stay ahead of the competition? VD – We implemented the Six S (Five S + Safety) program, which ran for a period of 2-3 years. It was a fabulous journey. We are still looking ahead to strengthen the program soon. But the journey was highly engaging for employees at all levels of the organisation. We also saw a lot of improvement in terms of wastage reduction, improvement in overall efficiencies, also it was highly systematic. During COVID, we had a look back on all those practices that we used to practice at the time we had implemented Six S. This project that we did with Faber Infinite really helped us a lot to gear up for COVID because we had a mechanism in place for dividing the factories into zones, making team leaders and all that we did before, really helped us even in this situation and it is being followed even now. This has helped build the culture of continual improvement and it reflects at all the levels in the organisation.
- [Key to Managing Operations Successfully](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-managing-operations-successfully/): All the businesses must be ready to respond to the change happening around. Change can be a change in process, change in technology, change due to natural calamity or disaster, and many more. The way to react by the business will not be the same. Every business will react in a different way since all businesses operate differently. If we take an example of today’s COVID-19 times all the businesses are operating at reduced capacity, making most of the resources they have be it human resources or technology. It is very important for organizations to know how to react to the situation, adapt as quickly as possible, and anticipate changes to come so that the business is operationally ready and robust. Let us look at different instances: Scenario 1 – If delivering your services remotely is not possible then you should focus on REACT If remote support is not possible then organizations need to re-team their available resources around the new area of operation and shift priorities to work that is more important. This will help you be more outcome focussed. It will also avoid time on non-value adding activities. Since you must work with limited resources prioritization will be the key. So teams need to react immediately to the situation and plan work and resources. Scenario 2 – If delivering services remotely is possible, but with limited digital technology alliance, then you should focus on ADAPT If your team has basic equipment like laptops, phones, desktops, etc. then the immediate step would be to encourage work from home. You should help the team to adapt to this new work pattern. The leaders need to communicate regularly with the team. Leaders should promote employee engagement and support peer-to-peer support networks. This will help the employees to be more productive. Scenario 3 – Teams are equipped with the technology and your team is continuing to deliver the service uninterrupted, then organizations should focus on ANTICIPATE. Employees of your organization are seamlessly working on all the projects and delivering results. They are comfortable with the work from home culture. They have adapted to the digital way of doing business. Still there is always an opportunity to go over and above. Now it is the time that your organization should predict the future changes in supply and demand that they would face both short and long terms. Accordingly, organizations should invest in the skills needed for the future. So, the key to successfully managing operations is – REACT, ADAPT and ANTICIPATE. Spend some time today thinking about, managing, optimizing, and automating business processes so that when the business resumes to a normal pace, your organization will be able to deliver better, more predictable results, at a much faster rate and with fewer resources. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Lean Practitioner - Bronze Level - Online Training](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-practitioner-bronze-level-online-training/): What if we told you that the competition of students getting jobs is going to increase dramatically post lockdown? Companies will look for skills beyond the traditional ones! Organizations will look for people who can solve problems, add value, and help them achieve goals. They would want to hire assets. To help engineering students acquire the skillsets which are essential and to help differentiate themselves, we introduce an Online Lean Practitioner – Bronze Level Module. A power-packed, online training module specifically designed for students, by our experts in the Manufacturing and Operational Excellence domains with over 200 years of cumulative experience. Join us, become an asset to the industry, and create a better future for yourself. Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that the first batch of our Certified Lean Practitioner training program was a huge hit. We had students participating from across the nation. Going ahead with this hit, we are ready for the launch of our next Online Training Series. Register today to upgrade your skillset to create countless opportunities for growth in these tough times. We are starting new batches from 2nd June 2020! Certified Lean Practitioner course will involve a detailed understanding of the following: 3Mus: Muda, Mura, Muri 8 wastes in your organization 4Ms: Man, Machine, Material, and Method Outline of Six S and how to implement each ‘S’ A holistic approach to improving process using VSM Overview of Inventory management Overview of KANBAN & its application Introduction to changeover time reduction using SMED line Participants can include students planning to pursue or pursuing MBA in operations or anyone who is keen to learn and develop Lean skills can register to get certified starting from June 2, 2020. Register today to craft growth opportunities and make the best of your time! Click HERE to register for the program Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Manasi
- [Lean Six Sigma - Green Belt - Online Training](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-six-sigma-green-belt-online-training/): Join this extremely powerful and unique online training and certification program Accredited by Council for Six Sigma Certification from the USA, to upgrade your skills in today’s tough times. This training and certification program shall help you become a Lean Six Sigma Expert. Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that the first batch of our Certified Lean Six Sigma training program was a huge hit. We had participants from across the nation and from various levels. Register today to embark on the journey towards becoming a Certified Lean Six Sigma Expert! We are starting new batches from 22nd June 2020! Find the details of the Certified Lean Six Sigma course in the flyer below. Register today to craft growth opportunities and make the best of your time! Click on the button below to register! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Manasi
- [Lean Manager – Bronze Level – Online Training](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-manager-bronze-level-online-training/): Lean is a highly effective management methodology designed to optimize essential organizational processes by eliminating waste, variation, and any tasks that fail to add value. Lean manager – Bronze level certification will help you to be ready and more attentive to achieve success. Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that the first batch of our Certified Lean Manager – Bronze level training program was a huge hit. We had participants from across the nation and from various levels. Going ahead with this hit, we are ready for the launch of our next Online Training Series. Register today to acquire Lean Foundations and Flow Management skills to sustain growth and development in these tough times. We are starting new batches from 11th June 2020! Participants can include Operation in charge, Line Supervisors, Quality Engineers, Production Engineers, Process Engineers, Industrial engineers, Improvement coordinators, Production Managers, Quality Managers, Purchase managers, Warehouse & Stores managers can register to get certified starting from June 22, 2020. Register today to craft growth opportunities and make the best of your time! Click on the button below to register!
- [Certified Operational Excellence Manager Online Training](https://faberinfinite.com/certified-operational-excellence-manager-online-training/): As the world is facing one of the biggest challenges – Coronavirus, are you ready to sharpen your skills to turn the tables in your favor amid these tough times? Team Faber Infinite is glad to share that the first batch of our Certified Operational Excellence Manager training program was a huge hit. We had participants from across the nation and from various levels. Going ahead with this hit, we are ready for the launch of our next Online Training Series. Register today to upgrade your skillset to create unique expertise that will change the way you work and become a Continual Improvement Manager to create countless opportunities for growth in these tough times. We are starting new batches from 2nd June 2020! Participants can include members of continuous improvement cell, quality cell, production team, office cell-like admin, purchase and finance, any other professional keen to know about continuous improvement can register to get certified starting from June 22, 2020. Register today to craft growth opportunities and make the best of your time! Click on the button below to register! Written & Compile by Faber Mayuri & Faber Manasi
- [Friday Fact - Change is the only constant](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-change-is-the-only-constant/): Do you know, Denmark is using 50% of its energy from renewable sources of energy? In the year 2018, Denmark got 43.5% of its energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind power, while in 2017 it was just under 46%. The renewable source such as wind energy played a crucial role in drawing renewable energy use over the 50% mark. 47% of the country’s green energy is generated from wind and the rest from solar panels. A major new wind farm, Horns Rev 3, opened in 2019, making a major contribution to wind energy production. This Farm is located on Denmark’s west coast and it can supply the annual energy consumption of nearly 4,25,000 households. The consumption of electricity from solar and wind power has increased by more than double in Denmark over the last decade, and Hylleberg predicted that wind will supply 60% of the country’s needs in the early 2020s. A broad parliamentary before Christmas announced a new law that stated that greenhouse emissions should be reduced by 70% in the country by the year 2030, compared to its level by the year 1990. The country targets to be CO2-neutral by the year 2050. As you can see, the entire world is working towards reducing green-house emissions and CO2. Denmark has achieved the highest amount of renewable energy sources than other countries which that leads to reduced green-house emissions and CO2. Along with that, the lockdown due to the COVID pandemic has helped the countries with high pollution to reduce its pollution level with fewer industries working and fewer vehicles on the road. This is the change that the countries are working towards to reduce pollution by using renewable energy sources. Along with the pandemic that has forced us to stay at home thus leading to reduced pollution. As you can see, change is bound to happen. Whether we bring in change and accept it or the change happens and we are forced to accept it. But change is only constant and it is bound to happen. The world is changing their dynamics to do business, to travel, in one’s lifestyle, and much more. We all are developing a changing environment. So, have you accepted the change? Source – The Local DK Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [8 ways to leader should incorporate under Stress](https://faberinfinite.com/8-ways-to-leader-should-incorporate-under-stress/): It is a myth that stress is a negative word. It is about how you deal with it. Many things in life that we have achieved required some amount of stress be it exams, public speaking for the first time, job interview, motivating the team, approaching a prospect for business, all of them required some or other amount of stress. But all stressful events lead to achievements. In this article, we will talk about how to incorporate under stress? Perhaps stress or pressure whatever you call it is required for an individual to perform optimally. Leaders know many ways to handle stress. Here are the eight most common practices that leaders should incorporate to deal with stress: Stay calm Even in stress or pressure consider the situation as a challenge and not as a crisis Focus Ensure all the employees in the organization are aligned with the organization’s goals. Even under stress employees in the organization should be focussed towards the strategic goals of the organization Keep it simple Under stress keep calm, remain focussed, and maintain clarity of thoughts. Prioritize and work on things that are more important. Do not be emotional and do not get influenced or do not get defensive. Physical Exercise Exercise will not only help to reduce stress but will also help to improve concentration by reducing anxiety, thus leading to better decision making. Controlled Actions When in stress or pressure take time to take decisions, reflect on the issue this will help you to resolve the issue and improve clarity on the issue. Be Optimistic A leader should have an optimistic mental attitude that is aligned with practicality that sometimes things do go wrong. When such things happen, they should be dealt with and lessons should be learned from such episodes. All this should happen while maintaining the ability to stay positive about the future. Balance There is a need to manage stress. Leaders should learn the art of temporarily detaching themselves from stress. A leader needs to take a break and come back and handle stress with a fresh mind and approach. Prepare for the unexpected You will always have stress for what is expected but at the same time, you need to be prepared to take the stress that would arise from what is unexpected. A leader should not just be worried about the unexpected but should have a plan B ready. The fact is leaders are not born with the quality to manage stress better than the rest, but they accept the fact that dealing with stress and pressure is essential for success. Leaders do not fear stress or pressure they rather equip themselves to make the most. Written & Compile by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - To survive crisis, adapt new way of doing business](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-to-survive-crisis-adapt-new-way-of-doing-business/): Did you know, businesses around the world are changing their dynamics and adopting the new normal to match demand? One of the world’s leading manufacturers of the luxurious car started manufacturing large numbers of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). It is a device that supports patients with severe breathing issues and frees critically ill patients from ventilators. This manufacturer manufactured 10,000 devices in a month and delivered it to the government of the UK for meeting the targets. The manufacturer decided to use all of its resources to produce CPAP and they produced 1,000 units a day. Within a week the organization was sharing CPAP units with more than 1,300 teams across 25 different countries. Another multinational car manufacturing organization has indigenously developed a prototype of a bag valve mask. This mask was developed within 48 hours by the engineers of the organization. This device will help patients with breathing problems. This device could cost less than ₹7,500, unlike any ventilator which would cost nearly 5-6 lakh. The device is under production. Similarly, one of India’s leading alcohol manufacturing organizations announced that they are going to expand the use of their Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) to manufacture hand sanitizer. The organization has started production and the product should be available in the stores within a short time.  Another leading alcohol manufacturing organization of India stated that they are going to offer free refills of hand sanitizer to the health care workers and villages in and around their area. The organization is going to make non-conformist hand sanitizers available at the local stores at a very nominal price to fight the shortage of the hand sanitizer. The organization is manufacturing the hand sanitizer using the WHO guidelines. Whoever carries their own bottle can get a refill for free. Hence, as you can see, companies around the world are working in compliance with the ongoing demand to serve society along with accepting the new forms of business. This situation of crisis can be won if you adapt to the new ways and forms of doing business. Have you adapted the new ways to do business yet? Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [5 Powerful Tips to Improve Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/5-powerful-tips-to-improve-employee-engagement/): Leaders believe employees are organization’s most important assets. But that is not the case. It is true only for the employees that are fully engaged in their work or are at least adding minimal value to the organization. Employee engagement is directly proportional to the productivity and profitability of the organization. Leaders should work towards improving employee engagement. In this article we will talk about 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement. Below are a few of the pointers that leaders and managers can use to improve employee engagement: The roles and responsibilities of all the employees should be defined and aligned with the organization’s goals and. Leaders and managers should make sure that the right workforce is in the right role. Managers and leaders need to build a culture of trust and accountability. This will help to improve employee engagement and make the team more successful. This is possible only when they are supported by proper training and development programs. This will help the teams to perform better and remove hurdles. Employees that are engaged do meaningful work because they are aligned with the strategy and goals of the organization. This is possible only when they are placed in the apt roles. Leaders and managers should have a clear career path defined for the employees. It will help them be focused and engaged. Leaders and managers should be in regular touch with the teams. Annual reviews will not be of help. Leaders need to be in touch with the employees regularly and more frequently. This will help in faster correction and reduce the waste of time. Leaders should use both formal and informal channels for communication. Be open with the teams about engagement. Leaders and managers openly need to discuss engagement with the teams. Employees should come ahead and be open about the issues and concerns in such engagement meetings. The objective should be engaging everyone in the discussion. Employee engagement is an investment that everyone in business should make. Organizations that understand this will reap greater financial benefits and will have more engaged and happy employees. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Safety - On Priority](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-safety-on-priority/): Did you know, 100’s of people die due to industrial accidents and lack of industrial safety? At a recent industrial accident that took place in Vizag, Vishakhapatnam – Andhra Pradesh, India, 11 people died due to a chemical gas leak. Until today, 11 people have lost their lives and more than 1000 people have been hospitalized since they faced burning eye sensation, breathing trouble, and skin rashes as the outcome of the reaction of inhaling the chemical substances. It is said that the leak took place due to technical glitch in a refrigerator unit which was connected to 2 styrene tanks at the plant. A similar case took place in the year 1984 in Bhopal – Madhya Pradesh, India. A gas leak in a chemical factory killed nearly 15,000 people from in and around the area and affected around 6,00,000 workers. Similarly, another recent gas leak case took place last year near Pune- Maharashtra, India where 21 workers were hospitalized due to a chemical gas leak. Since the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, India has seen around 10 chemical gas leak cases which have killed nearly 100’s of people. In recent years, the industrial accidents of India have dropped by 50% between 2015 – 2018. But the number of injured people has increased by more than 3 times. In Vizag itself, there are nearly 3000 small industrial units 40% of which do not follow the safety and maintenance guidelines.   Hence, as you can see, safety mishaps have been leading to the loss of lives of innocent people. If only these mishaps had been taken care of by the safety norms, the life of those innocent people would have been saved. Organizations need to understand why safety is a prime concern and the foremost important thing to incorporate in the organization. If organizations create a safe environment for the people to work, then people will be able to work freely. But if there are safety issues within your organization, there is a chance that people would not want to work with your organization because they don’t feel safe. Every organization must follow the safety guidelines and protocols for smooth functioning. Have you updated your safety standards in your organization?
- [Post - COVID Bounce Forward - Ready Reckoner by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/post-covid-bounce-forward-ready-reckoner-by-faber-infinite/): Are you not waiting to get back to normal and get things back on track? But, why bounce back when you can bounce forward being agile, in such adversity! To address this situation, Yi & CII in collaboration with Faber Infinite Consulting is conducted interview series (live web interview & interaction) with various industry leaders to seek their insights on how their industry would react and cope up post-COVID times. After successful completion of the Bounce Forward Talk Series, we present to you the learnings compiled from the series. Click HERE to refer to the report. We would like to share our sincerest gratitude with all our speakers for joining us to share their wonderful thoughts and advice, which is need of the hour, with all our fabulous audience to Bounce Forward post-COVID-19! Also, thanking all participants, partners, and patrons without whom this series would not have been possible! We look forward to hosting many more such insightful events. For those who have missed out on the series, you can catch the recording of the interview webinars on our official YouTube channel – http://ow.ly/I9Sb50zueW1. Don’t forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. For more updates about the series, stay tuned!
- [5 Strategies to take a Giant leap to Change management](https://faberinfinite.com/take-a-giant-leap-to-change-management/): Changing the culture of the company to incorporate transformations, new ways of operation, and thinking is the hardest challenge for any organization to handle.  Leaders should work towards creating an environment to promote change. They should equip teams with the right resources to proactively respond to change. Leaders need to imbibe a change-ready culture in the organization to succeed in tough times. Below are the pointers that we promote all leaders should follow to mobilize change management: Communication Be connected to the team. Establish communication channels to receive and share information. Keep the communication clear, precise and easily available to all. Always make clear with the team – why this change is being done? Also, discuss with them what will happen in the process of change and how will it affect them or their work. Leaders need to build an effective communication channel involving everyone in the organisation. Engagement Promote an environment of teamwork and co-operation. Be engaged with the team. Always be available to answer your team’s queries and support them wherever needed. Encourage or empower high performing team members to become more innovative and adaptable in handling unexpected and tough times. Also, make sure that low performing team members should be aware of how to manage their work and pair them with high performers to create greater force. Adapt Leaders should help teams to adapt to the change and find out emerging patterns and create new ways and solutions for the team to be more productive. Leaders should be objective in data analysis and in communicating results. Resilience Always relate to the teams through the transformation process, to understand what is working and what is not working. If anything is going the wrong check so that it is not repeated. Go through the lessons learned each day by the team and understand what they have learned and how will they change in the process of transformation Innovation Promote innovation and engage the team to perform better in the transformation. Encourage them to present new ideas. Recognize and reward them for good work. Urge them to work towards excellence. Any organizational transformation is a major leap. But adopting a continuous change culture and mentality in the organization will help the employees to prepare better for the future. Sometimes change needs an individual or organization to take a giant leap. But individuals or organizations would not be able to fly unless they are ready to transform. So, go ahead and take the leap for better. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Root Cause Analysis to eliminate problems from the roots!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-root-cause-analysis-to-eliminate-problems-from-the-roots/): Do you know, this Covid-19 lockdown is helping the environment around the world eliminate pollution by as much as 30%-40%? Due to the shutdown of factories and businesses, and with fewer vehicles on the road and fewer planes in the sky, our environment is becoming free from nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and pollution. When the current NO₂ level of China was compared to January and February 2019, it showed a 40% drop in the NO₂ level which is equivalent to removing 192,000 cars from the road. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the industrial activities have shut down, traveling has been reduced and with flights been canceled, the greenhouse emission and the pollution all around the globe are decreasing with an immediate effect. This is the most positive thing happening from such a negative situation and crisis that we are facing right now. As per a report by WHO, on average, 3 million people die each year because of the diseases caused by air pollution. It also says that nearly 80% of the people from the urban area breathe the air that is said to exceed the safety level. In those countries with lower income, 98% of cities are unable to meet the air quality standards set by WHO. When the current pollution rate of Europe’s and Asia’s industrial area was compared with the data of 2019 by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite, it showed a 40% reduction in the levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Within two weeks from the announcement of the lockdown, UK’s NO₂ pollution in a few cities dropped by 60% compared to the 2019’s data of the same period. Similarly, in New York and in other major metropolitan parts of North-Eastern USA, the NO₂ pollution fell by 30% in March 2020, compared to the monthly average from 2015 to 2019. Increasing the percentage of NO2 is a result of increased road transport and power plants that lead to respiratory diseases such as asthma. But precautionary measures taken in such tough times is helping the world to eliminate major sources of air pollution like industry and transportation. In Wuhan alone, 11 million people were in lockdown at the height of the outbreak there. China normally emits in excess of 30 megatonnes of nitrogen oxides per year, with estimates for 2019 reaching 40 megatonnes. China releases around 50% of all NO₂ in Asia. Each tonne of NO₂ that isn’t released, as a result of the pandemic, is resulting as an equivalent of removing 62 cars per year from the road and reducing the NO2 pollution from the environment. Even if there would have been a reduction of 10% in the NO2 eliminated by China, it would have meant taking 48,000 cars off the road. But, a 40% drop in NO2 has resulted in eliminating around 192,000 cars. That’s a huge achievement. As you can see, we can permanently fix our air pollution problem if we replace the usage of fuel/diesel cars by the electric cars or by expanding charging stations which would end the release of air pollutants such as NO2. Hence, as you can see, in this case, the root cause of the pollution issue is being solved. This is helping the world reduce air pollution by a significant amount. Identifying the root cause and eliminating the same can bring better and direct results for all the issues that we face. This approach can also help organizations that are dealing with similar issues. So, have you started applying the right tools to reach the root cause?  Source – WHO Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Certified Training Modules by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/certified-training-modules-by-faber-infinite/): Operational Excellence is more relevant today than ever! To improve performance & emerge out of these tough times. More than a methodology, it shall be the new normal as per various industry leaders. It will transform the way organizations operate and perform by creating new routines and opportunities. Faber Infinite presents to you a comprehensive yet simple online training module. A Certified Operational Excellence Manager Master Class Series. Allow your experience and the knowledge to work together to create an expertise that will change the way you work. Most importantly become a Continual Improvement Manager to create countless opportunities of growth in these tough times. Become a Certified Operational Excellence Manager with exclusive power-packed modules by Faber Infinite Consulting. See the flyer for details. Click here to register: https://bit.ly/2Saul0Q
- [3 ways to be a focused leader](https://faberinfinite.com/3-ways-to-be-a-focussed-leader/): A focused leader needs to develop focus. He/she needs to focus on one thing and filter out interruptions. A leader needs to focus on three aspects though – focus on self, focus on others, and focus on the broader external world. Every leader needs to nurture awareness of these three aspects in abundance but there needs to be a balance as well. A failure to focus on any one of the above-mentioned parameters leads to imbalance. If a leader fails to focus on self, then there will be a lack of a clear sense of goals and aims. whether the leader fails to focus on others, then he/she will be clueless about the teams or staff. If the leader fails to focus on the broader external world then he/she will fail to devise a strategy, innovate, and manage the team. So, start practicing to focus on the three parameters: self, others, and the broader external world Focus on self One should be aware of the self. Leaders who can pay attention to their inner selves can get more resources and make them work together for better results. A focused leader should treat others the same way that the leader wants to be treated.  A leader should be capable of hearing his/her own inner voice. Focus on others By focus, we mean leaders need to practice empathy. Leaders that focus on others are the most liked ones. With empathy leaders need to understand another person’s viewpoints, understand how others feel, and sense what another person needs from the leader. Focus on the wider world Leaders need to not only focus on themselves and others but also need to focus on the external world. Such leaders are visionaries. They can guess the results of the decisions taken today. Leaders that are open to focus on the wider world, can make better and improved strategies, they can innovate and work on the development of the organization. So, to be a good leader you should have command on yourself, you should be in touch with your inner feelings. You should be aware of how others in the team see you, you should understand what others need from you. You should not be biased and take note of the wider world as well to strategist and innovate.  As Napoleon Hill quotes – Focus on the possibilities for success not on the potential for failure, learn to master the art of focus and you will be a successful leader.
- [Friday Fact - History of Pandemic](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-history-of-pandemic/): Did you know, pandemics have been following the humankind since the year 165? Along with humankind, infectious diseases have also spread across the globe. The pandemic situations have been following us since 165 when the first outbreak of Antonine Plague took place. The pandemic lasted for nearly 15 years that is from 165-180 and killed ~5 million people across the globe. The second pandemic took place in the year 735 by the name Japanese smallpox epidemic. It lasted nearly two years that is from 735-737 and killed almost 1 million people across the world. Apart from these, there are many other diseases Plague of Justinian (541-542) that killed ~30-50 million, Black Death (1347-1351) that killed around ~200 million, New World smallpox outbreak from 1520 that killed ~56 million, Great Plague of London from 1665 that killed ~100,000, Italian Plague (1629-1632) killed ~1 million, Cholera (1817-1923) killed ~1 million+. The list goes on and on including today’s situation of COVID-19. As seen over time, these infectious diseases seem to be around for centuries and have affected mostly those people who have low immunity. The higher the immunity the lesser are the chances to fall sick. Urbanization in the developing world is bringing more and more rural residents into denser neighborhoods, while population increase is putting greater pressure on the environment. At the same time, passenger air traffic nearly doubled in the past decade. These macro trends are having a profound impact on the spread of infectious diseases. As organizations and governments around the world ask for citizens to practice social distancing to help reduce the rate of infection, the digital world is allowing people to maintain connections and commerce like never before. So, if we start following the guidelines and taking care of ourselves, then we will be able to defeat COVID-19 sooner. This too shall pass soon. Until then stay safe and stay healthy! Source – World Economic Forum Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [5 ways to Navigate your Business in Difficult Time](https://faberinfinite.com/navigate-your-business-in-difficult-time/): The whole world is fighting, not against each other but against the novel coronavirus. There is nothing in history that can be compared to the current situation. Covid19 has changed the ways businesses can be done. Organizations need to investigate new ways and strategies to jumpstart business for growth. This is the time to lay long term goals and strategy for business. Organizations can focus on skill-building for teams or finishing pending tasks. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at 5 ways to get business on track in and after tough times: Labour and Demand mix There are organizations that have shared their resources and employees with other organizations that have demand. For example, in India’s online grocery giant, Big Basket partnered with Uber India and helped them to deliver essential goods where there was demand. So, relocate the labor to where the demand is. Study and develop sales channels All brick to mortar and person to person retail are badly controlled in countries and regions that are affected by the novel coronavirus. This is causing the organizations both in B2B and B2C to think of new sales channels. For example, a cosmetic organization in China moved its beauty consultants from the stores to digital platforms such as WeChat and thus drive online sales. The result was that this organization increased sales by 200% compared to last year. Align employees and partners along with the new strategy Employees from all the level of organization hierarchy should be aligned with new ways and initiatives. For example, organizations should not look for layoffs. They should care for the employees during tough times. With the collapse of the short-term business, organizations should focus on long term preparations. They should keep the headcount the same and motivate the employees to use this time to upgrade internal processes, improve skills and work on new product development. Organizations should focus on post COVID recovery. Capitalise on new behavior New behaviors are emerging in the time of lockdown in many countries and regions. The behavior is shifting from outdoor to indoor. For example, many gyms have started giving online consultation to the people. They are also renting their equipment. Few good restaurants in European countries have started providing online cooking classes. Organizations should work towards capitalizing this learning from home behavior that is prevalent due to the current lockdown scenario. Innovate As quoted by Plato – “Necessity is the mother of invention”. With every pain that arises there lies an opportunity that can be converted to business. For example, big chains like McDonald’s now sells bread and milk at the restaurant drive-through as people avoid going to supermarkets due to the COVID threat. People are happy with the drive-through service at McDonald’s as they can avoid the crowd and be safe. Another example would be where Domino’s pizza has partnered with ITC foods to deliver groceries. Every pain should be looked upon as an opportunity. It should be a learning experience. Innovate and grow. Use the time today to get ready for the future. Unlearn and learn new ways of doing business. Nothing is permanent. This is the opportunity to be innovative and implement the blue ocean strategy to have that first-mover advantage. As we navigate through these tough times let us together remember – This too shall pass! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Title - The Origin of the word Quarantine](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-title-the-origin-of-the-word-quarantine/): Did you know, the word quarantine has its origin from the 14th century from Italy? The practice of quarantine, as we know it, began during the 14th century in an effort to protect coastal cities from plague epidemics. Ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing. This practice, called quarantine, was derived from the Italian words “quaranta giorni” which means 40 days.   In the 14th century, the Bubonic Plague a bacterial infection also known as the black death was spreading throughout the continent. It is estimated that it wiped off almost one-third of Europe’s population.  This disease started in the year 1347 and stayed until 1350. At that time, the port city of Ragusa which was controlled by the officials of Venetian passed a law of “TRENTINO” i.e. 30 day’s isolation for the ships arriving from the plague affected zones. No one at that time was allowed to visit those ships under the Trentino law. The same measures were adopted by other countries to stop the spread of the plague.  Over a period of time, the 30 days isolation was changed to 40 days isolation period, which change the term from “Trentino” to “Quarantino”.  Quarantine has been practiced by people over centuries to keep the virus intact from infecting others. The practice of Quarantine has been adopted every time any deadly virus or disease starts spreading without knowing what caused the disease.  Today, almost all the countries affected by the pandemic of coronavirus has passed the order of Quarantine, social distancing, and self-hygiene. If we sincerely follow the rules, we all shall be able to come out of this situation soon. So, stay home and stay safe until we find out the ways to defeat the novel coronavirus. Source – www.CDC.org Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Treat Your Employees Right](https://faberinfinite.com/treat-your-employees-right/): Tough times reveal the true colors of any organization. Organizations are going ahead and laying off employees. But this is not the right approach. Rather organizations should work together with the employees to find a solution to the problems. Problems are temporary and these too shall pass. It is how the employees are treated during the time of crisis that will affect the organization for time to come. Some organizations have been making extraordinary efforts like making a 3 day work week, x% reduction in salary, management taking a hit on the salary for a particular period of time, etc. Every organization should give choice to the employees if they want to stay with them with a reduction in salary. To take a recent example, some organizations have gone a step ahead and the management has decided to cut their pay to zero as a part of their strategy to mitigate the effect of the novel coronavirus. Some CEOs have even decided to give up their pay for the rest of the year to help their employees in this pandemic. Why can’t all leaders think like this? Yes, it is business and if the organization is not making profits then layoff and termination are bound to happen. But it is during such tough times, how an organization stands by its employees will decide the fate of the organization in the years to come. It is always easy to be good when times are good. The challenge is being good when times are tough. Below are some of the pointers that leaders and organizations should consider in tough times: Empathy and Emotional Intelligence Show empathy towards the employees. Show them that you genuinely care for them. Make all efforts possible to help the employees sustain these tough times. This will help the organization in the long run and help build a culture of growth and development. These tough times will help test if the organization stands by its corporate values and beliefs. Always value your employees and put them as a priority. During termination show empathy and do everything possible to support the employees. This too shall pass  Do not focus on short term goals. Do not be reactive. A layoff is not the solution to the problem. Think long term, do we have enough manpower once we are up and running again. Do we still have the required skill set? Organizations may realize that they need those great and loyal employees back once the economy gets back to normal. With a 2 – months or 3-months or 4-month lockdown organizations are going ahead with a layoff. But layoffs are always a short-term solution and will impact the long term goals of the organization. For any organization, layoff should not be a crisis management strategy. Cost-cutting by cutting the people in the organization is not the right idea. The organization will end up losing the intellectual resources. Thus, losing the competitive edge in the organization. Employees are the branches of the tree that makes up the organization. They are the best brand ambassadors. Treat them with respect. Demonstrate that you value them and in return, the organization will earn loyalty. So, treat your people right, because that will determine the future of your organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Stay Safe, Stay Healthy!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-stay-safe-stay-healthy/): Did you know, over 500 million people were infected by the deadliest Spanish Flu in 1918-1920? The pandemic that occurred in 1918 – Spanish flu, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims. Initially, the flu was observed in the United States and in few parts of Asia. In those years, there were no strong drugs or vaccines to cure virus-infected bodies. People around the world were ordered to wear masks and all the business along with academia and entertainment were ordered to shut. The first wave of the virus took place in the spring of 1918. At that time, it was not that severe. Those who experienced similar symptoms tend to cure within a few days or weeks also the death toll was low. By the fall of the same year, the second wave took place which was much dangerous and those who were infected by the virus died within a few hours or days. The exact reason for what caused this flu is unknown yet. The reason why it is known as a Spanish flu is that Spain was hit hard by this virus and because it wasn’t subject to the wartime news blackouts, it affected other European countries as well. Many U.S. soldiers died due to this flu than those who were killed in the war. Around 40% of the U.S. Navy and 30% of the U.S. army was infected by this flu. It was estimated that around 3% of the total world population died due to this flu. The flu pandemic came to an end by the summer of 1919, as those who were infected either died or developed an immunity. Since 1918, there have been various viral pandemics happening almost every once a decade. To stay unaffected or immune in such a virus, we should start implementing seiso at every place be it work or home to keep ourselves germfree or virus free. The cure is bound to come. It might take time, but it will be out, and this too shall pass. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy! Source – www.history.com Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Leadership and Crisis Management](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-and-crisis-management/): As a leader you are competent and skilled to manage people and situations, however the methodology used by organizations in times of emergency or crisis may prove insufficient, as leadership styles may vary depending on the response required. Leaders should consider crisis as an opportunity. They need to provide support to the teams and guide the team with confidence. Leaders should consider below mentioned pointers during crisis management: Lead from front Leader should lead the team from the front with confidence, by firmly and progressively taking charge of the situation. All the decisions should be made based on facts. If the leader is not competent enough to handle the situation, he/she should delegate the responsibility to an expert. Empathy towards the team The team should feel that the leader is there through the crisis. Leader should suggest crisis management training for the team. Leader should be connected with the team personally. May be a call to the team member and simple questions like – How are you coping with the crisis? This will help to make an impact. Also actively listen to the response by the team member. Provide feedback to the team and genuine assurance when needed. Aware of business environment Always have a sense of the business environment. Leader should be able to detect early signs of the crisis and be ready with the crisis management plan as well. It is the duty of the leader to communicate well in advance to the team and rework the crisis management plan if needed. Be optimistic Leaders should communicate more frequently with the team in time of crisis. Teams should be encouraged constantly. Leaders should discuss issues and work on solutions to the problems with the teams. There should be a continuous communication with the teams when they are working from home remotely. Leaders do not panic Leaders should work on a plan to manage crisis. They should have a clear vision and formulate a plan thus encouraging a composed and focussed team. Planning It is the responsibility of the leader to plan for the crisis. It that is not done in advance, then it should be the priority of the leader once the situation stabilizes. Motivate Teams Motivate teams, empower them, trust them and believe in the capabilities and competencies of the teams. Learn from Crisis Always learn from crisis. Leader should keep clear record during the crisis. Communicate well to the team all the lessons learned during the crisis. The team should be informed on how to address future reappearances. Good leadership means smooth landing. However, it is the tough times that separate the good leaders from the great ones. It is during the time of crisis that the leadership skills are put to test. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Friday Fact - Transformation - the only road towards success](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-transformation-the-only-road-towards-success/): Did you know, the classic white coat that doctors use today used to be a black coat before 20th century? The practice of the white coat initially began in the early decades of the 20th century. Before 20th century, doctors used to wear formal, black attire instead of white coats. White coats are believed to be adopted in a mindful effort to impersonate lab coats and create the image of doctors with a science background and to pursue the concept of infertility in medical care, an important subject of that time. Both the ideas were meant to set doctors apart from the common man and, since its adoption, the white became a status symbol. It transformed a person into a person from medical science. Doctors used to dress in black attire until the late 19th century. Black attire was, and is, considered formal (e.g., today’s tuxedo). Consequently, until about 1900, physicians wore black for their patient interactions since medical encounters were thought of as serious and formal matters. Clergymen also dressed in black, which indicated the solemn nature of their role in encounters with parishioners. An additional or alternative possibility for the dark clothes might be that until the late 19th century seeking medical advice was usually the last resort and frequently a precursor to death. Until the last third of the 1800s, an encounter with a physician rarely benefited the patient. In fact, up to that point, virtually all of “medicine” entailed many worthless cures and much quackery. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, when medicine became the truly scientific enterprise we now know, the “whiteness” or “purity” of medicine reflected in the clothing of physicians and, interestingly, nurses. Until that time nuns in black attires functioned as nurses, largely in almshouses. At the turn of the 19th century the black cloths of the religious nursing orders became white. In fact, to this day nurses in England are called sisters, because of their religious origins. Our society has carried this symbol of whiteness to the marriage altar where brides traditionally wear white as a symbol of their purity. In the 20th century, the white coat continued as the symbol of medical authority and respect. Probably the greatest development of medical science in the 20th century was the advent of antibiotics toward the end of World War II—the completion of Lord Lister’s dream that bacteria could be successfully overcome. For the first time pneumonia, appendicitis, an infected blister or a toothache no longer condemned one to death. So, as you can see, transformation in the medical field has also helped the industry to change the perspective of people in the way they were perceived. Transformation is necessary for everyone in every industry to uplift their credibility and for the betterment of the future. So, have you decided to transform your organization yet? source – AMA Journal of Ethics
- [Leadership with Social Distancing](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-with-social-distancing/): The novel coronavirus outbreak has affected the workplace mechanics. Organizations have asked the employees to work remotely. There were not given time to adapt to this new setup.  Both the teams and managers were unprepared for this virtual setup. It is a challenge to manage teams in a virtual environment without face to face interaction with teams. There is a lot of uncertainty. This makes the role of the manager more complicated. Managers need to reset expectations and adapt themselves to this new technique.  Below are a few of the pointers that will make it easy for the manager to work remotely: Offer Flexibility Managers need to reset their expectations from the teams and the employees. Earlier the employees were working in an office in a structured work environment. Now the teams have shifted to asynchronous work schedules. So the managers should focus only on the results and not on how the tasks are performed. They should give flexibility to teams to work on their own terms. This means managers should focus only on results. Stay connected Managers need to stay connected with employees. Regular video chats, phone calls, messages will help build effective and sustainable communication channels. Do not let go even half a day without connecting with them. Make it compulsory for all of them to be present and attentive. Learning and Development plans Make use of this time. Arrange online training and development session for the team. Help them make the best use of this time and upgrade their skills. Make a training calendar. Ask members of the team to nominate themselves and share their knowledge with others. They might focus on a specific tool, technique, skillset, behavior, etc. Assign Mentors Create a structure in the team such that each member in the team is assigned a mentor or a coach who will be in direct touch with the employee. This will help the managers to distribute workload, responsibility and organize teams such that it will lead to better engagement levels. The mentors or coaches will be in direct touch with each of the employees and assess their daily performance. Give attention to patterns and tones of communication Pay close attention to the tone of written communication also to the volume and pitch in case of voice communication. Changes in the pattern of communication will help the managers better understand the situation of the employees and if they need additional support. Be optimistic In stressful situations, leaders or managers need to be optimistic and hopeful about everything at work. This will motivate the team to give in best even in such a time of crisis. Also, do not forget that optimism is contagious. It will help the teams to perform better and find meaning in their work. Maintain transparency Stress brings in a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. Be connected to the team. Keep transparency with the team. The more connected you are with the team, the less is the chance of void in communication. Continuous engagement Make it very clear with the team that their well-being is of utmost importance. Periodically check with the team about their stress levels. Also, check how stress is affecting their work and engagement at work. All the employees in such time would be looking for safety. They should feel safe to learn, safe to work and safe to contribute as a team. They should have that confidence that they will always be safe with the organization even in times of quarantine. Continuous learning, emotional wellbeing and safety of the employees should be the priority for any manager today. Written& Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Amit Srivastava – Take Each Day as a New Opportunity](https://faberinfinite.com/amit-srivastava-take-each-day-as-a-new-opportunity/): In any organization, all the functions work together for the growth and development of the organization. Each function in the organization is equally important and necessary.  In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you yet another transformation catalyst at Faber Infinite – Mr. Amit Srivastava, Senior Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting. Amit has been a star performer at Faber and has supported clients across sectors and geographies in their transformation journeys. Below are the excerpts of our conversation with Amit Srivastava. Faber Infinite (FI) – To begin with, tell us about yourself, Amit! Amit Srivastava (AS) – Well, I have been brought up in the eastern part of India – from the steel city of India, Jamshedpur and being the youngest in the family, I’m also the most pampered one. I am a mechanical engineer and professionally my career started with one of the Mexican based automotive MNC, Metalsa India Private Limited. While ramping up the production and improving the quality, I developed a keen interest in Lean Management and Operational Excellence. This is when I decided to excel in the same field and went on to go for a six sigma black belt certification. After Metalsa, I have also worked in electronics, project and service-based industries specializing in domains such as Planning, Operations and Quality. FI – That’s great to know. Amit, tell us that nobody knows about you here! AS – I am a big-time foodie and enjoy street food the most. Also, I can never say a NO when it comes to going for a long drive as I enjoy driving. The longest I have driven is for 1800 Kms. Apparently, I would like to add that on a broader note panda is my spirit animal, now this will surely give you an insight about me. FI – What led you to Faber Infinite Consulting? AS – As I mentioned earlier about my interest in Lean tools and operational excellence, which eventually led me to consulting wherein I started acting as an in-house consultant for a couple of clients. Further to which I thought of bagging in more experience and came across Faber Infinite Consulting where one of my friends had already served and use to always appreciate the structured approach of Team Faber towards any transformation. FI – What inspires you most about your work? AS – The most inspiring part about my work is the trust that the client shows in us – that we can bring about drastic changes towards betterment in their organization and deliver tangible benefits. The best part is that we get an opportunity to work in different domains and types of industries to showcase our capabilities. So, we give in best and we also gain a lot of knowledge. FI – What is the most difficult part of your work? AS – The most difficult part of my work is when you come across a client who expect you to deliver results overnight. We are not magicians who can do wonders overnight. We have a structured approach towards any continuous improvement initiative that not only gives better results but also helps the client sustain the same. On that note, I would want to add that due to the framework we deploy, we not only deliver results but deliver exponential results, right every time! FI – If you could give one piece of advice to a larger audience, what would it be? AS – Surround yourself with positive people. People who believe in you. As we all know that life is all about ups and downs, now it is the low time in life, when people who trust you, love you and believe in you will push you towards the high tides. It is important to have real friends in life. Be close to your family because, in the end, that is all that matters. FI – Which is your favorite book? AS – Well, I am not an avid reader, still I would talk about one of the books which I liked “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. The story revolves around a young shepherd who decides to follow his recurring dreams of great treasures in a land far away. The alchemist tells you to believe in your dreams no matter what hardships are thrown in your way. The story, in its own fantasy, says that if you decide to achieve something in life, the whole Universe will conspire to give you what you desire. So, in a gist, never give up on your dreams, believe in them and keep moving! FI – Nice! Any thoughts which motivate you – which you would want to share with our readers? AS – Yes, “Arise, Awake and Stop not until the goal is reached” by Swami Vivekananda. This quote is a powerhouse of self-motivation for me. Whenever you feel disappointed or lost, you must remind yourself why you started in the first place and take each day as a new opportunity to walk towards your goals. Thank you, Faber Amit, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck in all your future assignments. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Transforming Farms to Be Competitive!](https://faberinfinite.com/transforming-farms-to-be-competitive/): Commercial Farms or Floriculture, an explored sector when it comes to leveraging operational excellence or transformation journey. As per research, it is forecasted that floriculture is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 10% in the year between 2020 – 2027. In this period, everyone would be looking at ways to improve productivity and profitability. Team Faber has been supporting organizations from the floriculture domain. We have been working together with our clients to help them improve productivity and profitability to achieve desired results. Team Faber with expertise in Operational Excellence Practices has been working with leading commercial farms across more than 8 countries with an objective to build competitiveness, sustainable organization and higher returns on investment (ROI). We have been working with leaders of the industry to support them in building a culture of continual improvement. Typical Improvement Areas in Commercial Farms Reduction in rejection of flowers Productivity improvement of land Quality improvement Inventory management Flow improvement in packhouse to improve ‘On Time in Full’ supplies to customers Increase in labor productivity Reduction in customer complaints Improvement in transport operations of flowers Reduction in energy and fuel cost Cold chain Improvement Projects Physical Workplace improvement Lead Time Reduction Daily Work Management to sustain improvement Team Faber has been supporting several leading flower farms from Africa. Our teams have been assisting to improve the packhouse productivity, identify the gaps in the processes, packhouse flow improvement, strengthen the planning methodology of the packhouse, strengthen data management practices, improve the flow at the greenhouse, productivity improvement at the greenhouse, reduce rejection rate, and much more. Team Faber had been supporting the clients to excel in the transformation journey. We are glad to share that one of the clients has improved it’s on time in full delivery by more than 100%, improved packhouse productivity by 40%, reduced overtime by 100%, improved quality via First Time Right by 90% and converted non-productive land to productive land, improving the output by ~20%. With such expertise in the domain of commercial farming and catering to more than a dozen clients, team Faber has been helping and supporting organizations grow competitive and sustainable. The same can be done for your farms as well. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to know-how! Read below to know more about how Team Faber Infinite has been helping and supporting transformation in farms: Transforming Farms Building Excellence in Flower Farms Case Studies – Commercial Farms Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Covid 19 – Can Preventive Seiso Do the Trick?](https://faberinfinite.com/covid-19-can-preventive-seiso-do-the-trick/): Covid 19 – Can Preventive Seiso Do the Trick? Enough said on the subject! As the world and country braces itself to fight back the Novel Corona or Covid 19 virus, let’s go back to basics and see can Preventive Seiso do the trick! For the uninitiated, Seiso is the third S of fundamental Japanese methodology of Five S, meaning shining and cleaning. Preventive Seiso means devising steps that no need for Seiso arises, preventing the need! We can discuss & dwell on the subject in due course. For now, coming back to the grave situation on hand. Few of the following Preventive Seiso steps can do the trick and keep the pandemic under check, Quarantining the sources, the suspected patients with symptoms is an important measure. Coronavirus is large in size with a diameter of around 400/500 microns and for this reason, appropriate masks can prevent it. Suspected patients should use the masks. Regular washing of hands with soap and water well will help and prevent the same. The virus survives on hands for around 10 minutes and sanitizing hands will meet the purpose of prevention well. Not touching the face, nose and eyes without proper sanitation is apt to step to avert the infection. Washing clothes or exposing them to the sun for a couple of hours can kill the virus. Adhering to these fundamental steps can fulfill the purpose of preventing the Corona rife! To sum up, Preventive Seiso can not only help in the operational excellence domains but can do wonders in this demanding healthcare situation. Together human race will find a way soon and conquer Corona! Till then, stay strong, stay safe! Relax! Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Dealing With Covid-19](https://faberinfinite.com/dealing-with-covid-19/): Dealing with Covid19 is difficult for all of us. With the spread of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19),  we at Faber Infinite are putting the best foot forward for Safety & Well Being of all stakeholders. We at Faber Infinite believe that even in tough times, we should be there to support our clients. It does not matter whether it is onsite or offsite. The transformation journey must continue. To stand by our clients in these tough times, we shall extend exclusive remote support to all our clients. We continue to be committed in the client’s transformation journey and crafting growth opportunities together. To achieve the set goals even in such times is highly important for us along with making sure that our clients can yield the best results. Hence, we have migrated all consulting engagements, audits and reviews to online mediums and conducting it remotely. We are available over calls or emails any time you require us. Also, team Faber has rolled out its exclusive Learn from Home series for all our clients & prospects. On a regular basis, we shall be sharing learning modules on Organisational Transformation Concepts.  So that all of us can learn new things in a safe environment at home and sharpen our axe for a brighter future. Visit our social media announcements for more details. Until then, Stay Safe & Stay Healthy Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Time to rethink Annual Reviews](https://faberinfinite.com/time-to-rethink-annual-reviews/): It is time to rethink annual reviews to improve employee performance and build high-performance teams! In this note, we would want to draw your attention to some of the facts from researches on current Performance Management mechanisms in organizations. Some glaring facts as mentioned below: 53% of employers said they don’t actively track improved performance Employees who communicate regularly with managers are 3 times more engaged 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week 69% of employees say they would work harder if their efforts are recognized 45% of HR thinks annual performance reviews are not an accurate appraisal Organizations with managers providing regular feedback showed 9% greater profitability Considering the above points, do you want to strengthen your performance management system with transparent and objective-based performance reviews? Do you want to improve the productivity of your employees, improve team performance? Team Faber Infinite has devised an extremely powerful Performance Management System (PMS) to address these points. It is one of the most effective tools that efficiently tracks, plans and help strategize goals and targets. It is industry neutral, unbiased, transparent and highly efficient. It supports effective rewards and recognition systems. Key Features of PMS by Faber Infinite 11 additional improvement opportunities per annum to improve as compared to 1 opportunity with the traditional performance management system Performance of the entire organization can be presented on one scale and dashboard considering due weightage to the organization, department/team and individual performances. A holistic approach with hierarchy driven weightage to company performance, department/team performance and individual performance Timely feedbacks on monthly basis avoiding delayed corrections Objective system eliminating all the subjectivity thus removing chances of favoritism Transparent system eliminating doubts from the employees mind regarding the calculation methodology, since evaluation is done by the self and not by the boss or reporting manager The focus of the system is on “Team Win” over “Individual Win “ Extremely easy to manage and deploy Helps build high-performance teams and not just put in a control mechanism Team Faber has supported leading organizations across sectors and geographies in achieving continual and sustainable improvement. Below is the glimpse of some of the benefits delivered at client sites: 21% cost reduction in Raw Materials Purchase in 3 months 38% increase in Net Profit Achievement 43% increase in sales target achievement 64% increase in service revenue achievement 23% reduction in discount offering 18% reduction in manpower cost Yes, it can be done for your organization as well! Contact us to build high-performance teams with Performance Management System by Faber Infinite. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri and Faber Priyal
- [Pharmaceutical Industry – Time To Create Opportunities](https://faberinfinite.com/pharmaceutical-industry-time-to-create-opportunities/): Due to the current covid crisis and such volatile market conditions, the Pharmaceuticals and Life sciences industry is under great pressure to align the supply of their products with the market demand. Since India is 90% dependent for most antibiotics and API’s on China, pharmaceutical organizations of India face the likelihood of disturbances because of extended factory closures in China.  In such a scenario, where Indian pharma manufacturers are supposed to work harder to meet the demands of the market on time, manufacturers would need to improve the productivity of overall organization including man and machine.  Manufacturers might think of deploying more man and machines and might demand overtime from existing employees. Team Faber Infinite can assist organizations to achieve the desired outcome even without incurring additional expenses. Team Faber has been delivering phenomenal results across 8 countries in order to help pharmaceutical organizations achieve operational excellence.  Glimpses of Benefits Delivered at various pharma & life sciences clients Typical improvement areas Team Faber has been crafting growth opportunities in pharmaceutical and life science domains. Organizational Transformation Framework© by Faber Infinite can also assist your teams to craft growth opportunities for organizations as well in times of crisis. Contact us to join the league at consulting@faberinfinite.com Ready to seize the opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry? Don’t miss out on this chance to thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape. Fill out the form below to access exclusive insights and strategies for creating new opportunities. Take charge of your success in the pharmaceutical industry today! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri and Faber Priyal
- [Lean Six Sigma Strategies to Achieve Multiple Benefits](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-six-sigma-to-achieve-multiple-benefits/): How a Multinational Conglomerate Saved $1 Billion Using Six Sigma: A Powerful Case Study in Productivity, Sustainability, and Operational Excellence Did you know that one of the world’s most respected multinational conglomerate corporations achieved over $1 billion in savings simply by implementing Six Sigma strategies? This remarkable transformation not only improved their profitability but also positioned them as a global leader in environmental responsibility. Their success story demonstrates how structured problem-solving, disciplined execution, and organization-wide capability building can create a ripple effect across financial, operational, and environmental dimensions. This organisation recognized early that waste, pollution, and inefficiencies were not just environmental concerns they were business concerns. Their leadership believed that pollution prevention is far more impactful when done proactively rather than reactively. Instead of waiting for environmental issues to escalate, they chose to address inefficiencies at the source, ensuring long-term sustainability and operational reliability. The results?A massive $1 billion saved, and nearly 2.6 million pounds of pollutants prevented from entering the ecosystem. These achievements didn’t happen overnight—they were the result of a long-term, strategic application of Six Sigma principles. Building Capability: 55,000+ Employees Trained in Six Sigma One of the most significant components of this transformation was the organisation’s commitment to capability building. Realizing that Six Sigma is only effective when embraced by the entire workforce, the company launched one of the largest corporate training initiatives ever undertaken in the field of quality and operational improvement. 55,000 employees were trained in Six Sigma principles Participants earned Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or Yellow Belt certifications These skilled employees facilitated nearly 45,000 Six Sigma projects across departments This widespread skill development created a culture of continuous improvement. Employees at every level were empowered to identify inefficiencies, solve problems using data, and drive measurable outcomes. By 2007, the company went even further. They trained an additional set of Six Sigma leaders, including new Black Belts and even Master Black Belts, who were responsible for deploying the strategy across the entire organization. Every team across production, R&D, supply chain, and support functions—was required to have at least one certified Six Sigma Green Belt. This ensured that improvement thinking was embedded deeply into daily operations. To achieve Green Belt certification, team members had to undergo two weeks of intensive Six Sigma training, equipping them with tools for data-driven decision-making, process mapping, and root-cause analysis. This level of discipline allowed the organization to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes. Driving Production and Sustainability Through Six Sigma One of the core objectives of the organization was to increase production and efficiency while reducing waste and pollution. Their Six Sigma initiatives were not isolated projects—they were an integrated strategy to enhance productivity, sustainability, and cost competitiveness simultaneously. The organisation focused on: Reducing waste across the production chain Minimizing air emissions Lowering greenhouse gas production Improving energy efficiency Enhancing overall operational performance By 2006, over 70% of their operations were being run using Six Sigma methodologies. This widespread adoption ensured that improvement wasn’t limited to one department but extended across the entire enterprise. Record-Breaking Environmental Gains The results achieved through Six Sigma were nothing short of extraordinary. 1. Unpredictable Air Emissions Reduced by 61% The target was a modest 25% reduction. But through disciplined Six Sigma methods—such as root-cause analysis, DMAIC, statistical process control, and real-time monitoring—they achieved a 61% reduction, far surpassing expectations. 2. Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Reduced by 64% While the organisational goal was a 50% reduction, the company exceeded it significantly, demonstrating that data-based decision making can lead to exceptional environmental gains. 3. Energy Efficiency Improved by 27% The initial target was a 20% improvement in energy efficiency. Their Six Sigma-driven interventions delivered 27%, reflecting enhanced machine performance, reduced downtime, and better production planning. 4. Pollution Prevention Pays (PPP) Program Expanded Beyond Expectations One of the company’s long-standing environmental initiatives aimed to scale the number of Pollution Prevention Pays projects from 194 to 400. Instead, Six Sigma helped them reach an astonishing 1,262 projects—more than three times the goal. Every project contributed not just to pollution prevention but also to cost savings, making environmental stewardship financially rewarding. The Power of Six Sigma: Why It Works Six Sigma isn’t simply a quality-control tool it is a comprehensive methodology that systematically removes defects, reduces variation, and improves processes. Its strength lies in: Data-driven decision making Statistical analysis Waste elimination (lean integration) Structured frameworks like DMAIC and DMADV Organization-wide involvement Clear targets and measurable metrics This multinational conglomerate proved that when applied consistently and intelligently, Six Sigma can transform not only the bottom line but also environmental performance and operational resilience. What This Means for Organisations Today The success of this corporation is not an isolated case. Six Sigma has helped companies across industries manufacturing, chemicals, healthcare, FMCG, automotive, and electronics increase productivity, improve quality, and reduce operational costs. These strategies are not just for large corporations. Even mid-sized companies can: Reduce defects Lower rework costs Improve delivery performance Increase production capacity Reduce waste and energy usage Strengthen employee skills With the right training, structure, and guidance, organisations can replicate similar results regardless of their size or sector. Have You Started Implementing Six Sigma Strategies Yet? This case shows clearly that Six Sigma is more than a methodology it is a competitive advantage. Whether your goal is cost reduction, waste elimination, sustainability, or operational excellence, Six Sigma provides a proven roadmap. If a global corporation can save $1 billion, prevent millions of pounds of pollutants, and complete thousands of improvement projects, imagine what your organization can achieve with the right Six Sigma strategy. So, the real question is:Have you started implementing Six Sigma in your organisation? If not, now is the time to begin. Contact us for Six Sigma Consultant  
- [Small Changes – Make Big Impact](https://faberinfinite.com/small-changes-make-big-impact/): Building new habits is never easy, especially when we want to stick to the new habits for long term. It needs a lot of dedication and persistence. How can we build good habits? What are the best and most effective ways to build good habits and to improve ourselves? One method is to focus on small changes for continuous improvement.  It based on a Japanese philosophy that focuses on never being satisfied and working on improvement continuously. It can be applied to any situation be it personal or professional, as it can help anyone who is working on improvement.  The objective is to learn from mistakes and focus on non-value adding activities. You can always improve yourself. Whether it is about acquiring a new skill or mastering a skill you already know, there is always room for improvement. Anyone who wants to build new habits and improve can follow the following principles: Do Not Stop One should never stop learning because there is always room for improvement. There is always something more that we can learn however expert or successful we are. We should always keep learning. Reinvent the Wheel Forget the old habits, even if they seem to deliver benefits. Unlearn and learn new ways of doing things. Eliminate old processes and practices. Be Proactive Always be proactive. Envisage the obstacles that might come in future. Stop worrying about the obstacles, rather be proactive about them and move forward towards the goals and targets One size fit all Do not make assumptions. If something works for someone not necessary, it will work for you as well. Do not follow a one size fits all philosophy. You need to find the best solution as per your requirements. Keep rectifying You need to identify areas of improvement and make required modifications or corrections to help you improve. Get inspiration from people Learn from people in your circle of influence. Get some new ideas in the process of continuous improvement. Get feedback from people Encourage your friends and family to make suggestions if they think areas that you can improve Never Stop Never be complacent. Improvement is limitless and can be continued till infinite time. We should try to do some small improvements each day in order to make large impact in the long run. When we say small improvements, we can start with a target to make 1% improvement every day. Let us begin today with small steps as it is rightly said – “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Laozi
- [Six Sigma Strategies to Reduce the Cost of Production](https://faberinfinite.com/six-sigma-strategies-to-reduce-the-cost-of-production/): Did you know, one of the leading paint manufacturing organizations of India was able to save INR 11 lacs for a year by implementing six sigma strategies? One of the leading paint manufacturing organizations of India was incurring a high cost on raw materials and manufacturing. They were unable to identify the reason for the high cost of production. The management team decided to deploy lean sigma strategies to control the cost of production. They deployed a lean six sigma personal to identify the backdrops. Cost Reduction using Six Sigma Methodology In a very short time, the organization identified the reason behind the high cost of production. While rolling the roller on the paint, a few droplets of the expensive paint fell on the floor. This was later cleaned by the machine operator without knowing the cost of the paint. When this was brought to the notice of the management team, they decided to apply six sigma methodologies and make changes in the machine to save those droplets. The machine was wrapped around with a plastic paper. The speed of the roller was slowed. The data on how many droplets fell out before and after was collected. Surprisingly, the count of the droplets falling out of the container before applying six sigma was around 72 lac droplets per year. Each drop contained around 3ml to 4ml of paint. Later, when the data of the droplets after applying six sigma was collected, the results showed that all the droplets that fell down were now saved completely. When the data was analyzed, it resulted in saving INR 11 lacs per year for the organization. It was highly surprising for the organisation to see how small changes made by implementing six sigma can help them save such amount of money.   Six Sigma can help organizations in vivid ways by saving time, money, improving productivity and profitability and much more. So, have you started implementing Six Sigma strategies? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Can Preventive Seiso curb the spread of the Corona pandemic?](https://faberinfinite.com/can-preventive-seiso-curb-the-spread-of-the-corona-pandemic/): Enough said on the subject! As the world and country braces itself to fight back the Novel Corona or Covid 19 virus, let’s go back to basics and see can Preventive Seiso do the trick! For the uninitiated, Seiso is the third S of fundamental Japanese methodology of Five S, meaning shining and cleaning. Preventive Seiso means devising steps that no need for Seiso arises, preventing the need! We can discuss & dwell on the subject in due course. For now, coming back to the grave situation on hand. Few of the following Preventive Seiso steps can do the trick and keep the pandemic under check, Quarantining the sources, the suspected patients with symptoms is an important measure. Coronavirus is large in size with a diameter of around 400/500 microns and for this reason, appropriate masks can prevent it. Suspected patients should use the masks. Regular washing of hands with soap and water well will definitely help and prevent the same. The virus survives on hands for around 10 minutes and sanitizing hands will meet the purpose of prevention well. Not touching the nose and eyes without proper sanitation is apt to step to avert the infection. Washing clothes or exposing them to the sun for a couple of hours can kill the virus. Adhering to these fundamental steps can fulfill the purpose of preventing the Corona rife! To sum up, Preventive Seiso can not only help in the operational excellence domains but can do wonders in this demanding healthcare situation. Together human race will find a way soon and conquer Corona! Till then, stay strong & safe, and don’t panic! Relax! Written & Compiled by Faber Aakash
- [Unlock Your Leadership Potential with Emotional Intelligence](https://faberinfinite.com/unlock-your-leadership-potential-with-emotional-intelligence/): One of the major concerns of the organizations today in this competitive era is to make teams more productive, regardless they work together in one place or they are scattered across the world. Research shows that lack of trust is a major concern in organizations. The reason for mistrust is a lack of emotional intelligence in the leaders. Leaders today are very transactional and task focussed. They fail to encourage teams, do not give positive feedback and do not empower teams. As a result, teams fail to perform.   Organizations today should work on growing the emotional intelligence of the leaders and the management team. Emotional intelligence is a natural trait but it can be improved if worked upon. Leaders should learn to talk less and listen more. They should keep observing what is going on in the team. They should not be biassed towards any of the members of the team. Leaders should work towards improvement, empowerment, and encouragement for all the members in the team. All this is not as easy as it seems since the members of the team are culturally diverse, they are from different generations, different genders and have different perspectives. Also, in some organizations teams are working from home. It is difficult to manage members when they are working remotely because you cannot see what they are doing. To manage this, leaders first need to work on their emotional intelligence. It is fundamentally made up of 4 factors: It is the ability of the leader to understand his/her strengths and weaknesses. Beyond this leader also needs to understand his/her emotions and their effects on the team and its performance. Research suggests that 95% of people think they are self – aware, but only 10-15% are. Working with teams where there is a lack of self – awareness can lead to increased stress, reduced motivation and thus leading to half chances of success. Leaders should bring out the best in themselves to bring out the best in others.  This can be done by getting feedback from peers, reporting managers and direct reports.  This will help to gain an understanding of the self-behavior. Leaders need to manage their emotions in situations of stress and always maintain an optimistic outlook despite obstacles. Leaders who cannot manage their emotions find it difficult to manage stressful situations and have a hard time to keep their impulses in check. Such leaders tend to react. But leaders should respond and not react. If they are more aware of their emotional intelligence, then they will respond to the stressful situation and manage teams to overcome stress. While it is equally important to understand and manage self, leaders also need to look beyond the self. They need to be aware of others at the same time understand the dynamics of the organization. Leaders who practice empathy strive to understand the feelings of their peers and teams which helps them to work together and communicate better. The research marks empathy as the number one skill any leader should develop. If leaders perform with empathy, then teams will perform better as well as the individual performance of the leader will improve. Leaders with high emotional intelligence have to ability to coach, mentor and influence others and identify better leaders for the organization. Leaders should be good at conflict management. Research shows that every unresolved conflict wastes 8 hours of organization’s time in non-value adding work and gossip. It also affects employee morale and productivity. Relationship management and conflict resolution are a few of the most important skills that a leader should work on. Emotional Intelligence is important. Leaders set the benchmark for the employees. If they lack emotional intelligence, it will result in low employee engagement and higher attrition. There are cases where the leader is technically very strong but if he/she cannot effectively communicate and collaborate with others, then those technical skills will be ignored. By working on improving emotional intelligence leaders will help both the self and the organization to grow.        Ready to unlock your leadership potential through the power of emotional intelligence? Fill out the form below and gain access to expert guidance and practical strategies that will enhance your leadership skills. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to become a more influential and effective leader. Take the first step towards transformation today! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Improve cycle time by implementing Six Sigma](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-improve-cycle-time-by-implementing-six-sigma/): Did you know, one of the aerospace parts manufactures was able to reduce its process time by 46% after implementing six sigma processes? An aerospace parts manufacturer wanted to lower the cost of manufacturing of his products. The managerial team of this organization decided to implement Six Sigma processes to improve and reduce the cycle time of the machine. This process of reducing the cycle time would help to decrease the cost of manufacturing. Few members of the organization were given the trained so that they can further train other teams in the organization. This implementation team was named as Six Sigma team. The six sigma team members helped other teams to accelerate the process. This team comprised of members from management and machine operators. The six-sigma team executed the six-sigma process. During the first phase, when the cycle time was measured, it was at 1200 seconds. The Six Sigma team wanted to reduce the cycle time by 50%. For that, the sigma level was set at a minimum level of three. The team also discovered quite a few risk factors including reduction of overtime, faster business pace and less time for inspection. For the team to understand the current state of the company’s process, a process map was made along with an implementation plan. During the second phase, key metrics were identified. The data that was prior collected was analyzed later to check the stability during this phase. Statistical data analysis was performed to identify the reasons for the long cycle time. The data also discovered areas of improvement. In some cases, up to 40% improvement was identified.  During the third phase, solutions were formulated, and lean concepts were used to create potential solutions. Several solutions were identified and presented to the management team and were ranked in terms of their credibility to solve the problem. The solutions were put into the primary stage. After the process was measured, the solutions were proven to be stable and had a Sigma value of more than five. This led to a 20% reduction in cycle time. During the last phase, a new process map and training plans were created and executed. Possible issues were found in the environment, human factors and methods. To handle the risks, control plans were created and put into place. After executing the Six Sigma principles, there was a 46% improvement in the cycle time and an 80% reduction in variation. Six Sigma implementation has been delivering phenomenal results. Similar results can be delivered to your organization as well. Have you started implementing six sigma principles yet?
- [4 Mindsets for Successful Leadership Development](https://faberinfinite.com/4-mindsets-for-successful-leadership-development/): Organizations worldwide spend billions on leadership development. But 75% of the organizations feel that their leadership development programs are not very effective. Why is it so? Why are the leadership development programs getting the desired results? This might be because most of the leadership development programs overlook the basic attribute that is the foundation of how leaders think, learn and behave – mindset. Both at the individual or team level, it is the right mindset that helps deliver the results. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the different leadership mindsets necessary for leadership development: Open mindset Mindset, where leaders are open to change and improvement. Even the best of the athletes, choose a skill and train themselves in the offseason assuming that the results will be positive and in favor of the team. Research shows that even basic readiness to change leads to positive results. Aspirational Mindset Leaders that are open to learn and improve are always driven by career growth opportunities. The leader always looks at upgrading skills and learning new things. Organizations should always link the aspirations of the leader with the vision of the organization. This will help both the leader and the organization to grow together. Leaders with an aspirational mindset are tenacious, flexible, collaborative and tend to work at higher levels. Considerate Mindset Leaders with considerate mindset collect information from all the sources and ensure that they think and act as ideally as possible. Leaders with such mindset are more successful as they are more neutral, more precise and more thoughtful in the decision-making process. Winning Mindset Leaders with a winning mindset focus on growth and win. They identify a specific goal or purpose and work towards achieving it. Leaders with a winning mindset are more open to change, ready to improve, they are optimistic and deliver high performance. Organizations should have a better understanding of all the different mindsets and then tailor the leadership development programs around it to have the most effective leaders. Best of the organizations across the globe have been working on the above-mentioned mindsets to drive profitability and thus increase the organization’s market capital. As John F. Kennedy said – “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”, so leaders adopt a mindset that will promote growth and sustainability for the organization. Ready to level up your leadership skills? Discover the 4 essential mindsets for successful leadership development. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to expert insights and practical strategies that will propel your leadership journey. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to become a more effective and influential leader!
- [Five S to Improve Revenue](https://faberinfinite.com/five-s-to-improve-revenue/): The pursuit of operational excellence often focuses on complex statistical models or expensive technology upgrades. Yet, one of the most powerful and accessible methodologies—the 5S System—proves that a foundation of order, discipline, and efficiency is the true catalyst for exponential growth. The successful transformation of a leading sanitary ware solutions manufacturer serves as a compelling case study, demonstrating that fundamental workplace organization can directly translate into dramatic financial and operational gains. The Problem: A Bottleneck of Clutter and Congestion Before the implementation of 5S, the sanitary ware manufacturer, despite receiving a high volume of sales orders, faced severe limitations that prevented it from capitalizing on market demand. The core challenges were rooted in a lack of proper spatial management and organizational discipline: Delayed On-Time Delivery (OTD): The primary indicator of operational failure was the inability to meet customer deadlines, leading to customer dissatisfaction and potentially lost repeat business. Insufficient Storage Space: The organization could not produce above a specific unit threshold because of a critical lack of space to store finished goods. This was the most immediate constraint on production capacity. Space Occupied by Unwanted Items: The root cause of the storage crisis was the accumulation of non-productive and unwanted things, a classic manifestation of the Waste of Inventory and Defects common in manufacturing environments. Reduced Employee Capacity: The congested, disorganized workspace created friction, requiring employees to waste time searching for tools, navigating obstacles, or dealing with clutter. This congestion prevented employees from working at their full capacity, directly lowering productivity. In essence, the company was battling the Waste of Motion, Waiting, and Inventory—all textbook targets of the Lean philosophy. The managing director wisely recognized that solving the spatial and organizational chaos was the necessary first step to unlocking production potential. The Solution: Strategic and Integrated 5S Deployment The managing director’s decision to immediately apply the 5S Methodology was a strategic move to address the organizational chaos directly. The implementation was holistic, emphasizing both the physical transformation and the necessary cultural change. 1. Sort & Set in Order: The Red Tag Campaign The initial phases of Sort (Seiri) and Set in Order (Seiton) were executed with surgical precision using the Red Tag Methodology. Red Tag Strategy: Every item of equipment, material, or tool was evaluated. Items deemed unnecessary or non-productive were marked with a Red Tag and moved to a central holding area (a “waste zone”).3 This process systematically removed mental and physical clutter from the work areas. Waste Zone Creation: The creation of a dedicated waste zone ensured that decisions on disposal were deliberate, immediate, and final. Objects identified as non-productive were later disposed of, permanently freeing up valuable space. Creating Flow: By removing the unnecessary and arranging the necessary for easy access, the flow of both materials and personnel was streamlined, laying the groundwork for increased speed and efficiency. 2. Shine, Standardize, and Sustain: Building a Culture of Discipline The transformation extended beyond physical clean up into the critical areas of Standardization (Seiketsu) and Sustain (Shitsuke). Visual Management: Designing and placing charts, alerts, and notices in easily visible areas established Visual Management. This ensured that the new standards of organization were instantly recognizable and deviations were immediately obvious to everyone. Standardized Activities: The modification of rules and regulations for performing different activities ensured process consistency. This standardization is crucial, as consistent processes are predictable processes, which are easier to measure and improve. Total Employee Involvement (TEI): A critical success factor was the training given to every employee, from the shop floor to the management team. Furthermore, creating zones and sub-zones and assigning responsibilities to each employee ensured active participation and ownership. 5S ceases to be a management mandate and becomes a cultural expectation. The Transformative Results: Operational and Financial Impact One year after the comprehensive implementation of 5S, the manufacturer measured a host of transformative results, demonstrating a clear link between a structured workplace and business profitability. Key Metric Result After 1 Year Direct Operational Impact Additional Space Freed 34% Solved the capacity bottleneck, enabling production growth. Working Hours Saved 1,200 hours/year Increased labor productivity by eliminating wasted time searching and moving materials (Waste of Motion). Defect Rate Reduction 9% down to 2% (within 3 months) Improved Quality. Reduced defects due to a cleaner, more organized environment, better material handling, and adherence to new standards. Production Increase 12% Direct consequence of freed space and higher employee efficiency. Overall Revenue Increase 21% The ultimate financial outcome of increased capacity, higher production, and improved on-time delivery.   Analysis of the Multi-Faceted Impact Financial Growth: The most striking result proves that solving organizational waste is a direct revenue driver. By removing the bottleneck of insufficient storage space and increasing production capacity by 12%, the organization could finally satisfy the high sales orders it was already receiving. Quality Improvement : The quick reduction in defects (within three months) highlights the power of Shine, where cleaning becomes an inspection. An organized environment allows problems (like faulty equipment, wrong materials, or messy procedures) to be instantly spotted and corrected, proving that 5S is as much a quality tool as it is an organization tool. Efficiency Gains (1,200 Hours Saved): The staggering number of saved working hours represents time that was previously wasted on non-value-adding activities. This time was immediately reallocated to productive work, allowing employees to operate at their full capacity and fulfil the increased production schedule.  Conclusion: The Strategic Value of 5S The case of the sanitary ware manufacturer powerfully illustrates that the 5S Methodology is not merely janitorial work; it is a strategic business imperative. It is the essential first step in any operational excellence journey: It creates stability: A clean, organized, and standardized workplace provides the stable foundation necessary for the application of more advanced methodologies like Six Sigma or Lean Manufacturing. It reveals problems: It makes waste (Muda) and abnormal conditions instantly visible, which is crucial for continuous improvement (Kaizen). It fosters discipline: The Sustain step creates a culture of accountability and standardization that ensures long-term gains. By investing
- [National Safety Week 2020](https://faberinfinite.com/national-safety-week-2020/): Safety – one of the most underrated terms. Since years, the manufacturing industry has been facing safety mishaps. As per a report released by The British Safety Council in 2017, every year 48,000 workers die in the country due to occupational accidents, 24% of which are from the construction industry. On the basis of one of the surveys, in 2018, 121 industrial death of workers were reported in the top 13 companies from India. Safety has been one of the highest draw-back for organizations in India. Every organization needs to understand the importance of its employee’s safety. They need to implement safety parameters for their employees, conduct training to increase safety awareness, conduct regular checks and audits to measure and identify the number of safety mishaps that takes place in their organization and find ways to reduce safety mishaps. Few common workplace injuries include sprain, strain, muscle tear, soreness, pain, cuts, lacerations, and punctures. A few common reasons that cause these types of injuries include – overexertion, lifting of heavy objects, lowering or repetitive motion, contact with objects and equipment, slipping, falling and trips. These injuries lead to a huge loss of production hours every year that impact the productivity of the organization. Hence organizations need to understand that safety measures are as important as their turnover. If there are no safety parameters and frameworks in place then the safety mishaps will continue to occur thus affecting the productivity. In the long run, this will lead to a higher employee attrition rate as employees do not feel safe and comfortable. No one wants to work in an unsafe place where there is no assurance or guarantees of one’s life. All the organizations should pledge on this national safety day to align their safety protocols with the necessary safety norms. Your employees are the heart of your organization. Let us together pledge to reduce the safety mishaps to as low as ZERO. Written and compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Strengthen Your Company’s Work Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/strengthen-your-companys-work-culture/): Culture is a distinct element in the organization that drives the growth and the performance of the organization. It is as important as a business strategy. A good work culture improves employee engagement, attracts workforce or talent, impacts employee satisfaction and affects the performance of the organization. Work culture is influenced by everything: leadership, management, workplace practices, policies, people, etc. Organizations should always define the Company’s work culture that they expect and not just let the workplace culture form naturally. Workplace culture is how employees interact with each other, how decisions are made, how employees respond to change and most importantly how do they act when no one is watching them. Organizations should work on workplace culture and not let it form naturally. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how organizations can strengthen work culture: Think and develop a workplace culture What works for other organizations may not work for you. Culture is inherent to the organization. Management cannot copy the culture of another organization. Management needs to understand the organization’s leadership, workforce, and dynamics. In a VUCA environment, use your judgment and assimilate the best practices with elements unique to your organization. Develop your own culture. Reinforce pride at work Employees should be proud to be a part of the organization. Pride is a feeling that spreads happiness so reinforce it. Organizations should nurture achievements and build memories and belongingness among the employees. This will bring the culture of ownership and togetherness in the organization. Build connect and faith Employees who have a connection and faith with the leaders or with peers will always go that extra mile. So, work on strengthening faith and belief over time. A workplace where there is deep connect and faith among teams will withstand difficult times. Value diversity with pride There are diverse function teams, office locations, and leadership personalities. Conflicts are bound to happen. But always welcome positive work culture. Value diverse perceptions and practices. Listen to all. Do the right thing based on the organization’s values. Stay agile. Be open to change. Adopt diversity with pride. Nurture a growth mindset Nurture a growth mindset in every employee. Support the journey of the employee and sincerely care for them. This will help them grow professionally and personally. It will help them be better individuals. Good work culture will not only make organizations successful but will also make a strong impact on the employee’s life. But, remember one thing culture is always work in progress. It might or might not change. Organizations should make culture as important as a business strategy. It cannot be ignored and building the right culture is the most important responsibility of the organization. “If you get the culture right, most other stuff will just take care of itself – Tony Hsieh” Written and compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Industrial Safety Training by Faber Infinite Consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/industrial-safety-training-by-faber-infinite-consulting/): In today’s era, where safety has become one of the most concerned topics but the least focused areas. Every day, we see news of numerous safety mishaps happening around the world in different organizations. Thousands of people are killed because of safety mishaps. Safety should be the highest priority for any organization. An organization can only flourish if it has created a cheerful, hospitable and lively working environment where employees feel safe and comfortable. To create such an environment organization, require well-run health and safety programs. Team Faber Infinite was invited by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) of India, where it conducted a training workshop on ‘Industrial Safety.’ This training session helped the participants identify the safety mishaps in their organization and devise steps to address the same. Along with the presentation, the session also consisted of real-life case studies and group learning leading to engaging and interactive workshops for higher retention and applicability. Later, the session also leads to an ‘idea repository’ for creating Accident-Free Organisations. The training began with a highly engaging activity, the participants were asked to find out hidden abnormalities from their day-to-day shop floor activities along with the direction of a solution. This engagement has helped them to come up with some amazing actionable points which will help them in real life. Exercises to calculate Accident Frequency Ratio, Severity Ratio and Near Miss to Accident Ratio were also given ensuring active participation and learning. The objective of Training Workshop: The participants of the workshop included Safety Officers, HR personnel and Managers across the Maintenance and Production departments. This program included tutorial sessions for explaining concepts like Heinrich’s Law,  Accident Classification, discussion and debate on whether an unsafe condition or unsafe act through photos and video, Safety Pillar implementation approach, step by step approach to implement safety program as per OSHA and a walk through Health & Safety sections of the Factory Act. Real-life industry examples helped participants to understand how the accidents could have been avoided with appropriate countermeasures. The session inculcated a strong desire among participants to promote and implement safety at their workplace. Key takeaways: The workshop was highly appreciated by all the participants with strong positive feedback. Understanding Industrial Safety is not a practice, it’s a need for everyone. To know more about this program, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Benefits Delivered with Six Sigma in Pharma Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/benefits-delivered-with-sixsigma-in-pharma-industry/): Did you know, one of the leading pharma solutions providers was able to reduce their loss by 50,000 pounds after implementing six sigma strategies? In this blog, we will discuss How Benefits Delivered with Six Sigma in Pharma Industry. The organisation is a leader in producing solutions in the domain of pharma, veterinary, biological and consumer health industries. The organisation faced a high number of faults after producing millions of units. The process flow was slow and the reason for slow speed was the time taken to analyse the samples. As a result, the organisation was facing a high amount of loss by defective products. Seeing this, the management called a meeting wherein they decided to implement six sigma processes to eliminate the defects. Improve Efficiency in Pharma Industry The organisation specifically needed a solution for one of their exclusive products. The organisation required new systems that might help to forecast the process variation. The changes were expected to help the ground floor operators understand statistical analysis. The project team created a database to gather information. Control charts were completed and entered spontaneously. The programming language used for automation was adaptable and easy to replicate. The efficiency at the shop floor was improved by implementing these changes. After two weeks of applying Six Sigma processes, the organisation saved the loss of two batches of product worth 50,000 pounds. Hence implementing six sigma processes can help organisations improve processes to meet Six Sigma standards, prevent loses and save money. Have you started implementing six sigma processes at your organisations? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [3 Steps to Elevet your Leadership Skills](https://faberinfinite.com/3-steps-to-elevate-your-leadership-skills/): In today’s VUCA (volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous) business environment, every leader must work on developing, improving and elevating one’s leadership qualities. How would you work on the improvement of leadership qualities, so that you can lead and handle challenges and achieve goals?  As you work on leadership development there would be several benefits. Few of them include – improved employee morale, improved productivity, improved sales, higher customer satisfaction, and greater innovation. But the question is, how do elevate your leadership skills? Here are three small things or changes, I call them small shifts, that you can make to get started: Introspect Begin by talking to yourself. Ask yourself about the way you work, about the way you lead and the way you motivate your team. Also ask – What is the vision (where are we headed), what is the purpose (why are we going there?), what is the strategy – how do we plan to reach the goal, what is the talent required (skill set required) to achieve the goal, how do we plan to grow and last but the most important do we plan to sustain that growth? This can be weekly and for that matter daily practice. You will realize over a period that you are more connected and aware of everything happening around you.  This will help you to understand better what works and what does not work for you as well as the team. As a result, it becomes easier to play the strengths of both teams as well as themselves. Make mistakes If you want to elevate as a leader, keep making mistakes. Mistakes are the best way to learn. In today’s VUCA world mistakes are a part of learning. Mistakes lead to creativity and innovation. As we move in the business, mistakes, and failures are bound to happen. Leaders should always look at mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow. Leaders should help their people to focus on work and not be judgemental about the results. Open Mind The difference of opinions is bound to happen, but a leader will never let a difference of opinion become a major barrier to success. When in a situation where a leader feels he/she is stuck, the leader steps back a few steps and chooses another option. The leader does not get stuck by the barrier. There might be times when you face resistance from the team on a certain issue. Be open to understand the ideas put forth by the team. Do not think you are the only one who knows the right thing to address the issue. Listen to the team with an open mind and then take the decision. Grow as a leader. Leadership skills is not about being liked by all, it is about doing best for your team and for your organization. Leadership is not an external quality. It has always been an internal quality. So, work on it and empower your teams and your organizations.
- [Friday Fact - Continuous Improvement Approach for Banks](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-continuous-improvement-approach-for-banks/): Did you know one of the leading banks were able to improve their cycle time from 30% to 95% by implementing Continuous improvement tools? A national bank was facing issues in improving its cycle time, administrative process, complaint resolutions time, and much more. The bank was searching for solutions to resolve these issues. Later the bank came up with an idea of implementing continuous improvement tools. The organisation decided on implementing continuous improvement tools to improve the operations of the organisation. In the beginning, the employees of the bank were sensitized on the topic. Later, the implementation stage was divided into 5 schedules. On day 1 of the schedule, the goals to be achieved are discussed. Apart from that, the training on basic concepts related to the continuous improvement tools and the goals of the organization was conducted. The training was mainly focused on teaching relevant lean or six sigma concepts and reviewing relevant data of the bank where it will be applied. On day 2 of the schedule, there was a study that was conducted on the problems and situations that the bank faced. The teams were supposed to visit each portion of process, conducting a cross-functional survey to find insights of that specific area. They also started implementing Value Stream Mapping (VSM). While implementing VSM, the focus was on improving Cycle time, reducing the Number of steps in all the process of the services, reducing Rework loops, reducing Queuing delays, improving Work-In-Progress, reducing Transportation time, and much more. The process of mapping the current state map and future state map was done. On day 3 of the schedule, after completing the process of mapping, the team started identifying the solutions. After this, the team reorganized and created a solution map that consisted of all the points that they should implement to solve the identified problems. On day 4 of the schedule, the team started applying the solutions. They began with testing of the solutions to check if or not the desired results are being generated. On day 5 of the schedule, the participants prepared a report. They also presented their findings to the organizational head. The participants were expected to get to the solutions to the problems discussed. They were informed to get to the solution based on the business priority. After implementing the continuous improvement tools, the Cycle time was improved from 30% to 95%. The administrative process was improved from 20 min to 12 min. Complaint resolution was improved from 30 days to 8 days. This project helped the organisation in cost reduction and savings of hundreds and thousands of dollars. As you can see, continuous improvement tools are not only helping manufacturing sectors but also the service sectors and other industries. Implementing continuous improvement tools is possible for any industry and any sector. Have you started working on continuous improvement tools and techniques for accelerated and sustainable growth? 
- [Achieve Success with Productivity Mindset](https://faberinfinite.com/achieve-success-with-productivity-mindset/): You are busy. You have so many things to do at work and at home. You are running around all day to get things done. Then you realize it is the end of the day. You have been able to complete 2 out of 10 tasks. Why does this happen? You have been working the whole day, still, why were you not able to complete all the tasks decided for that day. You would have come across such situations more often. You have been working all day, but you still are not able to complete the assigned tasks. Does it mean you are lazy? No, you are not lazy, it is the Productivity Mindset that is playing games. Your mindset is everything. It is the mindset that is responsible for the success. You need to have the right mindset. To achieve goals, you need to have a productivity mindset. The productivity mindset means you should be clear about your goals and work in an organized manner towards achieving those goals. To have a productivity mindset, you need to focus on the following characteristics: Purpose There always needs to have a purpose that is pulling you towards achieving your goals. There is a direct relationship between purpose/motivation and achievement. The stronger your motivation is higher are the chances of goal achievement. Hence, set clear purpose, identify motivating factors both internal as well as external, that will drive you towards your goals. Dedication Although defining the purpose is the starting point of working towards your goals, you also need to have the dedication to keeping going even when the going gets tough. Sometimes failure affects your motivation levels but being persistent and never giving up is necessary for success. Dedication is the key to being productive. Clear vision A clear vision will help you guide your actions. In order to achieve goals, you need to have a clear vision. You should have a mental picture of the vision. Visualization of the goals is a very beneficial technique followed by athletes and top performers. A well defined and clear vision is always essential if you want to be productive Attitude This is the most important factor that shapes your life. There will be many external factors that are beyond your control as you work towards achieving your goals. In such situations, you need to work on your attitude and how you feel about things. Viewing things in a positive way is a must. One should have a positive attitude and work with a productive mindset to achieve set goals. Focus Pick one thing at a time and work on completing it. There might be too many tasks on your to-do list. It can make you less productive. Focus on one thing at a time that is high priority and work towards completing it. Do not digress from that task. Work on it till it is complete. This will give you a better sense of achievement and help you be more productive. Aware Be fully aware of what you are working on as this will bring clarity and mental poise. Be present in every task that you are working on. Every task should be aligned with your goals. This will make you aware of what more needs to be done to achieve your goals. Take time to look at your goals and approach them with the right productivity mindset. This mindset will help you to achieve success in your life. Get ready for success by having a productivity mindset. Ready to achieve unparalleled success with a productivity mindset? Don’t miss out on the opportunity to transform your life and reach your goals. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert tips and techniques for cultivating a powerful productivity mindset. Take control of your success journey now!
- [Friday Fact - Improve turnover by implementing safety parameters](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-improve-turnover-by-implementing-safety-parameters/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading aluminum manufacturers was able to improve its turnover by 5X after implementing this one simple rule of safety? In the year 1987, one of the world’s leading aluminum manufacturers were dealing with hard times since one of their product lines failed miserably. But in the board meeting, the CEO chose not to speak on this issue but to speak on the on-site safety issue of their employees As per the company records, every year, there were numerous employees of the organization that were getting injured. The organization claimed that their safety records were better than the countries labor workforce considering that their employees are supposed to work with the metals of 1500° and machines that can rip the labors apart. The CEO mentioned that he intends to make their organization the safest organization to work in the country. They aim to have a zero injury in the organization.   The board meeting was also attended by the investors and it was a surprise to them. Some of them even tried to bring up the topic of how the product line failed and how the organization is going to make up for that. Listening to this, the CEO got annoyed and reiterated what he was trying to explain. He was of the strong opinion that workplace safety should be a priority. This made the investors think that the safety of the employees is more important to this new CEO of the organization than the profits. Seeing this, all the investors decided to pull their money back. This initiative dropped the injuries percentage from 1.86 lost workdays due to injuries per 100 workers to 0.2. And by the year 2012, the percentage fell to 0.125.  And to everyone’s surprise, exactly after one year from the speech and initiative, the profit of the company hit the records high. By focusing on this one particular thing – safety, it led the organization to examine insufficient manufacturing process. Finally at the time of the CEO’s retirement, after 13 years, the companies profit was recorded to be 5 times higher than what it was when the speech improving safety measures were given. Do you see, changing one simple aspect of safety not only helped employees but organizations as well. Those days that were lost due to injuries were reduced which helped the organization improve its manpower productivity along with the improvement in its profits. Hence, as you see improving and changing one aspect of the organization can bring changes to a lot of other aspects of the organization. So, do you have your safety measures in check?
- [Be Safe to be More Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/be-safe-to-be-more-productive/): What is employee safety? Why is it important? There is so much to this question than one can think. Workplace safety is of the utmost importance. All the organizations are expected to provide a safe and hazard-free work environment. When a work area or place is safe employees are more productive and satisfied. They are less likely to be absent at work. According to research by a national body, an employee is bound to get injured every 7 seconds that means 510 employees are injured in an hour and 12,600 in a day, 88500 in a week and a shocking 46,00,000 every year. So how can organizations prevent such mishaps and protect their employees? Workplace safety is very important irrespective of the industry. It is the moral responsibility of the organizations to take care of their employees since when someone comes to work, they expect to go back home safe. This will help promote the wellness of the employees and the employer. Employee injury can affect different aspects of an employee’s life. It will affect the families of the employees as well. Employee injuries or lack of safety can cost the following: Loss or damage to employee’s life It can cause a lot of pain and discomfort Financial loss Tension in relationships Loss of job or career Health-care costs above what is covered by insurance Employees may suffer from other medical problems Safety and injury if properly taken care at the workplace, then it will not only be beneficial for the employees but it will reduce illness cost, reduce absenteeism at work, improve turnover, increase productivity and the quality of the products and most important improves employee confidence and employee morale. For the organizations, injury to the employee can mean cost to the business that includes the following: Loss of production Increased employee compensation cost Damage to the machines and equipment Hiring new employees and training them Drop-in employee morale So, what we understand here, is that safety is important for both employee and employer. The cost of injury prevention is much lesser than the cost of injury itself. A safe and hazard-free workplace fascinates and preserves the best quality employees. The employees and employers grow in a healthy and mutually beneficial environment. So have a safe and healthy workplace to have happy and satisfied employees that operate more efficiently and hence are more productive.   Support a culture of safety. There should be safety plans that are discussed with all the employees. Also, employees learn from examples. If they do not see you following good practices, they would think safety not being important.  Safety does not happen by accident it needs to be practiced every single day.
- [Friday Fact - Visual Controls In Place to Save Lives](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-visual-controls-in-place-to-save-lives/): Did you know, all the 162 passengers and the flight crew of Air Asia Flight 8501 were killed right after 40 minutes from its take-off because of ignoring quality warning signals? Right after 40 minutes from take-off, the Airbus A320-200 which was carrying 162 passengers from Surabaya-Indonesia to Singapore lost its contact from the radar. The two-and-a-half-hour flight was almost half-way towards its destination point when it disappeared. In the beginning, it was said that the aircraft crashed due to bad weather conditions. This was said because the flight when reached the altitude of FL320 that is 32,000 ft. it approached the line of a thunderstorm. As a result, the captain asked for permission from Air Traffic Control (ATC) to climb FL380 to fly above the thunderstorm. But, the actual reason behind the plane crash was the error in the plane’s rudder control system along with the crew’s ignorance of the warning signal that kept appearing again and again. There was a crack in a small electronic module which caused the system to send an error warning repeatedly which was responded to the first few times by resetting the system. This came to notice when the pilot was about to request ATC, the first AUTO FLT TRV LIM 1 (AUTO Flight Rudder Travel Limiter) signal appeared on the ECAM. A minute later, failure of both the rudder travel limit units resulted in alarming chime and master caution light. This is a device used to mechanically limit the maximum rudder deflection. Later, the ECAM (Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitoring) showed the signal of AUTO FLT TRV LIM SYS (AUTO Flight Rudder Travel Limiter System).  The ECAM also shows the direction to resolve the error. The captain followed the procedure and resolved the warning error. Later, to avoid the storm ahead the pilot asked for permission to deviate the plane to left. The AUTO FLT TRV LIM SYS signal appeared on the ECAM. The pilot again resolved the signal as per the system suggestions. This warning signal appeared on the ECAM 4 times. But the captain did the same procedure three times and for the fourth time, the captain decided not to follow the instructions to resolve the error. This time the captain decided to reset two circuit breakers of the aircraft. This action is violated in flights. This action triggered the autopilot and auto thrust disengaged and the flight started rolling sharply to the left. After the 9 seconds of disengagement, the first officer corrected by turning the stick hard to right. Again, the aircraft rolled back to the left by 50%. The aircraft climbed to 38,000 feet, twice with a climb rate. Within a few minutes, the stall warning was activated. However, the first officer kept pulling on the side stick which increased the climb rate of flight even further. In response to this, the captain applied the nose-down command. The aircraft than reached the highest altitude of 38,500 feet and at the largest rolling angle of 104 degrees. After that, the plane started to drop at a rate of 20,000 feet per minute. After 43 minutes from the take-off at 24,000 feet, the flight disappeared from the radar. The flight was later discovered on the third day in the Java Sea. Though the flight gave back to back 4 warning signals for the correction of the failure due to the ignorance of the warning signals, the flight crashed in the Java Sea. Similar episodes happen in organizations as well. Usually, accidents are a result of ignored warnings. Therefore, visual controls are to be placed on each machine and the moment any warning takes place, the first thing that should happen is a check-up of the machine. Even the smallest of the error can lead to major accidents. So, have you deployed visual controls in your organization? 
- [7 ways to Think different to be Successful](https://faberinfinite.com/think-different-to-be-successful/): We all know that successful people always think differently. They have different approaches and attitudes toward their goals. But what is it different that they do? How do successful people think? How is their mindset different from ordinary people? This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how to adapt the successful mindset to be successful: Change the mindset First, you need to change your thinking to achieve better results for improvement. You need to have a positive mindset such that you find opportunity in every problem. Successful people always hope for positive and good things to happen and they are ready to go that extra mile to achieve the same. In order to be successful, believe always expect good things and be optimistic. With the right mindset, you can achieve anything that you aspire in life.  Be different We have been coached by the system around us to be ordinary and not to think differently. But if you look at successful people, they always dare to think differently, act different and dream big.  So, try to do something different every day or every week or every month. It is okay if you fail, but there is always something that you will get to learn. Never give up Make mistakes, fail but never quit. Do you know that big and successful people failed so many times before they became successful? But they never gave up and kept learning from their mistakes. Do you know that Thomas Edison failed so many times before he invented the bulb? This is the most important trait of successful people. They will never give up on their dreams and aspirations and hence achieve extraordinary results. Keep working on our dreams. When you fail to change your strategy but never give up! Analyze risks and then go full throttle Study, research, analyze and drill in thoroughly before you get into any work. Once you decide, show full dedication in whatever you are doing such that you assure continual improvement to become better at what you do. Do take risks but examine and analyze the situation well before you get into it. Once you get into it assure your full dedication and efforts.  Believe in yourself and your dreams When you believe in yourself truly, you will put in your best and achieve the best. If at all you fail, you should not give up. You should be happy that at least you gave it a try. You should never doubt yourself or your capabilities, nothing is impossible. Keep Learning To be successful, you need to keep upgrading yourself and accepting the change. You need to improve and always keep learning to become better each day. Successful people are always sharpening their skills and challenging themselves to become better and break their own records. The network is Net worth They believe that the network is net worth. They prefer to be with people who are positive and more successful than them. They will try to learn from them. They would try to understand their approach and then apply them in their life to become successful. So as per a famous quote by T. Harv Eker – “If you want to fly with eagles, do not swim with the ducks”. To be successful think like successful people, be thoughtful, be optimistic and go full throttle to achieve your dreams and achieve wonderful success.
- [Operational excellence tools for production improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-tools-for-production-improvement/): Did you know, one of the leading automotive components manufacturing Organizations. That was able to improve their annual throughput by $1 million by implementing operational excellence tools for Production Improvement? One of the leading automotive components manufacturing organizations was facing difficulties in improving the throughput of their day-to-day manufacturing processes. Issues such as low or no production process taking place for a long period of time while changing shifts were few of them. There were ideally 3 shifts and the average time taken to change the shift was 30 minutes. Organization was not able to bear the cost incurred with this unproductive time. Operational Excellence Tools for Production Hence, the management decided to implement operational excellence tools. The changeover processes were crafted in such a way that it would reduce the downtime and allow enough cleaning time and maintenance time for machines in the working area. The process was implemented on the team. This new process needed all the employees of the organization to spend a few minutes of their shift cleaning their workstation. and servicing their regular equipment and informing the operator who will replace them in the next shift about concerns or critical information of the machines or the procedures. The operators of the previous shift were used to leaving their work incomplete, thus leaving for the following operator to complete their tasks. However, this was later put to an end and the operator in the next shift had to start the task fresh. Apart from this, to utilize the unproductive time, the operators of the previous shift were also supposed to finish the paperwork or any type of cleaning only once the new / replacing operator has begun working. Utilizing the one and a half-hour that was wasted led to improved results. Streamlining the process of shift change drastically increased the production capacity thus increasing their annual throughput with $1 million. This process was then made a protocol to be followed by each and every unit of production across the plant. Hence, as you can see, implementing operational excellence in the process can help an organisation improve with such a huge capacity of production. So, have you started implementing operational excellence tools? 
- [Making Each Day Count](https://faberinfinite.com/making-each-day-count/): In any organization, all the functions work together for the growth and development of the organization. Like every body part is indispensable for healthy body, similarly it would be a cliché to say that each function in the organization is equally important and necessary.  In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you yet another transformation catalyst at Faber Infinite – Ms. Jaya Pai – Finance Manager at Faber Infinite Consulting. Jaya has been a star performer at Faber and has contributed towards making Faber Infinite financially sound and healthy. Below are the excerpts of our conversation with Jaya Pai. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? How does a typical day look like for you? Jaya Pai (JP): I am responsible for various finance activities like – Accounting, Taxation and Receivables management at Faber Infinite Consulting. For me, every day is a new day and there are challenges that I come across each day. My modus operandi is to learn from each challenge, be it from the accounting domain or any other work at Faber, I learn something new each day. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile?  JP: Each element of accounting and finance, whether it is bookkeeping, accounting, taxation or recovery of debts, each part of my job is interesting and rewarding. My profile gives me the strength to achieve tough targets by giving 100% efforts. This makes it worthwhile.  FI: Which was one of the biggest challenges that you have faced here, and what did you learn from it? JP: Recovery of old debts and optimization of accounting process were couple of challenges I faced. And this made me realize, that a prior action plan for everyday work is a must for working smoothly and avoiding delays. FI: How has the organization helped you grow? Are your personal aspirations and traits aligned with your role? JP: Definitely, organization has helped me to grow professionally as well as personally. The journey so far has been fulfilling. Besides the skill upgradation on the technical front, there are various soft skills and behavioural trainings that I have been through at Faber and it has helped me grow substantially. Yes, my aspirations and traits do align with my role. FI: In what ways the accomplishments are recognized. Share with us one of your accomplishment and how was it recognized?  JP: At Faber, all the team members are rewarded and recognised for the efforts. I am fortunate that I have been recognized multiple times. After joining Faber, within a short span of six months considering my performance, I was recognized as Emerging Faber of the Year back in 2018. And this year, I am extremely gratified to share that I was awarded as the Star Faber of the Year for 2019. It meant a lot to me and I fall short of words to express myself. It has been a very encouraging journey so far and it motivates me to go beyond and work harder. I think rewards and recognitions help you to grow and thus achieve more! FI: Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you at Faber Infinite? Why and how did this person impact your life at Team Faber?   JP: All the team members and three directors are extremely helpful. The directors have been supportive and if you ask me to name one individual who has been guiding me and has been my mentor, my well-wisher – there is only one name which comes to mind! He is my reporting Manager and one of the Founding Members and Directors at Faber Infinite – Mr Vishal Kulkarni. Vishal sir is always there to help, to show me the right path, he motivates me and gives me the strength to achieve a higher goal. He is a perfectionist and expects the same from the team as well. This has helped me to work with perfection and achieve the set goals on time. Thank you, Faber Jaya, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments.
- [Rise Higher with Sales Growth Framework](https://faberinfinite.com/rise-higher-with-sales-growth-framework/): Selling is one of the major worries for several organizations across the world. With the global competition, it is essential not only to withstand oneself in the market but to grow as well. It is one of the challenging tasks, which calls for a robust sales process to tackle the challenges related to it. The survival and longevity of the organization depend on the sales of its products/services. If the sales are not up to the mark, it will affect the growth of the organization. We have a demonstrated solution for this particular sales challenge. Team Faber Infinite Consulting, with its unique and proven Sales Growth Framework©, has been helping clients grow sales, improve profits, raise demands for their products/offerings, and enable organizations to sell better. To share a case from one of our client sites, team Faber Infinite is associated with one of the leading agriproducts marketing and distribution organizations. We have supported the client with the Sales Growth Framework© designed by Faber Infinite Consulting, which is applicable across sectors and geographies. The client is one of the major players in the agriculture market with its agriproducts. Despite having the lowest prices for their products amongst the competitors, the organization’s sale was not up to the mark. The organization’s focus always was to keep the product price low – so that it can attract more farmers and increase sales. Besides costs, the client had less focus on other factors that would help them increase sales and attract more farmers to buy their products. This was leading the client to a cluttered red ocean of competing only on price. During the engagement, the consulting team worked upon various drivers impacting the overall product placement in the minds of the customers. The team chalked and rolled out a structured exercise to address the following key elements To improve the awareness of the outcome by using their products i.e. good harvest, To acquaint the customers of all the products and services that the organization has to offer, To conduct trials and tests of the products to improve the acceptability of the yield benefits, To assure consistent product supplies without stockouts and many more. Factors like these and many more helped the company to gain increased customer trust and loyalty and thus increase sales. After implementing the Sales Growth Framework© (SGF) by Faber Infinite Consulting, the organization not just paid attention to these factors but also on other factors that help them sell more and generate more revenues. The framework also helped the organization find out other areas and platforms that can help the organization improve its sales exponentially. The team came up with ways that can help their salesperson equip with the different ways of sales and upgrade themselves with the current market scenario and much more. The SGF has also helped the client implement various tools and standards, which reduced the non-value adding activities and focus more on the actual value-adding work. This framework has helped the client improve and grow their sales by a whopping 31% in the first quarter of implementation. It has not just supported the client to increase and grow sales, but it has also helped the client achieve sustainable growth thus keeping the sales growth and yields higher. Team Faber Infinite has been supporting organizations across various industries in 9+ countries and supporting more than 200 organizations across the globe. Similar results can be delivered in your organizations as well. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com to book growth and transformation journey for your organization.    
- [Celebrating Successes at Work](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-successes-at-work/): “Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed” – Mia Hamm As Mia Hamm rightly said, celebrating achievements is exhilarating, and team Faber Infinite celebrates yet another year of talent, success and, achievement along with raising the bar for coming years. All the members of Team Faber are the strong pillars of Faber Infinite Consulting. We at Faber Infinite believe that we stand where we stand today because of our team which is why we believe that we should not ever miss the opportunity to celebrate and appreciate the hard work of our people. Like every year, Team Faber Infinite came together for the annual meet with a bevy of celebrations including team felicitations for their exemplary performance in the year 2019. Some of the award categories were Star Faber of the Year, Emerging Faber of the year, Exclusive Faber Club and Best Team of The Year and many more! As we celebrate with our team, we believe giving back to from where we came is the responsibility of every individual of a society. Like every year, this year as well, the entire team of Faber Infinite celebrated its Foundation Day with underprivileged kids at an orphanage home – Sarvesham Sevasangh on January 7th, 2020 in Pune, India. The kids are the best to learn from. They taught us how to excel in life even with the minimalist resources. The energy was full of life and extremely welcoming. Celebrating the foundation day with them will always be cherished since these kids never miss to add some extra light to our happiness. We hope to continue growing and continue bringing joy to more faces with more such activities in the future. As always, we are pleased to announce, the release of the newest edition of The Faber Book – For the Faber in You! Every year we release a power-packed book for industry leaders called The Faber Book (which does not talk about Faber Infinite). Since past 4 years, every Tuesday we have been releasing management dossier called as Transformation Tuesday series for 20,000+ leaders across 8 countries – which we have been compiling as a book. The response has been phenomenal and hence we rolled out yet another edition of the same on 4th January 2020. We are thankful to Ms. Priyanshi Patel, (Director – NK Proteins Ltd, Founder – Olixir Gourmet Oils, Founder Trustee – Karma Foundation, Entrepreneurs Organisation – Member Product Director) for writing the foreword for the book. The Faber Book has the main objective to help sharpen the leadership skills of leaders in you. This book has been crafting and transforming leadership skills into a completely next level. Happy reading! PS: To avail your exclusive copy (limited edition), please get in touch with us at publishing@faberinfinite.com To watch, Glimpses of Celebrations At Faber Infinite, please click on the link here – https://youtu.be/2Smpc_aQRf4
- [Strengthening Operational Excellence With 4X4 Approach In Foundry](https://faberinfinite.com/strengthening-operational-excellence-with-4x4-approach-in-foundry/): The foundry industry is considered as one of the main factors influencing the development of the world economy. The advancement gained during the last few years in foundry engineering has contributed to further development of foundry. The last decade brought noteworthy changes in the world map of the supreme casting producers. Moreover, the globalization of the economy is observed as a chance for the Indian foundries, as India currently stands as the second-largest destination for foundries just after China. The foundry sector in the country is projected to witness an annual growth of 13-14 percent as per The Economic Times. As the world is witnessing a lot of talks regarding operational excellence in the foundry industry, we bring to you the 4X4 Approach – covering essential elements which have a direct impact on the efficiency and profitability. The 4 crucial elements in the 4X4 approach for foundry operational excellence can be described as below Assign the right Man (person) with the right attitude for the right job Appropriate Machine Performance for the job, both in capacity and capabilities Having the right Material Velocity Standardized work Methods Although India is the second-largest foundry destination after China, the capacity utilization of Indian foundry units, however, has seen a gradual decline from the level of over 70 percent early this decade to 40-45 percent recently, according to the Metal world. So, where are the loopholes? Yes EXACTLY, the loopholes lie in 4 Ms of Foundry industry. Constant efforts to increase productivity, improve quality and control resources (labor, energy, costs) remain the top priorities of the foundry industry for decades. Achieving these, however, means keeping aware of ongoing changes across the industry, and ensuring operations align with the trends shaping the future. Considering this 4X4 approach and working on it diligently, any organization can reach the stature of being world-class. Let us not get overwhelmed by all different tools, concepts, and philosophies rampant in the industry; but organizations that keep these fundamental axioms in mind, shall prosper and progress. Faber Infinite Consulting can help your organization to strengthen with the 4X4 approach to improve profitability and reducing costs. For the detailed article, contact us at publishing@faberinfinite.com
- [Building Competitiveness in FIBC Sector](https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-in-fibc-sector/): FIBC (Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container) is one of the industries having the highest scope of improvement. This industry has been working hard to meet the on-time delivery demands, improve its overall productivity and achieve desired efficiency levels, reduce its material wastage, and much more. But the industry is facing a hard time to achieve all of it together. Team Faber Infinite has been working in the Woven fabric / FIBC industry for years and has crafted growth opportunities for more than a dozen organizations so far from this industry. We have been working with clientele in this industry across Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East. We have supported our clients improve the quality of their products, increase manpower productivity, improve equipment performance and many other benefits – both tangible and intangible We have a team of experts, who have delivered exponential results, by improving inventory management, machine availability and performance, manpower productivity, production output and reducing the material wastage, change over time. Some of the glimpses of the results delivered for organizations in the FIBC / Woven fabric domain are; Improved production by 39% (with same resources) Reduced manpower cost by 38% Reduced changeover time by 33% Reduced material waste by 31% Increased production using Overall Equipment Effectiveness improvement by 27%, Eliminated wastage in roll changeover by 70% Reduce bobbin cut wastage by 66% And the list goes on There is no better testimony of the value delivered than the client’s appreciation. We are pleased to share with you some of the feedback shared by our clients from the FIBC industry. Faber Infinite has been supporting several FIBC manufacturing organizations across geographies. For further details, read the links below for more information: https://faberinfinite.com/whats-your-story/ https://faberinfinite.com/delivered-successful-results-yet-again/ https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-make-in-india-to-make-india-a-first-world-country/ https://faberinfinite.com/unnati-the-transformation-journey/ Below listed are the case studies for more details. These case studies will help you understand the exact issues faced by the organizations in the FIBC industry, and how Team Faber has helped them resolve those issues with different proven tools and techniques, also what benefits have been delivered in the respective cases and much more. Case studies are the summaries of the value delivered by Faber Infinite Consulting in the field of FIBC manufacturing and how we have been supporting organizations from the FIBC industry emerge and sustain in such a competitive market scenario. For further details, read the links below for more information: Case Studies – https://faberinfinite.com/case-studies/woven-sack/
- [Client Speaks: Journey of Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/client-speaks-journey-of-improvement/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a pioneer in heat transfer solutions and precision engineering products. We had a chat with Mr. Yash Shah – Director and CEO at Apollo Heat Exchangers Pvt. Ltd. Excerpts of this interesting interaction are as mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Apollo Heat Exchangers Pvt Ltd.? Mr. Yash Shah (YS): Established since 1952, Apollo Industrial Corporation & Apollo Heat Exchangers Pvt. Ltd. is a part of Apollo Group of Companies operating from Vasai, Maharashtra, India. Apollo Group is an innovative technology-driven engineering company led by Mr. Naresh R. Shah, Chairman & Managing Director. I, Yash Shah, am currently working as Chief Executive Officer. Apollo Heat Exchangers Pvt Ltd. is a pioneer in heat transfer solutions and precision engineering products for mission-critical applications such as Railways, Defence, Aerospace, Cryogenics, and others. We design & develop, manufacture, test & validate and supply diesel engine precision components and cooling solutions. Our cooling solutions comprises of Aluminium plate-fin Heat Exchangers, Axial impellers, power drives, and other accessories. We have been one of the reliable suppliers to Indian Railways & Defence for more than 40 years. Apollo Group has a varied product portfolio, strong brand presence and wide distribution network across and outside India. At Apollo Group, all the products are manufactured in compliance with Indian & International manufacturing standards. We are certified for quality management systems as per ISO 9001:2015. Aluminum welding is one of the critical manufacturing processes, and we are certified as per European welding norms (EN 15085-2 CL 1) for welding of Railway components. Recently we have also started the journey to achieve operational excellence via Lean and Kaizen practices. (Source – http://apollohx.com/) FI: We understand every industry has its own challenges. What are the challenges unique to your industry?  YS: Challenges are plenty. Right from detailed product design to precision manufacturing process control. Another set of the challenge is aluminum welding and qualified welders as per EN 15085-2. From the business front, there are challenges for a player like us to compete in the government sector, due to the slow nature of approval cycles for product development. The gestation periods for product development to regular manufacturing are very long. Also, direct supplies from manufacturers in China are a big challenge.  FI: We understand you supply to the Indian Railways and other public sector organizations, how is it different than supplying to other private players? YS: The process and procedures of business operations in Railways and other public sectors are very different from that of private firms. You need to prove the capability to develop a product by means of adequate infrastructure, even before securing an order. As I said earlier, there have been challenges for us to compete in the government sector due to the slow nature of approval cycles for product development. The gestation period for product development to regular manufacturing is very long. It is a game of patience and the right strategy. Once your company is approved by the end customer, there is a good potential for continuous annual business.  Also, the payments are largely dependent on the availability of funds. Still, they are much secured and faster than most private players.   FI: Over the years, there have been a lot of changes in the engineering industry. Companies are working on innovation, improving operations and driving efficiencies across the supply chains. Can you share more about the organization transformation initiatives at Apollo, to stay ahead of the competition? YS: As I mentioned earlier about the availability of aluminum welders being a challenge, we are actively working on installing robots for welding soon. This would reduce dependency on manual labor. To improve our operations parameters such as Cost, Quality, Delivery, and Productivity, we have embarked on the Kaizen and Lean journey. We aspire to deliver greater value to the customers by reduction of overall cycle time and improving the quality with the same or lesser costs. Also, investing in the right ERPs and making data available for interpretation and then taking informed decisions based on the data. We are also investing in a new plant for new product development and manufacturing new product lines for Indian Railways, looking at their growth potential.   FI: As a part of the organization transformation journey, Apollo has been working on improving the material velocity, throughput, and overall productivity across different sections. We would be glad to know your views on Faber’s role in strengthening the initiatives. YS: We started on the journey with Faber Infinite Consulting to improve our operational numbers, PCQD and transform the way we carry our operations. Faber has been greatly responsible for starting the drive of transformation. We started our journey with Value Stream Mapping (VSM) activity and understood each process cycle time, value-adding and non-value adding time along with many other parameters of production. Team Faber has helped us improve manpower productivity by ~32%, reduce shop floor WIP by ~10%, reduce overall throughput time and many more. Gradually, Team Faber has helped us align our teams to a new way of thinking about operational excellence. We took quarterly milestones like productivity improvement of most bottleneck operations. We could see the problems getting resolved and the shift in the bottleneck is evident. We had our share of success and failures too but got very good learnings from each one of them. The journey of lean and kaizen is an on-going journey of improvement. We are thankful to Faber for instilling this continuous improvement mindset at Apollo.  We sincerely thank Mr. Yash Shah and team Apollo Heat Exchangers Pvt. Ltd. for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing his valuable insights.
- [4 ways to make Employee Recognition meaningful](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-make-employee-recognition-meaningful/): Imagine this: An employee Mr. ABC comes to work. It is his 15th anniversary. He finds a note from the manager recognizing his anniversary. But the note does not talk anything about the appreciation for the work done in the last 15 years or a simple congratulatory note for that matter. This annoys Mr. ABC. So, the point is organizations should have well-thought employee rewards and recognition programs. It should not be just another task for the managers. Managers should acknowledge employee achievements or successes. Managers should not struggle to value and notice the contribution of their employees. Most managers feel this is a very difficult task whereas the employees think vice-a-versa. Today, we will look at ways to make employee recognition more meaningful: Communicate regularly Managers often feel talking to employees regularly will affect their productivity. But in fact, this is the best way to be connected to your team and make them feel recognized. Things like a simple “Good Morning” or “Hello” from the reporting manager can be as relevant as a reward. Managers should plan regular meetings with the team to hear it from them about what they are doing. Managers should stay connected to them and make them feel “known” Share fair feedback Employees want to know about both the things – what they are doing good as well as where can they improve. Employees expect feedback that is motivational and focused on their development. Feedback needs to be balanced as well. If it is always positive, then employees need to know what can be done for further development. If the feedback is negative, then employees will get discouraged. So there always must be a balanced feedback mechanism though which they know about the areas of improvement as well as their development opportunities are identified. Focus On improvement opportunities As a part of rewards and recognition schemes focus on their development opportunities. Employees want to know what the future holds for them in your organization. They want to know if their personal goals are aligned with the organization’s goals. When the reporting managers miss considering this, then the employee feels that they are not appreciated. At times offer flexibility Sometimes after late hours in the office when working for a project to meet deadlines, give them the flexibility to come in late the next day. This is just one example. Small things like this make them feel that their efforts are being noticed and appreciated. Reporting managers should make it a ritual to spend time with their teams and share with them about their contributions to the success and growth of the organization. This can be done to say 15 minutes once a week. These are just a few ways to make employee recognition more meaningful. They are countless ways and means to do the same. The idea is not to create a monotonous system to employee recognition, but it is about giving appreciation to the employees in a way that feels real and genuine to them. You can start by expressing gratefulness to those around you. See, how a small thing can make such a huge difference.
- [Continuous Improvement tools for Operational Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/continuous-improvement-tools-for-operational-excellence/): Did you know, one of the major medical device manufacturers was able to reduce lead time from 19 hours to 3 hours just by implementing continuous improvement tools? One of the major medical device manufacturers was facing problems like long lead times, production of the batch in the lot, final device inspection time, increasing customers complaints about poor service, increasing employee overtime to complete the tasks, poor process flow, a large amount of Work-In-Process inventory, and organizational culture issues. After addressing all these issues, the top management came to a conclusion to deploy continuous improvement tools across the organization. The organization began with an event like a training program about the tools. All the employees of the organization were explained about standardization, process flow improvement tools, visual control, and much more. Since it was a five-day event, the employees were trained and equipped for the transformation journey. In a short time, the organization began implementing the tools. All the employees of the entire organization were a part of this journey.   Continuous Improvement through Operational Excellence In a short period of time, the organization started to see the results. By implementing the continuous improvement tools, the lead time was reduced from 19 hours to 3 hours, work in process inventory reduce from 21 lots to 1 lot, throughput was increased from 6 lots per shift to 18 lots per shift, visual controls were installed in the machines to enable the final device inspection team to stay on track with their schedule Apart from this, the organization also took the initiative of measuring quality work-life of its employees via a survey. This too showed the results of improvement. Customer satisfaction was also increased.  Hence, as you can see, implementing continuous improvement tools, doesn’t only help with tangible benefits but also with intangible benefits such as employee as well as customer satisfaction which is at the end the ultimate goal of any organization. So, have you started implementing continuous improvement tools?
- [Ways to stay strong even in uncertain times](https://faberinfinite.com/ways-to-stay-strong-even-in-uncertain-times/): Self-confidence is the fundamental base of leadership. Leadership without confidence is like building a house on sand. Leadership is more focused on passion, communication, and empowerment, the most basic element that is missed by most leaders is confidence. Not just that, leaders tend to miss confidence in uncertain situations. Although, uncertain situations make everyone skeptical. But in such situations, leaders are the first ones in the team to look up to. Hence, it is very important for a leader to maintain the confidence level.In this article, we can see how you can stay confident even during uncertain situations. Maintain high self-esteem Having higher self-esteem is an unshakable characteristic one can have to face an uncertain situation. Having high self-esteem is about the amount you like your self. The more you like yourself, the higher the will be your self-esteem. Having high self-esteem can give you more and more confidence and can help you go through any situation you are skeptical about. Stay consistent with your values Living your life consistently with your core values is important for high self-esteem. Those who are clear about what they believe in and value the most, and refuse to compromise their values, like and respect themselves. But those who are unclear about what is really important to them have a much harder time staying confident. To make others value your values, one will first have to value himself/herself. If you feel your time is important, and someone is wasting it, make sure you take a stand and explain and showcase it in your actions so that everyone around you understands that. But if one himself will take his values for granted then none around them will respect.  Train yourself with fearless leadership: The other way to maintain self-confidence for handling any uncertain situation is to continuously train yourself with the qualities of courageous leadership. Everything one does is a risk. Whenever you engage in any such actions where the outcome is not certain, you are taking a risk. Everyone in their life is taking risks. The problem is, you can only notice bigger risks something like investing in new business. But no one pays attention to the smaller risks that one takes like driving across the roads. Hence, the issue is not whether or not you are taking a risk but how skilfully you are equipped to go through that risk. Hence, as you can see, there is always uncertainty in life in any decision you make. But staying confident helps you go through them all. And these pointers above will help you stay confident even in times of uncertain situations.
- [Inventory Management to Improve Cash Flow](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-to-improve-cash-flow/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading corrugated containers & plastic bag manufacturers was able to reduce inventory by $150 million by implementing a structured inventory management module? In this blog, we will discuss about Inventory Management to Improve Cash Flow. One of the world’s leading corrugated containers & plastic bag manufacturers were facing some severe issues related to inventory. The organization had too much of the cash tied up in inventory. The lead times were too long, production costs were too high and delivery performance was not up to the mark. The main motto of the organization was to become a world-class manufacturing organization and to become that. The management decided to establish an internal measurement process to become a World-class producer. These simple internal measurements involved the reduction of aggregate inventory target and on the other hand, achieve an on-time delivery objective. Goals were made, measurements were standardized, and were then pushed down through the organization to convert them into division and plant goals. Continuous Improvement for Inventory Management After the implementation of a pilot plant, the organization began the journey with the training and goal setting for each plant. Teams were bifurcated for training on several different topics to implement the process at each plant. The primary focus of the organization was to reduce the change over time to a single minute exchange of die. The teams were allowed to set the targets as per their choice and were also expected to achieve them. Within a short span of time, inventory across the plants was reduced by $150 million. The lead times, quality of the product, delivery time, and profitability of the organization, all substantially improved. Most importantly; the culture of a continuous improvement journey was established and maintained. Hence, as you can see, inventory management can not only help you reduce the unnecessary capital tied up with it. But can also help you improve the quality of the products, delivery time, and profitability of the organization. So, have you started implementing the Inventory management tools and techniques?
- [Leadership lessons Leaders wish they had known earlier.](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-lessons-leaders-wish-they-had-known-earlier/): No matter which industry you work in, there are several performance measures that you need to get approved as you move up the ladder. There need to be leaders who can govern and guide their teams with direction and behavior—and not just at the managerial position, but also at the individual employee level. There needs to be trusted before there is honesty so your team can optimize the ways it can communicate and therefore, produce work. However, achieving this criterion is easier said than done. While not an all-inclusive list, below are a few common lessons that leaders think they wish they had known before: Correct decision v/s Safe decision Leadership is about having the courage to make not known, difficult and distinct decisions because they are the right ones to make. Also, it is the job of leaders to communicate the reason behind that the decision, so people are aware of why the decision is taken. Strong leaders are not scared of making tough decisions. They might not like it, but they know that avoiding it is also a decision in itself and delay only worsens the problem. Be brave even with Emotions Emotions are usually an uncomfortable topic for leaders. But the strongest leaders are those who are comfortable talking about emotions because they are confident about themselves. Think of it this way, leadership takes courage which is why it is a billion-dollar industry. Performing tasks, you are good at or having a discussion about topics you are comfortable with is not what is leading, it is implementation. It takes an ample amount of courage to talk about uncomfortable topics like emotions in this case, and when you do that, you become not only more strong as a result but also a leader that people are willing to follow because of his courageous leadership. Pay attention to each Complain Meetings are not just a means for employees to get together and discuss issues and the solution to those issues. Apart from meetings, nowhere else are such opportunities to build communities, make decisions, connect and find solutions to the problems. However, such behaviors like coming late or having sidebar conversations, pose direct threats to such opportunities.  Even an outwardly gentle remark by an employee provides insight into that employee’s world. Instead of ignoring such remarks, ask the employee to help you understand his or her thought process behind that remark. Otherwise, the same problem will keep on happening and it will soon become worse. Learning is an unstoppable thing. Irrespective of age, position, time one needs to keep learning to grow as an impactful leader. In this article, we talked about things that will help a leader become more stronger and knowledgeable.  
- [Friday Fact - Root cause analysis for a problem-free organization](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-root-cause-analysis-for-a-problem-free-organization/): Did you know, one of the well-known military hardware producers was able to reduce the lead time by 80% by implementing root cause analysis? One of the well-known military hardware producers had been experiencing issues regarding production. The costs were getting too high, the delivery performance was not at acceptable levels, also they were facing difficulties in scheduling as well.  The organization was also facing quality issues. The organization decided to address all these issues and sort it out. For that, the organization began with a root cause analysis of the problems. Soon the organization realized that most of the scheduling difficulties were inbuilt. As per the contract, the fixed liner delivery requirements were scheduled for eighteen months in length, and the rules of their lot-size were causing too much uncertainty in production schedules.  The only solution for these issues was to eliminate constraints that didn’t allow them to produce at the same rate as the delivery requirements. A few of these issues were knitting of electronic components rest of them were of the set-up costs. After identifying these issues, the implementation of the lean journey began. The organization began by implementing the Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) which allowed them to improve their production speed. Once this was accomplished, they implemented kanban signals by replacing it with subassembly work orders, significantly reducing complexity and cost. This phenomenal reduction of work in process inventory reduced the amount of scrap and rework consistently. When sequential inspection took place, it immediately caught defects and significantly improved the ability to define true root causes. Guaranteed devices were then introduced and applied to eliminate such issues. With a span of just a few months, lead times were reduced by 80%, On-time delivery reached and continued at ~100%, the space of the shop floor reduced to half, the production had started to yield double, overall productivity increased by more than 20%, and much more. Hence, as you can see, lean tools can help one organization in such diversity, that no area can go unbenefited from. Root cause analysis when applied can identify the real reason behind the problem and the lean tools can help you solve those problems. The same can happen in your organization. So, have you started doing root cause analysis to identify the real problems in your organization? 
- [6 Motivation Strategies for Employees Best Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/6-motivation-strategies-for-employee-performance/): Motivating your team is very important and essential to keep the hardship to achieve the goal going. It is one of those leadership responsibilities that should be done often to keep the team going. Motivating a team or workforce is an ongoing challenge. It is a vital priority for any leader who wants to become a world-class leader. One of the reasons why leaders need to motivate their teams is to improve and boost the performance of their employees. Motivation helps an employee think that his/her leader understands the situation they are into and knows how they can win in that situation. But the motivational speech shouldn’t be coming from the online motivational source because when leaders look like they are just applying some motivational techniques which they read about then people can see right through the superficial. People choose to be motivated when they want to give their best or to go the extra mile or to offer sweeping ideas. In this scenario, the leaders can only do one thing which is to shape the conditions under which a team chooses to be motivated. Very few managers know this which is why there are gaps between the manager’s efforts and their results. A study found that only 21% of employees agree on their performance which is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. Below are 3 ways the managers can motivate employees along with three-alternative approaches. Drive-by praise Recognitions are best when given in person or even great when given in front of the entire team, but when they are given just over a quick note or over the phone, it might look like impersonal, uninformed, and inadequate. Like – dropping a text for recognizing your employee, or just stepping by the office of your employee to congratulate them for good work. Making stuff up Don’t lie to your employee just to motivate them by saying that you have got their back when the truth is that you aren’t even aware of what all things they are working on. The employees know when the managers are being insincere or outright lying. No matter whether these made-up stories are well-intended or not, they erode the employee’s trust in the leader. Guilt gratitude There are times when managers forget to assign a task to his team and recall that only a day before its submission. In such a case the manager would ask his teammate to go an extra mile and finish the task that he/she could have done if he/she was allocated proper time. The above points show that they all serve the purpose of a leader who’s giving the praise, not the acknowledgment. You might want to consider the points given below if you want to direct your good intention to a more meaningful expression of recognition. Ask for the story Nothing makes an employee happier than his supervisor listening to his story behind his achievement and encouraging and recognizing it. It makes the employee feel that you are really interested in how they did what they did, and you really appreciate their efforts. Also, listening to their story can let you know their problem-solving techniques, what are their doubts, what do they love the most about their work and what makes them feel proud. These insights will help you know what work makes them more passionate when you are to give them their new assignment. Contextualize gratitude Tell your employees how grateful you are about their performance which is not just helping their team grow and achieve the targets but also how it is helping the company to grow and achieve the targets. For example; acknowledge that they are always ready to accept change and they have always welcomed it with open arms rather than resisting change. Acknowledge the cost. Make some time to acknowledge your team members for the efforts they made to accomplish the goal. Be it sacrificing their time with their family, doing something new, or take some risk for a highly risky project. Many a times employees don’t talk about their struggle with their managers for they think disclosing that would make them look weak. That is why it is necessary to acknowledge the challenges they have faced and made it easier for the employees to be honest with you when they are facing troubles. It is the job of a leader to create a recognition-rich environment where those people who lead choose to give their best. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Optimize Your Workplace with Five S](https://faberinfinite.com/optimize-your-workplace-with-five-s/): Did you know, one of the leading banks of India is saving approximately Rs. 30 million per year by implementing the Five S in their organization? The bank is implementing Five S and has claimed to have saved on an average Rs 7.5 crore (Rs 75 million) with the help of the quality control programs conducted years back. It was Five S that contributed up to 50% of the savings. Earlier the retrievals of the documents used to take about 2-3 days but now it takes only 30 seconds. By implementing the First S – Sorting one of the bank’s offices at Mumbai freed up almost 10% of storage space by discarding the employee’s pack-rat tendencies. The company saved around Rs 600,000 through direct pay-off system to the third-party warehousing companies. How was the Five S implemented practically? Taking the example of the central Mumbai back office, which successfully cleared two levels of Five S and is considered a model case by the bank. There the employees navigate their way through the workplace using color signages for references. Like orange for the cabinets, blue for the workstations, mauve for the vaults and pink for the storage. Not only that, but the key chains of each key from the key hive. Where the keys belonging to all departments in the office are hung in a central key hive are color-coded according to the department it belongs to. All this made it easy to track when anyone takes out the key as they must register about it in the register. 10 minutes at the end of each working day, is reserved for a daily work management staff meeting. Where the employees discuss their daily work status, problems, and the achievers of any project are applauded. In addition to this meeting, the lights and computers are kept off to save power. Five S is an entirely people-driven initiative at the bank and they haven’t been slow in recognizing it. In order to sustain employee involvement, the bank is recognizing and awarding individual efforts. also group efforts with certificates signed by the chairman. Hence, as you can see Five S not only helps you in making your workplace look systematic and tidy but also helps you in resource and space optimization which results in cutting down the costs. This bank is one such example of the implementation of Five S. Have you started to optimize your workplace for better returns? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [8 Characteristics of leading Transformation for Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/characteristics-of-leaders-leading-transformation-journey/): A lot of people resist change because it gives them a sense of insecurity. It is difficult for them to accept the change; they need to understand the need for change and how it will impact them. In this article, we will discuss about 8 Characteristics of leading Transformation as a Leader. If you are a leader working on a change initiative, then keep the below pointers in mind: Lead the story: When you do not communicate the need for change, then employees fill those gaps with their assumptions which can end into one of the worst nightmares. Rather as a leader, you should take lead to communicate change in an early phase of the transformation journey. The need for change and transformation should be explained to the team as early as possible. Deliver the message more than one time: It might happen that employees might not be able to relate with the change initiative at first go. As a leader, you should take efforts to make them understand so that they accept the change fully and they believe that the change is the reality. Build Trust: Not only in new teams but in the established teams as well, building trust time and time again is highly required. Especially when speaking of change, there is a higher need for building and bridging the gaps for trusts. While communicating about the future, make sure that you make promises which can be kept, and when looked back on those communications, those kept promises are celebrated. Be visible: A senior leader is a beam of light in the darkness for the organization at times of transformation journey. And at the same time, it is so important for the leader to be visibly present holding the steering and leading with confidence. Remember the hierarchy need: All your employees are humans, and which is why at time of the change, you need to communicate with them about their concerns of insecurities. That is, they need to be communicated about the safety of their jobs, roles, how changes might impact them, and where they fit in the new structure. Build the momentum: As the journey of change and transformation goes on, the employees will slowly start taking each step forward on the new path. The success will soon start coming with it which will lead to the reduction in anxiety about change and will finally diminish. Once that happens, leaders should make sure that they celebrate the success with their teams. Be accessible: Few things matter the most in times of transition. Not just trust building or communication or support for employees but it also needs additional guidance from the leader to support that will be needed with new ways of working. Show them the vision: Break the journey into quantifiable measurements so that as and when your employees go further in their journey, they can see the final goal. In the end, the team will work only if they will see that the leader is leading them to a better place. So, go paint the vision of the company, explain the vision, show the team how to achieve them, and you will all get there together. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact – Delhi Metro completes before schedule with Operational Excellence tools](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-delhi-metro-completes-before-schedule-with-operational-excellence-tools/): Did you know the Delhi Metro took only 7 years to complete when the estimated time for the project was 10 years? The population of Delhi, the capital of India was over 1 million in the year 1990. It was a need of the hour to have reliable public transportation in Delhi. The unmanageable traffic created a need for the comprehensive traffic and transportation study which highlighted the urgent need for a rail-based transit system. The system should comprise of a network of underground elevated and surface corridors to meet the traffic demand projected for 2021. To convert this dream into reality, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) was registered on 3rd May 1995 for the construction and operation of the railway. Not only the unmanageable traffic but also the pollution that was generated due to the vehicles was contributing to more than two-thirds of total atmospheric pollution. In the year 1995, when the project was undertaken by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), they gave the target of completing the project within the time span of 10 years. There were a lot of challenges the project faced, such as technical complexity, the reason being it was the first time when the modern metro was being planned and executed in the country. The first phase of the metro began in the year 1998 which covered a length of 65 km at a cost of around INR 99 billion. The project which was targeted to get completed within the span 10 years, but it got completed within 7 years and 3 months which was 2 years and 9 months ahead of the schedule. The second phase was started in the year 2005 which covered a length of 124 km at a cost of around INR 240 billion for which the targeted time period was 5 years. But then the challenge of the Commonwealth Games which took place in the year 2010 in Delhi occurred due to which the project was given only 4 and half years to complete. And, to your surprise, the project was completed exactly on the day on which the inauguration of Commonwealth games happened in Delhi. Wonder how was that possible? The man behind the success of the project was Metro Man – Mr. E Sreedharan. He served as the Managing Director of Delhi Metro from 1995-2012. He is known for completing projects before target date and within the respective budget. He adopted a lean structure. He made each member in his team accountable for their roles and responsibilities. There was a project planning and control system in place which included daily monitoring of work progress, weekly reviews and audits. His team demonstrated fantastic teamwork and he used operational excellence tools like project planning and control, daily work management (DWM) and others which assured on or before time completion of project with no compromise on quality and considering the budget as well. As you can see, Delhi Metro is again an example of best operational excellence tools like project planning and control, DWM, etc. The public sector as well as working towards making the process smooth for on-time project delivery by using operational excellence tools. Have you started working towards on-time project delivery to accomplish operational excellence? Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [4 Ways to Lead Growing Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-lead-growing-teams/): It is necessary to change and adapt the new ways of leadership as and when your team grows. You cannot use the old ways, old methods that you used when you used to lead a small team. A bigger team would require more of your time, attention, support, and so on. Many times you may come across people in your organization who have been facing difficulties since the day their team has grown bigger. Or you too might be facing the same issue. Want to get rid of it? In this article, we will discuss about 4 ways to Lead Growing Teams. From Direct to Indirect:  When the teams are small, you can concentrate a little more on each one of them but when your team grows bigger, you cannot do the same and manage them all together. This will also make you feel that you cannot support each one of them individually. This is why managers of growing teams start to hire or develop managers under them. But this will further lead you to be moved away from the people and the work happening on the ground. But, you are still responsible for the result of your team, and you cannot be in all the details. Decisions will be made without you or your inputs, and things will be done differently than the way you might have one them. In the beginning, it may feel disorienting, as if you are losing control. But empowering your people is a necessity. One of the biggest challenges of managing is finding the perfect balance between going in details on a topic or stepping back and allowing your team to take care of it. As a team grows, learning to trust is important. Teammates treat you differently: Many a time, when your teammates don’t know you well and see that you are in a position of authority, they are less likely to tell you the truth at the workplace. They might not wish to disappoint you or have you think badly of them. Or they might be trying to make your life easier by not burdening you with new problems. Here are some of the countermeasures one can take to make it easier for other people to tell you the truth. Emphasize that you welcome their opinions and reward those who express them. Start accepting your mistakes and remind your team that you are human too, just like everyone else. Use language which invites discussion such as; “I might be completely wrong here, so tell me if you don’t agree or My opinion is….” You can also directly ask them for suggestions or advice : “If you were in my place, what would you do in such a situation?” Switching Context: In a small team, you might pass hours of hours unnoticed for the discussion over one topic but in bigger teams, you might require to take back to back meetings wherein you might have to immediately drop the past discussion and get mentally prepared for the next one. This surely does sound difficult but here’s a trick for that; Start scanning through your calendar every morning and prepare notes for each meeting. Develop a robust note-taking and task-management system.  Find time for the reflection of those meetings at the end of every week. Some days you will still feel distracted. But one day you will come to accept that there will always be a dozen different issues to work on at any given time some big, some small, some unexpected — and as a manager of a large team, you will learn gradually to roll with it. Choose your own battle: The more you look after your schedule, the more likely it is that something under your leadership isn’t going as well as it could be. It can be projects falling behind schedule, miscommunications that need to be cleared up, or people who aren’t getting what they need. At any given moment, you can list dozens of areas that you could be working to improve. At the end of the day, you are only one individual with a limited amount of time. You can’t do everything, so you must prioritize your work with its timeline. Perfection is not an option. It may take a long time for you to get comfortable operating in a world where we have to pick and choose what mattered the most, and not let the sheer number of possibilities overwhelm you. Hence, these skills will help lead growing teams better. compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Preaching Quality Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-preaching-quality-culture/): Do you know, a mega kitchen at a temple in India is practicing Operational excellence to feed ~18,000 people a day that too free of cost? A temple at Shegaon in Maharashtra – Shree Gajanand Maharaj Sansthan is serving Mahaprasad (food that is a blessing of god) to almost 5,000 people at a time without any chaos. Approximately 25,000 to 30,000 devotees are served Mahaprasad daily at Shegaon temple including other places of Shegaon Sanshtan around 45,000 devotees are served Mahaprasad daily. The preparations of the ‘Mahaprasad’ begin as early as 5.00 a.m every day. The approach is highly systematic and streamlined. First of all the ‘chapatis (Indian Bread)’ are prepared with the help of the chapatti maker machine. After that, the vegetables are cooked. Later on the rice is prepared and at last the ‘varan (Indian Daal)’ is prepared. As all these dishes are cooked in one hall, the ‘ladoos (Indian Desert)’ are prepared in another hall. The people who cook these dishes are known as ‘sevadharies (devotees who have volunteered). ‘ Even the work responsibilities are clearly assigned and highly streamlined that there are clearly defined work hours and responsibilities for the devotees who are in charge of the kitchen. As in, there are 3 – 4 cooks and 20 devotees to prepare 2,500 ladoos daily, 5 cooks and 8 – 10 devotees to cook rice, dal & vegetables and under the supervision of one devotee, there are 25 to 30 devotees who operate the ‘chapati’ making machine. The Chapati making machine is so streamlined that there 2 different machines for making chapatti dough and the chapatis. The dough of chapatti is prepared first and then the dough is transferred into the chapati machine which rolls out 10,000 chapatis at a time in one hour. The process is streamlined in such a way that quality is assured right from the source. Once prepared, the chapatis are piled in the bundles of 125, wrapped in a soft cloth and then put in the hot case before serving the people. Hence, as you can see; the streamlined work, the quality control and the management of crowd which is an inherent culture at the temple. If a temple kitchen is using quality control and operational excellence tools and techniques, have you embarked on the journey to excellence? Image Source: Scoopwhoop Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [Find More Happiness at Work](https://faberinfinite.com/find-more-happiness-at-work/): Are you happy with what you do at work? In this case, we do not mean the right career path. We mean, are you happy with your day to day tasks at work? Do you enjoy the tasks? It is a bit difficult to answer. We do not think about the small tasks that we do at work. But we should because there are always small steps to improve any work. Such small incremental changes towards improvement can make up for bigger job satisfaction. It means we do not have to change everything about the work we do, but small changes here and there can make it up all. There are times when you come back home frustrated due to a rough day that you have had in the office. There are also times when you take out your workplace frustration at your family members. This does not feel right and you even wonder what can be done to avoid this. You think of switching your job to a lesser stressful organization, but that is not a solution. Wonder what else can be done? Here’s a way out for you! Two most effective stress management strategies: Employees who are mistreated at the workplace, are more likely to mistreat people at home. The mistreatment at the office affects the employee’s self-esteem. Sleep and exercise can help improve self-regulation and thus reduce stress. According to research, participants who took around 10,900 steps every day were less likely to be rude to their family members as compared to the participants who took 7,000 steps. The research found that burning an additional 587 calories could help reduce the harmful effects of mistreatment. Different studies have also discovered a link between sleep deprivation and poor self-recognition skills. Adequate sleep and a lot of exercises will do more than just help you come back home from work in a better mood. These are two key components of living a healthy life. The researchers have connected an adequate sleep to everything from increasing creativity to longer life spans. You will also have a much better attention span, which will help you improve your performance and reduce stress. The way adequate sleep helps in increasing creativity and longer life spans, the same way daily exercise helps you improve your memory, boost your energy and increase your happiness. Also, exercise will help you sleep better. Sleep and exercise are solutions to reducing workplace stress. Less stress could lead to happier and healthier relationships. Getting an adequate amount of sleep and making out time for the exercise from your busy schedule will help you stop being burnout. Stress can be a one-off occurrence and not something which comes with the job. If every deadline is a chaotic day than maybe you are not planning your work well enough. Addressing any fundamental issues and using adequate sleep and exercise will help reduce the stress levels and ensure that you and your family is happy & healthy. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Quality is everyone’s responsibility](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-is-everyones-responsibility/): Did you know one of the fortune 500 companies, which is well known for it is ready to cook noodles, faced a loss of USD 152 million just because of the poor quality? In June 2015, the brand suffered a huge loss in brand value as the government labelled it unsafe. This started when a food inspector checked and found a lot of lead content in the noodles whereas the company claimed and wrote on its packaging about ‘No added MSG (monosodium glutamate)’ in their product. A government official from Government’s Food Safety – Uttar Pradesh, India spotted this claim in March 2014 during one of his routine audits at one of the retail outlets. The sample of the noodles was then sent to the state laboratory at Gorakhpur for testing. The results that were generated happened to be positive of noodles containing lead. The samples were then sent to the Central Food Laboratory – Kolkata, India where the results showed that – “MSG & Lead – present in the noodles: 17.2 ppm (parts per million)”. The amount of lead found in the sample was over 1,000 times more than what the company had claimed. On seeing these results, the Food Safety Commissioner – Uttar Pradesh, sent a formal notice asking to revert with a clarification on MSG & Lead in the noodles. The company did revert with the internal monitoring documents but did not consider taking any proactive step to counter any possible aftershock. The company never thought that this could lead to an estimated loss of half a billion dollars including erosion of brand value. In June 2015, the government declared a ban on the noodles due to the results of the MSG & lead found in the noodles. The company was asked to recall all its noodle packets from the stores across the nation. A globally respected brand valuation organization had calculated in mid-June 2015 that government action had caused them damage of around $200 million to $2.4 billion. Quality turned out to be a major factor that affected the brand value and sales of the company. This leads us to the fact that, no matter what happens or how big the brand is, Quality Management is the fundamental framework that can help one in building robust processes and identifying the issues at the source. As we see, even one abnormality and improper attention towards quality cannot only cost billions but can also impact brand image. This kind of loss born by the company is not just for one time, the image that has been created after this scenario puts a lifelong impression of a brand in its consumer’s mind. Organizations are investing in quality management frameworks to avoid such situations because Quality is no longer an order winner, it is an order qualifier! Have you embarked on the quality journey yet? Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [7 Reasons why employees lack motivation](https://faberinfinite.com/7-reasons-why-employees-lack-motivation/): Drop in employee motivation is a major concern that an organization should address. Research shows that 48% of employees across the world are not satisfied with their jobs. On average, more than 80% of workers worldwide feel stressed and only 20% of employees feel “engaged and motivated”. Whereas, 18% of leaders and business owners are actively disengaged. In this article, we will discuss about 7 Reasons why Employees Lack Motivation. Organizations lack focus on employee engagement and motivation factors which then costs them billions in terms of loss in employee productivity. What exactly causes this disengagement? Let us look at why this happens: Managing minute details: The managers who does micromanagement can have good intentions. But continuous micromanagement would make the employee feel that his/her work. Judgements are not trustworthy which is a major factor to trigger the workplace disengagement. Such disengaged employees might stay and mess their work or leave the organisation. It is also said that people when they quit their jobs, it’s not the jobs that they quit but it is the managers that they quit. Lack of progress: It is seen that when an employee tries to take any initiative, it has to go through never-ending layers of red tape. In such cases, the employee loses motivation or passion to try new things. Organizations should be careful of unnecessary rules and regulations that do not actually benefit them.  For example policies like restrictive office hours, Internet usage or vacation policies would be demotivating factors for employees. When employees feel controlled rather than efficient then they quit. Lack of  job security: Those employees who are not happy with their organizations will only work to keep getting their salary while they look for other options. The rest of their time will be spent on sharing rumours about the company with co-workers, updating their resumes and planning their next job. As a leader, it’s very difficult to keep your best employee in place during uncertain times. The best you can do to make this happen is to communicate frequently and give your team a sense of loyalty and trust. You cannot force people to stay, but the least you can do is you can encourage transparency. Lack of confidence in an organization’s leadership: Once the employee loses faith in where the organization is heading. Their loyalty for the organization would fray and they would stop passionately following the vision of the organization. They would even get rebellious. Research confirmed the importance of excellent workplace leadership, saying, bosses that encourage confidence. And also show faith in their employees, communicate an encouraging vision are rewarded with a team that is ready to get things done. Lack of rewards and recognitions: Everyone wants be recognized for the hard work that they do.  But, in spite of this if they are not being recognized or even worse if they are being treated just like an employee who is doing mediocre work than its natural for the person to just turn off and do the job on autopilot mode. If you want your employees to work effectively and efficiently then you need to show them that you appreciate their hard work by recognizing or rewarding them in front of their peers. Lack of efficient communication: In the absence of efficient communication, grapevine happens. Employees end up being confused and frustrated. If there is not proper communication from the leadership for clarification, it gets even worse. Communication not only helps in making the workflow smooth but also helps in building and encouraging the employee motivation. Unpleasant co-workers: The importance that our co-workers hold cannot be overseen. Because it is them who create a work environment and a work culture. There are times when your job is not that rewarding, but you still work there, the main reason being your co-workers are too encouraging and supporting which helps you release your work stress. There are also times when your work is highly rewarding but the co-workers are so jealous of you that they always keeps trying to pull you down. And despite of your hard work and you end up leaving the organization. Research has shown that close relationships among the employees increase their satisfaction by 50%. And best friends in a same organisation are seven times more likely to engage fully in their work. Now that you are familiar with the factors that can degrade employee motivation to go ahead and design plans to fight these productivity killers. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Achieving Excellence through Team Alignment](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-achieving-excellence-through-team-alignment/): Did you know, Mumbai’s Bandra-Worli Sea link has helped people reduce 50-80 minutes of their precious time which was used for commuting to 8-10 minutes? The Bandra-Worli Sea Link idea was conceived in the late ’90s. It is India’s first eight-lane, cable-stayed freeway above the open sea. The weight of the bridge is equal to the weight of 56,000 African Elephants altogether, as 90,000 ton of cement was used at the time of building the bridge. Also, the steel that was used manufacturing the bridge came majority from the Steel Authority of India Ltd. The steel cables used on the bridge are as long as the circumference of the earth. Each of them is as strong as to hold 900 tons of weight. Teams from 11 different groups spread across 11 different countries including Egypt, China, Canada, Switzerland, Britain, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Serbia were involved in making this bridge. A total of 2850 workers and 150 engineers have worked together on this project for 8 years.  Total man-hours utilized in those 8 years were 2,57,00,000. This is the first bridge of South-East Asia which is a cable-stayed bridge in an open sea and longest bridge of India so far. This bridge truly reflects the Human skills, Enterprise and Determination for manufacturing this masterpiece. The bridge is not just made on the technical aspects, but the aesthetic aspects have been given just as much importance as the technical aspects. The people of the teams were from different countries and cultures, but the masterpiece which has been made has come out with flying colors. This bridge has helped people save on an average 50-80 minutes of their precious time which was used while commutating from Bandra to Worli. The actual time taken while traveling from Bandra to Worli, if one uses the old road was from 60-90 minutes. Although there was a vast difference in language, methods of work & culture, the challenges team faced technically kept them involved in the group creatively. Despite of these differences, this masterpiece was not possible if the teams would not have been managed properly to work in alignment with the final goal. In any organization, you will always find people coming from different backgrounds, different cultures and different places. It is the responsibility of the leader to manage the entire team in such a way that the team is working together towards the organizational goals. Bandra-Worli sea link is one such example of brilliant project management and team management skills that led to a remarkable masterpiece. Progressive organizations always work towards team alignment through excellent project management to achieve goals and succeed. Is your team working towards building alignment? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Fabulous is Happiness](https://faberinfinite.com/fabulous-is-happiness/): Every year, we release a power-packed book for industry leaders called as The Faber Book (which does not talk about Faber Infinite). Since the past 4 years, every Tuesday we have been releasing management dossier called as Transformation Tuesday series for 20,000+ leaders across 10 countries – which was compiled as a book last year. The response was phenomenal and hence we rolled out another edition of the same on 6th January 2019. On demand from the readers across the globe, this book is now available on Amazon. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in the philosophy of growing together by giving back to society. We have always believed that sharing happiness is the best thing one can do for society. Proceeds from this book will go to charity. So, go ahead and buy the book to contribute to a charity with Faber Infinite at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QBZ5FNH
- [Improve Performance with this 'One' Trait](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-performance-with-this-one-trait/): It is common to see that while you are busy working hard, others seem to be advancing much faster in their careers. Have you ever thought why does this happen? In many cases, either your contribution is not being considered or it is not being recognized. Speaking of which we even feel that do the results not speak for themselves? They don’t. Even though it’s all about the numbers. For example, if you think of a salesperson, his/her sales would have increased, but it would have happened without his/her efforts. There must be other parameters that must be responsible for the increase in sales. Parameters like the superior quality of the product or marketing efforts would have helped the sales to increase. Even when the sales go down, it could be due to increasing competition. Many times it is difficult to separate actual drivers of performance. Because of this, people tend to evaluate competence based on other factors, meaning you must do more than produce results to convince them of your expertise. One of the ways to do this is by demonstrating confidence in your abilities. A study which was conducted showed the connection between confidence & perception of confidence. As a part of this study 48 subjects were asked to rate the competence of 60 imaginary people who were facing a class final examination. The subjects received 2 important pieces of information which is; they learned what the imaginary people predicted their performance to be — from very good to very poor; they also learned the people’s “actual” performance. After which, they had to rate each imaginary person’s competence. What was found was that the person’s prediction holds a strong influence on how subjects perceived their competence. Research showed that those who made optimistic predictions were much more competent than their modest colleagues — no matter how accurate those predictions were and how well they performed. Even with a positive forecast and a terrible result, they were still evaluated as almost twice as competent as those who precisely predicted their poor performance. This suggests that if someone asks how you expect to perform, you should give a positive and confident response. A negative forecast may lead you to be perceived as distinctly less competent — no matter how well skilled you are. What matter is the attitude! There is a famous saying which says – Your attitude determines your altitude” which means how successful he/she will depend upon the attitude of the individual. A positive/optimistic attitude is much better than a high skill level. As we all know the world is changing fast and change is the only constant. Change is hard and people resist change. It is not easy to accept something outside the norms. A positive attitude is must in such cases to embrace change and create a better and greener impact. So, all this is needed to create a positive effect that leads to competent and confident employees. In other words: praising your competence seems to be fine if you do not claim that others are incompetent. Hence, to convince others of your skills and abilities, make it a habit to communicate that you are good at whatever you do — without any self-criticism regarding your core competencies. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Fabulous is Nurturing](https://faberinfinite.com/fabulous-is-nurturing/): In any organization, there are frontrunners who help to accelerate the organization’s efforts by defining, analysing and finding the best opportunities to grow and eventually help them to grab it. Similarly, they also lead to find mutual benefits for all stakeholders involved and make it a win-win situation for all.  In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you the experience of one such frontrunner at Faber Infinite – Ms. Jui Shah, who leads the pre-sales function. She has helped build mutually beneficial relationship between Faber Infinite Consulting and many clients across industries and geographies. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Ms. Shah, Business Analyst at Faber Infinite Consulting. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Creative Solutions (FICS)? What three words would you use to describe your role? Jui Shah (JS): At Faber Infinite, as a Business Analyst, I lead the Pre-Sales function. My role is to identify prospects and clients where Faber Infinite’s solutions can add tremendous value to their businesses and in turn generate business opportunities for Faber Infinite through market research and analytics. Even though stationed at one location, I work across boundaries. Along with it that, I help the business creation team with insights and details to put across our credentials and value created, for building the confidence in client minds. If I want to describe my role in three words, that would be innovation, attention to detail & perfectionism. You should have innovative and creative ideas for generating and approaching the prospects and not just create those ideas but should also be able to implement them. One needs to be attentive by developing listening skills, communication skills and should be nimble to act. One needs to be sure of the data of the prospect. It must be precise before we approach them. FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber Infinite? JS: Normally, my day at Faber starts with ideal daily planning for accomplishing my targets. It includes brainstorming about the correct prospects and right solutions which will add exponential value to their businesses. Simultaneously, I work closely with the sales team to encapsulate clients requirements and prepare value propositions to follow the process. It requires good productive hours of work with meticulous planning for each day. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? JS: The whole process, right from finding the correct prospect to finally closing the deal is the most rewarding thing about my job. Talking of which I would like to share one of my experiences, where I identified one such organization in a sector we had been trying hard to step-in and with the help of the entire pre-sales and sales team, we finally cracked the deal for one more transformation journey. Hence, through this we now have a new region added in our territory and this is one of the examples which makes this whole effort worthwhile. And for all my efforts and success, I was awarded by the management team at Faber Infinite for entering new regions and opening doors of our organisation to new territories. FI: What would be your personal mantra? JS: My personal mantra is to be positive in any and every given situation. Being positive and having faith in oneself will get you all that you desire. One should never give up. Positive approach with resilience and hard work will give exceptional results. FI: What is on your wish list for your next five years at Faber Infinite? JS: In next five years, I wish to create and lead a bigger team of business analyst and pre-sales members, with the proper guidance of my mentors. I wish to take Faber to more unexplored geographies and sectors. I desire to build a very strong pre-sales team, which can reach out more clients where we can add value to their businesses and in turn fetch more business for Faber Infinite. FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? JS: I consider challenge as an opportunity to learn more, stretch yourself more and show your best! An opportunity to show your confidence and keep working, by having faith on your intuitions. One of my professional challenges is to find and reach out to the right point of contact from the targeted sector, through authentic data source. In today’s era, it is easy to get data but it is imperative to find authenticate data source that can help to achieve results. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? JS: To be very honest “Nothing”. Everything for me is just perfect and fine. It is the way I want it to be. The opportunities I am exposed to are the best and which I doubt I would have got at any other place. Hence, I would not like to change anything. FI: How has Faber Infinite helped you in your career development? JS: Faber Infinite has been the foundation of my professional career. Faber is not only crafting the growth opportunities for clients, but is also helping its team members by providing the right career growth opportunities. Faber Infinite has helped me develop the required skill set which is why it is the foundation of my career. FI: What do you like most about team Faber? JS: The Culture. The culture that we have at our organisation is just perfect. There is a healthy peer competition. We help each other grow. The management at Faber Infinite is very supportive and they work towards empowering the team. They believe in making leaders. And I can say, that it is very difficult to find such a culture at any other organisation. Thank you, Faber Jui Shah, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and your life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Excellence in Organizational Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/excellence-in-organizational-transformation/): Yet another feather in the cap! We feel glad and are proud to share that Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been recognized by the ‘Excellence in Organizational Transformation’ Award at the Asian African Leadership Summit & Business Awards on 23rd Mar 2019 at New Delhi – by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce & Industry (AACCI). We are pleased to receive the award from Mr. Ben Joubert (Deputy High Commissioner – South African High Commission) and H.E. Eng Wassfi Hassan El-Sreihin (Secretary General – African Asian Rural Development Organisation).  On behalf of Team Faber Infinite, we would like to thank the AACCI for recognizing us and our efforts with this award. We would also thank all our patrons and supporters, who have been a part of this wonderful journey. Asian African Chamber of Commerce & Industry (AACCI) is a non-stock corporation and acts as trade & business promoting chamber supporting businesses and industries by means of representing them as a bilateral chamber for the Asian and African region and help them to build better economic growth and sustainable businesses. AACCI celebrates the vision, the spirit of achievement and excellence in business leadership in Asia & Africa. This forum distinguishes and honors leaders who have contributed and shaped their national economy and are visionaries behind today’s outstanding businesses. The annual Asian African Leadership Forum comes forth to honor business prowess and leaders who have made a remarkable impact on their industry and on the society at large. The Summit & Awards recognize outstanding leadership and honors the change makers of industries from the Asian-African continent for their never-ending zest for perfection, inculcating best practices and innovative strategies. Participants of this magnanimous summit were the personification of the best in Asian – African leadership. Below are the few of the glimpses of the event Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [It has been more than 3 years now!](https://faberinfinite.com/its-more-than-3-years-now/): Transformation is not a destination, it is a journey. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been living by this value since inception. We are an organization that believes in evolving and reinventing ourselves and have made excellence our touchstone. Three years back we embarked on a journey, a journey to craft a better tomorrow – series called as Transformation Tuesday. Transformation Tuesdays are management dossiers that are today sent to more than 20,000 readers across 10 countries. The response has been phenomenal. As team Faber Infinite always believes in working towards crafting transformations to make a better tomorrow, these Transformation Tuesday nuggets will help the leader in you to cherish and grow. This month we hit double century by successfully sharing 200 Transformation Tuesdays across the world. All the Transformation Tuesday mailers shared so far, have been very well received by our readers. Some glimpse of feedback received for the Transformation Tuesday series: “I always follow all your publications. Your Transformation Tuesday articles are very interesting and inspiring” – Quality leader at India’s leading engineering organization “I have not missed reading single Transformation Tuesday. I actually wait for Transformation Tuesday to come. My Tuesday starts with your Transformation Tuesday. I am not only enjoying reading it but also implement it in my personal and professional life” – CEO at Zambia’s leading Manufacturer and Distribution house The response has been so phenomenal that it led to compiling of two full books with these Tuesday nuggets. We are humbled and thankful for your support and patronage for more than 201 fabulous weeks of #TransformationTuesday series. It has been a great journey. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy sharing these management nuggets. Here is our team celebrating 200 weeks of Transformation Tuesday. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Accelerate the Journey of Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerate-the-journey-of-excellence/): Lean is the foundation of an effective and efficient workplace. Every organization should implement lean practices in their work culture to have higher productivity and profitability. This will help organizations achieve their desired goals and targets. Lean is a philosophy which has helped thousands of organizations transform. And generate more revenues and profits by becoming more effective and efficient in their work. For all those organizations who want to enhance their work culture effectively and efficiently. Faber Infinite Consulting has rolled out a path-breaking – Green Belt Certification in Lean Management by Faber Infinite Consulting, Accredited by “Council for Six Sigma Certification” from USA. This is an extremely powerful and unique training program designed by Team Faber Infinite. This training and certification program shall help the organizations learn more about lean manufacturing, its practices and core implementation as well. It will help them become more efficient and effective. About the certification program: The certification program is divided into 3 parts with every part being followed by an examination to evaluate the progress of the participants. Moreover, what makes it unique is that the participants are also encouraged to implement one project approved by their plant at their facility and then present it for assessment. Successful implementers of the projects are awarded the prestigious certificate by Faber Infinite Consulting Accredited by “Council for Six Sigma Certification ” from USA. Program Methodology Conference room tutorial sessions Simulation exercises Group exercises Case Studies & learnings from the Gemba Live projects and evaluation on the Gemba This program is an industry-neutral program. So far, team Faber Infinite has conducted this exclusive training and certification program across industries. Hence, to further enhance your work culture effectively and efficiently with the help of Lean Management skills and accelerate the journey of excellence of your organisation. contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to roll out this certification program for your team and organization. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Quarter’s Biggest CXO Meet – FabEx2019](https://faberinfinite.com/quarters-biggest-cxo-meet-fabex2019/): FabEx 2019 – flagship event by Faber Infinite Consulting – to prepare industry leaders for the next leap in the domains of Efficient & Smart Manufacturing, was successfully conducted on 8th March 2019 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It was one of its kind, invite only symposium where industry experts and stalwarts came together to build and share best practices on the future of Man-Machine Partnership. If we were to envision the world in 2030, the partnership between man and machine will be reshaping lives and there are endless possibilities which the future holds. It was a tremendous success as it witnessed 100+ top pioneers, practitioners, and leaders from different fields of manufacturing. The objective was to discuss the endless possibilities, which the future holds and was a perfect setting to share and evolve together towards exponential growth! The theme of FabEx 2019 – ‘Man and Machine Partnership’, explored how the progressive organizations were working on winning the partnership between man and machine and how the future would be. The key challenges for next industrial revolution were touched upon and growth opportunities were identified with the base of a collective pool of thoughts with the best in manufacturing sector as well as the linkages among operational excellence, man and machine partnership and smart manufacturing were deciphered. FabEx 2019 has proved helpful for the business community to accelerate on the fast lane of the industrial revolution. Noteworthy individuals like Mr. Jagmohan Singh Sekhon (Executive Advisor  – Reliance Industries Limited), Mr. Deepak Acharya (CEO – Inox India), Mr. Naresh Gaur (Senior VP Manufacturing – Amneal Pharmaceuticals), Mr. Manish Kothari (Managing Director – Rhino Machines), Mr. Vishal Dokania (Director – Durian Laminates), Mr. Sanjay Suthar (V.P. HR and IR – CERA Sanitaryware) & Mr. Rajendra Vijay (Senior Product Manager – Automation Anywhere), headlined the symposium. The keynote address by Mr. Jagmohan Singh Sekhon marked the beginning of FabEx2019 where he highlighted about the industrial revolution and its impacts and how the 4th industrial revolution has helped find new and better ways to change the economic activities in our country. As per the august panel, technology is taking over the intervention by man hence it is extremely important for organizations to understand and develop partnership between man and machine. With the evolving technology, the adoption of Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing is an unavoidable necessity for the manufacturing industry. Which is why, strengthening the man and machine partnership is the need of the hour! It is also noteworthy, that technology adoption does not mean eliminating manpower to make the system cost-effective or vice-a-versa. This event covered the aspects of man and machine partnership where leveraging the Operational Excellence and Effective Manufacturing were also important along with Smart Manufacuturing as well. There are many who fear that as machines are getting smarter, humans will become obsolete. There is no doubt that machine learning capabilities will continue to advance. However, in the world of science, experts truly believe that man and machine relationship will remain symbiotic, and in fact, will become even more crucial. Effective and smart manufacturing solutions, the Internet of Things, smart analytics, and hyper-connectivity is shifting that depiction into a representation of the potential of digital transformation. FabEx 2019 came to the conclusion that Operational Excellence is the backbone of the new infrastructure that the industry wants to create to prepare themselves for Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0. The event was a grand success and was very well received by the industry and media.                                                                                                                                                                      The glimpse of the media coverage below:   Pre and post event thoughts of FabEx2019 have been well captured in the pre event and post event reports, which are available on request. Email us at consulting@faberinfinite.com We look forward to strengthening the man-machine partnership together! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Creating a Culture of Empowerment](https://faberinfinite.com/creating-a-culture-of-empowerment/): In this edition, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients – La-Gajjar Machineries Private Limited (Varuna Pumps), leading pump manufacturers of India. Mr. Dilip Thakkar – VP (Business Head) for Varuna Pumps shared his views on the challenges and opportunities in pump industry and how progressive organizations from the pump manufacturing sector have been working towards continual improvement and organizational transformation. Below is an excerpt from the interview. Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Varuna Pumps – a global manufacturer of submersible pumps and open well motors? Mr. Dilip Thakkar (DT): Varuna pumps was established in the year 1935 and it is around 85 years old company. Before we began with water pump manufacturing, we were into manufacturing of centrifugal pumps coupled with the diesel engine. In the year 1992, we were the first organization in the pump industry to create India’s first oil-filled submersible pumps, where oil is used as a coolant instead of water. Post which, we also introduced water filled submersible pump sets which are more robust in comparison with oil-based. Although water pumps are more robust, oil-filled submersible pumps are well accepted in few of the states. Varuna pumps has been a first mover in the industry for many products. We work towards developing and launching new products that are acceptable in the market. We take into consideration the benefits these products will deliver to the target segments. Our products are designed considering the water levels and voltage levels across the different regions in India. For instance, in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and some parts of Gujarat the oil – filled pumps are predominantly accepted as there are voltages issues; so that even with low voltage, the pumps can work easily. FI: Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? DT: If I talk about the natural challenges, natural challenges like rains are a big challenge as far as this industry is concerned. Irrigation needs huge water and it cannot be fulfilled through only pumps so natural water through rains are very important. So if the rains are scarce, farmers are not able to get desired crops, this impacts their buying powers and it result into low demand of pumps. Less rains also have adverse impact on the groundwater level and in turn its impact on the demand of pumps. If the rains continues for longer period even after monsoon season, it impact adversely on crops and that too have adverse impact on the demand of pumps. So, the quantum of rain has a sizeable impact on the pump industry. We emphasize on the rainwater harvesting as water is very precious and availability of water is reducing year on year as per survey / study by private and government reports. Suggested model is to create more and more lakes for rainwater harvesting and use of saved water in rest of the period. Another challenge in pump industry is the competition from the unorganised segment. The unorganized sector makes for 55-60% of this industry. FI: Progressive teams of Varuna are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? DT: Basically, we have three philosophies, where the first one is – Believe in your people. In people, it includes all the stakeholders in the Varuna pump ecosystem. It includes employees, vendors, dealers, distributors, advisors, etc. This philosophy is very close to us because we believe our people are the ones, who represent us in the market. Our people stand first for us. We believe in empowering them. Products plays very vital role for consistency of business but people who design, manufacture and market the same plays very vital role in any organization. Our second philosophy is to provide solution as a product and ensure customer satisfaction through robust product as per customer expectation / need and ensure real time service to customer. Our third philosophy is – Maintaining healthy relationships with all the stakeholders. We believe that you need to maintain a healthy relationship with all your stakeholders because in this industry maintaining the relationship is very important and the returns are always positive. FI: We would love to understand more about the transformation journey at Varuna Pumps. DT: So, if I have to talk about the transformation journey of Varuna pumps, then in the year 1999 the company was having the turnover of around INR 100 Million whereas today we will be closing at around INR 4.25 Billion (INR 4250 Million). And like every other organization, we also faced a difficult period in the years 2003-04, 2009-10 and in 2013-14. In these years, the challenges were the same external factors that we spoke about. This journey of Varuna pumps from INR 10 Crore to INR 425 Crore has been possible because we have worked on giving structure to the processes and the system. We have always considered a third party or advisor’s view. Their advice has always been very helpful.  Even the top management at Varuna is open for suggestions from expert advisors as we consider that third-eye always helps! Another aspect of transformation at Varuna is that we have invested a lot in our employees so that the empowerment is in place along with the responsibility and accountability. We never interfere wherever the involvement is not required as far as the hierarchy is considered. This gives ownership to our people. This also makes people to stay long with the organization and contribute to the growth. The third aspect of transformation is getting new products to the market on time as per the market needs. We have a strong R&D team, which continuously works on new product development. FI: We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to
- [Friday Fact - Unlocking a Hospital’s True Potential](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-unlocking-a-hospitals-true-potential/): Did you know, Narayana Health, a chain of 23 hospitals across India is one of the most affordable full-service healthcare providers in the world by applying operational excellence tools? Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy surgery costs more than $200,000. But in this hospital, it costs around $10,000.  In Narayana, surgery for head and neck cancer starts from $700. Endoscopy starts from $14, a lung transplant starts from $7,000 and a heart transplant will set a patient back only about $11,000. Narayana is said to be the most affordable hospital providing healthcare services at the most affordable prices. The hospital has been able to get the retail cost of a heart bypass down to $2,000 which is about 98% lesser than the average costing of any regional hospital. This was only possible with the help of one important thing which was implemented in 2002 which is – assembly line surgery. You might wonder how can assembly line be used in hospitals? They started doing this by upskilling or task shifting. The idea is the top qualified doctors do only the value adding activity, leaving simpler tasks to be done by lower-paid workers. In a hospital, this might mean that the highest paid staff—the most experienced surgeons—entered the operating theatre only to finish the most difficult and most important part of the surgery, leaving everything else to the junior doctors or well-trained nursing staff. Then the surgeon moves on to the next operating theatre to perform the same task again. They have structured the assembly line so well that preparing a next patient in US surgical theatre might take 30 minutes or more but Narayana has got the process down to less than 15 minutes. Within a decade Narayana Healthcare had a national network and, in 2014, even opened in the Cayman Islands, in part to attract medical tourists from the U.S. Two years later, Narayana Health went public in Mumbai; it has been continuously profitable since. Operational excellence tools and techniques are creating wonders in the healthcare and hospitality industry. And to your surprise, the hospital is still finding ways to serve the regional people the health care services at even lower rates which would help the people below poverty line to get the best of the medical services at Narayana.  Assembly line has not only helped manufacturing setups, but it can create wonders in the service and hospitality sectors as well. Hence, have you started implementing operational excellence tools and techniques for phenomenal results? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Let us Clean the Mess.](https://faberinfinite.com/let-us-clean-the-mess/): The cluttered environment of the organization affects the way one works. When the workplace becomes a mess, the same is reflected in the case of the people working in that organization. We lose our efficient work minutes searching for an important document that is lost on our cluttered desk. An international survey has found that an employee loses up to 2 hours of his/her fruitful time per week over searching for a lost digital document. So, it is not just about the cluttered desk but also about the cluttered desktop or laptop. Research shows that the clutter at the workplace is leading to stress which is costing businesses up to $190 billion every year. It is time to realize the role clutter plays in our work lives — and start working towards cleaning up the mess. How clutter affects your brain and work: A research made by an International Institute has found out that the constant disorganization drains our cognitive resource and reduces our ability to focus. Whereas when the same desks were cleaned from clutter the results showed that the employees were able to focus and process the information effectively thus leading to productivity improvement. It is also possible that a cluttered office produces employees who make poor eating choices during breaks and spend less time working. Clutter can make us feel anxious, stressed or depressed. The research found that the stress hormone cortisol was high in a lady whose household environment was cluttered. The more the hormones sustains and increases it leads to an increase in the level of stress and anxiety. Even our relations can be affected by such an environment.  Research suggests that those with messy desks seemed to be less conscientious, more neurotic and less agreeable. Such observations create a negative image of these employees among their peers. What can be done to make it right? Regularly cleaning workplace and desk is a proven way to keep clutter away at the bay. Do not let things compile in a way such that looking at it you start delaying to clean it. For teams and organizations, develop a regular cleaning habit. Imbibe cleaning in the organization’s culture.  Consider introducing a clean-desk policy to administer the tidiness of shared workspaces. Take help from your IT team to provide tools to manage online documents, as well as a list of what should be kept and what can be discarded. While doing this, an organization needs to consider the security policy and keep in mind employees’ need for privacy and independence. Finally, keep this under consideration that clutter isn’t always bad. One study has shown that sometimes messy desks can even help us become more creative. The findings of the study suggest that neat & ordered environments make us more likely to adopt the expectations and play it safe, while messy ones move us to look at things in a new way. Hence, while a totally clean and organized desk might indicate lack of creativity, a very unorganized or messy one may send unfavorable messages about your work ethic and personality. Keep things on hand that is needed for current projects, but resist the temptation to hoard. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Friday Fact - Poka Yoke in Air](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-poka-yoke-in-air/): With the recent tragedy of Ethiopian Airlines and Jet Airways crisis, airlines are in current focus. Obviously, safety in the air is a serious concern and needs to be revisited. However, this Friday sharing some Poka Yoke (error proofing) examples from our experiences at flight kitchen operations. It highlights the features of the operation that make it top quality service up in the air! In this complex operating environment, it is not surprising to see poka yokes in use. Some examples follow: 1. All trolleys that are loaded onto aircraft have a sticker on them to identify which flights they are on, and other data about the trolleys contents. But some stickers are white, to show that the trolley should be offloaded at the destination, whereas others are yellow, to show that the trolley should remain on the plane for the return to its point of origin. 2. All tray layup work stations have photographs of the different tray settings. 3. All meals are color-coded by day of production to help ensure that no out-of-date meals are loaded onto planes. 4. Meal trays with special meals on them (vegetarian, kosher, halal, etc.) are also color-coded so that cabin crew can more easily distinguish between them. If Poka Yoke can be implemented and is delivering results in such complex – time-pressed set up, are you designing error-proof processes? What are examples of Poka Yoke in your industry?  
- [Customer is King](https://faberinfinite.com/customer-is-king/): The customer is the king of any industry. In today’s era where the customer is the game changer, organizations cannot afford to lose even one of them. Customer retention is a very challenging task. It is an unavoidable necessity for any organization to plan and implement strategies to reacquire the lost customers. Below are the proven points you can use while making your strategies to acquire the lost customers: Support: Many a time the reason why your customer plans to leave you is because they experience a lack of support from your end. Customers like when they are given attention. If they are facing some issues with the product/service than they would always want that they are attended promptly.  Hence, make sure that you have a strong support department and you have shared the contact details of the same with the customers so that they can easily contact you for any query. After receiving the queries make sure to attend the queries and give your customers a proper solution. Make a survey: Circulate a survey to understand customer satisfaction for your product or service. Understand how satisfied are they with your product/service, how often they would like to recommend your offerings in their circle of influence, what changes they would like you to make in your offerings, etc. Share the survey with your old and existing customers. Make sure, for the ease of your customer, you have a scale of 1 to 5 to respond with where 1 means the lowest and 5 means the highest. With the help of this survey, you can come to know how well your offerings are being received by your customers in the market, what all change you need to incorporate to make sure you don’t lose your customer and how you can retain your old customer. If there is any negative response given in the feedback, you are promptly responding with an apology note for any inconvenience they have faced. Keep your surveys brief and your emailed users don’t need to go to a separate survey site to complete the form. Also, don’t take a small sample segment for the survey — try to cover as many as you can. Don’t downgrade your customer: If you are into a service industry or in any B2B industry, then there are chances that your payments are getting delayed. Maybe because of a constant follow-up the person is tired and does not wish to work with you. In such scenarios, follow-up with the customer with a call or an email saying that you regret for whatever happened in past and you have upgraded your policy now which are to be followed strictly. Assure them that they will not face the same situation again. Offer discount: If your customer has left using your offerings, follow-up with them by offering them some discount or by replacing the product or by paying back for the service. This might make the customer feel that their issues are being taken care of and they are not being ignored. With the help of such offerings, there is a chance to regain the trust of your customer. Use the reason for downgrading for retaining: It is difficult to follow-up with those customers who have left without sharing the reason. Hence, start finding out the customers who have gone without sharing why they have left, have a follow-up call with them for knowing the reason. The right language goes a long way too. So, be sure to communicate how important this information is to you and how much you appreciate the feedback shared. It is always easy to make a strategy, but it is difficult to implement the same. The above points are the proven tactics that are being used for the customer retention process. We hope you to use this and find the best way to retaining your customers. We are glad to share we have completed a fabulous 201 weeks of Transformation Tuesday series. It has been a great journey.  We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy sharing these management nuggets. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Quality is everyone's responsibility](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-is-everyones-responsibility/): Do you know, one of the Fortune 500 companies which is in the sector of manufacturing automobiles, has recalled thousands of cars since 2013? A leading global automobile manufacturer wrote to 1,018 car owners, the car which was manufactured between November 2017 and December 2017, for the inspection of driver and front passenger seat recliner locks. The company also recalled 4,379 cars manufactured at the Chennai plant of India in the year 2017 for the inspection of the front lower control arm. This step was taken due to the poor quality issue faced by the owners of the cars. Also, in the year 2016, the company had to recall 48,700 units of cars to rectify faulty fuel and brake lines along with the rear seat backrests. In December 2014, more than 20,700 units of cars were recalled, to fix what an airbag issue and faulty fuel line. In the year 2015, the company called back 16,444 units of cars produced between the years 2013-2014 for fixing a fault with the rear twist beam. But if we go back in the year 2013 where the car made its first debut, the company had to recall around 1,000 diesel cars to relocate the module of the glow plug in the engine architecture. Because of the poor quality issue faced by the customers, the company sales dropped by 9% in the Indian market in the year 2014. In today’s era, quality is a qualifying criteria and needs to be embedded in the product. The organizations should focus enough on the quality of their products. This was just one example of Cost Of Poor Quality the company is facing. Are you also facing similar issues relating to quality? Are you capturing the cost of poor quality? Then start applying Quality Control & Management tools in your organization to avoid such issues. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Top 3 Characteristics of Effective Team](https://faberinfinite.com/top-3-characteristics-of-effective-team/): There is always a synergy in an effective team. People learn, support and help each other. But in a less effective team, there are always conflicts, clashing agendas, one-way information transfer, and unenthusiastic commitment. So here is the question, what can be done to make your team an effective team? 3 strategies of Build Effective Team Appreciation In a team, every individual brings value to the ideas, experiences and skills of others. With that as a primary framework, the focus should not be on proving one’s own perspective. The focus should be on uncovering the true value offered by each team member. This creates a high level of interaction and engagement within a team. People achieve most of the benefits from a team if they seek teammates with complementary strengths. Every team member should have something to add. If only one member has all the answers, there is no need for a team. It is than when we can benefit from the strengths of others and establish processes for cross-fertilizing ideas and plans with the help of which the team becomes an efficient team. Only then the cross appreciation takes the actual place. Strengths It is found that the fit between team roles and the strengths of team members is predictive of both happiness and performance. For example, the successful teams of financial organizations, where one sees a clear division of labour, with few team members focusing on research, others members focusing on portfolio construction and management, and other members on trade execution and position management. This is not any different from an athletic team, where team members playing at a particular position possess distinctive strengths that suit them for that position. A general rule that has been found among successful teams is that each member has some distinct quality. This is how the strength can be utilized in creating an effective team. Communication Soft skill is in high demand in recent times. The main factor that makes teams work effectively is that each member must be able to communicate their ideas & perspectives clearly. A research has found that people working together on a project are more effective than a single person spending all his time doing the same thing. However, without communication, the team members can be of no use. Teams that communicate effectively complete projects in a quicker and more efficient time, they are more accurate in their work than others. Effective communication also allows members to understand their roles as well as roles of other team members. It also builds understanding among the team members of what needs to be done. This helps the team to be more effective. Hence, an effective team is only possible when every member is appreciated, they use the appropriate strength of the member in the team and there is effective communication within the team. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [National Safety Week - 2019](https://faberinfinite.com/national-safety-week-2019/): “Work Smart, Work Safe” Precaution is better than cure! Someone has rightly put these words together. While working with machines, people forget to look out for their safety. In an era where man is constantly working along with machines, safety is a subject which he doesn’t take under consideration. Safety now a days is not being treated as a primary need. But people and organizations need to start understanding its importance and start using the safety equipment and get their men fully equipped with safety tools before he/she goes on the shop-floor. Safety is a very important and highly underrated part of today’s scenario. Organizations and people need to understand the importance of safety and how to avoid any unwanted accidents by being fully equipped with all the safety tools. On this 48th National Safety Week, pledge to begin work only after assuring about your safety by accommodating the safety tools with yourself. Let us bring hands together towards growing the safety awareness in our work culture and work towards its sustenance! Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [The Power of Lean Six Sigma](https://faberinfinite.com/the-power-of-lean-six-sigma/): Did you know, The US army is saving billions of dollars with the help of lean six sigma? Since 2006, thousands of military officials have been achieving Green Belts, Black Belts & Master Black Belt SIx SIgma. The Army used Lean Six Sigma methodologies to save more than $19 billion by eliminating operational inefficiency and improving services. In 2017, Army officials held a function in Washington, D.C., to honor 13 programs across 11 departments and ranked them as the best Lean Six Sigma initiatives for 2016. With the help of Lean Six Sigma project, the Army saved millions of dollars and eliminated wasted time and efforts. The US Army started using Lean Six Sigma methodologies since 2006. In the year 2016, the army earned 3 awards for Saving the total cost of $66.2 million by costs savings, cost avoidance, and revenue generation. Saving the total cost of $5.7 million in the health care department of Military. Saving almost $3 million for 21stTheatre Sustainment Command. As we all know, the roots of Six Sigma lies in industrial manufacturing. But, the use of this methodology has become widespread across several industries, as well as with non-profit and government organizations. Lean Six Sigma has been delivering outstanding results across industries. Are you using it? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Quality is not an Act, it is a Habit](https://faberinfinite.com/quality-is-not-an-act-it-is-a-habit/): For any industry, the cost of quality is 35% or higher of the sales. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how to handle the cost of poor quality in a better way.  This will help you to make profound decisions in the right direction. A lot of companies have found quality as an area that they can research and resolve to reap bigger benefits. Let us look at the cost of poor quality – Failure Cost: Failure cost is a cost that a company bares when its product fails in the market. Costs such as rework, re-testing, material review, replacement, warranty, return, loss of customer trust etc. Let us consider a recent example: A Fortune 500 company well known for its product quality recently faced a Cost Of Poor Quality situation and had to bear the cost of ~ USD 1.1 billion. A few days ago, in a basketball match – NCAA basketball between Duke and North Carolina, Duke freshman – Zion Williamson ripped open his shoes and suffered from a knee sprain injury. His ripped Nike PG 2.5 shoes were immediately brought to notice by former US president, Barak Obama himself, who exclaimed that Williamson’s shoes broke. Due to this, the player had to move out of the field because of his injury. Nike had to face the fall in its stock by 1.8%. It is not just the monetary loss that the company faced. The tweets started showing up on Twitter by the public accusing Nike for the poor quality they had to offer! Let us understand how we can prioritize quality and reduce both cost and risk: Reduce rework Increase Return on Investment Work on reducing customer complaints Maintain consistency to maintain brand value Work on reducing recalls Increase investments to improve quality Hence, as we all know that poor quality has always affected organizations. It can change the image of the organization in no time. Poor quality has always resulted in a disaster. So, maintaining good quality should always be the need of the hour. Quality should be a habit. It should be the culture of the organization. It should be inbuilt in the culture. As mentioned by Aristotle – “ Quality is not an act, it is a habit”, let us work to build quality to reap benefits”. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Donating efficiency and productivity!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-donating-efficiency-and-productivity/): Do you know, the renowned Toyota instead of signing a big cheque, donated continuous improvement? The Food Bank – New York is a non-profit social service organization which arranges food and support for the needy/ homeless people of New York. It is the largest anti-hunger charity which feeds approximately 400,000 people every day. The Food Bank at first was a little hesitant with the offer. But after presenting the details to Food Bank about efficiency improvement and how Toyota can help them with it, the Food Bank for New York City was more than happy to hear what Toyota could offer. So, what all changes did Toyota made by Muda elimination? Let’s have a look: Eliminated 10 at a time system The staff member would wait for enough space to open up to allow 10 people inside the dining. The average wait time could be half an hour to one hour. Hence, Toyota eliminated this system and started allowing diners one by one as soon as a chair was free. The dinners were asked to form a line next to the food counter from where they could pick their dish. And the waiting time was reduced to 18 mins. Reduced search time by half of the actual Toyota engineers tried to accelerate the pickup process. They drew a layout identifying spots where they found slowdowns. They reorganized the shelves by using colored tape to mark the grain, vegetable, fruit and protein sections. The time volunteers spent in the pantry was reduced nearly by half. Packaging time shrank to 11 seconds At the warehouse, from where all the stock was being packed and supplied for victims of Hurricane Sandy, the average packaging time of one box was cut down to 11 seconds from 3 minutes. It was done by creating an assembly line. The volunteers had to drop food items into boxes as the boxes moved across a conveyor belt. 1 meal per view Toyota announced its “Meals Per Hour” campaign which was promoted through a short documentary film. The strategy included – the company to donate 1 meal for every view the video received, up to 250,000. The video went viral in a very short period of time. The video even surpassed the original target goal. The company decided to donate an additional 1 million meals in addition to the 250,000 meals they had already donated. The video currently has more than 1,014,408 views. Hence, as you can see, continual improvement is not static to improve productivity and profitability. It can help in such miraculous ways and places we won’t have even thought of. It is not necessary to donate in tangible terms only. The best gift any charitable trust would have received is what more they can give back to society by spending lesser time. Have you thought about it yet? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [3 Tips to be a Successful Change Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-successful-change-leader/): LChange is a very critical situation to manage for all leaders. Change brings in all kinds of disruptions that the team must go through. Leaders are vulnerable to the pressure of their teams’ expectations because employees will always look up to the leaders for a better understanding of their changing job roles during the change implementation. Hence if you want to be a successful change implementer, you will have to make sure that your team is on the same page. The employees play a big role in succession of change management. You would need to follow below-mentioned steps for a successful change implementation: Keep it clear It is necessary for the leader to define the vision and keep the communication clear. eader has to convert his individual vision into organizational vision for change management, he needs to have a consistent communication. As per the recent trend, leaders will need to leverage their employees preferred a mode of communication method which is through social media to ensure receptiveness. As per a research, on an average an organisation spends 3 hours daily on different social media platforms, with around 50% of employers using that for internal communication. It is also noted that just 17% of employees rated their leader highly when it came to recent change-related communications. Stay connected It is necessary to stay constantly connected with your employees because, without this, leader will have difficult time explaining the vision and enlisting support to the employee. Your employees expect you to be approachable as well as direct and transparent. A research showed that one third of the CEO’s preferred social media platforms as it allowed them to have more of the direct communication. The same CEOs also believed that such interactions helped them get a quick idea of what employees were thinking/feeling.  This is important while aligning your change management initiatives with the capabilities of your people. Be responsible A leader needs to be accountable of his commands and transparent with team. Obtaining the accountability shows a desire and commitment to fix any problem to yield the best results! To be truly accountable means you want to implement the change come what may. Accountable leaders look at all the aspects of their organisation to ensure all are functioning optimally. If it isn’t, then a good change management leader should admit the gap and take actions to address shortcomings. The above outlined principles will help leaders conquer the change management challenge. Remember that perceptions of leaders are often shaped at the time of transition and change. Hence, don’t let people question your leadership & mission of the organization. Work hard and be a successful change implementer. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Crafting growth opportunities!](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-growth-opportunities-2/): It’s always fabulous to contribute towards creating value and what could be better than encouraging the next generation leaders! Our Director and Founding Partner Mr. Jalay Pandya was invited by The Institute of Law, Nirma University, India to encourage students on taking up Entrepreneurship and creating value! As Faber Infinite always believes in crafting growth opportunities, here we mark our statement by inspiring future entrepreneurs. The session was a terrific treat of inspiration for the students! Nirma University is one of India’s leading universities and is a member of Association of Indian Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (Source – https://nirmauni.ac.in/). We at Faber Infinite Consulting, wish to thank Nirma University for having us and wish them and the students all the best in their endeavors!  
- [Friday Fact - Are you Ready to Embark on the Journey](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-are-you-ready-to-embark-on-the-journey/): Did you know, the leading automobile manufacturing company has been using just-in-time since 1909? Harley-Davidson one of the leading motorcycle manufacturing company was established in 1903. They built their first three motorbikes in a shed. In 1909, the company introduced its trademark 2 cylinder bike (which was able to reach a speed of 60 mph) using management principles adopted from the Japanese culture – Just in Time (JIT). With new marketing strategies and manufacturing techniques, Harley improved quality and began the long battle to increase its market share. JIT was the driving force for the quality-improvement program of Harley. As Harley was operating with the lowest inventories, it became essential that all their inventories were usable. If they were only going to get a few parts, they all needed to be good ones. Harley’s suppliers had to implement JIT into their production process to compliment Harley’s system. Harley’s JIT is mostly characterized on the basis of its transformation after the World War 2 era from an inefficient manufacturer to a nimble manufacturer, which is able to meet its market demand and provide shortest lead time. After the implementation of JIT, Harley showed results like; 75% reduced inventory level & increased productivity, improvement in inventory turns up from 5 to 20, inventory levels decreased by 75%, motorcycles coming off the line completed up from 76% to 99%, 68% reduction in scrap and rework, productivity improved by 50%. Harley Davidson’s success with the implementation of JIT has been because they are working hard to strive for operational excellence with Lean manufacturing concepts like JIT. Have you embarked on the journey of operational excellence yet? Writen & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Details about the webinar](https://faberinfinite.com/details-about-the-webinar/): Fabex is a flagship event by Faber Infinite Consulting – to prepare leaders for the next technology leap in the domain of manufacturing. With the evolving technology, the adoption of Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing is an unavoidable necessity for the manufacturing sector. But technology adoption doesnot mean eliminating manpower to make the system cost effective. This event will come both aspects of the Man & Machine partnership where leveraging the Equipment Effectiveness is equally important along with manpower productivity and material cost optimisation Click here to register for the webinar
- [Another feather in the cap!](https://faberinfinite.com/another-feather-in-the-cap/): We are glad to share, Mr. Mandar Tulankar from Faber Infinite Consulting has been awarded and felicitated by Hon. Chief Minister of Maharashtra – Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon. Minister of Road Transport & Highways – Shri Nitin Gadkari, Mayor of Nagpur – Mrs. Nanda Jichkar for his contribution in Nagpur Smart City Idea Challenge. Congratulations to @Mandar Tulankar, we are glad to see one more star of recognition being attached to your story of success. We, from Faber Infinite, wish you and team joins hands in crafting growth opportunities!
- [4 Steps Management practices to improve employee productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/management-practices-to-improve-employee-productivity/): Companies today want to improve their employee’s productivity but, how often do they examine their own practices to attain the same? Research has shown that many non-management employees are disengaged and not working at their full productive capacity. People also think that improving productivity is only possible with incurring additional cost.  But that is not true. Below mentioned are the steps which will help you Improve employee productivity without incurring any additional cost. Design an economic incentive: A general economic incentive for the entire organization can help the employees of all the levels take the benefit. If you want your employee to be vigorously committed to your organization than you would not wish to neglect the incentives for the bottom level. Obviously, this will lead to incur to your costs, but the structure has to be carefully drawn so that the additional pay-outs reflect clearly defined revenue & earnings targets. Provide meaningful feedback: It is necessary to provide meaning full and constructive feedback on a regular basis. Feedback is a foundational skill of management. The ability to provide helpful feedback which could be positive or negative in such a way that it encourages and not discourages the employee. It could be simply an encouragement for the job like well done, or the correction if needed. Don’t be anti-emotional: Management won’t get anything by withholding praise and recognition when it is needed. A recent study showed that recognition is more powerful than monetary incentives. Well, this may not make much of sense at senior level as financial rewards escalate but, the focus should be on Improve employee productivity at an organizational level to make the broadest gains. Ensure senior leadership model: Employees of all levels should be treated with respect. Employees get highly demoralized by seeing their senior leaders when they act in a way that they do not respect their team members. Leaders are always being watched and judged continuously. The employees have keen eyes and are keen data sharers! When leadership is “walking the talk,” it will be quickly noted – but so will “talking the walk” without walking it. Employee engagement is a vital factor to boost organizational productivity. Most of the times, employees would admire being part of a team where they are respected and empowered and are not just a member of an organization. Developing and maintaining a consistent management approach is a key towards improving productivity. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 6](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-6/): On the last day of National Productivity Week – 2019, team Faber Infinite is glad to share benefits delivered via productivity improvement at one of the leading cryogenic tanks manufacturers of India, where we delivered 40% improvement in manpower productivity & 30% improvement in production throughput time.  
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 5](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-5/): Team Faber Infinite is glad to share benefits delivered via productivity improvement, during this National Productivity Week – 2019, at one of the leading alternator products designers & manufacturers of India, where we delivered 20% -25% improvement in manpower productivity!
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 4](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-4/): This National Productivity Week – 2019, we are glad to share benefits delivered via productivity improvement, at one of the leading agricultural machine manufacturers of India, where team Faber Infinite has delivered 15% – 20% improvement in manpower productivity!
- [Performance Management for Engaging & Motivational culture](https://faberinfinite.com/performance-management-for-engaging-motivational-culture/): Did you know, one of the leading US food pro­duc­ers and dis­trib­u­tors – a Fortune 500 company, was struggling to engage and motivate its 155,000 employees worldwide? In this article, we will walk through Performance Management for Engaging & Motivational Culture. The company start­ed to trans­form its tra­di­tion­al per­for­mance man­age­ment system back in 2012. The senior HR’s and the management team wanted to improve the performance management system as a part of the work on its corporate initiatives. Research conducted revealed a major imbalance between what the performance management system measured & the way it was used, and how employees accomplished their day-to-day work. Through this research only, the company got to know that all its 1,55,000 employees were facing issues regarding engagement and motivation. This is when the company decided in 2012, that it needs to change its performance management system. At the same time, the seniors also got to know that managers were unwilling to give candid feedback to employees, and viewed performance management as little more than an administrative drill. They also recognized that it would take several performance management cycles and a major focus on continuous improvement to see the effect on individuals as well as organizational performance. After implementing the Everyday Work Management – Daily Work Management System, the company saw improvements like: 69% of employees reported that they were receiving useful development feedback, and 70% of employees indicated feeling valued due to ongoing performance discussions with their manager. Hence, as you can see that the performance management system is bringing a high percent of engagement and motivation within the organizational culture. Faber has devised and administered an extremely powerful performance management system as well as a daily work management system which is delivering exponential results and helping organizations transform. Have you taken the initiative?  Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal
- [National Productivity Week -2019, Day 3](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-3/): On the 3rd day of National Productivity Week – 2019, we are glad to share benefits delivered at one of the largest thermal power producers in India, where team Faber Infinite helped in sustainable manpower productivity improvement by 12%.
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day 2](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019-day-2/): As we are celebrating the Foundation week of National Productivity Council in the name of National Productivity Week -2019 we would like to share a few glimpses from the leading industrial biotechnology organization where team Faber Infinite helped them in their productivity and sustainability through improving their throughput time by 20%.  
- [National Productivity Week - 2019, Day - 1](https://faberinfinite.com/national-productivity-week-2019/): At the outset, on behalf of the entire Faber Infinite team, we take this opportunity to congratulate the National Productivity Council of India for remarkable efforts towards growth and productivity of India in the National Productivity Week – 2019. Faber Infinite Consulting team has been working in the domains of productivity and efficiency improvement in different geographies with clients across industries. We have been delivering phenomenal results to uplift the client’s competitiveness. As a part of the National Productivity Week – 2019, we celebrate this initiative and take this opportunity of sharing a few glimpses from the industry.
- [Change is a new normal, know how to handle it!](https://faberinfinite.com/change-is-a-new-normal-know-how-to-handle-it/): Change is a continuous and never-ending process. But in a world, where your organization needs a constant revamp, do you think your employees are easily going to adapt the change? Change is VUCA (Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous). Now consider that your employee requires to learn new skills, find new ways to communicate and alter their perspective towards their work & remain calm and focused. Change is new normal, but do you think you can handle it? Earlier leaders use to predict the threats and risks for the company and used to prepare themselves and the team. But today, the risk itself has become unpredictable. In such an era, the companies have started to cope with the environment of VUCA rather than anticipating known risk. Organizational transformation model helps the employee move quickly in a dynamic environment, but also it needs the employee to re-imagine how they work. In such an era, non-adaptive behavior is a big issue. Hence, below is the process which will help you build adaptive behavior progressively in the time of change implementation. Create Individual resilience: We have usually thought of resilience as an inherent personality trait. But it can be learned over time. It can help an individual to enable self-awareness, self-management, realistic optimism, empathy and reaching out to connect with others. With the help of training for resilience, the employee can move from a pessimistic perspective towards change to an optimistic perspective. Build a network to fully empower teams: The team of employees acquires the strength to adapt quickly as they learn resilience. A resilient team is skilled to manage change. Hence, it is necessary for the team to have the clarity of managing change, including changes in its membership, makeup and authority. Also, the leaders need to act as coaches and mentors and not as micromanagers. Implant resilience in your culture: Every new normal test the organization’s culture. Like teams, culture is also stressed by changing circumstances. No individual “owns” the culture, but as a leader, you embody and exhibit the values that underlie the culture. Will they change in times of disruption? The answer to this question by the leaders has a major impact on the resilience of the workplace itself. At research, it was discovered that organizational resilience requires putting stated values into action—in other words, integrity. Individual resilience training, agility in teams and leadership integrity are the three pillars of organizational resilience. Bring it into the culture of your organization and they will see you through the next “new normal,” and the one after that. Writtern & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri. 
- [Friday Fact - Standing Tall Since 1192](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-excellence-since-1192/): Did you know an iron pillar is standing tall, without getting rusted since 1192? An Iron Pillar in Delhi – India standing nearly 24 feet tall, located in the Quwwat-ul Mosque – weighing more than 6 tons; looks nothing of its age on the first glance. You might be assuming why it hasn’t rusted yet. The reason is not only the quality of the materials used but the skillful men who made the pillar and fortuitous processes & conditions, that caused a protective layer to appear on the pillar. But if we keep today’s climatic condition under consideration, no type of iron can stay without getting rust because we have 3 different weather that goes beyond the average temperature the city had back in the year 1192. The exact material used for making this pillar is still a mystery. But, through some research, this has come to notice that – it is made of 98% wrought iron and a layer of the pillar consists of a compound of iron, oxygen & hydrogen and it is 1/20 of a millimeter thick. Hence, as you can see that driving excellence and quality are not recent practices but are being practiced for centuries! Are you driving quality and excellence in your organization yet? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [4 Ways to Embrace change with the help of Emotional Intelligence](https://faberinfinite.com/embrace-change-with-the-help-of-emotional-intelligence/): Changes related to organizational transformation can be difficult to accept and embrace. Because, it can be emotionally intense, sparking confusion, fear, anxiety, frustration, and helplessness. Research says that the experience of going through change at work can be as similar as that of people who are suffering from the grief of the loss of loved ones. The reason behind it is that change highly affects emotionally as well as physically, which mostly puts a person into an insidious cycle that leads to even greater resistance to change. In this article, we will walk through 4 ways to Embrace Change with the help of Emotional Intelligence. Ideally, no one wants to be an obstacle to any new initiatives taken or any effort to be made towards any new initiative. But people do this because they are tired and frustrated with the change that is coming on their way, every time they are trying to settle with their past changes. People are tired of feeling frustrated and angry thinking about changes at work, and they want to be seen as adaptable rather than resistant. Hence, next time when your organization introduces the change for organizational transformation, try considering the below-given steps: Search for the source of resistance: Try searching and understanding your resistance towards change. Many a time a person resist because they are worried that the change might make them look incompetent or the change will interfere in your autonomy. For this, a plan can be created to learn the skills one might need in order to be successful or one can even take the guidance from who are leading the change efforts. Question emotional response towards change: Ask why one is resisting the change & which emotions are leading to that? Is­­ it fear, anger, frustration or something else? Once you identify which emotion is leading towards resistance, ask what is it about? This kind of questioning helps to illuminate the reasons driving emotions and influencing perceptions. Own one’s part in the situation: It’s not easy to fess up to the part one plays in creating a negative situation. A self-aware person reflects on how one’s attitude and behaviour contribute to the experience of change. Any kind of negativity is going to impact any individuals’ behaviour, performance, and well-being which won’t be in a good way. Hence, by knowing about how one initially reacts to any change related event, it’ll be easier to adjust the attitude – to be more open to considering new perspectives, which changes the way one reacts to change. Have a positive approach over negative: Research shows that having a positive outlook can open us up to new possibilities and be more receptive to change. Ask questions which can help one think more optimistically. For example: what are the opportunities with this change? How will these opportunities help me and others? The ability to quickly and easily adapt to change is many a time a competitive advantage for a leader. Next time when you feel yourself resisting towards change, use the approaches mentioned above to build momentum and psychological energy for you and others. Hence, make the intentional choice to positively propel it forward along with embracing the change. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Aakash
- [Friday Fact - Don't Stick to Old, Build New](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-dont-stick-to-old-build-new/): Did you know, the first ever the Digital camera was invented 44 years ago? A 24 year old engineer, invented the process that allows us to take pictures from our phones, share those images around the world in seconds. The young engineer was hired 2 years before the invention of the digital camera. He was assigned a seemingly unimportant task — to see whether there was any practical use for a charged coupled device (C.C.D.), which was invented a few years earlier. He quickly ordered a couple of C.C.D. and set out to evaluate the device, which consisted of a sensor that took an incoming two dimensional light pattern and converted it into an electrical signal. He wanted to capture an image with it, but the C.C.D. couldn’t hold it. Hence to store the images, he used the process of digitalization. Turning the electronic pulses into numbers. But that too created a problem of storing it into RAM and then getting it onto digital magnetic tape. The camera itself was a historic accomplishment but he needed to invent a system for playback that would take information from the cassette tape and turn it into the digital image which can be seen on your television. It was not a regular camera of that era. It was a digital revolution in the era of photography. The camera and the playback system both were the beginning of the digital photography era. But at Kodak, the digital revolution did not come easily. After inventing this, he called out for a conference involving executives from the marketing, technical and business departments and then to their heads and to their bosses. He demonstrated the process. It took 50 milliseconds to capture the image but 23 seconds to record it to the tape. After 30 seconds the image would be on the screen in black & white format. Although the quality was not that good but the camera was able to compete the consumer market against 110 film and 135 film cameras. But the answer from the team was that no one would wish to see a digital image on the television set because they had been using print copies since 100 years and no one ever complained about it. Print copies were very inexpensive, so why would anyone want to look at their picture on a television set? Kodak had a virtual monopoly on the United States photography market and made money on every step of the photographic process this was the main reason they were resistant to accept the invention. If it was a kids birthday party it would always be Kodak Instamatic, Kodak film and Kodak flash cubes. People would even get them processed either at the corner drugstore or mail the film to Kodak and get back prints made with Kodak chemistry on Kodak paper. When the engineer was asked that when digital photography could compete, he used Moore’s Law, which is used to predict how fast digital technology advances. And he said that he would need two million pixels to compete against 110 negative color film. Hence, he estimated 15 to 20 years. Kodak offered its first consumer camera 18 years later. The first digital camera of the era was patented in 1978 with the name the electronic still camera. But he was not allowed to publicly talk about it or show his prototype to anyone outside Kodak. In 1989, he and his colleague created the first modern digital single-lens reflex (S.L.R.) camera. But the marketing department did not show enough interest thinking it would steal the company’s film sales. Finally, in 2007 the Kodak began promoting and selling the Digital camera as well the film. And the more digital camera they were selling, the more they were losing on the films. Even then they were not ready to accept the change and embrace it with the change of generation. Even then they wanted to have their films to work more than the digital camera. At the end today we all know the scenario in the world of photography. It is transformed to digital. Hence, it is necessary to adapt and embrace change as per the need of the time. You cannot stick to the old. If you do, you lose the race. Team Faber infinite has been helping all its client with Organisational Transformation where we help them accept and embrace the change as per the need of the market. Organizations around you have started evolving, have you? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Celebrating Milestones!](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-milestones/): As the year 2018 passed by, team Faber Infinite came together to celebrate the milestones during the Annual Meet in January 2019! We always believe that the team and its efforts bring success to the organization. So, we cannot miss the opportunity to appreciate the efforts by the team. What better time than the foundation week. Team Faber Infinite felicitated the team with rewards and recognitions for their exemplary performance in the year 2018. Some of the award categories were Star Faber of the Year, Emerging Faber of the year, Exclusive Faber Club and many more! Team Faber Infinite has always believed in the philosophy of growing together by giving back to the society. On the Faber Foundation day, the entire team visited an orphanage home – Sarvesham Sevasangh at Pune on January 7th, 2019. We have always believed that sharing happiness is the best thing one can do for others. Like every year, we celebrated our foundation day with the kids and had some amazing moments together. Even at such young age, every kid was highly pumped up and was filled with strength and motivation to achieve their ambitions and become the best version of themselves. The team celebrated the foundation day with them, distributed gifts and was surprised by the great performances by the kids. We think that to grow in a true sense, it is important to give back to the society we take so much from. We hope to continue growing and continue bringing joy to more faces with more such activities in the future. On Faber annual awards night with great joy, team Faber Infinite launched the second volume of: The Faber Book – For the Faber in You! Every year we release a power packed book for industry leaders called as The Faber Book (which does not talk about Faber Infinite). Since past 4 years, every Tuesday we have been releasing management dossier called as Transformation Tuesday series for 20,000+ leaders across 8 countries – which was compiled as a book last year. Response was phenomenal and hence we rolled out another edition of the same on 6th January 2019. We are thankful to Mr. Vikesh Wallia (Director General – Institute of Directors) for writing foreword for the book. The objective of the book is to help the leader in you. As we always believe in crafting transformations to make a better tomorrow, this book is for the craftsman in you. Life is full of changes. The Faber book will help in the transformation of the leader, of the team as well as of the people around you. The book is a series of transformations that will help the leader in you to cherish and grow. The idea is to create a fabulous tomorrow. Happy Reading! PS: To avail your exclusive copy (limited edition), please get in touch with us at publishing@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Growing Leaps and Bounds](https://faberinfinite.com/growing-leaps-and-bounds/): Water pump manufacturing industry is one of the most difficult industries to be a part of in the present times. However, there is one company that has made its mark in the industry and has set standards for other companies – Waterman Industries Pvt. Ltd. In this edition of iFaber, we have brought you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which also happens to be India’s first ‘ZED Certified’ pump industry. We had a chat with Mr. Bharat Patel – Managing Director, Waterman Industries Pvt. Ltd and immediate past President of IPMA (Indian Pump Manufacturers Association). Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 15,000+ readers across India, Africa and Middle East and our readers would want to know more about Waterman Industries Private Limited? Mr. Bharat Patel (BP) – Waterman Industries was started in 1973 in Mumbai. Till 2000, we grew at a considerable rate but later, we found that Mumbai was not very viable and thus we decided to shift our base to Ahmedabad in 2002 since at that time, it was the hub for pump industry. After shifting the base, we witnessed a drastic change in productivity and profitability for Waterman because of the easily availability of raw materials and manpower. Apart from these factors, even the land and space availability and cost also differ highly in Ahmedabad and Mumbai which helped in witnessing such change in the numbers. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? BP – We manufacture 15 types of pumps with more than 1800 models consisting of more than 15000 components. The biggest challenge we face is manufacturing pumps as per the needs of the customer from different geographies since the power and water availability varies drastically as we move across the statesin India. Moreover, pump is a seasonal product. Hence, it becomes highly difficult to anticipate which pump will be ordered more in what quantity at what time. This makes it very difficult for us to deliver pumps at deadlines which are very important since pump industry is already very time constrained. Another challenge is the approval process from government organizations like ISI. These processes are often long, expensive and cumbersome especially for MSME. FI – Progressive teams of Waterman Industries are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? BP – At Waterman, we work on people welfare instead of the product. We have developed an extremely open environment at our organization where we promote transparency and we provide equal and potential opportunities to every employee to learn, develop and make himself / herself more skilful and efficient. FI – We would love to understand more about the transformation journey at Waterman Industries Pvt. Ltd. What are the phases of this journey and how has it helped your team? BP – From starting, we have been implementing various tools like Kaizen, Five S, Integrated Management System (IMS) and others and we are religiously following it. This has helped us a lot in making our processes more effective and efficient. We have also been implementing Green Manufacturing and are extensively using lean practices in our organization. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers? BP – In 2017, we received ‘ZED certificate’ with silver ratings. We didn’t stop our journey then. We then associated ourselves with Team Faber Infinite and they provided us with some valuable inputs. We even implemented Performance Management System with Faber Infinite at Waterman Industries. As a result, the employees now have become more active and are now participating in all activities of the organization. Team Faber has even helped us in increasing our production by 20%, space saving by more than 50%, reworking has been reduced by 23% and in improving many other aspects of manufacturing. We have been able to get the work done right first time. Our inventory management has also improved subsequently after our association with Faber Infinite. The inventory has come down from 2 months to ~20 days. They have been great consulting partners and have delivered phenomenal results. We thank Mr. Bharat Patel and Mr. Akash Patel for sharing their views and support. Our sincere wishes to them for future successes and growth!
- [Get FAST to achieve your goals!](https://faberinfinite.com/get-fast-to-achieve-your-goals/): Commanding successful organizational transformation journey is a goal for every organization in the 21st century. The need has been exemplified because of the increasing competition and advancements in technology that have subsequently impacted the market. However, as many as 70 percent of all the change initiatives started by organizations fail to provide the desired results. Team Faber Infinite has been leading several change initiatives and has always motivated and helped our clients in achieving excellence. Considering the need, we have recently rolled out Faber Annual Services for Transformation (FAST) program to support for all such organizations looking to achieve excellent results and successful transformation/ operational excellence journey, along with internal team. It is an extremely path breaking engagement model where the state of the art consulting solutions and services are offered on annual subcription basis. About FAST program Faber Infinite Consulting strongly believes that there is always room for improvement, and with this belief, we have rolled out an annual subscription-based consulting service to support organizational transformation journey. Faber Infinite is glad to introduce to you the finest service to implement operational transformation practices “Right First Time, Every-time” at your organization! What will you achieve with FAST program? Accelerate your transformation journey with world-class consulting support – on annual subscription Make the right moves in transformation journey every time Expert consulting support throughout the journey at fractional investment Build high-performance teams What will you get with FAST program? 4 in-person consultation per annum with senior consulting partners for reviewing and improvising current operational excellence practices 12 video conference opportunities with dedicated client resource expert Free access to the vast knowledge bank and repository of case studies from Faber Infinite Consulting Subscription to 52 powerful transformation nuggets for all your transformation leaders Free access to ~24 exclusive webinars on transformation & change management practices by Faber Infinite Consulting for one year Free access to two of your members to any of our open training program conducted in India throughout the year We have always supported our clients in achieving continual and sustainable development and believe in excellence. We believe FAST program will help every participating organization in achieving their desired goals and ultimately become the leader of their sectors. For more information about FAST program and Faber Infinite Consulting, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Explore the future of manufacturing with FabEx 2019!](https://faberinfinite.com/explore-the-future-of-manufacturing-with-fabex-2019/): We live in a time that is constantly evolving, developing and growing in terms of technology, techniques, economics, trade, infrastructure and various other facets of the modern world. The future has immense potential and opportunities for us to explore and benefit from it. Understanding this, Team Faber Infinite Consulting is organizing an event FabEx 2019, on March 8 2019 in Ahmedabad, India. This edition of FabEx is focused to delve further into theme of “Strengthening Man and Machine Partnership”. About FabEx 2019 Today when we are at a juncture where technology is changing at ultra rapid pace, it is imperative and unavoidable for industry to be prepared for the next industrial revolution. FabEx is a flagship event by Faber Infinite Consulting – to prepare industry leaders for the next leap in the domain of Manufacturing. It is a symposium of industry stalwarts to build and share best practices on the future of man and machine partnership. FabEx will engage over 100+ elite attendees across various manufacturing sectors with the objective to discuss the endless possibilities which the future of manufacturing holds in the domain of being Effective & Smart! Let us explore what the future holds for us and how the progressive organizations are working on winning the partnership between man and machine. It shall be a perfect setting to share and evolve together towards exponential growth! Why You Should Attend the Event? It will help you to accelerate on the fast lane of industrial revolution. We believe that we can only make the most of the opportunities we get in the future if we are prepared for it. FabEx and panel discussion will help us in making ourselves aware with the different scenarios in manufacturing and understanding means of being effective and smart!  It will cover both aspects of the Man Machine partnership where leveraging the Equipment Effectiveness is also equally important perspective along with manpower productivity and material cost optimization as well. So come Engage, Empower and Excel on the journey towards exponential growth. To be a part of the event or for more information about the event contact  priyals@faberinfinite.com / +91 94294 05666 Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Crafting Growth Opportunities](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-growth-opportunities/): For any organization, developing their business is one of the key targets and it can only be achieved with an exceptional and passionate business creation leader. Team Faber Infinite is glad to have one such leader who perfectly fits this role. We are glad to showcase – Mandar Tulankar in iFaber for the month of January 19. We had a brief interaction with him about his journey with Faber Infinite, the challenges he faced and about his experiences. The excerpts of the journey are mentioned below. Faber Infinite (FI) – What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting (FICS)? What three words would you use to describe your role? Mr. Mandar Tulankar (MT) – I work as a Business Development Manager at Faber Infinite Consulting. I am the first point of contact for the clients. I convey to the external world the services that Faber Infinite has to offer and give right solutions to the problems and concerns that the client has. If I were to describe my role in three words, I would use Innovative, Goal-Oriented and Self-motivated. Innovative because earlier I was part of young ventures and in such organizations, you must be innovative and go out of the way to get the results. Goal-oriented because I work to achieve a clearly defined goal because until you have a fixed and clear target, you won’t know in which direction to go or to even start. And, Self-motivated because I don’t need someone to acknowledge my work to make me feel good. For me, the inner feeling of satisfaction after doing something good is the biggest motivation and recognition. FI – What does a typical day look like for you at FICS? MT – It ideally starts with a checking our CRM activity which typically denotes the upcoming activities followed by attending aligned meetings. Further, I co-ordinate the earlier days tasks that were to be completed. Towards the end, I spend 15-20 minutes planning my next day. So, that is how my day proceeds. FI – What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? MT – For me, meeting the decision makers of the organization is the most rewarding part of my job. Discussions with such leaders is something which is priceless, and you can gain a lot of insights. I feel working on the field and meeting people across sectors and boundaries for business creation is the best part of my job. It helps me learn a lot of different things which I cannot learn in a class, workshop or sitting in the office. FI – What is your motto or personal mantra? MT – It is “Kingship knows no kinship”. It has got a lot of meanings but what I follow is that everyone is equal in front of the law and no one is bigger than the rules itself, not even the king. FI – What are your biggest professional challenges? MT – The biggest challenge for me is that I take failures very personally even though I am not involved in the task. It takes me some time to get over it. Also, I’m still trying to get a better work-life balance in my life. FI – If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? MT – Well, the system is too good to be changed. Everything is very precisely defined and if you understand the system, it will make a well-organized person, not just professionally, but also in your personal life. Frankly, I couldn’t have asked for a better work culture and organizational system. FI – How has FICS helped you in your career development? MT – It has helped me a lot in honing my skills. As I said earlier, meeting the top management of the companies is a learning opportunity for me. With the organization having expertise in various industries across various locations, I believe it has added to my skill set and has made me more prominent and effective in offering the best to our clients and prospects. Moreover, I am equipped to understand business challenges (said and unsaid both) for my prospects and helping them achieve the unexpected. FI – What do you like most about FICS? MT – The best thing about Faber Infinite is the flat hierarchy system which is result driven. The management is highly supportive, and you are free to ask your queries no matter how small it is, irrespective of their busy schedule so that the client can get the right perspective and solutions. FI – Tell us something which we do not know about you MT – I prefer being in solitude. I am a complete introvert. I would prefer being surrounded by birds. I even have a collection of 12 wild birds that were rescued, and they now have their own space in my house and they can fly around wherever they want. Thank you, Faber Mandar, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments.
- [3 Strategies to Increase Power of Empathy in Organizational Change](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-to-increase-power-of-empathy-in-organizational-change/): There are times in an organization when the way information is communicated to the employee’s matters more than what is being communicated. Hence, when we speak about the change initiative, lack of empathy while conveying the news about an Organizational Change can lead to failure. Research shows that most of the leaders agree to the point of communicating the information empathetically if you want a successful organizational transformation. But most of the leaders don’t know how to communicate empathetically. On the basis of a survey of over 200 leading company executives, almost 69% of respondents said that they were planning to conduct or are currently conducting a change effort. But unfortunately, 50% of them said that they hadn’t fully considered the sentiment of their team about the change. And worse that, about half of them said that they were just approaching the change by “going on gut” feeling. Being a leader if you want your change initiatives to succeed, you should assure that your entire team is on board with you. The following strategies can you help you better understand your employees’ perspectives. Profile Your Audience at Every Stage. It’s better to create personas for a various employee before you begin change initiative. But consider evolving wants and needs of the employees throughout the process. To create a particular persona, you can also interview employees from each segment to get a sample perspective on typical mindsets. While interviewing, you can also ask them questions designed in a way to uncover their beliefs, feelings, questions, and concerns about the company’s current strategy. You can ask them if there were any specific changes they hoped management would (or would not) make. Tell them what to expect. You may need to keep a few facts private during a transition, but the general rule is that the more informed your team is, the more they’ll be able to deal with discomfort. Hence, learn about their specific fears, and then acknowledge them openly. Involve all the members on each level. A transformation would not be successful without the involvement of the entire team. Ask your team to share their opinions on change. This will help everyone in the team feel like active participants with something valueable to be add. Share with them the complaints/expectations of customers the company receives and ask them how as a team they can solve it. Surely there will be people who won’t give their opinions feeling the conversation to be irrelevant. But ask them to share their views. Encourage them saying that their views and opinions matter. This will make them feel valued and they will surely be back with an answer. Business practices evolve rapidly, but there’s one thing on which business leaders should always rely – empathetic communication. Develop and show empathy for every individual who is involved in your corporate transition. And you’ll surely lead a team that feels valued, included, and driven to help your initiative succeed. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - From Telecommunication to Defence](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-from-telecommunication-to-defence/): Did you know the renowned Telecommunication company is also into manufacturing products for the Defence sector Samsung is mostly known across the globe for its Mobile phones. But this Korean megacorporation owns a company Samsung Techwin, which is barely even known! This company is into making surveillance, aeronautics, optoelectronics, automation and weapons technology. Samsung first stepped into the electronics industry in the year 1969 with various electronics-focused divisions—they first manufactured black-and-white televisions. In the year 1979, the Techwin started producing cameras. But by 1987, they were also making helicopters, jet engines, and mobile artillery for the Korean army. In the year 1997, the company made Korea’s first fighter jet, the KF-16. In the same year, it introduced the Samsung Kenox digital cameras in the Korean market. The aircraft was then handed over to the state-owned Korea Aerospace Industries. The company kept on manufacturing the camera and on the other hand, it was also manufacturing a K9 thunder which is a military Tank. Which had the capability to fire 155mm high-explosive, nuclear, anti-infantry projectiles at up to 25 miles (40km) away. The K9 travelled the field in tandem with the K10 Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (ARV), which was built on the same platform, carried up to 104 shells, and had a maximum transfer rate of 12 rounds per minute and so on. In the year 2014, Samsung sold its holding stake in Techwin to Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group. In the 38 years of existence, it made innumerable defence weapons. Hence, it’s good to have a well-charted vision and values as guidelines. Have we charted and communicated our vision and values to the team well? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Role of culture in transformation journey](https://faberinfinite.com/role-of-culture-in-transformation-journey/): Culture is one of the key elements responsible for the success of the organization. It defines the way an organization approaches its objective, employees, stakeholders and their customers. Organizations need to build and develop a good culture to grow. Culture plays a crucial and pivotal role in creating an efficient environment for change initiative and the transformation of corporates. Below is a list that defines the role of the good culture of an organization in corporate transformation. Values are implemented Good culture of an organization helps the leadership in implementing the values of the organization and drives objectivity in the entire work process. It also helps in creating an environment which is comfortable and encourages innovation among the employees which ultimately helps the organization in becoming more productive and profitable. Communication drives engagement Communication is an integral part of the culture responsible for an efficient workflow and subsequent clarity among the employees about their tasks, roles and responsibilities. Good culture of an organization always encourages better and efficient communication in the entire organization. Having a clear idea of what one is supposed to do; the engagement of the employees will align with the goals and objectives of the organization and will ultimately yield productive results. Instead of the top-down approach, move to bottom-top An efficient culture modifies the problem solving and eliminates bureaucratic culture from the organization. In an open and supporting culture, employees will approach the issues and subjects from the bottom to have a better understanding instead of going right through the surface. It helps the employees in dividing the entire battle into pieces and then achieving their targets in pieces. This increases legitimacy and boosts the energy and morale of the organization because of the wins in the micro battles which ultimately plays a crucial role in keeping any corporate transformation stable and productive. Culture can easily help the organization in getting more optimized results in the transformation journey. A good culture promotes innovation and so does change initiatives and thus, both the factors support each other and the organization. With an effective and open culture, the leadership will soon start witnessing exceptional results and optimum outcomes. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - Focus on competition beyond the sector](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-focus-on-competition-beyond-the-sector/): Did you know Netflix is competing not with HBO or Disney but with newer forms of entertainment like Fortnite or Google YouTube? We all have known Netflix for a long time. It is a streaming service provider who lets you watch the award-winning series, movies, shows and much more. Netflix has ~139 million paying members whereas Fortnite has ~200 million registered users. Today both HBO & Netflix are vying for TV subscribers, and they’re frequently seen as rivals in award competitions, including the Emmys. The company in an interview openly gave the statement that it competes and loses to Fortinite. It fears more from the video game than from one of the companies of its own sector. Netflix is fighting with competition from the same sector to get the highest TV time. But because of the video game – Fortnite, they are not being to achieve their targeted TV time. Right now, Netflix earns ~10% of TV screen time in the US.  And when it comes to mobile devices, it gets even lesser time than that. The percentages are lower even outside the US, where it doesn’t enjoy such high market penetration. Now the game has changed for Netflix. Their focus is not on their competitors, be it Google YouTube, Disney + or Fortnite. Their focus is on how to improve the experience for their members so that they get the maximum screen time. Hence, as we can see here one needs to look at the right parameters and take into consideration competition across sectors. Hence it is necessary to conduct research and analyze who is actual competition. This is very important because there is a chance you might lose your market to someone whom you never considered.  So, are you analyzing your competitors well? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Build your organization with Performance Management System (PMS)](https://faberinfinite.com/build-your-organization-with-performance-management-system-pms/): Employees form the backbone of any organization and their performance and work is what cumulatively defines the organization’s future and maps their success in the market. Hence, it becomes very important for any organization to integrate a system in the organization’s work culture. Quantify the performance of the team to efficiently plan and strategize tasks in the future. Performance Management System (PMS) Performance Management System is one such tool that can benefit the organizations immensely. It is an ongoing process by which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work objectives and overall contribution to the organization. More than just an annual performance review, PMS should be a continuous process of setting objectives, assessing progress and providing on-going coaching and feedback to ensure that employees are exceeding their objectives and are highly effective. With it’s in-depth understanding and hands-on experience of working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Team Faber Infinite has devised and crafted an extremely powerful Performance Management System which is delivering phenomenal results. 7 reasons why you should integrate this highly effective and powerful Performance Management System by Team Faber Infinite Consulting at your workplace – Unlike traditional management systems, Faber Infinite’s PMS provides total 12 improvement opportunities instead of just 1. Comes with a state of art dashboard feature Provides a holistic approach Results in timely feedback on a monthly basis Implements a transparent objective-based system The focus of PMS devised by Faber Infinite is on “Team Win” to build high-performance teams It is much easier to deploy and manage at the workplace We are glad to share that Faber Infinite’s powerful Performance Management System has helped leading auto dealerships in India to improve profitability by 38% and service revenue increased by 64%. Below is the glimpse of other benefits delivered at one of the leading automobile dealerships as a result of Faber Infinite’s Performance Management System: 43 % increase in vehicle sales target achievement 23 % reduction in discount offerings 18 % reduction in manpower costs 52 % cost increase in H-spirit score Team Faber Infinite has helped hundreds of clients across geographies in achieving continual and sustainable development. We believe in excellence and thrive to achieve it with our every effort. Performance Management System is one of the most effective tools in the 21st century to efficiently track, plan and strategize for companies to achieve their targets and goals. Moreover, PMS will also motivate the employees and team members to perform better because of the unbiased, transparent and highly efficient rewards and recognition system that PMS ingrains in the work culture of any organization. The time is evolving and so should the organizations in their culture and processes to increase their productivity and profitability. Supercharge your organization’s performance with an effective Performance Management System (PMS). Discover the key to unleashing your team’s full potential. Fill out the form below to access expert guidance and build a high-performing organization that drives success! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [3 Tips to Build Enterpreneurs within the Team](https://faberinfinite.com/build-entrepreneurs-within-the-team/): Entrepreneurs are people who believe in innovation and using it as a medium and path to move forward and achieve success.  Their thinking process is highly focused on innovating and crafting new technologies. Also processes that will assist them in achieving their targets and goals. Innovation plays an extremely important role in driving the numbers and helping the organization in improving their profitability. Every organization must encourage such thinking process and making their employees more creatively sound. In this chapter of Transformation Tuesday, we will discuss some of the key practices that can help the leadership of organizations in encouraging as well as implementing. The entrepreneurial thinking process. In this article, we will discuss about 3 Tips to Build Entrepreneurs within the Team. Don’t be intimidated by failures Failures are the building blocks of success and instead of fearing it, one must learn to embrace it and should learn from them. Getting intimidated from failures will only make you less confident and will create an impact on your performance. When you make yourselves ready for failures and don’t fear it, you become more free and independent and start thinking more openly and creatively. This results in better and effective solutions. Believe in your team and its members Don’t impose work on your team and its members. Instead of telling them to do work, trust them and believe in them that the work assigned to them will completed before the deadlines. The reason behind this is that when one is not pressurized, he becomes more open to ideas and consequently brings more creativity to the table. One starts finding innovative ways to get the work done when he feels to have complete ownership over his work and working methodologies. External interests are not something that should be left out of the door In order to help the employees invest their open and entire self in the work, it is highly important for the leadership to let the employees bring their external interests to the workplace. When employees are open and are allowed to talk openly about their extra-curricular activities, it surprisingly helps them in getting the much required satisfaction to excel in their fields of work and expertise. Managers and leadership should refrain themselves from stopping the employees in getting involved in such activities with their colleagues. Although, they must also look after that such activities do not divert the focus of the employees. Entrepreneurial thinking is all about innovation and exercising creative ideas in the workplace to get better and unexpected results. Organizations should focus on building and developing this strategy and should encourage more and more employees to indulge in such practices to subsequently increase their performance as well as the performance of the organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - From 90% to 0% errors](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-from-90-to-0-errors/): Did you know the U.S. army is doing wonders after adopting this error-free technique? Poka-Yoke, a technique that is helping people and various sectors to produce error-free products and services. Term Poka Yoke (poh-kah yoh-keh) was invented in Japan in the year 1960 by Shigeo Shingo. He was an industrial engineer at Toyota. Initially, the original name of Poka-Yoke was, Baka-Yoke which means ‘fool-proofing. It was changed later because it sounded dishonourable and offensive connotation. The reason of using Poka Yokes is that it helps people and processes work right the first time, which makes mistakes next to impossible to happen. Such techniques can improve the quality and reliability of products and processes by eliminating defects. One such technique also helped US Army have Zero batch process failure. Poka-Yoke Has also helped Supply Support Activity (SSA) at Fort Carson, Colorado which is a military retail supply operation of the U.S. Army. For the Poka-Yoke, the US Army adopted the usage of Barcode system. As we all know barcodes are a big saviour when it comes to inventory management. Before the implementation of Poka-Yoke, their location survey accuracy was ~65%. But after applying barcodes, the accuracy increased to 98%. Inventory Adjustment used to cost ~$3000 but after implementing this technique, the costing dropped down to an average of $250/month. They had a higher percentage of mistakes when it came to the receipt closures to the supplier which was ~90% which after implementing this technique dropped down to 0%. Batch processing was also improved significantly. Ideally, the SSA had approximately 15-20 batch processing failures per month which dropped down to 0 failure after the poka-yoke’s implementation. The error rate in the catalogue was ~22% which dropped to 0%. Ideally, the request processing time was 12.5 days, but now the new request processing time is 1.6 days. Actual dollars invested in these activities sums up to less than $1000. As you can see, not just any corporate sector only, but also the Army of US has begun using Poka-Yoke to improve their productivity and reduce the errors to 0%. Poka-Yoke is around since more than 55 years now. Are you deploying it?  Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.
- [Enjoy The Journey By Giving Back!](https://faberinfinite.com/enjoy-the-journey-by-giving-back/): Team Faber as it always believes in the philosophy of enjoying the journey and giving back to society. On 7th Jan, Faber Foundation Day, the entire team visited an orphanage home – Sarvesham Sevasangh at Pune. Like every year, the team celebrated the joy of foundation day with the underprivileged kids. We believe it is important to celebrate achievements by giving it back to society, since it gives us immense strength and motivation to achieve bigger milestones. We were overwhelmed by being a reason behind their fabulous smiles. The team celebrated the foundation day with them, distributed gifts and was surprised by the kids with their great performances. Below is a clip of moment, which got featured in the local leading publication of Pune – Pudhari. Faber Infinite Consulting always believes in giving back to society and as always, yet another year we began by spreading joy & happiness!
- [Retain Your Value Adders](https://faberinfinite.com/retain-your-value-adders/): Every manager wishes to acquire and retain skilled employees and losing any one of them is nothing less than a nightmare for them. It is very important for organizations to retain skilled people who are adding value to the processes and culture of the organization. Moreover, once an employee leaves, the organization is then posed with various responsibilities ranging from finding a suitable replacement with the same understanding of the work to training them with the new work culture and environment. This results in loss of time and resources which adds to the burden on the organization. Hence, it is very important for the organizations to retain the employees and make them feel content and secure. Below is a list of strategies one can use to retain the talent and then use it efficiently to thrust productivity and profitability. Onboarding of the new employees        Onboarding of the employees must be included in the orientation program of the employees. It is one of the best methods through which one can make the new recruits familiar to the organization, its work culture and about the way things are usually done in the day to day life at the campus. It also makes them know more about the job and their responsibilities. Pairing them up with a senior as a mentor Pair them up with a senior who can act as the mentor to them. This will not only make them feel secure but will also help you in providing the employees with a better viewpoint on various subjects through their mentors. New recruits can also use this opportunity to feel comfortable and can simultaneously learn from their mentors. Incentives to the employees Incentives are a great way to retain employees. Compensation programs like bonuses, retirement plans etc. can always help the organization in retaining the acquired talent. Efficient reward and recognition systems Everyone loves getting rewarded and getting recognized at the workplace. Hence, placing an effective reward and recognition system into place will only motivate the employees to work better and ultimately will help you in retaining them because of the same factors i.e. rewards and recognition. Training programs Training programs are highly important to make the employees feel confident about their skills and their work. Organizations should invest in training their employees for better outputs as well as helping the employees sharpen their skills thus ultimately increasing the number of opportunities for them to grow and develop. Communication channels for feedback Communications is always essential in any kind of relationship and the same goes in this case as well. Communicating the responsibilities, ideas, improvements and the expectations clearly can help in employees working in more efficient and productive fashion. It also eliminates the chances of conflict due to miscommunication thus providing a better environment for work. Teamwork Teamwork is necessary to achieve the targets and goals set by the team. Collaborating work and moving ahead in a team always imbibes a sense of belongingness in the employee thus improving their bond with the team members while achieving success simultaneously. This is an excellent strategy to retain employees. Do celebrate the events The celebration is the best way to relax and acknowledge success. It also gives the employees some time to relax and get away from the constant stress of deadlines. A culture where celebrations of any event or milestones are an important part will always make the working culture livelier and attract the employees thus help you in retaining them. Employees form the backbone of any organization. Hence it is important to retain the skilled people because they are the one who makes the organization complete and pushes it towards excellence. Employee retention is a growing problem for various organizations. However, if tackled properly with precise and direct measures it can do wonders for the organization, both in terms of talent as well as revenue. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Handmade for You!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-handmade-for-you/): Did you know, Ducati can produce up to 300 ‘handmade’ motorcycles per day? In the year 1994 when Ducati was a new brand in the market, its production capacity was 20 motorcycle a day. But if a customer orders a monster than he had to wait for 9 months for the bike to get delivered, which led to a lot of customer disappointment. But now, with the help of Just In Time (JIT), the production capacity has increased to a maximum of 300 motorcycles per day and the delivery time has reduced to 40-50 working days. Also, they export 90% of the total amount of motorcycles they produce. In the year 2013, they marked their monthly production by 34,000 motorcycles. Because the production of Ducati is done by using the lean production system, or ‘just in time’, they have now been able to reduce over 85% of the defects in the final product. The production of the bike with just in time is made with two operations for the engine. First, they build the main body of the engine. Second, after building, they complete the assembly on the main production line. On an average, production time of one engine is 70 minutes until completion. On an average, production time of one motorcycle is around 90 minutes per motorcycle. The reason behind this is, they have boxes that contain the smallest parts of the motorcycle. The other sized parts such as wheels or the handlebars or the swing arm are located inside the line. Hence, the workers have nothing to do but pick and place all the parts to complete one bike. One of the reasons why Ducati bikes are so expensive because they are fully handmade. Most companies in the motorcycle and car industries use a wide range of technology and automatic assembly lines to manufacture their products. But, this is not the case with Ducati as each of their motorcycles is carefully made by hand using skilled workers. This hasn’t slowed them down though as they are capable of producing one new Monster every 90 minutes. Even after having a complete human intervention for the production of their bikes, they are error-free and they have achieved a world-class quality benchmark by means of quality standards. Are you also working towards being world-class? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Yet Another Successful Transformation Journey!](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-achievements/): We are glad to present yet another successful transformation journey at one of our clients. The client is based in Ndola & Lusaka, Zambia. They are involved in manufacturing and distribution activity, serving the needs of Zambia’s defence, mining, agriculture, transport and many other sectors. With the Organizational Transformation Framework deployed by Faber Infinite, the client has received appreciation from the Government of Zambia and has been awarded a title of the good and clean working environment in its industrial category. It is a matter of pride for the client and team Faber. Team Faber always works towards the prosperity of client teams and the ecosystem. Do you also want to transform this year? Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Your Network is Your Net Worth](https://faberinfinite.com/your-network-is-your-net-worth/): Networking is highly important in any business and having someone in the hierarchy who is highly connected to other people is always an additional advantage for the organization. Creating an optimized and holistic network with connects from all the relevant segments is like laying the foundation for a bright and successful future. Many people today aspire to be highly networked in order to increase their value and simultaneously bring more value on the table. In this edition of Transformation Tuesday, we will discuss the five key features and traits of highly networked people. A positive and honest interest in others You can only build a network on the strong foundations of strong relationships with other people. Networks are all about the kind of the relationship you have with others and for building a strong relationship, you need to have a genuine, positive and honest interest in other people and their professional lives. Pretending to be interested will only make you lose your primary objective and will distract and possibly lead you to nowhere. Allow people to know you and get to know them in order to have a robust relationship and network. Ready to help others Your network can stand strong only if you are willing to be unselfish. An individual highly versed in networking will understand how important it is to be unselfish and help others without any self-motives. Moreover, it will also help you in developing a rapport with the other person and will ultimately help you in connecting with people and thus have a mutually beneficial relationship. Patience A highly networked person is very patient and composed in nature. While connecting with people one should always think about the long-term goals instead of getting overwhelmed with the setbacks in the primitive stages. A highly networked person always tends to keep calm, composed and organized even in adverse situations when he/she doesn’t get a reply from someone in the network. Patience is the key to develop and build a sustainable and solid network. A mind focusing on building a better and optimized future Build and develop a network in accordance with your future goals. Focus on the goals you have set for yourself and analyze if the network you have been building aligns with it or not. Connect with like-minded people with similar goals and targets to have a better, optimized and strong network which can come to the rescue whenever you need some sort of advice or are stuck somewhere. Always puts ‘quality’ over ‘quantity’ ‘Quality’ above ‘quantity’ goes true in every aspect be it business or networking. Any network and its effectiveness can only be evaluated by the quality of the members and the cohesion between them. It is always beneficial to connect with people who are like-minded, understands you and engages in similar activities that can result in a mutually beneficial relationship. Networking is highly important for anyone since it provides you with different perceptiveness and increases your knowledge about various aspects of business and sectors. People with the right mindset and with the above qualities can easily become a highly networked personality and can use it to their profit. With the right contacts and the right approach, you will grow, develop, prosper and flourish. As Porter Gale quotes “ Your Network is your Net worth”, go and build your network to increase your net worth. Written and Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Reasons why change initiatives fail and how to correct them!](https://faberinfinite.com/reasons-why-change-initiatives-fail-and-how-to-correct-them/): The entire world is evolving and change is the only way to cope up with the changing trends and times and use it for one’s own benefit. Change initiatives is one such way with which an organization can make better use of their resources and ultimately make themselves more efficient, productive and profitable. Many organizations are integrating change initiatives in their work cultures. However, 70 percent of all the implemented change initiatives are reported to fail and not produce the desired results. Many might wonder why? Well! This blog post is an answer to why change initiatives fail and how to address the issues that impact any change initiative. Reasons why change initiatives fail? Top management and their commitment towards the initiative The top management drives and leads the initiatives right from the start and the fate of the change management process depends a lot on their commitment and determination. The top management needs to be highly active and involved in the entire change initiative in order for it to work and deliver the desired results. Ignorance by the leadership is usually one of the most common reasons why change initiatives fail. How the middle management responds to the initiative Middle management is the most crucial part of any organization since it does most of the work and acts as the spine of the organization. It is important that the middle management reacts positively to the initiative and adapts to it instead of resisting the change since resistance will create more disturbances in the entire process and will lead the initiative to nothing. Involving everyone in the initiative for its success The change management process must involve everyone who is getting affected by it. It is important to bring everyone under one umbrella and then collectively move forward with the initiative. Ignoring the individuals and their interests will only discourage them and will spoil the spirit of the initiative thus ultimately leading it to failure. Corrective measures Change initiatives are nothing less than a boon to the organization in their journey towards excellence and continual development. Hence, it is very important to get it right and effective to drive the resources and efforts in increasing productivity and generating more revenue. Organizations need to plan the process thoroughly and prepare themselves to successfully execute it as well. An unplanned initiative with flaws is more likely to fail in the execution stage ultimately sending negative signals to the lower levels. Help the middle management to embrace the change instead of resisting it. It is important for them to feel secure about the change and its effects including their jobs, their role in the organization and other aspects of the responsibilities Get everyone involved in the process since it is them who will run the entire process and obviously getting affected from it. Adding value adders into the process and convincing them about the effectiveness and the need of the initiative is of high importance for any change management initiative to succeed. Team Faber has helped multiple clients across geographies in various industries in successfully implementing change initiatives and benefitting from it. We have always believed in excellence and are constantly directing our efforts in helping our clients to achieve it. We believe that change initiatives are the need of the hour for every organization and the success rate of these initiatives must be increased. Change initiatives are a proven way of achieving continual and sustainable development and must be used and implemented successfully for organizations aspiring to lead the market. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Top 3 simulation exercises to implement just in time at your organization](https://faberinfinite.com/top-3-simulation-exercises-to-implement-just-in-time-at-your-organization/): Remember when we were kids and were in school where we used to learn by doing relevant exercises and activities? Have you ever wondered why were we made to do such activities for learning instead of just being taught theoretically which is what happens nowadays? Well! The answer is simple! It is because simulation exercises have proven to have a better and more efficient effect in learning for the kids and the same goes for us as well. Even we can benefit from simulation exercises and learn well and more efficiently with them. Organizations nowadays are looking for improved processes and controls at their workplaces and are constantly looking forward to drive efficiency by using various tools and techniques like Just in Time, Improved Material Velocity etc. However, using simulation exercises during the implementation of these tools and techniques can do wonders for you and can bring highly optimized results. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in learning through simulation exercises and has designed simulation exercises which are highly efficient and can be customized as per your need and industry. Below is a brief description of our simulation exercises. Pipe Factory – This exercise module is designed to drive learning concepts through pipe simulation exercise in engineering & fabrication workshop/domain Simulated plug factory: This module is designed for driving concepts of flow management across departmental line aspects like line managing etc. Simulated Chocolate Factory: This module will be apt for FMCG industry where the variations are high, low batch size & demands are extremely fluid. Learning through practical activities is always the best thing to do and Team Faber Infinite has always believed in innovating new and creative ways to learn, implement and excel. We have always tried to help and curate better and efficient ways to help our clients achieve their desired results and goals and we are highly confident that our new simulation exercise module for learning will do wonders for our clients and at their facilities. It has been proven to be highly effective. Moreover, its versatility according to the industry and company profile makes it an even more and better solution for the obstacles that stand between you and excellence. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - New Year Resolution](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-new-year-resolution/): Did you know the New Year Resolution has been around since 4000 years now? Decades ago, the Babylonians (an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in central-southern Mesopotamia. presently in Iraq) used to promise their Gods at the beginning of every year that they will return all the borrowed objects and repay all their debts. Seeing this, Romans also started to promise their God Janus – from whom the month – January has got its name. Every year we see & hear everyone around us going gaga about their New Years Resolution. But a research result shows that only 8% out of the total population actually achieve their resolution. Also, as per the research, around 30% of the total population doesn’t make such New Years Resolutions because they know that it won’t sustain and neither will that be achieved. But rest 70% of the population which makes the resolution are 10x more likely to achieve their goals. This New Year be the one of those 70% who make New Year Resolutions and be one of those 8% who achieve the same. Let’s make a resolution of accepting and adapting the change for good. Because as per a Chinese proverb – The best time to plant a tree of change was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW. Wishing you all a fabulous and prosperous New Year, from everyone at Faber Infinite Consulting. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [A leader’s biggest enemy is his ego!](https://faberinfinite.com/a-leaders-biggest-enemy-is-his-ego-2/): Good leadership is needed by every organization in order to lead them into the market and be able to provide them the platform and market share they need along with the opportunities to grow and strengthen their hold on the market and consumers. There are various qualities a good leader must possess of which the most important is being a grounded with no ego. It is highly important for the leaders of the modern era to be grounded with an approach to mingle with the employees of the company irrespective of the difference in position. With time, as the position of an individual gets higher in the hierarchy of an organization, it is likely that he/she starts getting distanced from colleagues and co-workers. This happens most of the times because of ego. Ego is the biggest enemy of good leadership in every organization and can be highly destructive if left unchecked or otherwise supported. The leaders of the organizations need to be in touch with the employees of lower levels. They must also know about the views and opinions of the employees about the company policies and strategies. It is important since this will allow the leader to know the people and the organization’s image in a better manner and will also help the leader in understanding the nerves of the organization better. High levels of ego in the leader of an organization will insulate him from the basic levels of the organization and thus will loosen his grip and touch over the culture, people and clients of the organization. People tend to be attracted to the power they receive when they are promoted. With the increase in power, the number of people who wish to please us also subsequently increases which consequently thrusts our ego to new levels. With the unchecked levels of ego in the leader, the perspective and values associated with him/her slowly starts getting diminished and blurred and makes him more vulnerable in front of the employees and the clients as well. It ultimately narrows the vision of the leader and corrupts his behavior. Getting rid of these high levels of ego is the key in breaking the chains and letting oneself free. One can do this by indulging in more conversations with the employees and helping and supporting them at every corner of their journey in the organization. Developing a relationship is highly important and giving up some of the privileges and perks of the position that insulates you from achieving it can be extremely helpful. One must understand that leadership is all about giving and taking care of the organization and the employees involved and working for it. It is always about the people and can never be restricted to oneself and his/her pleasures and perks. Leadership should lead people into better places and for that; they must keep their ego aside and away from their personality and their workplace. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Stay Focused to Make it Happen](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-stay-focused-to-make-it-happen/): Do you know, on this day more than 100 years ago Radium was discovered? On 21st December 1896, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie discovered a new chemical element known as Radium. Marie and Pierre worked together investigating about radioactivity, building on the work of the German physicist Roentgen and the French physicist Becquerel. In July 1898, the Curies made an announcement with the discovery of a new chemical element, Polonium. By the end of that year, they announced a discovery of another new chemical element – Radium. Both Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, along with Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize award for Physics in 1903. Pierre Curie died in 1906 when he was killed by a carriage. Post this Marie took over his teachings, becoming the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. She devoted herself in continuing the work that they had begun together. She received a second Nobel Prize, for Chemistry, in 1911. Marie’s and Pierre’s research was crucial in the development of x-rays in surgery. At the time of World War I, Marie helped to equip ambulances with x-ray equipment and she herself drove it to the front lines. The International Red Cross made her the head of its radiological service. She also held training courses for medical orderlies and doctors in the new techniques. Marrie Curie’s invention helped a lot of people during World War I and is helping even today. But despite of her success, she always faced oppositions from the male scientists. Yet she kept her sprit high and worked hard. No matter how hard the time gets, one should always work hard to reach their destination and goals. Are you working hard towards your goals? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [11 Predictions for Organization Transformation in 2019](https://faberinfinite.com/11-predictions-for-organization-transformation-in-2019/): The year 2019 is right on the gate and we stand just 11 days away from it. 2018 has taught us a lot many things and thus has prepared us for the coming year – 2019. The future is full of potential and each one of us must use it for our growth, development and to achieve our only goal – excellence. Today’s blog is a bit different from others! Team Faber Infinite has always focused on helping its clients achieve their targets and goals and have tried to make them aware of the effective tools and techniques that can help in continual and sustainable development. We stand exactly 11 days to 2019 & 11 years to 2030, and as the experts crafting organizational transformation, here are our 11 predictions for the year 2019: Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning may not come as soon as 2019 but we shall see healthy touches in 2030. Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 shall be an aspirational center for many organizations! Manufacturing Excellence System shall still be the need of the hour! Employee engagement shall continue to be a priority of the Human Resource team in every organization Technology assessment and gauging IoT (Internet of Things) readiness shall be inevitable. Improving data capturing – monitoring and analysis or inferences for all scales and segments of the industry shall be an elemental yet significant improvement. People analytics can do wonders to the team performance management and improvement in 2019. It shall be right time to start focus initiative relating to process improvements & others to be geared up for the upcoming phase of exponential change Customer delight was never a fad and shall need added focus in 2019 Product variants are going to increase, and batch sizes are going to go down further. Let’s prepare for it. Cloud-based tools are doing wonders and shall further cement their positions in terms of operational excellence utilities. 2019 is going to be a year of opportunities and if the available resources are used in an efficient manner along with the right tools and techniques, organizations are bound to achieve great results with exponential growth rate. The new year demands a new way of perception and a better and holistic approach to become the best in our own markets and lead them right from the front. Let’s take some time to think and strategize in order to make the most from these predictions. Team Faber Infinite has always believed in excellence and is eager to shake hands with everyone who all are in pursuit of it. Let us come together and craft growth opportunities, we all desire. For any information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Aakash Borse & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Invest in on boarding process to retain the much precious employees of your organization!](https://faberinfinite.com/invest-in-on-boarding-process-to-retain-the-much-precious-employees-of-your-organization/): Employee retention is one of the biggest issues that worry the leadership of every organization irrespective of the industry or geography the organization is located in. It is highly important for the organizations to retain the new recruits in order to play over their potential and use them in creating better products and ultimately higher revenues. In order to retain the talent, onboarding the new employees is highly essential as it helps the leadership in getting through the initial vulnerable period of the time after any talent acquisition. Onboarding can be done in three steps – Organizational, Technical and Social. Organizational Onboarding Show the new recruits your way of working Any person walking in a new place will need instructions and will need someone to show them around. In the same manner, the organization must put in efforts to teach and show the new people about how things work and how they should be getting done. It can be anything like how to get an ID card or how to pull the data etc. Training them about the basic requirements will surely help them in gaining the much-required confidence at the new workplace. Help them in understanding the culture and other aspects After training, one must also help them understand the related concepts and the work culture of the organization. One cannot just train and leave without checking if the new employee has been able to understand. It is an essential part of the onboarding process since it will make the path clear for the employee. Thus, the new employee will have a clear understanding of the work and the workplace. Technical Onboarding Define their responsibilities and duties in a comprehensive manner When you hire someone, you look at their resume and their skills. However, you don’t know if he/she will be able to apply and use the skills in a very productive manner. The organization must have clearly defined roles and responsibilities for every employee who joins. This structure needs to be communicated well to the new employees. It will make them comfortable and aware of your expectations and thus help them adjust them in the new environment. Set quick and efficient tasks for early wins Don’t immediately load the new employee with heavy tasks. No matter how experienced or well-versed one is in work, they will obviously need some time in order to get comfortable to the new environment and work culture. Giving them heavy and big tasks right away will only make them less confident if they fail to provide the desired outcomes. Instead, set up easy and quick wins to make them feel more confident and positive in their work which will further help the organization in using the new employee’s talent in important projects for better outcomes. Social Onboarding Build of sense of belongingness Make the new employees feel wanted and imbibe a sense of belongingness in them by creating communities new employee’sand teams that are ready to help each other. Building relationships in the course of time will make the recruit less isolated and will make him/her more habitual and confident while working with the other members of the team. It will also boost up his/her confidence and will increase his/her trust on the other team positive in ultimately providing efficient results. Talent and hard work are the keys in getting the things done the right way and retaining the acquired talent plays a key role in that. Onboarding the employees is a key process in employee and talent retention and can be highly beneficial for the organizations. Organizations who invest in onboarding the employees have better opportunities to retain the employees. Written and compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [The best time to Improve was yesterday!](https://faberinfinite.com/the-best-time-to-improve-was-yesterday/): The world is moving fast and evolving even faster and so are the industrial parameters, standards and methodologies. In such times, it becomes very important for any organization to adapt to these changing methodologies and implement the advanced tools and techniques to achieve growth and excellence. Transformation journeys have proven to be an effective method and strategy to help the companies enhance their process and product in order to cement their position in the market and constantly increase revenues. However, many organizations are sometimes confused if it is the right time to embark on a transformation journey and usually tend to avoid the question and stick to their methodologies and techniques to achieve growth and improvement; which at times might harm the company’s value rather than improving it. As it is known, that any man-made thing left untouched, is bound to deteriorate. People in the leadership need to acknowledge that there is no right time to start the change initiative; it is only now! Sorting out the things and believing that the right time will come will hardly bear any fruits. Organizations at times might feel that there are many aspects that will hinder their transformation journey even if they start one. The most common one is lack of resources. But these factors are not exactly the most problematic. They can be tackled with proper management. Funds and resources can be saved and can be used to its optimum levels to produce exceptional results. For example, imagine a case where the energy cost is around a few crores annually. Fundamental yet powerful energy audits can do wonders to save energy costs which directly impacts the bottom line. Similarly, there could be several such initiatives which could be rolled out without much disruption in the existing working. As the wise say, the real art is to start! A journey of thousand miles begins with the first step and rest all falls in place! There are endless numbers of cases in the industry were waiting for the right time or planning things to get sorted before embarking on a transformation journey have been preventing organizations from exploring their own potential. Time is of utmost importance and organizations need to treat it as a resource and use it in the most optimum manner to achieve the maximum benefits. The organization and the leadership need to start transformation journey in order to make the most of their resources and to help the people involved in the processes, to adapt and work efficiently in the changing and evolving market for productive and profitable results. Team Faber Infinite has helped hundreds of clients to achieve their targets and goals by efficiently analysing their problems and implementing various frameworks that address challenges right from the roots. We have helped our clients in the successful rollout of transformation journeys and achieve continual and sustainable growth. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Green Belt Certification in Lean Management by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-water-your-weeds-go-lean/): We are in the 21st century and businesses have become more advanced and improved when it comes to processes involved in the system. Lean and its practices is one such tool that has helped thousands of organizations in becoming more efficient and effective in their work and ultimately generate larger revenue and profits. As rightly said by Mr. Harvey McKay – “Don’t water your weeds”, we should avoid investing time and efforts on processes and procedures that are inefficient. Like weeds, if we do not keep a check on such inefficiencies, then they can create chaos and all kinds of problems in the operations and execution. Taking this into consideration, Team Faber Infinite Consulting has designed an extremely powerful and unique training & certification program for today’s industrial world. This training and certification program shall help the organizations learn more about lean manufacturing and its practices. It will help them become more efficient and effective. About the Certification It is one of a kind Green Belt Certification in Lean Management and is not based on mere theoretical aspects. Unlike other training programs, this unique training and certification program focuses on practical aspects as well includes implementation of the concepts learned by the participants at their workplace, which is later assessed by the expert team from Faber Infinite Consulting. The certification program is divided into 3 parts with every part being followed by an examination to evaluate the progress of the participants. Moreover, the participants are also encouraged to implement one project approved by their plant at their facility and then present it for assessment. Successful implementers of the projects are awarded the prestigious certificate by Faber Infinite Consulting. Recently, Faber Infinite Consulting completed a certification program for members of Automotive Components Manufacturing Association (ACMA) of India where different organization across different sectors from Pune, Mumbai and Nasik benefitted from the program. Further details of the program are as mentioned, The methodology used for the Green Belt Certification In Lean Management Conference room tutorial sessions Simulation exercises Group exercises Case Studies & learnings from the Gemba Live projects and evaluation on the Gemba The spread of the participants Operations In-charge Production managers Line supervisors Industrial engineers Improvement co-coordinators Process engineers Purchase managers The program was very well received by the participants. Glimpses of the feedback are as follows: Great experience of training on various topics of Lean Management covered and they are very helpful to improve the organization The program not only covered implementation but also covered sustenance Very useful and interactive training session. Looking forward to more such sessions from Team Faber Infinite. Lean Management has grown to be a highly beneficial tool for organizations and at Faber Infinite Consulting, we motivate our clients and progressive organizations to implement LEAN and become more efficient in what they do. Lean is the key to lead the markets and become more successful, productive and profitable in the 21st century. Team Faber Infinite conducted this exclusive training program for the industry to further enhance the Lean Management skills and embark on the journey of excellence. Faber Infinite training & certifications are accredited by “Council for Six Sigma Certification Accreditation” from USA. For more information and details about GREEN BELT CERTIFICATION IN LEAN MANAGEMENT, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [Friday Fact - Sorry for the delay](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-sorry-for-the-delay/): Do you know, the delay in trains at Japan is measured in seconds Japanese railways are one of the most punctual across the world. Their punctuality can be measured by the fact that the conductor of the train makes an apologetic announcement for the delay if there has happened any and the railway company also provides a “delay certificate” to its passenger because no one would expect and believe a train to be late in Japan. The Japanese people are very punctual and are highly dependent on their railways. In a recent time, a Japanese rail company because of departing 35 seconds early from the station, has apologized through the press for “any inconvenience” caused to customers. A similar incident happened in autumn last year when a train departed 20 seconds early from Tokyo to the eastern city of Tsukuba, for which the operator of the Tsukuba Express had to issue a public apology. A research conducted states that on an average Japan trains carries 260 billion passengers every year. The population of Japan until 2017 was ~0.13 billion. Hence you can estimate the reliability of people on the trains. And keeping their punctuality under consideration imagine even a delay of 5 seconds will incur a huge loss. Because when it is about time management and punctuality, Japanese people cannot compromise. For them delaying in anything is an insult of their work. Punctuality is ingrained in the culture of Japan. It is taught to their children right from a very young age at school. Also, office workers arrive at work before time in order to avoid potential tardiness. Japan has inherent punctuality in their culture. Have you started being on time every time? Written and compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Don’t just grow! Learn to sustain – Part B](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-just-grow-learn-to-sustain-part-b/): An organization can only be called a growing organization if they are able to handle the growth efficiently and sustain it. Sustainable growth is the key for any organization to pull off the numbers they desire and become the leaders in what they do. In our last transformation Tuesday we covered the first 5 key attributes of sustenance. This Tuesday, we’ll be taking you through the other 5 key attributes for sustainable growth : Find your niche and explore it for potential opportunities You cannot grow in a market that is a deficit of potential or opportunities. Instead of trying out haphazardly in the market, one must work towards finding their niche and targeting and exploring it to generate better results. Furthermore, better opportunities will provide you with a better chance of growth and sustainability.  Become the best in the market in what you do Becoming the leader in the market in which you operate in has many benefits when you are looking to sustain the growth. It helps you in having enough time and resource to invest in sustaining the growth while constantly benefitting from the name you have established in the market. However, while doing so, one must look after their competition and their relative positions in the market as well. Invest in the future Looking after the present is a good thing but don’t get stuck and look at the bigger picture i.e. future. One must invest in the future and look forward to being the same or moving ahead with the passage of time. It will also prepare you for the forthcoming events and will further help you in sustaining your growth and its rate. Be reliable and consistent Accepting challenges and working to take them down will help you in creating your own name among the customers. It will also establish you as a reliable and consistent organization in front of them. Moreover, being reliable and consistent in your activities will also make your organization highly productive internally and will keep your growth rates constant.  Never let go of talented and committed people People working in the organization define it and help the organization to grow and reach new heights. Organizations need to understand the value of such talented and committed people and should always work towards acquiring and retaining such individuals. One must find it hard, but believe me, it pays off really well. Growth is aspired by every organization. However, just focusing on growth and setting new targets after achieving one will never help one. One must know and should be able to sustain the achieved growth and then set new targets as they will serve as the foundation for the new strategies and techniques. To ensure it, one must create a holistic environment incorporated with the trends driving the contemporary industry as well as react and plan for the future that is just around the corner. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay and Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Ujala – A Transforming Change Initiative](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-ujala-a-transforming-change-initiative/): Did you know, that one change saved INR 165 Billion for the country? Ujala- a change initiative taken to save electricity by the Government of India. Ujala Yojana which was earlier launched in the name of – Domestic Efficient Lightning Program (DELP). The main motive behind this scheme is to switch the usage of 200 million incandescent bulbs to LED light bulbs which would save over 10.5 billion kWh of power. This scheme is available for everyone and sells the LED bulb to the applicant at a subsidized price. If an applicant buys an LED light bulb through this scheme than he gets to pay a 40% lesser than the market price. Also, these bulbs have a warranty of 3 years. As per National Ujala dashboard, the total number of LEDs distributed as on 7th December 2018 are 31,68,21,126. The energy saved per year is 41145 Mn kWh. The cost saving per year is INR 16,458 Crore. The carbon dioxide reduction per year is 3,33,27,133 t carbon dioxide. The goal of this yojana was to reduce carbon intensity by 33 to 35 percent between 2005 and 2030. This small initiative of changing the lights not only reduced the carbon intensity but also helped small-scale electrical component manufacturing industry increase their turnover and employment opportunities. One initiative of change opened doors for multiple benefits. This change initiative by the Government of India is spreading light and happiness since 2015, when are you taking the next leap of change? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Don’t just grow! Learn to sustain it. Part - A](https://faberinfinite.com/dont-just-grow-learn-to-sustain-it-part-a/): Growth is the most talked about term in today’s industrial world and every organization wants to have an exemplary rate of growth. However, it is not just growth that matters. An organization can only be called a growing organization if they are able to handle the growth efficiently and sustain it. Sustainable growth is the key for any organization to pull off the numbers they desire and become the leaders in what they do. There are ten key attributes to sustain growth and will help the organizations in achieving their targets and goals. This Transformation Tuesday we will have a look at the first 5 key attributes and the next 5 attributes will be discussed in next Transformation Tuesday. Culture The culture of any organization says a lot about where the organization wants to go and where it is heading. In order to grow and sustain it, the entire organization and the hierarchy must be committed towards working and helping each other to grow. Growing companies always have very specific targets they want to achieve and always keep their analytics ready to compare the results with individual and team targets. Transparency, accountability and high performing standards are the key to sustain growth. Willingness to win You must be willing to win. Aiming anything less than a win will always make you fall short of your targets. Growing companies always focus on winning and are highly competitive when someone comes even close to their thrones. Although, winning does not mean one has to bend the rules and ingrain unethical measures in their work culture. Never give up attitude There might be phases in sustaining growth when you will lose temporarily. But one must not fear anything and should keep working towards their goals and targets. These phases are temporary and will diminish after a certain period and will leave you with sustainable growth. Welcome change Change is a carrier of success. One must incorporate the change in their organization if they are facing troubles in growing or in sustaining their growth. Change has the tendency to intimidate people. However, instead of being afraid to it or resisting it, one must learn to embrace it and move ahead with change and related processes. Focus on your customers and their needs Customer will help you grow and will bring business to you. Hence, it is your responsibility to make your customers a priority and work towards making them happy and satisfying their requirements. Acquiring and retaining customers with your good service will ultimately result in you growing over the top and garnering more profits and revenue. Growth is aspired by every organization so to know about the next 5 attributes stay tuned till next Tuesday. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact- Lessons from 26/11 terror attack](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-lessons-from-26-11-terror-attack/): Did you know: None of the Taj Staffers fled during the 26/11 attacks? The nation just marked 10 years of attacks in Mumbai on 26/11. In November 2008, India suffered a great loss due to a terrible attack caused by the terrorist at a well renowned 5-star hotel; TAJ MAHAL PALACE – Mumbai. The hotel was under siege for 3 days and 2 nights, held by the terrorist with automatic weapons who took few people as a hostage, killed rest of them and set the famous dome of the hotel on fire. But by a report that came right after the attack, showed that none of the employee/staff that was present there in the hotel at that time fled. They all stood their right next to their customers and helped them with utmost possibilities to get them out safe. They made sure they saved almost every person they could find at a grave risk to their own lives. There were even such employees who lost their family who lived in that hotel and yet chose to save the rest of the people. There were a lot of workers, waiters, busboys, and room cleaners who knew about the back exits and paths through the hotel. Yet they chose to stay in the building under siege until their they made sure their customers were safe. This was the very model of ethical, selfless behavior that was seen. Although as a case, it was impossible to draw a conclusion, yet while this case was studied at Harvard, few conclusions were drawn to answer WHY. It was deduced that it had to do something with the pattern of recruiting at Taj and the kind of people they recruit. And the manner they train and reward them. The hotel looked for recruiting people who are less motivated by money and highly determined by personal behavior. The study showed the following major traits in recruitment & people policy at Taj: They did not recruit from big cities and well-renowned business schools. Rather they opted to recruit from semi-urban areas and local schools. They did not look for employees who have the highest grades. They were actually recruiting for personal characteristics, especially respect and empathy. Also, they recruited personnel from second-tier business schools, on the basis of the theory that the people there will be less motivated by money. If we draw the attention on training and rewarding system of Taj, it was designed to encourage kindness. If any guest compliments any employee, within 48 hours the hotel would reward the employee – ranging from gifts to job promotion. Through this study, the reason behind that behavioral pattern was deciphered – which can help corporations to enable behaviors with selflessness and empathy! Because it is the employees who represent your organization and will maintain relationships with the customers, on your behalf at the time of crisis. Taj has been deploying it since 1903. Are you?
- [Yet another feather in the cap!](https://faberinfinite.com/yet-another-feather-in-the-cap/): Strongpak Limited is one of the biggest manufacturers of PP woven bags in Zambia and neighboring countries, catering to the packaging needs of various industries. Strongpak is supported with a team of a well-trained workforce, the best in Zambia. With the application of Lean and Continual Improvement principles in the production process Strongpak has been able to continuously improve the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of their products. Strongpak has been winning awards since 2013. Below is the list of awards: 2013 – KAIZEN National Champions 2013 – KAIZEN Conference Excellent Management Award 2013 – KAIZEN Conference Gold Award 2013 – KAIZEN Conference Bronze Award 2013 – Kitwe District Chamber of Commerce & Industry Gold Award 2015 – KAIZEN Conference Gold Award 2015 – Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) Most Proficient Supplier Award This year they added one more feather in the cap by winning Gold award at the International Convention on Quality Control Circles 2018 in Singapore. We congratulate our esteemed client Strongpak Limited from Zambia on achieving yet another feat. This time it is Gold award at the International Convention on Quality Control Circles 2018 in Singapore. It is a prestigious feat for Strongpak Limited as the team not only represented the organization but the country and whole of Africa. We are proud to have such a strong relationship with Strongpak and hope to build that even stronger in the future. Congratulations!
- [Grow sales by ~33% in 11 months](https://faberinfinite.com/grow-sales-by-33-in-11-months/): Sales is one of the most aimed aspect for any and every organization. Increased sales leads to increased revenue. Every other organization faces various challenges in improving their sales and counter the increasing competition to hold their position in the market. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has a proven and unique framework for improving sales. This powerful framework enables the organizations in keeping the sales trends upwards in the charts. This proven solution by Faber Infinite has helped clients grow sales by ~ 33% within 11 months. Do you also want to grow your organization’s sales by ~33% in 11 months? Yes, this can be done for your organization as well. Do you want to know how? Check the webinar on Sales Growth Framework by Mr. Aakash Borse – Founding Partner and Director at Faber Infinite Consulting.  – https://bit.ly/2DTmePH This webinar was very well received and was attended by 40-50 participants across geographies and industries. Team Faber Infinite plans to organize many such interactive webinars, so stay tuned to our channel at: https://bit.ly/2QnOxN1
- [Employee Growth Development through Performance Management System](https://faberinfinite.com/foster-employee-growth-development/): In the contemporary industry, the need of tools and scales to measure the growth and development of the organizations as well as the performance of the individuals & teams has become quintessential for every organization. Many organizations have such measures ingrained in their working culture but still face many problems and go through a lot of trouble to get the correct data. Performance Management System can help such organizations a lot and is the most appropriate and suitable solutions for all of their problems. Performance Management System (PMS) It is an ongoing process by which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work objectives and overall contribution to the organization. More than just an annual performance review, PMS should be continuous process of setting objectives, assessing progress and providing on-going feedback to ensure that employees are exceeding their objectives and are highly effective. With its deep understanding and hands on experience in the working domain of Organizational Transformation, Faber Infinite has devised and administered an extremely powerful Performance Management System which has proved to deliver excellent results. 9 reasons why you should also deploy extremely effective Performance Management System  Organizations shall get 11 additional opportunities to improve in a year (total 12 v/s traditionally 1) With PMS, performance of the entire organization can be viewed on one scale and one dashboard Holistic approach – Hierarchy driven weightage of company performance, departmental performance and individual performance Timely feedbacks on monthly basis. This helps the organization in avoiding delayed corrections An objective system thus all subjectivity as well as ‘favouritism’ is eliminated from the processes Transparent system as it does evaluation by itself and not by the reporting authority Performance Management System focuses on ‘Team win’ rather than ‘Individual win’ Extremely easy to manage and deploy Performance Management System helps is developing high performance teams and not just control mechanism Benefits delivered by Team Faber at various client sites – Team Faber helped the client in effectively reducing cost of raw materials purchase by more than 51 percent i.e. around INR 3.5 million in a mere span of 3 months from implementation 28% increase in net profit achievement 43% increase in sales targets achievement 23% reduction in discount offerings 18% reduction in manpower costs 58% increase in H – Spirit scores 100% clarity of roles ensured and achievement of linking the company targets to functional targets Higher inter-department synergies leading to enhanced employee belongingness The organization was able to achieve and implement an unbiased reward and recognition methodology at their workplace Re-organization and uniform work loading as derived from utilization Measuring the performance of the individuals as well as of the organization collectively can be highly beneficial for the organization in planning their future projects and tasks. Moreover, it also encourages employees to do more and better by instilling transparency in the rewards and recognition processes. Team Faber Infinite has helped dozens of clients in this domain with its proven and structured PMS tool and has helped them in achieving their targets and goals in most efficient way. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Aspire & Rise](https://faberinfinite.com/aspire-rise/): Consultants can play a pivotal role in any progressive organization. They help organizations in overcoming various challenges they might be facing and thus provides that extra push to the organization that is needed to achieve excellence and ultimately sustainable continual development. There are various ways in which a consultant helps and accelerates the improvement – transformation journey for an organization. In this edition of iFaber, we are going to explore the life of one such consultant – Mr. Prasad Kadam who has helped multiple clients in various industries in different paradigms. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Kadam, Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? What three words would you use to describe your role? Prasad Kadam (PK): Currently, I am working as a Team Leader at Faber Infinite Consulting. We help our clients in creating a more optimized and efficient work environment where they can make the most of their resources and efforts to gain optimum results with maximized profitability. If I were to describe my role in three words, I will choose trendsetter, change manager and empathizer. Trendsetter, because I want and constantly work towards setting trends in the organization I work with or at a client site where I add value. The same goes for my team and its members as well. Change manager, because it is my job as a consultant to manage the change at the client sites and work in a manner that the management themselves feel like implementing the change without my persuasion or facing any resistance. And lastly, empathizer because it is very important for any consultant to empathize with the people they are working with, in order to understand their problems and the kind of situations they are stuck in. FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber Infinite? PK: I start my day with visualizing the tasks and work I have to do for the day and the way I will do them with my team and its members. I talk to my team members to keep them motivated and encouraged and assist them with any problems they might be facing and ultimately help them in achieving the desired targets and completing the tasks and goals with a better and more efficient output. I also usually organize an evening session with my team so that they can come forward, mingle with the other members and talk about all the good work they have done in the entire day. I believe this creates and strengthens the bond between us. So yeah! That is what my usual day at Faber Infinite looks like. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? PK: My job is my passion! I have wanted to be a consultant for a very long time. I have worked as a line manager for more than 14 years and wanted to add value to several organizations from what I have captured so far. So, I would say that working for something I am extremely passionate about, is worth all my efforts and hard work because it simply gives me immense peace and satisfaction in my life. FI: What is your motto or personal mantra? PK:  As the Alchemist puts it, which also part of popular Bollywood film – “If  you aspire something desperately from the bottom of your heart, the entire universe will conspire to help you to realize what you desire!” I would say, I have experienced this personally and this is my personal mantra! So, keep aspiring and keep realizing! FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? PK: As a consultant, one must work in different industries with diverse clients and various needs and requirements. Hence, learning about a new industry and getting the real facts and figures from the clients, by asking them the precise questions for analyzing and getting the right problem-solving methodology in a restricted time frame is one of the biggest challenges any consultant faces in his profession. Moreover, personally, I am a very direct person. If someone will ask me any question, I would prefer to reply to them directly. It needs to be handled well when you are working on people challenges to make all involved stakeholders understand the broad benefits. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? PK: Consulting is a very creative job, which usually demands time and structured communication. However in case, if there is a lack of communication between the teams, which may result in the difference in strategies and techniques involved while presenting the solutions. It may result in teams presenting different problem-solving methodology during the solution phase. Although, both the methods could be equally correct, I sometimes feel that having a standardized flow of thoughts can do wonders for the projects. It would also help in eliminating the slightest chances of any mistake that might creep in. That is what we should strive towards! FI: How has Faber Infinite helped you in your career development? PK: Well as I said earlier, I have worked as a line manager for more than 14+ years. So, in these years, I have only got to know about one industry. However, after working with Faber, within a year I have got to offer my learnings to multiple industries. Faber Infinite has definitely helped me a lot in learning about the new things, tools and techniques that will be ultimately beneficial for my career. Learning here has been very steep towards the top for me. Also, Faber Infinite has helped me work for my passion, helped me in doing something I have always wanted to do as a professional. FI: What do you like most about Faber? PK: At Faber Infinite, one would find an exceptional culture. The culture here is just amazing. People work in harmony and we celebrate all festivals together at Faber Infinite. This creates a sense
- [Shreshta – Journey to Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/shreshta-journey-to-excellence/): Biotechnology is one of the most difficult industries to be in at the present time. However, it is still the fastest growing and one of the most innovative sectors in the world. The potential in this sector is highly unexplored and the opportunity it has to offer is tremendous for the organizations. In this edition of iFaber, we have brought to you one such tale from the biotechnology industry, which also happens to be one of the earliest and dominant players. We interacted with Mr. Jayraj Doshi, Technical Director at Zytex Biotech, sharing the excerpts below. Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 15,000+ readers across India, Africa and Middle East and our readers would want to know more about Zytex Biotechnology Private Limited – the pioneers of industrial biotechnology in India? Mr. Jayraj Doshi (JD) – Zytex Biotechnology is one of the first organizations which entered in this industry in India. Currently, the focus of Zytex Biotechnology is on the manufacturing of bacillus-based micro-organisms and we are exporting it to more than ten countries at the moment. Also, we are the largest manufacturers of bacillus probiotics in India. We envision becoming one of the leading manufacturers of bacillus in the world by 2021. FI – Every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? JD – For manufacturing of probiotics, standardization is very important since the key raw material is a living organism. It gets very difficult for us to standardize something that is living. So, the biggest challenge I would say is standardization of the raw material i.e. bacillus-based micro-organisms. We also face challenges in handling the micro-organisms during the manufacturing. Post manufacturing, maintaining the stability is also very important since every living organism has its own shelf life and hence post-manufacturing process such as packaging and storing become very crucial and important. FI – We would love to understand more about Shreshtha – the transformation journey at Zytex. What are the phases of this journey and how has it helped your team? JD – When we started Shreshtha around 14 months back, our main motive was to bring more teamwork in the people working in the facility & also bring in more accountability. We wanted to make the people working in the facilities capable enough to take decisions whenever required and take responsibility of the consequences of the decision. Moreover, we wanted people to be capable enough to move and implement the corrective strategies and techniques in such situations. So, the objective was to make the people in the organization responsible and accountable for their responsibilities. Decision making should not be a roadblock or a speed breaker for the flow of operations. With Shreshtha, there has been a significant improvement in the teamwork. Compartmentalization was a major problem. With various processes implemented by Team Faber Infinite like steering committee meetings, cross-department audits and 6S methodology, the communication within the hierarchy has improved significantly. People now understand each other much better. The procurement team understands how important it is to for the production to get the material on time. Even the engineering team and production team are continuously talking to each other to keep the equipment ready and effective all the time. People are now working in sync with each other with the efficient flow of information which is required for our products to be manufactured with extremely high quality within the deadline. Moreover, because of this, there has been a lot innovative, creative and out of the box thinking and suggestions are now put forward by the people which is again very beneficial for us and for the organization. Besides this the training of the team members on the shop floor has been fantastic. The people in the organization now understand better why things are to be done in a particular way. 6S has been a very important tool in bringing about the difference. Because implementation of 6S requires for the team to understand and believe that the change is for better. So of course, the overall efficiency of the organization has improved. Also the culture of continual improvement has helped Zytex won the Gold award at the National Kaizen Circle Competition 2018 organized by CII – Confederation of Indian Industries held at New Delhi. The participated under the category of manufacturing sector where more than 200 companies participated in the event including companies in the category like Tata Metaliks Pvt. Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Pvt. Ltd, Cavincare Pvt. Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd and many more. FI – We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers? JD – We were introduced to Faber Infinite by one of our friends who is also a client for them. The Faber team brings in a lot of value. The consultants who come have a lot of experience across industries and geographies. When we started Shreshtha journey with Faber Infinite, there was a lot of resistance that we faced from the employees on the shop floor. Team Faber Infinite has helped us a lot in overcoming this resistance to change. They helped us bring our people together and make them understand why the implemented changes are necessary to further improve the functioning of the organization. Team Faber has brought a tremendous amount of value to the table and the experience with them throughout our journey Shreshtha was amazing and I believe crucial for the journey itself. Thank you so much for your inputs and insights. We wish you luck with the Shrestha journey leading to be Shrestha – the best – as it means!  Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Performance Management System For Organizational Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/performance-management-system-for-organizational-growth/): The performance management system is the key to organizational growth. Any organization cannot afford to neglect performance management. It is all about ensuring that your employees are satisfied, happy, engaged and working towards the organization’s goals. It is a continuous process where there is a two-sided communication between the employer and the employee. The objective is to achieve the organization’s goals in a defined period. It should top the priority list of every organization. This Tuesday, let us see why an organization should implement Performance Management System: Make the team understand the importance of PMS: Most of the employees are motivated and work beyond expectations. But the issue arises when it comes to those employees who are unaware of what is expected. So clear identification of roles and responsibilities along with the expected role competencies is the must. If the employees clearly know what the expectation is and what do they have to do for best performance, then it becomes convenient for the managers and the reporting authority to assess the performance. To ensure that employees are aligned with the organization’s goals, the goals should be subjective, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. The goals should be realistic as well. Research shows that employees are highly motivated, when there is a 50% chance of achieving them. Engage the team: Only defining SMART goals is not enough, employee engagement is also needed. Your employees should be happy, motivated and engaged. It is important for every organization to understand their employee’s views, mindset and level of engagement. Employee engagement can be measured in several ways. Everyone knows happy people do more, and better work. Develop leadership and coaching skills: Every organization should take time and efforts to train the managers in the organization. A good manager would work on giving appropriate training and coaching to the team in order to give the best skills to the employees. Research suggests that if the managers and trained and effective then the organization does not have to invest a lot in the training of the team, as the managers would do it for their respective teams. Value Adding: The PMS should be simple, upfront, and should add value to every party involved in the performance management process. It should be value adding and the objective is to improve employee productivity and engagement. Rewards and Recognition: Employees need to be given due credit for their efforts in the organization. Research shows that the number one reason why people in America leave a job is that they do are not appreciated or rewarded or recognized for their efforts. So financial compensation plays a major role as well. So the key objectives of any PMS should be as follows: PMS should be objective in performance measurement Provide continuous feedback to the employees for improvement Enable even and impartial objective based appraisal Promote rewards and recognition schemes Identify the training and development needs of the employees Determine the effectiveness of various programs Thus, PMS should be an integrated part of any organization for the continual development and growth of the organization. Ready to unlock the full potential of your organization? Transform your growth trajectory with a robust performance management system. Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert insights for maximizing productivity and fostering a culture of success. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri  
- [Friday Fact- How this fast food chain made millions?](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-how-this-fast-food-chain-made-millions/): Do you know your favorite McDonald’s made itself worth more than $20 billion dollar company just by asking this one simple question? McDonald’s for the last 75 years, has been serving burgers in 119 countries in more than 35000 franchises to 68 million customers daily. But just one simple question they ask- Would you like fries with that? helped them to sell over 9 million pounds of fries globally every day. McDonald’s knows that suggesting such value additions to the order will enhance the customer’s experience of the product. This will thus improve McDonald’s revenue. And the sales representatives do not stop there. They will after asking this question keep on asking you if you wish to have a soft drink or water, would you wish to have a desert along with that. These sales tactics worked wonders for McDonald’s. It helped them boost their bottom line and contributed more than $28 million in revenue which the company made last year. As per the study conducted this company is predicted to become worth $6.7 trillion by 2020. Here as you can see, just one question can help you and your company reap the benefits. McDonald’s as you can see is doing wonders using these tactics since ages. Are you offering value-add to your clients? Identify your value enhancement with Faber Infinite.   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Helping teams Improve productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/helping-teams-improve-productivity/): Growing and developing organizations are always presented with a demand of increasing the funding and capital by the managers every year. The main reason behind this lies in the fact that the team and people involved are too busy to take in new projects and work and thus the managers need additional resources and manpower to keep the workflow smooth and efficient with optimum productivity and profitability. Project or work overload is not a myth anymore and has become a very often faced problem by the organizations. However, at times, it gets difficult for the organization and the leaders to decide if there is really a need of additional resources or your team has enough capability to take in new work and projects. You can analyze this by asking the below given three things before proceeding further. The important work that every team member is responsible for Each person spends the designated time of the week doing all those important work he/she is assigned Special jobs or projects he/she is involved in apart from his primary roles and duties Once you have got answers to all the above-given factors, it is time you proceed with the following techniques in order to extract more time and help your team members adjust and gulp in more work. Terminate and eliminate work and responsibilities that are no longer needed Leadership should understand that keeping the existing projects and initiates going without any direct contribution to the present business objectives and goals will only eat up the employees’ time add will add up to the burden on the resources and capital. Moreover, the priorities should be made and efficiently communicated to the team and the members in order to remove any kind of confusion and complications. Removing such low-value tasks and creating a priority list will free up time for the people and will direct their efforts in a more fruitful and beneficial result. Ingrain strategies that will ultimately help you in reducing the workload from the shoulders of the employees Reducing the workload from the people’s shoulders is another important factor that will help the organization in utilizing the manpower in a better and efficient manner. Incorporating strategies that reduce people’s involvement in low-value tasks and instead direct those efforts in improving the product that will help the organization in the long run. Start initiatives that will help you in improving the productivity of the organization Productivity is the key differentiating factor that drives the growth and development of any organization. If productivity is higher, more tasks can be accommodated in the team’s activities despite the presence of low-value tasks and vice versa. Hence, working towards improving the productivity of the organization with various strategies and initiatives will help the leadership and the organization in creating more free space in the schedules of the teams. With the passing time, business objectives and goals of the organization change and so does the competition hence, taking in new projects and tasks is one of the biggest factors that can contribute to the organization’s journey of excellence and sustainable development. Incorporating strategies and helping the teams get rid of non-value adding tasks and directing their efforts towards company’s objectives is must do for every organization whenever they feel the possibility of growth and development. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - GE gained $700 million by deploying Six Sigma](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-ge-gained-700-million-by-deploying-six-sigma/): Did you know: GE gained $700 million by deploying Six Sigma? General Electric (GE) one of the most recognizable brands started focusing solely on quality control. CEO Jack Welch made a goal for GE in 1995, to become a Six Sigma company within the span of five years by adopting and implementing the “Six Sigma Quality” as a part of their company’s culture. The defect level at GE was as high as 35,000 defects per million opportunities. And according to the statistical formula behind Six Sigma, the process must only have 3.4 “defects” per million opportunities or chances for error. This necessity of GE was accomplished after deploying Six Sigma. According to research, within just two years after adopting and implementing the Six Sigma strategy, GE gained $700 million in corporate benefits. Six Sigma was rolled out in 4 key steps that translated to a formula for success: Training, Mentoring, Leadership and Focused implementation. GE arranged a 100-hour Six Sigma Training program, following which employees were supposed to complete a project using the methodologies learnt during the training. GE after implementing Six Sigma generated $ 2.5 billion worth benefits. Also, its share value showed an increment. The employee and customer satisfaction and product-quality, all of the three departments experienced good improvement. As you can see, Six Sigma has been delivering multi million dollar results. Are you practicing Six Sigma for quality improvement? Image Source : Wikimedia Written & Compiled By Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Help your team to do more without burning out.](https://faberinfinite.com/help-your-team-to-do-more-without-burning-out/): A young and energetic team with an ever ready to do attitude is the key that produces results and profits for the organization on the foundation of resources, capital and various initiatives. An energetic team with motivation to do and achieve more can help the organization in a number of ways throughout their journey. However, keeping the team motivated and energetic and maintaining the same level of enthusiasm for a longer period is very difficult and strenuous for the organization and its leadership. Consequently, the productivity dips down and so does the quality and profitability. Companies need tactical and strategically strong initiatives to make the most of the employee’s skills and efforts. Below are some key methods through which the leadership can produce more without burning out fuel from the employees and teams. The shift from individual efforts to a team efforts In order to speed up the work process without burning up the individual and the team member’s energy, one needs to understand that a pack is always stronger and efficient than just a lone wolf. Leadership should focus and motivate the employees to shift on co-operative and mutual efforts rather than sticking to their ego and their business. One needs to learn that he must let go of his fears and apprehensions and work and obsess about other people in the group to make the most of the available resources and improve their productivity. Teamwork, team members and energy A positive and productive teamwork will always motivate one to do more and keep their energy levels to the brim. Focus on energizing instead of just being energetic Teamwork promotes and motivates one to be more competitive and thus more productive and beneficial for the team and ultimately for the organization. Employees should focus on energizing the entire team rather than just focusing on their motivation and energy levels. Spreading the positive energy will be fruitful and beneficial for all for obvious reasons! Don’t overload the employees with deadlines and extra work Overloading the employees with excess work and then adding deadlines will only result in tiring the employees and making them ineffective in their tasks, responsibilities and daily duties. Companies should strategize tasks based on the abilities of their employees rather than setting paces without precise and proper analysis. Try to make a single approach towards the problem instead of breaking them into smaller parts We have learned right from the start that we should always break down a bigger problem into smaller pieces before approaching it to solve it efficiently. But, what if we tell you that solving the problem considering it as one piece can be more efficient and precise in providing effective solutions. Will you believe it? I guess, No. But, in reality, the fact is that approaching the problem as one and not breaking it into pieces can help provide more effective solutions and will also help the leadership in avoiding the excess and repetitive tasks for the employees that they might have to work on in the problem is broken into smaller pieces. Employees tend to produce better results with high energy levels and their ever ready to go attitude. This will also develop them and make them more mature and professionally sound which will ultimately help the organization in garnering fruitful results. Therefore, keeping the team motivated through the above-given strategies can really help the organization in the long terms. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact - Are you a Hedgehog or a Fox?](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-are-you-a-hedgehog-or-a-fox/): Do you know, the Hedgehog concept has helped Southwest airlines of America to generate profits for more than 4 decades! Southwest Airlines has grown remarkably since 1970. From small, quirky, Texas-centric airline into the largest domestic carrier of the United States. In the past 10 years, change has come fast, with the airline focused mostly at the largest U.S. airports, such as New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, rather than at the outlying airports like Manchester, New Hampshire which it once preferred. Southwest is even adding international routes, mostly to Mexico and the Caribbean. But do you know that even after all this, Southwest airlines fare prices are the lowest in the market as compared to its competitors and the services it is providing? Southwest has been following this strategy since the 1970’s. And even today it is following the same strategy. Southwest refused to follow its competitors in applying new revenue-producing schemes. Southwest’s competitors have started adding fees or have raised prices for nearly all extra checked baggage, advanced seat assignments, ticket changes, etc. Southwest is making good money, with operating margins of 20%+. There even came a time when the entire airfare industry was going through crises. But even then, Southwest stuck to its strategy and did not increase its fare price or subtracted any of its services. And yet it earned the profit. The strategy used behind this was – Hedgehog. As we know the Hedgehog is the one who has only one task to do and it does that with all its focus and concentration so that it can keep safe from the fox. Just like that, Southwest decided to focus only on its customers and not the profits. Paying attention and focusing on just one aspect helped them in gaining their other goals and motives. Organizations designing their strategies with focus on key aspect make a major mark, as all other aspects are interconnected. They will be automatically accomplished once the key goal is achieved. These strategies have been in use since 1970’s. Are you deploying them? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Find the right time to invest in Training & Skill Development programs](https://faberinfinite.com/find-the-right-time-to-invest-in-training-skill-development-programs/): In the contemporary evolving industrial world of 21st century, training and skill development programs forms the backbone of any organization’s efficient workforce and helps the company in improving their produce and regulate their resources and efforts logically and more effectively. However, there have been many instances when the training sessions and skill development programs have backfired and instead of benefitting from the modules, companies have faced losses – in terms of time, capital and resources. Hence, it becomes very important for the organizations to plan and implement the training programs when they are needed and required. One cannot just simply start a training module for the employees thinking that it will only benefit the organization and its profitability. Below is a list of three eminent conditions that decides if a training program will be effective and productive or not. The internal structure and systems support the training programs and the newly ingrained working culture and patterns Training and skill development programs are bound to improve the skill set of the employees and thus will also change their work strategy and culture in order to provide positive and effective outputs for the organization. However, any change is only productive if it is provided a sustainable environment and the internal infrastructure provides the required support for the change to flourish in the existing culture. There are many factors like culture, company values, priorities etc. that will play a crucial role in providing the training platforms the desired support they need to improve the profitability and quality of produce of the organization. Employees commitment towards change Any training program will not only refine the skills of the employees but will also enhance their approaches towards the problems and obstacles. However, this will be only possible if the employees commit themselves towards the training process and are ready to embrace the change. Lack of commitment and dedication towards to collective goal will only make the efforts go in vain and will also result in losses of resources and time. If the training programs and modules provide a direct solution to the strategic problems of the organization Training modules should only be incorporated in the organization if there is a need of it and the modules provide a direct solution to the problems and obstacles the organization faces in their pursuit of excellence and continual and sustainable development. The priorities of the organization must be served as a direct result of ingraining training and skill development modules. Having no complete objective before starting one will be more of a waste of time than a fruitful venture. Organization invest huge amounts of capital in the training and skill development domains for better results and keep their employees and their skill competitive and in sync with the latest trends and technologies. Hence, it is of utmost importance to spend this capital for fruitful results rather than spending it without any clear goal to achieve. Moreover, it will also help the organization and its employees in gathering new data and knowledge along with the new skills which will ultimately broaden the spectrum of success for the organization in their journey.   Written and Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Power of Keystone Habit](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-power-of-keystone-habit/): Do you know, Alcoa- Aluminum Company of America achieved 5 times of its profit within the span of 13 years just by using a keystone habit from Charles Duhigg. In the year 1987, Alcoa hired a new CEO- Paul O’Neill as the company was facing loss from last year. When O’Neill was asked to address everyone present in the ballroom, he began by talking about the worker’s safety. This had put everyone under a huge confusion. Because, as a CEO, he was expected to speak about Synergy, Rightsizing, Alignment, Competition, etc. He said that the safety graph of his company has gone down. Although it is better than that of the general American workforce, he wanted to convert it into Zero Injuries. Listening to this, people started commenting outrageous things about him. Remembering O’Neill’s stint in Washington from 1960’s someone said that he had done a lot of drugs. Even, people started to raise their hands in a desperate need to ask him questions on familiar grounds such as- Capital ratios and inventories and so on. And the only answer he gave was to understand Alcoa they need to look at workplace safety figures. He added by saying that workers have devoted themselves by creating a habit of excellence. And looking after their safety will be an indicator that they are making progress in their habits across the entire institutions. And that is how Alcoa should be judged. Once the speech was over, many financial analysts called their clients and advise them to sell their stocks of Alcoa. And there were a lot of obligations waiting on his way of changing that one habit. But he did not give up. He worked on his lines of changing and after a year, the results were declared and the companies profit hit a record high. This helped the new CEO add more motivation for his investors and kept working on the same lines for the next 13 years. After 13 years, at the time of his retirement, when calculated, the companies profits were 5 times more than that of when he was hired. When he was asked about his strategy, he said he knew he had to transform Alcoa but one can not order the people to change. so, he thought of one thing- disrupting one habit and it would change entire scenario of the company. He did this by using a keystone habit from Charles Duhigg that was to change one habit which will lead to change other habits which will end up bringing change for better. At Faber, we help our clients by beginning to disrupt one habit at a time; which leads us to help them bring organizational transformation. Have you identified your next disruption yet? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [4 Key points to change management for Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/employee-engagement-key-to-change-management/): In the present times when every other organization is trying to get ahead of their competition by ingraining organizational change and change management processes in their facilities and work culture, there are many reports that suggest that these change processes are actually affecting the jobs of many people associated with the organizations. This can create a very downsizing effect on the transformation journey of any organization. In most of the cases, it is usually seen that this unwanted effects which are usually faced by the employees are because that they are not made fully aware about the organizational change and why it is being introduced in the working processes. Hence, it becomes of quintessential importance for the leadership. The decision makers to make sure that employees involved know about it and must be given an explanation about why implementing a change management process can help them all in becoming and achieving better. Below are the four key aspects that can help the top level management in making the employees understand and drive change to the ultimate success. Inspire them by talking about the better future During the change, many people might feel uncertain about the future and that will surely unsettle them. However, it is the leadership’s responsibility to take the stage and explain the benefits of the change management initiative that will ultimately create a better, productive and profitable work environment for the employees. Also, it is important to clear the doubts or problems people might have with the change process. Aligning the company’s core values and principles along with the change management objectives can prove to be of real help to the leadership in making the employees comfortable in bringing them to their side. Regular communication with the employees Communication during any change event needs to be two way and every employee should be communicated about the change process and steps efficiently and clearly. Any gap in communication is likely to create confusion and ultimately chaos on the floor. Moreover, the benefits for the employees that will be in change initiative should also be efficiently communicated to them. This will ultimately help the leadership in keeping the people encouraged, engaged and motivated through the change process. Don’t be the sole player. Include manager and executives and encourage them to lead The top management should not take everything in their hands and must involve managers and executives in the process since they are closer to the employees involved. Moreover equipping them with the resources and information will only add up to the support and will enhance the controls and systems present on the floor assisting in the change management initiative. The top management can obviously choose a number of training programs in order to train the managers and executives before they actually jump into the projects as the leaders. Find ways to increase employees involvement in the change management processes Increasing the involvement of the employees in the change management initiative will help the leadership in imbibing a sense of involvement and belonging in the employees which will be ultimately very beneficial for the organization. Involving the employees in the change management initiatives will also help the leadership in improving the feedback mechanism of the organization which will ultimately boost the efficiency of the process. Effectively and efficiently ingraining change management programs is a difficult task and can only be achieved with the overall involvement of the employees and people coming under the umbrella of change. Explaining the change processes and why it is needed to the team members can enhance the quality as well as the work environment for the employees and the top management. It will also make it easy for the people on the shop floor to embrace and adapt to the change process and yield better productivity and results. Discover the power of change management in boosting employee engagement. Gain practical strategies and expert advice to drive positive transformation within your organization. Fill out the form below and embark on a journey towards empowered employees and thriving workplace culture! Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [5 Principles of Leading Top Management in Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/5-principles-of-leading-top-management-in-transformation/): Transformation journey and its success depend a lot on the kind of leadership team that handles it. Many transformation journeys fail because of lack of involvement from the top management. That is supposed to make the calls and handle the journey at every step. Managers and senior executives need to understand this and should be able to anticipate the situations and proactively plan the journey. Moreover, managers are close to the employees and hence, their role intensifies in a change initiative by the organization. Role of top management in any change initiative In any transformation journey or change initiative, managers, executives and supervisors must play the following roles to help the organization achieve their desired targets and goals and become more productive and profitable. Communicator about the change to the employees Employees who work at the ground levels need to know about the change initiative first and how it will impact their work processes and culture. Managers and supervisors become key personalities in such situations since they are closer to the employees and can help them understand the various aspects and benefits of the change initiative. This is a very important task and the message should always be communicated by the managers or by the supervisors to the employees and team members. Advocate the change initiative Managers and supervisors need to be in favor of the change and should advocate it to motivate the team members. Everyone on the floor looks up on their seniors to draw inspiration and hence, being the pro-change initiative will always help in making processes and systems involved in the initiative a lot smoother and easier to comply. It will also act as a catalyst for the organization during the change initiative. Train and coach the employees The top management should also play the role of coach for the employees who will ultimately become a part of the change management initiative. Every manager and supervisor should treat their employees like apprentices in their day to day work that concerns the transformation journey. Just like coaches in every field, managers and supervisors should also possess and ingrain the below qualities in them to be the best. a)Awareness about the change and the processes involved b)Desire to be a part of the change process and support it c)Knowledge about the change process d)Ability to implement and ingrain the skills and techniques required for the success of the change initiative e)Bring in reinforcement to sustain the change initiative 4. Communicate and coordinate with the members and the project team The top management should act as a bridge between the employees and the project team managing the change initiative and should be able to communicate the messages between both the parties and prepare reports on a regular basis for better analysis of the situation. The important role managers and supervisors play here is that they become a key personality in providing the inputs and solutions to the problems that might be creating difficulties in the transformation journey. Manage resistance Resistance is very common yet very impactful in any change initiative and hence it becomes quintessential for any organization to manage it to have a successful change initiative. Manager are closest to the employees, this makes them more efficient in understanding the resistance, the problems of the people and the factors that give rise to resistance. They should be able to manage the resistance and provide viable solutions to the leadership to tackle or minimize the resistance. Top management is the key body in any change initiative on whose shoulders the entire transformation journey rests. Hence, it becomes very important for them to be efficient, aware, and able to manage and look after the change management initiative that runs in the organization to make it more productive and profitable. Team Faber Infinite Creative Solutions have helped hundreds of clients in successfully managing change initiatives and have trained thousands of people involved in the change management initiative to change and aggravate the outputs for the organization. For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- Renaming the city? Have you heard of Five S city yet?](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-renaming-the-city/): Did you know: there is Five S city in Japan? Japan does not only practice Five S on regular basis, but it has it in their blood. For example, Tokyo is a city having 14 million people, yet it is cleaner than the United States when it is compared in terms of their development status. In Japan, there are few public areas which say to carry away your trash along with you to your home and people even follow that because Japan is an island nation where the sense of community and desire to maintain orderliness is deeply ingrained. Also, the cost for trash is very high as the landfill is limited with Japan being an island country. In Japan, the new year is all about cleaning and not partying. Japanese head to their homes from wherever they are to spend 2-3 days cleaning their houses and preparing for the new year ahead.  It’s like the whole country does “spring cleaning” at the same time but in the winter. Japan teaches about the Five S to kids from their childhood. Japanese children are supposed to clean their classrooms and schools for them to achieve results to of clean classrooms. The motive behind this is to teach them the core values of Five S. The Five S is so deep in the culture of Japan that there is a city Ashikaga that is outside Tokyo which calls itself “FiveS City” and here Five S is the core value for everyone in the town. In 1990 at the time of the recession period of Japan, when people were losing their jobs, several companies started using Five S and other popular concepts like; TPS, Lean, etc. to improve their business And revitalize their community. These companies also decided to start a Five S school through the chamber of commerce. The first ever Five S school was established in 2006. Ashikaga AKA Five S City is a place where everyone’s core value is Five S, hence you can see the morals and values of Five S in Japan. It has been there since ages, are we practicing the same? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri.   
- [Be a Champion by being Self- Aware](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-champion-by-being-self-aware/): Self-awareness is one of the most basic qualities that are needed by people to have a better performance at the workplace, success and more effectiveness and efficiency in the leadership. However, in today’s modern world, people think that they are self-aware although a very small fraction of the entire workforce is. In a research, it was found that 95 percent of the total workforce of the sample believed that they are self-aware, however, only 10-15 percent were actually self-aware. Working with unaware team members is not only frustrating and stressful; it also impacts your working habits, methods and patterns. Sometimes, working with such people starts pulling you down so badly that you yourself might start feeling demotivated and might also leave the job and the workplace. This can give rise to various career issues and hamper the inner peace that one needs at the workplace to keep him interested and work with the most optimum capabilities. In this blog of Transformation Tuesday, we will be telling our readers how to deal with such situations and at the same time help the unaware team members see themselves more clearly. Get to know about the problem and understand it Many times, people fail to understand exactly what is creating problems for them in working together. Conflicts between two people are not always caused by unawareness of one, there are many other reasons such as lack of communication, different working styles and priorities that can also cause conflicts. Hence, it becomes very important to understand the problem that is hampering the relation between two individuals to solve them. Moreover, it is also important to know if the person is really unaware of things or he is doing things in full conscience and just doesn’t want to change. Getting to know the difference is the key since the unaware wants to collaborate and add value but fails to do it however, the rigid ones do it just to prove their point. Help the unaware Once you have recognized the individual who is unaware about the circumstances and the impacts it is having at the workplace, it is now time and mostly your responsibility that you help him in becoming more efficient with his work by making him aware. Many people might feel that they are not the right messenger to convey this message to the suffering individual which is a very valid concern and consequently restrain themselves from helping them. However, in a study, it was found that 21 percent of the people who did not take a step forward later regretted their decision while 31 percent people successfully helped their colleagues improve and perform better. Another reason that might bother people is what if their intentions are taken wrongly and their move backfires. One might fear that instead of helping the individual he might end up making him angry and furious. Again, it is your job to help your unaware colleague or the least you can do is ask someone higher in the hierarchy to help him since power will automatically dominate the worst case scenario of conflict and anger. Working with unaware team members can easily turn things upside down and can crash someone’s productivity. It is quintessential for everyone to work in a healthy and productive environment that can help them in becoming more efficient and achieving their desired goals and targets instead of just pulling them down. Working with unaware employees can be troublesome, but it is again your choice to help the individual that will decide the course of your bonding and relationship with him and your working patterns and cultures. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Faber Infinite covered by Business Connect Magazine](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-covered-by-business-connect-magazine-as-the-guiding-star-of-consulting-industry/): Faber Infinite has been covered by the recent publication of Business Connect Magazine as one of the 25 most trusted consulting organization in India. The magazine has comprehensively covered the unique arrays of Faber Infinite, showcasing the success journey of Faber Infinite and its clients.
- [Friday Fact- Did you know: The iconic Toyota Production System (TPS) has its roots ingrained beyond automotive sector](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-did-you-know-the-iconic-toyota-production-system-tps-has-its-roots-ingrained-beyond-automotive-sector/): Toyota, one of world’s largest automaker did not start the business by making cars. They started with making looms for the textile industry since 1890. The company started with handlooms and then went ahead to make what they got famous for, the power looms / automatic looms. The automatic loom was designed on the principle of Jidoka. The loom would stop when any problem occurred. Mr. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, sold the patent to a British corporation, which funded the company’s automobile business. Initially, they sold the cars under the Toyoda name, which was later changed to Toyota.  Toyota, a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was started in 1933 under the leadership of Kiichiro Toyoda, the son of Mr. Sakichi Toyoda. It was devoted to the production of cars. Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was encouraged by the Japanese government to develop domestic vehicle production that was needed due to the war with China. Although the Toyota Group is known for its cars, they are still in the textile business and they still make automatic looms, which are now computerized, and electric sewing machines which are used and available, worldwide. So Toyota has been using Jidoka even before their automobile business and it has been delivering exceptional results since 1890’s. Are you using Jidoka to improve processes to deliver high-quality products? Image source: AutoEvolution Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri.  
- [Yes, Five S can deliver top line benefits as well](https://faberinfinite.com/yes-five-s-can-deliver-top-line-benefits-as-well/): The market in the present era is evolving at a very rapid pace and thus demands revolutionary and effective methodologies to be implemented at the workplace to gain maximum output and garner optimum results. Even though fundamental in nature, Five S methodology is one such practice that immensely helps the organization in creating a better functionality program at the workplace. The focus of Five S is to make workplace effective, efficient and safe. The idea is to make the workplace clean, standardized and the system is driven so that it becomes easier for the employees to focus on their job without wasting time. It is a very strong and impactful tool. Faber Infinite’s Five S Consultants has delivered exponential results at various client sites via Five S implementation. At one of the client sites, Team Faber Infinite undertook Five S rollout, which happens to be a renowned name in the eco-friendly packaging industry with presence all over Africa. The client serves to the packaging needs of various industrial sectors like pharmaceutical, cosmetic, edible oil, lubricating oil, food and beverages, agro and industrial chemicals and detergents, paints, etc. With the implementation of the Five S methodology by Team Faber, the client witnessed various results that helped them in standardizing and improving the processes and systems leading to efficiency improvement. Since the standard processes produced standard products, robust standardization initiative led the client to secure large consignment from one of the FMCG majors. The client attributes this development to all the processes and systems due to Five S implementation. Some tangible benefits delivered by Team Faber Infinite via Five S and transformation rollout: Team Faber Infinite helped organizations in streamlining and standardizing business processes by using Five S methodology at client sites Clients witnessed an improvement in yield and reduction in throughout time With team Faber’s contribution, Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of equipment increased from 25 to 73% The rejection rate of consignments was reduced by more than 50% The labor productivity at the client sites was improved by around 40% The client also reduced the recurring breakdowns from 15 to 1% Inventory optimization and improvement in on-time and complete shipments was achieved Increased access to data by the leadership in order to make more precise, quick and effective decision making Five S methodology also helped the organizations in improving workflows, thus ensuring that the required information is sent to the right people at right time. Team Faber Infinite has always supported structured methodologies and has implemented them to help the clients achieve the most optimized and beneficial results. Five S methodology is one such tool that can do wonders for the clients if implemented properly in an efficient manner.  For more information, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [7 Steps to Balance work load for Organizational growth](https://faberinfinite.com/balance-work-load-for-organizational-growth/): In today’s world, every other organization wants to be the best and make constant efforts to be one. However, many a time in this run, the leadership of the organization fails to align themselves and their new strategies and initiatives with the existing ones which ultimately results in creating an unnecessary burden on the middle and lower levels of the organization. This ends up having a very adverse impact on the working as well as the productivity of the organization. The leadership should work towards making the most of the human potential and should make the processes very clinical and free of overload as it has a direct impact on the organization. In this blog of Transformation Tuesday, we have identified the seven root causes that cause piling of initiatives and overload the manpower. Lack or inability to measure Many organizations and their leadership find it very difficult to manage the initiatives and lack the ability to measure the amount of work that gets put on the shoulders of the managers and executives as a result of piling of the initiatives. This lack of realization thus plays a major part in the piling of initiatives. Limited access to other groups and teams Sometimes, the executives and managers are able to see the impacts of the initiatives on their teams only and fail to evaluate or anticipate the impacts the newly integrated initiatives will have on the other teams and their members. This is also is a key factor that causes an overload of initiatives and the consequent work on the employees of the organization. Politics Politics is present in every organization and such political logrolling consequently ends up in a pile of promises that needs to be fulfilled by the executives and their teams. This again increases the amount of work on the team members and ultimately impacts their concentration and productivity. Half-implemented strategies due to lack of funds There are many strategies that get implemented in the organization to achieve some targets or goals without the leadership providing them enough funds and resources. This consequently creates strategic differences and the structure then lacks the support to do the critical work. It can also create situation of conflicts among the teams and their members in the organization. Temporary fix initiatives Many a time, we look on a short-term remedy for a problem and thus initiate a temporary fix initiative in the organization which then continues for an unknown period of time because of recurrence of the problem. This happens because any problem will be solved only if its root cause is treated. Such temporary fix initiatives ultimately add up work for the employees to do. Cutting off the human labour Organizations get rid of manpower for cutting up their costs and in hopes of creating a balanced team. However, this process of getting rid of people without reducing the overall work of the team ultimately comes on the shoulders of the remaining team members. This further burdens them and pivots their concentration. Unwillingness to stop existing initiatives The seventh and the last reason is the unwillingness of the companies to stop the existing initiatives when introducing the new ones. This can happen as a result of lack of resources or unawareness. This causes piling up of the initiatives in the organization and creates overload on the shoulders of the employees. Things that do not work! Realizing that there is an overload of the initiatives in the organization is one thing but working towards reducing it is other. Below are some of the steps taken by the organization that does not work in reducing the overload. Instead, they make it worse. Making priorities by choosing functions or departments Not making cuts and imposing another priority list Making cuts at places where it is not necessary It is very important for the organizations to cut down their piling initiatives to have a smoother and productive unit that provides the optimum results to the organization. Leadership needs to understand that burdening up the employees won’t do them any good and will only add inefficiency in the processes and work culture. Initiatives are good for the organization only to the limit where it is aligned with the work culture of the organization and does not hamper the daily work processes of the employees. Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Resistance to change is normal and natural](https://faberinfinite.com/resistance-to-change-is-normal-and-natural/): Don’t resist change embrace it. Change management processes have done wonders for many organization involved in various industries. Many organizations have benefitted from the process during the time. However, almost 70 percent of change management initiatives fail and does not produce desired results. Many of these initiatives fail due to the leadership’s inability to anticipate the resistance and incorporate appropriate steps to counter or tackle it. Resistance is a very normal part of any change management initiative and it is our perspective and approach towards resistance that plays the deciding factor in driving our change management initiative successful or unsuccessful. Getting to know the resistance To efficiently manage resistance, it is important for one to understand and know the resistance. There are many instances where resistance have played the key role in bringing out the change and hence, resistance should not be considered negative or unhealthy every time. Usually, resistance occurs due to the inertia exerted by human nature to stay in their comfort zone. One might see resistance as something that hinders the change initiative but in reality, it is nothing more than an unbalanced form of implemented tools and techniques that procures challenges in the process. The leadership of any organization initiating a change management process needs to eliminate these abnormalities and equate the entire process with a healthy and balanced counterpart which pushes them in a positive direction rather than just pulling them down. One can easily recognize resistance in the organization or in the workforce by observing their behavioral patterns and responses to various implemented changes. In almost all the cases of resistance, the main reason why people resist change is because of fear. Now, fear can be of anything, from fear of losing the job to fear of change impacting the person’s role in the organization. Moreover, as mentioned above, change also pulls out the people from their respective comfort zones and asks them to work in a completely new environment with unknown variables. Here’s how to manage resistance Efficiently managing resistance is the key in thrusting any change management initiative through the doors of success. The best way to manage resistance is to anticipate it and plan accordingly. This includes making strategies to make your workforce confident and comfortable about the change. Having a clear insight of what is going to come will always help one in sidelining resistance from the entire process. Training and programs that facilitate the manpower and equips them with the required skills to survive the change is another key method to manage resistance. Moreover, most of the people fear change and become insecure about their roles and responsibilities. Hence, delivering a unique and structured program that make the team member confident about their position and make the optimum use of their skills and potential always acts as a catalyst in the entire change management process. Team Faber Infinite Consulting have helped numerous clients from different industries across geographies in successfully implementing change management programs and embracing the resistance to have the most optimized and beneficial results. Our structured and designated frameworks have been able to smoothen the change processes and have created an exceptional bond between the management and the employees. For information about change initiatives and resistance to change, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Kishlay & Faber Mayuri.
- [Friday Fact- Formula One Changeover Times](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-formula-one-changeover-times/): Do you know, that Operational Excellence concept of Quick Change Over is equally being used in Formula One Race since 1900s? In the year 1950, in one of the races of Indianapolis 500 when Bill Holland pulled in for a pit stop during Formula 1’s inaugural season, there were only 4 crew members including the driver who were allowed to work on the car which took 67 seconds in the pit, which was too long for them to cover up the time to win. Modern Formula 1 still is a game of ten seconds even with the ban of refueling, it was clear that there was still a chance of making pit stops even faster. Currently, considering the importance of value adding time is on the track and not in the pitstop, the pitstop time is always focus of improvement. Apart from the pair of jack men, the lollipop man, and a guy tasked with fire control, the pitstop crew consists of 12 members for just swapping of the tires, with one man at each corner to remove a wheel, and one to place the new wheel, and third one to loosen and tighten single nut holding the wheels on. This reduced the stop of the driver at the pitstop from 67 seconds to 1.5-2 seconds. Comparing Red bulls stop with McLaren stop in the year 2012 at German Grand Prix, the 2.4 second stop was about a second faster than other teams that day. By the next year, Red Bull had reduced the record time at under 2 seconds. Remember, this is for changing four tires on a hot race car under heavy pressure, with around 20 crew members where all are working in harmony. It’s a stunning effort, one that’s the result of decades of refinement. It’s hard to imagine that a team could possibly get faster, but then again, we’ve been saying that for years. It would have been difficult to compete, forget to win the race if all the Quick Change Over (SMED) efforts would not have been applied. These Quick Change Over (SMED) methods are in practice for more than 100 years. Same can be applied to the equipment change overs – which are inevitable in todays dynamic world where lot size is shrinking and customers are more demanding! Are you practicing it and getting better each day?
- [Faber Infinite - Promoting Excellence in Education](https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-excellence-in-education/): “Education is the most useful weapon which you can use to change the world – Nelson Mandela” At Faber Infinite we have always lived by our core value of Giving back to the Society. We started a transformation journey in July 2018 at a government school in Ahmedabad with the goal to transform it into a world-class school. Faber team conducted Five S & transformation workshop for teachers and students both. Five S establishes a well organized and visual workplace. Team Faber believes that Five S culture will not only help students to be more independent but lead to better tomorrow for the nation! It is our contribution to #SwachhBharatAbhiyan A complete transformation roadmap so teachers can invest more time in their students rather on other non-value adding activities. We wish to make this government school a world-class school with all systems and processes in place. As truly said, ‘Charity begins from home’, Faber Infinite follows the values it believes in and has always lived by example. With this and many more initiatives, Faber Infinite has always been committed to their core value of creating a Fabulous world around.    
- [When Change Means ‘TIME’](https://faberinfinite.com/when-change-means-time/): Marching ahead in the time of crisis, backup and precautions are extremely important even for fortune 500 companies, where the constant change in technology and market habits are inescapable. However, the increase in productivity and overall improvement is under the control of the management. Time and Motion  Study is a proven work measurement methodology not only for recording and evaluating a rate of work for the elements but also equipped to uncover inefficiencies and areas of improvement. Time and Motion studies define the groundwork and enable to arrive at better capacities, awareness, and robust planning system that lead the operations of a plant to Operational Excellence. A Time Standard is an important component of Time and Motion Study. A time standard takes into account three factors: qualified worker, working at a normal pace, and performing a specific task. A continuous improvement mindset is much-needed essential towards continual growth. The focus of the industry should be on getting the right things to the right place at the right time in the right quantity to achieve perfect work flow while minimizing waste and being flexible and able to change. Going back to the history and traditional definition of Time and Motion Study reveals it as a method for establishing employee productivity standards in which:  (1) A complex task is broken into small, simple steps. (2) The sequence of movements taken by the employee in performing those steps is carefully observed to detect and eliminate redundant or wasteful motion. (3) Precise time taken for each correct movement is measured. From these measurements, production and delivery times and prices can be computed and incentive schemes can be devised. Generally appropriate for repetitive tasks, time and motion studies were pioneered by the US industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) and developed by the husband and wife team of Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924) and Dr. Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972). Our teams are helping the organizations in minimizing waste, making precise use of available resources, cutting costs, improving a workplace environment, and motivating the workforce for higher and sustainable productivity. Few of the tangible benefits delivered by Faber Infinite at client locations with Time and Motion Study (without Capex): 33% Improvement in Production 42% Improvement in Productivity 43% Reduction in Changeover Time 23% Reduction in Throughput Time  18% Reduction in Manpower Cost Sharing a quick glimpse of areas addressed by Time and Motion Study Exercise by Faber Infinite Consulting. For more information, please refer to the link given below and engage with Faber Infinite for faster, efficient, and continuous improvement of your organization. Read More: https://faberinfinite.com/take-the-leap-of-transformation-with-time-and-motion-study/ 2. https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-manpower-productivity-with-time-motion-study/ 3. https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-via-time-motion-study/ Written By Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [5 ways to Empower teams to Improve Business](https://faberinfinite.com/empower-teams-to-improve-business/): Planning and Management are two key pillars of any business. Effective planning and strict management of all planning processes can not only improve the working culture of employees but also increase the profitability of the organization by increased productivity and sustainability.  In this iFaber article, sharing yet another successful training workshop conducted for organization in the thermal products industry. The training and development programs in any industry always enable the employees to develop skills and proficiencies for performance enhancement. Team Faber Infinite conducted the training workshop to initiate the Planning Process Improvement and Building Operational Excellence Foundations for one of the clients. Another objective behind the training workshop also included rolling out sustainable Inventory Management Methodology. 5 key Points to Empower teams to Improve Business Team Faber conducted a five-day training workshop to work towards improvement on the lines of observations and challenges by interactive tutorials, group work, gemba (real workplace) trainings and stimulated group exercises which led towards the following activities: Faber Infinite continues the journey of touching upon operational excellence for achieving sustainable benefits and continual improvements through training workshops and consulting for business with the execution of the Organizational Transformation Framework. Unleash the potential of your teams and supercharge your business growth! Fill out the form below to access our exclusive resources and empower your teams with the tools and strategies they need to drive success. Take the first step towards improving your business today! Written By Faber Aleena & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Enhance Profitability of Commercial Farms](https://faberinfinite.com/enhance-profitability-of-commercial-farms/): Flower farming or floriculture is the cultivation of flowers and, experimenting with new varieties to improve buds and flower developments for maximum productivity and Profitability of flowers. It includes growing room requirements, greenhouse needs, plant nutrition, irrigation, breeding new strains, pest management, etc which determines the quality of buds and flowers produced during the cultivation period. Floriculture requires a great amount of care as the end products are perishable and have high chances of rejection. Thus, flower farming focuses on plant spacing, pruning, ideal flower harvest time frame, flower heads, and other parts of the plant are given special attention. One of the finest global consulting and capacity building organizations, Faber Infinite has been working closely with leading flower farms in East Africa to build competitiveness and higher return on investment based on Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement principles. As per the forecast by experts of the floriculture industry predicts that the market will flourish at a CAGR of 8.6% and garner USD 3.65 billion by the end of 2027 and the dominance of African floriculture has widened the scope of business for flower farms. Faber Infinite has vast experience in commercial farms and has been delivering results across 8 countries by extending support to more than dozens of farms for improvement in flower production and increase in total additional revenue potential and overall improvement. Team Faber’s experience has identified and worked upon typical improvement areas, which can make effective changes for the continual benefits for flower farms. Few of them can be listed as below: Some Continual Benefits for Flower Farms Floriculture employs important aspects like plant spacing, training, and pruning plants for optimal flower harvest, post-harvest treatments such as chemical treatments, storage, preservation, and packaging. Therefore, the challenge to floriculture is also high due to varied parameters which can be affected, if not paid enough attention. Team Faber Infinite has delivered tangible results by meeting such challenges. Some key results delivered for the flower farm domain are as follows: With the opening up of new markets and advancements in technology, the flower farms have immense potential to uncover in the area of operational excellence. Faber Infinite strives its way forward in engaging with flower farms by providing operational excellence solutions and implementing the Organizational Transformation Framework, to enhance the sustainability and profitability of farms. Ready to supercharge the profitability of your commercial farm? Fill out the form below to unlock exclusive insights and expert strategies on enhancing your farm’s financial success. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to maximize your profits and take your commercial farm to new heights! Written By Faber Aleena & Compiled By Faber Mayuri
- [Uplift Your Family Managed Business With Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/uplift-your-family-managed-business-with-faber-infinite/): Family Managed Businesses are the pillars of the Indian Economy contributing, almost 79% of GDP which itself is proof of the growing importance of transforming these businesses for continual and sustainable development. Whether it is Engineering, Plastics & Packaging, Automotive, Textiles or Commercial Farms, Family Managed Business has expanded its scope and functions into multiple sectors and delivered significant results. Thus, we bring you some insights on Faber Infinite’s expertise and services offerings for Family Managed Business. Challenges are always an opportunity for any business. It opens the gate for improvement and transformation. Family Managed Businesses tend to have number of challenges, thus paving the way to more transformation and scope of improvement.  Some common and major challenges faced by Family Managed Businesses in different sectors are: Absence of clear policies and business standards Lack of appropriate planning Absence of strategic planning Suboptimal of production output Low manpower productivity High process and product costing High changeover time Inefficient work measurement and effort estimation Team Faber has been working closely with more than 200 Family Managed Businesses to contribute to their transformation journey and deliver results across more than 10 countries uncovering hidden potential and removing bottlenecks that aid in increasing production. We are glad to announce that with our services, we have impacted more than 50,000 people across industries and have over more than 25 experts serving the Family Managed Business with hands-on experience. Here are few of the key tangible benefits delivered by Team Faber for the Family Managed Businesses: Production Improvement by 37% Manpower Productivity Improvement by 33% Quality Improvement by 42%  Inventory reduction by 31% Improved Machine Production by 36% Organizational success depends primarily on three aspects, mainly: Strategy, Operations, and Design and so do our services for clients. Family Managed Businesses have limitless opportunities and improvement areas where Faber Infinite can provide management consulting and capacity building solutions with the finest tools from Organizational Transformation Framework and Operational Excellence Framework. We deliver a real plan of action and deal with real problems and implement approaches and methodology for continual benefits and sustainable developments. Contact us to fast track growth for your family business! Written By Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [For the Next Generation Manufacturing: FabNXT](https://faberinfinite.com/to-the-next-generation-of-manufacturing-fabnxt/): With volatile technological advancement and the need for better and proficient production in the manufacturing sector, industries are marching towards automation with futuristic practices. Industrial technologies such as robotics, cloud, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly pervasive. Faber Infinite, being a forerunner in the domains of continual improvement, has shaken hands for providing industries with effective tools thereby, integrating people and machines by converging advanced technologies and communication across factory floor and supply chain. FabNXT, a part and parcel of the Faber Infinite, is offering its solutions and services into three segments: Automation Material Handling Visual Management Digitalization in manufacturing has enabled to use data for implementing scalable control systems and foster continuous betterment of manufacturing processes through automation. Automation focuses on areas like Pick & Place Solutions, Low-Cost Robotics Automation, etc. Automation delivers improvement in quality and productivity with faster ROI and the ability to be more competitive. The benefits of automation extend to optimization of available resources and enable timely human intervention, reduced fatigues, and cost savings. Automation systems built due to the demand for a closed knit structures that operate in real-time is a revolution for the next generation manufacturing in industries. In addition to this, Material Handling is another area of focus for FabNXT where, industries can avail benefits of reduced accidents in facilities and increase in work efficiency. Material handling covers movement, storage, and control of materials throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and disposal of material and products. It supports logistics and makes the supply chain work by improving sustainability, reducing inventory, shortening delivery time, and lower overall handling cost. Furthermore, ‘Visual Management’ solutions offered by FabNXT is the concept of making the workplace more effective by making the current condition of a workplace obvious at a glance. Organizations can leverage Visual Management tools to help improve the Operational efficiency, increase stakeholder value and improve the customer experience. Contact us for more information on FabNXT, additional offerings by Faber Infinite for the digital future of Manufacturing! Written By Faber Aleena and compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [How to build a visionary company?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-build-a-visionary-company/): Success is a combined result of constant failures and a visionary mind. The art of growing in success means to evolve daily within the scope of new challenges and prevalent habits to set a mark for others to follow. This seems difficult but not impossible when practiced at an individual level. However, the real challenge is to implement lasting success and comprehend them at the organizational level.  This #Transformation Tuesday let us learn to build a visionary company for making a difference by sustaining success not merely by grasping opportunities but also by supplementing values throughout the chain of work. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras’s book, ‘Built To Last’ provides us vital lessons on the successful habits of visionary companies will be taken as a reference to provide more insights on building a visionary company. A visionary leader and slow start are how the journey of success begins. The team members of the organization must always be keen to learn how to think in the line with the very idea on which the company is built. Only then can a system can be constructed for the accomplishment of goals and aims. Visionary companies do not always demand charismatic leaders but a strong leader from whom the fellow team members can take inspiration and may motivate to work with new challenges. A slow start often means not to jump into big decisions. Having a slow start is about building a base where the company can support the fallouts and keep the checks and balances in every activity taken in the interest of the company.  Key MANAGEMENT lessons from ‘Build to Last’ that helps us to identify how to build a visionary company are as follows: Aim for collective goals, not profitability goals Every company which starts from the basics should visualize the visions, mission, and goals; and have a clear idea of what to aim for. Visionary companies always set the target that requires collective efforts which couldn’t be accomplished individually. Thus, building the strength of the organization to raise above profit-making is by inculcating on human ideals and values.  Preserve the core ideology  Companies tend to divert from their ideology which leads them to success once. This can be very dangerous for the company in the journey forward as there will be an absence of principles to strive on if the ideology itself becomes blurred. To stimulate any organization for focusing and engaging the people on the team, there must be an ideology of the company which needs to be preserved.  I-m possible goals: Visionary companies always seem to have a set of goals that outsiders may find impossible to achieve. By setting such goals, the visionary companies want their team to maximize their effort and set a challenge to themselves so that impossible began to look like ‘I’m possible’. Thus, a visionary company is built when you know how to swim in your own current, even if it is against the tide. Always pursue the less traveled road so that the company may have new methods to reach the goals and continuously challenge the team members by providing necessary motivations and correct misalignments with the preservation of core ideology. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & compiled by Mayuri Pandya
- [Crisis In Corrugated Packaging Industry!](https://faberinfinite.com/crisis-in-corrugated-packaging-industry/): As the Covid 19 surge began to end, the Market seemed to thrive. But for Corrugated Packaging Industries, it was not the case. The sharp increase in the price of raw materials and cost of production has forced this industry to plunge into trouble. The coal crisis further made it stringent for the industry to come back on its feet. The global market also saw increasing costs of raw materials and energy supply which reflected upon open economies.  From the very initial stage of manufacturing to the end of the distribution, the cost of manufacturing has made a tremendous impact on the packaging industry. Coal, which is the main source of energy for the packaging industry is now increased to Rs. 15,000 per tonne and the news of the shortage of coal stocks has shaken up the industries depending upon it.  China is also on a losing edge due to electricity shortage which implies pressure for finished goods from the Indian Packaging industries for the rising demand. Also, wastepaper imported is skyrocketing every day due to sustained self-consumption. The price of starch also increased to Rs. 4000 per tonne which is considered an important raw material for the corrugated packaging industry, threatens the very production of the end products. Key takeaways from raising crisis in Corrugated Packaging industry that can be avoided if proper management and preplanning were made at the right time. Proper supply chain management Cost control from the initial production  Inventory management Crisis policy Neglecting market predictions Implying on the alternate energy source Crisis and solutions are like rain and umbrella. You have to foresee rain even before it rains by checking the weather. Similar is the situation with ‘crisis’, you have to predict it coming to you. That is when solutions to your problems emerge. Since, the opening of markets after covid, the economists predicted crisis before handed and warned businesses and manufacturers to build a proper contingency plan to meet the needs and demands of the market. Well, some did plan, while others just skipped the planning part and dived into the profit-making part rather than saving themselves from possible setbacks.  Faber Infinite Consulting provides the best tangible solutions to overcome the business crisis and increasing cost of production with the tools for transformation of organizations through micro-level management analysis and strict improvement action plans. Guarantee results and transformation towards the success of industry-neutral businesses has become an important parameter of services delivered to all our clients and we continue to assist them in their transformation journey. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Train the ‘Leader’ inside you!](https://faberinfinite.com/train-the-leader-inside-you/): Leadership is not an inherited gift, but a skill that requires to be nurtured and developed with every challenge that life throws at you. A true leader is defined by quality actions and not mere designation assigned by people. Leadership principles are extremely important and are applicable everywhere, whether it is in conducting business or academics and beyond.  This #Transformation Tuesday let’s revise our leadership principles by taking lessons from the famous book – ‘It’s Your Ship’ by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff. The book consists of a story about how the ship named ‘USS Benfold’ which was known for poor crew and displaying underperformance, became the best in the fleet under the leadership of Captain D. Michael Abrashoff. As Gandhiji rightly quoted, ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world’ fits right for every leader who wants the team to give their best and achieve the success he or she wants to attain. Two Key takeaways from the book ‘It’s Your Ship’ that can polish your leadership principles and make immense contributions for the journey ahead to perform as a team is summarized as below: Be an aggressive listener: Leadership is about knowing the team’s potential and capabilities along with their weaknesses which help in identifying the possibility of success and failure in every work taken in, as a team. Every individual is smart, talented, and filled with a variety of ideas as every person thinks in different ways. Thus, a true leader who listens and knows the teammate’s likes, dislikes, motivations, strengths, and weaknesses; will always have the ability to utilize them in the proper direction and can make the best out of them for accomplishing any mission given to them. Being a keen listener means you are giving the person your attention and it assures him or her importance in the team. The validation for every action taken and appreciating every little work done is a motivation which only a leader can value. So to be present as a listener and a fellow team member are vital to the success of the role a leader plays for the team. Self-Accountability Check This is a crucial value that every leader needs to have in their life. Accountability to yourself in every action taken has to be evaluated in terms of its pros and cons.  One of the interesting tricks to check your own accountability was given by Captain Abrashoff where he analyzed his actions and decisions taken by applying two parameters: 1. Proud and 2. Embarrassed. He always reminded himself that if the Washington Post publishes his article on the front page for the decisions made and actions taken while leading his crew for the sail; will he feel proud or embarrassed when he read the article? Thus, creating one’s own accountability criteria is very important for a leader so that power cannot overwhelm his ability to do right for the team and never make decisions in the swing of authority. Being a leader is about qualities you exhibit to make the team believe in you. Ethics and integrity serve most when it comes to earning loyalty and good performance from your team members since they look up to the leader for every decision they make. Thus, communicating as a leader with the team with meaning and purpose can deliver the best results in completing the mission and attaining success. Remember, ‘Optimism rules’. An optimistic leader can see the future in difficult times and lead the team by insightful practical strategies and best teamwork is resulted. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [India Vs Pak: Play The FABER WAY](https://faberinfinite.com/india-vs-pak-play-the-faber-way/): Have you ever wondered if having proper plans can really bring you expected results? Can failure be the milestone for a historic victory? Whether it is cricket or business, every player and businessperson inherits the need to win. Learning from the failures and constantly following the process are two important lessons we get to learn from India vs Pakistan Match. India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup is a perfect answer for all your doubts and wrong methods which often lead to losing the battle. The fact that Pakistan’s victory is not just a historic win but a management lesson for the struggling entrepreneurs who are about to quit due to constant failure or unforeseen methods for achieving desired results. Management take-away from India Pak Match which can deliver outstanding results for the management of your business are: 1. Team effort 2. Following the Process 3. Taking opportunities 4. Sustenance Here’s How PLANNED VICTORY can be achieved! 1. Team effort: Equal involvement and determination of each team member to reach the goal become very important as human behavior is formulated by the surrounding. Our social environment should always motivate us to push forward every single time we fail. It can only be created if the people around you are of equal energy to put in such a level of excitement throughout the process of work. We can indeed say that Pakistan’s win was a team effort as both their batting as well as bowling lines played their part with great determination and worked as a team to make the win worth celebrating. 2. Following the process: There’s no simple formula other than ‘having a well-researched planning’ to succeed in life. Every battle won will have a massive amount of planning behind it. Having a good plan requires strict enforcement to reach the goal. 80% of the results can be achieved by simply following the process as planned. It is said that half of the battle is won if the process is followed thoroughly to solve every stumbling block coming towards you. 3. Taking opportunities: It’s a mind game, no challenge in it. Opportunities will not come knocking on your doors when you want them. You have to find them and start working on their way as you go along. Every problem is an opportunity in a business that can either be turned into profit or a strong arm to do things in a better way. India-Pak T20 showed it best when the Pak team scored for every bad ball and did justice to good ones. That’s how ‘taking opportunity’ looks like. 4. Sustenance: Doing as planned and keep doing it is what Sustenance is all about. You cannot achieve your goals in a single day. Working hard on the parameters that have a high probability of success is the key to overcoming failure and paving the path for victory. Strategically formulated plans never fail and always help to reach a certain level where confidence is built automatically. Businesses can automatically work for sustenance once the proper strategy is followed and provide a path for the growth of any business. Whether it is a cricket match or a struggling business, overcoming the possibility of losing is a must. Faber Infinite Consulting extends its service to turn any losing game into a victorious one with the formula of Organizational Transformation Framework. Shaking hands with Faber Infinite is the first step any struggling entrepreneurs or industries have to do to land on the path of success. Written By Faber Aleena Thomas And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [4 Atomic Habits for Massive Growth by James Clear](https://faberinfinite.com/atomic-habits-for-massive-growth/):   This Transformation Tuesday sharing insights from the book, ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear for transforming your journey towards success easy with simple yet powerful methods. The lagging measure of your habits decides the outcome and the time invested in it decides the margin of success and failure. ‘Atomic Habits’ navigates through the ocean of minute details we tend to neglect in our daily routine which in fact have a great impact on our lives for achieving the desired result out of it.  We always tend to focus on hard unachievable goals which just have a 50% probable chance to reach. But when it comes to easy tasks which have incredible power that can compound growth only by inculcating them in your daily habits. These are habits that are easy to carry out but have big results if followed with persistence.  According to James Clear, there is a versus concept between Goal and System. The goal is the end of means whereas the System is the means towards the end we must intend to achieve. Therefore, developing such a system that consists of valuable result-oriented practices becomes very important. Atomic Habits provides us the insight to develop those systems which are obvious, easy, attractive, and satisfying. ‘Habits’ are built over days whether it is good or bad, it is a choice we make for ‘who we wish to become’ & ‘what we want to achieve. It is always advised that habits develop as you repeat the actions for which you are rewarded and avoid the actions for which you are punished. In this compilation of podcasts from successful people around all fields, one common process each followed was building up good habits which kept them motivated throughout the success journey.  KEY UNAVOIDABLE HABITS FOR THE SUCCESS JOURNEY are: Reading: Make reading a staple habit. It helps to train your brain to process ideas and activities for a successful career. Integrating reading into the daily routine is like taking in nutritious food daily for a healthy lifestyle but with a pinch of new information every single day. Sound sleep: One of the things people sacrifice in the journey for achieving their goal is ‘Sleep’. It is a very wrong habit as it not only affects the health but also restrain one’s capacity to think and impact in decision making which for any business is bad to have. Businesses cannot afford bad decision-makers. No matter how hard effort you put into your work, all of it will be wasted if you can’t think straight and continue making mistakes by taking wrong decisions. Thus, getting a good amount of sleep is a most needed habit for all those who are set to sail their ship for a successful journey. Money Management: To be successful you must grow the habit of a balanced flow of money and avoid going broke such that you are able to overcome every hurdle with minimum risks. Each day should be an investment for the future only when you develop the habit of money management in the initial stage. Top entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos, David Klein are excellent examples to learn money management skills.  Prioritize the task list: Develop a habit to work on high work value tasks by which one can learn to deliver the best possible result for moving forward towards the set goals. The only difference between successful people and others is the quality of work they do. Both work the same number of hours but one achieves success and the other does not, the reason is they refuse to get stuck up on low-key tasks and force themselves to grow with the quality of high-value tasks they prioritize to work upon. Thus, paying attention to ‘atomic habits’ for a long period of time always leads to the best outcomes. As Aristotle quoted, ‘Good habits formed at youth make all the difference’ to build for a future with surety of success. Quality habits and adhering to them is the simple but effective formula for reaching the goal you aimed for. Written By Faber Aleena Thomas And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya Image Source – https://bit.ly/3q1tam2
- [A Basic, Hardworking, Best Pioneer!](https://faberinfinite.com/a-basic-hardworking-best-pioneer/): Everybody needs to be effective, however, a couple of individuals realize how to approach accomplishing their objectives. We should live by a bunch of thoughts to be effective. We should follow the five standards of an effective life: think beyond practical boundaries, buckle down, get familiar with consistency, appreciate life, and be consistent with ourselves. Albeit these standards have all the earmarks of being basic, understanding them requires time and exertion. Joining these standards may bring about bewildering results. A couple of experts know about these rules and how to utilize them in their day-to-day routines to be moving pioneers and one of them is an Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur, and chairman of Tata Group – Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata. JRD TATA and his Life JRD was the youngest member of the Tata Sons board when he was raised to the highest position in the Tata group in 1938, taking over as Chairman from Sir Nowroji Saklatvala. During his 50-year tenure, the company expanded into chemicals, vehicles, tea, and information technology. JRD advocated for the hiring of specialists, breaking with the Indian business habit of having members of one’s own family handle separate enterprises. He transformed the Tata group into a commercial federation that fostered entrepreneurial talent and skill. Long before his death, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata came to embody an idealized vision of Indianness: progressive, kind, ethical, and compassionate. It didn’t matter if the country had failed this idealistic test. JRD, as he was known to commoners and kings alike, had long since surpassed the limitations of his surroundings. The transformation of JRD from a thoughtful but self-indulgent young man to a pan-Indian symbol loved even by individuals who understood nothing about business is the crux of the JRD tale. Managing the affairs of a commercial empire as vast and complex as the Tatas would have been a monumental challenge in and of itself, but JRD had much more to offer. He was instrumental in raising India’s scientific, medicinal, and artistic quotients. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Sciences, and National Centre for the Performing Arts, all models of excellence in their respective fields, would not have been realized without JRD’s unwavering support. JRD was a quiet and introverted man, despite his public appearance. He never sought honors, yet he was showered with them, much to his chagrin. How should someone have such significant regard and love in their lives? Quest for a stimulating wellspring of motivation. If you can DREAM it, You can Do it. Put forth a strong attempt to achieve your Dreams. Continue with your learning for the span of your life. Put your life into achieving your target. In particular, trying all the above thoughts, in reality, is basic. You will not have the option to achieve it later on the off chance that you don’t begin doing what your heart wants at this moment. SO START NOW! Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [The world is brimming with ideas... Take Action Now!](https://faberinfinite.com/the-world-is-brimming-with-ideas-take-action-now/): Everyone wants to be successful, but few people know how to work for it. In order to be successful, we must live by a set of ideals. Dreaming big, working hard, learning every day, enjoying life, and being true to oneself are the five principles of a successful life that we must follow. These concepts appear to be straightforward, yet mastering them takes time and effort. Combining all of these ideas might provide incredible outcomes.  Only a few masters are aware of these guidelines and how to use them in their daily lives in order to be inspirational leaders and one of them is an Indian-American corporate entrepreneur who served as PepsiCo’s chairwoman and chief executive officer (CEO) – Indra Nooyi! Indra Nooyi was tearing down boundaries and prepared to conquer the world at a time when Indian females were only taught enough to be married. Nooyi began her career with a bachelor’s degree in science and went on to become the first female CEO of one of the world’s largest businesses, Pepsico. She paved the door for many Indian women in business and the corporate world. Let’s learn more about Indira Nooyi and her remarkable success story! Inspirational Fact: Indra Nooyi is a workmate of the World Economic Forum’s Foundation Board, the International Rescue Committee’s Board of Directors, Catalyst, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Board of Directors. PepsiCo and Beyond! Indra Nooyi entered PepsiCo in 1994 as senior vice president of corporate strategy and growth. Her perseverance, vision, strategic alignment, and business expertise earned her the post of CEO in October 2006, and she was also named chairman of the board the following year. In the 42-year history of PepsiCo, she was the fifth chairman and CEO. Despite this, Nooyi was the first woman to manage the soft-drink and snack-food giant, and she was one of just 11 female CEOs in the Fortune 500. Many prominent people, journalists, corporate stakeholders, and strategists from across the world praised and respected her talents, as well as PepsiCo’s fresh approach and vision. Pepsico’s worth rose dramatically as a result of her. All of this was made possible by her steadfast and constant leadership. Motivational Fact: Indra Nooyi has also received many honorary degrees from major and recognized universities such as North Carolina State University, University of Warwick, Pennsylvania State University, Cranfield University, and others. Achievements and Applause Indra Nooyi is without a doubt a living influencer and an inspirational individual who has constantly enhanced India’s prominence. How can someone have such admiration and adulation in their lives? Look around for an energizing source of motivation. If you can DREAM it, You can Do it. WORK EXTREMELY HARD to achieve your Dreams. Continue your learning throughout your life. Invest your life in achieving your goal. Assist people in their climb. We must learn from Indra Nooyi’s key teachings and put them into practice as soon as possible!Indeed, she is the formidable boss woman who has properly demonstrated to the world that Indian women are equal to others and can even head a company as large as PepsiCo provided she has the resolve, presence of mind, and expertise. She has made both India and the United States proud with her constant contribution and dedication. Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Hope Leads The Way!](https://faberinfinite.com/hope-leads-the-way/): In a society concerned with assessing ability and competence, we frequently overlook the critical role of inspiration. Inspiration allows us to see new possibilities by helping us to soar above our daily experiences and constraints. Inspiration changes a person’s view of their own potential, moving them from apathy to possibilities. Inspiration is frequently overlooked because of its elusive nature. Several leaders have accomplished great things by pure determination, talents, skills, and so much more, and they should be honored. They all believed in themselves and worked hard to attain their goals. Reaching what you want isn’t always easy; getting where you want to go requires a lot of effort. This Transformation Tuesday, sharing the story of yet another inspiring hero: The narrative of the United States’s 44th President: Barack Hussein Obama II was the 44th President of the United States of America. He is a classic American saga: core values, a strong family background, hard labor and education as a means of advancement, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in providing service to others. Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected president of the United States when he was elected in 2008. Most would not have predicted an African American president, given the biases of the period (many of them owned slaves). As president-elect, Obama faced several problems, including the economy’s collapse, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the threat of terrorism. Obama was inaugurated in front of an estimated 1.8 million spectators, and he promised massive federal expenditure to resuscitate the economy and restore America’s global standing. Obama always wanted to write a book and so he addressed the challenges of establishing his identity as an adolescent in his biography Dreams from My Father which has become famous worldwide. Obama never loses his resolve, his peace, or his desire to assist others. He has always felt that there is only one life, so why waste it by not assisting those in need? Sharing four definite strategies to boost your developing resolve and tenacity. (Learnings from Obama’s Life) Instead of being in motion, concentrate on doing action. Professionals keep to their schedules, but amateurs let life to get in the way. Make it as simple as possible for people to do the right thing. Try to keep your habit streak going. Most importantly, putting all the above ideas into practice in the real world is critical. You won’t be able to accomplish it later if you don’t start doing what your heart desires right now. SO START NOW! Image Source – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barack-Obama Written and Compiled By Faber Khushi and Faber Mayuri
- [Gandhi - a concept for everyone!](https://faberinfinite.com/gandhi-a-concept-for-everyone/): India may be a diverse country. If there was one individual who brought everyone together, made people rise above divisions, fought colonialism, and raised India’s international standing, during a world when terrorism, radicalization, extremism, and senseless hatred were dividing nations and civilizations, his clarion appeals for peace and Ahimsa had the power to bring mankind together. He was none other than – Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas have remained as relevant within the twenty-first century as they were in his days, and that they have provided answers to several of the world’s issues. This Transformation Tuesday sharing one of all the finest leader’s stories with you- MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI. Great achievements by the most effective that we will recreate: What Gandhi accomplished in his lifetime was nothing wanting a miracle. Scores of Indians idolized him, and he was treasured by everybody. He emphasized the abolition of untouchability, Hindu-Muslim harmony, literacy, and therefore the development of India as a good nation. His honesty and self-sacrifice enthralled the group. They were willing to die for the country’s freedom from foreign forces if he asked them to. His legacy endures. His values, commitment, and the goal still inspire the country finally these years. His strategy for gaining India’s independence was one-of-a-kind. To realize his aim, he taught and practiced nonviolence and non-cooperation. He ran campaigns to assist the poor, alleviate poverty, increase women’s rights, promote religious and ethnic harmony, abolish untouchability, and more. Oneness in our world can only be attained by learning to unify despite differences instead of insisting on unity without them. Similarly, peaceful society is often created only by creating and fostering the spirit of tolerance towards diversity in its individuals. Tolerance of disturbances of peace is that the key to achieving peace in life. How can anybody consider these life-changing ideas and put them into practice? Make a vision board for yourself. Begin even before inspiration strikes. Maintain your enthusiasm. Be aware of your mission. Figure out your strategy. Accomplish your objectives. You can stay motivated and inspired by incorporating all these things into your life. This passion will assist you in achieving your goals. A very good soul is one that understands the anguish of others. It was this mentality that drove Gandhiji to measure for the sake of others. Today, we, the 1.3 billion Indians, are united in our commitment to realizing Bapu’s vision for a country to which he devoted his life. Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Perfection is a Habit at Goldi Solar](https://faberinfinite.com/perfection-is-a-habit-at-goldi-solar/): As a part of our Client Interview series, we are delighted to share our chat with Mr. Bharat Bhut – Co-Founder and Director at Goldi Solar. Goldi Solar is a leading solar module manufacturer headquartered in Surat, India. It is a pleasure to connect with such a successful entrepreneur and team, which is one of India’s largest manufacturers of solar modules. A few takeaways from the chat below – Change is the only constant  Adaptability to change – is the key Believe in giving back to the society Quality is an Attitude Perfection is a Habit Click here to check the video:  https://youtu.be/lT4O1wk2V4M We sincerely thank Mr. Bharat Bhut and team Goldi Solar for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri and Faber Khushi
- [Want to be in the Top 4% organizations to survive?](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-be-in-the-top-4-organizations-to-survive/): The transition from one generation to the next is one of the most distressing processes a company can go through. Facts from research say only 13% of family businesses in India survive, and only 4% organizations survive to the 4th generation. Since the early 1980s, academics have been studying family businesses as a unique and significant category of industry. Today, family-owned companies are regarded as essential and active players in the global economy. In their long-term focus, devotion to quality (which is frequently linked with the family name), and care and concern for employees, family owned companies may have certain benefits over other commercial organizations. However, because of the intersection of family and commercial concerns, family firms confront a unique set of management challenges. ISSUES IN FAMILY MANAGED BUSINESS A family managed business may be defined as the interplay of two distinct but interconnected systems—the business and the family—with unclear borders and varied regulations. Family managed companies can involve a variety of family members in various business positions, such as spouses and wives, parents and children, extended families, and several generations acting as stakeholders, board members, working partners, advisers, and workers. Some of the challenges the Family Managed business faces are as follows: Stagnant Business Low Margins Person Driven Approach Resistance to change KEY POINTERS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING A FAMILY BUSINESS Family managed companies must be highly oriented towards system driven approach and must follow a methodical strategy Effective decision-making is essential Balancing family members’ engagement and performance management in accordance with company demands Need for a robust governance framework cannot be undermined, as well as succession planning Adopting smart technology and adapting to the changing times is essential for growth in these different times Team Faber Infinite has been assisting over more than 50 family-owned businesses across industries and geographies. By supporting Family Managed Businesses across the world, Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been able to deliver phenomenal results. With our skills and expertise, Team Faber has been able to assist family managed businesses and help them overcome their challenges with best possible solutions. Team Faber Infinite has assisted family managed businesses across sectors, with a few to mention below; FIBC / Technical Textile Pharmaceuticals & Life sciences Engineering Plastics and Packaging Consumer Goods and many more Parameters improved by Faber Infinite in family managed businesses are as follows: Productivity & Production improvement Cost optimization – Profitability Improvement Reduction in manpower cost Throughput improvement and many more. To succeed, a family managed business must keep lines of communication open, make use of strategic planning tools, proven operational excellence methods and engage the assistance of outside advisors as needed. Reach out team Faber Infinite Consulting for further details on how our expert team can add value to your family managed business. Written and Compiled By Faber Mayuri and Faber Khushi
- [Crafting a Massive Movement Ground Up](https://faberinfinite.com/crafting-a-massive-movement-ground-up/): As a part of our Infinite Interview series, we are delighted to share our chat with Mr. Nand Kishore Chaudhary – Chairman & Managing Director at Jaipur Rugs. Jaipur Rugs Foundation is best example of connecting the poorest of the poor with the richest of the rich by enhancing capabilities at the grassroots. It is a pleasure to chat with this globally acclaimed social entrepreneur, who is one of India’s largest manufacturers of hand knotted rugs and is often referred to as ‘Gandhi of the Carpet Industry’. A few takeaways from the chat below – Heart to heart connection with the employees is the key The thought that I know everything, hinders the success of any individual. So Mr. Chaudhary started this initiative of the Higher School of Unlearning Self-management starts with self-awareness Be yourself Go deeper into your passion and core. The deeper you go, it is harder for your global competitors to cope Do not convert passion into fever. Convert your passion into compassion Be patient with your passion Click here to check the video:   https://youtu.be/0ZWKJvNbdoI We sincerely thank Mr. Nand Kishore Chaudhary and team Jaipur Rugs for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck! Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri and Faber Khushi
- [Building Excellence Frameworks with Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-frameworks-with-faber-infinite/): Challenges are an inevitable aspect of the business. The more locations/units a company has, the greater the problems. It will take more work, time, and resources to transform company goals into actions and see them through. Due to performance differences between various divisions and locations, there may be roadblocks in attaining targeted Business and Operational objectives. Localized improvements in workflows and manufacturing processes may result in localized islands of excellence, but their influence on customer service, quality, and cost may be restricted. A vision that covers all elements of finance, as well as the operational health of the company, including safety, health, security, environmental, and social issues at all facilities of the organization, should be embedded in daily work activities at all levels of the organization. Different organizational units may use different technologies, productivity, and efficiency levels, needs, production constraints, and other obstacles. As a result, businesses do not develop and thrive as quickly as they could, and they do not attain the levels of profitability that they should. As a result, it is critical to address all of these concerns as soon as possible. Uniform Business & Operational Excellence System has been a wonderful solution for overcoming these constraints. What is the Uniform Business & Operational Excellence System? Your organization’s specific needs are taken into consideration while designing this Excellence Framework. It focuses on several aspects of your organization’s performance that it wants to improve, including sustainability, innovation, safety, quality, and profitability. Improve the organization’s productivity while cutting expenses and ensuring that the organization is in the desired position despite having limited resources.  A few of the following key features that make it possible: This Excellence Framework has the potential to deliver: Businesses and industries throughout the world and in different sectors are utilizing Business & Operational Excellence Frameworks with a high degree of success. Toyota Production System (TPS), or Aditya Birla Business Excellence Framework, or other Building excellence frameworks like Baldrige Excellence Framework or EFQM Excellence Model are few examples, which are overarching across the sectors and industries.  Faber Infinite Consulting provides a complete program for building a consistent Business and Operational Excellence System across all your units to attain a standard uniform growth system. Our experienced team handholds you and your team through the process of developing a strong foundation for your company, from the establishment of the Core Advisory Committee through Business Excellence Champions at all levels, as well as nurturing and supporting the Corporate Business Excellence Team (CBET). All of this assures that your company has a solid foundation for rapid expansion and success. Reach out to our expert team, to craft a unique business excellence framework customized to suit your organization, sector, size, and geography. Ready to unlock the power of excellence in your organization? Fill out the form below and gain access to exclusive insights and strategies for building excellence frameworks with Faber Infinite. Take the first step towards achieving exceptional results and creating a culture of excellence! Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [For Faster, Better and Efficient Tomorrow](https://faberinfinite.com/for-faster-better-and-efficient-tomorrow/): Employee Training and Development is vital for the ongoing success of every organization. It not only enables employees to develop skills and proficiencies but also enhances organizational performance. Faber Infinite offers a wide range of training programs that have been well received by today’s most demanding employers. Sharing glimpses of yet another successful training program conducted for a family managed business in the pharmaceutical domain, that is run by the fourth generation. This training workshop assisted participants in identifying operational excellence issues in their workplace and accelerating Operational Excellence journey. Along with the tutorials, the workshop included real-life case studies and group learning, which culminated in engaging and interactive workshops that increased retention and application. This collaboration has aided the client teams in developing some fantastic actionable points that will Enhance the day to day operations Encourage active participation and learning exercises to keep the business running smoothly and Ensure that all workforce productivity is maximized Objective of the training workshop: Accelerate the Operational Excellence journey – Being Faster, Better and more Efficient Understanding what it means to be world class Taking advantage of the opportunities in these tough times The five-day training workshop was combination of interactive tutorials, group work, simulated group exercises which helped the participants in experiential learning. Training Feedbacks: We had a lot of fun while learning, which helped us retain the information much more effectively and successfully. As a result of the training’s interactive aspect and its relevance to the topic, it was highly effective. Other than that, the activities were a blast! A wide range of activities and films were used to support the theoretical content presented in the lectures. In other training courses, you are unlikely to encounter such detailed homework. Incorporating experiential learning in the training sessions enabled us to relax and digest the presentations in a more effective manner. In addition, the activities were enjoyable and related to the training workshop in a positive way. Operational Excellence and Lean Management were introduced to us in a very effective way. Through exercises and activities, the training faculty kept the session lively and participatory. Participants in action during the training program: With the changing current times, the competition in the modern world has become fierce. Companies must train their employees and workforce in order to produce a better and more profitable product or service for the company. Customized training workshops by Faber Infinite Consulting for better efficiencies and sustainability have been enriching for several clients. Reach out to us for designing and conducting customized learning programs for your organization and teams. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri and Faber Khushi
- [Live for dreams that don’t let you sleep!](https://faberinfinite.com/live-for-dreams-that-dont-let-you-sleep/): Commitment is a feature that is demonstrated when you have decided to pursue something and will not be diverted by anything. We face a variety of challenges on daily basis, which is why learning to be determined is so essential in our lives. Several leaders have achieved incredible feats via pure willpower, powers, skills, and so much more. These people never lost trust in themselves and worked relentlessly to achieve their objectives. Reaching what you want isn’t always easy; getting where you want to go takes a lot of effort. This Transformation Tuesday, sharing the story of a determined leader from India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, India’s highly regarded President and Missile Man: The Man Who Taught Us to Be Human First! Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, popularly known as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, served as India’s 11th President from 2002 until 2007. Popularly known as the People’s President, he was the driving force behind India’s achievement of nuclear status in the global sphere and was named the “Missile Man of India” for his efforts on ballistic missile and space rocket technology development. He was one of those well-liked people in this nation who made a significant contribution to our society as a scientist, leader, and President. Kalam visited several educational institutes and universities in India as a visiting lecturer after his tenure as President ended. He enjoyed sharing his expertise and inspiring others to see the larger picture of life. Kalam, who was born into a poor household, quickly realized that he had to pay for his own education in whatever way he could. Kalam began selling newspapers at a young age to support himself and his family. Money, on the other hand, never deterred him from pursuing knowledge. His insatiable desire to learn drove him to complete his studies effectively. After graduating from the Institute of Technology in Madras with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1960, he worked as a scientist with the Defense Research and Development Organization’s DRDO or Aeronautical Development Establishment. He was the one who turned our nation into nuclear power in the purest sense. India carried out its first nuclear test in 1974, under the supervision of Dr. Kalam. After that, in 1988, followed the Pokhran –II. Dr. Kalam used these nuclear tests to demonstrate India’s position and might in nuclear technology to the rest of the world. If Mr. Kalam can raise from zero to one of the best scientists in the world, then anyone can achieve their goals and reach the pinnacle of success. SHARING SOME WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S DETERMINATION! Encourage yourself in your goals. Keep a clear image of where your company is going every day. Manage your priorities. Authorize tasks. Implement change that motivates your employees Keep unambiguous communication Determination is a task that requires all your power to complete, not just a few days of work. When you’re committed to anything, you don’t just start working on it for a few days and then quit. Both external and internal forces will conspire against you. This will put your leadership abilities to the test; stay focused and always strive toward your team’s goal. Examine your alternatives and select the one that is ideal for your team. As a leader, you must have a major character that “doesn’t give up easy.” Continue to strive for your objective until you accomplish it.” Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri image source – https://bit.ly/3uvPkgF
- [Start with a BIG VISION.](https://faberinfinite.com/start-with-a-big-vision/): Diligence and the skill to never give up are critical for anybody who has goals and aspirations they want to achieve. Every day brings new obstacles, which is why learning how to be determined is so important. Several leaders have risen to greatness from obscurity via their sheer will, strength, abilities, and so on. These entrepreneurs never gave up on their dreams because they believed in themselves and battled hard to make them a reality. When it comes to achieving your goals, it isn’t always as simple as it seems. Reading the success tales of renowned professionals activates the motivational enzyme in us, and we all want to follow in their footsteps on the road to success. Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, a real rags-to-riches story, is unquestionably India’s most ambitious entrepreneur. Dhirubhai was born in a Gujarati household and came to Yemen at the age of 16 to work as a dispatch clerk for A. Besse & Co. Relocating to India from the United Arab Emirates, he created the Reliance Commercial Corporation with just Rs. 15000 capital.  As a young man from Naroda, Gujarat, Dhirubhai established his first textile mill and the “Vimal” brand. A few years later, he ventured out into petrochemicals and other industries like telecom and IT. He also invested in retail and textiles. It was he who climbed from obscurity to build India’s greatest industrial empire and become one of the world’s wealthiest individuals as a result. He rewrote the corporate history of India, earning him a place on Forbes’ exclusive list of the world’s wealthiest people. He was also named one of Asia’s top 50 businesspeople by the Sunday Times. He didn’t do things the usual way, and as a result, his business tactics were frequently the subject of criticism, and as a result, he was always at odds with the public.  Throughout his career, he received a slew of honors and recognition. Chemtech Foundation and Chemical Engineering World-honored him with the ‘Man of the Century award in 2000 for his contributions to the expansion and development of India’s chemical sector.Dhirubhai was the epitome of tenacity and drive. He was confident in his goals and pursued them to the fullest. Thus, just as Dhirubhai Ambani climbed from obscurity to build one of the world’s most successful enterprises, any organization can accomplish the same with the right strategy and tactics. How can you overcome setbacks to achieve success? Encourage yourself in your goals. Keep a clear image of where your company is going each day. Priority setting and management. Delegation of tasks, and much more. The above-mentioned ideas will alter your organization’s narrative and help you be successful. But success isn’t everything, and neither is failure. It is the will to keep going that matters. A never-ending cycle of growth and the desire to make growth a continuous phenomenon is what motivates us all to grow both personally and professionally. Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya Image Source – https://bit.ly/3tZppxe
- [After a Storm Comes a Calm](https://faberinfinite.com/after-a-storm-comes-a-calm/): For everyone to accomplish and complete a task, patience and never giving up are crucial attributes. We confront several problems daily, which is why learning how to be determined is so important in our life. Several unexpected experiences have been told by those who never gave up, regardless of the difficult scenario. Their determination, their abilities, their skills and much more have brought them unbelievable achievements. These folks have never lost their hope and have struggled persistently to realise their dreams. Acquiring what you want isn’t always simple; getting where you want to go requires a significant amount of effort. This Transformation Tuesday, sharing a handful of short stories of India’s Unheard Determined Leaders. PATIENCE AND NEVER GIVE UP ON HOPE. There was once a group of traders that travelled from the desert to another location to sell their wares. The tradesman’s leader consulted with the locals and discovered that during the day, the blazing sun heats up the fine sand to the point that no one can walk on it. In addition, crossing the desert takes about three nights. The leader hired a guide to assist them in crossing the desert at night. The trek began with the guide leading the route and the businessmen following in their different caravans drawn by camels. They were able to cross 3/4 of the desert after a few nights. After a while, the guide relaxed and fell asleep, thinking it was the last night before we crossed the desert. As a result, his camel began to veer to the side. They all went in a large circle to the same area they began last night. Next morning, everyone realised that they were back at last night’s camp with very little water. And the commander and guide began to blame each other for survival. The Leader took courage and decided to explore the area and discovered a bunch of grass. He understood that it’s incredibly hard for the grass to thrive in this warm desert without water. And then he called other traders and said we’re going to dig this grassy region since water is possible here. Everyone agreed and began digging, soon finding a big boulder that was hard to break. They kept working hard.” The leader then placed his ear against the enormous rock and heard water running.  As a result, they use all their strength to break the rock. The rock soon cracked open, and water flowed forth. Everyone was relieved, and they resumed their trek by taking the lead in the front. A leader’s constant companions: Encourage your vision. Keep a clear picture of where your organisation goes every day before your personnel Priority management Tasks to delegate Change that motivates Emergency generation Clear communication Actively listening Risk management Patience is not just a few days labour, it’s a task with all your strength to accomplish. You do not just start to work on something for a few days when you are determined and then stop but finish it. You will face obstacles from both external and internal sources. That can put your leadership skills to the test—do not lose focus and keep always working toward your team’s goal. Examine the options available to you and choose what is best for your team. “Don’t give up easily,” is the main character you require as a leader. Continue to try until you achieve your goal.” Written and Compiled by Faber Mayuri and Faber Khushi
- [We become what we think!](https://faberinfinite.com/we-become-what-we-think-about/): We often underestimate the vital function of inspiration in a world obsessed with judging aptitude and competence. Inspiration permits us to glimpse new possibilities by allowing us to rise above our everyday experiences and limits. Inspiration affects a person’s perception of their own potential, propelling them from indifference to possibility. Because of its elusive character, inspiration is sometimes neglected. Several unsung heroes have achieved incredible feats via their sheer willpower, powers, skills, and so much more, and they deserve to be celebrated. All of them believed in themselves and worked hard to achieve their ambitions. Reaching what you want isn’t always straightforward; getting where you want to go necessitates considerable work. This Transformation today, sharing the story of yet another inspiring hero from Kenya. Inspiring experience of Kenyan women. When it comes to the power of individual entrepreneurs, Dr. Jennifer Riria is a shining example. Kenyan microfinance business was completely revolutionized by her efforts to enhance the lives of women. It is thanks to her efforts that tens of thousands of Kenyan women now have access to financing, which was previously unavailable to them. In 1991, there were some issues with Kenya Women Finance Trust, the predecessor to today’s Kenya Women Microfinance Bank, which is a subsidiary of Kenya Women Holding (KWH). Without any prior financial knowledge, Jennifer fearlessly took over the firm and sought out the education, support, and advice from others around her, regardless of the fact that she had no prior financial industry experience.  This gave her an advantage because she had firsthand knowledge of what poverty and hunger are, and she was aware that these ladies required financial assistance if they wanted to improve their lives. Under her leadership, the bank has evolved into a model microfinance organization, achieving its objective, and positively improving the lives of Kenyan women over the past decade. As a matter of fact, it was awarded the first Women’s World Banking Excellence Award in Leadership in 2011. This award is granted to the institution in the network that exemplifies both excellence in women leadership and excellence in performance when it comes to women leaders. Why Inspiration Matters? Recreation, perfection, and approach motivation are the three primary characteristics of inspiration. First and foremost, inspiration occurs naturally and without conscious effort. We can’t help but be inspired, even when we’re dealing with our more animalistic and self-serving worries. Transcendence is typically accompanied by a moment of clarity and the recognition of fresh opportunities. There is often a “seeing” of something one has never seen before in this moment of clarity (but that was probably always there). Another form of motivation is a person’s desire to transmit or express or implement a fresh concept. A collection of inspiring slogans that can benefit you and your organization. Visionary leadership. Make a stronger connection to a greater sense of purpose and contribution. Concentrate on your customers and your employees. Acknowledge the Coach’s Role. Utilize stories, images, and symbols to bring your ideas to life. Make Yourself Vulnerable. Humility is the key to serving your people. Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. To progress personally and professionally, we all need to be motivated by a never-ending cycle of improvements. Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya.
- [Rome Was Not Built in a Day, But They Were Laying Bricks Every Hour!](https://faberinfinite.com/rome-was-not-built-in-a-day-but-they-were-laying-bricks-every-hour/): Determination is a quality that is displayed when you have made the decision to pursue something and will not be distracted by anything. We encounter several problems on a daily basis, which is why mastering how to be determined is so important in our life. Several unsung heroes have achieved tremendous achievements via their sheer determination, powers, skills, and so much more. These individuals never lost faith in themselves and worked tirelessly to realize their goals. Getting what you want isn’t always simple; getting where you want to go requires a significant amount of effort. This Transformation Tuesday, sharing the story of yet another determined hero from India. Determination of the Mountain Man Dashrath Manjhi, widely known as the “Mountain Man,” is a legend who established that nothing is truly impossible. His life demonstrates that a small man with no money or influence can take on a powerful mountain. After his wife passed away on the way to hospital trying to cross a mountain, Manjhi, out of sheer rage, set on a quest to carve a road through the treacherous mountain. His 22 years of hard effort paid off, as the road he built is now used by the people. Manjhi’s persistent desire to cut the massive mountain sends a strong message that any obstacle can be overcome if one keeps one’s focus on the result. There may be many such change leaders in our presence who have taken matters into their own hands.  In our business realms, there are many similarities to be found in order to create a determined ecosystem with all inspiring stakeholders. Determination is a critical component for economic success and to achieve enhanced productivity levels. According to a study, determined employees will always strive for a “better” way to complete a task. Determination isn’t limited to a few days of work, it’s a commitment to completing a task with all your great power. When you are determined, you don’t just start working on something for a couple of days and then stop, but you finish it. Sharing 4 sure ways to strengthen your building determination & grit (Adapted from Atomic Habits: Walk Slowly, But Never Backward. The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning. “Focus on taking action, not being in motion.” The Goldilocks Rule—How to Stay Determined in Life and Work. Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference. “Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way. Organize your environment in a way that facilitates success. Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort. “Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.” When you get off course, get back on track. Try to keep your habit streak alive. “Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.” And, perhaps most crucially, putting these concepts into action in the actual world is vital. And if you don’t start doing what your heart desires right now, you won’t be able to do it later. START NOW, begin now, find an excuse later! Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi And Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [PERSIST, NEVER GIVE UP.](https://faberinfinite.com/persist-never-give-up/): Persistence and never giving up are essential qualities for anyone pursuing goals and dreams. We face numerous challenges on a daily basis, which is why it is critical to learn how to be determined in our lives. There have been several unsung heroes who have accomplished incredible things via their sheer resolve, powers, skills, and so much more. These people never lost hope in themselves and fought relentlessly to make their ambitions a reality. Getting what you want isn’t always easy; you have to put in a lot of effort to go where you want to go. This Transformation Tuesday, sharing a couple of such stories of Unheard Heroes of India. One of them is Shri Gandhara Tilak Katnam from India – the road doctor from Hyderabad. In his backseat, this man keeps a bag of mixed gravel to patch potholes wherever he sees them. Gangadhara Tilak Katnam is a retired employee of Railway. He guaranteed to take matters into his own hands after noticing that the government was paying little attention to the number of potholes on Hyderabad’s roads. He is a man on a mission to repair all of Hyderabad’s potholes so that people can commute safely. He’s repaired 1,125 potholes on Hyderabad’s roadways thus far.   Another example of such a change maker is Shri Daripalli Ramaiah, an Indian social worker noted for his social forestry projects. He is also known as Chetla (trees) Ramaiah and Vanajeevi (forest being) Ramaiah. For his essential contribution to increasing forest cover, he was awarded the Padma Shri award in 2017. Rather than lecturing on the benefits, Ramaiah put the famous saying “Plant a tree and save a life” into action. Locals know him as a man who carries seeds in his pockets and rides his bicycle for miles while carrying an overabundance of saplings. He understands the need of planting trees to safeguard our ecosystem and plants saplings in every barren place he passes. There could be plenty of such change leaders around us who took up the matters in their own hands. A lot of parallels can be drawn in our corporate worlds as well to build a motivated ecosystem with all inspiring stakeholders. Motivation management is thus a vital component of business success; with increased productivity, a firm can attain higher levels of production. Motivated employees, according to research, will: always strive for a “better” approach to execute a task.  The inner state of mind that originates and governs action toward business goals is referred to as motivation. They are tailored to meet the demands of individuals. Understanding the needs of employees and identifying their real reasons is the process of motivating them to take action.  How motivation can save your organization? The importance of motivation in a company cannot be overstated. It’s a straightforward procedure that necessitates an understanding of human psychological behavior. Such an understanding and right action, so igniting an employee’s motives, aids in launching and maintaining activity, as well as greatly assisting in the achievement of corporate goals. More crucially, because motivation is not a constant state of mind, it is a variable that can be altered. Managers that have the ability to impact motivation can help their employees perform better. We already know that motivation is highly personal, and what motivates one employee may not motivate another. Hence, it is much more essential for a manager to comprehend how to encourage an employee to create when workplace components, such as job design and work environment, are combined with organizational components, such as business culture and workplace politics. Motivation is what any organization needs these days to get work done, achieve the greatest potential results, and achieve the top position. Written by Faber Khushi Trivedi and Compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya.
- [Business Excellence for Accelerated Growth - Faber](https://faberinfinite.com/business-excellence-for-accelerated-growth/): Challenges are part and parcel of any business. More the locations/ units for any business, the higher the challenges. It will require more effort, time, and resources to turn business objectives into actions and realize them.  There could be hurdles in achieving desired Business and Operational results due to the performance difference between various units and locations. Localized improvements in the workflows and manufacturing processes might result in localized islands of excellence but may have a limited impact on customer service, quality, and cost.  A vision that addresses all aspects of finance, as well as operational health of the business including safety, health, security, environmental and social aspects at all facilities of the organization; should be ingrained into everyday work activities at all levels of the organization. Different units of the organization may be operating with different technologies, productivity and efficiency levels, demands, production limitations, and other challenges. As a result, businesses do not grow and flourish at the desired speed, and they do not achieve the profitability levels that they should. Hence, it is extremely essential to address all of these issues proactively. To overcome these limitations, Uniform Business & Operational Excellence System can be a perfect panacea.  What is Uniform Business & Operational Excellence System?  This said Excellence Framework customized to suit the requirements of your organization focuses primarily on sustainability, innovation, safety, quality, and profitability, as well as a variety of other factors that your company would like to improve – to maximize productivity and profitability. It boosts the firm’s performance, reduces costs, and ensures that the firm has reached its desired position with limited resources. The main enablers are as follows: This Excellence Framework can deliver  There are several success stories of Business & Operational Excellence Frameworks across geographies and industries, whether it is the Toyota Production System (TPS), or Aditya Birla Business Excellence Framework, or other excellence frameworks like Baldrige Excellence Framework or EFQM Excellence Model which are overarching across the sectors and industries.  Faber Infinite Consulting offers a comprehensive program for establishing a uniform Business and Operational Excellence System for all units to achieve a standard uniform growth system. Our expert team runs through the nuts and bolts of creating a robust framework for your organization, including the formation of the Core Advisory Committee to Business Excellence Champions at all the levels and nurturing and supporting the Corporate Business Excellence Team (CBET).  All of this ensures that your organization has a strong platform for accelerated growth and profitability.  Ready to accelerate your business growth and achieve excellence? Fill out the form below and unlock the secrets to achieving unparalleled success in today’s competitive landscape. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take your business to new heights of excellence!
- [2 Leadership Lessons we can Learn form Nelson Mandela – Faber](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-lessons-from-nelson-mandela/): Have you ever questioned organizational culture and why some people (who are not on the same team) are more successful than others? Why do various types of people within the same firm appear to be at ease with one another, lowering their show and increasing diplomacy? Why do some individuals never seem to do anything? Or why is it so difficult to promote them to the next level? This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at a few of the strategies that leaders of any organization can follow: Like the tribal chiefs have a greater influence on their tribes’ culture than others. Similarly, corporate leaders have a strong impact on their teams. Ambitious leaders concentrate on improving the team’s position by growing, adapting, and upgrading the performance. The team members reward them with “cult-like loyalty” if they succeed.  All the cultures will have different rituals, similarly, all organizations may have different cultures – except the leadership ritual. The entire team will follow the leader and the leader has to make sure that the opportunities have been given to the team.  Based on the learnings from the great Madiba Nelson Mandela, below are the two key traits of a successful leader. Care And Compassion for the team: Every team’s and the organization’s face is the team leader. Team leaders are in charge of training their teammates, developing strategies, and keeping track of their progress toward their objectives. Communication, problem-solving, organizational, and delegation abilities are essential for good leaders.  They motivate the team members to do even better the next time around. Encourage team members to assist one another to achieve their objectives and finish work in a timely and efficient manner. The team leader should take the initiative to bring the members of the team closer together.  They may work as part of a team, completing project-related activities as well as leading the team. When team members are driven to contribute to the achievement of a common goal, they are better equipped to work as a unit and achieve a common goal. A leader speaks at the last:  A good leader always allows others to speak up first. He/she will never stop giving others opportunities. Leadership is a skill that must be developed and fostered, thus anyone in charge of a team or a corporation should continue to absorb, counsel and advice. It’s not about promoting oneself to become a leader; it’s about assisting others in succeeding and thriving. The term “leadership” is frequently used to describe someone who influences others (in a group). The ultimate purpose of leadership is to get the best out of the people on your team. Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi and Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya        
- [How Medals Are Won?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-medals-are-won/): A great metamorphosis occurs when you commit to the process – never giving up, creatively overcoming setbacks and barriers, and attempting new techniques. You change as a result of the process. When it comes to winning, you see results, but you need to engage in a process when it comes to getting results.  So how do organizations get into this practice and training process and get the best results? This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at a few of the process strategies that organizations can follow:   The process of sticking to standards & practice provides the finest in all sports, whether it’s team management like hockey or an individual sport like badminton. The best outcomes are achieved when practice and process are combined, and medals are bound to be won! Like sports, a well-defined process brings out the best in profitability and sustainability in any organization. Old Paradigms In several cases, the traditional age-old corporate approach has been that it didn’t matter how you did it, what you did it for, or when you did it; all that mattered was that you get the desired results. Several corporate leaders did follow this approach then; all they cared about was the result, no matter how it was achieved. However, you won’t receive the greatest outcomes unless you focus on the process of delivering results.  Winning Paradigms Process focus, practice, training & development, standardization, preparation, and results are all steps of the new process. This approach also allows you to learn from the greatest, perform at your best, and get the best results. Because if you’re going up against the top players on the planet, you’ll have to establish that you’re the best. Training & process focus becomes a way of life, which aids in winning Olympic medals or corporate life. Whether it was javelin throw or weightlifting or hockey, they won because they believed in their abilities & process focus! The process focus can also be ascertained by the number of practice sessions, the country’s sports budget. One individual can still get 23 medals (larger than many countries total tally if the right ingredients and process steps are considered and one may also get kicked out from quarters due to lack of standards, processes & inadequate training.  Similar parallels can be drawn to the corporate scenarios as well. All aspects of the organizational transformation journey, from the zero to the gold, are dependent on your operational excellence, process focus, coaching, and people development. The outcomes are determined by how diligently one follows the processes. The sustained standardized effort will only bring you closer to achieving your goal.  Follow the process, results shall follow! Identifying goals and objectives, training, following the improvement roadmap, auditing, and having the right coaching will get you to where you belong. Written By Faber Khushi Trivedi and Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [The Future of Work – Break Free 9 to 5](https://faberinfinite.com/the-future-of-work-break-free-9-to-5/): The future of work demands flexibility for both employees and the organization. There needs to be a shift from the 9 to 5 traditional work culture to a smoother and more productive process. So how do organizations work on this shift and move to this new way of working? This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at a few of the strategies that organizations can follow: Begin from the Top Any change, be it at the employee, department or the organization level should start from the top management and the leadership. Any change needs a buy-in from the senior management. Leaders need to walk the talk. This flexible work culture would be beneficial to both the employee as well as the organization. There will be significant outcomes that can be seen in terms of better job satisfaction, reduced employee burnout, improved level of employee engagement, and better retention thus leading to improved productivity. Emphasis on results When you are promoting this new way of work focus on the results or the outcomes. Do not focus on when and where is the work done. Anytime when the focus is on the outcome then the desired results are delivered to the clients. It also enables employees to be more associated, efficient, effective and encouraged.  Clearly define the needs Clearly define which tasks you want to be done in fixed hours. Tasks like one-on-one meetings, training, feedback sessions, coaching and mentoring, and other onboarding activities should be done in fixed time and one-to-one. Fundamental activities that are important for team building should be scheduled in fixed time.  Make clear rules and regulations along with accountability Make a clear agreement for how certain tasks are to be performed, how urgent issues need to be handled, etc. Hold employees accountable for their work. Identify the dependency of various stakeholders involved in the system. Make it clear how well the teams work in case of interdependency?  Iterative efforts Shifting to a flexible working system is not a one-time process. It is a repetitive process that will need a lot of fine-tuning and adjustments over a period to be successful. Take small steps and keep experimenting to see what works and what does not work.  The future of work seems to be more flexible ways and means of working. These ways are beneficial to both the employees and the organization. Leaders and managers should use the above-mentioned ways and means to make the shift from 9 to 5 to a smoother way of working that are more productive and profitable.  Written and Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya Image Source – www.freepik.com
- [Cost Leadership: Key Principles of Operational Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/cost-leadership-key-principles-of-operational-excellence/): Today’s market is dynamic and highly competitive for several industries such as Pharmaceuticals, Automotive, Engineering, FMCG, and others. Cost pressures already existing, with pandemic, demand-supply imbalance and turbulent supply chains, it has impacted overall conversion or manufacturing costs leading to more burden on finances of the company. The cost of the raw materials has been increasing dramatically leading to erosion in margins. in this article, we will discuss about key principles of Operational Excellence. Any organization wishing to put up healthy profitability in these highly competitive markets would like to have an added advantage to gain a better position in the market with either more sales or lower costs.  Multiple cost drivers which directly impact the businesses and the overall costs could be attributed to material, labor, equipment performance, yield, energy, and many more. Progressive industry leaders are always on a drive for cost optimization which enable them cost leadership with competitive advantage of penetrating in the market. With changing times, this effort needs to be accelerated as well to keep up with the times.  It is a complex situation to drive holistic cost optimization, and not create optimized islands of cost savings that either doesn’t impact the overall system costs or impact adversely. Team Faber Infinite has successfully executed several integrated projects for driving cost leadership and making clients more competitive. At one such client location, more than 52 projects were rolled out across the organization for driving cost leadership and assisted the organization to achieve cost optimization across all the key functions saving more than INR 3 crores (30 Million). The client teams along with consultants initiated the transformation initiatives to implement a cost optimization framework across various departments of the organization, and later deploying it horizontally across all the units of the organization.  Key Principles of Operational Excellence Faber Infinite’s consultants have knowledge and experience in cost optimization methods for different sectors of industries. With several projects and assisting organizations across the globe to build cost leadership, team Faber claims to be an apt partner for your journey as well. Contact us to start & accelerate your cost optimization journey at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Contact us Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Client Speaks: Building Sustainable Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/building-sustainable-organizations/): In this edition of iFaber, we present to you yet another experience from the floors of one of our esteemed clients, Mr. Jayesh Shah – Director at SpinKnit Limited, a leading textile manufacturer from Kenya. Watch the video interview to see how a few of the key takeaways listed below can help you turntables as well. Some excellent learnings unfold in this quick video interaction.: Being competitive in the global markets can be assured only when we serve our customers with good quality products Motivated employees work better and achieve more Sustenance is the key to growth Meaningful changes in society are very fulfilling Embrace excellence to grow Check the video here – https://youtu.be/Mo-S5S3jfgM We sincerely thank Mr. Jayesh Shah and team SpinKnit Ltd for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck Sir!
- [Supporting Clients During Lockdown](https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-clients-during-lockdown-2/): Team Faber Infinite has always supported clients during unprecedented times and assisted them to deliver phenomenal results leading to productivity improvement, cost optimisation, higher profitability, and much more across industries and geographies. COVID -19 pandemic has hit hard on everyone changing the way of work, thus making organizations think about the new normal. Aligning the activities according to these different times has been challenging. Team Faber Infinite has always supported organizations by making them more productive with our unique and proven Organizational Transformational Framework©. We are glad to share glimpses of a few of the clients. Clients supported during lockdown from India: Pharmaceuticals: Our client from the Pharmaceutical Industry was facing challenges such as Low customer satisfaction, Low throughput, Low machine availability & performance, Higher Inventory Cost, High Changeover times, and many others. Results Delivered 20% improvement in throughput 50% improvement in on time in full delivery 15% improvement in machine availability & performance 15% reduction in changeover times Structured Performance Management System implemented Engineering: Another client from the Engineering Industry was facing challenges such as High throughput time, Low manpower productivity, Overall high operations cost, Low on time in full delivery, Higher inventory carrying cost, and more. Results Delivered Reduction in throughput time by 30% Improvement in Value-Added Ratio by 24% Transportation Index reduction by 224-ton meter Improvement in inventory costs by INR 1.5 crore (15 Million) Reduction in overtime by 3.5 times Laminates & Decorates: The client from Laminates & Decorates Industry was facing challenges such as High throughput time, Low productivity, High Inventory, Low OTIF, Low machine utilization, and others. Results Delivered 12% improvement in manpower productivity 25% improvement in throughput 15% improvement in machine availability & performance Flexible Packaging: Client from the Flexible Packaging Industry was facing challenges such as Rework at rewinding section, Low efficiency at printing machine, Low manpower productivity, Frequent breakdowns, Higher Inventory, Higher performance losses at extrusion, High Changeover times, High Overall Plant Wastage, and others. Results Delivered 25% Improvement in machine availability 67% Improvement in productivity 40% reduction in changeover time 30% reduction in plant wastage 16% reduction in rework 31% improvement in production quality Precision Engineering: The client from Precision Engineering Industry was facing challenges such as Low OTIF, High throughput time, Machine Breakdown, Inventory carrying cost, High changeover times. Results Delivered 27% improvement in OTIF deliveries Increase in customer satisfaction and decrease in complaints 15% improvement in changeover times 20% improvement in plant throughput Improvement in machine availability 20% reduction in inventory Textile: Clients from the textile industry were facing challenges such as quality management, data management practices & implementation of other standards Results Delivered Reduced change over time by 10% Reduced material movement by 30% Increased overall productivity by 15-18% Reduced inventory days to 90 days from 178 days Improved work area, by improving Five S score from 15% to 65% FMCG: Client from the FMCG industry is setting up a green field integrated food park. Team Faber Infinite Consulting is working closely with the client teams to roll out efficient world class plant layout via Lean Facility Design Framework by Faber Infinite. It will not only efficiently design facility layout but improve production and storage capacities, addresses material handling & quality issues, standardization and support automation. Clients Supported During Lockdown from Africa: FIBC: Client from FIBC Industry faced challenges such as Low production output, Low machine availability & performance, Low manpower productivity, High maintenance cost, High plant wastage, High changeover times, High WIP inventory (Bobbin & rolls) Results Delivered Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) at converter improved by 20% OEE at looms improved by 17%  Productivity increased by 20% Wastage at converter reduced by 50% Wastage at looms reduced by 52% Wastage at tape plant reduced by 20% FMCG: Another client from the FMCG industry in Africa engaged Faber Infinite for line extension and sales growth via Sales Growth Framework to enhance sales and sustainable growth. Results Delivered Total sales have increased by 19% Market penetration improved 100% sales growth in one of the products Team Faber Infinite has done extensive efforts to assist their clients from various industries and prioritizing challenges faced by them, and has always given the best suitable solutions to them.  Revamp your Transformation & Operational Excellence Journey with proven frameworks designed and developed by Faber Infinite. Contact us to start your journey with Faber Infinite at consulting@faberinfinite.com Click here to check the video: https://youtu.be/dlAeOGYElPQ Written by Faber Nency and Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Celebrating Success in Family Business](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-success-in-family-business/): As a part of our Infinite Interview series, we are delighted to share our chat with Mr. Harshit Shah –Associate Director at S Kant Healthcare Limited. It has been different times for all the sectors, including Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing – API & Formulations. It is a pleasure to chat a 4th generation entrepreneur based on his experience in the industry. A few takeaways from the chat below – Facts from the research say 13% of family businesses in India survive, and only 4% of such organizations survive to the 4th generation Family businesses need to be high discipline and should have a systematic approach in place Efficient decision making is a must Balancing the involvement and performance management of family members in accordance with the needs of business The governance framework and succession planning should be in place Adopting smart technologies and accelerating the journey towards digitalization and automation is a need for growth in today’s unprecedented times Click here to check the video:  https://youtu.be/Fr9SxIyGJ5E We sincerely thank Mr. Harshit Shah and team S Kant Healthcare Limited for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck!
- [Take the Leap of Transformation with Time and Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/take-the-leap-of-transformation-with-time-and-motion-study/): Time and Motion Study is a proven work measurement methodology not only for recording and evaluating a rate of work for the elements (of a project to be performed under routine conditions) but also equipped to uncover inefficiencies and areas of improvement. Though fundamental in nature, Time and Motion studies define the groundwork and enable to arrive at better capacity, awareness, and robust planning system that lead the operations to higher efficiencies. Structured Time & Motion Study shall pave the path for best-in-class manpower productivity further leading to baseline for Industrial IoT or automation. Faber Infinite has massive experience in Time and Motion Study and has delivered results across 8 countries and 3 regions. We have trained more than 10000 people from various industries and supported more than 100 clients to improve their productivity. Team Faber Infinite has more than 20-time study experts with hands-on experience in different industries. Typical Areas of Improvement Improve Manpower productivity as per ILO guidelines Process and Product Costing Increase Production Output Reduce Changeover time Work measurement and Effort estimation Line Balancing & Cost Reduction Right-sizing of the workforce, equipment, and tools required Time and Motion Study is one of the finest techniques which gives out time and duration taken for the task or production processes to complete. It helps the organization to use its resources efficiently, reducing or eliminating waste, improving workplace culture, and motivating the workforce to deliver higher and sustainable productivity. Few of the tangible benefits delivered by Faber Infinite at client locations with Time and Motion Study (without Capex): 33% Improvement in Production 42% Improvement in Productivity 43% Reduction in Changeover Time 23% Reduction in Throughput Time  18% Reduction in Manpower Cost With the cumulative experience of Team Faber Infinite in organizational transformation, there plenty of Time & Motion Study use cases and success stories, contact us to take the leap of transformation for your business operations and accelerate the excellence journey with Time and Motion Study. Reach us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com  Written by Faber Nency and Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Building Competitiveness in Engineering Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-in-engineering-industry/): COVID 19 has been a boon to some industries while causing a crisis for most of the manufacturing organizations, forcing them to face several challenges in their operations and working methods. Even with the continual decline of the economy, a sharp rise in raw material prices, turbulent supply chains, and many others factors during an ongoing pandemic, several engineering organizations have been facing cost pressures and production challenges. Faber Infinite Consulting is a global management consulting organization, assisting organizations to improve their capacity and be competitive in the market by increasing their profits through a structured organizational transformation journey. Team Faber Infinite has an experienced and expert team of consultants who are highly skilled in change and sustenance management. Below listed are a few of the challenges in the engineering industry which need attention: Team Faber Infinite’s expert team of consultants has worked with client teams from the engineering sector and implemented the proposed solutions to realize the benefits. We have implemented various frameworks, tools, and techniques thus delivering remarkable results.  Showcasing the numbers below that we have not only supported our clients deal with the challenges but also sustaining that results: With Team Faber Infinite’s knowledge and expertise in transformation for organizations in the engineering industry, we have developed an exclusive framework that delivers remarkable results. Take the transformational leap for your organization’s operations and accelerate your journey to excellence in the engineering industry. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com  Written by Faber Nency and Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Building Inclusive Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/building-inclusive-teams/): The novel corona virus has affected the whole world. It has disrupted the work life balance and also revealed many facts about women in the workforce. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the ways to build an inclusive workplace for women to survive and grow: Make place for inclusion Being inclusive is very easy to say but difficult to implement. To be inclusive organizations need to make conscious efforts and a variety of structural and behavioural changes. Organizations must make efforts to put in structures, policies, initiatives, technologies such that they are inclusive in nature. For example companies that are inclusive in nature can make the onboarding process for new joinees better. Like they can ask the new joinees to take problem solving assessment and the results of the same can be shared with the managers. These managers can then use the assessment results to make the onboarding process more meaningful thus making the employees feel like they belong to the organization. Customize the inclusion Every woman has a different journey. Be it single, married, she has career pause or if she is at home or she is working from home. Workplace and the initiatives at workplace should be customized and personalized for the physical and psychological well being of the women. Organizations should also make male employees in the organization more aware about the challenges that women face at workplace. Inclusion should be a core value Research suggests that employees, consider inclusion as most important factor when they select an organization for work. Employees prefer organizations that are inclusive in nature. They prefer organizations that design a strategic approach that is cornerstone of their foundation. Accountability Leadership at the organization should embrace inclusion and diversity. It should start from the top. Practising such behaviour shall encourage more inclusive environment during these difficult times and thus help in the long run. Now is the time to embark on this journey. Written and Compiled By Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Key to Thought Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-thought-leadership/): Thought leaders are the informed people in their field of expertise. They are the trusted source of information, and they motivate other people in their field to innovate. They also act as mentors to the people from their field. They guide others to replicate their success. So if you want to be one of them, this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how to build thought leadership: Think about your area of expertise It is time to make right decisions. You cannot be good in everything, you need to understand what best you are at. A leader does not need to know everything, but he/she needs to know what they know. Good thought leaders understand their area of expertise. They connect what they are good at with what the audience is expecting. They ask themselves – What am I passionate about? What is my career built on? What satisfies me? What am I better at compared to my peers? Reach the audience with right content You should be able to project your expertise in the right way. You need to create content that speaks in your voice. You do not need to be a great orator or a great writer, but you should be able to project your personality in such a way that you seem to be different from everybody else in the industry. Stop promoting yourself Thought leadership means bringing value to the audience, educating them, sharing new and innovative ideas and being of help to the audience. But for all this you should just not keep promoting yourself. Be steady If you want to be a thought leader, you must present on the top of the mind of your audience. If you are not in regular touch with them, they will forget you. You must be consistent if you really want to build your brand. Be limitless Do not limit yourself to only one source of content , try other sources like videos, podcasts, infographics. Find the best that works for you and your audience. Look for the websites that the audience is visiting and what kind of publications are they reading. Have a good team It is not one person’s work. It is always a team that works together Same applies to thought leaders. You need to have a smart team to work with. Make sure that your team participates and understand the end goals. Involve team in the creative process as well, so that they understand the objective that you wish to achieve with thought leadership. Just follow the above-mentioned steps and you will see how thought leadership is beneficial to you, your team and your business. Written and Compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya Image Source: www.freepik.com
- [Key to Career Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-career-growth/): A good employee will always complete the assigned task on time and as per the quality standards defined. However, doing only the assigned task does not help us to advance into good career growth. If you want to be exceptionally good, then you must go beyond your job role and responsibilities. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at ways and means to become an exceptional employee: Two-job mindset An exceptional employee will always have two jobs mindset – one is the job role that he is assigned to work on and the other is what he chooses to do beyond the assigned work. An exceptional employee will work beyond teams and departments. They will help other teams and departments with the work that otherwise they would not have done. They show true commitment to the organization. Such employees display teamwork and dynamics at the workplace.  Open to pick up new skills An employee is hired because he or she has the necessary skill set to do the job. An exceptional employee will challenge himself or herself to take up new tasks and learn the new skills required to complete those tasks. Exceptional employees know that when they get out of their comfort zones, it will not remain unnoticed. Learning a new skill displays the commitment to challenge the self for the organization.  Ask for more An exceptional employee would not be afraid to ask for more responsibilities. But at the same time, one should not overload oneself such that it affects your work and your ability to complete work with perfection. When you ask for more work, you might get a chance to work on higher-ranking projects.  The key to moving up the ladder in professional life lies in taking up roles and responsibilities beyond your job description, it happens when you stretch yourself beyond your normal role without stepping on anyone else’s toe in the process.  Written and Compiled by Faber MayuriImage Source- www.freepik.com
- [Effective Decision Making](https://faberinfinite.com/effective-decision-making/): Good decision making has always been one of the essential management skills. They key to good decision making is understanding the preconceived notions, following a structured process, and taking an all-inclusive holistic approach.  This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the ways and means to follow so that managers can make better decisions: Identify the decision Define the decision that you need to make. This is the most important step of the process. One needs to clearly define the first step. Gather related information Collect information related to the decision. Identify what information is needed, what is the best source for that information and how to get it? This step involves all the internal as well as external help.  Define the alternate solutions In the process of information gathering you will get to know the other possible ways and means. You can also think more creatively to construct new ways and means.  Evaluate the evidence On the basis on the information, you collected think what it would be like if you carried out each of the options till the end. Assess whether the need identified in Step 1 would be met or determined using each of the options. As you go through this internal process, you will begin to support certain alternatives: those that seem to have a higher chance of reaching the goal. Finally, keep the options in priority order, based on your own evaluation. Pick among options Once you assess all the options, you are ready to pick the best possible option. You can also choose a combination of the available options. What you pick in this step will be similar to the top priority that you decided at the end of the previous step. Implementation Now that you have shortlisted the best possible option, you will be up for the implementation process. Take action to implement the plan. Follow Up In this final step, evaluate the results of your decision and check if all the needs identified in the first step have been answered and resolved. If the needs have not been met you will have to start the process again from the first step. For example, you may want to gather more information.   Thus, using a step-by-step decision making process can help organizations make better decisions and it is a skill that you need to work on. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source – Freepik.com
- [4 Reasons Why Leaders Should Pursue Constructive Hobbies](https://faberinfinite.com/4-reasons-why-leaders-should-pursue-constructive-hobbies/): Every individual should engage in activities beyond work. It will help rejuvenate and thus help be more creative and innovative. This will in turn help you deliver better results at work. Too much work will drain you down. This will further affect your productivity and efficiency. We should always follow hobbies, to keep ourselves recharged. The new aspects and views that you get from hobbies will help you be a better leader and entrepreneur. Most successful entrepreneurs have constructive hobbies, that make them better and more successful at work. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at reasons why leaders and entrepreneurs, should follow productive hobbies: Improve your Life Hobbies help you improve your memory, creative thinking, productivity, and problem-solving skills. Hobbies are something that we enjoy, so they help us rejuvenate. The new outlooks and experiences that we get from hobbies, make us feel recharged. They improve our lives and make us better leaders and entrepreneurs. Most successful leaders and entrepreneurs from always been engaged in some or other constructive hobbies, ex Microsoft founder, Bill Gates is a passionate bridge player, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is an avid traveler. Reduce Stress Stress affects your productivity and leads to negative emotions. Hobbies help to fight back negative stress and thus make you feel calm and motivated. Following a hobby will help us reduce the level of stress and thus increase the chances of success. Hobbies help you relax and manage stress. Improve Creativity When you follow a hobby, you open yourself to the world of new experiences it is then that the creativity flows like a river. A meaningful and constructive hobby helps you to channelize your creative thinking to solve problems. Your hobby helps you to come up with creative and innovative ways to look at things. Thus, it makes you better at work. Be Healthy Hobbies help you to stay physically and emotionally healthy. Hobbies help promote mindfulness and reduce depression. They make you feel happier and joyful. For example, people practice yoga at home and also make it available to their employees to improve productivity. Step out of your comfort zone Over a period, you get used to your routine habits. Indulging in a productive hobby makes a big difference. It helps you be creative, learn new things, and explore new ways and solve problems. Constructive hobbies help you to explore the hidden talent in you and thus make you more productive. Leaders are often overworked and do not have the required time to indulge in a hobby. But we should understand that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Leaders need to give themselves a break by taking up a constructive hobby. It helps them recharge, relax and gain new perceptions to be more creative and solve challenges more efficiently. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source – www.freepik.com
- [Develop Personal Fitness](https://faberinfinite.com/develop-personal-fitness/): Personal well-being or fitness, whatever you call it is very important. If not taken seriously it might lead to burnout or depression, thus affecting both work and personal life. The body, soul, and mind are the three pillars of personal fitness. Harm to any one or more affects our productivity and can affect our ability to take challenges. Any dysfunction in any of the three pillars leads to the destruction of all our business intellect and capabilities. Along with the three pillars we should take care of your thoughts, words that we use and the actions that we do. So, this Transformation Tuesday, let us work on our personal fitness and become more efficient and effective. Thoughts Be careful about stress due to work. Work is important and it is your source of income, but remember it is not everything. There is more to life beyond work. Plan your fitness goals and take breaks to refresh. Build good habits, that will help you improve. Words You are an average of 5 people around you. So be with people who are positive. Listen to words of motivation from others and engage in positive talks. Actions As a part of actions, you need to work on mind, body, and soul. Body Train your body for strength, agility, and flexibility Nourish your body with healthy food. Listen to the body and the signals that it gives Rest well to rejuvenate yourself Mind Take up a new hobby or learn a new sport Work on big and small problems or puzzles. It is not necessary that you solve them. Exercise your brain Practice the skill to unlearn and learn Rejuvenate yourself with maybe music or silence if that works for you Do not delay work, try to overcome inactivity Soul Build good relationships with your teams Push yourself beyond your comfort zone Give back to society by helping the less privileged Take a pause and relax in nature Travel to places and experience new cultures, history, food, etc The key to growth is to ensure that the moment you find a problem in one of these three pillars (mind, body, and soul), you must immediately involve in activities that strengthen all the three pillars. All of us should commit half an hour every day for ourselves. Taking this half an hour which is just two percent of your day, will make wonders. Retirement age is not relevant. It is your fitness age that matters. So, commit time for your personal fitness, thus displaying better momentum and way better productivity. As Aristotle quotes – We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” Written and Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source: Freepik.com
- [Journey From Top Performers To Successful Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/journey-from-top-performers-to-successful-leaders/): Is it necessary that good performers make good leaders? No, they do not always make good leaders. They need coaching and mentoring to become good leaders. Leaders should be brave and decisive. They should be capable of accepting their mistakes and working on correcting them quickly. Leaders should be empathetic, they should build trust among teams and take the team along with them. We need leaders who can be coaches and who can be enablers as well. However, there is a shortage of such leaders. Organizations feel that the best option to build leading teams is to promote the best-performing individuals. But there is much more to this. Winning teams is not just a bunch of high-performing talented individuals. The transition from top performer to manager or leader without the required tools and skills leads to a drop in performance and frustration. So, when you move from being a top performer to a leader, you should focus on four main aspects in the leadership role: Set clear roles and responsibilities Let the teams know clearly what is expected from them. If they don’t know clearly what is expected, they will not be able to succeed. Let them clearly know what you expect from them, what should be their attitude towards work. Also let them know what success, means in their roles. Facilitate them with required tools and technology Training the employees is very important. Ensure they have the access to tools and technology that are required to meet the expectations and achieve the goals successfully. Always remember right training today, will help you to save several hours when the team will start working independently and you are not required to help them. Track work and have employees accountable Be open with your employees. Set time aside to observe, track and monitor your teams and their work. When they are working on track appreciate them. If they are not on track let them know about it and ask them the reason for missing the mark. Teach them to learn from mistakes and not to repeat the same mistakes. Tell them to take this as an opportunity to learn. Measure their progress Regularly keep a track of their progress. Keep it a monthly or quarterly affair. Go through their goals and discuss their progress. Share your feedback and set new goals for the next quarter. By concentrating on these 4 parameters employees can prosper and transform from top performers to successful leaders. So just don’t be a good doer, be empathetic and take the team along with you on the journey of growth to be a successful leader. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source – Freepik.com
- [4 Ways to Empower Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-empower-teams/): A good leader should always empower teams and allow them to find solutions to everyday problems. Teams should not come to the manager for every single bump. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how leaders or managers, facilitate to make their team members independent. This is very important when the teams are working remotely. There will be endless chats otherwise. Leaders should start by analyzing the problem Leader or manager should understand why the team member needs inputs. Let us look at 4 key factors that the leader or manager should work on to empower their teams so that leaders can become more productive. Emphasize attention to details Make it clear, that yes you will be available when the team needs you. But that does not mean that the team member keeps disrupting unpredictably. Though the organization may be promoting an open-door policy, that does not mean anybody can disturb anyone at any point in time. Open door means you are easily accessible but not necessarily available. So, leaders should encourage teams to practice attention management. This means close email clients during, put mobile phones on silent, put the chat tools to do not disturb, while in meetings. Everyone in the team should follow this so that we do not have to go back and disturb the managers. Promote self-confidence in the teams Make the teams clear about their roles and responsibilities. Let them know what work they are supposed to do, what decisions they can take, and the general limits of their power or authority. Promote them to find solutions to their day-to-day problems on their own. Show them that you trust them and their decisions. This will automatically improve their confidence. Stop micromanaging things and empower the teams to make their own decisions. Accept tough decisions If there are members in the team that you do not trust, try to find a reason, why is this happening? Is there any problem with the skill set of the employees? Do they need more training? Do they need more time to get used to the organization? Sometimes, it may happen that the employee is not a fit for the organization. If that is the case, help the employee to find a role that suits his skillset in the organization or help them find a new job. It will help you improve your organization’s status as a good place to work. Let them make mistakes  Always remember to appreciate your team members n public forum and correct them in private. This will promote growth. Speak to team members when they make mistakes. Tell them making mistakes is acceptable. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn. This will make them more accountable for their work be it good or bad. Implement these four means, to reduce interruptions from your employees so that you can focus on strategic decisions and thus make the organization more productive and profitable. It will also inspire faith, originality, and innovation in the teams. So, promote your team to work independently and improve as a leader and contribute to the success of the organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source – https://www.freepik.com/photos/man – Man photo created by cookie_studio – www.freepik.com
- [3 Ways to Remain Successful](https://faberinfinite.com/3-ways-to-remain-successful/): Success is not a short-term process. It is a long-term process that takes a lot of time, effort, and patience. The key to success is not just about starting strong, but it is the ability to stay strong. What is needed to stay strong in this process is self control and management. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how you can build this self-discipline and achieve success. Set upper and lower limits Individuals or organizations both are involved in the process of goal setting. But very few invest time and effort in how much time they would take to achieve the goals, what steps are involved in the process. This is called an effort estimate. Both individuals and organizations should set upper and lower boundaries for their goals. For example, we should define how much minimum and maximum time we can invest on any of the tasks in a day. For example for achieving the sales target, we need to define the minimum and maximum number of calls that we have to make in a day. This planning would help you stay on track. Know your tendency Category 1 – Are you one of those who is always on high gear and remain in the same energy throughout? Category 2 – Are you among those who are slow from the beginning and then fasten your belts in the end? Category 3 – Are you of those types who keep swinging – one day you work a lot and then the next day your become slow and this continues? Depending on your work pattern, you need to strategize. For those in the first category, need to give themselves, permission to rest and relax. For those in the second type, just need to keep a check if they are not going below the lower limit set for each day. For those in the third category need to keep an eye on the upper as well as a lower limit that has been set. Keep time for rest and revival Humans need rest to recover, that is why we seep at night, that is why we have weekends at work. You need to consciously plan time for yourself based on your work pattern and tendency. If you fall in category 1, then you must take time to rest and recover, or else you will burn out. If you belong to category 2 then you need to take care of the lower limit before you take a break. If you belong to category 3, then you must take time to rest on the days when you work a lot. Life is not a race. It is a continuous journey. To be a top performer both professionally and personally, we need to stay in power. But to stay in power we need to observe ourselves so that we are productive, effective, and efficient at the same time.  Written and Compiled By Faber Mayuri Image Source – https://www.freepik.com/photos/business photo created by creativeart – www.freepik.com
- [Supporting Clients During Lockdown](https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-clients-during-lockdown/): [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Team Faber Infinite has always supported clients during difficult times and delivering remarkable results leading to significant production improvement, cost reduction, and sustaining profitability. COVID 19 has changed the way industries operate, and businesses have revamped their strategies to survive & thrive in this new normal. Going back to old school strategies is not helpful now. Clients galore from various industries such as consumer goods, flexible packaging, PP woven packaging, agricultural products and seeds, solar panel manufacturers, precision engineering, irrigation pipes, sliver can manufacturers, decorative laminates, pharmaceuticals – formulations & injectable, and heat exchanger have been successfully served by Team Faber Infinite even during the pandemic-driven times. Clients had several operational challenges like low production & productivities, high inventory, high wastage, high machine breakdown, low machine availability, high maintenance costs, high rework & quality issues, high changeover time, low employee engagement, a decline in sales & much more. Our expert team of consultants along with client teams got to the root of these multiple issues, thus delivering remarkable outcomes. Sharing some of the glimpses of tangible benefits delivered a few of the client locations:   20% improvement in production 67% improvement in productivity 25% improvement in machine availability 50% improvement in on time in full delivery 65% reduction in inventory cost 83% improvement in local sales growth 16% improvement in export sales 20% reduction in inventory 27% improvement in On Time & In Full Delivery Team Faber Infinite offers a sustainable solution to the organization, and our consultants have hands-on expertise dealing with numerous challenges faced by our clients from several industries. Revamp your Organizational Transformation journey with a unique framework designed and developed by Faber Infinite to provide reliable solutions and provide a key to answer all your operational excellence challenges. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written & Compiled by Faber Nency and Faber Mayuri
- [Infinite Interview Series - Where Leaders Speak](https://faberinfinite.com/infinite-interview-series-where-leaders-speak/): Human Resource – A Business Enabler As part of our Infinite Interview series, we are delighted to share our chat with Mr. Sudhir Sethi – Chief People Officer at Inox India. It has been different times for all the sectors and domains, with a key focus on human resources. It is a pleasure to listen to pearls of wisdom from Mr. Sudhir Sethi, based on his vast experience in the organized as well as unorganized sectors across geographies. Click here to check the video:  https://youtu.be/boxQZm8bAvU Few areas that the interview touches upon are: 1. HR was earlier considered as a support function, but now this function has evolved as a business enabler. Today HR is not just about the availability of the workforce, there is a lot beyond availability, which enables the human resource. 2. For any organization, it is trust, communication, and confidence that helps the organization to grow and sustain even in the tough times. It is the legacy that helps the organization to flourish. 3. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) concepts helps improve productivity, quality, and performance. It is the need of the hour and both human resource and technology should work in collaboration to embrace Industry 4.0 4. Customer is the king who decides the existence of any organization. Today, more than ever, organizations should practice empathy when it comes to customer & customer service. How giving back to society – through education, medical support, women empowerment, rural development – plays its part in organizational growth! We sincerely thank Mr. Sudhir Sethi and team Inox India for being a part of Infinite Interview Series & iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck Sir!
- [Celebrating Manpower Productivity with Time & Motion Study](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-manpower-productivity-with-time-motion-study/): The globe has been fighting the deadly COVID – 19 virus, and industries have been suffering through these difficult times trying to cope with the virus and return to the new normal with several changes in working processes. Team Faber Infinite has been supporting organizations during the pandemic, with one of the fundamental yet most powerful methods to improve manpower productivities, efficiencies, and overall procedures. Our teams are helping the organizations in minimizing waste, make precise use of available resources, cut costs, improve a workplace environment, and motivate the workforce for higher and sustainable productivity. Time and Motion Study is a proven work measurement methodology not only for recording and evaluating a rate of work for the elements (of a project to be performed under routine conditions) but also equipped to uncover inefficiencies and areas of improvement. Though basic in nature, Time and Motion studies defines the groundwork and enable to arrive at better capacity, awareness, and robust planning system that lead the operations of a plant to operational excellence. Structured Time & Motion Study shall pave the way best in class manpower productivity further leading to baseline for Industrial IoT or automation. In a manufacturing setup time and motion study helps in identifying the following: Time and Motion Study helps in Manufacturing Analyzing a number of tools and equipment required for the process. Determining the workforce required to accomplish the production on time. Analyzing the total cost of manufacturing and selling. Determining the performance of the employees on the shop floor. Improving manpower productivity for the processes. Identifying the pay structure for employees who work overtime. Determining the balance of the assembly line and the speed of the conveyor belt. Performing cost-reduction measures. Assessing the purchasing of new equipment. Establishing budgets. Thus, the Time and Motion Study tool is a crucial tool for the productivity and profitability of any organization. Our expert team of consultants has hands-on experience in conducting the study and further implementing the improvements. A few of the results delivered via the Time and Motion study are as follows: 50% improvement in throughput/ production 33% savings in material wastages 16% reduction in work content 33% improvement in manpower productivity 50% reduction in manpower cost The success stories and case studies of Time and Motion Study are plenty, and it could be one of the answers for building competitiveness for organizations and overall industry! Connect with Faber Infinite to revamp your organization and make it future-ready. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Unlock the potential of your workforce and elevate productivity to new heights with our exclusive Time & Motion Study. Fill out the form below to gain access to cutting-edge techniques that celebrate manpower productivity. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your business! To know more about the benefits of Time & Motion Study, click below: https://faberinfinite.com/wonders-with-time-and-motion-study/ https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study-a-robust-planning-system/ https://faberinfinite.com/building-competitiveness-via-time-motion-study/ https://faberinfinite.com/faber-infinite-promoting-productivity-to-help-india-lead-the-world/ Written by Faber Nency and Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Building Excellence in Automotive Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-automotive-industry/): The automotive industry in India is one of the largest in the world, and it has grown to enormous proportions in recent years, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP. It has been a difficult journey for the automotive industry during the COVID-19 period. The industry has taken a lot of effort to flourish during these unprecedented times. Team Faber Infinite has been supporting clients from the automotive industry during the COVID 19 pandemic as well. We are glad to share Team Faber Infinite’s experience in the automotive industry, which has delivered phenomenal performance across 3 regions and 10 countries around the world. With dozens of clients in the automotive industry to serve, Faber Infinite has delivered 100s of successful projects & trained over 10,000 people. Typical Areas of Improvement: The expert team of consultants at Faber Infinite has delivered excellent results in the following areas of improvement: Every business aims to improve the production output, and Team Faber has delivered results to the clients in increasing their production output. Thus reducing the cost of the output and making the organization more efficient and effective. Increasing manpower productivity has a direct impact on the organization’s goals. Increased manpower productivity leads to increased quantity and quality of work, with a greater emphasis on time and energy management. Our consultants deploy robust OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) tracking and improvement methods to improve machine availability, quality, and performance, and eliminate machine losses and waste. OEE improvement can remove bottlenecks from processes and track changes in processes to improve capacity. Faber Infinite consultants are equipped to deliver excellent results via OEE improvement to support clients across the organization that will help the client to be more productive and profitable. Further, areas like inventory optimization, physical workplace improvements, as well as employee alignment and development, are also been worked upon. Tangible Benefits Delivered by Faber Infinite to our clients from the Automotive Manufacturing Industry: Improved capacity by ~37%, without CAPEX Improved Manpower Productivity by ~21% Reduced Labour Cost by ~25% Reduced downtime by ~41% Improved Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) by 36% Reduced Equipment Changeover Time by ~90% Improved Value Added Ratio (VAR) for assembly line by ~58% Reduction in inventory by 38% Cash release by 28% With the cumulative experience of Team Faber Infinite in transformation for the organizations in the Automotive industry, we have devised a unique framework that delivers phenomenal results. Take the leap of transformation for your business operations and accelerate the excellence journey in the Automotive Industry. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com         Written by Faber Nency and Compiled by Faber Mayuri [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- [Now, is the Right Time to Start!](https://faberinfinite.com/now-is-the-right-time-to-start/): Time is something that provides us with experience & opportunity – to attempt, fail, learn, get up and grow. The process is continuous, every time a person desires to try something out of the box. One needs to grab the opportunity to confront the world’s dilemma, whether good or bad and meet it head-on. The COVID – 19 pandemics has disrupted operations on a huge scale, challenging manufacturers to assess the impact and best way to respond quickly. There is a need for organizations to build greater resilience and flexibility in their future operations. Team Faber Infinite has been going strong and moving ahead confronting these challenges along with client organizations. We have been supporting client organizations in crafting growth opportunities even in these different times. Over the years, Team Faber has consistently delivered results, providing the best solutions to clients across industries. We are delighted to share a few of our new clients from the engineering and pharmaceutical industry, which we have been supporting even during and after the lockdown. One of our clients from the pharmaceutical industry is India’s major manufacturers of dry powder injections. We are supporting the client, with the implementation of the Faber Infinite-designed and copyrighted Organization Transformation Framework©. Initiating with strengthening the data management practices to improving the overall operations via value stream mapping, and inventory optimization to lower overall material costs. The teams are also working on equipment performance via improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), which improves machine availability, performance, and quality of production. High varieties and lower batch sizes are an aspiration for many industries and more challenging in the pharmaceutical industry. The project teams are working towards reducing the number of setups and set up times to have high flexibility. In addition, to improve the client’s workflow management, the teams are delivering results through Training Within Industry (TWI) and enhancing GMP norms at the workplace. We are supporting yet another client, one of the leading manufacturers of engineering components. With the well-crafted Organization Transformation Framework©, we will support the client in material cost reduction via inventory optimization, and production improvement via releasing the hidden capacities and no additional CAPEX. Also, one of the leading manufacturers of diesel generators has engaged Team Faber Infinite with the key objective to support and accelerate the continual improvement journey by streamlining the overall costing, planning, and material management process. The sustainability of new improved processes shall be ensured via robust Daily Work Management (DWM) practices. Stating about one more new client engagement, where the project team is supporting the client in rolling out much-acclaimed Lean Facility Design (LFD)© framework devised by Faber Infinite at one of the leading cryogenic tanks manufacturing facilities in the world. Here, we are supporting our client for streamlining the manufacturing & information flow from raw material receipt to finished goods delivery, ensuring the capacity ramp-up, planning of manpower, inventory design for raw material, WIP and finished goods and their handling, warehouse space optimization and many more. Team Faber Infinite has been delivering excellent results in these tough times and supporting clients across industries in the world with the objective of crafting growth opportunities always! The right time to start your Organizational Transformation & Operational Excellence journey is now! Start your organization transformation journey with Faber Infinite Consulting. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written by Faber Nency and Compiled by Faber Mayuri   [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- [Lean Facility Design© – Secret to World-Class Layout Design](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-facility-design-secret-to-world-class-layout-design/): Lean Facility Design© (LFD) is a unique framework designed and developed by Team Faber Infinite Consulting which supports an organization to build World class layout Design from day zero. LFD ensures that the new plant layout becomes efficient and effective right from day zero. This framework is applicable across industries and sectors for organizations that want to set up a new greenfield project. And design a new layout, as well as for those that want to take up a brownfield project or expand their current facility. This framework helps develop flexible, effective, and efficient facilities. Lean Facility Design© (LFD) is a 14-step approach and that typically covers: 1. Streamlining the manufacturing flow from raw material receipt to finished goods delivery, Optimizing warehouse space 2. Manpower planning 3. Inventory design for raw material, WIP, and finished goods 4. Analysis of capacity and plans for ramping up 5. Material handling and storage design using FIFO, 6. Most importantly, creating an efficient and comprehensive layouts and much more. It typically has an impact on reducing floor space, delivering best-in-class flow design, lowering capital investment in specific areas of operation, reducing throughput time, best-in-class layout, improving manpower productivity, and planning logistics equipment correctly sized. Lean Facility Design Framework We are pleased to share the transformation journey of a client in the packaged food industry, which has implemented the Lean Facility Design Framework. Team Faber Infinite is assisting the client in the ready-to-cook food and spice industry with 5 to 6 units in their new greenfield plant and build a world-class layout considering all the food and health standards and even the latest Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) concepts. This master layout is set to be built on 18 acres of land with a project cost of approximately INR 100 crores, employing over 600 people. Pickles, papad, fruits and vegetable processing, millet processing, health foods, and nutraceutical, ketchup and curry pastes, frozen foods, Indo Chinese mixes, Indian traditional cuppa foods, blended spices, spice mixes, single ingredient spice, instant mixes, IQF, and many more SKUs are amongst the FMCG items which shall be produced by the company. Our consultants along with client teams have mapped all processes in detail, and including future states for each process have been mapped to define how it can be improved. Five value streams have been identified through PPQ (Product Process Quantity) analysis. For equipment selection, our consultants mapped all existing equipment and based on future capacity calculations – determined requirements of new machines & specifications, while also discussing what changes must be made to the existing machines to accommodate entirely new technologies. Team Faber Infinite’s consultants have been delivering excellent results in the FMCG industry via the proven and customized LFD framework thus delivering significant benefits to the organization. Take a step to transform your organization through Lean Facility Design© by Faber Infinite. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written by Faber Nency and Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [4 Factors of Decision Making](https://faberinfinite.com/4-factors-of-decision-making/): Decision-making is an important process for every organization. Decisions have a business cost associated with them. If the decisions are more efficient and effective, it will save a lot of money for the organization, improve morale, and thus lead to better business outcomes. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at different categories of decision making: High Risk and Rare – These are the high-risk and rare decisions that are made at the leadership level. Such type of decisions can be made more effective and productive by means that encourage constructive and truthful debate. High Risk and Collective – These are frequent, high risk, and joint or collective decisions made at the business unit and senior managerial level. To make such decisions effective organizations should work on building robust processes with well-defined objectives, targets, and metrics. Low Risk and Frequent – These are low-risk and frequent decisions that are made at the individual or team level. These can be improved by continual dedication by teams and individuals. Random – These are frequent and low-risk decisions taken in the organization. Such decisions lead to frustration and waste of time in meetings. However, the efficiency and quality of such random decisions made at the individual or team level can be improved. Let us look at the 4 factors to be taken into consideration during the decision-making process: Call All – The appointed decision-maker calls all related stakeholders for discussion, deliberation, plan, and suggestions. All the assumptions should be cleared. Make the Decision – When all the factors have been evaluated, multiple viewpoints have been investigated, trade-offs have been cleared, then the decision-makers should think and make the decision. Commit – Once the decision is made, all the stakeholders (who agree as well as disagree), should commit to the decision and its implementation. Both those who agree and disagree should commit. Share the decision – Once the decision is made, it is the responsibility of the leadership team to share the decision and its interpretation across the teams. The leadership should also ensure that the message is clear and reaches the appropriate levels in the organization. Key factors include information, risk, resources, and timing. Once a decision is made, leadership must communicate it clearly across teams and ensure it reaches the right levels in the organization. Ready to enhance your decision-making? Explore Supply Chain Solutions to optimize your operations As J R Rim quotes – “It is not about making the right choice. It is about making a choice and making it right.” Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source – https://www.freepik.com/photos/business” – Business photo created by rawpixel.com – www.freepik.com
- [Journey from Dream to Goal](https://faberinfinite.com/journey-from-dream-to-goal/): We often have this feeling of achieving more. Don’t we? We are where we are because we have achieved what we aspire and still we wish to achieve more. Our aspirations do keep us alive. This is certainly not the discontent with our present, but it is often the belief of becoming better. Yes, we can be happy with our present and yet strive for a better tomorrow. When I say we are striving for a better tomorrow, I mean we are following our dreams. Dreams always play an inspiring role for all of us.   Dreams can be encouraging for some and demeaning for others. The synergy of our dream, our journey towards it, the efforts we put in, and the satisfaction after achievement certainly has a dopamine-like effect.   You might ask, “How can dreams demean us?” This Transformation Tuesday, let us see how. Imagine we dream. Just “dream” and no action. This will take us nowhere and lead to a feeling of discontent. It will make us more unsatisfied with our present than we were yesterday. This is because we have set our aspirations based on our dream and we are not getting any close to it. This leads to frustration and hence dreams can demean us. I would now like to assign a more appropriate word for “dream”, and that is “goal”. A goal is always directed in the right path whereas a dream can be directionless. A goal is something we are acting upon whereas a dream is something we are thinking about. A goal is something we can achieve whereas a dream can be a mere desirable aspiration. A goal will always have a “what to do?”, “how to do?” and “when to do?” whereas dream will only have “what I want?”. Goals are nothing but dreams put into action. Now how do we do it? Here is the formula. PDCA (Plan – Do – Check – Act) 1. PLAN – This may require most of our investment. Planning will include what, how, when, etc. Our goal will also need us to learn new things. 2. DO – It is about bringing our plan into action and performing. 3. CHECK – It is about monitoring the gaps in our plan and actual performance. This will indicate if we are on the right path. 4. ACT – It is about enacting upon the gaps and improving. It is about performing better than yesterday. The phenomenon of continual betterment eventually helps us achieve our dream. Continual improvement is better than continuous improvement because in some cases, the results might take a while to come to success. This is because continuous improvement emphasizes efforts whereas continual improvement emphasizes results. Continual improvement is all about achieving a better stage, sustaining it for a considerable period before going for the next better stage. It does not matter how big or small the dream or the goal is. What matters is your urge and willingness to go to whatever extent it takes to achieve it. If you want to change your future, you will certainly have to change the things you do in the present. Your actions should always be in line with your aspirations. You should ask just one question to yourself, “If I want my future to be different from my present, what have I done today in that direction?”, Dreams do not work unless WE do. Written by Faber Loukik Dhavan and Compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Focus on the Solution, Not the Problem](https://faberinfinite.com/focus-on-the-solution-not-the-problem/): Some teams are good at identifying problems. If few in the team must propose ways and means to solve the problem, there are a few in the team who can help you identify potential risks in the solution. How can leaders focus on building teams that focus on identifying problems and finding solutions to those problems? This Transformation Tuesday lets us look at how leaders can build a culture of both creativity and analytical thinking that can help employees to come up with solutions that are closer to reality. Dos 1. A leader should work to create an environment that supports both creative and innovative thinking. To imbibe the culture of innovation and creative thinking leaders need to put their ideas as well. A leader should be clear and straight about the message. He/she should tell the team clearly that we are here to discuss the solution and not the obstacles. Leaders should encourage others to be a part of the discussion. 2. A leader should practice what he/she preaches. A leader should follow different problem-solving tools and techniques that he/she wants to see in the team. A leader should involve a third party, maybe a consultant to attend the brainstorming session. They might bring in new views to the conversation. 3. Leaders should keep reminding the team, that they need to focus on the solution and not the problems. A leader should work on the resistance in the team. Don’ts 1. Leaders should ignore the resistance instead focus on possible solutions by asking the right questions to the members of the team 2. Leaders should not go alone for it. They should invite members or consultants from other teams to get a new viewpoint on the situation 3. Do not be a miser with compliments. When you openly appreciate team members for the work they are doing, it helps to improve creative thinking Culture change always takes time. But it surely leads to a united team that is innovative, united, and that solves problems together. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Art of Decision Making](https://faberinfinite.com/art-of-decision-making/): Decision-making is a process where we need to understand our needs, principles, and targets. For example, if you want to buy a house, you will get all types of information, such as different options, the interest rate on the loan, and many more from the internet. But the internet would not know why you are buying the house, when do you intend to shift, what impact will the purchase have on your budget. Some information is beyond the reach and understanding of decision-making algorithms. There are different factors that harm our decision-making ability. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the most common decision-making myths: Efficiency Many of us think efficiency means making the decision right in. But that is not the case. To be truly effective, we need to have a clear understanding of the problem. Rushing in to make the decision is based on the wrong factors. For example, walking into the showroom and buying the first refrigerator the salesperson has to sell is not an effective decision. It might be the case that the salesperson wanted to get rid of that piece of a refrigerator. It might not be the one that best suits your needs and budget. 2. Busy We cannot say that we do not have time to give to a particular decision. Running into a decision without proper research is not the right decision. We need to give quality time to any decision. For example, if we research well on the available options and then conclude, then it will save time in decision making. 3. Rush into Decision This is not the right way to make a decision. A narrow focus on the problem may solve the wrong problem. For example, if your car breaks down on the road, you go and buy a new car. This means you did not understand the problem well and you rushed into the wrong decision. 4. Alone in the decision It is important to include all the stakeholders in the decision. For example, if you were to buy a car and you buy a manual car. None in the house can drive a manual car. So what is the use of buying a manual car when no one in the house can drive it in case of emergency. So involve all the stakeholders in the decision-making to make the best decision. 5. Gut feeling For larger and bigger risk decisions we should not rely on our gut feeling. Gut feeling is based on our bias and memory. Important decisions benefit from open intellectual discussion with all the stakeholders involved. 6. 360-degree process Decision-making is not a linear process. It should be a circular 360-degree process, where we seek feedback to assemble information and evaluate our decision. For example, if you have to buy a refrigerator, then doing your research first and then going and negotiating the price with the dealer is not enough. Since there are a number of dealers and each of them would have a different margin to negotiate, so going around and comparing offers will get you a better deal. The next time when you are in a hurry to make a decision, pause for some time, think about all the myths discussed above, and improve your decision-making skills. Always remember a quote by Charles Duhigg – “Between calculated risk and reckless decision-making lies the dividing line between profit and loss.” Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Respect is Foundation of Success](https://faberinfinite.com/respect-is-foundation-of-success/): Treating members in your team with respect is obvious. There are different ways in which we can define respect. Giving respect is a continuous process of paying attention to the members of the organization. Leaders should appreciate the efforts of the members of the team. Leaders should recognize the knowledge, skillset, and abilities of their employees. They should express gratitude and recognition for their efforts. Respect may mean different things to different people. This Transformation Tuesday let us look at how do we define respect: 1. Listening Respect is all about listening. People feel respected when they are heard. When heard they feel they are understood. When leaders are open to the team members and are genuinely interested in them, it will help to make the relationship stronger and build trust. When you listen to the employees you need not agree or disagree with them. Leaders should just listen to the ideas, issues, concerns, experiences, views, perspectives of their team members, even if you agree or disagree with them. 2. Absence of Disrespect When you do not disrespect anyone on the team, that does not mean you show respect. If you stop being rude, stop insulting team members, or stop using diminishing words, that does not mean you create respect. Respect is an action. We show respect, we act with respect, we speak with respect. Leaders need to understand that the absence of disrespect does not have the same positive influence in conflict resolution or dispute as does the existence of respect. 3. Many ways Respect can be interpreted in multiple ways. There are multiple factors like family, peers, social relationships, and many more that influence the perception of respect. Multiple factors like status, power, and role all create an impact in the way in which respect is understood. Leaders need to study and understand how respect is given and received in different societies and parties. Leaders should not think of respect as one parameter applicable to all. As quoted by Stephen R. Covey – “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” Written and Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Keys to Success](https://faberinfinite.com/3-keys-to-success/): Success comes with practice, determination, and consistency. Any activity you do be it in your personal or professional life, if you focus on these three parameters then you are bound to succeed. 1. Consistency is the first step in anything that you do, be it a new role at work, new activity, new hobby. Doing anything consistently will help you to improve and get better at it with each passing day. Though it might be difficult in the beginning, never give up. Keep practising and you will get better at it. 2. Practice makes a man perfect. When working on a new skill or a project, it might get boring at times. It might mean that you are not applying your brains, or maybe you are complacent, or you are not reinventing the way you are working on it. You need to be aware that you have a long way to go. You have not reached your best performance. So, you need to rethink, change the targets, and stretch yourself more and reach for better and improve. You will surely get there if you continue to practice. Such purposeful practice will always bring success. 3. We have a natural tendency to compete with others. Rather we should compete with ourselves. Competing with others will only lead to frustration and disappointment. We should instead focus on competing with ourselves and become a better version of ourselves. This will give a greater sense of command, improvement, contentment, and peace. This approach will bring more focus to the mind and enable determination. Consistency is the physical act of repeating actions by the body, determination is the focus of the mind and purposeful practice is the application of the brain. When body, mind and brain work in unison, success is bound to happen. Staying committed to any one kind of work, or any one way of life and connections in professional or personal life certainly helps in building larger expertise, better value and therefore a superior life. As quoted by Christine Kane – Consistent action creates consistent results, we become what we want to by being consistent, determinant and practice. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Feedback – Lever to Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/feedback-lever-to-improvement/): Feedback is the only way to improve in any part of life be it professional or personal. It is essential to get a regular dose of feedback from multiple sources. One needs to accept feedback in a positive way, work on it and practice new ways and means to improve. Seeking feedback is very critical in the progress of an individual. You need to learn to get feedback from coaches, mentors, managers, and peers. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how we get feedback from the people around us: 1. Listen No one will give feedback if you are not ready to take it. The first rule is to just listen to what the other party has to say. You should make the other party comfortable and thank them to share the feedback. Also, ask if there is anything else that they would want to share. Just listen and it will help. The other person might not always be right, but the point here is not to look at their mistakes but to learn from what they share. 2. Get more feedback Another way is to talk to people in the organization whom you trust that they would share genuine views. You might ask them – I have heard people in my team feel that my communication is clear. Do you also perceive me in the same way? Have you heard the same about me? If they too feel the same, then remember the first point – Listen. But if the answer is no, still do not stop the conversation here. You can ask them about who in the team feels so? Go and talk to that person to understand this further. It will help you to improve. 3. Ask for suggestions Some people do not understand the feedback mechanism. They take it as criticism. So, they are not open to sharing feedback. For example, if you ask them that you want to make sure that you communicate in an effective way so that all the team members are on the same page. Then they will try to get off this awkward situation. But they will be open to sharing suggestions. But, what after getting feedback from the different stakeholders in your ecosystem? You need to bring in the change in your behavior to make sure that the feedback shared by them matters. There should be a visible change that they should be able to see, so they are open to sharing feedback in the future. Feedback is the most influential development tool in the workplace. It helps you to understand your strengths, weaknesses, and how others perceive you – so that you can become the best version of yourself. So as quoted by Bill Gates – “We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri.
- [Teamwork Wins Championships](https://faberinfinite.com/teamwork-wins-championships/): Employees can work alone on projects and achieve targets. The challenge is to work in a team and succeed. There are good chances of an individual employee working alone on the project and delivering desired results, but when a team works together the results are phenomenal and for greater good of the organization. An organization will succeed when the benefits of teamwork are seen. The best team works is because of the creativity that is delivered. There are different individuals with different characteristics that make up the team. A team is a set of people with different mindsets and multiple ideas working together towards the same goal. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the different ways in which we can build teams that are efficient and effective: 1. Imbibe Creativity Working in teams is much more productive then working as individuals. A well-made team brings together all the individuals under one umbrella and each of them plays their role. Each of them contributes multiple ideas and point of views. As a result, the outcome is doubled, and the effectiveness is improved. 2. Harmonise Strengths Every individual is different. Every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses. A balanced and well composed team is the one where all the individuals are brought together under one umbrella and they work in harmony. A good leaders should do right delegation of roles and responsibilities to the right individuals. When each of the employees is allowed to work with their strengths, then each of them is hold responsible and the effectiveness of the organization doubles. 3. Accountability In teams where each employee is held accountable for their work, delegation of work prevails and work is completed on time. In teams where employees are responsible, the work gets delegated in the right manner. As a result work is completed on time without compromise on quality. With teamwork the tasks get divided but at the same time the chances of success double. 4. Unity and Trust The best part of working in teams is the unity and trust that exist. With team work and collaboration wonders can happen. With trust in the teams there are less chances of failure. Successful teamwork is dream and is ensured when it is built on the foundations of harmony, respect, interaction, and common understanding. When one member in the team is not able to complete his/her part, another member takes responsibility and steps into his/her shoes bringing in more empathy towards each other. Though teams face many challenges, but all of these can be overcome when the team works together in harmony. It is rightly said by Michael Jordan – “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championship”. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Supporting Organisations For Crafting Growth Opportunities](https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-organisations-for-crafting-growth-opportunities/): Trust is an extremely fragile emotion. Trust means relying with confidence on the commitments made! Team Faber Infinite has always believed in keeping up with the trust of its clients and all stakeholders by fulfilling the commitments made. With this trust, Team Faber along with its clients and stakeholders can innovate, collaborate, think creatively and thus craft growth opportunities for everyone to achieve higher goals. Team Faber has been persistent in supporting the transformation journeys of its clients even before the pandemic, during the pandemic and is also committed to supporting them post-pandemic. We have been supporting more than 200 clients across industries and geographies. Our clients and stakeholders have been provided with all the necessary support even during these different times. We cherish all the trust & patronage bestowed on us and we promise to continue to put in relentless efforts in the future as well to craft mutual growth opportunities, create value and build a better fabulous world together! This upcoming financial year, let us join hands together to uplift your business excellence with our proven Organization Transformation Framework. Look forward to supporting your transformation journey to reach the benchmark of world-class practices. From the Directors Desk
- [Clients Speak: Let us bounce forward together!](https://faberinfinite.com/clients-speak-let-us-bounce-forward-together/): Pandemic has been a different time for everyone across the world. Be it professional front or personal grounds, everyone has faced challenges that has taught us how to tackle different situations like these. Most parts of the world were shut down, international as well as national boundaries were closed, many manufacturing organisations were even working from home, and a few had the access to operate from the site but with limited capacity. Pandemic or no pandemic, team Faber Infinite has always strived to support it’s clients. to become operationally excellent, cost effective, productive, and profitable. We support our clients with implementation journey via Organisational Transformation Framework by Faber Infinite. Not just that, we even helped our clients to be prepared for such unforeseen Black Swan events. In this newsletter, celebrating few client feedbacks from the recent past. Below are quick snippets of what our clients had to say about our services. 1. Mr. Leon Grundlingh – Director: Technical & Product Development – Hygrotech East Africa Limited – Kenya “Our aim with intervention by Faber Infinite was to focus on the local growers, the local sales team that services the clients. We have got representation all over the country in all the counties that are of agricultural importance to Kenya. With the help of Faber Infinite, we put the sales strategy in place. We have put sales targets in place, we are measuring and evaluating ourselves and it is working, as we can see the results. Your team has had excellent participation as you have been on the ground continuously, unlike the white-collared consultants.”  Read the entire interview here 2. Mr. Rahul Kejriwal – Executive Director – Remsons Industries Limited – India “We engaged with Faber for a specific project, where we got the new plant layout done. Team Faber Infinite has mapped out all our processes perfectly such as raw materials, stores, material flow, movement between material flows. Since we are setting up the plant at present, we are taking into consideration the COVID norms as well. Although COVID may not last long, we are setting up preventive measures for the future. So, the involvement of Faber Infinite has given us in-depth knowledge and confidence. We shall also engage Faber as we go ahead with our implementation phase, to avoid any mistakes as we go forward. It has been a worthy journey with Faber.” Read the entire interview here 3. Mr. Vishnu Jajoo – Managing Director – Shriji Polymers India Limited – India “Our journey with Faber has been young, so definitely we are seeing great results through important changes taking place. It is a seed that Faber Infinite has implanted into our team and our organization to see things more towards in an organized manner. We are very happy, as these were the few things we have been talking about since quite some time, however it was Team Faber Infinite which has put those things in place and implanted it very effectively into the downline team. Their role has been very good since they translated and formalized the thought process of our management team in every department of the organization.” Read the entire interview here 4. Mr. Yash Shah – Director and CEO – Apollo Heat Exchangers Pvt. Ltd – India “Team Faber has helped us improve manpower productivity by ~32%, reduce shop floor WIP by ~10%, reduce overall throughput time and many more. Gradually, Team Faber has helped us align our teams to a new way of thinking about operational excellence. We took quarterly milestones like productivity improvement of most bottleneck operations.” Read the entire interview here 5. Mr. Vishal Dokania – Director – Durian Laminates – India “We saw a lot of improvement in terms of wastage reduction, improvement in overall efficiencies, also it was highly systematic. During COVID, we had a look back on all those practices that we used to practice at the time we had implemented Six S. This project that we did with Faber Infinite really helped us a lot to gear up for COVID because we had a mechanism in place for dividing the factories into zones, making team leaders and all that we did before, really helped us even in this situation and it is being followed even now. This has helped build the culture of continual improvement and it reflects at all the levels in the organization.” Read the entire interview here 6. Mr.Sanjay Khanvilkar – Head Quality and Business Excellence – Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd – India “We have been working with Faber since a long time. We have had great trust, confidence and belief that team Faber will help us achieve phenomenal results by implementing Value Stream Mapping. This project was implemented in our Baroda unit in B2B as well as B2C department at our corporate office in Mumbai. Team Faber has helped us achieve such phenomenal results.  I am proud of Team Faber. The entire process was very well defined and structured. It has helped build the confidence of Crompton on Team Faber Infinite. The top management is highly appreciative of the efforts by the team. In future whenever any new assignments would come up, team Faber will definitely be our first and primary choice to work with.” Read the entire interview here 7. Mr. Joseph Ngige – General Manager – Karirana Estates Ltd – Kenya “Transformation journey has addressed both Operational Excellence and Strategic Excellence. Team Faber has guided us in this journey by giving us support in areas like building cost leadership, building quality leadership, delivering customer service leadership and safety. It has helped us in inventory management, where we have reduced the total inventory by 60% and the amount saved is used in other operations because we no longer hold it in inventory.” Read the entire interview here 8. Mr. Shailesh Mehta – Managing Director – Texel Industries – India “Faber Infinite has been instrumental in bringing awakening at the lowest level on the shop floor, in areas of operational excellence and innovative production process. We
- [Celebrating Young Emerging Women Leaders in Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-young-emerging-women-leaders-in-manufacturing/): To watch the video interactions of emerging young women leaders from manufacturing, click on the link here. International Women’s Day is celebrated in the honor of women across the globe as a part of the entire eco-system. This year Team Faber Infinite along with Young Indians Ahmedabad Chapter rolled out an initiative to celebrate and encourage women leaders from the manufacturing sector. The entire idea behind celebrating young emerging women leaders from manufacturing was to celebrate their achievements, raise awareness about gender equality, and lobby for accelerated gender parity. Enough has been said and done about women’s power in the past few years, however, women in the core manufacturing industry are still unsung. Research says that there are only 3% – 12% women in the manufacturing industry in India. The manufacturing industry is considered a male-dominated industry. There are very few women at the core of manufacturing and as you climb up the ladder to the leadership position, there are even lesser women leaders. However, there are few young women leaders who have made their mark in the manufacturing sector. They have emerged through the thick and thin of times. To inspire more women to take a career in the manufacturing sector, we took the initiative of bringing out the stories of emerging young women leaders who have already made a mark in this sector. In this initiative, we were joined by the following vibrant women leaders; 1.         Ms. Sandhya Patel, Director, Meghmani Group, Ahmedabad, India 2.         Ms. Darshi Shah, COO, Isiniya Feeds, Kenya, Africa 3.         Ms. Sonal Shah, Executive Director, Strongpak Ltd., UK/Zambia, Africa 4.         Ms. Charmy Nathwani, Director, Gulab Oils, Ahmedabad, India 5.         Ms. Priya Gandhi, Deputy Director, Hester Bioscience, Ahmedabad, India 6.         Ms. Asha Pillai, CFO & Finance Director, Shell – Hazira Group of Companies, Ahmedabad, India 7.         Ms. Maithili Appalwar, CEO, Avana, Maharashtra, India  8.         Ms. Perizaad Zorabian, Director, Zorabian Chicken   We are highly appreciative of all the women leaders that came forward and joined us in this campaign to promote more women to join the manufacturing industry by sharing their experiences with us. We would like to thank all the vibrant women leaders, our partners Young Indians Ahmedabad Chapter for leading from the front. Also, thanking, Rotary International Club of Pune University, Round Table India, CII Indian Women Network for all the support. We take this opportunity to thank our Radio Partner – 94.3 MY FM, Video Partner – Dreamfoot, Image Partner – Avancé Image Management, and Image Satva. Faber Infinite Consulting believes in crafting equal growth opportunities. This initiative should inspire many more young women to choose career opportunities in the manufacturing industry. Manufacturing is 18% of the Indian GDP and if India Inc inspires to become a 5 trillion economy, it should not only be dependent on the service industry, but the manufacturing industry should also join in to contribute equally to achieve the desired goal. To watch the video interactions of these emerging young women leaders, click on the link here. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Building Excellence in Chemical Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-chemical-industry/): India is planning to become a $5 trillion economy by the year 2025. Chemical industry of India is one of the industries that plays a key role in supporting India reach the target by contributing $300 billion as per the Indian Chemical News. Indian Chemical Industry has a huge potential and a long way to go ahead to help the nation reach its target. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been supporting the clients from the chemical industry reach their targets by supporting them in their operational excellence journey. This will ultimately help the industry fulfil the desired target of contributing $300 billion. Our consulting team of engineers with a cumulative hands on experience of ~250 years has been supporting clients from the chemical industry since inception. A few of the benefits delivered at the client sites are as follow. With extensive experience of working in the domain of operational excellence, team Faber has devised a unique framework for the chemical industry. This framework would deliver extremely powerful solutions for the organisations to deliver significant savings for the industry. Take the leap to transform your operations and accelerate the operational excellence journey. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Industry prepares for futuristic manufacturing with Lean Facility Design©](https://faberinfinite.com/industry-prepares-for-futuristic-manufacturing-with-lean-facility-design/): Companies from various sectors are actively pursuing plans either of setting up new manufacturing setups or expanding in India. All these organizations want their operations to be efficient and future-ready. To address the same, the leadership and research team at Faber Infinite Consulting has devised a powerful Lean Facility Design© (LFD) framework and delivered phenomenal results. LFD is a proven and copyrighted methodology, that supports organizations to build best-in-class facilities from day zero! It is the need of the hour with more and more manufacturing units being set up across industries. LFD (a 14-step approach) focuses on aspects like flow design, capacity calculations, manpower and equipment optimization, material handling, beyond optimal layout design. It also covers aspects like project planning, conceptual design at the systems level, functional design at the value stream level, and detailed design at the operational level, standard work development for operating. Amongst several organizations where the LFD framework has been rolled out, Remsons Industries Ltd, a pioneer in India for Auto Control Cables and Gear Shifters with Push-Pull Cables, has been benefitted, when they were shifting their facility. “We are engaged with Faber, where we got the new plant layout done. Team Faber has mapped out all our processes including raw materials, stores, material flow, movement between material flows taking into consideration COVID norms as well. With the in-depth knowledge and confidence that team Faber brought, we shall also engage them as we go ahead with our implementation phase. It has been a worthy journey with Faber”, said Mr. Rahul Kejriwal, Executive Director – Remsons Industries Ltd. Mr. Jalay Pandya, Founding Partner and Director, Faber Infinite Consulting added, “We have supported several clients with our comprehensive LFD framework that focuses on several important aspects even before the layout. In fact, layout design is step 12 in our system with so many prerequisites. It is a classic combination of Lean Management – Industrial Engineering and Project Management to arrive at highly efficient and effective layout in the first attempt.” Another leading organization, Goldi Solar Private Limited, one of the fastest growing Solar PV module manufacturing companies, is deploying patented Lean Facility Design© (LFD) framework by Faber Infinite Consulting for their new mega plant facility. “We have engaged team Faber Infinite in the past and were impressed by their diligence. So when we are getting our new mega facility done, we have engaged with them again to roll out LFD framework for efficient processes and operations. We are extremely intrigued with LFD framework and are hopeful of getting superlative results.”, said Mr. Bharat Bhut, Founder & Director – Goldi Solar Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Aakash M Borse, Founding Partner and Director, Faber Infinite Consulting added, “We have supported several clients with our comprehensive LFD framework that focuses on several important aspects even before the layout. In fact, layout design is step 12 in our system with so many prerequisites. It is a classic combination of Lean Management – Industrial Engineering and Project Management to arrive at highly efficient and effective layout in the first attempt.” Yet another leading drip irrigation pipes manufacturer, Kothari Agritech Pvt Ltd resorted to  LFD framework for top class productivity and capacity and thus built a world class plant. “We were in the process of consolidation of 6-7 units at a new facility called Kothari Udyam Nagar in Solapur. We wanted to design a world-class layout and Team Faber supported us in setting up top-notch facility with higher than planned capacities and manpower productivity”, said Ashish Kothari – Director Operations at Kothari Agritech Pvt Ltd. “In a scenario, where we must design best in class layout as per global standards, considering the material flow practices, visual management, safety, and other factors, LFD is the best solution. It was appreciated by our client and we were involved from design to implementation phase. Substantial improvement of 20-50% in productivity, quality and capacity has been delivered at several locations”, said Mr. Vishal Kulkarni, Founding Partner and Director, Faber Infinite Consulting. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Invest Your Energy Wisely To Be More Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/invest-your-energy-wisely-to-be-more-productive/): In our life, we are given a finite amount of energy and how we invest it defines our entire personal as well as professional life satisfaction. There is a difference between managing time and managing energy. When we say managing time it can be applied to any task that fits your calendar. Managing energy means understanding what tasks make you feel energized. It also means choosing the right engagement to invest this time. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at some ways to maximize our energy for growth and contentment: Keep yourself as the first priority Always keep yourself and your health as the highest priority. With additional energy, we will create a better working environment and greater quality of work. If you take care of yourself it will automatically lead to better work quality, better performance, lesser sick leaves, improved engagement levels, increased amiability among co-employees, and an overall improvement in physical and mental well-being. Involve in what energizes you If you are not sure of what energizes you the most, then you can keep a track of all the activities that you do in a week. Check which activities energize you the most. Keep a check of small things that you can change to make for better experiences. May be keep a checklist: What tasks or activities energize me the most? When does time pass quickly or fast? If I do not go to work for a week, what would I do? What is it that I could do for 8 hours and not get tired at all? Doing what makes me feel happiest? Apply what you learn There is a huge difference between knowing and applying what you know. Once you know what energizes you, you can make small changes such as delegating specific work. You need to decide if you want to take small steps or take a big leap. You need to decide what best suits you. Do not engage in tasks that drain you, because it will affect your work, relationship, and general happiness. The result is that where you devote your energy is the most important choice for living a content life. Your energy is your valuable and non-refundable currency and your time is your investment so invest it prudently. Written & Compiled by Mayuri Pandya
- [3 Ways to Motivate Teams to Give Best](https://faberinfinite.com/3-ways-to-motivate-teams-to-give-best/): Good management is essential for the success of the team. Being a good manager is very important because if the people in your team are happy, they are more likely to give their best at work and more importantly perform better and stay longer. To be a good manager, the leader must be interested in the people in the team. You need to communicate with them and you cannot just talk to them, you need to walk the talk. To be an outstanding manager, you need to focus on three things This Transformation Tuesday, let us investigate these three parameters: Safety A manager needs to make the employees feel safe. They should work without fear of negative consequences. It is the job of the leader to tell the teams to be as they are at work. The leader should share their personal challenges at work and motivate the team members to do the same. The leader should ask the team for constructive feedback and thank them for sharing it. Have regular one-on-one discussions with the teams where they can share their personal experiences. Communication  Managers need to prioritize communication well and often. They need to communicate often with teams. Make regular communication with your team and make sure that there is transparency between members by providing regular feedback and requesting it in return as well. Ask team members about their preferred means of communication. Managers need to communicate better to get the best out of their teams. Commitment and Inspiration Managers need to create a safe place for the employees so that they work well and perform well. Managers need to give them opportunities such that all their core values and skills are aligned and utilized. Once managers provide them with such a supportive environment, then they will automatically work on engagement and motivation and thus present their career vision to the manager. Managers should also ask them to refer to the projects that suit their aspirations and their skill set. If possible, they should be allowed to take responsibility and climb up the ladder. Motivating team members is not easy, especially in these different times. But by considering the above mentioned 3 pointers and creating a safe environment, maintaining communication, and working on their engagement levels will give them the best possible chance to succeed Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Book your Workshop for New FMEA (as per AIAG & VDA) in India](https://faberinfinite.com/book-your-workshop-for-new-fmea-as-per-aiag-vda-in-india/): New FMEA is the new standard combining the best practices from AIAG USA and VDA, Germany for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) The FMEA is a tool used widely for continual improvement and proactive addressing of potential failures. The New FMEA is a guide to the Design FMEA, Process FMEA, and Supplemental FMEA for Monitoring and System Response. Developed with a global team of OEM’s and Tier 1/2/3 Subject Matter Experts (SME’s), it incorporates best practices from both AIAG and VDA methodologies into a balanced and co-ordinated, new 7 step approach: Step 1- Planning & Preparation Step 2-Structure Analysis Step 3-Function Analysis Step 4-Failure Analysis Step 5-Risk Analysis Step 6-Optimisation Step 7-Result Documentation To equip the client teams with practical knowledge and skills that one needs to put controls in place to avoid the impact of risks, Team Faber Infinite has devised an exclusive customized Workshop on New FMEA (as per AIAG and VDA). Recently, we conducted a workshop on New FMEA at one of the largest camshaft manufacturers in the world. The objectives and key elements of the workshop were as follow: To learn the seven-step methodology of AIAG – VDA FMEA manual To learn new concepts of Structure Analysis, Function Analysis, Failure Chain, etc To align the current practice with Global FMEA practice To learn the relationship between PFMEA and DFMEA To understand Action Priority Concept as only RPN criteria is no longer effective. To learn process optimization step to reduce risk To take up pilot projects on New FMEA We have delivered resourceful workshops on the approach of PFMEA at several client sites as well. Team Faber Infinite is a global business management consulting organization supporting clients from the manufacturing industry to improve their processes and practices by implementing an operational excellence framework. Process improvement is one of the most important aspects to improve manufacturing practices to avoid any kind of return of the orders or defects in the orders or complaints from the consumer. This shall not only support the organization to save on cost and improve manpower productivity, but also improve their product quality and end-user experience. Implement the New FMEA with our expert team. Call us today to book a power-packed workshop for your organization! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Foster Improvisation Skills for Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/foster-improvisation-skills-for-growth/): In the era of rapid transformation, the ability to adapt and improve has become very important. Organizations should work on building the culture of improvisation. There are different types of improvisations that are seen in different types of employees. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how organizations can foster improvisation skills among their employees: Create Awareness Organizations should create awareness among teams and employees about the different types of improvisations skills. They should make their teams aware of the impact of competition and collaboration on the improvisation skills. With greater awareness can help in creating a better team composition. Leaders can ensure that the new joinees are coupled with more experienced improvisors from whom they can imitate and learn. This can also help organizations to make teams such that employees with strong improvisations skills are assigned to projects that are not structured and not certain. Balance cooperation and competition Research suggests that both co-operation and competition are equally important for a healthy organization. Leaders need to maintain a balance where employees co-operate wit each other at the same time it should not affect the competitive abilities of aspiring and ambitious new joinees. Leaders need to emphasize on co-operation because it helps to promote generative improvisation, but without strong competitive improvisation skills, employees will struggle to develop reactive improvisation skills that they need for a strong foundation for growth. Build a strong social structure Organizations should support strong social structures to promote generative improvisation skills among the employees. Leaders and managers should create an environment rich of social interactions that generate trust and co-operation. This enables employees to gain inspiration from each other and work together and come up with new ideas without fear for rejection or failure. So leaders should work on building strong social communication mechanism supporting both formal and informal mechanisms. In today’s world, improvisation is the key to growth. Leaders and employees who are capable of improvisation, will help the organization grow. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [National Safety Week 2021](https://faberinfinite.com/national-safety-week-2021/): As we celebrate National Safety Week every year between 4th – 10th March, the theme of this year is Road Safety. Road Safety is a topic of highest concern for almost every state in India. As per the report by National Crime Record Bureau, India witnessed a total of 4,37,386 road accidents, out of which 1,54,732 people died and around 4,39,262 people were injured. The numbers seem to be raising each passing year when compared with the past data. If we look at one of the theories – Heinrich Safety Pyramid, where Mr. Heinrich says that on every 300 near misses, there are 29 minor injuries and 1 major injury. The pyramid focuses on the severity and frequency of the accidents on the basis of the near-miss. It proves that the massive number of severe injuries can be reduced if we focus on reducing the number of near-miss and minor injuries. The theory also draws attention to the black spots where there are a higher number of accidents occurring, which it is taken care of, the number of near-miss or accidents will reduce automatically. One of the classic examples by Times of India is the NH-48 from Vadodara, Gujarat where 451 people lost their lives in almost 4 years. The highway is truly known to be leading to hell.  The government has identified 14 black spots which have witnessed 293 accidents within 3 years. The spots include the entry points to different villages. Here, the government keeps a note on the near-miss from the black spots area to avoid serious injuries and deaths. If the Heinrich Safety Pyramid is applied at all the major accidental places of the country, the number of severe accidents and fatalities will reduce soon and the roads, as well as the highways, will be a safer place to drive on. Along with this, passengers should follow proper driving rules and wear proper PPE kits while driving such as helmets, Seat belts, etc. which can save them from serious injuries as well as deaths. This National Safety Week, let us all take a pledge to help the nation reduce the number of road accidents and deaths by doing our bits because someone is waiting for you BACK AT HOME! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Create a Culture of Safety](https://faberinfinite.com/create-a-culture-of-safety/): Safety is the most underrated parameter in many organizations. Putting only posters with safety messages does not help it. Are these posters effective in changing employee behavior in sustainable ways? Organizations should think beyond just putting the safety posters on the walls. They should consider safety as a core value and educate employees by investing in safety training and protective equipment required by law. More and more organizations should work towards embracing a safety culture in a sustainable way. They should work on below mentioned 3 misconceptions that are keeping them from incorporating safety into the organization’s culture: Organizations should work on building a balance between safety and culture. The current ways and means focus too much on safety parameters and less on the culture side. Organizations should strike a balance between safety and culture to truly drive safety culture. Organizations should assess the root cause of unsafe events. It helps to create a sustainable environment. Organizations should be able to identify risks before they result in accidents. Employees should not hide the near misses in the fear of punishment. Instead, employees should be recognized for recording the near misses should and breaches before they happen. Organizations should create clarity and orientation about this mission, vision, and how their teams and employees work together, will not only achieve better safety performance but will also be ahead of their competitors in other important performance parameters such as sales, market share, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. At the end of the day, creating a culture of safety is not about attractive safety quotes, slogans, or posters. It must become a part of the organization’s DNA. Organizations should start finding the balance between safety and culture. Only then will they be able to meaningful and sustainable changes in the organization to create a safe culture. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Good Leader is a Good Listener](https://faberinfinite.com/good-leader-is-a-good-listener/): Employees always feel that their voices should be heard. They want to work with leaders who will not just hear them but listen to them. Leaders should become more mindful of the employees as the employees continuously keep seeking attention, feedback and support. Leaders should be good listeners to build efficient and effective teams. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at different effective ways of listening that will help you get started: Care for your team When you empathize with your employees they work harder and aim to achieve beyond expectations. Employees always want leaders who care for them. Leaders should not consider their employees as resources or tools for the success of the organization. Employees should be considered as assets that have unique capabilities that are not necessarily limited to their job functions. Employees want leaders who care about their wellbeing and whom they can depend on during times of hardship be it personal or professional. Engage yourself Leaders should engage themselves with the employees. When employees share opinions or ask for questions, leaders should encourage them to share more. When leaders engage themselves with their employees and follow up with them regularly, then employees feel that the leaders are listening to them. Empathize Express your concern and show your employees that you can feel their frustration. Empathy is a very powerful tool to display listening. Great leaders know how to balance head and heart. Leaders should be approachable for those employees who need attention. Don’t be judgemental If the leader is judgemental, it means that the leader is not listening. Rather than judging leaders should learn from the employees in the team. Leaders should accept new ideas and methods, for that they must be active listeners and continuous learners. Mindful Leaders should be mindful. They should know to read beyond verbal and nonverbal communication. Leaders who are mindful they are good listeners, and they engage in communication with the employees. Leaders are always observed by the employees. If they appear disconnected, they are perceived as not listening to them. Do not interrupt Leaders should not interrupt. They should establish two way communication. Good leaders do not interrupt the flow of thoughts of the employees because they know that with interruption comes disengagement. They gain respect from their employees by being a patient listener. Leaders should focus on what the employees have to say. Team Leader should respect them employees. Leaders will automatically gain respect if they listen to the employees. So all the leaders should listen and become compassionate. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Key to Identify Worker Bees](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-identify-worker-bees/): Every organization needs the “worker bees” who are always on time, give direction to the teams, get the work done right and on time, and usually keep the work flowing. Organizations need to identify such “worker bees” and nurture those who have that extra quality. Organizations need to focus on this set of employees who go beyond their job description and exhibit leadership potential. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at a few traits that worker bees have: Quality Worker bees or top performers consider quality as the topmost priority. They do not believe in getting work done for the sake of it. They are not satisfied unless they achieve client delight. Skill Development Worker bees are always in the process of upgrading themselves by improving their skills. They keep learning so that they can help the organization grow further. Strong Decision Making Worker bees are very good decision-makers. They do not fear making any decision and take a stand where necessary. This is possible only when freedom and trust are part of the organization’s culture. Seek Regular Feedback Worker bees know that to get better they need to understand what is expected and how they are doing. They seek regular feedback from managers/supervisors. It gives them the motivation to innovate new ideas and come up with means to grow the business. Self-Motivated Worker bees, spend more time on work than the other employees. They keep motivating themselves and keep working on new assignments and challenges. They acquire knowledge from the right talent in the organization to achieve their goals and progress to the next level in the organization. Calm and Composed With confidence, the worker bees develop the ability to remain calm and composed in any given situation. They examine the issue and solve the problem in a very calm and composed manner even when the deadline is very close. They understand when to compromise and when to stay firm. People Skills They believe the network is net worth. They have larger networks professionally than the average employees. They know that a strong network would always help to solve issues at work. They do not hesitate to call their contacts and take their support. They are not necessarily extroverts, but they understand the value of fostering a professional network. Organizations need to identify such worker bees in their organization and guide them on the path of wisdom. As John Quincy Adams quotes – “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”, organizations should focus on finding worker bees who have the potential to become leaders. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [10 Tips for making An Organization Socially Responsible](https://faberinfinite.com/10-tips-for-making-an-organization-socially-responsible/): Being a more socially conscious business will positively impact your business’s bottom line. Both clients and employees support organizations that respond kindly to the needs of a community and to those who are socially responsible. It also promotes innovation and collaboration and can even help organizations obtain funding from investors. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at 10 tips for making an organization socially responsible: Conduct and govern all activities with ethics, transparency, and accountability Provide goods and services which will always be safe and sustainable throughout the life cycle Be responsible and respectful to the interests of employees, clients, suppliers, vendors, and all the stakeholders in your ecosystem Always promote wellbeing, esteem, and growth of all the process owners Respect, reflect and represent the Vision, Mission, and Goals of the organization in every activity Protect, Preserve and Promote environment’s wellbeing Safeguard and honor all directives, regulations, and prescriptions of Laws of the Land. Support and encourage inclusive growth, natural justice, fair play and equitable deployment Responsibly engage, involve, and integrate the values projected by clients/consumers. Ensure regular, fair, and progressive returns to internal customers: employees and external customers: investors, promoters, and clients. Written by Sensei Rajendra Krishn Ganpuley
- [Practicing Peace Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/practicing-peace-leadership/): Peace leadership means when as leaders we create a working environment where people are motivated to work individually, free from unwanted work pressure, without any prejudice and perception and work collectively to meet the organizational goals. There be emotional self-control, empathy, forgiveness, and optimism. The goal should be to create an environment such that there is a work-life balance for the employees. Work freedom, forgiveness, and inclusion of all would bring PEACE to the organization and better performance by the individuals. Another important aspect of peace leadership is empathy. Leaders should practice empathy. They should be able to relate to the team members. Leaders should be able to ask for forgiveness when needed and should forgive others. It helps a lot in peace leadership. Apart from that, leaders should make a system for every process. All the decisions should be process-driven to maintain consistency. Leaders should build the capability among all the functional heads and empower them to take decisions. At the same time, the leader should be accessible to every individual in the organization whosoever needs support in making a decision and resolve any issue on the table. All of this creates a great work environment and transparency in the organization. However, one of the biggest challenges with peace leadership was to get employees to work as teams and not as individuals. Generally, employees make individual decisions, Leaders need to get them aligned and make them realize the benefits of systems or process-driven decisions. A leader should consider the below mentioned factors while practicing peace leadership: Be good listener Be empathetic Stay calm while handling issues Practice asking forgiveness in case of your mistake and forgive others while they make mistakes Design simple processes for every activity and take process-driven decisions Build the capability among functional heads and empower them Be proactive and identify potential risks in every system Learn from failure and implement corrective action to avoid recurrence Have fun at the workplace Practicing peace leadership benefits the organization in multiple ways. A few of the achievements can be as follows: Improved employee performance Improved employee retention Increased productivity Improved quality of deliverables Higher Customer satisfaction Transparency at all levels Peace leadership takes time and commitment, and it is an ongoing process. As Dalai Lama quotes – “Peace does not mean the absence of conflicts; differences, will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means, through dialogue, education, knowledge and through humane ways.”, leaders should keep practicing peace leadership for the growth of the organization and the employees. About Author Dr. Sanjay Kumar Jain – President India – Amneal Pharmaceuticals. He is an avid writer. Writing poems has been his passion. Recently he launched a song on “Peace”, on YouTube that got 4000 + views in just a few days. It has been very well received by the viewers and it encourages him to write more on peace. Link to the song – https://youtu.be/mUeh7khlw4Q
- [Keep Moving Forward with Growth Mindset](https://faberinfinite.com/keep-moving-forward-with-growth-mindset/): Culture of growth and continual improvement has always been a catchword in the learning and development world. Building a growth mindset means building a culture where we promote the growth of the teams by encouraging them to work on skill improvement. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how we can help build a growth mindset among teams: Continuous Improvement It works only when applied from the bottom of the organization. It works only if it is adopted by every employee in the organization. Continuous improvement is a continuous process of obtaining new knowledge, transforming it into new skills, and extending this new knowledge through the organization. This way, both individual and organizational growth never stop and are driven by the employees themselves.  Soft Skills It is very essential to develop and support a healthy working environment for teams to perform well. Leaders should focus both on team results as well as the organizations culture. Those leaders and organizations who focus on both results and culture are more likely to succeed than those who focus only on performance or results. A healthy culture is built in the organization through soft skills development. Leaders should work on providing employees with soft-skills training that will help them reach and improve their emotional intelligence, improve their awareness of others and increase the quality of communication both within teams and with clients or prospects.   Marry people and technology Besides, continual improvement, soft skills there is one more element that adds to building a growth mindset and that is technology. It enhances the culture of growth. Technologies significantly change the way organizations work, both in terms of interaction with clients or prospects and internal communications. Fortunately, flexibility and the ability to adapt to changes quickly can be developed through the above-mentioned approaches. These steps taken will help to impeccably establish smooth amalgamation and collaboration between technologies and employees. Building a culture of growth and development is a long-term process. However, an organization can benefit once they start taking active steps towards the implementation of a growth mindset. By promoting continual improvement culture, by using the right technology, by carefully using learning and performance data, organizations can empower their employees to reach the greatest potential, perform best and strive for innovation. Building a culture of a growth mindset is a long-term goal, as there are no limits to gaining knowledge and there are no limits to improvement. As Martin Luther King Jr. said – If you cannot fly then run if you cannot run then walk if you cannot walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. Image Source – www.freepik.com Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Celebrating Milestones from 2020](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-milestones-from-2020/): 2020 has been a year of challenges and making it is a success itself. We, at Faber Infinite, believe that when life gives you lemons make lemonade out of it. Team Faber Infinite came together on the Faber Foundation day to celebrate and enjoy the lemonade that 2020 had to offer. Achieving and celebrating milestones is a culture at Faber Infinite! As always, to celebrate the milestone, we along with our team members, families, patrons, and Guest of Honour came together virtually, considering the pandemic. Nothing could deter the spirit of team from celebrating the journey, the milestones, successes, and achievements of our team. We always believe it is the team and their efforts that bring success to the organization. We believe, all our team members are warriors who helped us strive through the year 2020. Hence, to celebrate the milestones and achievements, what better occasion than the Faber Foundation Day itself. The team was felicitated with rewards and recognitions for their commendable performances. We are thankful to Shri Jayesh Shah – Director at Spin Ventures Group (SVG) Africa for gracing the occasion and educating us on how spirituality can help us make a sprint in our life (professional and personal). Mr. Shah is also a Senior Pranic Healing Practitioner along with the managing trustee of GMCKS Pranic Healing Foundation of East Africa. Mr. Shah shared a few of his practices and taught how there is energy in everything and how the energy keeps you going in every condition. Please find below a quick video of Mr. Shah sharing his practices, we hope it will help you too to understand how energy works and how we can find the motivation to emerge out of any situation. Like always, the new theme for the year 2021 was unveiled by our director Mr. Jalay Pandya – Bounce Forward Together! May we all rise together yet again, accept the new normal and embrace the future by Bouncing Forward Together. We especially thank Mr. Jayesh Shah for sharing his experience and practices with us and taking time from his busy schedule to grace the ceremony with his e-presence. Written and compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Auto Component Industry – Right Time to Reap the Benefits](https://faberinfinite.com/auto-component-industry-right-time-to-reap-the-benefits/): The auto components manufacturing industry has been one of the growing industries of India. Based on the research conducted by IBEF, the industry has expanded by the compound annual growth rate of 6% over 4 years between the financial year 2016 to 2020. This helped the industry reach USD 49.3bn in the financial year 2020. The industry also accounts for 2.3% of the nation’s total GDP. Based on another research conducted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the industry stood at USD 24.53bn during the time span of April 2000 to June 2020. The industry is also gradually shifting and welcoming electric modes of transportation. The auto component industry of India is estimated to become the 3rd largest industry in the world by the year 2025 and to help the companies benefit from that, team Faber has been supporting India’s leading organisations in this industry with its Organisational Transformation Framework©. Faber Infinite Consulting has been supporting the auto component manufacturing industry across the world, for more than a decade. We have supported leading players from the industry to achieve their desired goals and results, by delivering tangible benefits in the auto component industry as follows: Typical improvement areas in the auto component industry are as follows: To reap the finest benefits from the sector, become a part of the growth journey. Contact us today to join the league at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Build World Class Systems, Right First Time!](https://faberinfinite.com/build-world-class-systems-right-first-time/): Several organizations are in the process of growth and expansion. Team Faber Infinite has been engaged to design organizations that are efficient and world class systems from day zero! Now, more than ever, organizations want their operations to be efficient and future ready. To address the same, Team Faber Infinite has been helping clients with its proven and copyrighted methodology – Lean Facility Design© (LFD). This unique methodology crafted by team Faber Infinite supports organizations to build best in class facilities and infrastructure from day zero! We have been serving clients from various sectors including FMCG, Automotive Component, Engineering, Pharmaceuticals and many more where the LFD methodology has been successfully deployed for the best-in-class facilities. Team Faber Infinite has implemented LFD at one of the country’s largest player in FMCG sector. The process includes project planning, system level conceptual design, value stream design at functional level, and in-depth design at the operational level. The layout also includes safety measures for any unforeseen black swan events. This will help organisations stay unaffected even in the future if any threat such as COVID remains around. This process has been helping our clients way before COVID came in light and they were well prepared for the black swan events. Among various other organizations where the LFD framework has been rolled out, our teams are working in other industries such as – leading drip irrigation pipes manufacturer, a leading pharmaceutical plant, and other engineering organisations. Lean Facility Design (LFD) is a comprehensive methodology with 14 steps, which focuses on several important aspects even before the layout. Please click here for more details about the LFD framework and the results delivered. Qualified and certified consultants at Faber Infinite Consulting have first-hand experience of implementing LFD across industries and geographies, with utmost precision thus helping organizations become efficient and effective.  A 200% improvement in productivity, 100% reduction in production throughput times – Sounds too good to be true? We can deliver these results through Lean Facility Design©. To know more about the benefits and the process of Lean Facility Design©, click below:https://faberinfinite.com/new-factory-layout-design-lean-facility-design/ https://faberinfinite.com/lean-facility-design-benefits-plenty/ https://faberinfinite.com/is-lfd-the-secret-to-world-class-manufacturing/ Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Making Growth a Habit](https://faberinfinite.com/making-growth-a-habit/): Faber Infinite Consulting is one of the finest global management consulting organisations, offering one stop solution to uncover the hidden potential in the domain of Organizational Transformation including aspects like Operations, Strategy and People. Catering to 200+ clients across more than 8 countries, the service portfolio is widely spread across 40+ sectors and industries. We are not just board room management consultants, but we partner with our clients to go beyond boundaries, achieve goals, develop insights & rejuvenate teams! Our goal towards client satisfaction comes by leveraging the unique Organizational Transformation Framework© curated by Faber Infinite. The framework has been doing wonders for our clients and delivering exponential results by improving cost optimisation, capacity and profit maximization. We go on the real workplace, partner with the client teams, and work alongside to deliver best results. For implementing change, we focus on real solution, real people, real place, and real time. We take pride in calling ourselves blue collared consultants – implementers. Team Faber along with the client team is able to innovate, collaborate, think creatively and thus help the client achieve their goals. We have been supporting our client’s organisation by establishing the culture of change and organisational transformation. We strongly believe that ‘One size doesn’t fit to all’ hence, we don’t do ‘cookie cutter’. Our novel methodology of tailormade implementation approach for each organization helps companies to achieve continuous benefits and customer satisfaction through continual improvement. Our team brings more than 300 years of cumulative experience. All our consultants being experienced engineers, industry experts, Lean Six Sigma certified and result oriented, are goal oriented and always strive to achieve more than committed. We have supported organisations become world class by improving their practices and deploying our finely curated frameworks. We have also supported clients in manpower productivity improvement, cost optimization, profit maximization, sales improvement, throughput improvement, inventory management, cash optimization, standardization, quality improvement, batch failure reduction, breakdown reduction, and much more. Click here to view the brand story – https://youtu.be/LmZeoP7bDOo Join the league today and transform your organisation into a world class organisation. Contact us today to enroll for accelerating your organisational transformation journey – consulting@faberinfinite.com   Written and compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Putting Human back into Human Resource](https://faberinfinite.com/putting-human-back-to-human-resource/): As part of our Infinite Interview series, we are delighted to share our chat with Mr. Sanjeeb Lahiri – Chief Human Resource Officer at GRP Ltd. It has been different times for all sectors and domains, with a key focus on human resources. It is a pleasure to listen to pearls of wisdom from Mr. Sanjeeb Lahiri based on his vast experience in the organized as well as unorganized sectors across geographies. The key takeaway from the interview is as below – Key emerging trends such as shifts from Results to efforts. Previously, only results used to matter, now the efforts also equally matter Treating an employee across levels as a mature human being. So, the H in HR or the human part in the organization is probably seen for the first time Empathy and employee wellness is of higher priority today Click here to check the video: https://youtu.be/KrV-nYDzQGI We sincerely thank Mr. Sanjeeb Lahiri and team GRP Ltd for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck Sir!
- [Results Delivered, Sustainability Assured](https://faberinfinite.com/results-delivered-sustainability-assured/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, Chairman and Managing Director of a leading manufacturer from Woven Fabric Industry of India – Mr. Makrand Appalwar – Emmbi Industries Limited. He also is the President of IFIBCA (Indian Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container Association). Watch the video interview to know how a few of the below mentioned key points can turn tables for you as well. Some excellent learnings unfold in this quick video interaction. Make the right collaborations and co-create the excellence Get married to the needs and not the product Change is the only thing that is constant Check the video here – https://youtu.be/cf4EAPE5Pps We sincerely thank Mr. Makrand Appalwar and team Emmbi Industries Limited for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck Sir!
- [10 Tips for Effective Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/10-tips-for-effective-leadership/): Success can be One Time but being Effective is essential for sustained progress! This will help in delivering delight to the Customer. 1. Manage work by aligning it with business objectives. Encourage your teams to build a bottom-up approach in the organization for scaling from sections to departments to divisions to business unit 2. Ensure seeking regular feedback on 360 degrees to tune in with targets and locate gaps if any 3. Imbibe the culture of continual improvement in your team and focus both on time and goals 4. Make optimum utilization of talent in the team and search for hidden talent. This will motivate team members to give their best 5. Integrate your team and help them to feel important and valuable 6. Set SMART goals for your team (SMART – Specific, Measurable, Agreed between Giver & Receiver, Realistic and Time-bound 7. Lead by example 8. Kill the fear of the unknown and dare to explore 9. Be accountable and deliver tangible results. A responsibility might be given but accountability is to be lived 10. Communicate with 5 Cs: Communication should be Clear, Concise, Correct, Constructive and Calm Written by Sensei Rajendra Krishn Ganpuley and compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Four Ways to Manage Peace in Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/four-ways-to-manage-peace-in-teams/): Every good leader should be a good peacemaker. When there is turmoil in your organization it is the responsibility of the leader to keep all the stakeholders in agreement without being biased.  It is the responsibility of the leader to maintain peace and deal with human behaviors and interactions. Let us look at the pointers that leaders should keep in mind to maintain peace: 1. Win the Trust If the leader is going to be neutral during conflicts and arguments, then they must first win the trust of their team members. If you do not win the trust then people will consider the leader as a threat. Leaders should visit all the team members individually and get to know them better. Leaders should understand the members of the team and get to know who they are so that in case of conflicts, they have a better understanding of where each of them is coming from. 2. Know communication styles When a leader wants to know the members of the team, it is important to know their communication styles. Many times, conflicts happen due to a lack of interaction and understanding. Most of the time, conflicts arise due to miscommunication and misunderstanding. When a leader understands this, it will help to make better teamwork and partnership. 3. Listen A leader along with being a good communicator should be a good listener as well. A leader should be able to listen to both sides. When there is a conflict between two parties, leaders should always listen to the arguments between the two parties with an open mind. A leader should give chance to each party to put forward their point. A leader should never cut anyone off. This way both the parties will feel that they have been listened to. A leader should then come back to both the parties and explain how they have concluded. 4. Look at the hidden plan As a leader, he /she should be able to understand what the employees are really saying compared to what they actually say. As a mediator it is the responsibility of the leader, to focus on the real problem and find clues that can lead to sustainable solutions. Good leaders know how important it is to maintain peace and resolve issues or conflicts. A leader should be totally committed to facts and to the organization that he or she is working for, rather than individuals. In short, leaders should work towards preventing rivalries and cultivate peace and harmony at work. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [4 Steps to build Productive Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-build-productive-teams/): Leaders are always working on productivity improvement. They follow countless approaches that promise productivity improvement. But considering that people in the organization are still busy in work, covered in emails, and not able to focus on important priorities, we can say that these productivity tools and techniques just do not hack it. The problem is not with these different approaches. The problem is that they fail to take into consideration that most of the employees in the organization do not work in silos. They work in complex and interrelated functions and it is these interdependencies that have maximum effect on individual employee productivity. Leaders should work at the system level and not at the individual level, to improve productivity. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at measures to improve productivity: 1. Classify your problems Most progressive and productive organizations have categorized the daily problems or issues, with a defined escalation system. The first category includes a discussion of issues at the shopfloor with the frontline employees at the start of the day. The next category includes supervisors for 30 minutes. Followed by the supervisors are the managers for the next 30 minutes. Followed by the managers are the VPs for 30 minutes. After the VPS is the executive team for 30 minutes. Problems are addressed from the lowest level in the organization. If the problem is not resolved at a particular level it is escalated to the next level.  This process strengthens the linkage between the different levels in the organization. It also fastens the decision-making process and most importantly, it improves productivity. 2. Implement Daily Work Management Most of the work in an organization is not known. It is either in the computer systems of the employees or in their heads. Hence it is difficult to know what people are working on, whether they are overburdened, or they do not have enough tasks at hand. So, daily work management is a technique where each task is represented by a card with details like who is working on it, when is the task to be completed, and what is the status of the task (completed or escalated). This mechanism allows for better accountability and distribution of work. 3. Define the communication channel Organizations can make work easier for the employees by defining channels for communication based on the urgency of priority of the assigned work. It will help improve productivity as employees would not spend unnecessary time checking all the emails. For example, of the work is of high priority and high complexity, then the employees should pick up the phone and discuss or have a face-to-face meeting. 4. Give authority along with responsibility If an employee is given the responsibility of a particular task, then he/she should be given the authority to take the necessary decision, without being dragged into the endless loop of emails, meetings, and calls. Allow the employees to take low-risk decisions and they should only require approval for high-risk decisions. The chase of individual productivity is needed and worthy. However, to improve productivity you must make the systems strong and defined. To make a real impact, leaders must work at the organizational level. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [How to Welcome 2021?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-welcome-2021/): Most of you when asked about 2020, give the same answer that it was the most devastating year. The personal and economic losses have been phenomenal. It is difficult to remember much more than COVID, ever-changing conditions that affected our capability to control our destiny.  As we welcome 2021, this new year brings in a lot of hope. Besides the crisis in 2020, we learned a lot of things like gratitude, advances in technology, collaboration, and kindness across the world. Below are a few of the things we have learned from 2020, we encourage you to incorporate. 1. Innovation These tough times forced us to think differently. In many cases, we had to unlearn and learn. This mindset of growth and innovation is a gift from COVID. We just need to stick to this approach for some more time and it will carry all of us beyond today and into tomorrow. 2. Flexibility We need to cherish this new habit of being flexible and adaptable. We have learned to adapt to the changes happening around us. We have been able to consider the situation and create a vision around these changes – these are those who dealt well with 2020 and will do wonders in 2021. 3. Learn New Skills We have been able to learn using different platforms right from mastering something as simple as zoom to using the complicated virtual conferencing tools. We have also developed other skills that have helped us to grow professionally and personally. The skills that we developed in 2020 will be more relevant in 2021. It will increase our value as we master new skills. 4. Communication 2020 taught us to be connected professionally as well as personally. It taught us to communicate intentionally. The root cause of most of the problems is lack of communication. We should always be intentional and purposeful in our communication to avoid issues and problems. 5. Mobility We have learned to perform our work from any location. This has opened door to new opportunities. We can hire people who are not from the same location like the office location. We can allow people to stay where they belong and work for us. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [How to Beat the Risk and Encourage Leadership?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-beat-the-risk-and-encourage-leadership/): Last Transformation Tuesday, we looked at the reasons why talented employees are reluctant to take leadership position. So, what can be done to help our people beat these risks and thus convince them to take up leadership roles and opportunities. Below are the three steps managers can take to reduce the effect of these perceived risks and encourage leadership at all levels in the organization: Take extra effort to connect with your team members Employees who are new in the system, or who are at the lower level in the organization structure or who are in minority with respect to gender, or ethnic groups are more vulnerable to leadership risks. To push these employees and encourage them managers should make efforts to connect with them, openly ask for their inputs in meetings and assignments, and appreciate their leadership roles in front of the senior members in the organization. Manage contradictions Conflicts or arguments arise with in the teams. Employees are discouraged when conflicts arise due to difference in personality or values rather than due to difference of opinion on the projects or work. So when such arguments or conflicts arise, managers should manage the conflicts and see to it that they are restricted to work and do not get personal. When employees think of conflicts as the best way to put forward new ideas rather than a fight between people, they are more likely to take up leadership roles. Help employees to find low risk opportunities Make sure that major career outcomes are not at stake, otherwise employees will be hesitant to take risk. For example, less experienced leaders may worry when they are asked to take high responsibility leadership roles, as they would think that poor performance would affect their credibility. In cases like these where high risks are involved, employees will be less willing to take leadership roles. As organizations continue to believe in leadership and the achievements that come along with it, we also need to think about the risk factors associated. By identifying the risks potential leaders face and managing their opinions of those risks, organizations can foster leadership roles form more people in the organization – ultimately supporting growth of the organization as well of the people in the organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Reasons Why Talented Members are Hesitant to Lead](https://faberinfinite.com/3-reasons-why-talented-members-are-hesitant-to-lead/): Most organizations need employees with leadership skills. Many employees even show interest when asked about leadership opportunities. But when asked to step up and take the leadership, most of the talented employees step back. What must be the reason for this? This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the three most important factors that are commonly evident among the employees when we talk about leadership opportunities: 1. Risk of relationship with the team Dislike, competition, criticism, assertive, and forceful are a few of the words people associate with when they step up the ladder of leadership. The first and the most bothering concern that people think about is that the act of taking up a leadership role will affect their relationship with their team and peers. When asked about their views, leaders say that they do not want to jeopardize their friendship and ruin the feelings of their peers. 2. Risk of persona The second factor affecting the decision of taking up a leadership position is that other members of the workplace might think bad about them. Some leaders are reluctant because they do not want to appear like the know-it-all types. Some leaders think they might appear aggressive to others. Although leaders are always looked upon by the other members of the team. 3. Risk of being held responsible for Many aspirants are afraid of taking responsibility for the failure of the team. It is a part and parcel of the leadership role that they should always take responsibility for the failures of the team and team members. They are afraid that the team’s failure would affect their promotion, incentives, and thus would affect their leadership opportunities for the future. Fear of being blamed for the team’s collective efforts and work is one of the factors that keep people away from taking leadership roles. This Transformation Tuesday, we looked at reasons why team members avoid taking leadership roles. Next Tuesday, let us look at ways and means that would help people overcome the fear that holds them back from taking leadership opportunities. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Mitigate Unconscious Bias](https://faberinfinite.com/mitigate-unconscious-bias/): As we saw in our last Transformation Tuesday, unconscious bias can lead to a certain set of people at work treated unfairly or discriminated against. Today, let us look at the ways to reduce this bias in the workplace: Acceptance All of us should accept the fact that we are biased. It is a part o human nature. If we do not acknowledge it, we cannot reduce or mitigate it. We need to become aware of our own biases. There are different tools available to test the same. Go slow Unconscious bias is more likely to happen when we make quick decisions or act immediately. So, we should always take time, think, and then take decisions. We should never hurry into anything. Examine yourself We should always examine our views when we meet anyone for the first time. We should consider any quick decisions that we make based on the first impression. Be attentive We should pay specific attention to bias related to age, gender, disability, caste, religion, region; as this is unfair and it is not legal Expand your circle We should avoid being with the same set of people all the time. We should interact with other people from different cultural and educational backgrounds. This will help you widen your circle and give a better understanding. Set rules Do not tolerate any kind of discrimination in the team Make sure that each member is treated equally and gets a fair chance to give their opinion. Avoid making assumptions Do not jump to any conclusion at the workplace. Always get things cleared with your reporting manager. For example, my manager did not offer me the project because I have a small baby and the project demands traveling. Do not make any assumptions and jump to the wrong conclusion. Keep a checklist for work management Keep a checklist of all the running tasks such as who will take minutes of the meeting, who will decide for refreshments, etc to ensure fair-mindedness and reduce the risk of gender categorizing. Discuss If you notice unconscious bias anywhere in the organization speak out and discuss it with the management. For example, if you feel that bigger projects are assigned to men or if a male colleague hashes over a female colleague, then you need to discuss the same with your managers and the leaders in the organization. Also, you need to tactfully mention that you want to listen to what the female colleague has to say. You also need to inform the managers how strategic and bigger projects are given only to male employees. Admit mistakes We can mitigate mistakes only if we admit them. So, to mitigate or reduce the bias we need to be truthful and admit the mistakes that we commit. We all think that we are objective and fair but unconsciously we tend to attract employees who think like us. But this unconscious bias has harmful effects on business in the workplace. So, to attract and retain the best talent, create a culture of inclusion where each employee can excel. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Understanding Unconscious Bias](https://faberinfinite.com/understanding-unconscious-bias/): Unconscious bias can affect our decisions in personal as well as professional areas of life.  Every leader should try to be as objective as possible. Although as humans we are subject to unconscious bias in some or the other way. The only way to reduce this us by being aware of this. Unconscious bias has a massive impact on people related decisions at work, especially with promotion or appraisal, hiring, performance management and idea creation. When the bias exists, then the organizations will not be able to recruit people from varied teams and the efforts to improve workplace inclusion will be of limited success. Let us look at the different types of unconscious bias, and the ways they affect decision making at work: Affinity Bias This is seen when we give preference to people who feel we are like or we can relate to. This could happen because of common characteristics like class, culture or geography or similar interests or hobbies. This can lead us to conclude that some one is not talented, or right for a particular profile because we do not have same traits in common. Attribution Bias This depends on how we look at our actions and the actions of others. We generally relate our success to our skills and our failures to factors that are outside our control.  But when it comes to others we relate success to luck and failures to lack of skills. This unfair approach can affect recruitments and appraisals Beauty Bias This is the kind of bias when we conclude based on the individual’s looks. Although all of us know that looks can be deceptive, we tend to favour attractive individuals for job even after knowing that looks do not guarantee that he/she can do complete justice to the role. Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias exists when we try to make decisions or conclusion depending on our personal desires, opinions, and preconceptions. Although first impression matters in case of recruitment or interviews, but we need to make decisions based on facts and figures Conformity Bias It is the tendency of the people to work like people around them irrespective of their own beliefs and thoughts. It is also known as peer pressure. So we should have a diverse team and should keep encouraging team members to share their views and not get influenced by what the majority has to say. Contrast effect We keep comparing people all the time to help us put them in a framework or context. But comparing employees rather than assessing them on their individual merits or demerits results in the loss of impartiality.  For example, comparing the last candidate with the next candidate, will mislead us in recruitment. Gender Bias Gender bias is one of the most found bias in the workplace. For example, a male employee is recruited for a role that needs lot of physical strength or more women employees recruited for junior roles. This bias can get the employers and leaders / managers in to trouble for the discrimination. Halo and Horns Effect Halo effect is the natural inclination that people must consider some one as the best after learning something impressive about them. This effect can lead us to not looking at the negatives points of someone and thus finally choosing a wrong person for the role. The horns effect is the opposite of the halo effect. In the horns effect we emphasize on the persons negative points and fail to look at the positive achievements. Though it is not possible to eliminate the unconscious bias completely, the next Transformation Tuesday we will look at how can we mitigate the effect of unconscious bias and thus make workplace decisions more objective and fair. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Life Lessons from Diego Maradona](https://faberinfinite.com/life-lessons-from-diego-maradona/): Diego Armando Maradona is a personality that mesmerized all of us. How he alone tore teams apart, his ability with the ball, and his amazing moves especially with the kind of different body structure that he had. Maradona makes us believe that nothing is impossible. Regardless of the shape or looks anything is possible and anyone could make it. He was born on Oct 30, 1960. During his professional career, he played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, and Newell’s Old Boys. At the club level, he was most famous for his career in Napoli where he won several awards. In his international career, while playing for Argentina, he won 91 caps and scored 34 goals. He played in four FIFA World Cups. In the 1986 World Cup, he led Argentina to win over West Germany in the final and he won the Golden Ball award for the best player. Maradona was the best football player ever and we can learn the following leadership lessons from him: Believe in yourself Maradona started playing at a young age. His determination and passion got him to play professional soccer at the early age of 16. He went on to get the world cup in the year 1986 which was one of his biggest achievements. His dedication, passion, and determination to excel combined with courageous games proved that if you believe in yourself then nothing can stop you to make your dreams come true. Maradona taught us that self-belief, confidence, and the right attitude can help you to take on the world. Keep trying He was not selected in the squad in 1978 when Argentina won the world cup. He was a star in the junior world cup team. He was very disappointed, but he never gave up and kept working harder. In the 1982 world cup, he was officially the best player in the world. However, he failed badly in Barcelona, because of a broken ankle and other health issues. He still did not give up. He was determined to be successful and in 1986 single-handedly won the world cup for Argentina making his place among the stars of football. Looking at his struggle during his early days, it feels it was easy to give up. But he always believed in – if at first, you cannot succeed, try again. He kept trying till he was successful. Be focused, be quick, and stay hungry In a sport like football, Maradona proved that the size or shape of the body does not matter. The same can be applied to organizations if the objective and the aspiration to make a substantial difference supported by persistent efforts will one day give phenomenal results. The learning here is to stay focussed, be quick to adapt, and always stay hungry to learn new things. Keep improving your skills Maradona was the best example of big things come in small packets. He was always in the process of learning new things. He always did impossible things on the football field. He kept working on his skills and improving them further. He was not a natural goal scorer, but he revived himself to score more goals than a natural goal scorer.  This small packet always made us believe that nothing is impossible. Maradona loved his work. He never played for money. His love for the game and for football helped him conquer several tough times. He was offered more than 100 Million USD to promote soccer in the USA in 1988, but he rejected it as it was not about football. He loved what he did. He played football because he loved it and not because e was getting paid for it or because it was his job. Maradona always set the world on fire with his love for the game, determination, passion, persistence, and innovation. Are you ready to set the world on fire like Maradona? Are you up for excellence? Image Source – Wikimedia Commons Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Panacea for the Pharmaceuticals Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/panacea-for-the-pharmaceuticals-industry/): The pharmaceutical industry is on its toe since the beginning of the pandemic. It has been working relentlessly to meet the global demand in these tough times. Apart from that, several organizations have also been working on producing the vaccine. Hence, in meeting the global health challenge, the role of the pharmaceutical industry is of prime importance. However, just like other industries, the pharma industry is also facing challenges. We at Faber Infinite have identified five major challenges that this industry is facing and have been working on the same for more than a decade. Below mentioned are the 5 top challenges along with the results delivered by Team Faber Infinite to overcome the challenges at the client site: 1. Less Throughput Throughput is the speed at which the product is produced and delivered to the client. The industry has not yet been able to achieve the fullest of its throughput capacity. Many organizations are struggling to increase their throughput. Due to less throughput, organizations are unable to deliver the orders on time – in full. This in turn leads to lower revenues. Team Faber Infinite has been working with clients from the pharma industry to resolve this issue. We have successfully improved the throughput rate by an average of 30% via our unique and proven Organisational Transformation Framework.   2. Low Manpower Productivity Low manpower productivity is one of the challenges that is faced by almost all industries. Especially in the current scenario where labor availability is an issue. In the pharma industry, having higher manpower productivity is the need of the hour. Manpower productivity can play a key role in achieving time in full deliveries along with the desired throughput. Team Faber Infinite has successfully delivered as high as 40% improvement in manpower productivity via classical Time & Motion Study at different clients from the pharma industry. These results can be delivered to your organization as well. 3. High Cleaning / Changeover Time Anyone from the manufacturing domain would know the changeover time consumes a lot of productive hours of the organization. Employees are busy fixing the machines more than working on production operations. Hence, it is very important to save those productive hours which can turn into profitable hours. Team Faber Infinite has reduced the changeover time by 30%-40% at client sites. We have helped them convert their unproductive hours into profitable hours. 4. High Inventory Carrying Cost Inventories block a huge amount of cash. If not used efficiently, this cash can turn into a liability. Most of the organization’s overstock in the fear of running out of inventory. As a result, they end up having high capital stuck in the inventory. It is very important to reduce the inventory carrying cost and optimize the same across the entire value chain. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has reduced the inventory carrying cost by 20%-30% at many of our client sites. The proven PFEP model for inventory management by Faber Infinite Consulting can be used to rewire the existing ERP without many hassles, to reap the benefits. 5. Low Yield Material Readers from the pharma industry would know how difficult it is to improve the material yield. Team Faber Infinite has been instrumental in improving the material yield by as high as 10% at different client sites. With our customized solutions within the GMP and regulatory frameworks, pharmaceutical manufacturing organizations have been able to overcome these challenges via the Organizational Transformation Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting. Contact us to know how the improvement journey can be accelerated for your organization as well. For more details, click here. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Making Breakthrough Improvements in Business](https://faberinfinite.com/making-breakthrough-improvements-in-business/): We bring to you yet another tale from the floors of one of the leading textile manufacturers of India. We had a chat with Mr. Barinder Singh Basan – Chief Executive Officer at Texport Syndicate India Limited. The video of this interesting interaction is attached below – https://youtu.be/MfG7PY58gcw We sincerely thank Mr. Barinder Singh Basan and team Texport Syndicate India Limited for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck Sir!
- [Do consultants really borrow your watch?](https://faberinfinite.com/do-consultants-really-borrow-your-watch/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a pioneer in the FMCG Industry of Africa. We had a chat with Mr. Gaurav Vijayvargiya – Chief Executive Officer at Two Six Zero Brands Africa. The video of this interesting interaction is attached below – https://youtu.be/RE9wWxHQqPU We sincerely thank Mr. Gaurav Vijayvargiya and team Two Six Zero Brands Africa for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and for sharing his valuable insights. Good luck Sir!
- [Upcoming Six Sigma Certification - Invest to Upgrade](https://faberinfinite.com/upcoming-six-sigma-certification-invest-to-upgrade/): Since several regions and countries across the world have been in the unlock phase now, it is time to bounce forward and not look back! Many of us have started to go back to our workplaces and implement the new things learned in the lockdown period. But is there an end to learning and upgrading oneself? There is always room for training and self-development irrespective of where you are in your career. Training and development is a way forward to become better at whatever we do. It keeps us updated with the ongoing trends and helps us to never miss what is important in our field and how we can do things in a better way and improvise it! Progressive organizations across the world are investing in upskilling their employees We have been running several training sessions on various topics since May 2020 and rolled out numerous batches with many ongoing programs. We had participants across geographies and industries from different levels of hierarchy in the organization. Apart from one on one pieces of training, we are also engaged with top organizations of the country for training and upskilling of the employees and hence support them in their operational excellence journey. We have been training thousands of employees across the globe and the responses received from various participants have been phenomenal. It motivates us to come up with more and more training engagements. Considering the demand, we are coming up with our next online training sessions on December 12- 13th  and 19 – 20th. The training will be conducted on Six Sigma – Green Belt certification programs. Click HERE to enroll in this program. Make the best use of this opportunity and prepare yourself for the times to come! Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com today to plan training programs for your organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Reskilling the future workforce](https://faberinfinite.com/reskilling-the-future-workforce/): COVID-19 has changed the way we all function in our day to day life. Forcing employees & organizations to change the way they work and function. It is an extremely crucial situation, where everyone along with the organizations and its employees across industries, sectors as well as geographies must adapt to the new normal. Organizations must adapt to the new normal and should learn how to match the employees to new roles and responsibilities. To stay upbeat with the situation and the competition in the market, organizations should start reskilling their workforce. Organizations along with their teams should identify talent strategies that will develop employees’ adaptability and resilience skills. Now is the time for the companies to double up on their training and development budgets. This will further help them to commit to reskilling of the employees. Developing this strategy will also strengthen companies for future needs and global situations. Team Faber Infinite has been supporting organizations across sectors and geographies with customized training programs that help the employees upskill and perform better. Recently, we have been engaged by India’s largest private power company as a learning and development partner. Our team of experts is training more than ~3000 professionals of the company on improving overall productivity and quality via virtual sessions. Click here to watch the video – https://youtu.be/zd1SX_uInZ8 Post pandemic, organizations should focus more on enhancing quality, performance, and overall productivity parameters for better outputs. Since every organization has a different need, Faber Infinite’s customized training programs are extremely effective. These meticulously crafted frameworks have been supporting 200+ organizations in their transformation journeys for almost a decade. These specially designed power-packed programs have been setting the foundation for the new normal. It shall help organizations thrive in the post-pandemic situation. To become a part of this league, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Is Lean Facility Design (LFD) the secret to World Class Manufacturing?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-lfd-the-secret-to-world-class-manufacturing/): Recently, several organizations are in the phase of expansion and transition. Our team has been receiving many inquiries about how to design organizations that are efficient and World Class Manufacturing from day zero! Are you in process of an expansion or setting up a new green/ brownfield facility? If the answer is positive, all of us would want the operations to be efficient and future-ready. The typical first step for such an exercise is to layout the facility on paper and expect things to fall in place as we intend to follow a plan. However, this entire practice is flawed and it calls for a lot of pre-work before one reaches to layout and execution stage. To solve this puzzle effectively, the leadership and research team at Faber Infinite Consulting, based on extensive research and experience has devised a powerful Lean Facility Design© (LFD) framework and delivered phenomenal results. Lean Facility Design© (LFD) is a proven and copyrighted methodology crafted by Faber Infinite Consulting, which supports organizationsto build best in class facilities from day zero! LFD has been deployed to deliver state of the art and world-class facilities for clients across geographies and industries including Ceramics, FMCG, Automotive, FIBC, Plastics & Packaging, Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, and others. These facilities have not only been following world-class procedures but also able to deploy a culture of continual improvement and efficiency from day zero. Recently, our teams have been supporting one of our clients from the automotive sector to set up their new plant in India. Team Faber Infinite along with the client team rolled out the Lean Facility Design (LFD) process from the organization’s goals and principles down to the smallest of the nut & bolts of the framework to the detailed implementation plan. It covered aspects like project planning, conceptual design at the systems level, functional design at the value stream level, and detaileddesign at the operational level, standard work development for operating in the new design. Not just that, the new plant layout will also include the safety measures for COVID and any such Black Swan events that might take place in the future. Although the COVID situation will not last long, these measures will help the plant take precautions for the future and be future-ready. We have been supporting our clients before COVID, with the safety and precautionary measures that need to be implemented from the inception stage. Those organizations were in better positions to face these different times as well. Amongst several organizations where the futuristic LFD framework has been rolled out, currently, our teams are supporting three such new projects – a leading drip irrigation pipes manufacturer, an emerging pharmaceutical plant with all GMP compliances in place, and other spices manufacturing plant considering all FDA regulations. LFD is a 14 step comprehensive methodology that focuses on several key elements before the layout. Please click here for more details about the LFD framework and the results achieved. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [This Diwali Let Us Declutter](https://faberinfinite.com/this-diwali-let-us-declutter/): Lord Ram, Laxman, and Seeta returned from 12 years of exile. And their return was celebrated by lighting diyas and lamps. The whole city was lightened in their honor. Today this day is celebrated as Diwali. It marks the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya. Some believe it is the wedding of goddess Laxmi and god Vishnu. Others believe it is the birthday of Goddess Laxmi. Indians worship Lord Ganesh and goddess Kali on Diwali. It is a five-day festival of light celebrated across regions and religions. It is also a festival of togetherness and cleaning up.  It is believed Goddess Laxmi enters the places that are clean. So, Diwali is India’s annual Marie Kondo moment. But somehow the clean up is limited to the shelves and drawers in our homes. It does not extend beyond shelves into our lives. In 2020 let us extend the moment further and de-clutter our lives.  This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how we do this: Deep Cleaning When doing the cleaning ask yourself, how much of what we own do we need it? How much of what we own do we use? Can we do away with some of the unnecessary things? Keep what is essential, give away the rest and try to keep it minimalistic. Embrace this minimalistic approach and save time and energy. It will also save your money for maintenance. This can be applied to your homes as well as to your offices or shop floors. Disposing of things, we do not want The desire to acquire and hoard things, memories, and experiences. We should dispose of all the old things that we do not use or need. We need to clean up the shelf of old bad habits. For example, junk the obsession for social media, remove anxiety, loneliness, fear of missing out, reduce debt, and many more that are useless. Use cash wisely and consciously both at personal as well as professional levels. By rethinking priorities Rethink all your priorities. Diwali is when we want to shop all we can. This Diwali does not limit yourself to materials but widens the definition of prosperity. Prosperity is being successful in what you do. It is also a sense of fulfillment. It also means having peace in your life both personal and professional. A closet full of clothes and accessories would not guarantee this. Build healthy relationships with your family at home and your peers at work. Deep clean the clutter this Diwali. Revisit all your priorities and de-clutter your life. So, this Diwali, declutter your mind and soul as success begins in your mind and if your mind and soul are prosperous and sure, your life will be too. Written by Mayuri Pandya
- [The Pencil Metaphor](https://faberinfinite.com/the-pencil-metaphor/): There are three kinds of people – a small group who makes things happen, a larger group who watches things happen and a greater majority who does not even know what is happening. This Transformation Tuesday lets us look at the pencil metaphor. In this metaphor we identify six different types of people in the organization adapted from the pencil metaphor: Leaders These are the first ones to take on any new thing be it a challenge or any change in the organization. They are the early adaptors who are the first to adapt and document the process and then share it with the teams. Sharp Ones These are those who keep watching the leaders, grab the best from them, learn from their mistakes and do great stuff with their teams. The wood These are those people in the organization who need a push. Someone needs to gear them up. All they need is some help from an expert and then they will do it all alone. The Dead Wood This is that part of the pencil that can never be sharpened. Even the point is sharp meaning however good is the leader, this part of the pencil can only do basic tasks. Hangers-On These are those kinds of people who all the right terminologies, who attend all the training and seminars but just do not actually do anything. The Ferrules These are those people who hold tightly to what they know. They are not ready to change or adapt to anything new. The Erasers This is used to undo as much if not all the work is done by the leaders. I agree we should focus more on the people in the wood and push them to do better. There are employees who belong to different categories as per the above classification. This metaphor can be applied to anyone be it, students or employees, in the organization. Image and article source – Teach Thought
- [5 More Ways of Getting Noticed](https://faberinfinite.com/5-more-ways-of-getting-noticed/): Making a difference in the organization that you are working for and getting noticed for the work done is the focus of all the employees in the organization. In the last Transformation Tuesday, we looked at 5 pointers to being noticed in the organization. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the remaining 5 pointers to get noticed: Look at new ways and means to solve the problems Keep looking at different ways and means to solve the problems. You can opt for an innovative way to solve the problem. Always be open to sharing your innovative solutions to problems. Challenge the current ways and means of working and try innovative and creative ways to do the same things. Such people are encouraged in the organization and they are given more responsibilities. Keep updating your communication skills Be thoughtful during your interaction with senior leadership. Whether it is a presentation, or discussion, or any other kind of interaction with the senior leadership team, you should prepare well in advance on how you will communicate with them. Every situation demands something that you never thought of so be ready to adapt and adjust. For example, you might want to appear confident in a presentation, but it is better to be humble when working in a presentation. Some scenarios would demand you to be curious and some would want you to support your point with data. You should also follow up with others and make sure you clearly understand their requirements. Building relationships Do not restrict yourself to your projects, your domain. Look for ways and means to collaborate and work with other important players in the organization. Expand your network, as the network is net worth. When you work collaboratively across functions then your visibility will improve. Live by the vision and mission of the organization Organizations use vision and mission statement to communicate what is expected of employees. Vision talks about what an organization expects from the employees and the leadership team. A strong leader lives by the values of the organization. An employee who lives by the values of the organization and who inspires others to follow him/her will always be noticed and looked up to. To be noticed you need to keep your actions aligned to the organization’s values. Ask to participate Do not hesitate to ask for opportunities to show your skills. If at any point you think you can be an asset to the organization in any strategic initiative, ask to participate. Tell the leadership team why you think you can be valuable to the initiative and how you can contribute to the initiative. Your senior leadership always wants to put you in a project where they think you can do the most. There is no shortcut to getting noticed. So if you focus on the 5 points that we discussed in our last Transformation Tuesday and the 5 points that we have to offer today with patience and dedication then you are bound to have a stellar career. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [How to get noticed in your organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-get-noticed-in-your-organizations/): When you are performing well in the organization, you have good ideas, vision, and the desire to take on more but still, you are not being noticed in the organization by the senior leadership. What do you do in such a case? How do you get noticed? This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how we can grow and move ahead for bigger opportunities without being a boaster or upsetting our direct managers: Be committed to your growth as well as the growth of the organization One way to show the commitment is to work on skill enhancement beyond the office. We should learn new skills that will help both us and the company to grow. Another way is to read books related to work. We can ask our seniors if they can recommend any books. Another way to show commitment is to tell your senior that you are interested in working on projects that will give you an opportunity to stretch and help the organization to reach the goals. Focus on the team rather than self Senior leadership will always focus on employees who work together and collaborate for greater benefits. They recognize that the greatest opportunity for success lies in a team working together. Be accountable for your work Whatever part of the work you are involved in you should know your business inside out. You need to know where you stand in the larger organization. You should prove the value of contribution only then you will be able to prove the value of yourself in the organization as an employee. Take every opportunity to show the senior leadership your importance in the organization. Give your 100% Once you commit to doing something make sure you give your 100 percent and deliver the desired results. Always keep your name associated with good work. Your senior leadership is always looking for someone with a good track record. Keep learning Always look beyond your daily tasks. Always look at the big picture while working and making decisions. This skill will not come naturally. You have to work on this and build strategic thinking. It is a skill that needs to be built. The more you work on it the better you will get. There is no short path to get noticed in the organization. It is a continuous process. You need to put in a lot of dedication, patience, and acceptance that getting on the path of growth in your career takes a good amount of your time. This Tuesday, we looked at 5 points to move on the path of growth we will continue to look at other 5 points in our next Transformation Tuesday. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [5 Essential Mindsets for High Performing Teams](https://faberinfinite.com/5-essential-mindsets-for-high-performing-teams/): The mindset has a huge impact on the team’s performance. Leaders need to set the tone or the team’s mindset which in turn affects employee engagement and performance. When we think of high performing teams, we might consider factors like productivity or efficiency. We should also consider what the team achieves together and not look at individual performance. High performing teams should have: 1. Growth mindset Leaders with a growth mindset believe that their team members have the potential for change and growth. This is much better than the fixed mindset that believes that people in the team are what they are, and they cannot evolve or grow. Teams with a growth mindset believe in continual improvement and keep evolving. Leaders that support this mindset give time to the team members to work on their strengths and support them when they fail. Just as the leaders with a growth mindset support their teams to grow and keep learning new skills, they acknowledge and work upon areas where they still feel they can improve. 2. Curious Mindset Leaders with curious mindset approach problems with curiosity rather than playing the blame game. In such a culture employee feels safe and they dare to take risks. They know that they will be supported by the team and the leadership even if they fail. As everyone contributes since they feel psychologically safe. 3. Mutually Dependent Mindset When we say a team, it means collaboration and working together for success. It should just not be a group of individuals working together but are mainly concerned with their individual success. It can be a group of individuals who accumulate information and do not share with others in the team. This can lead to a lack of trust among team members. But teams with interdependent mindset become more productive and perform better together than the individual performance. Here people work together for a broader vision. In a mutually dependent mindset, team members sacrifice their own goals and help other team members to achieve their goals if it is better for the team’s long-term shared objectives. In teams with a mutually dependent mindset, members work together without feeling frightened by others’ success. They believe that the team works best when it is together. 4. Learning Mindset Team members should have a learning mindset. Leaders should inculcate the culture of reflecting on success and failures both in a safe and secure environment. Leaders also spend time on reflecting their personal leadership development. Teams with a learning mindset can learn from the failures and successes both. The more leaders inculcate such a culture the more will the employees in the team adopt a learning mindset. 5. Long term Mindset In high performing teams, members are not affected by both success and failures. They work towards long term goals. Such teams are more resilient in times of crisis or challenges. Leaders with long-term mindsets always link the team’s performance to a wider sense of vision and purpose. Teams with a long term mindset do not react to every problem or challenge as if it is a crisis. Such teams accept the highs and lows in the work as they work together towards the long term mission of the organization. If you want your teams to perform better, do not consider metrics like productivity or efficiency, rather keep a check on the way the teams are collaborating, their interpersonal dynamics, and collective approach to challenges. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [7 ways to Lead your Team through Ambiguity](https://faberinfinite.com/7-ways-to-lead-your-team-through-ambiguity-2/): Dealing with ambiguity is a capability that is quickly pushing its way to the top of the list of pre-requisites of a good and capable employee. It is also considered as an important survival skill down the organizational chart. Acting with less information, adjusting to change, working without any direction, assuming what is possible in an uncertain future – these are skills no longer reserved for senior management. This is definitely not easy, but during such times it is more important to actually connect at a human level with your employees. You need to build an understanding of what your team is thinking and how the team feels. The team needs to know that you are working in their best interests. Today, we are going to talk about 7 ways that will help a leader help his team deal with ambiguity. Understand your own emotional reactions Begin with you. In times of uncertainty, if you are not performing and leading the team in the best possible capability, then accept and admit it. Discuss your concerns with someone you trust the most. Get your aggression relieving session done in private. In uncertain times, nothing will calm and inspire your team more than you and your confident attitude to get over such situations. Be clear about clear situations It is normal to feel like everything is uncertain in times of uncertainty. But that is never true. Be clear nd confident on what you know, what will not change irrespective of the situation and something that your team can always count on. Know what is true and what is not Everything put together you might get more information. So do such exercise more often. Get all the members of the team together and get information. But try not to focus on what you already know. Depending on the area of expertise of the people understand and get information from the team members. Such brainstorming sessions can help you gather more information. Stick to your decisions When you make a decision, stick to that. Do not allow second-guessing options. If at all you still want to change the course of action, do that with all the confidence and boldness. But if not, then let the plan go as decided. Motivate those that take risk In the past, if you reacted negatively when someone had approached with new ideas, accept it, and commit your teammates that you would support in case of calculated risks. Allow all the members to work and think in full capacity and also allow the flow of creativity and innovation. Be prepared for alternative situations as well Since the future is uncertain, it is very difficult to be assured of it. But one needs to be prepared for the future as well. Develop alternative plans. Discuss and develop contingency plans as well. Engage your teammates The more people you engage in problem-solving, the less scary the problem becomes. Engage people from other departments for some cross-functional collaboration. Get this approved from a third party. Hence, the most important message that we want to give via this article is to keep your calm in such situations and focus on all possible outcomes. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal and Faber Mayuri
- [Inventory Management and On Time Delivery via Lean Tools](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-via-lean-tools/): Did you know one of the leading steel mills was able to cut down the lead time by 60% just by implementing lean principles? The large division of a steel mill had been losing money for many years. The parent company was seriously considering shutting down. Apart from the poor financial performance, the division had a lot of cash tied-up in inventory, had a higher lead time and delivery performance problems. In the case of this organisation, they were not working as an ideal steel mill. While there is a series of standard objections, one of the most important is local optimization. This organisation’s measurement and reward systems were typical like – everyone was only trying to maximize the efficiency of the individual operating unit. This certainly results in a different set of operating rules at each unit. One unit wants to run by grade, another by thick to thin, others by wide to narrow, light to dark, and so on. Usually, this optimal schedule can, and often do lose sight of the customer promised date. Also, these queues extended lead times, hide defects, increased handling damage, added difficulty to the scheduling process, tied up cash and space, caused excessive expediting, etc. The organisation began by educating the management teams on the lean transformation journey. The goals for inventory reduction and on-time delivery were set, and commitment was attained. Brief overview introduction classes were provided to all the employees about lean. Then scheduling rules were removed, internal teams were formed to circulate the process, kanban controls were initiated, etc. Inventory Reduction through Lean Tools Inventory reduction goals were pushed down the verticals of the organization. These goals were readily understood at the unit level: Kanban limits, i.e. a specific number of coils allowed in front of an operating unit, were to be reduced to an agreed amount over a specific period of time. Apart from that, other prime factors in achieving World Class operating performance was done by controlling the order booking. Strict capacity loading rules were implanted to assure that the mill was not overloaded. Within the span of 10 months, $16 million was generated by inventory reduction, lead times were cut by 60%, the average lot size was cut by 65%, average coil mass was increased by 9%, on-time delivery improved by 40%, profitability improved by $5 million and much more. The same can happen in your organisation. So, have you implemented lean tools? 
- [Key to become a pro at crisis management.](https://faberinfinite.com/key-to-become-a-pro-at-crisis-management/): In the journey of leadership, there will be times when you will face crisis. You will feel that your decisions are not going as per your willingness, or nothing works the way it is supposed to, your network does not seem to help either. You face various downfalls. But what matters is how you adapt to the mistakes you made during the time of crisis. This defines the true ability of a leader. Whether it is an error in judgment or failure of an entire plan. Every leader does face a crisis at some level in their life. That is the time when the leadership really matters. Hence, in this article today, we present to you the various ways a leader can adapt to get through the time of crisis which will helps the leader. Don’t let your mind control you In crisis, leaders usually find themselves in a stressful and tense atmosphere. There are a lot of mental, physical and psychological pressures that can divert you thus making you restless. You might end up shouting at others in the team. In situations like these, you might find giving up being the best option. You should rather think and understand that you have are much more in control than you think. It is this time when you should take charge of your thoughts, emotions and the way you deal with issues. Over time, a good leader will become proficient at exercising self-control. At times, a regular reminder of the vision and mission of the organisation can help you and your team promote self-control. But, when other things do not work, find ways to get a good night’s sleep and start fresh the next day. Be Positive to Become Productive Positivity leads to higher productivity. But, when you are not feeling positive, you can either get caught in the negativity around you, or you can choose to change it into something positive. There’s always a choice. Your subordinates look up to you at the times of tough situation. They even observe how prepared you are to fight the tough situations. Hence, at the toughest times, demonstrate an overall positive attitude and work on a game plan with the intention to keep your employees inspired and productive. Managing expectations At the time of crisis, people want to get over it as soon as possible. And being a leader, it is your duty to learn from the situation and you will be expected to find a way out of the situation. Being a leader, you will have to learn how to handle the situation by managing the expectations of your subordinates as well. Also, make sure your subordinates are informed and updated about the situations and the timings it might take to get out of the crisis. This will help them understand the hard work done by a leader to get them out of the situation. Don’t take it personally A good leader doesn’t take failures personally. Because they know that failures are the stepping stone to success. Not necessary every strategy or decision that you take will be right and yield fruitful results. At the time of crises, you must be calm and composed. Make sure you get out of the situation as soon as possible. In situations like these, the more you take things personally, the more difficult it gets to maintain your calm. Hence, to become a pro at managing crisis at your workplace, you can follow the pointers mentioned above. It will help your ship sail smoothly even at the time of crisis and will make you stand out of the crowd.
- [Friday Fact - On Time in Full delivery with Continuous Improvement tools!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-on-time-in-full-delivery-with-continuous-improvement-tools/): Did you know, one of the leading producers of sheet metal stamping, forming and painting was able to attain ~100% on-time delivery by implementing lean and Kanban techniques? The organization was facing pressure from its clients to reduce the lead time and improve on-time delivery. This led to serious problems like losing some big clients. These clients were demanding the shipment very next day and the organization was failing to fulfill the same. The organization had spent months trying to make the change on their own, with minimal success. But the lead times were still too high and delivery performance was not at all good or acceptable. Later, the organization decided to adopt lean, Kanban and continuous improvement techniques to upgrade their practices towards adapting change and improving their services. Everyone in the organization was briefed about the need for change and an absolute schedule. They explained to their employees the importance of the commitment they give to their clients while making an order. They explained that a commitment is a promise and when it is broken, it doesn’t feel good. This is why the organization adopted a policy that the day ends when the work ends not the other way around which used to happen before. Overtime was authorized and was basically automatic if they had the need to achieve the daily schedule. The other issue the organization was facing was creating a flexible team. As the majority of the organizations, the workforce of this organization was also on the first shift. This was a problem since many orders were received later at night and had to give for shipment on the next day itself. Hence, the organization needed to change the balance of the shifts. Targets were set to progressively move toward the balance of the day and night shifts. This was later accomplished via various other ways. Weeks after implementing these tools on-time delivery reached almost 100%. The average lead times were reduced from 2 weeks to 3 days. Set-up times and lot sizes were reduced by 75%. Total inventory was reduced by 50%, and much more. These tools have helped the organization to regenerate its place in the market and regenerate its prestige in the mind of its customers. So, have you started implementing such tools and techniques?
- [Be a Leader, Inspire Others!](https://faberinfinite.com/be-a-leader-inspire-others/): Becoming a leader is not an easy task. The job title comes along with major responsibilities. One of which is to keep inspiring and motivating others. Leadership is not just a title but a characteristic to live by. It is difficult to adapt as per different cultures and different mindsets to make sure you lead everyone the best way. Leadership is a support system for people of the organisation. Organizations should support leaders to reach greater heights and success. Several senior leaders expect their employees to follow them just because of their title or their place in the organization’s hierarchy. The truth is various employees do follow the leaders just because of their place in the organization’s hierarchy. This would not help the leaders to get the best work out of their employees/team. Below mentioned are pointers leaders must demonstrate to become an inspiring leader every employee would look up to! Adapt actions that inspire A leader should not only ask the employees to follow the commitments, but they should themselves demonstrate the commitments they are seeking from their employees. Employees will learn from the leaders because it will inspire employees to act in the same way. Passion The nature of the vision and mission of an organisation is critical for making others feel like their work has a meaning beyond the tasks they perform daily. Hence, at times, leaders must help their team by explaining the vision and mission of the organisation. Communicating this on a regular basis will help a leader reinforce the reason your organization exists. Listening An inspirational leader listens to the employees in their organization. Talk to the team, listen to their ideas about working on various projects and much more. A leader must not listen just for the sake of listening; they must make sure they give a chance to their employees to implement the ideas. This will help them feel that their ideas are listened to and taken seriously. Involvement To experience encouragement, employees need to feel involved and engaged. Involving employees goes beyond the range of just listening and providing feedback. For real involvement, employees need to feel connected to the actions so that the involvement leads to the accomplishment of the goals or final decisions. Hence, refer to these points to make sure your team follows you not just for the sake of it but for real. As John Quincy Adams quotes – “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” 
- [Productivity Improvement for FMCG Industry using Lean tools](https://faberinfinite.com/productivity-improvement-for-fmcg-industry/): Did you know, one of the FMCG organizations was able to improve its productivity by 4x just by implementing lean solutions? The organization is one of the leading FMCG product producers. They were not being able to meet the sales forecast because the product prices were low. The senior management team also considered adding an additional 20-25 production works to achieve the demand. But after doing so, quality defects started bothering. 99% of the time there was a defect in the product and most of them were identified and corrected internally. Productivity Improvement in FMCG Industry The organization later decided to implement lean and five S. Employees were asked to form Natural Work Teams (NWTs) and work collectively in a new cellular layout designed to implement the process. Five S and Kanban was used to reduce inventory that was in work in process and was able to conduct uninterrupted replenishment of parts. Various new innovative solutions, components, and hardware standardizations were suggested and implemented. Common tools that were needed, but in constant short supply, were bought and kept in precise and accessible locations. A turntable was constructed for easy lifting of heavy machine parts. Before implementing these processes, each employee from the production department was expected to produce 1.8% of the primary unit each day. But after implementing the processes, each individual employee was capable of producing one unit every 15 minutes, 4 units per hour, and 32 units per day, with 99% perfect quality using only 4 assemblers. Here, you can see the improvement in productivity by more than 4 times. Work in process and finished goods inventories were under control, and there was no need to hire additional production staff. As you can see, implementing continuous improvement initiatives helps organizations not only save time and money but also utilize it properly and increase the overall productivity to meet the target demands. So, have you started implementing lean and continuous improvement initiatives to improve organizational productivity?
- [A healthy mind lives in a healthy body](https://faberinfinite.com/a-healthy-mind-lives-in-a-healthy-body/): In today’s busy and stressful life, it is becoming very difficult for people to keep up with their health. But one thing they miss to understand is better the health, better is mental health, decision making, productivity, and much more. In this Transformation Tuesday, we are going to talk about how leaders can benefit from a healthy lifestyle to excel at work. Exercise Exercise is a very effective part of anyone’s life. It doesn’t just help one staying physically fit and healthy but also helps to stay mentally fit and healthy. Exercise helps one improve energy and reduce stress. It also helps in having a clear thought process, provides better solutions for problem-solving, improves focus, improves creativity and much more. Apart from that, it improves mood, confidence along with the sense of wellbeing. Eat Healthy It is shown in various researches that the type of food you intake, helps you a lot for the long term health of your brain. Eating healthy keeps you stay fresh and healthy. It reduces the risk of falling sick and hence leads to regularly showing up at work and working with a fresh mind. Nutrition plays a vital role in improving workplace productivity. Research has found that poor employee health is a leading cause of decreased productivity worldwide. Obesity and related health problems also impact workplace productivity. It was also found that those who have better health, they will be able to work longer and achieve higher results over the period of their life. Rest Since we all know, stress has become a part of one’s day to day life. Continued stress happens to get one in trouble. Stress and hormonal changes occurred due to stress affect the brain. Hence relaxation and rest are necessary. One should take breaks in their day to day work only to rest. Rest and relaxation help one handle ambiguity and uncertainty better. Sleep Sleep is one of the most important factors in everyone’s life. Sleep is a critical aspect of good health, mental sharpness, and consistent energy. In fact, we can work even better with no food than no sleep. A leader should have a healthy and fit lifestyle to be successful because as an English proverb goes – “A healthy mind lives in a healthy body”
- [Friday Fact -  Kanban for improving product line capacity](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-kanban-for-improving-product-line-capacity/): Did you know, one of the global producers of cables and assemblies was able to improve the capacity of the product line by ~35% by implementing Kanban? The global leader was facing issues regarding reducing setup time and work-in-progress inventory. Along with that, they were also facing quality issues. This was because of the long and common product runs that they were not able to reduce lead time. To solve this issue, the organization began by streamlining the processes and equipment. Along with that, the organization established a Kanban system in between cable processing functions required upstream processes to stop building products that couldn’t finish because of the resources and equipment running at full capacity.   Later, the organization level-loaded the production areas via Kanban and then established new procedures. Also, 5S was implemented along with Kanban to clean and organize the machinery and areas for maximum efficiency and quick changes.  By implementing these tools and techniques, the machine setup time that used to last for 3-12 hours has now fallen down to less than 35 minutes which added ~5 hours of additional up-time per machine, per day. Implementing these improvement initiatives helped the organization increase the capacity of this product line by ~35%, resulting in several million dollars of potential additional sales per year.  So have you started implementing continuous improvement initiatives that will help you be more profitable? Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to know how?
- [4 Steps to Reduce Employee Turnover](https://faberinfinite.com/steps-to-reduce-employee-turnover/): In today’s time, where the organisations turnover is directly related to employee productivity and retention, organisations should invest in preparing a turnover remedy, making quitting jobs less likely. A majority of turnover takes place in the first three months of an employee’s stay within an organisation. Leaders should start focusing on factors due to which employees leave and work towards reducing employee exit. The reasons why employees are leaving could be; unclear concepts about the nature of the job or a misfit with organisational culture. Hence, organisations need to look out for the below-listed points to make sure they don’t lose on employee turnover. Mostly all the organizations generally have recruiting processes in place where HR has a standard process across departments. There are other sources as well such as corporate websites, job search websites, walk-in interviews, etc., maintaining constantly open positions, and continually screening and interviewing candidates. These functions are necessary but do nothing to address the issues that lead to turnover. Hence, to improve the recruitment process, organisations should implement a process specific to the departments. Recruitment needs to be thoughtful. It cannot be the same across verticals or departments in the organization. Organisations should start giving incentives to those employees who refer their friends or family members for the recruitment. These hires have low turnover because their family members or friends would have already informed about the nature of the job. Once an employee accepts an offer, well structured and organized onboarding is critical for creating a good first impression, goodwill, and a strong foundation of understanding and skills. This process of onboarding happens fast so that the employees are on board as soon as possible. The exiting employees say – one of the reasons for quitting the job is that they don’t understand what is expected of them and how to execute their tasks. Except for the initial training received during the onboarding, it is good to provide new hires with additional opportunities to acquire new skills. This clearly shows a culture that believes in investing in its employees and gives them the tools and techniques to upgrade themselves and thus succeed. This will make employees even more productive because they now know how to excel at their jobs. Employees might even set their goals on staying for a longer period than they had intended as they contemplate advancing within a company whose culture, they find supportive. Organizations must also pay attention to cultivating a work culture that reduces turnover as much as possible and keeps employees engaged. And to make that happen, organisations need to invest time and resources in training and developing frontline managers to be better leaders. They must engage with their teams and show a few critical behaviours consistently like; building trust, inspire teamwork, and coach effectively. Hence, these pointers if considered by the organisations, they will be able to reduce the employee turnover ratio.
- [Friday Fact - Japanese techniques that can help you save millions!](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-japanese-techniques-that-can-help-you-save-millions/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading flexible printing organisations was able to reduce the change over time from 5 hours to 30 minutes, just by implementing Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)? One of the world’s leading flexible printing organisation was facing issues with long changeover and setup times between products which lead towards creating considerable machine downtime. Apart from that, on the basis of the demand forecast, organisation had to also plan on buying additional equipment to be ready for the forecasted increased demand. Along with that, organisation was also facing quality issues and raw material wastage on a recurring basis which was an unavoidable issue for business. So, the organisation called a board meeting to discuss these issues and to plan on how to solve them. The meeting came to a conclusion on using Japanese tools and techniques to resolve and avoid the issues for the future. The organisation began by using and implementing SMED methods to reinvent the entire operations process and create a process that reduces the occurrence of downtime. Apart from that, the organisation also implemented 5S and ergonomic tools to properly show needed items only and minimize the risk of injuries and operator exhaustion. The quality issues were addressed and reduced by implementing a series of these strategies. Along with that, the raw material wastage issue was resolved by strategic procedure and an innovative setup. On the basis of the colour coding system, the number of colours that were used in the operations area, the setup or changeovers were taking on an average of 5 hours of machine downtimes. But after implementing the SMED strategy, all the setups and changeovers were completed within 30 minutes irrespective of complexity. This improvement nullified any need to buy extra equipment to meet the forecasted demand. The employees from the third shift were also shifted to the second shift which helped the organisation increase their throughput. Raw material waste was decreased on average by 25%. These same techniques were applied to other six similar machines throughout the plant. Each of those seven machines saw an increase of approximately 5 hours per shift in additional uptime which lead to resulting in an additional 70 hours of capacity per day. The implementation of these techniques resulted in saving annually ~$3 million which was accomplished without adding a single piece of capital equipment or additional employees. Hence, as you can see, implementing these Japanese tools and techniques are helping manufacturing organisations save millions without investing any additional capital. The same can be done in your organisation. So, have you started implementing such continual improvement tools and techniques that yield such phenomenal results? 
- [3 Ways Leader can Improve Team Performance](https://faberinfinite.com/ways-leader-can-improve-team-performance/): In today’s era, we see at many places, productivity is directly proportionate to leadership strategies and tactics. But many times, those strategies can become ambiguous. It is sometimes difficult to say how each strategy will have a direct impact on the bottom line of the organization. Hence, one of the things, except for a strategy, a leader should keep under consideration is a leader should keep its team engaged, influenced and encouraged for achieving common goals. A leader can always follow the below-listed pointers to make sure he/she is helping the team to improve its productivity; The goal and vision of the organization is something that a leader should always discuss openly with all its employees. Defining goals and vision openly helps the employees set their internal goals as to what are they supposed to achieve, when and how. This also helps the employee understand what is being expected out of them and how are they supposed to fulfill those expectations. Also, when a group is supposed to perform together to achieve the same goal, it Improve Team Performance. Every employee in any organization works hard to receive rewards and recognitions. Also, it has been proven, when an employee is recognized, the other employees also try to work just as hard to be able to recognize and this altogether improves the productivity of an organization. This also motivates the employee to work harder and generate wonderful results for organizational success. One of the best ways to engage the team members is by delegating the responsibilities to them. When a person feels responsible, the person tries to work even harder to make sure that the responsibilities that he/she has been given are achieved and fulfilled successfully. Hence, delegating the authorities and responsibilities helps the leader create and identify another leader and helps the organization achieve exponential results.
- [Improve your Saving and Profits through Lean Management](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-management-to-improve-savings-and-profits/): Did you know one of the leading medical equipment manufacturing organisation was able to reduce $1.7 million by implementing a lean solution? In this article, we will walk into Improve Savings and Profits through Lean Management.  The manufacturing facility of the organisation produced electro-mechanical medical devices. The plant was vertically integrated. The organisation produced its own circuit board assemblies, cable assemblies, and the box-build final assembly and test. The process was driven by an ERP system with various level bills of the raw material, shop order travelers, pick lists, lot sizes, and stock room transactions. But the organisation was facing a huge costing issue. The manufacturing costs of the products were too high, the lead times of the final products were too long, and they had a lot of money tied up in inventory. Now to balance it, the management team along with the organisation had set the goals of inventory reduction. In the beginning, the efforts were focused on the ERP planning process. The bills of the raw materials were challenged and compressed. Along with that, the production lead times, and lot sizes were cut down. Parallelly similar efforts had begun within the various production departments. Continuous Improvement through Lean Manufacturing Also, new manufacturing techniques were introduced to the cable assembly, wire harness departments, and final assembly. The Kanban controls were established by implementing Kanban tools in both, within the subassembly areas as well as in the final assembly areas. This helped the organisation eliminate a lot of non-value-adding reporting steps and stock room transactions. Various shifts were introduced and balanced to allow the product to continuously flow across the entire process, and not just the bottleneck operations. The consecutive examination was initiated, followed by guaranteed steps. After successfully implementing the lean tools, in less than six months, the organisation was able to reduce inventory by $1.7 million, cut the lead time from 8 weeks to 5 days, cut the first pass failure by 60%, improved on-time delivery by 100% and much more. Hence, as you can see, implementing simple lean management tools in your organisation can help you improve your savings and profits. So, have you started to implement lean tools in your organisation?
- [Reasons why organizations should have Empathetic leaders.](https://faberinfinite.com/reasons-why-organizations-should-have-empathetic-leaders/): Empathy is something that the world today needs the most. It is something that is being searched by most of the employees in a leader. As humans, we would always wish that as we work for the betterment of the organization, the leader should understand that employees have a life beyond the organization. Leaders should support the employees who are facing issues managing work and home. Employees look forward to an empathetic leader as they need someone especially their boss to understand what they are going through. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us talk about why it is necessary to become an empathetic leader; Improves leader – employee relationship When a leader becomes an empathetic leader, an employee looks up to him expecting that he will understand the situation the employee is going through. When a leader understands the situation of the employee and helps the employee take corrective actions, he is building a bridge of understanding between him and his employees. Improves productivity When the employee feels understood and being listened to, he/she tends to make sure the bond that they have with their leader becomes stronger. The best way to do this is by making sure they are working hard to help and achieve the desired results and thus impress the leader. As this continues, the employee ends up increasing productivity which in turn helps the organization grow.   Improves organizations credibility The leader is the face of the organization. Without a doubt, every firm needs great employees who can help the firm achieve its desired reputation in the market along with the goals and the targets. But, if the leader is mean, it will leave a bad impression on the mind of the employees. And once this happens, the employees start conveying this message amongst their organizational circle. Hence a lot of people start seeing the leaders from a negative point of view. It is only a matter of time until these employees switch the organization. Every new organization these employees will go, they will share this negative experience that they had in their previous organization. And once this has spread out, the decrement of the credibility of the organization is only a matter of time. This is why being an empathetic leader is key to an excellent organizational reputation. Apart from this, every employee an organization has is definitely going through some hard phase of their life. Which is why it is very important for an organization to have empathy towards their employees and understand that they are not machines. They are as much of a human as much their leaders are. A leader must understand that just like a leader needs time for their personal life, their employee also needs the same.
- [Winning Strategy for Farms in Africa](https://faberinfinite.com/winning-strategy-for-farms-in-africa/): As per a research published in a recent article written by – Xinhua, it is stated that the Kenyan flower sector is experiencing a high cost of labor, energy, and farm. These are some of the major challenges currently faced by the sector. Because of these challenges, many organizations have also planned to reduce the headcount and some of the organizations have planned to shut down their farms. Not just this, other reasons such as climate change, drop in rainfall and others are also some of the reasons why Kenya flower farm industry is facing a crisis. Team Faber Infinite has been helping farms in Africa with its proven Farm Operational Transformation Toolkit from Organizational Transformation Framework© by Faber Infinite Consulting to sustain in the market with lesser production cost and more profits. We have been working with leading flower farms in Africa and helped them get over issues such as: Low Land and Labour productivity High manpower cost Issues related to water High Inventory High rejection rate We have helped farms reduce costs by improving productivity. We have worked on both field productivity as well as packhouse productivity. Field productivity was improved by the implementation of standard work and elimination of non-value adding activities. Packhouse productivity was improved by redesigning the packhouse layout and workstation design. Another burning issue in farms is a high rejection rate. Team Faber Infinite has helped farms reduce the rejection rate by more than 35% in the field as well as packhouses by the implementation of quality management toolkit. To balance the cost factor, many organizations that are not optimized, have either overstocked or understocked inventory, blocked their capital cashflow and have started reducing the headcounts in the farm to balance their operating costs. Due to certain policies, many farms are facing challenges for inventory management of fertilizers and chemicals. As a result, farms were stocking a lot of inventory, resulting in cash flow problems. Team Faber Infinite has helped farms maintain optimum inventory, with the implementation of inventory management toolkit by Faber Infinite. All these initiatives have helped the client increase the overall production and reduce the cost per stem by more than 25%. Another concern that the farms in Africa are facing apart from the cost issue is water. Because of the irregular rain patterns, the farms are facing issues with irrigation. This leads to improper growth of flowers, which causes an increment in the rejection rate. Also, due to the unavailability of proper resources of water in the country, many organizations are planning to shut the farms. In situations like these, Team Faber has helped organizations devise and implement strategies to save water in order to run and sustain the business. We have helped organizations identify ways to conserve water in every possible way. We have also helped them improve their irrigation, which can lead to the healthy growth of flowers and thus reduce or nullify the rejections rates. In situations like these, team Faber with its specially designed and proven framework for Farm Transformation has helped many leading flower farms across Africa to maintain a balance between the cost of production and manpower without reducing headcount. Team Faber has been helping farms improve productivity per person in the packhouse, reduce wastage of water, optimize inventory, reduce rejections to name a few. Some of the results delivered at various client farms include: 25% improvement in flower production 83% improvement in the value-adding ratio 45% reduction in lead time in the packhouse 39% improvement in harvest productivity 47% improvement in manpower productivity for packhouse 53% reduction in inventory carrying cost Team Faber has been persistently working towards building competitiveness in farms. We have been helping clients embark on the journey of continual improvement and organizational transformation for business excellence. The same can be done for your farms as well. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to know-how! Read below to know more about how Team Faber Infinite has been helping and supporting transformation in farms: Transforming Farms Building Excellence in Flower Farms Case Studies – Commercial Farms We would like to thank our Organization Transformation expert Mr.Vishal Singh for sharing his valuable insights on issues faced in commercial flower farms in Africa. We sincerely appreciate his efforts in helping us come up with this informative article that will help numerous commercial flower farms across geographies. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah 
- [Supporting Transformation in FIBC (woven fabrics) Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-transformation-in-fibc-woven-fabrics/): Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) industry is currently a sector to watch out for. Due to the increased production of horticulture products and chemicals, the demand for bulk packaging has increased as well. And with increased product demand, organisations are lacking to fulfil the orders on time and in the stipulated budget. In this article, we will discuss about the Transformation in FIBC Industry and few Challenges faced by Industry. Faber Infinite Consulting has been working extensively in the domain, catering to FIBC, Block Bottom bags, big bags, geo textiles, etc. Faber Infinite team has been instrumental in shaping the continual improvement journeys for more than dozen such industries. Sharing key pointers to be considered for the Operational Transformation in the sector. Few of the challenges faced by the industry are as follows: • Overall productivity As mentioned above, there is increasing demand in the industry, so the organisations need their employees to work harder and deliver more results in the same working hours. This is difficult on the employees’ part and they feel burdened with the increased work. We all know that in cases like these, it is difficult to explain and get the results from the operations department. In such scenarios team Faber has helped various leading FIBC manufacturing organisations in improving the overall production of the organisation. Team Faber has helped the organizations by eliminating inefficiencies from the processes and by standardizing process parameters. To share the results, we have helped the organisations save manhours by ~25%, improve throughput by ~33% and much more. • Equipment challenges Many a times, we face technological challenges such as break down of machines, machine not working at its optimum output and much more. Due to multiple breakdowns, it hinders the employee productivity and overall output. Hence, to reduce the impact of equipment challenges on the business, team Faber has been helping organizations improve Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) & reduce Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) by improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It in turn also helps to reduce and eliminate the wastages and improve the loom output. We are glad to share that by implementing these processes at one of the leading FIBC manufacturing organisations, we were able to improve OEE by ~12%, MTBF from 3 hours to 10 hours, reduce wastage from ~7.2% to ~3.3% and ultimately increased the loom output by ~30%. • Other challenges Apart from the challenges stated above, there are a few challenges that organisations face similar to the quality of the product, employee skill development, employee training time, raw material wastage and much more. Team Faber has been helping the organisations optimise all these parameters and is delivering phenomenal results such as; 39% increase in production with the same resources 38% reduction in manpower cost 33% reduction in changeover time 31% reduction in material waste 27% increase in production using OEE 70% elimination of wastage in roll changeover 66% reduction in bobbin cutting wastage Similar results can be delivered in your organizations as well. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to embark on the journey of organizational transformation. Ready to support transformation in the FIBC (woven fabrics) industry? Fill out the form below to access exclusive resources, expert insights, and innovative strategies. Join the movement and drive the future of the FIBC industry. Take action now to stay ahead of the competition! For further details, read the links below for more information: Case Studies – https://faberinfinite.com/case-studies/woven-sack/ https://faberinfinite.com/whats-your-story/ https://faberinfinite.com/delivered-successful-results-yet-again/ https://faberinfinite.com/supporting-make-in-india-to-make-india-a-first-world-country/ https://faberinfinite.com/unnati-the-transformation-journey/   Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah
- [Cost Optimization/Reduction Consultants](https://faberinfinite.com/cost-optimization-using-value-stream-mapping/): In today’s highly competitive market, cost factor plays a significant role in sustaining the competition. Every organization is working on cost reduction for their products or services. But, while working on cost reduction it is equally important to preserve the value of the product / service. Hence, to explore the ways of cost optimization, Team Faber Infinite was invited by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) of India, where our expert team conducted a workshop on ‘Cost Optimization using Value Stream Mapping.’ The objective of this training workshop was to help people understand the value and cost associated with a product or service. Once people understand this, they will come-up with better ways to implement Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and thus reduce cost without compromising quality. This training workshop covered ways to generate and quantify the value and cost associated with product and much more. Objective of Training Workshop: Help participants understand the value and cost associated with a product Know how to identify and quantify value and cost associated with product Use the concept of VSM for cost optimization & reduction Understand how to design future state map of processes with less cost The participants of the workshop included managers from improvement departments, value stream managers/ production managers, team leads/ managers – operations department and others. This program included tutorial sessions for explaining concepts of VSM, experiential learning via case studies so that people can have real-life examples of how VSM has been implemented and how it has been beneficial to the organizations, how they can use it in their organization, and much more. Key takeaways: Understand the detailing about value and cost associated with product Understanding how to reduce cost involved in value stream with ECRS technique Knowing how to conduct PPQ analysis for VSM Understanding the structured approach to drive cost reduction program The workshop was extremely interactive and was highly appreciated by the participants. We thank all the participants for joining us and team ACMA for inviting us. Value Stream Mapping can help your organization as well. So to reap the benefits of Value Stream Mapping contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Discover the power of Value Stream Mapping to optimize costs and drive efficiency in your business. Don’t miss out on this opportunity! Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to expert strategies for cost optimization today! Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah
- [Keep Learning – Don’t Settle](https://faberinfinite.com/keep-learning-dont-settle/): In every organisation, there are always new team members joining in. It is for the organization and team to ensure the new member in the family is comfortable in the new culture, new work schedules, new teams. Today, in this edition of iFaber, we had a chat with the youngest member in our team – Mr. Sarang Vasaikar, who has joined the presales team at Faber Infinite Consulting. This is first step in the corporate journey that he has embarked on. The excerpts of the journey are mentioned below. Faber Infinite (FI) – Hello Sarang, Can you share your journey so far with our readers? Sarang Vasaikar (SV) – It has been almost a month that I am in the system and it has been a smooth start since I have joined. This is my first job and there is so much to learn, so much to experience. I am glad to share that, I have received all the needed support from the management team, from my own department to help me learn and adapt new skills required for my job profile. I can say, the journey so far has been like an enjoyable roller-coaster ride, as every profession has its own ups and downs in every organisation. I have made mistakes, but I have learnt from the mistakes as well. The team at Faber Infinite has been very supportive, I can say I have learned a lot. FI – What made you sure that this organization is the right fit for your personal development? SV – So I will begin first with my personal goals and interest. I always wanted to work with a management consulting organisation, since it gives you exposure to different industries. I always wanted to improve my skills and qualities of building and maintaining public and business relations. And so far, at Faber I have been able to achieve more than expected. Being new and working with an organisation like Faber Infinite is so far one of my biggest achievements. FI – Being a new member on board, what is that one thing that made you feel comfortable with the team?            SV – To be honest, I never felt like a new member or like an outsider. I can say that Faber team played a major part in making me feel like their family and like one of their own and comfortable in a completely new culture. The induction at Faber is so well planned and well thought that it makes it very smooth and easy for a new member to not only accommodate in the system but excel. Besides the training and induction, the team bonding activities, the ways of celebrating festivals are planned in such a way that you interact with all team members across offices and functions. This helps you to interact with people beyond your function and office location. This is one of the best things about teams at Faber Infinite. FI – What advice would you like to give to people aspiring to join the Faber family? SV – For people who want to work with a global management consulting organization, Faber is the place to be! This is an organization that is working on building competitiveness across industries and geographies. We have more than 200+ clients across 8 countries. There is a lot to learn. Those who want to join the organization should be ready to accept challenges and work on new projects across industries. We are working in the domain of business, strategy and operational excellence. This is the place for those who love adventure, every day is a new challenge and new learning. FI – What is that one thing about this organization that makes you come to work every day? SV – Faber Infinite for me is like my 2nd home now. And I love to work over here because as I mentioned above, I am learning a lot and not just that, I am able to achieve all my personal aspirations. And apart from that, every day is very fulfilling, I am happy learning new things and interacting with the teams. FI – Which of your personal aspirations, you see accomplishing here? SV – As I have mentioned above, I always wanted to work in a business management consulting and at a place where I can learn how to build and maintain public relations and business relations.  When we enter the corporate world, I guess that is when you get out the reality strikes upon you. You have always been thinking you know everything and can do everything. But as you enter a real corporate organisation, that is when you realise that all you knew was just a small amount from what the actual world has to offer. And here, as I have mentioned above, I am learning, learning and learning every new day. This is my biggest achievement that I have been able to accomplish here so far. My aim is to gather as much knowledge as I can and team Faber Infinite has been supporting me in my professional aspirations. I want to look back at my career and be proud of the work that I did and the things that I learnt. Team Faber Infinite has been helping me fulfil my aspirations with every new day. I believe in what Steve Jobs has quoted – “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” Thank you, Faber Sarang, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments. Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal Shah
- [Leveraging the Pharmaceutical Opportunity: White Paper](https://faberinfinite.com/leveraging-the-pharmaceutical-opportunity-white-paper/): Leveraging the Pharmaceutical Opportunity: White Paper Pharmaceutical industry is one of the key industries for any country. We shall be focusing on both important streams of the Indian pharmaceutical industry namely; API Formulations We are glad to roll out a detailed white paper on the Indian Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) industry. Sharing a glimpse of the white paper! The Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market is predicted to have a relative CAGR of 4.93% during the forecast period (2019-2023), as per a research. The APIs have been recognized as an asset for multiple pharmaceutical brands owing to the effectiveness of the products.  Rapid urbanization and growing healthcare awareness have affected the increasing healthcare expenditure, and this has been a global trend. Branded generic drugs are relishing a higher adoption rate, and the case is the same for the speciality medicines. Among the other factors, rising contraction of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and others have given a lift to the need for APIs in the market. Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market has seen a relentless growth in volumes and value, mirroring the growth drivers for the overall pharmaceutical industry. However, everything is not easy enough for the Indian markets. With plenty of opportunities, several challenges come along. Though this year has seen a significant impact of supply disruptions from the conventional supplier base i.e China and India, impacting either API availability or economics. The lack of supply or higher prices of inputs has led to the escalation in API prices, affecting the cost of finished drug in majority of the cases. The market is also getting pushed by the intense need for commercialization of drugs that would curtail the cost and increasing expenditure in research and development and can turn out to be a boon for the global API market. Patent expiry of various biological drugs can open the market beyond APIs. However, getting skilled professionals in this segment is difficult and thus it is hampering the production. The medicines are also not instantly accessible in developing countries and are failing to delve into the opportunities given by the developing countries. By manufacturing process, the market is segmented into captive manufacturing and contract manufacturing. The captive manufacturing segment is anticipated to dominate the market. Once a stronghold of Europe, this market is now gently shifting towards the Asia Pacific (APAC). Low manufacturing cost and high demand for generic drugs are going to boost the APAC market. To survive into one of the most promising sectors of today’s economy, one must tap into the areas of improvement to grab the opportunities with both the hands to stay profitable. Enhancing performance at an active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing plant entails a unified and futuristic approach that contains framework to boost operations management, inventory management, quality control, overall equipment effectiveness improvement, maintenance factor improvement, changeover time reduction, cleaning time reduction, yield improvement and assurance. We have worked with clients from the API industry, where we have helped the client in organization transformation through: Cleaning time reduction OEE improvement of machines Breakdown reduction Yield improvement Cost reduction through various continual improvement initiatives   To mention, we have worked with one of the worlds leading API manufacturer, where we helped them save more than INR 7 Crore through continual improvement initiatives drive. This drive was based on the 4 Ms – Man, Material, Machine and Method. We also helped the client in quality management and quality control, lead time reduction for the batch released and productivity improvement in quality department. While the market for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) has been exceedingly profitable, it faces crucial challenges as well. Escalating regulatory forces, the firmer bargaining power of purchasers, rocketing costs, low-cost competition from Asian suppliers, slowdown in drug approvals, and drug failures are forming challenges for research-driven pharmaceutical organizations, contract manufacturers and generic drug firms. These changes necessitate more than just compliance with specifications. Process understanding and robust continual improvement framework is the key to moving from counteractive actions to more efficient incessant improvements. Achieving manufacturing excellence necessitates process understanding. The biotech /pharmaceutical manufacturing industry tends to focus too much on what one thinks, and regulators want to see, rather than what one needs to do to improve the process. All this should lead towards improvement in the practices to reduce costs, wastage, rework, and improving the quality, productivity, profitability to be into one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Indian economy. This whitepaper attempts to address the mentioned issues along with its proven solutions. It covers 10 pointers for advanced Pharmaceutical Operational Excellence journey, which is need of the hour today! These 10 points can decide the future of Operational Excellence at your Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Operations. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com to get your copy today. Written & Compiled By Faber Manasi Chandak
- [Client Speaks – Building Trust with Clients!](https://faberinfinite.com/client-speaks-building-trust-with-clients/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a reputed market player in fans, domestic pumps and lighting for over 20 years. We had a chat with Mr. Sanjay Khanvilkar – Head Quality and Business Excellence, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd.? Sanjay Khanvilkar (SK) – Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. is a new company. It was formed at the end of the year 2015, after demerging from the original Crompton Greaves Group owned by Avantha Holdings Ltd. The reason behind this was the company was facing some drift issues due to its sick operation units. And the organisation decided to sell out the Consumer Products Business Unit to the new USA based Advent International Corp. and Temasek Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. and this is how the complete demerger happened. Due to the demerger, almost every department of the organisation was in a mess. The middle level management was struggling to put things in place. These were the kind of setbacks the organisation faced. After the demerger, the board decided to divide the organisation in separate verticals based on the product lines like lights, fans, electrical appliances and pumps. Earlier, there was just one vertical, but after the demerger, the product line was divided into these 4 verticals. FI – We understand every industry has its own challenges. What are the challenges unique to your industry?  SK – After the demerger, we had to create entire organisation from the scratch along with all the necessary departments in no time. And while doing this, the management took great care of the brand image which couldn’t afford to get affected by any means. We also had to make sure the availability of the products at all the places CG had been catering so far. To maintain all these things while building the organisation from the scratch was a biggest challenge. There were no departments like IT, Production Planning, Manufacturing, Forecasting or other departments. There were no standards or systems in place. There was no IT support. So, initially, everyone had to work on the manual basis. To overcome these challenges, the company began with SAP implementation on urgent basis. But it took some time to get in place. So, these were the cumulative challenges the management faced at that point of time. There was no right organization structure in place. Positions like Central Quality head, central planning head, etc were absent. Also, the teams were working in silos and there was no cross communication happening due to lack of standardisation. The rewards and recognition system were absent, due to which the team morale was down. Not only the organization structure but the right competent people were also not on boarded. These were few of the challenges that we experienced. FI – As we know you have manufacturing setups in Goa, Baroda, Ahmednagar and Baddi. You are operating in such diverse locations. How do you manage to operate from different locations? What are your suggestions for organizations that are operating across such diverse locations? SK – Correct, we are working from different locations but working at different locations in different cultures isn’t new with Crompton. Since the systems are now in place. When I say systems, I mean building the right DNA. We did this with gap analysis at all our manufacturing locations. With gap analysis, we found out how each of the plant locations is different from the ideal set of parameters. We started from scratch and took a years’ time to standardise and put in place all the processes. Crompton always wanted to create its own DNA. Which would have been possible only with the help of implementation of the standards. So, the company came up with specific standards to be maintained and followed in every department of the organisation. So, this is advice for organizations which operate from such diverse locations. Standardisation helps in maintaining the same set of standards by following the same protocols at each location. FI – Over the years, the consumer electricals landscape has seen a lot of changes. Companies are working on innovation, improving operations and driving efficiencies across the supply chain. Can you share more about the continual improvement initiatives at Crompton, to be ahead of the curve? Especially, with LED industry coming up so quick and it being dynamic, how does it impact the entire supply chain? SK – So basically, there are three aspects; any organisation is firstly driven by the cost parameter. Once the pricing is set, the next aspect is the availability of the product. There are other organisations as well, which are into manufacturing of similar products like us. So, when the consumer goes into the market to purchase our product and doesn’t find the same, he is not going to wait for the availability of our product. He will quickly move on to another brand. Hence, the availability of the product is very necessary. Later once the person has purchased the product and started to use it, then the quality comes in the scenario. So, these are the three aspects we must keep in mind from the buyer’s perspective. And to meet all these three parameters, the organisation needs to be agile in terms of switching over the production line to achieve the demands. Secondly, we should be flexible, and we should be more productive in terms of the value conversion from the raw materials to finish goods, and the third thing is to make sure that whatever is being produced is able to match the quality standards. And to make this all achievable, there must be minimum number of errors. So, in our case we have seen the constant dynamism in terms of exponential growth. And to stay competitive in this market,
- [Friday Fact - Quality – the only way towards organizational success.](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-the-only-way-towards-organizational-success/): Did you know, Whatsapp, one of the top communications applications, is now being replaced by another app? For a long time, Whatsapp security breach has been the talk of the town. This disadvantage of the app has become one of the biggest advantages for other secure messaging and calling apps such as Telegram and Signal.  On the basis of research, in iOS, Signal has jumped to 39th position from 105th in the download category in India. Similarly, in Google Play, it Jumped to 31st position from 255th in the download category in India.   It was stated that Whatsapp had its highest active users in India with 400 million users. But on the basis of research, the WhatsApp app ranking dropped from the 1st position to 4th position in the most downloaded apps in Google Play.  It is said that Telegram and Signal are run by a US-based non-profit organization. As compared with other communication apps, this app has higher security features and updates than others. It is also said that Telegram is using such protocols that check on every single message that a user gets via various ways to determine the authenticity of a message. Apart from the encryption, the app has features that check the length of the message, the number of characters that are being used while the message was sent and while it is received. On top of it, this also provides you with self-destruct message options where you can set a timer after the completion of which, the messages get deleted.  Whereas when we talk about Whatsapp, due to its weak security provision, it is easy to hack. Apps like Telegram and Signal gives protection towards not just messaging but also towards file sharing and video calling.  Whereas when we talk about Whatsapp, due to its weak security provision, it is easy to hack. Apps like Telegram and Signal gives protection towards not just messaging but also towards file sharing and video calling.  Hence, as you can see, finding out the problem in one app or process or organization can be an opportunity for others. No organization can claim that there are no backdrops in them, but when the root cause of the problems are identified and solved, then the organizations mold into a completely different yet better version of themselves.  Whenever we talk about the up-gradation of the quality of any product or service, we always recommend finding out the root cause of the problem that led to questioning the quality of your product or service.  Quality is not just for the product/service, it affects the brand identity as well. It affects the way your product is perceived by the consumers. It gives a pathway to other organizations to think of product/service to replace your product/service. Quality is very important. it should be a habit and culture of your organization. Have you started paying attention to the quality of your product/service?
- [Be Different – Be A Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/be-different-be-a-leader/): We have seen many articles that talk about how to become a leader, how to have a positive side of the leader, how to become everyone’s favorite etc. But today, in this article, we bring to you, a few abstract pointers one must deploy to become a Different Leader. A leader is a person who has been an employee once, so it is obvious that he/she is supposed to be highly understanding of their teammates. But here are a few points a leader usually tries to avoid thinking them as negative pointers. Conflicts can be healthy By saying this, we are trying to convey that as long as the conflict is about the ideas and ways to improve organizational performance and not any personal bias or issues, the conflicts are healthy. Since such conflicts bring out various dos and don’ts for a company to undertake while working on the ways to improve organizational performance. This also allows other people to understand the thought process of different people under different circumstances and helps the organization identify the best ways to improve performance. Allow new ideas to enter Many times, when a subordinate or a teammate comes up with new ideas, they hesitate to bring it in front of their leaders. Because they feel that they are not as experienced as their leaders or might have faced a similar situation in the past which would have made them feel that their ideas don’t stand a chance in their organization. A leader should support the viewpoints of all their team members. By saying this, we don’t mean that you agree to all their ideas but allow them the right to express it even if it doesn’t reflect your point of view. It takes a lot of courage for someone to speak up and express a different point of view in front of a leader. A leader should always acknowledge and encourage those team members who come up with new or unique ideas. Ask for feedback While a person is in the position of a leader, it makes them feel that asking for feedback from their subordinates or teammates might make them look less leader. But, in reality, asking for feedback genuinely helps. It helps you understand other ways of doing the same thing or even quicker or better ways. It can show you how others feel when you step your feet in their shoes. This helps you enhance your leadership skills. These are some of the points which are rarely used by the leaders but are highly effective to become one of the greatest leaders.  
- [Friday Fact - Reduce Air Pollution by implementing Preventive Seiso](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-reduce-air-pollution-by-implementing-preventive-seiso/): Did you know almost 10,000 lives are claimed every year in Delhi (capital of the country – India) due to its increasing pollution?  Delhi – the Capital of India is one of the most polluted cities. A few of the major causes of the pollution in Delhi are because of the industrial smoke, stubble burning, and vehicle smoke. There are sayings that planting more trees can help the place purify. But the pollution of Delhi won’t be cured solely by just planting trees. The state authorities will have to come up with “Preventive Seiso.” Seiso is a Japanese term from its Five S methodology which means to make everything clean. With Preventive Seiso, here we mean to come up with the strategies to cure and clean the air from the root cause. Here is a powerful example of how getting to the root cause of air pollution have helped cities get over with the pollution.  Toronto faced similar challenges in addressing its urban air quality issue. In 2004, one of the researches claimed that air pollution in the city led to 1,700 premature deaths and 6,000 hospitalizations per year. When the same research drew a survey in 2009, it stated that improved air quality over the subsequent decade resulted in the reduction of premature deaths and hospitalizations by 1,300 and 3,550 respectively. These improvements in the health statistics were based on improvements and steps taken towards air quality in Toronto over the first decade of this century. Sulfur Dioxide reduced by 79% and Nitric Oxide reduced by 36%, Carbon Monoxide reduced by 78%, and Particulate Matter25 reduced by 30%. The air quality improvements were driven by reductions in emissions in Toronto, Ontario, and the U.S. Great Lakes states that are substantial sources of upwind pollution for Toronto and Ontario. Toronto Public Health estimated in 2014 that 51% of the premature deaths and 45% of the hospitalizations were attributable to sources outside of Toronto.  The air quality improvements in Toronto were driven by a variety of policies, but Toronto’s story is unique in that a key policy was the decision by Ontario to eliminate coal from its electricity generation. The Toronto Board of Public Health, on several occasions in the early 2000s, advocated for converting Ontario’s coal-fired generators to natural gas. The political support for such a policy extended beyond Toronto to much of the rest of Ontario. Concerns about the health impacts of air pollution were a key driver of the move to phase out coal. The emissions reductions from the electricity sector during this time were substantial. Between 2004 (the year before the first coal plant was retired) and 2013, PM10, SO2, and NO2 emissions from electricity generation declined by 90%, 91%, and 65%, respectively. Phasing out coal in electricity generation was the most significant among the many policies Toronto and Ontario adopted during this time frame to reduce local air pollution. In 2013, the Ontario electricity sector emitted less than 4% of the Sulfur Oxides in the province, down from around 30% a decade earlier. Nitric Oxide and Particulate Matter10 emissions also dropped sharply (from 12 to 5% and 7 to less than 1%, respectively). The coal phase-out in Ontario was a key part of improving Toronto’s air quality over the past decade. Similarly, there have been several cases of air pollution reduction in various cities! Hence, as you can see, when the root cause of the issue is found out and worked upon, it can help the city reduce air pollution by a significant amount. The same Preventive Seiso can be implemented in Delhi as well.  This approach can also help any organization that is dealing with similar issues. So, have you started applying the right tools to reach the root cause?  Data References: International Gas Union
- [4 key Leaderships to Achieve Organizational Success](https://faberinfinite.com/key-leadership-traits-to-achieve-organizational-success/): Effective leadership is not just about informing your team to get the work done. It is more than that. It is also about managing and supporting the entire team. Those employees who feel supported by their leaders will be happier, more productive and connected with the organization. And this affects the bottom line of the organization. It is highly important for the leaders in today’s era to understand the ways to bring the entire team together to successfully achieve the vision of the organization. Below are a few traits a leader must possess to create a winning team to achieve organizational vision and mission; Engage with your employees in an open communication Many times there are employees who might not express but in reality, they are too frustrated to be a part of the team. This impacts their productivity. A leader needs to understand that a fresh and healthy mind is directly related to higher productivity. Leader should always have one on one meeting with each member in the team to have a check on their productivity and discuss the issues they are facing. A leader should help them find solutions so that the employees feel understood and supported. Coach towards the collaborative and committed environment Don’t just order your employees about the work, this would not generate the right level of engagement you are looking for. An effective leader must explain to their team members what is required and how it can be done rather than just ordering. Set clear expectations and goals A leader must clearly set goals about what is expected from their employees. This is a real key to success. When the expectations are not clear, the employees are confused. Unclear expectations make it difficult for the employees to perform because they feel whatever they will do, it will mostly dissatisfy their leaders. They do not know which way to go since the goals and expectations were never clear. When expectations are not clear, the employee tries to work harder and harder to make sure he fulfills unsaid expectations. But when the hard work is not appreciated and in addition to that when the employees are told that whatever they did was not sufficient, employees tend to feel demotivated.  They begin to think that if their hard work is not being appreciated and neither is it helping to achieve the goals. They feel then why should they even continue working hard. This is a point that every leader in every organization should understand. Every employee understands that leaders definitely have high expectations from them. But, unless the expectations are clearly said out, there is a lot of confusion and frustration that an employee feels on their part. Hence it is very important to set clear expectations and goals in the very beginning so that the employee knows what and how is he/she supposed to work to achieve the goals successfully.  Allow your employees to share new ideas. A lot of leaders don’t allow their employees to come up with new ideas and to share or implement them. Leaders feel that the employees are not as experienced as them, so whatever their idea is, it definitely would not work. But what leaders need to understand is, the employee wishes to achieve organizational success just as much as they want. So, if an employee has come up with an idea, a leader must listen to it at least. Many a time there might be some new things or ways that have come up into the market which the leaders don’t know about yet, but which can help them successfully achieve their goal.  Apart from this, if employees will never be acknowledged for the new ideas, they would feel it is better not to achieve success and work monotonously. But, by listening to and sometimes even letting them implement the new ideas can make them feel motivated to work even harder and find new ways to achieve organizational success. These are a few pointers that every leader should implement to achieve organizational success with the help of the team. 
- [Optimise Cost through Supply Chain Management](https://faberinfinite.com/optimise-cost-through-supply-chain-management/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of agriculture solutions was able to reduce inbound logistics cost by 28% by implementing supply chain cost reduction techniques? In this article, we will discuss about how to Optimise Cost through Supply Chain Management. The organization was sustainably growing for the last few years, the company was able to achieve a significant part of the growth through acquisitions. Usually, when organizations grow through this medium, they always face complexity. In the case of this organization, they started to face supply chain complexity along with the increased cost. Over the years, they tried a few ways to address these issues, but everything was in vain. In the year 2012, the management decided to shift from short-term methods to long term strategies to resolve the issues. That is when they decided to implement supply chain cost reduction techniques. Cost Optimisation through Supply Chain Management The organization acquired various brands under its umbrella. Hence, the product portfolio of the organization was pretty much vast now. Initially, optimization planning, sourcing and inbound logistics were managed by the internal team for a lot of countries with the use of various supply chain management tools and systems. Because of the decentralized environment, inbound logistics and transport management were separate fields. There was inadequate transparency in the supply chain. The entire organization did not take advantage of synergies and economies of scale. These issues happened due to the backdrop of an unpredictable and seasonal market. The organization than planned to implement a supply chain benchmarking exercise to reduce cost. Within a year of implementing these techniques and strategies, the organization received freight cost reduction of around 18%, reduced inbound logistics costs by 28%, increased network performance by 25% and reduced the inventory almost by the quarter.    Hence, as you can see, supply chain management has been helping various industries and sectors to optimize their costs and improve their profits. So, have you implemented supply chain management in your organization yet?
- [3 Steps to Implementing Change with Strong Leadership](https://faberinfinite.com/implementing-change-with-strong-leadership/): In today’s evolving and constantly changing the world, it is necessary that when changes happen in organizational culture, a leader under his/her leadership should make sure that the team thrives in the best possible way to successfully implement the change. Here we listed 3 Steps to Implementing change with Build Strong Leadership.  Many times, we have seen that when change happens or when change initiatives are taken, most of the employees fear the change and begin to resist the change. This fear and resistance lead to the unsuccessful implementation of change.  The leaders of the organization need to understand that change is not an easy concept to implement. When the organization is planning to begin implementation of change initiatives, they should take preventive measures for those employees that resist and fear to implement change.  Below are a few points that can help a leader help his team implement the change easily;  Have a healthy and structured collaboration plan A leader should make sure he involves all his team members from the planning to the implementation of the entire change initiative process. This helps the employee put across their fear factors and doubts regarding the safety of the job. This also helps them work together with the team to accomplish the vision of successfully implementing the change initiative Establish a well-structured communication plan A well-structured communication plan includes schedule, steps, ways, and other things that are going to take place for implementing the change initiative. This is very important to be communicated to the team so that they are prepared for the things that are going to come across and they can clear their doubts well in advance. Half of the resistance is created due to improper communication between the leader and the team where the team is not instructed and informed about the process and the steps taken for implementing the change.  A leader should be committed towards the successful implementation of change A leader must be sure of his/her own beliefs towards the change. Change is not easy for anyone. Hence, before helping the team on taking up the challenge of implementing change, the leader themselves should be able to accept the change. Because, if they won’t, then the team will never be able to successfully implement the change. So, before asking the team to co-operate and believe the terms of change, a leader himself /herself should implement that first.  The above points will help a leader in successfully implementing the change initiative.   A leader must be sure of his/her own beliefs towards the change. Change is not easy for anyone. Hence, before helping the team on taking up the challenge of implementing change, the leader themselves should be able to accept the change. Because, if they won’t, then the team will never be able to successfully implement the change. So, before asking the team to co-operate and believe the terms of change, a leader himself /herself should implement that first.  The above points will help a leader in successfully implementing the change initiative.  
- [Improve productivity with inventory management](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-productivity-with-inventory-management/): Did you know, one of the worldwide manufacturers of lifting and material handling solutions were able to save around 70 weeks per year in labor costs, by cutting the process-time down? The company mostly manufactures to order and customize as per their customer requirements. The organization uses to maintain a manual system for yard management at the transfer center, which generates excessive costs for something that should have been a relatively simple process of locating customer units to prepare them for delivery. As mentioned, the organization used a manual system of wallboard and sticker which was a low-tech solution for identifying equipment items in the yard. While inexpensive in itself, the solution cost around six minutes per person whenever an employee had to locate a unit in the yard. Along with that, it also took a considerable number of hours to be spent each month taking physical inventories and updating the company’s ERP platform. Improve Productivity through Inventory Management Seeing these results, the organization decided to implement inventory management as well as supply chain management tools. The organization decided to replace the outdated manual yard management process with a new, digital solution. Decision-makers chose a yard management software product and then had the transfer center surveyed before initiating a pilot project covering a small portion of the yard. After a successful pilot, the company approved the solution for full-scale implementation, replacing stickers, yard maps, and wallboard with electronic tracking and digital inventory management.  With the help of this, the company was able to save around 70 weeks per year in labor costs, by cutting down the process-time. Inventory management and supply chain not only helped the organization in monetary terms but can also help them reduce waste of time and improve productivity. Have you implemented inventory management yet?  
- [Leadership begins with your people.](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-begins-with-your-people/): One of the most important aspects of leadership is that leadership should begin with your people, team, and subordinates. Putting the team ahead of the individual leader helps the leader see things from the team’s point of view and understand what steps need to be taken and what needs to be avoided. As a leader, one must recognize people who are not able to perform at their best and provide support and feedback to them. When you understand this and take your focus away from self, it will change you as a leader. Below are a few points that can help you work towards valuing your people more; See your people as your biggest success             A good leader supports those around them, focuses on developing them, helps them succeed and watches them grow into the people they want to become. When people succeed, it shows the reflection of their leaders. So, work hard on your people. Your people are your biggest asset and without them, a team can fail. Recognize, acknowledge and appreciate your people. Every employee of the organization works hard, and everyone wishes to be valued for their hard work. And a leader must always recognize and give credit to its people for the fabulous work they do. Make a deliberate effort to call out your top producers in a meeting and recognize them. When others see a co-worker being recognized, it will inspire your team. Everyone will work harder to be the next person who is appreciated for the good work. Know your people Would be definitely knowing your people’s names and their positions and what they are working on, but do you actually know them? Do you know where they have come from? Do you know what have they done in the past before they began working with you? Most importantly, do you know their hopes and dreams? Getting to know the teams in more detail and personal manner will make the teams feel valued and increase their respect for the leader. Leave your ego There are going to be people who are performing better than you. You will have people in your team who have significant achievements. People may get another degree, get a certification, or move on to a new position in the organization. One of the best compliments a leader can receive is to have one of their team members move on to a better opportunity. Leader needs to be proud and not jealous. Empower your people Before taking any decision, everyone wants to be trusted. Hence, empower your people to make certain decisions. Do not short-change them. Give a chance to the members of the team to prove themselves and shine rather than ignoring their abilities and doing it yourself. If you have a big presentation coming up with your management team? Give chance to one of your top-performing employees to give the presentation. Giving them empowerment will help them be more confident and they will strive for larger goals. Leadership is a gift as well as a privilege. You should always value your teammates. Each of them plays a vital role to keep the organization going. When you will put your team’s needs and interests ahead of yours, you will be an even more successful leader.
- [Improve turnover with Total Quality Management (TQM)](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-turnover-with-total-quality-management/): Did you know, one of the world’s renowned airline company was able to increase turnover by 23% by implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) tools? In the year 1987, when the company was privatised. The management believed that if they want to be the best and world-class organization. They will have to use those strategies and processes that would create a vision and encourage their employees to gain their trust. This could only be possible by implementing a TQM program. In order to be the best in the industry, the management team of the company decided that they must win through teamwork, customer satisfaction, profitability, and reputation. Along with the way to implement the strategies. The organization found out even the places where they want to implement these strategies. And Also conducting a study to diagnose the current situation within the technical workshop, obtaining support and full commitment of TQM concepts from all the levels of management. And educating staff according to the principles of TQM and make necessary changes in management style, changes in policies. So that procedures and work practices that would be apt and would facilitate the new organizational culture required. and starting the quality improvement process, and reviewing progress made and fostering a sustained commitment from all levels of the organization. Turnover Increased through Total Quality Management (TQM) The approach taken by the company in collecting quality costs involved  breakdown of employee activities related to quality in three main heads, namely: Anticipation – activities that provide performance right the first time, Assessment – activities that check if the concept of right first time is done, Failure – activities resulting from the failure of the concept right first time. Knowing how to bear the cost of quality has had a significant contribution in educating staff on the concept and principles of TQM. It also helped in strengthening and justification of the need for training personnel in accordance with TQM, to overcome any skepticism about Total Quality Management (TQM), to promote considerable debate on this issue and to ensure that the improvement of individual project activity can be measured. Right after two years of implementing the TQM methodology, the organization was recognized as the best in the aviation industry, by customers and competitors. The organization launched its TQM program in September 1988 and by the end of 1989 the benefits of the program were seen. also turnover increased by 23%, there was an increase in the number of passengers who used the company’s services. Passenger load factor increased from 79.1% to 81.3% and aircraft fleet had grown to 33 aircrafts. Hence, as you can see, Total Quality Management (TQM) has helped the organization improve the overall turnover that too within a short span of two years. Have you started implementing Total Quality Management?   
- [5 Strategies to Reduce Employees Stress](https://faberinfinite.com/5-strategies-to-reduce-employees-stress/): Doesn’t this happen every time we receive a deadline from the boss that we all start to panic? For a few people, this happens quite often, which can feel great in the beginning but disappointing later. But this shouldn’t repeat. Here we listed 5 Strategies to Reduce Employees Stress. Instead of pushing for deadlines, the leaders should encourage their teams to manage themselves along with other members of the team. Hence, in this Transformation Tuesday, we present to you, five strategies for leaders to empower their teams and manage their scope of work. 1. Investing in employee’s professional growth and development A leader will always invest in an employee’s professional growth. Since employees who feel valued, are more likely to be concerned about an organization’s development. One of the ways to do this is by providing additional professional as well as personal learning opportunities outside the regular job role. Managers should have knowledge regarding their employee’s goals, skills, and aspirations and refer to this matrix when they are to assign the tasks. 2. Don’t begin with profit conversations It is necessary that your employee has the knowledge that money matters, but they should also know that their managers are valuing transparency and integrity just as much as money. Let your employees know that it is completely up to them to achieve their goals, but the manager is always there to support them. Rather than pitching in while the project is not going as desired, step back and focus on mentoring. Likewise, if overstepping the agreed budget of a project means fostering creativity and opportunities to produce great results, a trusted leader will do their best to push these projects forward — knowing the professional benefits will overshoot the temporary financial loss in the long run. 3. Give them opportunities to share their story Every employee should be given an opportunity to share their experience and success with other teammates. This will encourage a positive and healthy competition between the teammates which will motivate them to give their best achieving their goals even with everything else and without managers stepping in and urging constantly to get things done. Apart from that, this will help in setting a company wide forum for every employee to showcase their work. 4. Stay connected Don’t think that all your employee believes in a goal from the beginning. While leaders believe independence encourages professional growth, they also know it is important to remain engaged with employees to ensure everyone understands how their role and work fits into the company’s overall success. 5. Act selflessly This is the most difficult part, to act selflessly. Try to encourage a culture where the practice is to say we and not me first. This is beneficial for the organization in the long term. When employees are assigned responsibility for their own actions, they also feel more empowered. As a result, they are more likely to be proactive and take initiative. This helps to build a company culture of motivated achievers, rather than timid followers. Hence, implement these strategies to help your employees overcome a stressful environment and work with their fullest productivity.  
- [Inventory Management for World Class Production](https://faberinfinite.com/inventory-management-for-world-class-production/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of machinery used in agriculture, construction, and forestry was able to reduce delivery lead time by 38% by implementing Inventory optimization tools? The organization has a diverse product range, which includes heavy machinery and industrial equipment which is made by order. Retail activities are highly seasonal, with the majority of sales occurring between the months of March and July. But the organization had longer lead time. which made them come up with a statement that they want to build their business just as good as their products. To improve its supply chain and Inventory Management, they implemented a few tools. Increase Production through Inventory Management The company divided the implementation journey into five stages. Each focusing on a six-month period. Each new project would begin on the lessons learned and the success of the preceding one. In the beginning, the focus was on setting a multi-stage distribution network. To reduce the order lead time, the organization divided staging inventory into 3 locations. at the factory warehouses, at intermediate sites called merge centers, and at the dealers. The merge centers hold high-volume, non-configurable products. They are closer to the dealers to make sure they do not run out of stock whenever required and to ensure delivery within 1-2 days. Later, it focused on enhancing shipments into cost-saving, multi-stop truckloads. Dealers’ assigned shipping days could be reduced because less volume was flowing from the factory warehouses. After the completion of the implementation stage, the project had shown a substantial saving of $2.7 million and the delivery lead time was reduced by approximately 38% for 89% of the shipments.     Inventory management can improve your supply chain and optimize inventory, reduce lead time, and much more. So, have you reaped the benefits of implementing inventory management tools at Faber Infinite.
- [Seek advice, more than the feedback!](https://faberinfinite.com/seek-advice-more-than-the-feedback/): Receiving feedback plays a huge part in anybody’s life. Feedback can be both positive or negative. It is on the individual on the receiving end to decide how he/ she takes even feedback whether it is negative or positive. But, when the research was conducted, it was found that giving advice is better than giving feedback. When we are asked to give someone feedback, we look at the end result on which a final comment is passed with the statement of whether or not the end result is fruitful. But when a person is asked for advice regarding something, the person is asked about the opinion of whether or not the process of the task carried out correctly, was there any other way or better way to generate the same or better result, the solution of what else could have been done and much more.  When a person is asked for advice instead of feedback, there is a broadway opened for suggestions for areas and ways of improvement. Many a time we have heard that one should always take feedback from their colleagues. However, research suggests that feedback either have no impact or negative impact on the performance. The feedback we receive is often too ambiguous — it fails to suggest what could have been improved, or how it could have been improved. When the research was conducted, it showed that when people sought advice instead of feedback, they received effective inputs. In one study, a few people were asked to share their inputs. Few of them were asked to share it in the form of feedback, while others were asked to share it in the form of advice. And it was found that those people who gave their feedback were found to give ambiguous feedback, generally praising comments. And when it was compared to those who were asked to provide “advice”, they suggested 34% more areas of improvement and 56% of different ways to improve. It is seen that usually feedbacks are linked with evaluations. Whereas, when people are asked to provide advice, people focus less on evaluation and more on possible future actions. Organizations have a lot of opportunities to learn from peers, colleagues, and clients. Despite its prevalence, seeking advice is often an effective strategy for promoting growth and learning.
- [Standards Make Organisations Operationally Fit](https://faberinfinite.com/standards-make-organisations-operationally-fit/): Team Faber is engaged with one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural engineering equipment. We have been helping the organization improve its overall productivity by cost reduction, waste elimination, product quality improvement and much more. One of the standards implemented at the client site was setting norms for Processes in Assembly, Fabrication, Balancing and Bending Operations via classical Time & Motion Study. This standard has been designed and implemented by one of our expert consultants –Mr. Anoop Kulkarni in collaboration with the client team members. This standard defined time standards for operations across the above mentioned 4 departments enabling production planning and scheduling. It also helped convince the works committee on standardization as per ILO guidelines. We have been helping organizations set standards and become operationally fit. Contact us if your organization wants to be operationally fit & efficient
- [Standards Make Organisations Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/standards-make-organisations-productive/): Team Faber Infinite has been engaged with one of Africa’s leading sugar manufacturing organizations in Zambia. Team Faber is helping the organization improve its overall productivity by cost management, waste elimination, improve product quality and much more. At the client site, to eliminate waste and remove unproductive activities, we have implemented a standard – Job Instructions/ Card for Agro-workshop. This standard has been designed and implemented by one of the expert consultants –Mr. Vijay Hondadakatti in collaboration with the client team members including Mr.Rajesh, Mr.Balu & Mr.Prabhu. The objective was to eliminate the confusion of work allocation for operators, establishing and improving efficiencies, thereby improving throughput. The standard also helped identify the non-productive activities in the organization, helped analyze the issues and identify the ways to solve them. It also helped the operating team to schedule planned maintenance. Implementing one simple standard can benefit the organization in various ways. So, when are you planning to implement standards in your organization to see such wonderful results!
- [Standards Make Organisations Smart](https://faberinfinite.com/standards-make-organisations-smart/): Team Faber Infinite has been instrumental in implementing standards not only at different client sites across geographies but at our own offices as well and working towards making our offices SMART. Sharing glimpses of a few standards implemented at our offices. At our office in Pune, India, we have implemented – Availability Matrix. This matrix is a people-oriented matrix, as consultants are mostly onsite helping clients craft growth opportunities. There are times when team members from other functions want to collaborate with the consulting team. This matrix lets you know the availability of the consultant so that you can assign them the task for which you are accountable and can thus match the deadline. It helps reduce excessive discussion loops amongst the team regarding work allocation. At another office in Ahmedabad, India, we have implemented Daily Work Management (DWM). DWM is the framework that provides the ability to manage departments, functions, and processes, wherein processes are defined, standardized, controlled, and improved by the process owners. It ensures that daily jobs and objectives are accomplished strictly on daily basis with a perfect control system built in! At another office in Vadodara, India, we have implemented Kanban. Kanban is basically implemented for inventory management. Kanban has helped in knowing the quantity of inventory available and used. Similarly, optimum levels can be maintained to avoid over and understocking of inventories. It has also helped in the easy sorting of the inventory and setting the right replenishment model, where we follow PFEP (Plan For Every Part) methodology!
- [Supply Chain Management for cost reduction](https://faberinfinite.com/supply-chain-management-for-cost-reduction/): How a Global Dried-Fruits Producer Cut Finished-Goods Spoilage by 30% — and What Your Business Can Learn Did you know one of the world’s largest producers of dried fruits achieved a remarkable 30% reduction in finished-goods spoilage simply by transforming how it planned and operated its supply chain? What makes this case fascinating is that the company wasn’t facing any dramatic operational crisis. Their distribution operations appeared stable, orders were being fulfilled, and the system seemed to be working. Yet beneath the surface, margins were eroding due to hidden inefficiencies that standard reporting failed to capture. This story is more than an operational success — it is a real-world demonstration of how structured planning, accurate forecasting, and network redesign can unlock massive value in any business. Let’s break down how the transformation happened, what challenges were uncovered, and what lessons any organization can apply. The Hidden Challenge: Costs Invisible Inside a “Working” Distribution System At first glance, the company’s distribution structure seemed functional. Warehouses were operational, logistics was running on schedule, and customer service levels were consistent. However, senior management observed troubling patterns: Rising end-to-end supply chain costs driven largely by production overruns and inefficiencies. High spoilage of finished goods, leading to financial waste and poor asset utilization. When the company dug deeper, it discovered two major root causes that were silently driving up costs. 1. A Suboptimal Warehouse Network The distribution network had grown organically over the years rather than strategically. The company was operating 25 warehouses, many of which were redundant or poorly located. This created excess handling, duplicated safety stocks, and inflated fixed operating costs. 2. Manual, Fragmented Forecasting Forecasting was being done using spreadsheets and locally maintained demand estimates. Without a unified system: Forecast accuracy was poor Production plans did not match real demand Excess inventory accumulated Warehouses filled up, fueling even more spoilage The manual forecasting approach created a chain reaction: inaccurate forecasts → excess production → excess warehousing → spoilage and cost inflation. This “hammer effect” showed how one weak process (forecasting) triggered downstream inefficiencies throughout the supply chain. The Smart Approach: Phased Supply Chain Transformation Instead of jumping into an expensive all-at-once overhaul, the company adopted a phased improvement plan, supported by a modern supply-chain planning platform. This approach delivered benefits in sequence, reducing risk and increasing organizational buy-in. Why Phased Transformation Worked Each module delivered measurable ROI before the next phase began. Employees learned gradually, enabling smoother adoption. Teams validated assumptions early, preventing large-scale mistakes. The company avoided overwhelming the organization with massive change. A key element of this transformation was the implementation of Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) — a structured, cross-functional process that aligned demand forecasting, production planning, and supply chain execution. Instead of planning week-to-week, the company could now anticipate resource requirements months in advance. The Five-Phase Improvement Journey Here’s a practical breakdown of the five major phases the company followed — a blueprint that other organisations can easily replicate: 1. Assessment & Baseline Creation The company analyzed its existing operations, identifying: Inventory levels Forecasting accuracy Warehouse utilization Transportation patterns True cost drivers This baseline clarified where value was leaking and where the highest returns could come from. 2. Forecasting & Demand Planning Enhancement The business replaced manual spreadsheet forecasting with: Standardized tools Centralized data inputs Statistical forecasting Clear roles and governance This step alone significantly improved visibility and eliminated guesswork. 3. Network Optimization By modelling distribution scenarios, the company redesigned its warehouse footprint. This resulted in a dramatic reduction from 25 warehouses to just 8 — slashing fixed costs and streamlining inventory flows. 4. S&OP and Capacity Planning S&OP connected sales, production, supply chain, and finance into one unified planning rhythm. This helped: Balance capacity with demand Reduce overtime Improve production stability Create realistic demand-supply alignment 5. Continuous Improvement & Governance Finally, the company monitored KPIs in real time, enabling continuous tuning of: Forecasts Inventory norms Logistics decisions Production schedules Because each step delivered results, the organization recovered its entire investment before the full program was even completed — a significant achievement. The Results: Tangible Improvements That Built Long-Term Value The transformation delivered measurable improvements across key metrics that matter most in supply chain performance: ✔ 30% Reduction in Finished-Goods Spoilage Better planning meant producing the right quantities at the right time, drastically reducing waste. ✔ ~20% Increase in Forecast Accuracy More accurate demand signals minimized overproduction and stockouts. ✔ 17% Reduction in Overtime Costs Smoother production schedules reduced costly last-minute overtime pushes. ✔ Warehouse Network Reduced from 25 to 8 Optimized warehousing significantly lowered fixed logistics costs. ✔ Transportation Costs Stabilized for Two Years Despite fuel price volatility, efficient routing and planning kept logistics spend flat. Together, these improvements generated a more resilient, efficient, and profitable supply chain. Why Their Approach Worked — and Why It Can Work for You The success of this case rests on three foundational principles: 1. They solved the real root cause Instead of reacting to symptoms like spoilage or overtime, the company addressed core problems: forecasting and network design. 2. They implemented change incrementally Phasing improvements created quick wins, built confidence, and minimized disruption. 3. They connected planning to execution S&OP ensured that demand, production, and logistics operated in sync — something many organizations still struggle with. What Your Organization Can Learn — Practical Takeaways If you’re facing rising supply chain costs, inventory issues, or warehousing inefficiencies, here are steps you can begin immediately: Measure your current KPIs — forecast accuracy, spoilage levels, inventory turns, and warehousing costs. Eliminate fragmented forecasting — even a simple standardized process is better than scattered spreadsheets. Optimize your network footprint — fewer warehouses can often lower total cost dramatically. Institutionalize S&OP — ensure sales, operations, and finance operate on one shared plan. Adopt a phased transformation model — avoid big-bang failures and build momentum gradually. Conclusion: Smart Supply Chains Create Smart Businesses This dried-fruits producer transformed its supply chain not by luck, but by disciplined planning, data-driven forecasting, and structured execution. A 30% reduction
- [Conversations managers should have with employees](https://faberinfinite.com/conversations-managers-should-have-with-employees/): Any employee that has newly joined the organization or is a fresher, needs to be properly guided about the organization, his job, and role, about the vision of the organization, and much more. To make the new joiners aware of these factors, managers and seniors need to coach their juniors well. Seniors should focus and converse about the issues employees are struggling with. Issues like; how to build flexibility, how to influence others, how to job craft and, how to break out of a mantle run.  These skills are vital and each of them needs different conversations. When these skills are fully and distinctively addressed, they can produce results that can refine short-term success along with long-term career satisfaction. The relationship between the worker and its manager accounts for 70% of the variation in employee engagement. Which means those managers who invest their time in addressing these issues increase employee retention and build a connection that keeps the team inspired, innovated and doing their best work. So, let us have a look at what a manager should include in those 4 topics of conversation to generate the best worker-manager relationship. 1.       How to build flexibility: Many a time, those employees who have had a bad experience with their past jobs, tend to avoid conversations. Managers should make the employees comfortable enough so that they can voice their negative feedback but not reside in it. Hence, keep communicating with your employees about their thoughts and views over the dynamics of the team. This kind of question will help you figure out what your employee is experiencing. Once you have gained an understanding of why your employees are thinking negative or what makes them react negatively in a certain situation, ask them those questions that will help them get out of their heads and reflect on what really happens. Later, the last step for the manager is to help their employees to figure out what future choices they can make to navigate future situations differently. 2.       How to influence others When any employee struggles with a poor networking relationship, the manager can help the employee see the situation from a different perspective to find new ways to engage and build relationships. A study showed that 39% of coaching conversations focused on helping employees influence people helped them build a network and created the desired impact. 3.       How to job craft The main point of this conversation is to help the employee reflect on what is most important to them. As this can help them shape a compelling vision for their future. Doing meaningful work matters to almost all people. And those who do not feel a sense of purpose, tend to burn out easily. 4.       How to break out of a mental run out Many a time the employees get stuck while trying to solve problems. While doing that, if they don’t find a solution, then either they give-up or try another time with the same method. Managers can help their team think from a different perspective. Use this part of the conversation to help your employees identify where their thinking has stuck and seek out new ways of inquiry. Start by asking them; What problems are they trying to solve, What are they most concerned about, and what are the different ways that they have tried. The goal of the manager is to get the employees to identify what problems they are actually trying to solve. Once the employee seems to understand that their current plan of action is defective, encourage them to think about alternative solutions by considering all of the information they have collected. For managers to build employees into future leaders it will require them to help employees adopt a type of mindsets that will shift their attitudes. If employees can master those mindsets, they can find satisfaction, stay engaged, and fulfill their long-term potential visions. To do that, the first step is figuring out what employees need from their manager so that you can have the right conversations.
- [Friday Fact - Lean - Crafting excellence in the oil industry](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-lean-crafting-excellence-in-the-oil-industry/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest oil companies were able to save up to $5 million just by implementing lean principles? One of the oil companies in California is using and implementing lean principles to improve various key processes, which include drilling new wells and repairing existing wells. Also, the company depends mostly on its enterprise-wide lean effort to help increase the number of crude barrels pumped every day at its extensive Baldridge oil field. Roughly, the organization pumps around 1,50,000 oil barrels every day. The total revenue of the organization in the year 2011 was more than $5.6 billion. Until 2012, the company managed a 66-square mile oilfield with 300 employees and 2,500 contractor workers on site. The company implemented lean concepts to improve various processes. The most important process was drilling of new wells and the careful and cautious management of operating wells in order to ensure maximum output and uptime. A specific branch of the organization has 7000 producing wells, with more than 1000 new wells that are being drilled every year and other 1200 wells being retired per year. The lean implementation for process improvement has proven to be a major reason for an organization’s success. As per the President and CEO of the organization, the employees have learned to map out the steps in a process and improve them regularly. They have developed a culture where people in the organization are committed to continuous improvement and the team is always on the efforts to improve each day. Although the organization is not into the business of manufacturing, the company has a manufacturing mindset. The employees perform numerous repetitive tasks each day which people from the oil industry believe are nonrepetitive. But the organization has proven otherwise. And the organization is appreciated for implementing lean saying that this is an innovative application of lean in their business. By implementing Value Stream Mapping, the employees and the contractor both were able to adopt lean methods. For the organization, those things that were easy to translate from the manufacturing sector to their operations were things like single-piece flow, process improvements through continual improvement principles, and eliminating a lot of waste. For the year 2012, the organization expected to drill around 1200 wells. But this incurred a lot of costs as oil prices increased, inflation also had kept pace. For the organization, it was a challenge to handle all this work and not have it cost three times as much. The organization kept the cost per foot of drilling steadily by $100 for the past decade and this was only accomplished by going from a functional organization to a lean organization. In the year 2011, the organization was able to incur a total savings of $5 million including $3.7 million from process improvement and $1.1 million in the reuse of materials. Hence, as you can see, the lean and continuous Improvement principals have been helping organizations apart from manufacturing incur millions of savings. So, have you implemented lean and continuous improvement principles yet?
- [Steps to build strong Leader - Employee relationship](https://faberinfinite.com/steps-to-build-strong-leader-employee-relationship/): In any organization, it is very important for the leaders to have a good relationship with their employees to make sure the employees and the organization grow together. To ensure this, there are a few steps every leader must consider while keeping employee engagement intact. Smart leaders make sure employees are engaged with their organization because highly engaged teams bring creativity and passion in their work. All of this is important to make sure the organization grows well and to have the best employee retention because good employees won’t stay with dissatisfaction at work. How can a manager establish a good relationship with the team? Building Trust: In any organization, it is very important to gain the trust of the employee. If the employees won’t trust their managers, the organization would suffer. There are a few leaders who might choose to rule through fear, but this will only lead to employees who are working for what is enough to keep their jobs. There are a lot of things a manager can do to gain the trust of its teams. One is being open and honest about the changes that will come in the future and the way the employees will be impacted. Such kind of things makes the employee feel understood which builds trust between employee and leader. Build Understanding It is important for a leader to empathize with the employee. This will help the employee to be open with the leader. The employee will be able to pitch ideas better. It will also help the employees to discuss issues or concerns at work openly. Seek Opinions When a leader asks its employees about their opinion on the discussion that is being taken in a meeting along with the team, it makes the employee feel worthy. This will make the employee feel trusted by his opinion and will make the employee feel needed. Leaders should hence seek opinions from the team. Be respectful Leaders must be respectful of their teams. Employees should be respected and never insulted. Disrespecting anyone doesn’t take much of the time and energy but respecting someone takes efforts. And it doesn’t just improve the relationship, but it also shows the employees the way they should treat their subordinates to lead the path. Lead with integrity A leader can show that he/she is trustworthy as a leader by staying by their words with their teams. A leader should show integrity. Tell them things you will do, and then do exactly as you said. Show them that your leadership is in alignment with the organizational values. Reward them their acts with integrity. Show trust and in return, ask for their trust. Be trustworthy and honorable and communicate the same. Hence, these are the pointers that will lead the relationship between leader and team to a beautiful track which will help the organization grow leaps and bounds.  Discover the key steps to foster a strong leader-employee relationship and unleash the full potential of your team. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to expert insights and actionable strategies. Start building a foundation of trust, motivation, and success today!
- [Building Culture of Continual Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/building-culture-of-continual-improvement/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a reputed global leader in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals plastic packaging. They have over the years acquired the reputation through continuous improvement initiatives and a professional approach to the management of manufacturing pharmaceuticals plastic packaging. We had a chat with Mr. Vishnu Jajoo – Managing Director, Shriji Polymers India Ltd. Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Shriji Polymers India limited? Vishnu Jajoo (VJ): Shriji Polymers India Ltd. is into manufacturing of packaging materials made from plastic especially for pharmaceutical applications. The products are specifically for oral solid dosages for generic applications in the USA and Canadian markets that include regulators such as US FDA and Canadian Health and Safety. We have our filings with US FDA and Canadian Health and Safety. We are catering to all those pharmaceuticals manufacturers who are in turn selling their medicines or formulations to these regulated markets of North America. So, this is a niche about Shriji Polymers. Our 98% of business comes out of this and other 2% of business is now getting developed from a different product ranges which is again pharma applications which include laboratory reagents, packaging, and certain other dosing devices and many more related to pharma industry itself. FI: The industry that you are working is a combination of manufacturing and pharma industry. Your organization must be following best practices from both the sectors. Can you explain how does your organization handle this?  VJ: We are into manufacturing packaging material for pharmaceutical applications, so we have to be in line with different manufacturing practices that need to be adapted as what pharma is doing. Because the packaging that we are manufacturing for pharma doesn’t go for any kind of sterilization or processing. It is directly getting used by the end customers for packaging. So, we own the responsibility of using cleanroom atmosphere while we are manufacturing and hence, we ensure dust-free / contamination-free product manufacturing. So, we have created such an atmosphere where we undertake the manufacturing with all the necessary units, air conditioning, and systems in place which is exactly in line with the pharma application. FI: We understand every industry has its own challenges. What are the challenges unique to your industry? VJ: Our biggest challenge is to keep up with the different regulatory requirements from the regulatory bodies of different countries like US FDA and Canadian Health and Safety. So, we must always keep ourselves up to the mark with all the regulations that they are bringing in from time to time. Another challenge is to keep our teams trained, so training is another important factor. Another challenge is to ensure that our teams are put into a right culture so that they do not use any shortcuts and follow the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) norms that have been set into the manufacturing business. FI: As we know you have manufacturing setups in Ujjain, Indore, Hyderabad, China and the USA. You are operating in such diverse geographies. How do you manage to operate from different locations? What are your suggestions for organizations who are operating across such diverse geographies? VJ: So, as I mentioned the most important aspect is team culture. There must be a great team leader who ensures that the team culture is built in the right way. I have always focused on putting the right leader for every location and each geography. So, the respective leaders then ensure that the team is aligned to the organizational goals and the systems and processes are in place. Once the systems are in place, you don’t have to worry about the different locations or geographies. FI: Over the last decade, the pharmaceutical packaging landscape has seen a lot of changes. Companies are working on innovation, improving operations and driving efficiencies across the supply chain. Can you share more about the continual improvement initiatives at Shriji Polymers to be ahead of the curve? VJ: As you know that this industry has gone into changes and improvement into packaging style, so innovation is very important. The efforts are basically to tie up ourselves with more of the packaging development departments and conception development departments of the formulators, so we are able to keep ourselves at par with the changes that they are thinking about. We work hand-on-hands with them to come up with the solutions in compliance with their needs. So, for that, we have always put in efforts to keep our infrastructure, our technology, our mold capabilities in line with the requirements of the customers changing demands. FI: As a part of the continual improvement journey, Shriji has been working on efficiency, changeover time reduction, productivity improvement across different sections. We would be glad to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers. VJ: Our journey with Faber has been young, so definitely we are seeing great results through important changes taking place. It is a seed that Faber Infinite has implanted into our team and our organization to see things more towards in an organized manner. We are very happy, as these were the few things we have been talking about since quite some time, however it was Team Faber Infinite which has put those things in place and implanted it very effectively into the downline team. Their role has been very good since they translated and formalized the thought process of our management team in every department of the organization. We are happy to see such phenomenal results. Now our teams have started talking about continual improvement and are ready to take up initiatives related to efficiency and productivity improvement, change over time reduction to share a few. All these things are the talk of the town for the shop floor guys. This is a huge improvement that we can see. Even when I interacted
- [Building Trust Across Sectors and Geographies](https://faberinfinite.com/building-trust-across-sectors-and-geographies/): A consultant is a catalyst who helps organizations transform! They are the ones who work on the shop-floor/ gemba (real place of work) with the client teams to help them transform & grow smoothly. They are on several client sites, from one country to another, from one industry to others. But they never give up on the idea of helping organizations transform, as per the expectations of the management teams. In this edition of Faber, we had a chat with yet another transformation specialist from Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Vijay Hondadakatti. He has helped various clients across geographies and industries. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Hondadakatti. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? How does a typical day look like for you? Vijay Hondadakatti (VH): I am a Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting and I work with clients in their organizational transformation journey. Every organization that I work with is different, and so are the challenges in the transformation journey. I work with clients to implement various continuous improvement initiatives. A typical day looks like a new game every day. So, being a sportsman if I relate to sports, I know the rules, I know how to play, but the categories are changing as the playgrounds are different and the people along with whom I am playing are different as well. So, for me, a typical day at work looks like a strategic game. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? VH: The first and the foremost thing is trust that has been put on me by my team and by the client. The trust that I along with my team can change the scenario of the organization, by providing them value addition in tangible terms. This for me is the most rewarding aspect of my job. And also, when the teams implement new improved way of working in their organization and it delivers results, is more rewarding because as an external catalyst we have accelerated the speed of change! So, it is again something that is highly fulfilling. Because it is challenging to work and contribute in an industry, where teams bring domain expertise and experience, and you create an environment of revisiting the processes and defining improved ways, along with taking the client teams into confidence as well. And in return, once the unimagined results are delivered, getting wonderful feedbacks and that sense of satisfaction, is working best for us. It is something you would cross rivers to experience! FI: Which was one of the biggest challenges that you have faced, and what did you learn from it? VH: One of the biggest challenges that I have faced till date is most of the times when we go on a project at client sites, the client expects us to create wonders overnight. They expect us to do everything in just no time. However, one should also understand that the whole point of improvement is not the end result but the process as well. It is due to the systematic process and the tools – techniques, due to which the client will not only reap those phenomenal results but would be able to sustain it after the consulting engagement. But what I learn from this is that clients have trust in us, they expect us to deliver better results in a very short span of time. So, if not on the very next day, but in a short span of time, we show them the desired results. FI: How has the organization helped you grow? Are your personal aspirations and traits aligned with your role? VH: See, my point of view towards life is learning new things in each and every step of it. And especially when it comes to your work, I like to learn and practice new things daily and these are the exact goals of Faber Infinite which is implementing new tools under the guidance and support of the mentors. So, whenever I learn something new, I go on the field and implement with the guidance of my mentors, for which I see the results. So, these are also a few of my personal aspirations which are aligned with my role here. As I mentioned earlier, being from a sports background, this is what I have learned from my childhood. Learning new things and implementing them. As you can see here, it is not only about learning but also about implementing. So, it is like, practice what you preach – which is the exact same thing I am able to do here. FI: In what ways the accomplishments are recognized. Share with us one of your accomplishments and how was it recognized? VH: Faber is a very transparent organization. To measure its employee’s performance, it has a monthly performance management system which tracks your monthly performance and productivity. And the best thing about it is, the KPI’s are set on the basis of your job role and department. It measures your performance monthly and you yourself evaluate your score which gives you a chance to see your performance graph which boosts your performance to work even hard and improve from the present. For me, accomplishment is something, I believe, that I get from the client deliverables. Because, when you offer a service, and when the feedback comes directly from the end-user, from the Gemba saying that what you have implemented has changed the scenario of the organization and it never looked like this before. And it is more pleasing when the client says that he is going to teach these tools that he learned to his children as well. So, you see, it is not just the client’s place, the organization that is being affected, but also, the personal life of those people who are getting trained for these techniques. This was from one of the clients from Malawi, saying that my friend, I have never seen this factory in
- [Quick Changeover Delivered Within GMP Norms!](https://faberinfinite.com/quick-changeover-delivered-within-gmp-norms/): Every industry has a need for growth and development along with improving quality, output and customer satisfaction. Pharmaceutical and Life Science industry is no different! The pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. Where the manufacturing dynamics are complex, market demands are varying and are governed by different regulatory norms. Hence, it is necessary for the organizations from this industry to have the most agile manufacturing setups which can easily adapt changes, but at the same time stick to the statutory regulations and GMP norms. The Indian pharma industry is one of the largest providers of generic drugs. Considering the regulations that the industry must follow, organizations need to be up-to-the-mark and to deliver products on time in lesser cost and with desired specifications. Hence, under such a broad umbrella of regulations, it is difficult for the organizations to keep up with the factors like lower manufacturing cost to satisfy the customer demands and to generate most out of the investment. There are multiple opportunities that organizations from the pharma industry can cash on. Improve Efficiency using Organizational Transformation Team Faber Infinite Consulting with its proven Organizational Transformation Framework© integrated with other lean practices has helped organizations from the pharma industry to reduce changeover time (P-type and C-type) and thus helped to improve material flow, reduce production loss and output variability. Our expert team has been delivering phenomenal results across 8+ countries, with 200+ clients and 10,000+ projects. Recently at one of the large pharma companies, we have worked with the client to increase the production by ~30% with same resources via improving equipment efficiency and performance and by a reduction in changeover times.   We helped the organization reduce its changeover times and see drastic results, such as save 48% of change over time in the granulation process, 8% of the time in capsule filling, 12% of the time in compression, and 20% of the time on packing lines. We also go one step ahead with the client and work on the sustenance of the benefits delivered. The client is highly satisfied with the results delivered. The proven framework by Faber Infinite is helping organizations from pharmaceuticals and life sciences sector grow leaps and bounds. We assure a 50% reduction in equipment changeover time. Embarking on the journey of organizational transformation is the way forward for the pharmaceutical industry. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com to schedule our free complimentary analysis.
- [Improve sales by 33% in 11 months](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-sales-by-33-percent-in-11-months/): Sales tend to be one of the main concerns for growing organizations. With increased competition, it is difficult for organizations to sustain in the market. Also increasing sales seems to be one of the challenges encountered by organizations across the world. In fact, it is among one of the most difficult tasks, which needs serious measures to tackle the problems associated with it. We have a proven solution for this challenge. There is no magic wand, which can increase the sales immediately. However, Faber Infinite has demonstrated methods and framework to create, raise demand, increase sales and enable organizations to sell better. Increase Sales using Sales Growth Framework Team Faber Infinite Consulting has a proven and unique Sales Growth Framework for improving sales. There are various factors involved in increasing the sales in an organization which need to be studied in detail. These factors include internal as well as external factors. This powerful framework enables organizations to keep sales trends upwards taking into consideration both internal and external factors. It would be interesting to know how the Sales Growth Framework can suit various industries. Yes, this framework is applicable across industries and geographies. One needs to pick and customize what suits the setup, environment, and way of working. We are glad to share that at one of our esteemed client sites. Team Faber has been able to deliver remarkable results which helped the organization improve its sales. One of the leading FMCG brands from Africa has engaged with Faber Infinite to improve sales. We have successfully improved the new product sales contribution grew from 0.8% to 2.9%, sales grew by 85% in counties, where it was difficult to find a foothold. The client is involved in growing, processing, and packaging of high-quality tea, having nationwide presence. Team Faber was also engaged by yet another leading FMCG organization from Africa to deliver remarkable results which helped the organization improve its sales. Remarkable results were delivered in a span of just 11 months, which increased fresh and frozen chicken sale by 150%, increased feeds sales by 30%, increased client base by 35%. The client is dealing in dressed chicken, cut-ups, day-old chicken, table eggs, hatching eggs, poultry equipment, and animal feed. As you can see, Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting can help organizations improve their sales exponentially, in a short time. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com, to join the sales improvement club of Faber Infinite Consulting.
- [Dealing with Tough Times](https://faberinfinite.com/dealing-with-tough-times/): Over the period, we have seen the emerging of the manufacturing sector as one of the highest growing sectors of India. Indian manufacturing sector set its foot as the 6th largest manufacturing sector amongst other countries. India is also said to achieve 5th position in the same by the end of 2020. The manufacturing sector in India has the potential to touch US$ 1 trillion by 2025* (Source: https://www.ibef.org). There is a possibility that the sector might account for 25-30 percent of the country’s GDP and create up to 90 million domestic jobs by 2025. This sector is a highly emerging and evolving sector. And with spurts of ups and downs, the organizations in this sector must be proactive to face numerous challenges. On a simple note, organizations can be classified into two categories, namely, proactive or reactive. Proactive companies build muscles while reactive companies build fats. Many times, we have seen that there are a few organizations that believe in strengthening their internal processes by eliminating waste and by sustaining a structured program focused on building operational excellence. Whereas others believe in cost-cutting. But will this work? Just imagine, if any company which is stock rich and fat rather than being fit, it loses the ability to respond to the change and in turn compulsorily has to react to the changing markets. This dynamic behavior can be related to the amount of stock lying in the supply chain. One of the researches in the past showed that those organizations that worked hard in leaning their supply chains survived and emerged stronger in the changing market in comparison with those organizations who did not. Those organizations were capable of being flexible with delivery times, batch quantities as they were lean and agile. Organizations that have not leaned their supply chains has witnessed more intense problems. And during change and tough times such organizations had to drive immediate change in the price and order deliveries which inevitably forced these companies to hastily alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices. In contrast, organizations who adapted operational excellence practices were able to adapt, manage and survive the rapid changes in the market. It is also said that operational excellence is one of the cornerstones to Organizational Success and Transformation. Operational Excellence ensures the basic stability of operation in an organization where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, reduced throughput time and encouraging quality ratios are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide the customer satisfaction index. As we have always said, the customer is the king and it is important to satisfy their expectation levels that will help the organization lead in the market. So, identification of fats – the waste in the organization, cost-benefit and time-benefit analysis of the problem is the key. Organizations that want to cut costs should not cut the muscles, rather they should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost-cutting.  So as Benjamin Frankly rightly said – “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for the fat in the system and start attacking it, to sail smoothly even in the tough times. Hence, the right set of targets and systems, lean tools and techniques, skilled and motivated team – all in all, excellence in operations, business and people is the key to growth and development.
- [Lean Tools to Improve Revenue and Save Time](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-tools-to-improve-revenue-and-save-time/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest and well-renowned coffee chain stores were able to improve customer satisfaction by 20% just by implementing continuous improvement tools. One of the world’s largest and renowned coffee stores was seen using 1/3rd of its total man hour in moving and reaching for things that were never at the same place. It took way too long for the people to make one beverage. This time is assumed to be non-value adding which restricts them from connecting with their customer. When observed, it was found that most of the time was consumed at the time of filling the glass with whipped cream and drizzle the chocolate or caramel over it. This step was slowing down the production. This step itself took all of the six seconds of the entire process. Which is why they planned to move those items near to where drinks are handed to customers and decided to carry out this step at the end of the entire process. The actual time saved in this step by implementing this small change was 8 seconds from a total of 45 seconds of the coffee-making process. After this, from the process of coffee making, 2 seconds were cut in each step which is actually saved 23 seconds of time for making one coffee. 23 seconds might not seem much at the surface, but when combined, it is a significant saving. Increase Revenue in Coffee Industry Hence, saving this time would allow the store to serve more customers which wouldn’t have been possible if they wouldn’t have made layout and process improvements. Along with that, by implementing other lean tools, time saved per week at one of their stores were counted at 1.5 hours per store per week. With the help of these tools, the stores saw a jump of customer satisfaction from 56% to 76%. Along with that, the stores also saw a 9% increase in total transactions. All this happened in a span of 2 months since the implementation of the tools. Hence, as you can see, lean tools are for all those who are into making/manufacturing of products. It has been helping numerous organizations from various industries to improve their capacity which in turn helps in improving revenue. So, have you started implementing lean tools in your organization?
- [8 Steps to Build Strong Leadership Foundation](https://faberinfinite.com/8-steps-to-build-strong-leadership-foundation/): Leadership is not just a role that you play in the organization, it is an art of living that needs to be imbibed. There are a lot of theories around what kind of a leadership one should incorporate, to become a great leader, what all things a leader should avoid and so on. Today, in this Transformation Tuesday we are going to talk about basic things a leader must incorporate to build a strong foundation for leadership and to give assurance to the team. 1. Transparency When a leader adapts transparency, there are lesser chances for them to be challenged by those that oversee them. Another reason why a leader uses transparency is to help those around them embrace change, which can be achieved through a combination of communication, informed debate, shared decision-making, reaching a consensus and using social media. People and followers should be aware as to why and how a leader has come to a decision and in what all ways it will affect them. Those leaders that adapt transparency are not micromanagers; they believe in giving due credits to their followers when success occurs and take the blame for failures. 2. Learn from failures Failure is a negative word and has a negative impact, but the studies show that experiencing failure is necessary for any leader as it has the power to shape them. It is a powerful way of learning survival, renewal and innovation. Accepting and learning from failure enables us to change and inspire others. Leaders must be ready to take risks and fail otherwise great rewards can never be achieved. In the process, leaders achieve great perspective about people and who it is they can trust. 3. Trust Trust is one of the core principles of leadership. In the past, leadership was limited, special and a skill set of powerful people. But today, that vertical model of leadership is less effective. Today, success is achieved by collaborating with someone a leader has no power over in pursuit of common goals. In other words, a good leader no longer trusts only in power but places their faith in the power of trust. And, in any relationship, a leader is the trustee and in order to be effective, must be trustworthy as well as willing to take the risk of placing trust in the people around them. 4. Confidence A good leader symbolizes confidence. No one would like to follow a leader who isn’t self-assured, and people can see through a mask of confidence. Those leaders who can convey their goals and stand by their decisions are far more effective than those who are trying to hide their insecurities behind a mask of arrogance. Even after facing failure, good leaders can trust their gut and take any decision. Those leaders who are confident are generally happier, create better bonding, remain open to take risks, accept feedback, think for themselves, recognize success and are more motivated. 5. Decisiveness A leader makes any decision carefully, but once they have made their mind, they cannot easily go off track. This shows commitment, which creates consistency, both of which are traits that work well in leadership. 6. Humility Humility is an important trait to keep leaders grounded and connected with their followers and the people around them. To be honest, having truthfulness and listening to employees will only help gain their respect, which will pay off when it comes time to exercise decisiveness. The best leaders always have an open and broad mind and they are very flexible. They are also able to adjust to the new ways of thinking or alternative methods when necessary. These leaders take criticism in pace and view it more as an opportunity for growth than an assault on their character. Whereas it is true that everyone loves confidence, humility creates a likable persona, making others more comfortable with their position. 7. Creativity A lot of decisions a leader will encounter will be unique to the business and which will require more thought process rather than simply throwing a canned solution at it. In such a situation, teams will often look up to their leader for innovative thinking, so being able to tap into previous experiences and a treasure chest of new ideas will pay off for any leader. 8. Build a strong Exit plan As a leader after you transform the organization and leave with your head held high you should also leave an equally strong leadership behind. Many leaders don’t do this. They want people to talk about how great leaders they were because the current one is not up to the mark. So, it should be prime responsibility of the leader to build other strong leaders who are as good as them. Leadership styles should be molded as per specific situations and businesses, these 8 pointers can provide the tools necessary to guide an organization on the path of growth and success. Some people are inborn leaders, but the above-mentioned qualities anyone can display with the right amount of determination and practice.
- [Adapt change to survive the competition](https://faberinfinite.com/adapt-change-to-survive-the-competition/): Did you know, 18,500 employees lost their jobs at one of the leading FMCG organizations because they did not adapt to change? In this article, we will talk about How Adapt Change to Survive the Competition in Food Industry. One of the international FMCG brands has now shut down by killing 18,500 jobs, its factories, and other assets. So, what went wrong with the organization? The organization was a well-known brand for its junk food product range. But, as the popularity of the junk food faded more than a decade ago, the company that was established 84 years ago, struggled with increasing labor and commodity costs. Transformation Journey to Survive The first time the company filed for bankruptcy was in the year 2004. In the year 2009, the organization came out of bankruptcy. The organization also tried to adapt to the changing demands and needs of the market. They even hired new and private bakers but this lead to increased debts which further made it tough for them to invest in new equipment. At the same time, their workforces were unionized and there was a demand for high labor cost. The organization had a net loss of around $1.1 Bn over the revenue of $2.5 Bn in the fiscal year 2012. And the next January, the organization filed bankruptcy again. Hence, as you can see, any organization that operates in today’s era needs to be proactive and ready to adapt to the changes in the industry. Because in such a competitive era where your competition Is always striving to serve the market better, organizations need to build the culture of transformation and change for their sustainable development. So, are you aware of what is happening around? Are you facing resistance to change from your employees? Contact us and we will help you sail smoothly on this journey of transformation.
- [6 Habits to Become Great Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/6-habits-to-become-great-leaders/): There is always a difference of one step for becoming a great leader from a good leader. Since a long time, a lot of research has gone by trying to conclude the difference between a good leader and a great leader. Also, there are a few things great leaders do differently from good leaders which makes them a great leader. Here in this transformation Tuesday, we are going to talk about the difference between a good and a great leader. We will look at points one can adapt to become a great leader. Leading along with managing A lot of people misunderstand that leadership and management is same. Whereas, these are two completely different disciplines. The good leaders can be great at managing teams and making sure of projects getting done on time and within budget. They get things done on time with no compromise on quality. But many a time, they lack the quality to inspire, engage and emotionally connect their teams to the organization’s mission. Good leaders set goals for their team members and help them to fulfill their vision. Whereas great leaders involve their teams to take part in the planning process of goal making and inspire them to collectively find ways to achieve the team goals. Focus on tasks along with its results Good leaders believe that only the results matter not the tasks, neither its process and nor the efforts that are put in. This is not the right approach. A great leader should always give equal importance to the task and the process that is followed to come to the results. The great leader shows and sometimes even walks the path along with the team to achieve the goal which will inspire, engage and encourage its team. Serving from the bottom Great leaders are genuine helpers for their people. They put the needs of the team above their own needs. Not only the “needs” that are associated with the success of the mission but also the individual needs of every team member. Their organizational chart looks like an upside-down pyramid Inspiring and allowing creativity and innovation Once the goal has been set and agreed by the team, great leaders know how to align rituals, behaviors, and actions for achieving the results. Innovation and creativity are imperative not only for keeping the team members engaged but also for delivering the best possible results. This mechanism is the cultural foundation of the best performing teams in the business. Developing themselves along with others Great leaders are constantly looking for self-improvement. Not just in their ability to lead their teams but also in their mental and physical wellness. They are usually enthusiastic readers and fitness devotees. Most importantly, they always look forward to transparent feedback from those around them. Good leaders are only open to feedback whereas great leaders implement those feedback and act. They know that if they cannot religiously work on self-development then how will they develop others. Transformational not just transactional  Transformational leaders go beyond managing day-to-day operations. They craft strategies for taking their companies, department or work team to the next level of performance and success. A transformational leader focuses on team building, motivation, and collaboration with employees at all levels to lead to positive change. So try these 6 habits and become that great leader that you are meant to be!  
- [Friday Fact - To Reap Benefits Embark Today](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-to-reap-benefits-embark-today/): Did you know, one of the international banks from Singapore was able to save 250 million customer hours by implementing Kaizen? In the year 2009, the bank was well known for being a bureaucratic and slow processing bank. But later the team decided to go lean. They were inspired by the automotive sector and the implementation of continuous improvement initiatives in the sector. They initiated a project called Red program. They started an organizational transformation journey called Process Improvement Events. They began this program with a five-day process in which they planned to eliminate non-value-adding activities. It leads to a reduction in the time and effort it took to open a retail account by mail. On the first day, they created a current state map for the process of opening an account. Current state map is a map that shows the current process and glitches in the process that can be resolved or eliminated. On the second day, the team created a future state map for opening the account and this time they tried to eliminate as much waste as possible. They estimated the subsequent levels of effort and end-to-end time. This was much better but it was a theoretical exercise on paper. On the third day, they began with decision making. It all started by talking to the senior management who were responsible for the process and risks. Later they asked the executives to review the current and future state map, to go through the change implementation list and share their views on whether or not the team should proceed with the change initiatives. On the fourth day, based on the inputs from the senior management the solutions were refined and an implementation plan was developed. On the fifth day, the team presented those solutions to the management and went ahead on implementing the changes. As a result, when it was calculated, by refining that one process they reduced the turnaround time for opening a new account by post from 21 days to 5 days. Also, in the beginning, they ran a 5 Process Improvement event, later they stepped that up to 50 Process Improvement events and then over 200 Process Improvement events. And at the end of the RED program, they also estimated to reduce customer waiting time by 250 million customer hours. Hence, the continual improvement initiatives are not restricted to be effective only in the manufacturing sector. They can also be applied to the service sector. Such organizational transformation initiatives not only give tangible gains but also provide intangible benefits to the organization. So, have you embarked on your organizational transformation journey?
- [We put our skin in the game. Pay when you see the results!](https://faberinfinite.com/we-put-our-skin-in-the-game-pay-when-you-see-the-results/): In this world, where people are asked to pay before seeing the actual results, there is a high risk of getting tricked. Many times the provider over commits just so that you agree to pay the charged price and then underperforms because it doesn’t matter as you have already paid them the price for the results they never achieved.  Isn’t it scary? Especially in the world of Business Management Consulting, where one might question the return on investment or assurance? What if we don’t see the results? We all go through such questions, right?  But we have good news for you! Faber Infinite Consulting – one of the top trusted Business Management Consulting Organizations, serving across the Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East, has the ability to achieve exponential results by implementing its unique and proven Organizational Transformation Framework©️ – by working on the Gemba at client sites along with the client teams. Apart from being just management consultants, team Faber Infinite Consulting makes a valued partnership with its clients to go beyond boundaries, achieve goals, develop insights, revitalize teams and deliver tangible results. And the best part is that it comes with a strong assurance! You pay when you see the actual results!  Team Faber Infinite Consulting strongly lives by its value, ‘Under commit and over perform!’. We believe that clients should achieve the committed results. For such a transparent and sustainable relationship with clients, Team Faber assures the results via a combination of Fixed and Performance Linked Fees (PLF) Framework. We put our skin in the game! This framework based on the deliverables of the engagement which are defined at the beginning of the journey in terms of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The KPI includes the baselines, targets, improvement rates, weightage percentages, and actual achievements compared to targets, improvement percentages according to the performance.    With the help of the performance liked fees structure, we have driven numerous successful transformation journeys and delivered phenomenal results. Such value creation has helped Faber Infinite as one of the fastest-growing and trusted management consulting organizations. To know more about our services, contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com or visit https://faberinfinite.com/case-studies/ for use cases.
- [5 Tips to Become a Successful leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/5-tips-to-become-successful-leaders/): There is a lot of curiosity in knowing how leaders work or what makes them great leaders. There are different school of thoughts. In this article, we have combined a few of the best pointers as to what a one needs to inculcate in their life to become a great leader. Read today’s Transformation Tuesday to incorporate some of the best leadership practices for becoming the best leader. 1. Close your open-door policy. Open door policies are inert ways to simplify communication and do more harm than good. This makes deep work and strategic thinking without imagining about virtual implication which is impossible for the managers. And the worst part about it is, research shows that half of all employees won’t go through the open door with problems or ideas because they fear the results.  Hence, now it’s time to close your door and open your calendar. Recurring, weekly one-on-one meetings are a far better way to proactively facilitate communication, and pre-scheduled “office hours”—perhaps an hour each day—is the best way to facilitate time-sensitive communication. 2. Not bringing phones in the meeting. It is seen that when someone uses their phone in between the meetings, it looks rude and unprofessional to the others. No matter how important your work on the phone is and even if you had no intention of hurting others feelings but these actions, actually do that. Even if it is for writing down the important notes. A research discovered that when it comes to comprehension and memory, writing down the notes in the book is far superior to typing notes in a phone. To avoid distraction, to remain mindful and present, and to maximize recall, a leader should leave their smartphones on their desk and use good old-fashioned pen and notepads in meetings. 3. Don’t have any rules. Every time a leader sets rules, it takes away a chance from the employees to make a choice or a decision. And it becomes “leaders” company, not the employees. Rules crowd out conversation. Managers become rule enforcers instead of leaders. In place of rules, incorporate standards or guidelines that are rooted in company values. Use these standards as topics of discussion starting with recruiting and onboarding and continuing throughout the employee life cycle. And when someone deviates from the values–the standards–well that’s a time for some feedback, that’s a coachable moment. 4. Don’t look out for being liked. It’s normal to want to be liked, but it’s a problem if you have a need to be liked. A need to be liked require managers to withhold direct, constructive feedback. It can lead to delayed decision making in the hopeless quest to get universal agreement. You don’t need to act strictly at work but realize that your teammates need a leader who will coach them and who will make a few tough decisions to protect them or advance the company. 5. Lead with Love. Leaders should love their team members. It’s the warmth, connection and caring we feel for our work, and the teammates who work just as hard as us. It is said that those leaders who care about their teammates and express the same are the ones that achieve high employee engagement and business outcomes. Hence, these are some of the best and important key pointers one should inculcate in his/her life in order to become a best and successful leader.  
- [Friday Fact - Driving cost optimization to land on moon](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-driving-cost-optimization-to-land-on-moon/): Did you know, the Chandrayan 2 (Indian spacecraft 2) only costs $140 million for the overall project which is $99,860 million less than what the USA spends on its Apollo missions of NASA? The Chandrayan 2 that launched from GSLV MK III on 22nd July 2019. India is said to be the first country in the world to achieve the soft landing at the south pole of the Moon. The total costs of the project was calculated to $140 million. This mission is at its highest peak due to its low costs. Because when the project was compared with various other projects, the results were as under ·         China’s Chang’e 4 Lunar Craft cost $8.4 billion on its entire project in 2017 ·         USA ‘s Apollo Missions costs $25 Billion that makes it around $100 billion in current prices. ·         Russia’s Moon Rocket costs $20 billion dollars in the 1960s Now you might wonder why, as to how India was able to reduce its pricing in today’s scenario whereas other countries are such high? The answer is the reduction in wastage which leads to minimizing & optimizing the mission’s costs. The Chairman of ISRO stated that they kept a very strict watch on each and every step of the development of their spacecraft or rocket which helped them wastage of products and which lead them to minimize the mission costs. And almost the entire Chandrayaan 2’s orbiter, lander, and rover were designed and made in India which also helped them pay in the regional price which saves a huge amount when it is compared to be paid in foreign rates.   And this is just the beginning to lead the competition of the space missions. India is also planning to send a manned mission into the orbits by 2022. Hence, as you can see, reduction in the wastage can lead to cost minimization which in return will help you lead the competition and sustain in the market. Even the space crafts have adopted and implemented cost optimization through wastage reduction, did you start implementing cost optimization? Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Add Humor to be Better Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/add-humor-to-be-better-leaders/): It is said that a leader should always be serious and strict to lead and guide its team better. But the new theory says that a leader should also have humor. Humour is light-hearted for the business, something that dilutes the communication. Whereas, business is about making money, achievements, productivity, and much more. But, don’t we all learn best in the moments of enjoyment? One of the researches shows that leaders who use their sense of humor while change happens to do better at their jobs than those who do not implement humor. Such engaging leaders get along well with their clients, associates, and teams. They find more creative ways to solve problems and are even more productive. Laughter releases stress and boredom which leads to improving the creativity, collaboration, analytic precision and productivity of the teams. It also helps boost confidence and productivity. A study showed that babies laugh almost 400 times a day while people over the age of 35 years only 15 times. And it also showed that we laugh significantly less on weekdays than we do on weekends. Work is indeed a sober endeavor. If creativity, innovation, and higher emotional intelligence are the prerequisites for any leader in today’s corporate world, how do we foster these right brain functions? Humor can help in achieving that. So, let us see further in this article how does humor help leaders in any organization; Building Relations Using banters, laughter, wisecracks while communicating is a good way to create a bond, a rapport.  A leader needs to create that liking and half the battle is won. Such banters help leaders get to know other people and start building genuine relationships. Helps improve the presentation and speech It is a fact that audiences remember the speech that contains humor, and which makes them laugh. Humour is very important and is a must-have trait for better speech and presentation. And a leader would need to deliberately put in humor if it does not come naturally. But, at the same time leader also must keep a balance of the humor. It is just to use that perfect amount of humor to make sure your message is delivered and accepted. Creating a happier and lighter work environment Who doesn’t want to work in a lighter, happier and mood-lifting work environment? The work environment plays a vital role in any organization. There will be people who love their work but not the work environment which might be due to their boss, subordinates or other things which unfortunately leads them to leave the organization. But, if you see successful organizations, it is mainly due to its work environment and culture that makes them successful. Humor helps to create a lighter mood, dilutes the anger, frustration, stress, and cheers up the employees. So, even if the other person is stressed, or has an excessive amount of work, this will help them relax and work with more focus. Humour goes a long way in the workplace culture. Humour can spread positive energy in the work environment, creating harmonious organizations. It is quite difficult to inculcate this quality but you must give it a try. Begin including humor in bits and pieces in your speech and see the results. At times you might feel as if you are making fun of yourself and going against your beliefs. However, a part of the goal in loosening up as a leader is to have the ability to mock yourself and still be okay with it. To others, especially people who look up to you, this signals that all is well. There are various types of humor from sarcastic, to laugh out loud, to observant to clever. Being authentic to your own style further enhances your leadership brand. Usually, you can tell when people are genuinely amused at your jest or if it is faked. So, as you can see, it is not a funny business. Lightening up the environment leads to productive business results. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Operational Excellence - A Road-map to Organizational Success.](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-a-road-map-to-organizational-success/): Did you know, one of the global diversified technology manufacturers and multi industrial leaders have been able to achieve 12% improvement in quality by implementing operational excellence practices. It helped them win the award for “Best Achievement of Operational Excellence” in the manufacturing sector. In this article, we will discuss about Operational Excellence is Road Map to Organizational Success. The global diversified technology manufacturer launched a manufacturing excellence strategy in 2013 to achieve the vision of becoming the world’s most operationally capable company. This strategy was based on the following 4 foundation parameters: Customer focus Zero tolerance for waste Stable production environment Organize around pull and other nine principles that offered a comprehensive model with clear roadmaps for employee engagement to drive manufacturing excellence and thus grow business via this new way of manufacturing. To enable the strategy, the organization brought in a web application for evaluating a baseline, establishing action plans and real-time reporting to measure the progress of their high performing teams which were accountable for the improvements on the shop floor. They also got in nine principle subject matter experts, enterprise support teams, and worked on the incentive structure. The customized manufacturing way of the organization was introduced in September 2014 to all the operations leaders across plants of 300+ business units of the company across the globe. After the initial deployment, the company went ahead with an accelerated phase in the year 2015 which focused on building manufacturing capabilities, implementing quick wins and removing waste in one model line to determine results and to drive adoption of the customized manufacturing system. Increase Manufacturing Excellence through Operational Excellence The plant that has made the highest progress by adopting this manufacturing system recorded a 22% reduction in safety recordable incidents, a 12% improvement in quality, 68% improvement in employee retention and almost a 3X increase in energy-saving projects. A near doubling of customer satisfaction for customers of plants that achieved Level 3 of manufacturing excellence maturity, as a result of improved product quality and on-time delivery, among other measures. Hence, as you can see, by implementing the operational excellence practices, the organization was able to achieve one of the biggest achievements by winning the award and being recognized as the Best Achievement of Operational Excellence in Manufacturing. So, as you can see, there are multiple benefits both tangible and intangible, that any organization can achieve by implementing operational excellence practices. So, have you started implementing Operational Excellence practices? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [5 Qualities of Great Leaders!](https://faberinfinite.com/5-qualities-of-great-leaders/): Today in this competitive world, great leadership is the need of the hour. And if you want to become great leaders who attract quality teams, then the only key to success is to become a quality person yourself. Leadership is a great challenge though. Not all the people who are leaders have something to offer to their subordinates and followers. To become a great leader, it is important for a leader to refine their skills. All leaders should keep on working on themselves until they become really effective leaders. In this article, we are going to talk about 5 pointers a person must possess and incorporate in their daily routine to become an effective leader. Learn to differentiate between becoming strong and impolite. Many leaders think that they are impolite because they are strong.  They think humiliating someone is a sign of showing their power to the subordinates. But that is not true. A leader is a true leader only when he knows the difference between possessing power and becoming impolite. Learning the difference is an extra step one must take to become a powerful and capable leader with a wide reach. But unfortunately, a lot of leaders mistake rudeness with power and strength. Hence, for a leader, it is very important to keep a note of this point. Learn to differentiate between kindness and weakness. Many leaders don’t possess kindness because they are not weak. Many leaders associate kindness with weakness, whereas truth to be told, those leaders who don’t possess kindness are the weakest leaders as they will never be able to lead their teams in the best way by incorporating Intelligence Quotient +Emotional Quotient +Decency Quotient which is a must-have quality in any organizational leader to become successful. Mistaking kindness for weakness is wrong. If we check the history, few of the best leaders were one of the kindest people. Kindness is not weakness; it is a type of strength which is not seen so often in leaders. Because of which, the leaders fail to understand their team members and subordinates which leads to unsuccessful leadership. Hence to become a great leader, one must possess kindness. Learn to differentiate between bold and bully. A lot of leaders misunderstand bully with boldness. Whereas boldness is the characteristic that defines your personality and bullying is an act of weakness which takes place out of rage or fear. The difference between boldness and bully is that boldness is a key to win the day and bullying leads to loss of real talent. Bullying does influence others, hence to build your influence on others, it is necessary to walk in front of your group and to be able to take the first arrow and tackle the problem first. Discover the first sign of trouble. Just like farmers, if you want any rewards at the time of the harvest, you need to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You’ve got to seize the moment. Learn to differentiate between humble and timid Some leaders mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a quality; timidity is a disease. It’s an illness. There is no cure for this, but it is a problem. Humility is almost a God-like word—a sense of amazement, a sense of wonder, an awareness of the human soul and spirit, an understanding that there is something different about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grip of the distance between us and the stars yet having the feeling that we’re part of them. Learn to differentiate between proud and arrogance It takes pride to build your ambitions, fulfill your goals. It takes pride in your community. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. The key to good leadership is to be proud without being arrogant. Do you know what is the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It is intolerable. If someone is smart yet arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant yet arrogant, that is just too much to take. Hence, as we know, life is unique and so is leadership. The skills that work well for one leader might not work at all for others. However, the above listed fundamental skills of leadership can be adopted by the leaders to work well, in the community or at home. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Standardization can help you save billions](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-standardization-can-help-you-save-billions/): Did you know, the government of India has saved ₹ 90,000 crores with the help of Aadhar card scheme? Aadhar card is a card that has a 12-digit unique number issued by the Unique Identification Authority via details of a person’s biometric such as iris scan and fingerprints along with the demographic information like date of birth and address. Aadhar card scheme was launched in India in the year 2009. With the help of Aadhar, India set out to be the first country to give a unique identity to every citizen. The key reason to establish this was to use this number for all the interactions with the state which would thus help the government eliminate fraud, make taxation more efficient, and ultimately save money. The vision seen in 2009, has finally shown results. When calculated in 2018, the government said that the Aadhar is the game changer and has helped them in saving around ₹ 90,000 crores by eliminating duplicates, non-existents and fake beneficiaries. India with the help of Aadhar can save up to ₹ 77,000 crores – estimated by the digital dividend report of the World bank. Until 2018, in the last 28 months over 1.22 billion Aadhaar numbers have been issued. Nearly 99% of the adult population of India who is above the age of 18 stands covered with Aadhar. 2,579 crore authentications have been undertaken till 2018 and every day, 27 crore authentications are said to be completed. Under the direct benefit transfer scheme, till 15 December 2018, 635.2 million bank accounts had been linked with the unique identity number. The overall number of subsidy transactions through Aadhaar is almost around 425 crores. The overall amount of subsidy transferred through Aadhaar has now equaled ₹ 169,868 crores. This unique technology is only implemented in India. And to your surprise, the government has also transferred $12 billion electronically into the bank accounts in real-time to the world’s largest cash transfer system. In the new era of the data economy, identity authentication, paperless transactions, frictionless payments, these are all very important layers and that is what India has adopted. India is the world’s only country where a billion people can do completely cashless and paperless transactions on their mobile phones using this infrastructure which has dramatically reduced costs. Hence, as you can see, the Indian government has standardized its process by linking all its government schemes, various financial services, bank accounts and documents to Aadhar. By doing this, the government has been able to remove all the non-value adding activities and standardizing processes which ultimately leads to identify fraud accounts enrolled under governments scheme and eliminating them. The cost which was prior used to provide the unknown fake accounts has been eliminated and by standardizing the process the government has removed all the non-value adding activities thus saving time, energy and money. Ultimately the government has saved ₹ 90,000 crores and used it in more productive ways at efficient places? So, as you can see, standardization can help eliminate the non-value adding activities which can thus lead to saving a huge amount. So, have you started implementing standardization in your organization? Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [5 Key Qualities of Good Manager](https://faberinfinite.com/5-key-traits-of-good-manager/): According to research, 70% of the total employees were found partially committed to their work and not being able to deliver their best performance. The research also says that to reverse the crisis, individuals who understand human nature, know how to motivate and inspire their teams should be put at the managerial roles for all the functions of the organization. Organizations today work towards increasing employee engagement levels across business units. This will further lead to higher productivity, improved profitability and lower attrition rate. What is the Problem? The problem is companies fail to choose the right candidate with the right talent for the managerial position. Only 1 out of 10 managers actually possess the right talent for the position. Moreover, when the organization fails to hire the right talent, it costs billions to the organization. What is the Solution? While experience and skills are equally important, it is the specific or distinct talent in individuals- the natural patterns in the ways they think, feel and behave which predicts great management performance. Exceptional managers possess the following five key traits: Motivational skill to engage the employees and aligning the team with the mission and vision of the organization Posses the assertiveness to drive fruitful outcomes and the ability to overcome resistance and adversity Creating a culture of clear accountability and responsibility Building relations that create transparency, trust and open dialogue Making decisions based on productivity and not politics. Hence, while finding managers to hire, organizations need to hire someone who can pull off all these five traits. When the manager possesses all the above-mentioned traits, the engagement level of the employees will double. May be potential talent is hiding inside your walls The managers with the above-mentioned traits may be present in the organization itself. There might be team members who have the potential to manage teams. Organizations always do not look for the right resource from outside. If looked properly the potential talent might be within the team. Hence, if ever your organization experiences high employee turnover, remember that the only way to stop this is to look at the managers in the organization Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Let Us Make World a Better Place](https://faberinfinite.com/let-us-make-world-a-better-place/): Giving back to society is the most important responsibility of any organization. Even at Faber, one of our core values is giving back to society. Team Faber has always stayed by their values. We believe that we get a lot of good things from the society and when we get the opportunity to give back to society, we never miss it. The recent example of Faber’s contribution is the celebration of this Independence Day with the students from Zilha Parishad Primary School of Rajegaon run by Zilla Parishad Pune, a district from Maharashtra. Talking about Team Faber Infinite’s involvement, we have decided to adopt this school for transforming it into a World – Class school. We have received an overwhelming response from the students and the staff. They all wish to work towards the same goal of making their school world-class and thus attracting a maximum number of kids to school. Faber has taken this initiative to help them and guide them in this transformation journey to make their school best in class. We will be working on the following 4 principles: World-class infrastructure World-class processes World-class teachers Leading to world-class students This initiative will be called SAMRUDDHI –named by the students and the staff members of the school. We decided to embark on this transformation journey on this Independence Day. Team Faber was invited for the flag hoisting and to announce the news of transformation initiative for the school to make it world-class. Along with this, to inculcate the importance of sports in the school, we gifted them sports kit. Team Faber is all set to transform the school into a World-class school and help the students have a brighter future! Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Team Faber Supports Agriculture Transformation](https://faberinfinite.com/team-faber-supports-agriculture-transformation/): India stands at number 5 when it comes to Agriculture and is the primary source of livelihood for 58% of the total Indian population. The food industry of India is assured for enoromous growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. India is ranked 5th in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.(Source- www.ibef.org) Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been helping organizations across geographies not only in agribusiness but also in the industries supporting agriculture. We have been providing support to this industry for more than 7 years now. To give an example, we have been associated with one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural engineering equipment. The organization is also a world-wide top performer in agricultural engineering with tractors, agricultural balers, and green harvesting machinery. We have helped this organization improve manpower productivity of the existing teams by more than 20%, which thus lead to improved overall productivity and thereby reduced costs. Which improves the overall competitiveness of the organization and in turn thus benefitting the farmers and end-users. In another case, team Faber Infinite has been engaged by a leading bio-fertilizer manufacturer, where we have helped them increase sales of their eco-friendly fertilizers. These fertilizers are fully organic and help farmers increase yield returns and take good care of their crops. With the proven Sales Growth Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting, we have helped this organization in improving sales and making distribution stronger so that the Bio-Agri Fertilizer is available across the nation. Team Faber Infinite Consulting, with our proven framework – Organizational Transformation Framework©, has been helping organizations across the value chain in the Indian agriculture industry to drive business performance and operational improvements and thus help the clients build capabilities to sustain industry-shaping transformations. All this can be done in your organization as well. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com and join us in the mission to improve the agriculture industry to serve both farmers and nation better, by delivering superior results. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) through continual Improvement](https://faberinfinite.com/total-productive-maintenance/): Did you know, one of the worlds renowned automotive manufacturers and suppliers has been using and implementing Total Productive Maintenance since the 1990s? The organization has a lot of production units across the world, out of which Belgium’s production unit was the highest producing plant amongst others. The growth of the organization was the decades of efforts that the organization has put in. To improve its production, one of its production managers visited Japan to understand Japan’s local production system. In the 1990’s the organization started to decisively implement TPM – Total Productive Maintenance methodology. The maintenance was fully integrated within the production system of the organization. The maintainability and reliability of the equipment were given more attention. As a result of their Total Productive Maintenance efforts, this organization became the first manufacturing company of Europe to achieve Total Productive Maintenance world-class award. Total Productive Maintenance through Continuous Improvement The same year, this organization was taken over by another organization where the acquisition required the organization to align its production system with other acquiring organization’s production system. After thorough analysis and benchmarking of a few plants, it was found that though this organization had a big lead in different manufacturing techniques but, there was one problem. The approach of this organization was not uniform across different establishments of its cars. After which the acquiring organization created its own manufacturing system which helped this organization to make the approach identical across its cars. Based on this model, a common maintenance process was established across the organization, maintenance tools were introduced, and training was initiated. As a result, the organization started to produce, 2,50,000 cars a year along with 8,000 assets, 828 robots and on a 9.8 miles long conveyor belt. At present their technical availability is 98.7% which makes the organization a top tire performer in a world-wide car manufacturing industry. Hence, as you can see, even the world’s leading manufacturers are reaping fruitful results with the help of Total Productive Maintenance, have you started implementing TPM in your organization yet? Revitalize your operations with Total Productive Maintenance! Discover the power of continual improvement and enhance productivity. Fill out the form below to access exclusive resources and take your maintenance strategy to the next level. Start your journey towards operational excellence today! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Embrace the Change](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-embrace-the-change/): Did you know, one of the worldwide aerospace industry suppliers has been implementing Total Productive Maintenance since 1996? In the year 1996, a unionized aerospace industry supplier organization recognized it was facing a problem. They were lacking on-time completion of their orders and their customers were pushing for shorter lead times and cost reductions. Approximately 80% of their maintenance hours were used for emergency work orders. In October 1997 over 1660 hours were consumed by unplanned maintenance in just one area. But 10 months later that number dropped to less than 30 hours. There was a decrease of around 99%. In another sector, they were able to decrease almost 98% in the number of unplanned maintenance hours in a time span of 8 months. The Continuous Improvement Manager of the organization attributes their remarkable success to a dedicated and hardworking maintenance team implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program. The organization started implementing TPM from a small area which was critical to their process but was experiencing chronic problems. Apart from machines, there was a huge resistance in the people of the organization towards TPM. To remove the resistance, the organization started with training sessions. The training begins by cleaning, inspecting, lubricating, and performing corrective work on a piece of machinery and once it was cleaned, they would paint the machinery. In the beginning, the people were unwilling to participate in TPM events. But later when they started noticing the improvements accomplished under the TPM events, the acceptance within the team increased. The organization created Equipment Improvement Teams (EITs) to work on resolving equipment-associated issues. The top management acknowledges the work done by the EIT teams for solving all the problems and working dedicatedly towards implementing TPM for successful organizational transformation. The organization described TPM as one of the most successful co-management programs ever started in the organization. Hence, as you can see, even this organization saw resistance to the organizational transformation initiative through TPM. However, with efforts by the team, everything was resolved, and the results were out. The organization was also able to save a lot of time on its manpower. They were able to align teams which further lead to shorter lead times. Today, with competition in industry at an all-time high, TPM is one of the key frameworks which stands between success and failure of equipment/ machine/ asset for any organization in its journey of continual improvement. Hence, the benefits of TPM have been seen across the organizations and industries, so have you started implementing TPM? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Positive Leadership : 4 Key Strategies to Organizational Success](https://faberinfinite.com/positive-leadership-key-strategies-to-organizational-success/): Positive leadership is one of the most important factors for any organization. Positive leaders play a key role in generating the optimal performance of individuals, groups, and organizations. But how can one become a positive leader? And what differentiators are required for positive leadership? The conceptual framework of positive leadership has resulted in different forms of positive leaders such as transformational, servant, spiritual, authentic, and ethical. Transformational leadership: The transformational leadership was introduced for the first time in oppose to the traditional concept of transactional leadership. In the case of transactional leadership, the leader trades for something they desire in exchange for a reward. Whereas transformational leaders are those who would motivate and transform their teams to achieve not just organizational goals but mutual – organizational as well as personal goals. Servant Leadership: Servant leaders are those who place their followers’ needs, interest, and aspirations above their personal needs and aspirations. The thoughtful choice is to serve the development and success of the organization over its own. This way, the theory of servant leadership highlights the concept of service to others and the recognition that the role of the organization is to enable the formation of individuals who can help create a positive organizational environment. Spiritual leadership The objective of spiritual leadership is to motivate and inspire team members through hope towards a vision of providing service to key stakeholders in the organization. It is based on the values of selfless service to result in a highly motivated, committed and productive team. Authentic leadership Authentic leaders are brilliant with deep moral convictions. They are those whose behaviour is strongly inspired by the ethical principles for the benefit of the group. They are greatly aware of their thoughts, emotions, skills, value system and perception by others, they possess a high dose of confidence, optimism, hope, resilience, and moral strength and avoid behaving inconsistently even when their followers. Hence, one can become a positive leader when he/she incorporates these leadership styles. Organizations need more positive leaders to grow better. Hence, we hope this article has helped you serve your organizations better. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Applying Lean beyond Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-applying-lean-beyond-manufacturing/): Did you know, one of the leading hospitals was able to lower the mortality rate by 13%, in just 30-days by the implementation of the Lean principles? One of the leading medical centers used a platform which tracks the progress of the hospital’s congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. The program that the center implemented included the application of lean tools and principles. This program used deep data analysis to track mortality rates of CHF patients and provide real-time information to medical professionals. The medical center implemented lean tools and techniques in the year 2015 and in the first year, the hospital reported strong improvements in two areas. In the first 30-days of implementation CHF, patient mortality rate recorded 13% decrease in 2015. The readmission rate for CHF patients dropped to 14% in 2016. Not just this, the lean principles also helped to redesign the work area in the sterile processing center. The clinical laboratory at the center reduced the time traveled by 167 miles a year, saved lab space by 825 sq ft and reduced specimen processing turnaround time by 20%. It also utilized manpower by transferring 11 full-time equivalents for other critical work. The average length of stay for the patient decreased from 6.3 days to 5.7 days. So the process became more efficient and effective. As you can see, Lean goes beyond manufacturing industry as well. It has applications in the service industry as well including healthcare and hospitality. It helps in making optimum use of healthcare resources thus lowering the patient mortality rate. So, have you started implementing Lean principles? Compiled By Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Improve Revenue with LightHouse Exercise©](https://faberinfinite.com/find-the-true-north-with-lighthouse-exercise/): Organizational Transformation is a journey of continual improvement initiatives. Have you implemented organizational
- [Organizational Transformation Catalyst – Mr. Survashish Chattopadhayay](https://faberinfinite.com/organizational-transformation-catalyst-mr-survashish-chattopadhayay/): One of the key drivers for any successful organizational transformation process is the organizational transformation consultant. He/she plays a vital role in delivering phenomenal results to the organization that they are working with. In this edition of iFaber, we had a chat with yet another talented transformation consultant from Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Survashish Chattopadhayay. He has helped several clients across the world, in multiple industries. He is a Chemical Engineer with a Masters in Operations Management; Specialized in Strategy and Operational Excellence with rich experience in Lean Six Sigma Deployment. He believes in changing paradigm and building consensus during the transformation projects while pursuing excellence. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Chattopadhayay. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at Faber Infinite Consulting? How does a typical day look like for you? Survashish Chattopadhayay (SC): I am a Transformation Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting, leading, coaching and hand-holding our clients towards operational excellence. A typical day at a client location looks like a scene from DiCaprio starrer movie ‘Inception’. To elaborate further, we start by nurturing an idea for continuous improvement in the minds of the team and achieve the so-called ‘impossible’! FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? SC: The reward is in the journey itself, pun intended; since our delivery model incorporates Transformation Journey where we deploy tools to facilitate the culture building and growth. A simple comment from the client’s team on how our tools and techniques have made an impact on their journey and benefits achieved makes the whole journey meaningful and worthwhile. FI: Which was one of the biggest challenges that you have faced here, and what did you learn from it? SC: a Biggest challenge I face is from the ‘Know It All’. I simply believe that life is a continuous improvement journey and closing oneself from learning is like choosing to die without losing your breath. I have learned that such people really exist on earth! We need to have our patience around them and eventually, we hold the power to change the world and everyone in it. Overall, such experiences have helped me become more humble and appreciate all situations and take it calmly. FI: How has Faber Infinite Consulting helped you grow? Are your personal aspirations and traits aligned with your role? SC: Faber Infinite has helped me challenge my capabilities every day, presented me with opportunities to grow bigger than I was the day before. It has nurtured the craftsman in me! My personal aspirations of impacting the lives of several people in a meaningful way are very much, aligned with my role. FI: In what ways the accomplishments are recognized. Share with us one of your accomplishment and how was it recognized? SC: Accomplishments at Faber are recognized on a monthly basis through our transparent Performance Management System (PMS), where we get 12 opportunities in a year to hit the bullseye. Apart from this, we have brownie points & much-awaited Faber of the Year award which is meant to reinforce behaviors in sync with the Faber culture and goals! I was awarded brownie points for good work done at our client end and by a motivating video message put up by my reporting manager all across our Faber family! FI: Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you at Faber Infinite? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life at Team Faber? SC: Mr. Vishal Singh has made a huge impact on me at Faber Infinite. As a mentor, he has ensured the best quality service is maintained during project delivery and also, he continuously encourages his teammates to achieve beyond the imaginable. We spend maximum time of our life at the job and hence the way we perform at work shapes our future. Hence, our mentors play a major role in changing our destiny. Thank you, Faber Survashish, for sharing these wonderful and encouraging details about you and life at Faber. We wish you luck for all your future assignments.
- [Building Excellence in Pharmaceutical Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/building-excellence-in-pharmaceutical-industry-2/): The global pharmaceutical industry has been one of the most successful industries in recent history. As the industry matures, it is facing a variety of new and complex challenges in the face of globalization and fluctuating market dynamics. As a result, pharmaceutical companies are taking an assorted set of strategic and operational actions to increase revenues and sustain profits. The pharma industry stands out among other manufacturing industries for the astronomical amount it employs every year on research and development – a blunt contrast to the relatively low-tech level of manufacturing. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are addressing the challenges of manufacturing effectiveness and efficiency with strong cost-containment initiatives to advance operational excellence and quality management frameworks. Operational Excellence (OE) has become the umbrella adopted by organizations across industries, including pharmaceutical and life sciences, to refer to the thrust for continuous improvement in all areas of business performance, to ensure its performance equals or surpasses that of “best in class” organizations. The philosophy of operational excellence looks back on an extensive history. The underlying concepts that changed over time have their origins predominantly in the Japanese automotive industry and spread thereafter into most other industries. Today, OE has gained thrust and became a priority for top management and workforce even for pharmaceutical manufacturers across the world. The role and insight of operational excellence within the pharmaceutical industry have changed expressively, over the last decade. Concepts that are realistic in numerous companies have grown from single, standalone techniques with a rather limited scope towards transformation programs aiming to bring an organization’s competitive edge. Operations are diverse with transformation is a series of continual improvement activities, along a value chain ranging from supplier to client. Operations Management designs, functions, and progresses supply chain systems and offers the pharmaceutical industry with a knowledge base to endorse the use of finest practices and operational excellence within pharmaceutical operations management. This whitepaper is designed to provide a deep understanding of operational excellence in the pharmaceutical industry. Unlike other continuous improvement initiatives that are employed to reduce costs or improve productivity, the goal of Operational Excellence is overall business growth. When an organization accomplishes it, management can occupy most of its time to become intensely integrated into guiding innovation and product development. Way Ahead With the more and more number of firms entering the pharma business, the competition is immense when it comes to cost, quality and availability globally. To survive in such competitive age companies must have to push themselves towards the next phase of the pharmaceutical industry. Looking at today’s scenario, the pharma industry must pull their socks for the future starting from today only, as none can bear even a day’s loss. Here is a broadway ahead for the pharma industry The constant decrease in cost to stay lucrative Plant Load Optimization to optimize productivity Shop Floor Operational Improvements to ensure the optimum quality output Suppliers and Supply Chain optimization Health, Safety and Environment as core Identifying the barriers in executing the above Formulating and executing strategies and practices to overcome challenges Information Analytics Sustenance mechanism to get future-ready for Industry 4.0. The Faber Infinite team has designed and implemented proven frameworks which have delivered results in terms of profitability, cost and productivity improvements. Remarkable results have been achieved through these designs, proper execution and refining of systems and processes. Our clients have achieved increased profitability, sustained productivity with the systematic and precise implementation of these excellence frameworks. Contact our expert team to explore more. To read more, you can download the whitepaper: https://faberinfinite.com/white-paper/ Written & Compiled by Faber Manasi & Faber Mayuri
- [Webinar – Productive Employees make Profitable Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/webinar-productive-employees-make-profitable-organizations/): Which organization does not want to increase its profitability and improve the performance of its teams? People and Profit always go hand in hand. When your teams are highly productive, the organizations will eventually start maximizing profits through sustainable improvements. Mere increasing customers is not enough to improve profitability. Making operations efficient and improving the team’s performance is another way for creating a better organization with increased profitability. Team Faber Infinite has been helping clients across industries and geographies by supporting transformation journeys. Based on our experience in the industry, sharing the outline of webinars conducted by our expert team. The webinars widely acknowledged and were well received by the audience. In these webinars, senior partners at Faber Infinite narrated the ways an organization can build high performing teams and how organizations can maximize their profits by implementing sustainable improvements. The first webinar – ‘Maximise Profits through Sustainable Improvements’, talks about how the profitability of the organization can be maximized. It highlights the challenges organizations are facing today. and how the historical markets were more or less monopolistic. However, today the markets are buyers markets and it is the buyer who is dictating the prices and the products. Hence, in today’s world customer is the king. In such a scenario, when the profit margins are not healthy and when on the other side the overheads are going up, it is definitely going to affect profitability. In such a competitive scenario, how will one survive? The webinar outlines ways to maximize profitability – watch the webinar here. Webinar tries to answer the following: How leaders can deploy the steps of organizational improvements and ensure sustenance? What framework can help organizations set-up and lead complex organizational improvement efforts? What factors lead to the highest chance of success in leading organizational transformation journeys? What can be learned from other organizations’ attempts to achieve exponential profits? The webinar was conducted by Mr. Jalay Pandya – Founding Partner and Director at Faber Infinite Consulting. He is a Business Transformation Expert with rich experience of Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence and Change Management Practices. The second webinar talks about the 5 I’s of building high-performance teams! In today’s era, to sustain in the globally competitive market, it is necessary for the organization to have full involvement of its people as people form the base of any organization. A recent survey revealed that high performing individuals increase productivity index by 20-25% and those who exercise their strengths daily are 8% more productive and 6 times more likely to be engaged. Not just this, but there is 1.9 times increased likelihood of having above-median financial performance. Every business aspires such statistics for their organization. However, it is not easy to achieve such numbers and hence these “Five Is” – Involvement, Importance, Improvement, Impartial, and Incentivising – of Performance Management System (PMS) by Faber Infinite can create that impact. Each of these ‘I’s is a step towards high-performance teams if implemented with due diligence under expert guidance. Webinar tries to answer the following: How to move from subjective to objective measurement? Generate 11 more improvement opportunities Dashboard to identify performance at all levels in the organization Employee KPI’s aligned with organizational goals The webinar was conducted by Mr. Vishal Kulkarni – Founding Partner and Director at Faber Infinite Consulting. He is a Capacity Building expert with rich experience of Organizational Transformation, Strategy Development and Change Management Practices. To know more about how it can be implemented in your organization, watch the webinar here We received a huge positive response from all our attendees. We look forward to hosting such webinar interactions in the future as well. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri    
- [Always Striving for the Best – Karirana Estates Limited](https://faberinfinite.com/always-striving-for-the-best-karirana-estates-limited/): In this edition of iFaber, we have brought to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a reputed global leader in the production of tea from Kenya – Karirana Estates Limited. They have over the years acquired the reputation through continuous improvement initiatives and a professional approach to the management of the tea business. We had a chat with Mr. Joseph Ngige, General Manager, Karirana Estates Ltd. Excerpts of which are mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Karirana Estates Limited and about your journey at Karirana Estates? Mr. Joseph Ngige (JN): Karirana Estates Ltd is an integrated tea company – where we are involved in primary production of tea from growing to processing to packing for export in bulk form as well as in value addition of tea for direct sale to consumers, using our Eden Tea brand. We are an integrated tea company as opposed to a traditional tea company which is just involved in processing in bulks for export. The company has been in operation for the last 63 years, having started in 1956. We are one of the 100 tea companies that operate in Kenya. From the value addition side, we are also one among the 200 tea packers licensed by the Tea Directorate of Kenya. We started the transformation journey mainly because of the competition that we faced from the 100 tea companies and 200 tea packers who are essentially operating in a cut-throat environment. We wanted to survive as well as create wealth for our shareholders and develop a sustainable way of operations. So we decided to focus on Operational Excellence mainly to help us align our operations and remove all the non-value adding activities in our value chain and basically manage not only cost but also improve the level of productivity. After addressing the operational issues we started looking at other aspects of transformation that is the strategy. We wanted to grow and sustain at the same time. That is where the element of Strategic Excellence came in, to help us identify how to grow our business beyond what other tea companies in Kenya were doing. Not every organization performs well, but we wanted to stand out among the players in the tea industry in Kenya FI: We understand that the tea industry is affected by both internal as well as external factors, can you share some challenges unique to your industry? JN: One of the most critical external factor to affect the tea industry is the climate. Tea growing is a climate-dependent activity. The issue of climate change is a critical concern for the tea industry. Irregular rains, longer droughts and extreme temperature conditions are the major concerns. Over 90% of the Kenyan tea is exported, so we are dependent on markets like Pakistan, Egypt, UK, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran and UAE. Now the top five markets absorb 80% of the tea from Kenya. Only 5% of the tea is consumed locally, the rest goes for export in commodity form. So that means any happenings in these markets like price variations, political issues, currency devaluation affects us. Besides all the tea is sold in USD so the volatility of the USD also affects us. Tea is a global commodity so Kenya is competing with all other producers in the world including China and India. However, we are the highest exporters of tea. Another external factor is to manage the price at the global level due to the demand and supply situation. These are a few of the external factors that affect us. Internal factors include the high cost of labor and wages. Other internal factors include the cost of energy and fuel. We use a lot of energy for electricity and fuel for steam boiler. Infact energy cost is as high as 30% of the factory cost. As a result, the cost of production becomes a significant issue that one has to deal with. FI: Considering the above, how important is Operational Excellence (OE) and Strategic Excellence (SE) to your industry? JN: Both OE and SE are very critical. If we begin with OE, we are talking about cost-effectiveness which is very critical to our industry. You also improve efficiency across the value chain and reduce waste across the value chain and improve productivity per unit. So OE comes in handy as it helps to address the effectiveness of the operations and thereby helps you to improve productivity and achieve cost leadership. In the commodity market, you have to face global competition. Also in terms of value addition, we are competing with 200 packers across Kenya. So we wanted to figure out how to stand ahead of the competition. Tea packaging is a red ocean and we need to find out what we can do differently as compared to other packers. SE is critical to identify strategies that you can pursue to make a difference as compared to the competition and help you sustain growth despite the competition. It gives profit above growth for that matter. So you have SE to help you grow in the market and OE to grow profitably in the market. FI: Over the 5 years, Team Karirana has been associated with Team Faber Infinite in various continuous improvement initiatives. Can you share more about the journey and the outcomes of the initiatives that have helped Karirana stay ahead of the competition? JN: Transformation journey has addressed both Operational Excellence and Strategic Excellence. Team Faber has guided us in this journey by giving us support in areas like building cost leadership, building quality leadership, delivering customer service leadership and safety. So they assisted and guided us in implementing activities related to OE like housekeeping activities, inventory management, value stream mapping and application of Autonomous Maintenance (AM) to increase the effectiveness of machines and lower the cost of production. It has also helped us to
- [Learn the art of Leadership from Sports](https://faberinfinite.com/learn-the-art-of-leadership-from-sports/): Sports, many people look at it just in terms of entertainment. But what a lot of people misses out on is the way different type of leadership planning is implemented to win the competition. In this article, we will show you how to implement which kind of planning for successful leadership implementation. To win the competition. Strategic planning: The strategy is one of the most important parts of any leadership planning. Thinking strategically means planning which battle to fight first and how to arrange the task force as per the battle to win. A lot of professional tennis players and golf players do not compete in each and every tournament. They carefully map their seasons in a way that they give themselves the best chance to win the tournaments that matter most. One of the business strategy fundamental is to know where and when not to fight. Tactical planning: Tactically planning means arranging forces within the battle. Hence, where to play tactically means how to make the best use of all those resources that you have got in hand to generate the best results possible. In any sport, no player would be aware of the new move the opponent is going to make. But they most definitely would have investigated each other playing in past tournaments to see which of their shots would work best against the other during the match. Implementation of tactical planning often shows the difference between success and failure of an effort. Personally planning: In any organization, where to play personally is at the heart of every time-management, delegation framework and system. In place of trying to win at every point, the best time managers focus their efforts on the points that matter the most. Then those who recognize their own relative strengths and gaps enrolls others with complementary strength to help them get more done than they could ever do on their own. Hence, to be able to become the best player in this competitive world and to win your battles, implement the above-given leadership planning pointers in your leadership skills and in your organization. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [4 ways to sharpen your leadership skills](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-sharpen-your-leadership-skills/): Successful CEOs often talk about the importance of multidisciplinary skills, but what does this look like in practice? Hence to incorporate multidisciplinary leadership skills, follow the below-attached pointers; Improve Your Soft Skills Every leader should be able to be a public speaker, a motivator. For which they need to have an improved set of soft skills. This helps the organization find its leader to follow. In any organization, the employee looks forward to the leader. If the leader is not a good spokesperson, he will not be able to command or motivate his team better. Hence to be able to lead the team in a better way, every leader should have a good set of soft skills. Evolve Your Systems Thinking Systems thinking means reflecting on how the small parts of an organization can work together as a whole. In business, systematic thinking means considering how people, technology and other processes work together. This allows an organization to see patterns and build solutions. It also helps the leader to appreciate that a complexity which is a part of life and not necessarily something frustrating to deal with, so, the leader can own that complexity and think about it in a way that’s fun to deal with. Progress with Your Company A founder of a start-up or small business can get started by investing more hours or money into their business, but that’s not possible while the company grows. Leaders can no longer be involved with everything going on in the business. They must have people that they trust and people who can run parts of the business. A leader may reach other parts of the business when its company employees around 50-75 people. Beyond this, the leader must separate themselves from mundane operations to lead effectively and focus on strategic decisions. Find the Right People If you seek to solve problems, you must start with your people. You must develop solutions for your people, for how they really are and how they really think. Ultimately, upgrading your leadership skills is a continuous process and not a one time project. It takes dedication, patience, commitment and empathy with the team. As you go through those entrepreneurial valleys and grow, you need such amazing people around you to be able to run the business and deliver things together. It’s not just about you it is all about the people you take along with you. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Continual and Sustainable Improvement in Textile Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/continual-and-sustainable-improvement-in-textile-industry/): Textile Sector, one of the oldest and the largest contributors to economies across India and many other countries. The Indian Textile Industry has evolved drastically with the passage of time due to globalization. Also, the government’s interest to improve the quality and standards of the industry has brought significant change in the textile industry over the years. It now comprises of both hand-woven sector and highly automated textile mills. Power looms, knitting sectors and hosiery are the key sectors of the textile industry in India. In this article, we will discuss about Continual and Sustainable Improvement in Textile Industry. Faber Infinite Consulting has been closely working with clients from the textile industry for crafting an extremely effective and holistic operating environment. We have been delivering phenomenal results promoting continual improvements and sustainability. At Faber Infinite, we have been helping our clients to evaluate and accelerate this process rather quickly with our specially designed and proven methodologies. We specialize in providing consulting services for transformation journeys including Operational Excellence, Strategic Excellence, and much more. Our experience in the Textile Industry: We are a highly trusted organization for organizational transformations when it comes to the textile sector. We have a vast experience in the consulting domain with a cumulative experience of more than 300 years, supporting more than half a dozen textile manufacturers. Faber Infinite delivered tangible results across 8 countries and have touched more than 5,000 people in the textile industry. Faber Infinite strives for excellence and continuous improvement and has supported organizations in the textile industry in their transformation journey. Some of the typical improvement areas are listed below: Reduction in Machine Breakdown Improvement in Employee Productivity Improvement in Employee Satisfaction Improvement in Customer Feedback Improvement in Machine Productivity Reduction in wastage across the processes Tangible results delivered at clients from the Textile Industry: Improved productivity by 20% Reduced soft waste by 80% Reduced hard waste by 88% Reduced machine waste by 50% Improved first-grade quality production by 5% Improved skill index by 75% Reduced maintenance cost by 44% Improvement in mean time between failure of spinning machine by 140% Faber Infinite Consulting has been an avid supporter of the textile sector and has always believed in creating a more optimized world with the help of the textile industry. We believe in innovation and would always like to believe in the same and support the textile industry to achieve – continual and sustainable development. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Six Sigma for Sustainable Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/six-sigma-for-sustainable-growth/): Did you know, one of the world largest defense contractors is using six sigma methodologies to streamline their business process since the 1990s? The world’s largest defense contractor has been using Six Sigma methodologies to streamline their business processes. For more than 25 years the organization has been applying these methodologies and strategies to achieve their goal of corporate sustainability. You might wonder how Six Sigma strategies that have been originally designed to reduce and eliminate errors in manufacturing processes be used for corporate sustainability. In this article, we will talk about Some Strategies Six Sigma for Sustainable Growth. This organization provides a strong example of how implementing Six Sigma methodologies can broaden the horizons of the organization to address issues regarding the sustainability within the organization. The strategic development of powerful metrics and a detailed plan of action inherent to the Six Sigma environment has helped the organization make impressive progress toward corporate sustainability goals. Apart from this, implementing sustainability goals as a part of corporate culture has helped this organization maintain and grow its success. In the year 2013, after the release of the company’s sustainability report the president and the CEO of the organization said that their commitment towards sustainability continues to accelerate their business strategy. For the six sigma project, it is important to set metrics identifying goals that align with corporate mission and values. To apply the methodologies to improve sustainability ratings and triple bottom line performance, the organization divided its project into 4 areas such as; Operational Efficiency, Resource Efficiency, Product Performance and Supplier Sustainability. Cost Reduction using Six Sigma Methodology In organizational efficiency, re-examining physical space allowed the organization to accomplish the same outcomes with minimum physical space. Using less space helped the organization save energy and other resources used previously. By implementing this, the organization reduced 20% of its total costs. In resource efficiency, Six Sigma strategies helped the organization to reduce the use of water and carbon emissions by almost 20%. Also, landfill materials was decreased by 36% and energy consumption was reduced by 12%. In product performance, the organization has developed partnerships to build alternative waste disposal options, energy options and address climate adaptation challenges. In supplier sustainability, setting transparency as a goal was the basis of the relationships between the organization and its suppliers. By improving the processes which are used to guide decision making with regard to the company partners and vendors, the organization has set higher standards for social and business conduct across the different partners of the organization. Six Sigma strategies can help develop and monitor the metrics created for the projects with clear goals. The company has made huge contributions to the communities. The organization has also donated over $25 million to civic programs around the world. Hence, as you can see, Six Sigma which is mainly known for the reduction and elimination of errors in manufacturing processes can also be used for corporate sustainability. So, have you deployed Six Sigma yet? Image Source: Industry Week Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [5 Tips to Implement Employee Mindfulness](https://faberinfinite.com/5-tips-to-implement-employee-mindfulness/): In today’s busy world we all forget to take care of ourselves and our health. We forget to become mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way to synchronize the mind and body. In simple words, it is about being aware of the present. This could be the breath you take, the sound of the clock ticking, the aroma of coffee or tea at your table and so on. Mindful working helps you increase your concentration power. It increases your observation power and receives more information. Practicing mindful working can help you become creative. But most importantly, it will give you mental hygiene and happiness in today’s stressful life. The main reason behind this is that the more we are aware of ourselves and surroundings, the more we are in control of our behaviour, actions and emotions which can lead us to better professionalism. Along with the path of your career, it will also boost the quality of life. Below listed are a few pointers that will help you live a mindful life in a busy life. Be aware of your breathing The first step is to be aware of your breathing, it should be an effortless and simple activity. While inhaling and exhaling, take a few moments every day to do that consciously. Concentrate The next step is related to concentrated breathing; here you need to be focused on how your muscles move up as you inhale and exhale. As you focus on your breathing it will help you improve your concentration. Be aware of your body posture Have you felt drained at work or gone home with body ache? The next step is to be aware of your body posture. Relax your shoulders. Take control of your body posture, focus on the pain and pressure you are feeling. This will provide you an opportunity to intervene. Relaxing muscle tension When you become aware of your body, you will be surprised to notice that most of your voluntary muscles are tense as if there is a forthcoming threat and your body is prepared to react back. This happens due to an imaginary mental threat because of work pressure. Once you are back home, relax your muscles and neutralize unnecessary physical responses. By doing this, you set a feedback mechanism for your body to relax even in stressful situations. This helps you to think clearly and make better decisions under pressure.  Take a walk to take a break This is not something like walking on water or flying in the air, but it is walking on earth being aware of it. The next step is called walking meditation. Something as simple as taking a walk will help you become aware of your surroundings, and be in the present. Try practicing the above-listed pointers it will help you improve your observation and thus will help you become a mindful and an observant employee. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri  
- [Friday Fact - Implement Quality at Source](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-implement-quality-at-source/): Did you know, one of the world’s renowned aircraft manufacturers faced a loss of $5.9bn due to the quality issue? Boeing, one of the renowned aircraft manufacturing organizations had to face a huge downfall this year when one of their planes crashed in March 2019 where 157 people died. This was not for the first time. Another one crashed in October 2018 where the plane went down into the sea of Jakarta that killed 189 people. Since the news of the crash broke out in March 2019, the aircraft has been grounded and the company has been trying to convince the regulators. Before the grounding, several deals relating to 737 max aircraft were paused, one of it has been valued worth more than $5.9bn. Boeing has recognized that it had to rectify flaws in its 737 MAX plane simulator software which was used to train pilots, after two deadly crashes that happened in the span of 6 months. As per the company, their simulators were unable to replicate certain flight conditions that lead to two crashes. The company is at present working on its simulator software and has provided additional information to the device operators to confirm that the simulator experience is demonstrative across different flight conditions. This was the first time when the company admitted the fault in its aircraft. After being grounded, there is no date as to by when the aircraft might be ready to fly again. In the first week of July 2019, the company announced that it would give $100 million to help those families who were affected by the crash. Hence, as you can see, that the cost of poor quality cannot only cost you money but it can affect customer loyalty and goodwill of the organization. Quality is not just a measure of product or service, and companies should practice quality at source – Right the First Time. Have you started already? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [3 Tips for Employee Learning and Development](https://faberinfinite.com/3-tips-for-employee-learning-and-development/): Employees that continuously learn are the most productive and engaged.  One of the research found that 94% of employees are more likely to stay with a company if the company invests in their continuous learning and development. It has been seen over the years that despite the employee’s willingness to learning, not much of the organizations provide their employees with effective training. One of the studies shows that nearly half of the organization’s employees are uncomfortable to ask for learning budget. Those employees that don’t have much of the training are likely to turn stagnant in their career and have a higher chance to leave their present company for more engaging job opportunities. Is your organization having any strategy in place to encourage employee learning and development? Below attached are a few key tips your teams to ensure employees have resources they need for continuous growth. Set a budget aside: As we just saw, that the employees hesitate to ask for a budget for any kind of training. It is the responsibility of the organization to be transparent about any learning budget available. One of the ways for determining a learning budget is by allocating a stipulated amount to an individual employee, which can be used by them throughout the year as and when learning opportunities come up. When employees are to complete a certification course, attend an industry event or find another learning opportunity, encourage them to explain the need and how the opportunity will help themas well as the organziation impact and grow. If the organization invests in the employee’s training and development, the employees feel inspired and valued to be part of the team and can continue to drive great results for the company to benefit from a similar approach. Convert managers to coaches: At a few organizations, training and development are handled by the HR department. However, the reporting manager of each employee has the most knowledge about the strengths and key areas of improvement of the employees. Managers should help HR to drive successful employee learning and development. For continuous growth, managers should meet their teammates individually once in a month or should find another way to review overall skills and prospective learning and development opportunities. Collect employee feedback: To ensure the success of the learning and development program employee feedback is essential. This helps the managers and the organization ensure utilization of the resources the employees are being provided for their growth and development. The organization can also consider sending a survey to its employees so they can share their feedback about the learning opportunities, what was great about the training, what was missing, and it can be thus improved further. Once the feedback forms have been collected, outline an action plan for the next steps of improvement and share it with the employees to maintain transparency. This will help the employees ensure that their feedback is being considered. Hence it is evident, from the bottom to the top, each and every employee should have learning and development resources available for their continued growth. When you commit employee about their learning, it will ensure that employees don’t hesitate to reach out for help. As these growth opportunities will ultimately lead the organization to increased productivity, profitability, and employee engagement at the organization. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Lean in Hospitals](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-lean-in-hospitals/): Did you know, one of the world’s largest health care organizations is known for the quality of health they provide by implementing lean practices? The pediatric surgeons at the world’s largest health care organization compete harder to perform surgeries on time at their clinic and surgery center due to the efficient flow of patients, families, and the care team. The inoperative time, which is the time from the application of medical dressings to incision of medical dressings that are placed in 50% lesser than for similar operations performed at the main campus surgery center. 99% of the times, operations begin as per schedule. More than 90% of patients and families rate this clinic around 9 or 10 for overall care amongst other clinics. One of its clinics, reduced total cost of inpatient care by 25% while improving patient satisfactory level by nearly 100%. Therefore, the patients are rating their care 5 out of 5. For 5 years no medication errors occurred for patients in hospital including the pharmacy department. The staff of the otolaryngology department of the clinic begins their day with a group discussion to identify problems and discuss their potential solutions. The daily discussion of the group, which include physicians, has improved internal communication and teamwork. In less than a year after starting the group discussions, the appointments waiting time decreased by 28%, departmental capacity improved by 10%, and patient satisfaction increased from 4.3 to 4.7 on a scale of 5. The emergence of Lean success stories in the health care industry, a constantly changing environment that highly necessitates improved quality and efficiency, are encouraging health care leaders to consider Lean practices for their organizations. Hence as you can see, Lean implementation is sector neutral. It can be used in any sector and service sector can also benefit from lean and grow leaps and bounds. So, have you started implementing lean to grow many folds? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Overview of Value Stream Mapping - Faber Infinite Consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/value-stream-mapping-for-industry-4-0/): What is Value Stream Mapping? Value-stream mapping, a lean-management technique, involves analyzing the current state and devising a future state for the sequence of events guiding a product or service from the initial phase of the process to its delivery to the customer. benefits of value stream mapping Value Stream Mapping is a tool that has been used successfully by a lot of companies; a quick Value Stream Mapping exercise for “getting started for smart manufacturing” will yield a lot of results. It has always encompassed information flows, and thought leaders in this space have already acknowledged the benefits of Value Stream Mapping that it harmonizes flawlessly with Industry 4.0 initiatives – i.e. smart manufacturing, machine learning, automation, internet of things, and others. Value Stream Mapping in the Era of Lean and Industry 4.0 For more than thirty years, companies have extensively adopted Lean manufacturing mindset to continuously improve their operations. Moving towards the amalgamation of digital and physical systems as part of Industry 4.0 transition, businesses can customize both ideas and concepts, to take operational excellence to the next level. Lean and Industry 4.0 philosophies are often complementary and can give phenomenal results, as manufacturing finds its way through the 21st century. There is a wave of change that is emerging. Organizations are competing for a competitive position as they attempt to describe this phenomenon. Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) are few concepts being tried extensively. Although the current transition is enabled by technology, there is a timeless underlying impulse: which is material velocity and production efficiency. Manufacturing or operations managers aim to accomplish a higher level of production efficiency. Excellence experts are calling it ‘Lean Industry 4.0’. The primary concern of Lean and Digital Manufacturing will always be to address rapidly increasing challenges. Hence, this article presents a holistic methodology to include – Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – to improve processes considering Lean and Industry 4.0. Value Stream Mapping through Lean Manufacturing For many organizations, Value Stream Mapping has become one of the most powerful Lean Manufacturing method for holistic optimization of value streams. The elimination of non-value-adding activities is one of the vital principles targeted by Value Stream Mapping Consultants. In recent years, Industry 4.0 has been further called out to address the increasing complexity and dynamics of modern production systems. The objective is to have greater levels of digitization, integration and automation of data and material flow for a factory and beyond the factory boundary including the suppliers, vendors and customers. Value Stream Mapping helps to make more transparent and clear decisions and helps improve production systems. Value Stream Mapping is the tool that Lean practitioners have been using to envisage— and quantify the efficiency of— their system. It is not the only tool that one can use, and it is always argued that the most imperative thing you can do is use any tool to get it on paper (virtual or otherwise). Until one establishes the process, information and material flow using robust Value Stream Mapping methodology, one doesn’t really know what they are (current state) or what they could become (future state). Value Stream Mapping is a tool that has been used successfully by a lot of companies; a quick Value Stream Mapping exercise for “getting started for smart manufacturing” will yield a lot of results. It has always encompassed information flows, thought leaders in this space have already acknowledged benefits of Value Stream Mapping that it harmonizes flawlessly with Industry 4.0 initiatives – i.e. smart manufacturing, machine learning, automation, internet of things, and others. Improve Productivity using Value Stream Mapping Value Stream Mapping is a well-accepted, widely used and complete method for mapping, analyzing and designing value streams in order to reduce and eliminate waste. The new, promising opportunities of digitization and Industry 4.0 to integrate information flows, lower lead times and improve flexibility. Other than productivity in complex environments can also be addressed by Value Stream Mapping. A large number of guidelines and maturity models are available for Industry 4.0. However, no sound method with a step-by-step-guidance for designing value streams holistically exists to date. As it differs organization to organization. No matter how fundamental tool – Value Stream Mapping is, it forms a base for further improvements in productivity and process flow. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been an ardent supporter of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) across industries and sectors. We have always believed in providing more optimized business solutions with the help of Value Stream Mapping. We believe in innovation and always support the same across industries and sectors to achieve the ultimate goal – continual improvement and sustainable development. Team Faber Infinite has been delivering phenomenal results at several organizations – right from leading lighting solutions company to the largest engineering company to the leading supplier of Indian Railways and many more! Here is a path-breaking methodology by Faber Infinite on – Value Stream Mapping (VSM) for industry 4.0 .  That will help organizations to see information and process inefficiencies from traditional as well as industry 4.0 perspective and design future-ready lean value streams. Approach – Value Stream Mapping for Industry 4.0 Faber Infinite Consulting has been helping clients improve material and information flow using the following steps: Gemba Walk Data Collection Detailed data analysis PQ analysis and value stream identification Target setting Team formation and team orientation Current State Mapping Process redesign exercise – Lean and automation perspective Future State Mapping Detailed implementation plan Risk mitigation Conclusion Industrial IoT is a powerful framework with huge potential, but it is merely a framework. This framework is incomplete without LEAN thinking. It is only lean thinking only that leads towards the IIOT. In fact, it makes lean thinking more vital than ever so that we stay focused on value creation. Value Stream Mapping being the very base for Lean management detects the areas for improvement by comparing the current state with the desired future state. Which will ultimately take the organization
- [4 Key Strategies on Customer Centricity](https://faberinfinite.com/strategies-on-customer-centricity/): We all know that the customer is the king. Without having a good customer base, one cannot survive in the market. In earlier days, customer loyalty used to be a luxury for any organization. But in today’s world, customer loyalty is not a luxury anymore. In fact, it is a necessity for the growth and the sustenance of the organization. Hence without a loyal customer, there is no business. In this article, we will discuss 4 Key Strategies on Customer Centricity. Below given are a few pointers that will help you create a strong foundation and customer loyalty for the growth of your organization; Customer First: Since ages, we have been listening to this, that customer comes first. The needs demands and satisfaction of the customer is to be placed at the highest priority by any organization. An organization is supposed to have a complete idea of who its audience is, what is their need and how you can fulfill that. To assure this, roll out a research form where you ask your existing customer about how satisfied they are with your products/services, what else they expect from your organization and what changes would they wish to see in your product/service (If any). Study your research and based on the feedback, try to implement a few changes that highlight the feedback. In the end, the organization should focus on making a profit, but this is possible only when the organizations understand their customer and their expectations. Perception V/S Reality: For business owners, it is easy to think that they have done everything they can to reach their customers. They have created a help page, have run product/service promotions on social media, and worked hard on marketing. Despite this, there is still a chance that they are not being able to reach the actual customers. The best way to get feedback is by asking the customers. Reaching the customers and asking them how they got to know about our organization and why they keep coming back. Listen to the feedback you receive and allow them to become an external part of your business model. Have feedback forums through which you can identify the needs of your customers and adjust your business model based on their feedback. It is precious information straight from those who matter the most. Building Relationships: One of the recent studies found that 80% of the customers are more likely to stay with the company if they have a personal touch with that company. Hence, it is very important for the company to make its customers feel recognized and appreciated for their loyalty. There are plenty of ways through which you can make your customer feel valued and needed. One of the best ways to do that is by going into the market and communicating face-to-face with your customers rather than just advertising about customer loyalty on your website. Another way to do this is by informing them regularly about what you do. Do not assume that everyone knows everything about your company. Sometimes, it is good to spread information about your other products in person with your customers. This way, they might even get to know about some new products that are launched in the market. For example, people love to go to farms where the farmers and growers sell their products directly. One of the reasons people attend this is because they enjoy the personal experience. Being able to interact directly with sellers, trying the products, and listening stories behind the products. Hence, why not implement this in your organization as well? Where you create such campaigns to meet face-to-face with your customers and show them how you process. This even helps to build and strengthen the bond of trust between the buyer and seller. By establishing this relationship, you are informing your customers that you want to provide them with a holistic experience of the range of their products and not just a product, which will keep them coming back for more and more. Communicate often: Once you have established a relationship with your customers, make sure to keep the channels of communication open. Keep sharing news about your new products, upcoming sales and promotions, along with any big or small changes you are planning for your business. But when you are talking about communication, do not overload the mailbox or the inbox of your customers. Make sure you are doing this at proper intervals. This might turn your customers away. Give your customers just more than your offering for the money that they pay, and you will receive the loyalty in return. When a customer feels known and valued, they will keep coming back again and again. These pointers will help any organization not just create a strong foundation and customer loyalty, it will also help the organization stay connected with their existing customers. Hence, next time whenever you feel you are losing sight of your customers, read these pointers to get them back. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Improve Productivity with Lean Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-productivity-with-lean-manufacturing/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading manufacturer of industrial construction and agricultural equipment has been using lean manufacturing process for decades? The organization is known for taking care of its customer relationship. It states lean manufacturing as a time-based strategy that emphasizes on lead time reduction through eliminating waste in each area of production, including customer relations, product design, supplier networks, and factory management. The goal of the organization was to produce products as per the customer demand with the highest quality while being productive and safe. We all know that Lean has been encompassing five key measurable elements: quality, cost, delivery, safety, and morale. Continuously Improvement using Lean Manufacturing The lean journey of the organization began 16 years ago when the company decided and implemented a single process for all of its welding production. At that time, about 40% of the organization’s 220 production welding stations used pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW). Also, the company used 8 different models of welders from at least 3 different vendors. The first step of the organization was to standardize the process for all welding production, reduce the number of welder models from 8 to 2 and select a lean welding partner. After implementing lean, the organization started seeing results; production rate increased by ~38% on its lean model line, the line that best exemplifies lean principles. It produces brush chippers. The raw materials were converted into finished goods within days and not within weeks like before. The organization saw an improvement of around 200 % to 300% for 4 years continuously. After implementing Lean, the safety issues and severity rate reduced from 10% to 15%. The company was finally at a stage where they had Zero long-term corporate debt. After implementing lean principles on its terrain leveler line, the number of non-conforming welds dropped by 500% which caught through internal audits, which was from 6.68 to 1.36 welds per measurement period. Hence as you can see, the lean manufacturing system has been helping organizations from across the industries for decades. Have you started implementing Lean manufacturing? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Six Surprising Facts of Five S](https://faberinfinite.com/six-surprising-facts-of-five-s/): Five S is a system that helps an organization improve its workplace along with the workplace culture. It also helps reduce waste and optimize workplace productivity. Five S’s is a combination of the following five S’s: Sorting, Systematic Arrangement, Shining, Standardisation, and Sustenance. There is one additional S that is as important as the other facts of Five S, which is: Safety. Hence, it is also termed Six S (Five S + Safety). Five S philosophy is a good beginning point for all the improvement efforts aiming to eliminate waste from the manufacturing process and ultimately improve the bottom line of the company by improving products and services and lowering costs. A lot of companies are looking forward to making their operations more efficient & effective. This concept is highly attractive to any manufacturing facility looking for improvement in their bottom line by reducing costs. “Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place – PEEP” is the objective of this method. The Five S methodology is a simple and universal approach that works in all kinds of industries across geographies. It is essentially a platform for other manufacturing improvement frameworks such as Just-In-Time (JIT) production, cellular manufacturing, Total Quality Management (TQM), or Six Sigma initiatives, or Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and is also a great contributor to making the workplace a better place to spend time. The above mentioned are few of the known facts of Five S. In this article, we intend to share 6 surprising facts of Five S: Five S can save time and improve your efficiency by 20% An international survey has found that an employee loses up to 2 hours of his/ her fruitful time per week searching for lost information or digital documents. But with the help of 1st S – Sorting, you can save those 2 hours. Another research by Harvard Business Review shows that the clutter at the workplace is leading to stress, which is costing businesses up to $190 billion every year. But, with the help of the 2nd S – Systematic Arrangement, you will never lose even a penny! It can improve your visuals and save search time by 90% As per research by Thermopylae Science + Technology, the human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster and adapts them. Via Five S & Visualisation, around 90% of the total information can be transmitted to our brain through visuals, which is the 4th S – Standardisation. It is practiced by the world’s leading Fortune 500 companies Five S is more than mere housekeeping, and hence, it is practiced by many of the Fortune 500 companies. It is the foundation for all improvement initiatives. It has helped companies save millions from their original expenses and has helped them invest in the same for further improvement. It is applicable in the service sector as well and has helped a bank save up INR 30 million Five S has helped one of the leading Indian banks save INR 3+ crore rupees in the last decade. The bank is implementing Five S and has also claimed to have saved on an average INR 7.5 crore (INR 75 million) with the help of the quality control programs conducted at the bank. It was Five S that contributed up to 50% of the savings. Earlier the retrieval of the documents used to take about 2-3 days, but now it takes only 30 seconds. Just by spending 10 minutes every day for Five S, companies can save millions Five S has helped several organizations with millions of rupees. They were able to do this just by spending a fixed few minutes (~10 mins) each day for practicing Five S. Progressive organizations allocate specific time for conducting Five S activities on the shop floor. Bonus fact: Couple Safety with Five S and your Five S initiative will go a long way As per data reported by Business Standard, in the year 2018, 121 employees died on the job in India’s top firms. This shows that workplace safety is one of the most important aspects of any organization. The employees of any organization are the most important asset of the organization. So, making sure of their safety should be the prime duty for any organization. 5S is more than cleanliness; it boosts efficiency, reduces waste, and applies to any workspace. It improves employee morale, enhances safety, and fosters long-term success by promoting continuous improvement. Ready to optimize your operations? Explore Customized Supply Chain Solutions for growth and efficiency. Team Faber Infinite has been working with clients from across the industries and geographies on Five S. We have helped the client deliver phenomenal results. Call us to benchmark and audit your Five S practices and thus become best in class. Contact us Written & Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [5 ways to Boost Employee Productivity and Satisfaction](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-boost-employee-satisfaction-and-productivity/): Improving the productivity of the employees is one of the most important as well as an increasingly difficult goal of every business. Along with technology advancement, workplaces are becoming more flexible and less traditional. Also, research shows that the new generation of employees’ value office perks more over office pay. As the trend of the workforce is shifting, the leaders are getting confused about how to balance flexibility and productivity. But these terms are not on the opposite ends rather, they can go together. Happy employees will always be productive ones and vice versa. Below attached are a few pointers to be considered to improve the workplace for boosting workplace productivity. Make it comfortable: It is difficult to overlook the importance of a good office chair. We now know how important role ergonomics play in the wellbeing of employees – and their productivity. Employees spend a maximum number of hours parked at their desk. One of the biggest threats to employee productivity is the absence of the employee due to an injury and most of the office injuries happen due to repetitive strain. In addition to protecting the physical wellbeing of your employees by correcting their posture, providing them quality chairs, etc will help boost their morale. You need to show your employees that you care for them by investing in their daily comfort. Make it greener: Do you know, being around nature can increase the productivity of the employees by 15% or more? Sitting indoor in a closed-door office can make it boring for the employees to work. Including some greenery in the office where everyone can see at least one plant from their desk will spread positivity, reduce stress and illness, improve memory, it can also boost the creativity and will thus help to boost employee productivity. Adding energy booster: Caffeine is the best when it comes to reducing stress, boredom, boosting the energy level and improving creativity. Coffee will help the employees stay awake and fresh even when they have had a difficult time sleeping all night and still be able to work with a fresh mind. Keep employees hydrated: Almost 75% of the employees forget to drink enough water while at work. This can impact their immune system and concentration which leads to decrease in productivity. Hence, some organizations gift their employee’s refillable water bottles with the organization’s logo and thus get some easy brand exposure. Allow listening to music while working: In our last article, we spoke about how employee’s productivity can be boosted by listening to instrumental music. Such music helps the brain to focus and concentrate well on the task, it helps reduce stress and increase the speed of execution. Music helps in improving productivity. Hence, occasionally when the employees are working on a repetitive task, we can ask them to listen to instrumental music which will reduce their boredom and errors in the task and boost the speed of completing the task. Small changes as mentioned in this Transformation Tuesday can help you transform the organization and help boost the productivity of the employees. Thus these small investments can go a long way towards improving productivity. Discover the power of employee productivity and satisfaction. Unlock the secrets to boosting performance and morale in your workplace. Fill out the form below and unleash the full potential of your team today! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Quality Comes First](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-quality-comes-first/): Did you know, one of the world’s biggest car manufacturer recalled 45,000 cars in India? In the year 2014, the world’s biggest manufacturer of cars and who is also well known for its quality had to recall one of the world famous cars due to quality issues. The organization had to recall 44,989 cars which were manufactured in between 2005 – 2008 from across India to rectify and change the faulty cable of the steering wheel. This move was the part of recalling 6.39 million cars from across the globe in 2014. As per the organization, the campaign was done due to the error in the spiral cable mounted on the steering wheel. The fault had led to the continuous enlightening of the airbag warning sign on the instrument cluster. In addition to which the driver’s airbag could have also got deactivated. At that time the organization said that it was working on obtaining the necessary replacement parts. Once the replacement parts were available, the car owners will be contacted by the authorized dealers of the organization. The repair was free of cost and was expected to take one hour per vehicle to repair. The campaign had to be conducted at the time when the organization was facing labor issues at two of its plants. Around 4,200 workers had gone on a hunger strike demanding to increase their wages. Due to this issue, the reputation of the organization for quality and safety had detained. The reason behind this is, the company was fighting to protect its brand after the recalls of the vehicles. Apart from this, the first biggest single day recall happened in the year 2012 where the organization recalled 7.43 million models of its other well-renowned cars to fix faulty power window switches. This was the second-biggest recall till the day where they recalled 6.39 million cars of 1 model out of 25 other models which had other quality issues as well, faulty cable errors on steering wheel, seat rails, engine starters, and windshield wiper motors. Being the second biggest recall, the company was paying around $1.2 billion to settle against US crimes for being blamed for the dozens of deaths. Also, the share prices of the company dropped down by 3.07%. A total number of 1.08 million cars were recalled from Japan, 2.3 million cars from North America, around 770,000 cars in Europe, and 62,000 cars in China in the year 2014. Hence, as you can see, the world’s renowned car manufacturer who is known for its quality and safety had to face a downturn due to issues in quality and safety. No matter how good you are in terms of quality or safety, you need to be constantly careful about quality and safety. Or else, you too will face a hard downturn like this organization did. So, have you started paying attention to the quality of your offerings?
- [Yoga and Change Management: Science or Fad?](https://faberinfinite.com/yoga-and-change-management-science-or-fad/): Today, on the World Yoga Day, as the world is promoting the benefits of yoga; it would be pertinent for us to draw a parallel to its relevance to the business world! In today’s ever-changing era in business, change is the only constant. And, hence change management is just as important to business, as yoga is to body. Both Change Management and Yoga have been backed by science since ages. And like yoga can deliver healthy life, ‘structured’ change management efforts can lead to successful business operations! Let us see how Yoga and Change Management are similar and how it can help one’s body and organization; Improves health: As we all know, Yoga helps in improving health by improving the respiratory system, by making the body flexible, thus helping individuals become stronger and more confident. Similarly, Change Management helps an organization reduce the fear of time needed to implement change, reduces the resistance to change, makes the organization stronger for any business transformation activity and much more. Reduces stress and anxiety: As Yoga helps your body to reduce anxiety and stress, similarly Change Management helps to reduce the stress and anxiety of the employees as they are working on a transformation initiative. We have seen that resistance to change in the organization could be due to stressful and anxious situations which may arise while implementing change. Hence, change management is necessary for the organization to prepare its employees for change and eliminate anxiety and stress. Improves the quality of life: Yoga improves quality of life. It helps us live a better and healthy life. In the same way, change management will improve the quality of the organization’s offerings, manufacturing processes, functioning, and culture, etc. This will help organizations become more profitable, lean and offer services of high quality. Minimizes the possibility of defects/ disease: Yoga makes your body stronger and increases your immunity. Likewise, rolling out structured change management helps organizations reduce and eliminate all kinds of defects – wastages and cultural gaps. It will make the process stronger and optimum making the end result defect and error free. Improves flexibility: As yoga is effective in increasing the flexibility of your body, change management backed by proven approach is known for improving the flexibility of the organization. Thus, making it easier for organizations to adopt any change initiative in a more effective and enhanced manner. However, flexibility also promotes innovation, speed and improves the coordination process within the organization. This International Yoga Day, let us take a step in making yoga and structured change management the way of life and move ahead in achieving health and prosperity in our professional as well as personal lives. Written and Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Improve Leadership Skills in a different way!](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-leadership-skills-in-a-different-way/): Horses, the mirror of human behavior. Horses have a special structure in their herds just like a human group which is why, the horses will only accept those horses as leaders who are confident, understanding and best at communication. If there is any tension around, the leader will pick it up from the air which is why they need a confident and strong leader to guide them. A survey showed that how an organization with the help of the horses improved the leadership skills of their leaders. Below attached are the pointers the team learned from the horses. Improve understanding and observation: A group of horse is left in a ground to run and a group of leaders are supposed to observe their behavior. Just like human groups, a herd of horses also have a social structure. Each of the horse has its own unique personality and their own place in the group. The team of leaders has to observe who the leader is and who the followers are, which horse sets the pace and which one is distracted or slagging off for the playtime. This exercise will help the leader improve their observation skills. This will help them better understand each employee’s personality and nature to see who can motivate the team and who needs some extra attention. Improve delegation: Delegation of work is easy but to get the work done is not easy. When a leader assigns a task to their group member, he/she can only keep making sure that he/she encourages the employee and shows him the right direction to get the work done but in doing so, he/she has to make sure they don’t overstep. To make sure the leaders learn this skill, the leader is given a flag and asked to stand in the center of the circle and lead the horse to run two to three rounds. Now, obviously the horse cannot understand your language, but he/she can understand your body language and your voice tone. So, it is the task of the leader to begin the horse with walking, then running and then to finally stop. Now the leader can only do that verbally or by the body language or move around a little within the radius of 3 meters from the center of the circle. Now, as you can see the leader can do nothing but to guide the horse what he/she is supposed to do, this will help the leader to improve its delegation skill. Improve collaboration: When the top manager assigns any project to its junior, the manager is always in the fear that will the junior be able to pull it through? Will he/she be able to find the right path of the project? Hence one manager has been asked to sit on the horse and junior is asked to lead the horse with its rein. This way, the leader who is seated on the horse will have to trust the junior for leading the horse in the right direction and reaching the final destination. This will improve the relationship between the leader and its subordinates. And will help to build the trust between them. Improve communication: Many times we have seen this that in a few situations, the leader is unaware of the results seeing which the team starts to lose the trust in the leader. But here, in a circle, 3 people are placed. Two blind folded and one with open eyes to direct. Those who are blind folded are the leaders and the teammate along with the horse. In this, the person who is not blind folded is supposed to lead the team to reach the destination but just by his instructions. And the leader is supposed to lead the horse and the teammate. This way, the teammate will start developing the trust for the leader that even when the leader is not sure of the results, he/she has the power to pull it through. Hence, as you can see having an exercise with the horse will help us a lot in terms to build a strong leadership qualities and further strengthen the relationship with our fellow group members. COmpiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Going Beyond Excellence with Lean Tools and Techniques](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-going-beyond-excellence-with-lean-tools-and-techniques/): Did you know, there is something known as Caterpillar Production System (CPS) just like Toyota Production System (TPS)? Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of mining and construction equipment, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric, diesel and natural gas engines (Source – https://www.mindsumo.com/caterpillar) . The invention of CPS happened in a little tricky way! In the year 2005, the company realized that their factories could win awards in the area of efficiency and productivity. So, Caterpillar decided to launch their own production system to raise the manufacturing standard in order to be competitive. That is how CPS was invented. CPS is an order to delivery process which was implemented across the enterprise to achieve quality, cost, velocity, and people goals. CPS is based primarily on the Toyota Production System (TPS) philosophy. CPS also embraced a lot of lean manufacturing concepts like; Poka Yoke, Standard Work, Reducing Waste, Continuous Improvement. And to your surprise, CPS was not merely implemented in their factories but was also implemented across other verticals like – Purchase, Product Design, Quality, and Supply Chain. The implementation of CPS created a remarkable transformation for the organization. Till 2008, the organization capitalized on the economic boom that started in the year 2004. The Sales and revenues crossed $51 billion, exceeding the goal of 2010 of $50 billion which was far ahead of the target, also, profit per share was recorded at $5.66. Apart from this, the organization had to go through a downturn due to the recession period in the year 2009-2010. But, to everyone’s surprise, the organization emerged to become a classic example of emerging strong after the recession with the help of continuous implementation of the Caterpillar Production System. Even after such hard times, the company recovered itself. The sales and revenue increased by 31% which was $42.59 billion, from 2009. Also, the profit per share rose up to $4.15 from $1.43 in 2009. Hence, as you can see, the lean tools and techniques can be molded in any form and will always help you grow leaps and bounds. Here we saw a classic example of the organization customizing lean manufacturing tools in their own way. The objective of the initiative was being competitive but as they saw phenomenal results they decided to work beyond excellence. Just like Caterpillar, any organization can customize and implement the lean tools and techniques to accelerate their growth. So, have you started implementing lean tools and techniques in your organization? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Music: Key to Boost Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/music-key-to-boost-productivity/): Good productivity in the workplace is an essential point to be recognized as a powerful and best employee. But there are very few techniques available to improve the same. A lot of people struggle with lower productivity and try all that they can to improve the same. Still, they lack somewhere in the implementation phase as not all techniques are as handy to be used while at the workplace. It is good if you find a pleasant and convenient option like listening to music. Almost all of us love listening to music while working which many a time helps us boost our productivity. But not all music creates the same impact while working. Listening to the music that you like causes to release a chemical called dopamine in our brain which makes us feel good and eases our anxiety. Research showed that when the patients from pre-surgery were asked to listen to their favorite music it lowered their level of stress hormones than those patients who took an anti-anxiety drug. Music has the power and capacity to light-up your mood, improve your focus and boost your mental and physical performance. But there are these 6 rules listed below that should be used for using music to improve productivity: A big no lyrics: Lyrics kills your productivity. You might have noticed this, whenever you are listening to music with lyrics while working on something, then you are more focused on the lyrics of that song. You focus on what exactly is the song about and what is it trying to narrate. 90% of our focus is on the song and the lyrics of the song than how and what you are working on. Familiar music is the best: Research shows that when have you have been listening to a piece of specific music for a long time and if you listen to the same music while working on something, it just helps you to focus better. It becomes more relaxing and helps you concentrate better. The unfamiliar music causes you to lose the focus as you try to pick in the new sounds and new notes. Listen to music while working on a repetitive task: When you are asked to work on a repetitive task, it creates a sort of boredom as it is a monotonous task. But it is also something that needs perfection and should be error free. So, while working on something like that, listen to the music. Listening to the music while at the time of repetitive tasks, helps you complete the task quicker, with lesser errors and lesser boredom. No music is best for cognition task, except for one: Research showed that repetitive, relaxing, low-information based background music improves the concentration, focus and boosts the performance by reducing the stress even more than while working in silence. In such a situation, listening to natural sounds like ocean waves, rainfall, birds chirping, also you can listen to the calm and soothing piano music and classical music. This helps you the best. Listening to Upbeat music can help boost physical performance: A study shows that listening to motivating music, helps improve physical performance by increasing the capacity to exercise more and harder while delaying fatigue. Upbeat music has also helped increase alertness levels. This is incredibly important for those hard-driving entrepreneurs who are putting in long hours to work. Listen to the music in between the tasks. Another research shows that if you cannot listen to music while working on your task then listen to music in between two tasks. It will still help you improve your productivity. As it clears your mind for the next task and releases tension for the next task. This helps you improve your focus and boost your performance. The conclusion here is, music makes the world go away and helps you improve and increase your productivity. Just follow the notes listed above and you’ll be able to boost your productivity. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Go Lean to become World Class](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-go-lean-to-become-world-class/): Did you know, one of the world’s leading sportswear manufacturing organizations was able to reduce 50% of its defect rates by implementing lean manufacturing practices at their factories? In this organization, the manufacturing operations of its sportswear have been under regular scrutiny for years. It is after allegations on the organization for utilizing sweatshops to manufacture its products in the 1970s that the organization was labeled for abusive labor practices. This negative publicity made the organization establish a standard – code of conduct for its suppliers. At the same time, it helped create the apparel industry partnership that drew up the code of conducts for its factories. Ever since then, it had established a new set of working standards. It has also adopted a new strong auditing system to monitor labor practices in its factories and restore consumer faith in its brand. In the year 2010-11, after implementing lean manufacturing, the organization saw a vast difference in the result. Because of the implementation of the lean approach, the company has started manufacturing in a better way. It showed results in both – wasted materials and wasted time by ensuring their supply chain has operated more efficiently. After implementing the lean approach, the organization did not just reduce material waste or time waste, but it also worked on eliminating lost time and lost material from its processes as part of its sustainability agenda. The organization was able to achieve 50% reduction in defect rates, 40% faster lead times, 20% improvement in productivity and 30% reduction in time taken to introduce a new model. Hence, as you can see the lean approach when implemented, not only gives you tangible results but will help improve organizational culture. Today this sportswear manufacturer is known for its organizational culture and quality. So, have you started implementing lean practices in your organization to become world class? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Improve Productivity through Mental Health Wellness](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-productivity-through-wellness/): Mental health – is equally important as physical health. In today’s world, mental health is said to be a prime area of concern. As per research, the estimated cost to the global economy due to lack of productivity by depression and other anxiety disorder is around $1 trillion per year. A lot of organizations focus on physical health and the ways to improve productivity along with that. But a very few employers are Improve productivity through health wellness. These organizations organize sessions for employee welfare, subsidize the therapy bills of their employees, or give allowance for life coaches training or even offer sabbatical breaks to their long-time employees. Research has also shown that the organizations which used to only consider physical illness like heart disease and diabetes have now also started to look at other factors like depression and anxiety. In this Transformation Tuesday, let us look at ways in which we can improve the mental wellness of the employees: Allow Flexibility: In case of use of mental wellness allowance, give the employees the flexibility to use it as they want to. It must be such that it will help them to improve mental wellness. They can use it in a number of ways like massage, therapist appointment, meditation classes, and others. There is an organization in New York City, which gives its employees an allowance of $50 per month. In which the employees use the allowance for therapy appointments, while others spend it on massages, meditation, gym memberships, etc. Employees Buy-In: While several top organizations offer mental health allowances, not much of the employees who are also addicted to something or the other would take advantage of this benefit. The reason behind this is, many a time, the workforce is not even aware if something like this even exists. So, it is necessary to spread awareness about this amongst the workforce. Also, employee buy-in may not work as efficiently and effectively as it should be in larger organizations. What might work over there is the openness of the management team about their past experiences with the mental health and how they overcame that. This can help the employees understand that mental illness is not shameful and can be treated in its early stage. Easy Accessibility: Opening the workplace dialogue and explaining coping strategies can go a long way in helping the employees with their mental health. But many a time, few people might require professional help. Although your health insurance covers mental health, it is very difficult to find a therapist who will accept insFaberurance and take the patient. Under such circumstances, you can look for collaborating with the therapist who might accept both. This will help the organization and employees. Bringing In Professionals: Another way can be by bringing in professional help for conducting in house group sessions. Hiring a therapist who will be conducting sessions once a year where he/she takes the sessions for all levels of management including bottom level, middle level, and top level. This will help the employee bring in better points of view for their tasks and will help them see things in different ways. This will also help the organization know, understand and solve issues that the organization was unaware of. Track The Progress: It is important for the organization to have a track of the performance after having such sessions. Only this can show the impact of how beneficial this is and how can it help improve the productivity of the organization. If the organization fails to keep track, then it will never know the progress and thus all the investment will not be worth. Hence, the above-listed pointers will help you improve your workplace productivity with the help of employee mental health wellness. Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Lean Strategies to improve Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-strategies-to-improve-productivity/): Did you know, one of the fortune 500 companies – which is a leading courier service company, was able to save thousands of man-hours and $2 billion USD just by implementing Lean Management? In the year 2008, when the world was facing a great recession period, this organization decided to deploy Lean Management strategies to eliminate waste and reduce its costs. The company, which is typically known for delivery of the mails and packages is also committed towards the maintenance of its aircraft which it uses for the delivering deliveries across the world. For the maintenance, the MRO team performed bulk aircraft repairs. The MRO – maintenance, repair and operations team which also conducted one of the major services – C-checks, which also meant the relative maintenance of the aircraft. The C-checks services are one of the costliest and most time-consuming services. The company used to get this service done across the world in all the countries where its express facilities were provided. Amongst all of those, let us talk about one of its one such services of LA in the USA. Continual Improvement using Lean Strategies Before implementing Lean, the crew of the company was able to complete around 14 C-checks a year. But after implementing Lean, the crew has reached at a point where it could complete 30 C-checks a year. Before the implementation of Lean, the C-checks used to take around 32,715 man-hours a year. But after implementing the improvement changes, now the crew can complete the exact same numbers of C-checks within 21,535 man-hours. The actual man-hour was cut short by the help of one investigator that found that on an average, the employees spent around 1.3 to 2.4 hours each day walking to recover the parts. Because of this, there was seen a lot of delays in the service and repair. Due to which the company had to outsource its C-checks with the third party MROs, which used to cost the company around $2 Billion per project. But now after implementing Lean, within a year, the company saw a drop in wasted time to 0.47 to 1.3 hours a day. Which has saved the company $2 Billion as the C-check is now performed by the internal staff only. As you can see, the lean management strategies are not just implemented or beneficial to any specific industry or sector. It is used by progressive companies to eliminate the wasted and reduce its external cost  and by using its resource at its full capacity. Be it large or small, the organizations across the world have been deploying continual improvement frameworks and seeing fruitful results. Have you rolled out continual improvement journey yet? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Organization Transformation Catalyst – Mr. Amit Pawar](https://faberinfinite.com/organization-transformation-catalyst-amit-pawar/): Consultants are the backbone of any organization’s transformation process. A consultant plays an important role in delivering the best to the organization that they are working with. They work round the clock, across boundaries and industrial sectors. Despite the hectic schedule they are always on time and deliver the expected results. In this edition of iFaber, we had a chat with yet another talented consultant from Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Amit Pawar. He has helped several clients in multiple industries in diverse paradigms. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Mr. Pawar, Management Consultant at Faber Infinite Consulting. Faber Infinite (FI): What is your role at FICS? What three words would you use to describe your role? Amit Pawar (AP): At FICS, I work as a Management Consultant. And as a Management Consultant, my role includes working with the clients in their organizational transformation journey. No organization is the same, neither are the ways in which the organization operates. So every journey is different and has different challenges and as a part of the organizational transformation journey, I work hand – in – hand with the client teams for the implementation of different improvement initiatives. If you ask me about the three words that would describe my role I would say; Go Getter, Finest Implementer and Customer Delight. As you know, being a consultant we need to get on the gemba (shopfloor) and work along with the client and their teams. It is a challenging job to work along with the client teams. Being a subject matter expert, I need to be always prepared to help the client solve their problems on time. As a consultant, we need to be highly energetic, have a good understanding of the client’s problems and support the client teams. Also, we work with the client teams from the top management to the shop floor levels to make sure that implementation is successful. I always aim to be the finest implementer and have been recognized for the same and being awarded as well for the exceptional situational leadership quality. Lastly, about Customer Delight, as you know, when any company hires an external consultant to help them, their expectations get higher and it is our job to fulfill the same and give them the desired results. Not just this, I have helped clients to get beyond what they have expected out of us. This is what we call as delighting the customer! FI: What does a typical day look like for you at Faber? AP: So, usually my day at Faber begins by wishing everyone a good morning with a cup of tea in my hand. I sit down to check my to-do-list which I prepare on the previous day and start finishing my tasks as mentioned. I interact with my peers and soak in the vibrant environment around me. FI: What is most rewarding about your job; what makes it all worthwhile? AP: Consulting is a very challenging role. On each and every step, you find challenges. And the most rewarding thing about it is to be able to overcome those challenges and be ready for the new ones. Because it boosts your confidence and keeps you out of your comfort zone. And about all what makes it worthwhile, if I were to talk about myself, I have always wanted to get into consulting. After I finished my studies, I got into consulting and now, it’s been long years that I am into this role and this is something I feel worth putting all my efforts in because I am happy that at the end of the day, I am accomplishing something that I have always dreamt of. FI: What is your personal mantra? AP: My personal mantra is – Do not wait for the perfect opportunity or perfection in anything that comes to you. You should be able to make sure whatever opportunity you have or whatever task you are assigned to, you make it perfect. FI: What is on your wish list for your next five years at Faber? AP: As I mentioned earlier, I have always wanted to become a consultant and I am blessed to have the same profile here at Faber. And if I were to say about my goals for the next 5 years here, I would like to become just as hardworking and efficient as our top management and see myself in the list of top management. Although that position has its own challenges and power, pros and cons, I would still wish to become worthy to be seen at that position and lead a successful team and organization. FI: What are your biggest professional challenges? AP: As I mentioned earlier, consulting is full of challenges. To give you an example, as you know we have been working in 12 different regions including India, the biggest barrier that every consultant would face is language and culture. Not just foreign countries, even here, the organizational culture of each organization is different and you have least of the time to understand that and mold yourself into that. Because you have to work hand-in-hand with the teams, so it is necessary that you make them feel comfortable with you. So, these are a few of the biggest challenges that I face. FI: If you could change one thing about working here, what would it be? AP:  I think if I were to change one thing about working here, then it would be to have more interactive sessions between consultants. As you know, our consultants work in different industries, different companies and different client locations, this session is one of those few times when each individual can communicate about their experiences and challenges and the way they overcome them. This helps other consultants because if any consultant faces similar challenges to that of others, they will have an idea of how to manage such issues or challenges. Although we do have such kind of sessions, but I think this should
- [Texel Industries - Journey towards Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/texel-industries-journey-towards-excellence/): In this edition, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients – Texel Industries Limited, leading geomembranes manufacturer of India. Mr. Shailesh Mehta – Managing Director of Texel Industries shared his views on the challenges and opportunities in the technical textile industry and how progressive organizations from the geomembrane manufacturing sector have been working towards continual improvement and organizational transformation. Below is an excerpt from the interview Faber Infinite (FI): We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Texel Industries – a global manufacturer of Geomembranes. Mr. Shailesh Mehta (SM): Texel Industries Limited is engaged in manufacturing geosynthetic textile products which have various applications in agriculture, aquaculture, civil engineering and disaster relief. Over a period of 30+ years, we have made several pioneering efforts in India to introduce geosynthetic textile-based solutions, particularly in the field of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Civil Engineering. Our products are known for their strength and durability. We are now also providing turnkey solutions for water conservation and aquaculture and waterproofing of buildings. FI: That’s wonderful Sir! We understand every industry has its own challenges. What are peculiar challenges unique to your industry? SM: Our industry is a labor-intensive industry like any other technical textile industry, and we take pride in providing employment to thousands of people. But having said that, the labor-intensive nature of the operation brings in challenges like delivery of goods and services on time and of correct quality. Some of our products are cyclic in nature, overcoming the challenges becomes a primary objective of the organization. Our products are being used by farmers for water conservation, which makes it imperative to ensure correct quality as water is a precious commodity for the farmers. If not stored in the proper manner, it can bring about great suffering due to the loss of crops. These are a few of the challenges unique to our industry. FI: Progressive teams of Texel are charting their own success path and setting trends for others to follow. What is the core philosophy that differentiates your organization from others? SM: Since its inception, Texel has always been a pioneer and innovator in terms of new products and technologies. We as an organization continuously evolve various innovative solutions for optimum utilization of our products by our customers. Innovation is a way of life for Texel. This core philosophy differentiates our organization from others. We are proud to say that we brought in the concept of water conservation and water storage by using reinforced Geomembranes to line water reservoirs on the farms across the country and it has helped immensely to increase the rural livelihoods. We are the first company to manufacture Geo Tanks, used for small scale aquaculture activities which can bring path-breaking innovation in fish farming. FI: We are delighted to know that Sir! We would love to understand more about the transformation journey at Texel Industries Ltd. SM: Texel started as a small company in 1989 with a top line of 500 – 700 lacs per annum. As mentioned earlier, the innovative spirit of the company was entranced right from the humble beginnings, the research and development activities carried on by our dynamic Technical Director Mr. Naresh Mehta who is BS and MS in Plastics Technology. We have developed various products like Pile Liners and Reinforced Geomembranes. The management gained the courage to expand due to the fast market anticipated for water conservation and water harvesting technology. Texel expanded in 1994 with ultra-modern machinery and pioneering efforts in introducing the concept of water harvesting ponds on the farm itself. The government of Maharashtra and other states took our advice to formulate the schemes for farmers wherein the farmers were encouraged to put up water harvesting ponds on their farms by extending subsidies for such activities. Correct methods and correct technical specifications were formulated by us and presented to various state governments which led to substantial conservation of water with result that 1000’s of ponds are made today all over the country and a huge quantity of water is harvested and stored in the farm itself bringing a revolution in the field of horticulture and aquaculture. Besides introducing innovative products and technologies, Texel undertook the transformation journey to raise the bar in the quality and efficiency standards on the shop floor. Faber Infinite worked with Texel to help the company in its journey towards operational excellence. The results are encouraging, and the journey continues within the organization to achieve higher excellence. FI: We appreciate that under your able leadership the organization has shown great results in the continual improvement journey. We would love to know your views on Faber’s role in the growth numbers. SM: Faber Infinite has been instrumental in bringing awakening at the lowest level on the shop floor, in areas of operational excellence and innovative production process. We can say the journey is still on and Texel hopes to achieve the highest level of excellence in its operations which will prepare the organization for creating further innovative products and technologies in the coming future. We sincerely thank Mr. Shailesh Mehta and team Texel Industries for being a part of iFaber – the official newsletter of Faber Infinite and sharing their valuable insights.
- [Grow with Value Stream Mapping (VSM)](https://faberinfinite.com/grow-with-value-stream-mapping-vsm/): Value Stream Mapping (VSM) has been around since quite some time now, as a lean business practice tool. In recent times, it is evident that this tool has been helping organizations define and increase material velocity and eventually have a positive influence on customer experiences and profitability. What is Value Stream Mapping? Value Stream Mapping is a process that allows an in-depth visualization of all steps in one’s work process. It puts all the important steps on the display which are necessary to deliver the value from the beginning to the end. It lets you visualize each and every task that a team works on and provides the status reports in a single glance about the progress of each task. The main objective of creating a value stream map is to check all those places where improvement in the process can be done by visualizing both the value-adding and wasteful steps. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a flowchart method to analyze, illustrate and improve the steps which are required to deliver a product or service. Like other kinds of flowcharts, it uses a system of symbols to represent different work activities and information flows. Value Stream Mapping is especially used to search and remove waste. Items are listed and mapped on the basis of adding value or not adding value from the customer’s standpoint, with the goal of rooting out items that don’t add value. There are a lot of advantages of using Value Stream Mapping like; as it demands for mapping the process, it will help visualize where the shift in job occurs which discovers the bottlenecks of the process and comes up with ways to improve. Mapping the process allows the organization to analyze its work process in depth and provides hints for places where the changes need to be incorporated for driving improvement in the way the work is done. Faber Infinite Consulting has been helping clients from across 40 industries and has a vast experience of consulting and implementing solutions in all kinds of industries including engineering, automotive, pharmaceutical and much more. With spread across more than 12 regions, we have helped some of the world’s largest organizations with Value Stream Mapping Consultants. While being associated with these organizations, we have supported and successfully completed transformation journeys for organizations across industries and regions. Some of the typical improvement areas are listed here: Improvement in throughput (production output) Improvement in productivity Reduction in throughput time Reduction in non-value adding activities Reduction in distance traveled Reduction in change over time Improvement in production planning Streamlining activities Few of the tangible results delivered at client sites include: Reduction in production throughput time by 46% Reduction in distance traveled by 51% Reduction in change over time of the machine by 50% Reduction in cycle time was identified by 50% Reduction in inventory by 39% Improvement in productivity by 40% Improvement in inventory management by 20% Improvement in component by 16% Improvement in indirect inputs by 21% Improvement in the value-added ratio by 100% No matter how traditional or fundamental tool – Value Stream Mapping. Is, it forms a base for further improvements in productivity and process flow. Team Faber Infinite Consulting has been an avid supporter across the industries and sectors. We have always believed in creating more optimized business processes with the help of our Value Stream Mapping approach and consultants. We believe in innovation and always support the same across industries and sectors to achieve their ultimate goal – continual improvement and sustainable development. Recently, team Faber Infinite has delivered phenomenal results at several organizations – right from leading lighting solutions company to the largest engineering company to the leading supplier of Indian Railways and many more! If you want to embark on the journey of excellence like other progressive organizations contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com Ready to supercharge your growth with Value Stream Mapping (VSM)? Unlock hidden efficiencies and drive continuous improvement. Fill out the form below to access expert guidance and embark on a transformative journey towards accelerated growth!
- [Operational Excellence – Foundation for Industry 4.0](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-foundation-for-industry-4-0/): Industry 4.0, a transformation which is highly spoken about in today’s era, is about to happen in a very short period. Which is why being prepared for the transformation is a need of the hour. Every progressive organization and its members at all the levels need to be prepared for this next phase of the industrial revolution. The best way to prepare for it is by working on strong foundations of Operational Excellence. Industry 4.0 is definitely bound to roll out with a lot of changes and disruption. As this happens, the processes and equipment will need to be more operationally equipped to be able to support the way Industry 4.0 operates – which is why organizations need to gear up for establishing & strengthening Operational Excellence for successfully reaping benefits from Industry 4.0. Operational Excellence: Operational Excellence is the pursuit of conducting business in a manner that continuously improves the quality of goods and services, reduces costs, increases speed and enhances flexibility to achieve competitive superiority. From a core manufacturing point of view, there are three pillars of operational excellence; they are production planning & control, manufacturing execution and operational effectiveness of people, processes and assets. Tight coordination among these three pillars is required in order to achieve overall operational excellence. Now you might wonder how operational excellence is the foundation of Industry 4.0. Hence, to uncover this confusion, team Faber Infinite conducted a webinar on Operational Excellence – Foundation of Industry 4.0, which was attended by the top management of different organizations from engineering, pharmaceutical, textile, and much more. Glimpses of the webinar as mentioned below: Agenda of the webinar: Explain the foundations for Industry 4.0 for manufacturing organizations Highlight the essential ingredients to be prepared Demystify the ways and means to launch the journey to Industry 4.0 Clarify the results expected The webinar was conducted by Mr. Aakash M Borse – Founding Partner & Director – Faber Infinite Consulting. In this webinar, he covered the following: Making most of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Smart manufacturing Challenges of IIoT and Smart Manufacturing and how to overcome them The role of Operational Excellence, the potential of the IIoT, and how it enables smart manufacturing How Operational Excellence helps to achieve benefits like – lower costs, more efficiency, easier inventory management, lower payback time, enhanced productivity and much more. To know more about how this can be implemented and be beneficial for you, watch the webinar here: https://bit.ly/2JK/0FF2
- [Improve Profitability with Enhanced Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-profitability-with-enhanced-productivity/): Improved profitability, increased revenues and lower costs sound perfect for any business. But in the era of extreme competition one cannot achieve this with the same traditional practices and approach. What could it be done then? If the competition is doing more with less, then manpower productivity could be one of the issues. Low-output from operators post a serious problem within an organization, forcing companies to adopt innovative techniques and practices to increase manpower productivity. In the modern competitive world, productivity is a fundamental concept in assessing the economic performance of organizations. Therefore, productivity improvement has become a key objective for industries. An on-going concern for management and business heads is productivity. Regardless of the size of the businesses, boosting productivity is essential to enhancing profitability and maintaining competitiveness. Productivity on the manufacturing floor relies on a combination of efficient employees, equipment and processes. Why do we need Manpower Productivity Improvement? As manpower productivity is directly related with benefit and cost of ROI calculation, we need to look at these two crucial points in a macro to micro to nano level in order to sustain the growth momentum as well as to tide over the hitches and pains pertaining to them. Most of the organizations have started realizing the importance of manpower productivity in order to meet global challenges. In today’s world of economic globalization, competition in any business is getting tougher and tougher. Therefore, in order to overcome this challenge, to delight customers and increase the bottom line, competing organizations should make a paradigm shift in their business approach. Customer orientation, business objectives, cost reduction, increased profit, the shorter cycle time of a process and better ROI are the trending buzzwords in the business. In the modern competitive world, productivity is a fundamental concept in weighing the economic performance of organizations. Therefore, productivity improvement has become a vital objective for industries. Manpower productivity is one of the crucial ways to measure efficiency in an organization.  The relationship between manpower and the organization is simple: Shop-floor manpower is directly proportional to productivity. The more and efficient people are available to work, the faster are the organization’s projects completed and the organization can take more projects. Conversely, a lack of adequate manpower stops businesses from completing tasks on time. The lack of productivity results in a reduction in revenue and profit, which in some cases means the business cannot stay operational. Lagging manpower productivity can be a symptom in a diagnostic test for the business. If manpower productivity is low, this could spell lower profitability and higher cost. In order to increase manpower productivity, the business must have smooth – optimized and benchmarked processes in place. Productivity growth affects business decisions, capital investment profitability and savings. Faber infinite reduced Manpower Productivity by ~20% Team Faber Infinite has delivered significant results in major industries across geographies by improving productivity and ultimately throughput and reducing labor costs. Team Faber has improved the manpower productivity by ~20% and reduced labor cost by ~25% in one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles and industrial products across the globe. Faber Infinite has also delivered tremendous results by improving manpower productivity by ~40% and reducing throughput time by ~20% at world’s second largest and India’s largest manufacturer offering comprehensive cryogenic liquid and gas transportation, storage and distribution solutions to the industrial gas industry, oil field service industry as well as LNG industry. Faber Infinite has also improved manpower productivity by 33% and reduced labor cost by 30% in the world-leading provider of compressors with presence in over 180 countries. 90% manpower productivity improvement has also been delivered in one of the leading pharmaceutical organization with presence across the globe. To summarise, it impacts total output, capital productivity and various costs incurred by a company, and not only on manpower costs. Hence, it is not a waste of time to improve manpower productivity. An organization’s output is as much dependent on shop-floor manpower productivity as it is on capital productivity. Similarly, it is necessary to increase manpower productivity just as it is necessary to increase capital productivity. This calls for a total approach to productivity for the effective running of an organization. This white paper talks about the importance of Manpower Productivity Improvement, its possibilities and impact on overall business in further details. Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com for rolling out organizational transformation journey successfully. To read more, you can download the whitepaper: https://faberinfinite.com/white-paper/ Ready to take your profitability to the next level with enhanced productivity? Fill out the form below and gain access to game-changing strategies that will revolutionize your business. Don’t wait any longer – start maximizing your profits today!
- [Resolve Quality issues with 8D Methodology](https://faberinfinite.com/resolve-quality-issues-with-8d-methodology/): In today’s world, where the quality of any product or service plays a vital role, it is the need of the hour to understand and resolve the quality issues. Organizations need to know how to manage and maintain the quality of their offerings and also how to resolve the issues related to quality. For all those organizations who want to work on quality, Team Faber Infinite Consulting has rolled out a path-breaking workshop on – “Problem Solving with 8D methodology”. It is an extremely powerful and unique training program designed by Team Faber Infinite. This training and certification program shall help the organizations learn more about how to resolve quality issues using 8D methodology. It will help them become more efficient and effective. Faber Infinite Consulting is glad to share about one of the recently conducted workshops on Problem Solving With 8D Methodology along with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Ahmedabad on 24th and 25th May 2019. It was a 2-day interactive session with a combination of live case studies from the industry, simulation exercises, group work along with the conference room tutorials. The objective of the workshop was: Understanding the foundation of quality and quality management Knowing the framework of 8D methodology Understanding how to resolve quality issues using 8D methodology The workshop covered topics such as; What is the foundation of Quality and Quality Management? What is 8D Methodology? When to apply 8D Methodology? How to describe the problems correctly? How to identify the root cause of any quality problem? How to establish a corrective permanent corrective action based on statistical analysis? Relation of 8D & Failure Modes and Effective Analysis What is 8D tracker? The training was conducted by one of the directors and founding partners of Faber Infinite Consulting – Mr. Vishal Kulkarni who has more than 17 years of experience. Participants from the varied industry attended the sessions and were highly satisfied with the program. The session was extremely well received by the attendees. We would like to thank all our attendees for joining us in this engaging and informative workshop. To learn more about the 8D problem-solving methodology and similar other programs, feel free to reach us on consulting@faberinfinite.com
- [4 Ways to Be Proactive and Productive](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-be-proactive-and-productive/): Many times it happens that even after working efficiently for a whole week we feel that the work is getting piled up. But there is a chance we have not been managing work well. What if we were to tell you that you did not work as efficiently as you thought for a week? As per research, an employee is only productive for 12.5 hours a week. And, for almost a 40-hour work week, the cost of lost productivity will keep on quickly adding up for the business. In this blog, we will discuss about the 4 ways to be Proactive and Productive. During a slow day or week, you find it boring to work on the tasks from your to-do-list which are not urgent. You try to pass the time by chitchatting with your friends and colleagues, by scrolling your social media timelines, by searching for online purchase and much more. But, this shouldn’t affect your contribution to the business, right? Below listed are ways to keep contributing to the business even on the slow days or weeks; Pay attention to your professional development: A study has found that one of the reasons the employee’s professional development is held back is because they are too busy to pay attention to it. There are things like webinars related to your industry which you were not able to attend because you were busy or because you were reading articles that you have kept in your reading list. So, now is that time when you can read those articles that were pending or watch those recorded webinars. Or, get your hands on the upcoming training sessions happening around you to enhance your skill development. Or, work on other initiatives such as doing a certified course in the area of focus. Hence, if your professional development has been put on hold because of a busy period at work, a slow day or a slow week is the perfect time to focus and march on developing your skills. Speak with your colleagues: When you don’t have an endless to-do list, you can take some time to meet and speak with the colleagues you have meaning to connect with. Like, if your superior too is having a slower week, discuss your long-term career goals with them. This will help ensure that you are continuously working on projects which will help you grow in your career. Apart from meeting with your superiors, you can also utilize that time to meet your colleagues from across the company. This can include having coffee or lunch with a co-worker you have friendly relations with. Or meeting someone from a different team if you are interested and planning to switch career paths. Be organized: During busy days, you might wish you had an organized and clear workplace instead of a cluttered desk. When you run into a slow period take time to clean the mess on the desk at the workplace. One of the ways to get organized is by implementing a project management process or tool, to help your whole team stay on track with larger projects. Or on a personal level, you can rethink how you organize your email inbox or weekly to-do list. Then, once you’re busy again, you’ll be glad you’re that much more efficient.  Ask for other tasks: Another way to pass a slow work day is by simply asking for more work. By doing this, you can show your manager that you are a proactive and eager employee who wants to help the business grow by asking to take work off his or her plate. By completing this work, not only you will help your manager, but you’ll also learn new skills you might not have otherwise had the opportunity to work on. Beyond helping your manager, you can also take on projects you are passionate about, outside of your regular list of responsibilities. Or you can offer to help another team with their project and, at the same time, learn more about how other teams in your company work. The steps mentioned above are just a few ways you can ensure that you are productive even when you have a low workload. If you put all your best effort into positively contributing to the business at all times, you will help your organization grow, and as a result, grow in your career.
- [Operational Excellence for World Class Manufacturing](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-for-world-class-manufacturing/): Did you know, worlds eighth largest automaker an Italian-American organization was able to improve its productivity by 75% just by implementing Operational Excellence? The organization began using Operational Excellence (OE) and management in order to establish the basic World Class Manufacturing (WCM) to manufacture products of higher quality by eliminating losses and improve its work standard in all its factory fields. The organization defined the initiative with the intent to raise their performance and standards to the level of World Class Manufacturing. The initiative included improvement of quality and maintenance, management of cost and logistics and much more. The main reason to begin with this initiative was to increase the productivity and the flexibility in an elementary technology unit of a mechanical subgroup in the organization’s assembly process at one of its plant with PDCA approach. With the help of the PDCA approach, 4 workstations were analyzed an in various sub-phases of the production process, 41 kinds of Non-Value Added Activity – NVAA (MUDA Analysis) were found. After the completion of MUDA analysis, the places where the solutions were applied were found to have a lean process. Faber Infinite Consulting helps organization to Improvement in Productivity by more than 75% Once, the organization completed the implementation, the results were found as; improvement in productivity by more than 75%. And also improvement in ergonomics by more than 85%, optimization of logistics flow, and much more. As you can see, Operational Excellence (OE) is helping organizations across the world find hidden opportunities towards becoming world class. The above-mentioned case is one such example of one of the fortune 500 companies, which is already renowned as the world best manufacturer. Hence what growth stage the organization is at, there will always be hidden opportunities for better and sustainable growth. Have you started working towards operational excellence of your organization? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Boost Confidence with Positive Feedback and Challenging Goals](https://faberinfinite.com/boost-confidence-with-positive-feedback-and-challenging-goals/): Confidence is essential for every employee for being recognized by his teammates and supervisors. There are times when an employee does great work but is not appreciated and his contributions are not being recognized. Results do not always speak for the hard work the employee is doing. The management may not know the reason why the project was such a success. This is the reason why being confident is necessary. Not bragging all the time about your hard work for the success but sometimes it is necessary to confidently speak about your hard work which made the project a huge success. It is said that confident employees are more engaged, they have great self-reliance and that is just one of the many reasons why creating a team with confident players works for everyone’s advantage. But, not everyone comes to the office ready strengthened with confidence, or even sometimes one of your most confident employees can suffer from self-doubt in challenging times. But luckily, there are many ways a leader can boost the confidence of the employee. Here are two of those ways; Set challenging “GOALS”: If the goals do not challenge, push or stretch your employees and if they just must work as normally like any other day then it sends a message to your employee that you don’t consider them capable of taking on difficult tasks. Difficult goals send a message to the employee that you have faith in them and that they will get the job done under any circumstances. Research has found that 15% of people think that their personal goal for that particular year will help them achieve great things and only 13% of people thought that their goals will help them maximize their actual potential. The research also showed that most psychologically motivating goals are those where there is a rough chance of 50 percent success. Most of the goals are easy but smart and realistic goals are those which are difficult to achieve and have a 50% chance of success. So, take a step back and ask yourself what kinds of goals you are giving to your team. Test the difficulty level of the goals by asking your employees what new skills they will require to learn to achieve a goal. If they do not need to learn something new, try increasing the difficulty level of the goal by 30%. Also, ask your employees if they think they can achieve a goal easily. If they say that they know they are able to do it before they even start working, try making the goal 20% harder. Keep altering the goal until you get it right. Give more “POSITIVE” feedback: Research says that 71% of the managers say that they know most of their employees can achieve excellence but only 18% of the employees say that their managers do a good job by communicating their positive feedback. One of the problems in this is that managers tend to discuss what went wrong in the project rather than talking about the good things or positive things about the project. One of the reasons behind this is that they usually get credit for being great problem solvers, but they get almost little or zero credit for being great praise givers. And, obviously, for being recognized as a great problem solver, you need to have a problem first, something negative, which needs fixing. Managers usually communicate more about a problem than they do about something positive. As good employees listen to something negative, it affects their confidence level as well as their performance. It is necessary to pull yourself out of this cycle by tracking the interaction of the employees for a couple of days. If the negative interactions are more than the positive ones, then do not be depressed. Just start looking for moments in which you can give positive reinforcement, which is different from praise. Positive reinforcement is a teaching tool that allows employees to learn when they do something right by getting verbally rewarded. This triggers a reaction of an employee saying that the reward felt good and he thinks that he will work the same way again. A lot of people have the talent, skill and right attitude to be great performers but somewhere they lack confidence. Get into potentially building confidence through positive feedbacks and challenging goals. Combined by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Friday Fact - Is Quality your priority?](https://faberinfinite.com/is-quality-your-priority/): Did you know, the world’s largest printing products manufacturer has benefited from Total Quality Management just within a span of 5 years? On July 29, 1975, the company entered into a consent decree with the regulatory commission to settle an anti-trust lawsuit against the company. Back then, the company had grown to control somewhat like 86% of the market on the basis of accumulating and licensing of patents. The marketing practices of the company had to be abandoned and their patents entered the public domain. The company had spent millions of dollars on product development through one of the research centers for introducing a few products and concentrated heavily on growth. As per the research, as the company grew bigger, engineering and designing departments became inefficient because of the increasing layers of procedures, management and controls. By the year 1979, the failure of the company was about to take a strategic direction to account for the new market realities that allowed new competitors to consolidate their positions. In the beginning, the company was not much concerned with its competitors because they were making small, desk-size units and this company was making huge-output for central copying-locations. However, on the basis of research, the drop in return on their net assets in the year 1976 was from 25% to 5% in 1979 and within the ten years between 1974 and 1984, the market shares had fallen from 86% to 17% along with the revenues falling from $1.15-billion to $290-million. From this, it became clear that the business processes of the company had become outdated and the company had to fully reinvent itself. The company under the leadership of its CEO remade itself from tip to toe with the help of – leadership through quality. Total Quality Management approach identified the performance gaps, namely that they had been comparing their output only with their own products and not with their competitor’s product outputs. With the help of operational benchmarking, the defects per 100 products fell to a defect per thousand products. The number of their suppliers fell from 5000 to 300 because lately the company found out that their Japanese competitors usually had 1000 suppliers. There was a 13-times improvement in the proportion of their defective parts. There was around 40 % decrease in unscheduled maintenance, 27% drop in their service response time. By the year 1989, every employee of the company had received at least 28-hours of training for the problem-solving and quality improvement techniques. Also, the company invested more than 4 million man-hours and $125 million in training its employees about quality principles. In the year 1989, the company received Baldrige Award for an outstanding return of their quality initiatives within the immediate period of 5-year from the foundation of quality, which was laid in the year 1979. As you can see, the company has highly benefited through TQM (Total Quality Management) within the span of just 5 years. Any company that implements TQM, shall start seeing the benefits in their quality in a very short time. Quality plays a vital role in any organization and in any sector. Make sure you play that role well to come up with flying colors. As you can see, these concepts are being used successfully by large organizations since more than 5 decades. These concepts are timeless and relevant even today. So, have you started working towards quality management? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [4 key points to Improve Employee Engagement - Faber](https://faberinfinite.com/4-key-to-improve-employee-engagement/): Employee engagement is one of the most powerful things which requires a lot of efforts and not money. It is a myth that employee engagement is very costly. Employee engagement is mainly done by managers. Those managers who invest in developing strong relations between themselves and their employees, experience increased engagement and loyalty. Here we listed 4 key points to Improve Employee Engagement. Recent research found that only 13% of the employees are engaged in their workplace. So, engaging the employees is a need of the hour. Below are the pointers that will help organizations to engage their employees: Create an internal leader: The companies should create the leaders from within the organization through proper guidance, support, making available the necessary resources, and clarity around processes and expectations. Once the employees are clear of what their goals are and how to achieve them. They will become more innovative on their path of achievement. Managers can help those employees by mentoring them and making a career path for the employee through the journey in the organization. The career mapping exercise helps an employee in what they should do and how to reach their career goal by achieving the milestones along the way. Those employees who focus on achieving their final goals, stay engaged and strive to achieve their personal goals with their manager’s support. Managers can help create the leaders from within by investing enough time teaching their employees about the necessary skills they would need to achieve excellence in their position. This process will not only boost the confidence of the employees but will also help them in staying completely loyal with their organization throughout their journey. Implementing wellness habit: A study shows that 80% of people consider additional benefits and office perks over the pay raise. While Google is known for all the extra facilities and perks such as a professional chef, haircuts and spa and on the campus dry cleaning, companies with smaller budgets can make smaller adjustments without making huge financial investments. The organization can start maintaining a pantry where it can stock healthy and nutritious food for its employees keeping the employee health under consideration. Doing this will help the company maintain the health of the employee so they do not fall sick and miss a day at work. The company can also gather the employee’s time for quick exercise and stress-relieving activities which will help them become more productive and efficient in their tasks. Ask for feedback: Asking your employees about what their views are on a specific task can make them feel how important their views are. This makes them feel that their points are being taken into consideration. There are times when you just ask the opinions of the employees and do not apply them. But if you repeat that every time then the employee will understand that you are only trying to show that you consider their point but, you don’t care about their views and opinions. Employees believe and are likely to have faith in their management and future of the company if they are kept in the loop for what is happening in the organization. The best way to do this is by keeping the flow of communication transparent to foster their trust and build engagement between the employee and the company. Celebrate the victory: Expressing the appreciation will help the employee feel valued and make them feel their efforts are recognized by their managers. A study found that appreciating the employees on a regular basis will increase their satisfaction level, loyalty and customer satisfaction level is increased as well. In the end, employees want to be valued for the efforts they put for the organization who in return values their health, development and role within the organization. Removing the organizational hierarchicy barriers that restricts the top from the bottom. It is not just a trend but the way the workforce is shifting to adapt to the new generation of workers. Companies can build thriving cultures without lavish budgets and luxurious employee perks. Simple efforts go a long way. Hence, employee engagement is easier than you thought. All you need is to put in some efforts to make it work. Transform your workplace culture and boost productivity with improved employee engagement. Take the first step towards a more motivated and connected team. Fill out the form below and unlock the strategies to enhance employee engagement for a thriving organization! Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri 
- [Friday Fact - Cost Of Poor Quality](https://faberinfinite.com/friday-fact-cost-of-poor-quality/): Did you know one of the biggest car manufacturers of the world had to recall 22,834 of its cars due to poor quality in the year 2018? In the year 2018, the company issued a recall for 22,834 cars to fix the faulty front passenger airbag inflators. As a matter of fact, this was the 8th recall for the cars that the company manufactured which contained the model of the cars from the previous generation which were manufactured in the year 3013. The airbags inflator had the threat of being installed with intense internal pressure when activated. The airbag inflator casing might break which could have resulted in safety risk or injury to the vehicle occupants. Therefore, the company had to call all their cars back for replacing the defect in airbag inflator. In the year 2017, the company had to recall 41,580 units of its car which were the previous models to correct the faulty air bags. In the year 2016, the company recalled 1,90,578 units of cars again with the previous generation of the model for rectifying the faulty airbags. The reason for the company calling back the cars is because the third-party vendor who is in charge of manufacturing and fixing the airbags is working for other companies as well. Hence not just this car manufacturing company but the other companies as well which were purchasing their airbags from the same 3rd party vendor had to recall their cars to rectify the fault of the airbag inflator. In total, around 100 million cars were recalled by almost 13 auto manufacturers around the world. This fault caused the death of at least 12 people and had injured almost 180 people for which the vendor for airbag inflator had to pay $1 billion as compensation. Hence, as you can see that poor quality caused not just money to the company but a lifetime loss of the trust of its vendor. Quality shouldn’t be a point to be implemented at the time of manufacturing. It should be right from the source. Till the date, we have seen how quality has made companies fall from the sky at the same time raise from the ground to touch the sky. In this case, we looked at how severe the cost of poor quality is? It can affect the lives of the customers. There are companies where quality has created greater disaster which has not only cost them money but has brought the business to stop or closure. Understanding this paradigm, companies have started practicing and implementing quality at source – Right First Time. Have you started yet? Compiled by Faber Priyal & Faber Mayuri
- [Refine Skills, to Redefine Yourself as a Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/refine-skills-to-redefine-yourself-as-a-leader/): Leadership is all about refining and redefine yourself with the trends. As you gain more experience as a leader, it becomes more difficult to keep up with all of the new skills that are required to stay relevant. That is why it is critical to continue learning and honing your existing skills.   Here are a few strategies to help leaders improve their skills and open up new opportunities for growth and advancement:  Embrace new Ways of Learning  Being willing to learn new things is often one of the most important ways to advance. As soon as you think you’ve got everything figured out, someone comes along and challenges your assumptions in an exciting way, leading to new insights and ideas.  The trick is to not be afraid of the unknown. The reality is that most failures are recoverable—and developing a resilient workplace moves us closer to success.  Lead yourself First  Leading others starts with leading yourself, being accountable and taking ownership of your own team. If you’re not aligned with your goals, how can you expect to help others? The best way to refine skills is by setting goals that are specific and measurable.  Having a clear vision will not only help your team to focus on what really matters but also allow you to prioritize tasks that are crucial for the daily hustle-and-bustle of work life.  Be more Thoughtful and Mindful  To become more thoughtful and mindful, you need to be aware of your surroundings and how they affect you. Additionally, take a few minutes each day for self-evaluation.    Being thoughtful will help you make better decisions in the future because it allows you to take others into account when making decisions, rather than only thinking of yourself.  Connect your Work with Purpose Finding purpose in your work is an important part of refining your leadership skills. You and your team will be more productive, motivated and creative when you are doing something that has a greater purpose than just making money or getting ahead at work.  Connecting with purpose helps leaders develop skills such as collaboration and inclusion because they have an increased understanding of what motivates people around them.   Develop a Growth Mindset & Be Open to Feedback In order to be open to feedback, you must maintain a growth mindset. Being open-minded helps set the stage for positive communication between team members.   Asking for feedback is also an important step toward developing yourself as a leader. It makes team members feel free enough within an organization to make suggestions without repercussions and allows an organization to bloom.  Conclusion Refining your skills is a great way to take ownership of your growth as a leader. It’s important to note that we don’t need to be perfect at everything before we can make an impact, but it is important that we continuously try our best and keep learning new things. 
- [Teamwork - A Key to Stay Resilient](https://faberinfinite.com/teamwork-a-key-to-stay-resilient/): In today’s fast-paced, constantly changing world, it’s important for businesses to stay resilient and adaptable. One key factor that can help a workspace stay flexible is teamwork. It allows individuals to come together and work towards a common goal, utilizing the strengths and expertise of each team member.  As a manager, it is your job to ensure that your employees are happy and productive. In this article, we will explore how teamwork can help develop and evolve business resilience.  Improved Communication: Good teamwork can improve communication in several ways, such as enhancing clarity, increasing accountability, fostering understanding, and encouraging collaboration.  Teamwork fosters open and honest communication, which is essential for tackling and overcoming challenges. By sharing ideas and concerns openly and frequently, team members can stay informed and work together to find solutions.  Problem-Solving: Working in a team allows for the sharing of different perspectives and approaches to problem-solving. This can help a workspace stay resilient by finding creative and effective solutions to challenges.  By leveraging the power of teamwork, organizations can solve problems more efficiently and effectively, and create a more cohesive and productive work environment.  Sharing of Resources: Teamwork allows for the sharing of resources, such as knowledge, expertise, and equipment, which help industries be future ready by maximizing efficiency and minimizing waste.  Teams can also support each other during times of difficulty or crisis with emotional labor that empowers others and helps them feel appreciated and valued as part of the team. By sharing tasks, a team is able to accomplish more than individuals could on their own.  Increased Motivation: Teamwork can be a powerful tool for increasing motivation in the workplace. When people work together towards a common goal, they often feel a sense of camaraderie and connection with their team members.  Working in a team can uplift motivation and morale, which allow a company stay resilient by keeping team members engaged and focused on their goals.  Improved Company Culture: A positive company culture, fostered by teamwork, can help a workspace tackle crisis by promoting a sense of belonging and support among team members.   Teamwork also makes you feel that you’re contributing to something larger than yourself and your own well-being. This can lead to increased productivity and overall success.  Help Neutralize Conflicts Teamwork can help to create a positive and supportive work environment that can help to mitigate negative feelings and reduce the likelihood of conflict.   Working towards a shared objective, often develop a sense of cooperation that can help to minimize misunderstandings and differences of opinion. Overall, teamwork promotes harmony and collaboration in the workplace.  In Conclusion, Teamwork is a crucial element of any successful workspace. It allows individuals to come together and work towards a common goal, utilizing the strengths and expertise of each team member. By working together and supporting each other, teams can improve problem-solving, enhance communication, increase motivation, and become more adaptable to change.
- [Lead your Team with Emotional Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/lead-your-team-with-emotional-excellence/): If you want to be a great leader, there’s no substitute for emotional excellence. It’s an ancient practice that can help you to be in balance and achieve the results you want. When used effectively, emotional excellence will help make your team members feel more energized and motivated at work, allowing them connect better with their customers or clients.   Be in Charge of your Emotions As a leader, it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life. You have dozens of things on your plate: deadlines, meetings, reports, and more. It can be hard to take time out for yourself—to step away from all those responsibilities, breathe deeply and ask how you feel.   The first step is understanding what’s going on inside you at any given moment. The next one is being aware of the emotions that come up when you’re leading others or when others are leading you. And then there’s the last part: taking action based on how you feel.   Learn about Personality Types As a leader, it’s important to understand the different personality types that make up your team. This knowledge can be applied when making decisions while defining certain roles within your organization.   Knowing someone’s personality type helps you to understand them better and be more effective in your interactions with them. It also helps you to anticipate how they are likely to react in specific situations and give them tasks that fit their strengths.   Develop a More Positive Outlook Emotional Excellence is a great way to develop a more positive outlook. It’s only possible when you focus on the good things in life, and let go of the bad things that don’t matter. For example, if something doesn’t work out as planned, instead of getting angry or upset about it, use that time to think about what went wrong and how you can fix it better next time.   If someone does something rude towards your team, instead of reacting to them in anger, take a step back and teach your team to channelize their emotions into productivity!   Help Others become Emotionally excellent too One of the best ways you can use Emotional Excellence is to help others become emotionally excellent. You can use this model for your team. The more people on your team are emotionally excellent, the more productive they’ll be when working together toward a common goal.   Emotional Excellence isn’t just about becoming more balanced or in control of yourself though. It’s also about achieving the results that we want and need as leaders and organizations.   Conclusion Emotional excellence is a framework that helps you to understand how other people think and feel. The model is based on the idea that by being emotionally excellent, you will achieve better results creating an environment where your team members can thrive. 
- [Transform with the Art of Adaptability](https://faberinfinite.com/transform-with-the-art-of-adaptability/): The world is changing and so are we. In the past, organizations were able to keep up with change by relying on rigid structures and processes. Today, organizations must transform themselves into flexible adaptive systems to thrive in a volatile environment.   This shift from rigidity to flexibility has profound implications for how people work together, collaborate across boundaries, share knowledge and build relationships with one another. All of which can be traced back to their understanding of adaptability as a way of being in the world.  Paves the Road for Transformation The essence of adaptability is that it is a transformative process. In other words, adaptability can be used to transform your organization and its employees, but also your customers or even the market.  If you focus on adaptability as a transformative process and not just an action plan, you will be able to create long-term results and build more sustainable competitive advantages.  As a leader, don’t be afraid to embrace change. To be adaptable you need to be open to change, and you should encourage flexibility and openness in your employees.  Start Limiting Rulebooks It’s important to design structure and guidelines, but they should be considered in the same way that a tool must be used with care to get the best results.  Structure and guidelines are great tools for staying on-track and keeping things running smoothly. Like any other tool in your arsenal though, if you don’t know how to use them appropriately You will fail at building strong relationships with your team members.   So, stop creating rigid rulebooks and motivate teams toward shared goals.  Escape the Unpredictable Crisis When things are predictable, it’s tempting to rely on the tried-and-true leadership style that has served well in the past. But when things go awry, this rigid approach is shattered. Adaptability is not an option but a necessity.  To remain agile in changing environments, you’ll need to get started on this process immediately. Only the art of adapting can help you escape unpredictable future changes.  A Core Value to Implant Adaptability is a core value that transcends industries and business models. If you want your company to be successful in today’s fast-paced, volatile landscape, then you need to make adaptability a core value.  As adaptability is such a critical component of agility and innovation, it will help you solve problems faster and make better decisions more quickly than your competitors.  Conclusion The new world of business is one in which rapid change and constant adaptation are the only sure ways to succeed. If you want your organization to survive, it needs to be flexible and adaptable. The best way to achieve this is by instilling these values in your employees and encouraging them to take advantage of opportunities wherever possible. 
- [For Things to Change, We Must Change](https://faberinfinite.com/for-things-to-change-we-must-change/): Creating meaningful change in an organization is difficult because it requires us to rethink the values and operations, to which we are accustomed to. Change and growth can take time and energy, but it’s important for an organization to keep moving forward.  Change is not a process, but a mindset. We all have to realize that change is everywhere, we just need to open our minds and be ready for it when it comes knocking at our doorsteps! In this article we will discuss how you can change yourself in order to bring about meaningful organizational transformation.  Understanding the Need for a Change The need to change is the first step towards change. But we must realize that this comes in two forms:  The first form is caused by external factors, such as competition or market forces. This is a kind of awareness that can be somewhat difficult to instill in people because there’s no clear reason why they should make changes within their organization.   The second form is personal: it’s about understanding where our feelings about change come from and how they impact our decisions about organizational change.   Embracing an Agile Mindset If you want to become an agile leader and embrace the values of Agile, here are some ways that you can adopt an Agile mindset.  Continuous learning: Focus on knowledge that has a direct application to your work, such as how to improve collaboration with your team or how to better manage stress in the workplace.  Continuous improvement: Once you’ve started learning new things, start looking for ways where those skills can be applied at work. Look for small projects or tasks that can help build up into larger improvements over time.   By tying both continuous learning and improvement you can implement continuous delivery  Analyzing Organizational Processes The next step for changing organization is to understand how the process works. You should also consider how this process is used in an organization, which may require breaking it down into 3 steps.  Acknowledge that something needs to be changed  Identify what needs to be changed and why it needs changing  Plan how you will bring about the change Flattening Organizational Hierarchy If you’re looking to change the culture of your workplace, it’s helpful to understand how organizational hierarchy can affect your team’s productivity and happiness. The key is flattening it as much as possible.  Flattening the organizational hierarchy means breaking down power structures and eliminating unnecessary management layers between employees and executives. This approach has many benefits that can help improve company culture.  Conclusion Change is the constant and only constant today. The organizations which have realized this and have nurtured their people to go through the process of change have survived and are thriving in the cut throat competitive scenario of today. Organizations which are surviving are surviving because they are changing. The organizations which are thriving are thriving because they know how to change. 
- [Want to be a Good Leader? Just Do It!](https://faberinfinite.com/want-to-be-a-good-leader-just-do-it/): Being a good leader is more than just being a boss. It’s about inspiring your team members to reach their full potential and building a sense of teamwork that will last for years to come.  Leadership is not a position, it’s a way of thinking. That is not an entitlement or title, it’s a behavior. Leadership is not something you can learn from books and seminars, it’s an attitude that can be developed over time.  If you want to become a great leader just do it by taking charge and doing what needs to be done! Here are some tips to help you become the leader you want to be.  Start taking Responsibilities If you want to become a leader. You must take responsibility for your actions and learn from them. You must be willing to try new things, even if they don’t work out. It’s just the part of the process to ask for help from your team. Developing a responsible trait as a leader will only make your teammates more confident and resilient at work. Be a Role Model Leading by example in the best way to motivate your team. Being a leader is about helping your teammates achieve excellence. You can’t expect others to follow you if you can’t set a good example for your team. If you want your people to be happy and prosperous in their work, then you have to be a good role model.   Take Risks and Accept Failures It’s important to understand that failure is a great learning experience, so you shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes. Finally, leaders aren’t scared to take risks—they’re brave enough to try new things even when they’re unsure about how things will turn out!  Nourish your Team Being a good leader is not about being an expert in every field. It’s about being able to recognize the right people for the right job and then trusting them enough so that they can do their very best. Leaders are also great listeners. They should care about what their team has to say to value others’ opinions, which is an important part of being a good leader.  Simplify your Goals and Vision It’s very crucial to simplify your goals and vision for your team. Once you’re clear on your goal, it’s time to break it down into smaller steps. As you break down your goals, think about what you need to do next. Identify the core objective and dedicate the team members who can execute the operation in the best possible way – This will help you and your team to work more efficiently towards the goal.  Conclusion If you want to be a good leader, just do it. Don’t wait for things to happen on their own or hope that someone else will make them happen for you. Take ownership of your projects and work hard to make them successful. You don’t need years of experience or any special training—just a willingness to put in the hard work and effort to your work. 
- [5 Essential Skills to Succeed as a Manager](https://faberinfinite.com/managers-toolkit-essential-skills-to-succeed/): It’s easy to think that being a manager means you’re successful. After all, you’re the one in charge of your team and leading them to their goals. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy! In fact, there are many skills you need to develop as a manager if you want to be successful with your team:  Building Relationships Relationships are the foundation of a good team. Team members need to trust and respect each other, and they must be able to communicate openly with one another in order to get their work done effectively.   Building relationships takes time and effort, but it is an ongoing process that you can always improve upon as you gain experience managing people.  Focusing on the Goals of the Team A manager’s success is measured by the goals of their team. To achieve these goals, you must understand what they are and how to set them. You need to create an environment where everyone has a shared understanding of the goal and how to measure success.   It also helps if there is buy-in from each member of your team as it will make them feel accountable for results as well as excited about achieving something together.  Asking Questions As a manager, there will be times when you find yourself in an unfamiliar situation. When that happens, remember to express your queries to your team. You should never hesitate to ask for help or clarification when necessary.  Furthermore, it’s important that you don’t just wait for others to answer your questions; instead, actively seek out answers on your own.   Finding and Utilizing your Strengths The next step to becoming a successful manager is to know your strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t know what you’re good at, then how can you work on improving those talents?   It’s important to understand what your natural talents are, so that when opportunities arise for them to be used in the workplace, you can take advantage of them.   Use Positive Reinforcement instead of Negative Criticism When you’re a manager, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day busyness of your job and forget the importance of keeping your team members happy.   However, when you do take the time to focus on fostering good working relationships with them, you’ll find that they are more productive than ever before. In fact, positive reinforcement is far more effective than negative criticism when it comes to improving employee performance.  Conclusion If you can understand the differences between good and bad management, then you’re already a step ahead. Good managers focus on building relationships with their employees and making sure that they are happy. They also care about what goals their team has set for themselves and help them achieve those goals. So, if you want to be successful as a manager, it all starts with learning these crucial skills!
- [Africa Industrialization Week – A Peep to Past & Future!](https://faberinfinite.com/africa-industrialization-week-a-peep-to-past-future-2/): In order for African nations to achieve inclusive and long-term economic growth, industrial development is essential. The United Nations’ observes “Africa Industrialization Day” on November 20 every year to recognize this endeavour. Taking this a step further, we celebrated “African Industrialization” with a series of exclusive ‘Interview Series’ conducted on November 14-20th. Our intention was to bring together various manufacturing industry experts from around Africa in order to promote the growth and development by the continent’s industrialization. It can drive long term planning , and roadmap for achieving the future goals of Africa. Faber Infinite Consulting is thrilled to share this interview series with key insights about Africa’s Industrial Journey and way forward. Our honoured guests have graced our initiative with their kind support and passion for making Africa great whereby a new vision and conversations has awakened new spirits in all stakeholders. We are confident that together we can contribute towards creative suggestions for fostering potential for industrializing Africa. Click here to view the full interview series: https://youtu.be/vO4XbiZV91E   Written by Faber Aleena Thomas
- [Unlocking Massive Potential of Manufacturing – Industry 4.0](https://faberinfinite.com/unlocking-massive-potential-of-manufacturing-industry-4-0/): Industry 4.0 is a reality in our day. With its extraordinary speed and scale, the Fourth Industrial Revolution enables you to approach operations with a stronger data-driven focus. This information, derived from your assets, is valuable and helps you make wiser choices. Your task will be to discover what counts – getting the correct insights at scale – when you connect more assets into business processes and emerging technologies like 5G and cloud technology. These findings may be crucial to operational resilience in the face of this extraordinary and challenging times. In this article we will talk about the Benefits of Industry 4.0, Key Requirements of Industry 4.0. With markets opening up post pandemic and organizations gearing up to explore and expand markets, companies are becoming increasingly competitive. The competence to adapt new strategies for productivity improvement and increasing profitability is the only way to cope up with the changing environment of the economy. Thus, innovative solutions and sustainable methods are the current requirement which can foresee supply chain disruptions and planning issues. This is where Industry 4.0 becomes the basic necessity for every organization. It assists organizations to become flexible to customer demands and cultivate continual improvement processes to give a competitive advantage to their organization.  The following benefits of Industry 4.0 can make your organisation future ready.   Benefits of Industry 4.0 1. Improved machine uptime thereby increases machine utilization  2. Improved Manpower productivity  3. Controlled Inventory Management through Supply Chain Management  4. Increased innovation  5. Better quality products  6. Higher yield with artificial intelligence  7. Easier adaptation of operation processes  8. Enhanced workplace safety  9. Increased collaborative work environment  10. Flexible manufacturing systems  Faber Infinite, one of the finest management consulting organizations globally with their extensive experience of instilling Industry 4.0 has listed down 9 Pillars of which drives Industry 4.0. The Industry 4.0 Readiness Audit rolled out by Faber Infinite can make organizations resilient in operations, agile and sustainable in production, as well as self-reliant for innovation. The Prerequisites of Industry 4.0 to be focused on during the roll out process are:  Key Requirements of Industry 4.0 Operational Data Analytics  Virtual Manufacturing Facility  Universal System Integration  Industrial Internet of Things  Self-Governing Equipment Systems  Cloud Computing  Cyber Security  Augmented reality  Additive Manufacturing  Organizations should prepare themselves for adopting the rapid changes.  One of the most needed element to introduce Industry 4.0 is organization strategy with clear vision statement, open mind to change and empowering teams by appropriate training. Industry leaders must anticipate needs while planning to shift gears which includes allocation of budget and induce flexibility for planning future steps.   Faber Infinite has successfully rolled out Industry 4.0 Readiness Audit for esteemed clients to provide the insights on where they stand in their Industry 4.0 journey. Every futuristic organization has started large scale implementation of industry 4.0 with Faber Infinite where continual improvement played significant role in adoption of initiatives (company wide), system integration, empowered workforce and driving the demanding change.     Want to drive implementation of Industry 4.0?   Reach out to us for conducting Industry 4.0 Readiness Audit for your organisation!  Contact Now: www.faberinfinite.com  Ready to unlock the massive potential of manufacturing in the era of Industry 4.0? Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity to stay ahead of the competition. Fill out the form below and gain access to invaluable insights and strategies that will revolutionize your manufacturing operations. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas
- [Re think Strategies for Excellence in Pharmaceuticals Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/rethink-strategies-for-excellence-in-pharma-industry/): India is highly regarded for its cheap vaccinations and generic medicines and is the world’s largest supplier of generic meds. The Indian pharmaceutical sector has developed over time into a robust industry, rising at a CAGR of 9.43% over the past nine years, and is officially third largest in pharmaceutical output by volume. Some of the key sectors of the Indian pharmaceutical business include generic drugs, over-the-counter medicines, bulk meds, vaccines, & manufacturing bio pharmaceuticals Industry, and biologics.  As pharma industry emerge from two years of intensive firefighting, this fresh focus on operational strategy couldn’t come at a better time. Under these innovative and demanding circumstances, pharma success will depend on operations success.  Organizations are working with Team Faber Infinite to get the results they want without investing any additional CAPEX. In more than 10 countries, Team Faber has delivered outstanding results that have facilitated pharmaceutical companies in improving operational efficiencies.   A Sneak Peek at the Benefits Delivered to Various Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Clients:  Further to the engagement of Team Faber, labour productivity increased by more than 40% for one of our clients from generic drug manufacturers.   In two of the units of a renowned pharma manufacturing company that produces vials, there was an increase of production by 27% and 53%, respectively.  Team Faber assisted pharma organizations in increasing their sales by millions, by releasing hidden production capacity for one of the clients in biosciences.   Team Faber facilitated multiple organizations in improving production outputs and efficiencies at packing lines for client from biotech product manufacturing.   Reduced the standard deviation in the production time of powder enzymes by 62% for one of the innovative enzymes’ producers.   Following the adoption of the DMAIC methodology, there were no batch rejections for one of the clients who produces anti-infective, anti-diabetic and many other drugs.  Typical areas for improvement  Enhancing productivity and output at the production line through total productive maintenance (TPM), batch size optimization, yield enhancement, and loss reduction via value stream mapping (VSM) and production planning initiatives  Management of daily tasks to maintain improvements   Increased productivity of the workforce reducing change over time, strengthening QA/QC procedures, and releasing hidden capacity  Inventory Management  Quality improvement and batch failure reduction  The current emphasis on continuous improvement, including cost savings, quality assurance, and constant delivery readiness, may need to give way for operational leaders to longer-term external issues. These include a high rate of inflation, an increase in complexity and risk, as well as the interactions between these forces.  In the areas of pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Team Faber has been creating exceptional growth opportunities. The client teams can receive support from incorporating the Organizational Transformation Framework by Faber Infinite to navigate throughout difficult times.  Written by Faber Aleena Thomas Contact Us
- [Now is the best time to Improve, Accelerate Profits in 2023](https://faberinfinite.com/best-time-to-improve-accelerate-profits-in-2023/): Amidst the current challenges, are you the one that is looking for good times to approach? The manufacturing sector continues to outperform forecasts from previous years despite supply constraints, labour shortage, and unstable economic climate. Leaders must take advantage of digital technologies, incorporate efforts for future-oriented strategies, and promote supply chain resilience in order to sustain this growth.  A robust strategy is necessary to compete in the current marketplace; therefore, the best time to start your improvement journey is by planning. Despite recent highs in both overall demand and production capacity, there are signs that they might not be as favourable in the near future.  Concerns about inflation and the state of the economy are currently present in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturers are also still struggling with the issue of finding qualified staffs, which could slow the industry’s expansion. In addition, in 2023, it is likely that problems with the supply chain, such as bottlenecks in sourcing, backlogs in global logistics, increases in costs, and security concerns, will continue to be significant barriers. Significant trends for the industry leaders to consider in increasing the potential of manufacturing in the upcoming year with their approach are: 1. Making your operations efficient – waste free for paving way for Industry 4.0: Over the past few years, manufacturers have enhanced their digital transformation investment and set in motion the deployment of futuristic work practices/ technologies. However, considering the situation of white swan events like the pandemic, global conflicts, broken supply chains and others, organizations need to demonstrate greater operational resilience and agility. The required agility can be developed with continued efforts in robust Manufacturing Excellence Systems & Methods.   2. Using a variety of skill building & talent management techniques to cut down on discretionary shakeups: In 2023, most manufacturers anticipate that acknowledging the high unemployment rate and workforce attrition amid changing technical abilities or approaches will continue to be a key priority. Jobs available in the sector are still close to all-time highs despite a record number of new hires. Operational effectiveness, higher productivity and quick skill building tools can reduce the ongoing labour shortage, which is being made worse by supply chain constraints. Manufacturers are pursuing several strategies to improve their strategy for talent retention and upskilling. The classic tool of TWI is what the doctors prescribe in the current state.     3. Adapting to proven mitigation techniques with improved strategies for achieving supply assurance:  According to the study, the industry faces the greatest uncertainty even in the upcoming year due to the ongoing supply chain disruptions and the enduring scarcity of essential materials. Manufacturers are reducing these risks by utilizing digital technology more frequently as well as established methods and enhanced supply chain models to strengthen the supply chains.  NOW is the BEST time to accomplish these key pointers! Industry leaders were rebuilding in 2022, while planning strategies to combat the shortcomings and aiming for growth. To leverage the current possibilities, optimize the available resources. Manufacturing leaders must put their best efforts to capitalize on their strengths and supercharge productivity.  Reach out to team Faber Infinite to put your business on Infinite Road in 2023. Use cases on the above 3 points available on request.     Written by Faber Aleena Thomas
- [5 Ways Reading can Develop your Management Skills](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-reading-can-develop-your-management-skills/): If you’re a leader, then it’s important to always be on top of your game. That means taking the time to read books that will help you learn new skills and improve your performance as a manager or business owner. Listed below are ways in which books can help you to Develop your management skills.  Open up your world to new possibilities Reading books can help you see things from a different perspective. Sometimes it’s hard to look at the bigger picture, but reading is an excellent way to do so. For example, if you are in sales, by reading a book on management or leadership, you will learn more about how to manage people and also get some great ideas that could be useful in your current position.   Help you understand the problems in front of you If a problem is too big to tackle, it’s important to understand the context and history of that problem. Reading books can help provide this context. If a problem is too small to solve, it’s also important to understand how the people involved in it feel about it. Reading books can help provide this insight into how others feel about a certain situation or event.  Books can boost your creativity Reading books and articles can help you to think outside the box. It is important to have a creative mind when managing people and projects, as this will help you find new solutions to problems. Reading books helps you develop a more creative mind and come up with new ideas for solving problems in your organization or workplace.  Develops Critical Thinking Critical thinking skills are important in management because they allow leaders at all levels in an organization or workplace environment. Reading can also provide great insights into what other industries are doing right now by increasing sales and profit – making it easier for us to come up with solutions that work not only for our business but also others around us!  Prepared you for Challenges The last thing you want to do is come off as uninformed when you are giving a presentation or making a pitch. Books are a great way to keep up with the latest trends and news in your industry, helping you be more prepared for challenges that may come your way. It also boosts manpower productivity improvement in a particular organization.  Conclusion So, do get your hands on some good books, that help you sharpen your management skills delivering operational excellence in your organization. As by incorporating a little bit of book learning into your daily routine, you can gain valuable insight into management and leadership – which can be applied to achieve success. 
- [Total Quality Management: For Systematic Improvement!](https://faberinfinite.com/total-quality-management-for-systematic-improvement/): ‘Quality is not an act, it is a habit’- by Aristotle, upholds the mantra for organizations that target growth and continuous improvement for their business. The businesses will continue to operate smoothly only when the organisations will align themselves with the current trends and innovations.  Process improvement plays a major role in changing businesses as it evaluates the current processes and adapts changes to that processes to increase productivity and streamline the workflow. There are several management methodologies that focus on improving processes and delivering quality products to their customers.  The popular philosophies encapsulating process improvement are: Six Sigma, Lean Management, Total Quality Management (TQM), 8D Methodology and others. These methodologies converge at a point where the goal is to identify the root cause of a problem, data driven decision making, minimize inefficiencies of the process, implement continuous improvement initiatives and implement change.   To modify operations and meet the needs of the clients, a lot of businesses employ the most effective methodology, around Quality Management. It focuses on process improvement as well as quality improvement. This also includes formulating a quality policy, coming up with and carrying out quality assurance and planning, as well as quality control and improvement initiatives.   Unlike the fundamental 7QC Tools that work upon data and figures, TQM advocates for a system approach where decision-making is done with data and performance metrics. Here are the 7 Quality Management (Total Quality Management – TQM) tenets for enhancing the production processes adhering to quality improvement. 7 Total Quality Management Skill to Improve Quality Customers come first: Customer priority should always exist, from initial contact to purchase and ongoing support, unwavering attention to the customer’s experience should be ensured.   Ownership by operators: Every team member must participate in TQM to guarantee that complete quality control is provided at every level.  Process-based: TQM places an emphasis on developing and implementing procedures that give organizations the capacity to identify and build upon success. For the implementation of TQM to be successful, success must be measured and the path to it must be specified.  Incorporating systems: Utilizing every asset at the company’s disposal is central to TQM strategies. The most effective way to accomplish this is through system integrations, which bring together various organizational components into a single, well-oiled machine that functions in perfect harmony-based functioning. Communication: TQM demands that each team member perform at their peak level and contribute to the team’s success. Thus, effective TQM practices place a high priority on openness and communication.  Data-driven: TQM avoids speculation. Instead, data is used to strengthen the organization and decisions are based on measurable facts.   Continual Improvement: TQM is not a one-time procedure. Since perfection is unachievable, it must constantly be sought after to bring the organization as close to it as possible.  When a company embarks on a quality improvement journey, especially for 7 QC tools or projects via 8D methodology are usually utilized for picking low-hanging fruits – whereas DMAIC methodology is rolled out for complex quality challenges. Thus, TQM along with other improvement tools are essential to analyze and define information relating to problem-solving to quality improvement of processes, products, and services.   
- [6 Steps to the Magic of Setting Goals](https://faberinfinite.com/the-magic-of-setting-goals/): Goals are a great way to keep track of your progress and ensure that you are moving forward in the right direction. They also help you focus on what is important, rather than just getting distracted by every shiny object that comes along. However, setting goals is magic, and to master them you need to consider the following steps:  Know what you want When you know what your goal is, and have written it down in the form of a vision statement or a mission statement, then it is much easier to stay focused on that goal.  Knowing what you want from your career will help you to prioritize which activities are most important for achieving that goal.  Let go of your Excuses Excuses are a way of avoiding the truth. The truth is, you are responsible for your own success. You have to take ownership of it and be accountable for it.  Excuses stop us from achieving our dreams because they prevent us from making positive changes in our lives that would help us to set goals for the future.  Be Realistic and Specific Being very specific in setting and working towards your goals gives you clarity. It also helps your team members to achieve their goals without taking any mental pressure.  A realistic goal helps you focus on the core of what you want—and it makes it easier for others including yourself to understand and measure success.  Use your Imagination to give your Goals Life Use your imagination as much as possible and visualize yourself achieving your goals in detail. Picture what success looks like and how it feels inside when you’re there.   Imagine all of these feelings for every single one of your goals: excitement about reaching them, motivation on a daily basis toward getting closer to them, confidence in knowing that they are achievable—and more!  Create Action Steps Another important step to learning the magic of setting goals is by creating an action plan and acting accordingly with dedication. Such as:  Break your goal into smaller steps.  Make sure each step is measurable.  Make sure each step is specific, clear and results-oriented.  The objective should be realistic given the time, and resources available to you.  Re-evaluate your Progress Regularly This can be as often as once a day, or it can be a weekly or monthly thing. You can also set a calendar to re-evaluate your progress regularly.  As you’re going along, take a look at how well you are doing and make sure you are still on track with your goals. If not, figure out the problem and get back on track.  Conclusion Setting goals is one of the most important parts of achieving success, but it can be difficult to figure out where to start and how to do it right. This #Transformation_Tuesday let us learn the magic of setting goals.  Contact Us
- [5 Tips to Manage Remote Team as a Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/tips-to-manage-remote-team/): There are many challenges in leading a remote team. You have to handle not just remote communication issues but also coordination, motivation, and much more. In this Transformation Tuesday, we have listed down some of the key tips that can help you to manage a remote team.  Use Communication Tools Effectively You can use tools such as instant messaging, video conferencing, and collaborative document editing to keep in touch with your remote team.  Use tools that can be used on multiple devices. This is important because you need to be able to communicate with your team when away from the office, while still being able to work on other tasks at home or in the office.  Assign Tasks and Track Progress The first step is to decide which employees are going to take on which tasks. This will depend on their strengths and weaknesses. If they need more guidance or direction, then you should consider assigning them a mentor within the company who can help them if they need assistance.  Once you’ve assigned them tasks, it’s time for setting deadlines and milestones for each task in order to track progress regularly throughout its completion process.  Focus on your Team’s Career Growth As a leader, it’s important to focus on your team’s career growth. This can be done in many ways. You can create mentoring and training opportunities for employees to learn new skills and meet people outside of their immediate team.   Providing learning opportunities will allow them to advance in their careers while also giving you a chance to see what they’re capable of so you can plan for future promotions and recognition at work.  Encourage Employees to Unplug Once in a while As a leader, you have the ability to set the tone for your team’s work-life balance. Encourage your employees to unplug once in a while so they can spend time doing things that fulfill them outside of work, like spending time with their families or friends.  In addition, encourage them to take some time away from their devices and go outdoors—this is especially important if they spend most of their days working remotely at home.  Maintain flexibility and trust in decision-making One of the biggest hurdles to overcome when managing a remote team is maintaining trust. to build trust with your team you need to establish a clear vision for how you want things done and communicate it clearly.  Also, allow for plenty of room for flexibility, when possible, without compromising the quality or efficiency of work. It will allow your team to make decisions independently, so you don’t have to micromanage every detail of their workday.  Conclusion If you’re a remote team leader, then you know how hard it can be to manage a team. However, with effective management strategies and tools, along with proper communication methods in place – distance doesn’t have to be an obstacle when it comes to leading your team remotely. 
- [5 Steps to Improve Communication Skills as a Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/steps-to-improve-communication-skills-as-a-leader/): If you’re a leader, the most important thing you can do is communicate effectively with your employees and coworkers. Whether you’re providing feedback on their performance or trying to rally them around a new initiative, communication skills are critical to the success of any project. In this transformation Tuesday, we’ll go over some tips for improve communication skills as a leader.  Develop emotional intelligence Empathy and emotional intelligence are important skills. Emotional intelligence is a set of skills that help you understand and manage your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.   As a leader, you must learn empathy in order to manage relationships effectively and build trust with your team members.  Be aware of your body language One of the crucial aspects of effective communication is body language. Your posture, facial expressions and gestures give others insight into how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking.   Being aware of your own body language is only half the battle: You also need to be able to read others’ body language as well as use it as an indicator of how they’re feeling.   Communicate the vision of your company This sounds simple, but if you practice this skill regularly and with full commitment, you’ll find that it’s not as easy as it might seem at first glance.  To communicate the vision of your company, you must be able to articulate what it is, how it works and why it’s necessary for everyone in your company. You also need to be able to clearly explain this vision with clarity.   Be mindful when giving praise and complaints Praise is a powerful tool to encourage good behavior, but it can become meaningless if you’re not careful.   Compliments should be specific and sincere, not throwaway remarks that you use as a reward for employees who have done something right. If an employee has made real progress, don’t hesitate to let them know.   Illustrate your Points Through a Story To bolster your communication skills as a leader, it’s very important to learn the ability to create and communicate through an authentic and compelling story.  Employees find it easier to refer and connect to an image of a story than to talk about a statement or project plan. On top of that, telling good stories builds trust and binds the hearts and minds of your employees with you. When you tell a good story, you give life to your plans, goals, and visions.  Conclusion The better you can communicate with others, the more effective you will be as a leader. If you make an effort to improve these aspects of your communication style, then you will be able to work together with others more effectively and build better relationships in your organization. 
- [5 Ways to Implant Social Values in Your Organization](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-implant-social-values-in-your-organization/): There is a lot of research and studies done on the effect of social values in an organization. Social values like empathy, fairness, trust, and honesty are very important for the health of an organization. The leadership plays an important role in inculcating these values among their employees by making them aware of these values.  Using Culture as a Diffusion Tool Culture is the way people communicate, work together, and treat each other. When you understand your culture and how it affects your organization, you can use it as a diffusion tool.   Once you’ve got an idea of what good looks like and how it contributes to the overall goals of your organization, it’s time to begin the process of changing your culture.   This includes communicating with employees about what you hope to achieve through cultural change and enlisting their support for this new direction.  Celebrate Your Cares and Concerns Consider celebrating both the good things that happen and the bad things that happen. . This creates an environment where people feel appreciated for their contributions, which helps them be more productive and engaged in their work.  It can also help them feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves, which is important when you’re trying to create social change within an organization.   Have Clear Rules, Guidelines, and Policies Your business should have clear rules and policies for employees to follow. These can be updated regularly but must be communicated to everyone in the company so that they know what is expected of them.   The policies should be easy to understand, as well as be transparent and communicated clearly at all times. This will help your employees understand how they are expected to behave while at work and what they can expect from the organization itself.  Impart Training on Social Values to the Employees Human beings are social beings and hence, need social values. The employees and managers in an organization should be trained to imbibe them.  Training should be imparted in a practical way so that it becomes easy for people to follow and implement the instructions given by their superiors or management.  Foster Empathy and Support Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It’s a skill that can be learned and practiced, and it’s a vital part of any organization.  Support, on the other hand, is a feeling of care and concern for someone. As support grows within an organization, so does empathy—and when you have both working in harmony together, your company will be stronger than ever.  Conclusion As we can see, there are various ways to inculcate social values in your organization. Inculcating social values will make your workplace healthy. You should also encourage empathy among your team members so that they treat each other with respect and care while performing their tasks.  Ready to create a socially conscious organization that makes a positive impact? Discover the 5 powerful strategies to implant social values in your organization and shape a better future. Fill out the form below to receive a comprehensive guide on fostering social responsibility within your company. Take the first step towards building a purpose-driven organization today!
- [How to develop critical thinking Among your Team Members](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-develop-critical-thinking-among-your-team-members/): Critical thinking skills are an essential element in any organization. It is important to know how to use critical thinking in order to solve problems.  It can help them identify opportunities and make better decisions that are grounded in reality rather than their emotions or assumptions. Here are some tips for developing your employees’ critical thinking skills:  Understand the need for engaging in focused conversation As leaders of teams, we often have trouble engaging in focused conversations because we are often distracted by our own thoughts about what others think about us instead of focusing on what others actually say or do.   In order to develop critical thinking skills, you need to understand the need for engaging in focused conversation. Try practicing mindfulness exercises with them so everyone gets better.  Ask questions that will stimulate critical thinking The next step to develop critical thinking among your team members is asking questions that will stimulate critical thinking.   Questions like “do you agree?”, “is this good enough?” and “how does this work?” are not going to help people think critically about the problem at hand. They will only make them feel pressured into giving an answer quickly without really engaging with the question itself.  Encourage your employees to look at things from a different perspective Ask your employees to look at things from a different perspective. For example, have them explain why they think something happened, or what they would do if they were given certain information.  You can also use brainstorming sessions where each person contributes ideas but no one is allowed to critique anyone else’s work. This creates an environment that encourages people not only come up with creative solutions but also take ownership over their ideas.  Encourage the free flow of information It’s important that you encourage open communication with your employees. You can do this by holding regular meetings where the entire team gathers together to discuss progress and challenges, so everyone feels heard and valued during these conversations.  As an added bonus, encouraging an open dialogue will help you improve communication between departments as well as projects within the company.  Ask for feedback and don’t be afraid of criticism Criticism is a gift, and the sooner you realize that, the better it will be for your career. Ask for feedback on your work with an open mind. It will only help you improve as a person and an employee.  Listen to what other people have to say about your work and try not to take it personally. Criticism is something we all need at times, so don’t let your ego get in the way of learning from others!  Conclusion  Critical thinking is an important skill to develop in your team members. By encouraging them to ask questions, look at things from different perspectives, engage in focused conversation, provide feedback and avoid being afraid of criticism, you’re helping them recognize when their critical thinking skills could be improved upon. 
- [5 Ways to you can Improve as a Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-you-can-improve-as-a-leader/): Improvement is the key to achieving success. Being a leader doesn’t mean you have reached your end goal. A leader should constantly improve their physical, emotional, and mental skills to lead their team toward productivity.    If you want to become a great leader, it’s crucial for you to develop the trait of self-improvement. Only the urge to improve yourself as a leader can help establish long-term success. Mentioned below are five key pointers you should work on to improve your leadership skills.  Develop Goal-Oriented Mindset You need to develop a goal-oriented mindset. It will allow you to set goals for yourself and your team. When it comes to setting goals, try to keep things simple, refined, and planned.  You also need to give your team members realistic expectations about what can realistically be achieved in a certain amount of time.  Learn the Skill to Delegate It’s very important for leaders to learn this skill. By delegating work to your employees, you can make them feel empowered. The skill will help you to assign work or projects to employees who have the capabilities to execute tasks flawlessly.  Delegating tasks helps to establish a systematic working environment where roles and responsibilities are well defined. It helps the company become more flexible, effective, and efficient in operations.  Consume Quality Content Read books and articles on topics like public speaking and leadership. This will give you a better understanding of how people communicate with each other, which will help you as a leader when it comes to consensus-building and dealing with conflict.  By consuming quality content, you can learn and develop better engagement with your employees and clients. This also helps your business grow at a very promising rate.  Handle Conflicts In an organization having people with different mindsets are quite normal and different mindsets can lead to conflicts. Ignoring these small outrages can break your team and hamper the business.  In order to improve yourself as a leader, you must learn to handle conflicts. This can be achieved by establishing proper communication and regular engagement with the employees. Also, you need to listen to both sides of the story before jumping to a conclusion.  Open yourself to Ideas Improving yourself as a leader also means to keep learning new ideas from your mentors and employees. It can only be possible if you open up yourself for growth. Try finding mentors from diverse organizations to get experience and knowledge.  Learning new ideas and values helps a leader to eliminate problems in a better way. Most importantly it provides you with different angles to analyze and execute your future plans as a leader.  Conclusion Leadership is about becoming the best version of yourself.  This article discussed the strengths, and weaknesses and how best to leverage them as a leader. You can follow and implement the pointers to improve yourself as an efficient and effective leader.
- [6 Essential Tips to lead your team with Emotional Intelligence](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-lead-your-team-with-emotional-intelligence/): Being a leader can be challenging, and there are times when you find yourself in situations that require you to be at your best. That’s why it’s important to have emotional intelligence — an understanding of every emotion and those of the people around you.   Emotional Intelligence helps leaders recognize their own feelings and accurately read the emotional state of others. This ability is critical because most teams involve individuals who are comfortable with each other and communicate effectively.  Get to know the people around you  The more you know about your team, the more effective you can be as a leader. You should understand what each member of your team is good at and what their strengths are. When you understand these things about each person on your team, leading them becomes easy.   Admit and apologize for your mistakes Making an effort to apologize is also important because it shows that you care about what other people think. People want leaders who will listen to them and act on their concerns. An effective way of demonstrating this is through sincere apologies when things go wrong.  Rise to meet new challenges The ability to rise to meet challenges is a critical skill for leaders, and it’s one that depends on emotional intelligence. A leader who doesn’t have an open mind will be unable to accept new ideas and change the way they do things when circumstances call for it.  Calm down during heated exchanges Try to remain calm in a heated situation. Stop overreacting or making rash decisions under pressure. Process the information before making important choices that could impact the rest of your career.  Help others manage their emotions Emotional intelligence is about being able to manage your own emotions. It’s also about helping others to do the same. You can help your team by listening to them, and repeating back what they said. That shows that you are listening and supporting them in managing their emotions.   Put yourself in other people’s shoes Empathy is a key component of emotional intelligence and being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes is what makes you a good leader. You can’t expect your team to perform if they don’t know what you want out of them. It’s up to you to help your employees understand their role on the team.  Conclusion Emotional intelligence is a skill. The more you practice it, the better you’ll get. As a leader, it’s your job to inspire those around you and make them feel like they can do anything. Once you’ve learned them, they’ll help you be more effective at work by helping you handle relationships with clients, colleagues, and supervisors more easily than before. 
- [UNBOXING New LOOK - Faber Infinite Consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/unboxing-new-look-faber-infinite-consulting/): The world is changing at a much faster rate than in previous years, and keeping up with this transition is critical. This new era of digitalization necessitates high performance and rapid undertakings, which not only benefits your business but also ensures the steady and upward growth of the stakeholders associated with you. As a result, Faber Infinite, one of the best global management consulting firms, is also upgrading! We are excited to launch our new website, which includes updated, informative content to help you learn more about us and what we can do for you. We’ve developed a smooth, modern look and improved site navigation to help our users find exactly what they’re looking for and to better represent who we are as a company. Change and improvement are central themes at Faber Infinite Consulting, in both life and work. We create the opportunities that you seek. Our website will be regularly updated with new, exciting, and interesting content such as job postings, blog posts, and videos. Please follow us on social media for the latest trending updates! Have you looked at our website yet? We’d love to hear from you, so please check it out at: faberinfinite.com
- [The Best Advise for a Young Leader](https://faberinfinite.com/the-best-advice-for-a-young-leader/): Leading a team is not just a job but a responsibility. Most young leaders need to understand that taking up leadership means leading the team to success.Young leaders who want to be effective managers must understand how their role differs from their peers and co-workers. Today, we’ll talk about the Best Advise for a Young Leader at work. Never Stop Learning Learning is a lifelong process. If you want to be a leader, you should learn how to learn. It’s as simple as that. The best leaders are those who can take their own experiences and apply them in new ways. Learning is being open to new ideas. The learning process includes mistakes and failures as well as successes. It’s more important that you learn from them than avoid them altogether—and sometimes even mistakes can lead us down paths we wouldn’t have gone down otherwise! Prioritize Self-Care Self-care is important. It’s not selfish to take care of yourself, and it’s not a luxury—it’s an essential part of being able to do your job well.Taking breaks in between work helps keep you energized and alert. Prioritizing self-care helps you to keep your social life on track. It also provides mental stability and keeps your professional life out of your personal life. Listen to Your Team. The first step in becoming a good leader is to listen to your team. When you ask for advice, don’t be afraid of how they might respond. Instead, listen and absorb what they have to say. If you are unsure about something, ask them! You can learn more by asking questions than by trying things out on your own without any outside perspective. Avoid the Blame Game. The blame game is a waste of time. It’s also a sign that you’re not leading your team in the right way, or if you are, it’s because you don’t have the skills needed to lead effectively. The blame game is ultimately a sign that your communication isn’t good enough—or worse, it’s an indication that there’s something wrong with how you manage others on your team and what they think about their work environment. Surround Yourself with Brilliant People The best advice is to surround yourself with brilliant people. Every single person around you can offer something valuable to your life, even if it’s just their opinion. It will help you to get access to all of their knowledge and experience. Good advice can help you to grow further and sharpen your leadership qualities. Conclusion Always remember that leadership is about giving back to others. As you grow in your career, you just need to focus more on those around you. Many people who work for you will likely be influenced by your success and as a result, your team and your organization will see great results!
- [Change Management Strategies for Leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/change-management-strategies-for-leaders/): The world of business is changing. As a result, leaders need to be aware of how they can manage change and help employees embrace it. This article will explore actionable steps for creating an environment where employees feel comfortable with the changes that are taking place within their company and are ready to accept new ideas without resistance. Recognize the Importance of ‘Change Readiness’ To be ready for change, leaders need to understand the importance of “change readiness.” Change readiness is defined as a person’s ability to deal with a situation and make decisions when something unexpected happens. Change readiness can be measured by asking yourself these questions: Am I comfortable with change? Do I have a plan in place for how I will react when something goes wrong? The first step in becoming a better leader is to recognize that change happens and that you can’t avoid it. The next step is learning how to manage change so it doesn’t take over your life. Become a Change leader As a leader, you’re responsible for managing change in your organization. Change leaders help employees understand the reasons for change and provide leadership support during implementation. They also communicate with employees about changes so that they can make informed decisions about how to respond. For example, if new rules are being implemented at work or if a new project is coming up, it’s important that those affected by these changes have plenty of time to prepare themselves before they take effect so that no one feels unprepared or overwhelmed by them. Be Transparent Tell the truth about why you need to make the change, how it will impact your team, and what you’re doing to help employees adjust. People want to know what’s going on—and if they don’t know, they won’t be able to adapt effectively. Ask for their input on how best to communicate changes so that people understand them well enough before any changes happen! Establish a Positive Connection It’s important to keep the lines of communication open with your employees. Be honest, but also be direct and clear in what you want them to accomplish. If they need help with something, don’t wait —ask for it! This can help prevent misunderstandings or frustration later on when things go wrong. In addition, make sure that all members of the team feel valued by giving them regular feedback about their performance and how they’re doing in general. This will inspire them to continue doing great things for their company as well as themselves. Conclusion There are many different strategies that can be helpful, but it’s important to remember that change is not a one-and-done event—it takes time and commitment from all employees. Encouraging employees to become a part of the change process, as well as helping them understand what their role will be during an uncertain time like this one, you’re setting yourself up for success!
- [How to Lead an Effective Meeting](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-lead-an-effective-meeting/): If you’re in charge of a meeting, you know how important it is to lead an effective one. People are more likely to take action when they feel as though their ideas are being listened to and respected. This article will help you lead meetings that get results and build trust with your colleagues so that everyone can work together effectively. Confirm objectives and agenda Begin by confirming the purpose of your meeting then set out a clear agenda for each section of the discussion. It’s important that everyone involved understands what they’re being asked to accomplish at this point in time, otherwise, there won’t be much point in continuing with the meeting! Start the meeting on time If you are running late, start the meeting as soon as possible. This will allow everyone to know that you are just as eager to get started as they are and help them feel comfortable with being late. Take care of any other tasks before taking a seat so you don’t interrupt their train of thought or discussion points. Take control of the meeting To lead an effective meeting, you should take control of the conversation. First and foremost, make sure everyone is focused on what you want to achieve by this meeting. Start explaining the point with proper examples in an engaging tone. Use digital presentations and structured agendas to lead the meeting in the right direction. Don’t leave important issues for the end If you don’t discuss important issues at the beginning of your meeting, there’s no guarantee that someone will remember or even ask about it later on. Indeed, there may be no way for them to even know that these questions should’ve been raised from the outset. So, it’s important to address these issues earlier in the meeting. Allow time for discussion  It is important to allow time for the meeting to be a conversation. If you rush through your agenda and expect everyone else in the room to do the same, it will not be productive or effective. The best way is by making sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak and be heard, as well as making sure that each person understands what was said before moving on with whatever new topic. Follow up after the meeting with a summary After the meeting, you should send a summary of action items to each attendee. This is a good way to confirm that they understand what was discussed and their responsibilities in taking action on it. You can also use this email as an opportunity for follow-up with attendees who didn’t complete their tasks or weren’t able to attend. Conclusion The key is to make sure you’re leading a meeting that’s focused on improving growth and finding solutions. You can do this by creating an environment where everyone is comfortable sharing ideas, collaborating on strategies, and committing to goals together, while making sure everyone feels valued.
- [How to Avoid Leadership Mistakes in Offices](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-avoid-leadership-mistakes-in-offices/): The leadership mistakes we make are often a result of our lack of experience. We don’t know how to talk to our team, or what kind of feedback will help them grow. We don’t know how to avoid burnout and stress in the office, or how best to avoid conflicts with coworkers. In this article, I’ll share some tips for avoiding those common pitfalls so that you can be a better leader at work!  Stop setting unrealistic deadlines One of the most common leadership mistakes is setting unrealistic goals. While it can be tempting to set impossible deadlines and then work around them, this approach can easily lead to stress and burnout.  Instead of setting yourself up for failure by setting huge goals that’s hard to achieve, take a step back and think about what kind of progress you would like to see at each milestone along your journey towards your goal.  Be secure with your staff The next step to avoiding these mistakes is to build trust with your team. You can do this by being reliable and consistent, allowing them the freedom to make decisions and ensuring that they feel valued as individuals.  If you have a bad reputation for being insincere or mistrusting, it will be difficult for others around you to trust you and they may not have any faith in what direction their work will go.  Stop creating a dependent team When you’re the leader, it’s easy to think of yourself as having all the answers. But in reality, your employees need to be able to trust you so they can do their jobs effectively and efficiently.  If they don’t feel like they have control over their own work, then they’ll become frustrated and resentful. You should give up all illusionary power by delegating tasks and setting clear goals for each member of your team.   Don’t exhaust yourself by stretching resources You need to be efficient, but you also need to be fair. If you have a lot of work, it’s important that you make sure that this doesn’t negatively impact your family life or personal health.  Don’t try to do everything yourself. Be comfortable with delegating tasks and responsibilities. Ask for help from your coworkers before taking on a task that is too big for one person alone.  Being in an office all day can lead to burnout and poor performance, so try not to overdo it by working late into the evening or on weekends. Taking time off isn’t just about getting away from the job, it’s also about taking care of yourself.   Conclusion As you can see, many of these mistakes are common to all types of leadership. The most important thing is to avoid them by making sure that you know yourself first and foremost. If you know your strengths and weaknesses, then it will be easy for you to spot any mistakes before they happen. 
- [Leadership Habits to Build Trust from Your Subordinates](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-habits-to-build-trust-from-your-subordinates/): Building trust is a crucial component of effective leadership. And yet, many leaders fail to establish this connection with their teams. Why? The answer lies in their failure to understand the key elements that create and sustain trust—and why these are so important in the first place.  Developing a trusting relationship with your employees doesn’t take much time or effort on your part. It simply requires that you pay attention to and address the small things that matter most to them as individuals.  Study your subordinates’ strengths and weaknesses The best leaders are able to get the most out of their team, and they do this by understanding what motivates them. You must let them lead the conversation. If it seems like there’s something missing from their answer, ask more questions until you’ve gathered enough information.  Set clear expectations for each team member As a leader, you should make sure that your team understands what is expected of them. This will help them to deliver on the goals of the company and ensure that there are no surprises in performance reviews. If possible, start by setting clear expectations for yourself as well—it’s important to know what you want to achieve before going into any situation.  Follow through on promises This is so important for building trust with your team! If you say you’ll do something by a certain time, then make sure to keep your promise. You can even use this as an opportunity to show that you’re capable of leading and planning ahead.  Be honest and transparent Being honest and transparent requires that you show empathy for others, accept responsibility for mistakes, admit when you’re wrong and take ownership of situations. It requires self-awareness and an understanding that everyone makes mistakes at times; some things can’t be helped but other things can be corrected (or compensated) if we learn from them.  Give consistent, accurate feedback As a leader, you should be providing your team with consistent and accurate feedback on their performance. The feedback that is delivered on time will help your employees to improve their performance by working on their weak points.   Acknowledge others’ contributions and successes It’s a simple gesture that can have a profound impact on morale and build trust. When you publicly acknowledge an employee’s achievements, it makes them feel valued and appreciated. This in turn helps you build rapport with your team members and encourages them to do their best work for you.  Conclusion We hope these tips have helped you get a better sense of what it takes to build trust in the workplace. Remember, trust is not something that can be built overnight; it’s a process that requires patience and persistence. By following these leadership habits, you will be well on your way towards building strong relationships with your team members—and ultimately leading them towards success! 
- [How to Handle Underperforming Employee](https://faberinfinite.com/4-steps-to-handle-underperforming-employees/): As a manager, you’re responsible for ensuring your team is performing to the best of its ability. But what happens when one or two of your underperforming Employee? It’s not always as simple as just pointing out their shortcomings and telling them to get better.  In fact, there are many ways to address employee performance issues without making anyone feel like they’re being reprimanded. Here are some tips for handling underperforming workers in a way that will help both parties succeed:  Hold regular check-ins If you want to improve your employee retention, make sure that you hold regular check-ins with each of your employees. This will allow them to tell you about any issues or concerns they may have without worrying about whether or not it’s okay for them to share those things with their manager.  When holding these check-ins, be sure that all parties understand what the meeting is for and what outcome they’re aiming for.  Give clear instructions and feedback When you give feedback to an employee who is underperforming, it’s important to be clear and specific. Make sure you explain what you want from him or her and how you expect that behavior to look in practice.   Don’t make a vague statement like, “You need to get better at your job.” Instead, focus on a specific area where he or she needs improvement—for example: “When writing emails to clients, try using shorter sentences instead of long paragraphs. Doing so will make it easier for clients to read and understand your point more quickly.”  Try not to take their performance personally As a manager, it’s easy to feel personally responsible for the performance of your employees. After all, they’re working under your watchful eye and you’ve got to be able to sleep at night knowing that everything is in order.   However, when an employee isn’t performing up to the mark it’s important not to take this as a reflection on yourself or your management style.  Start by asking questions instead of making accusations As you begin to address the issues in your team, remember that your goal is not to lay blame or assign blame. Instead, focus on helping the employees improve their performance and supporting them in their efforts.  One of the best ways to show this support is by asking open-ended questions that will help you understand their perspective on what’s happening in their role.   Conclusion If you’ve identified a problem employee in your workplace, try to find out what’s causing their performance issues. You may be able to help them improve, or at least give them advice on how they can address the issue.
- [3 Tips to Improve Manager Effectiveness](https://faberinfinite.com/3-tips-to-improve-manager-effectiveness/): The importance of having the most capable leaders within the organization cannot be overstated. Effective leadership boosts internal metrics like retaining employees as well as financial performance. No matter who a person is or what they do for the company, those who intentionally build trust show that they are the most effective leaders. They pay attention to the following: Collaborating in teams such as obtaining input from the team members and engaging them in decision-making that has an impact on them. Applauding staff members, especially when highlighting their achievements and assisting them in advancing their careers. Also by demonstrating that leaders are capable, sincere, and trustworthy.   So how does your company develop leaders like this? 1. Determine the key traits of excellent managers in your organization: Although the majority of businesses share some characteristics of effective managers, the real observations come from identifying the distinctive behaviours that most closely match your organization’s mission, culture, customer needs, and strategic goals. Start by identifying the managers within your organization who cultivate strong bonds of trust. The reality, in this case, can be found in employee survey data. Interview these managers and find out “how” they accomplished their goals. Utilize this knowledge to pinpoint three to five behaviours that foster a positive workplace culture and promote them throughout your organization.   2. To develop trust: When people respect their leaders, they will follow them. You can instil trust in your leadership in three ways: Make sure your people are prepared for success by acting with respect. Give them the tools and encouragement they need to do their jobs. Make the right decisions. This is essential to establishing confidence in the efficiency of your management, particularly when it comes to decision-making regarding promotions and about individuals who are different from you. Build credibility: If you mention a project or learning opportunity, follow through on your promise to your employee.   3. Be a genuine team player: Develop new ideas and co-create plans with your team. This does not imply reaching an agreement or making decisions in a group. We’re talking about genuine participation and teamwork. Engaging your team in choices that have an impact on them. Before making decisions, such as relocating to a different commercial space and actually discussing any reservations they may have about the change, get their feedback. Asking staff members their thoughts on the next issue you’re attempting to solve, having regular one-on-one meetings and casual conversations during staff meals and out-of-office coffee breaks, etc. Thus, you can make your staff members feel valued and included as a result of your effective management techniques, which will motivate them to perform at their highest levels.   Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena Image source- www.freepik.com
- [Why Leadership is critical to Change Management?](https://faberinfinite.com/why-leadership-is-critical-to-change-management/): Companies have gone out of business due to change, whether it was anticipated or not, while others have emerged stronger. Even the popular brands like Kodak, Atari, Blockbuster, Netscape, and Nokia dipped their businesses as they refused the latest technological changes and continued using outdated business methods. Businesses cannot rebrand to meet the market’s needs in the present or in the future if they say, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” Change management is therefore a skill that is frequently discussed in businesses. All organizational levels need to engage in change management. Top executives set the tone for the organization, but middle managers, front-line leaders, and team leaders all play crucial roles. The following three actions can be taken by leaders to enable organizational change during any unforeseen events like the pandemic. Start by reflecting: The greatest leaders are extremely self-aware and guide through contemplation rather than using force. It’s difficult to navigate change, so those who know how to use their influence to make others feel secure make the best leaders. Sometimes, leaders are unaware of their inherent, implied authority, it is crucial to emphasize leadership skills in change management. Acknowledge the change you are undergoing: Although it seems straightforward, it can frequently be difficult to recognize your own consciousness of what is happening around you. To perceive the why and how of the event, speak with front-line leadership and keep an eye out for interaction from the management team. Then, take some time to consider the best means of communication and support for your team during the transition. Be accurate in your communication about the change: Managers and leaders must be conscious of the language they use when discussing a specific change. Make sure the larger team is aware of what is happening and how their decisions and conversations affect their team members and clients. Inform them of the impending changes and whether they can collaborate with the leaders to successfully navigate the change in a positive way. Tell your teammates how to formally or informally reaffirm the messaging to clients and vendors. All organizations and individuals must prioritize and take seriously the need for skilled change management. It is a distinctive aspect of the business world, where mergers and acquisitions, or any other organizational changes occur frequently. Your employees, clients, or vendors will have a better overall experience if leaders are ready to lead through change. Written & compiled by Faber Aleena Thomas]’ Image: Scrabble photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com
- [3 Key Lessons that you can Learn from leaders](https://faberinfinite.com/3-key-lessons-learn-from-leaders/): Nations across the globe gain independence from colonizers after a long haul of fighting put forth by the native peoples led by powerful leaders. These leaders dedicated their lives to the freedom of their country with the resources available during the era where no Facebook or WhatsApp originated. Yet, the strong commitment and strategic moves led their actions towards the goal set by each of the visionary leaders. They were not driven by term sheets and profit-loss calculations, but by a fierce love and devotion for our motherland. It’s time to draw inspiration from these leaders who persisted in working towards their goal in spite of numerous setbacks, as they can teach today’s leaders who are juggling a sizable workforce with management challenges, most importantly, when it comes to change management. Three key lessons in leadership that our freedom fighters can teach us are: 1. Be prepared: success takes a long haul: Did our freedom fighters realize how long it would take them to achieve independence? The fight that began was taken over by thousands and millions of individuals with a passion for building a liberal country. They ignited change slowly and gradually, taking the time to make every single person realise what exactly they were fighting for. Each leader of today must recognize that change is not a one-time event but rather a mindset that must be developed with clear goals and ambitions that are deserving of actions to achieve them. As a result, leaders must develop their teams through more activities that add value and help the team members understand that their task is to work towards clear goals that will contribute towards the growth of both their personal and professional lives. 2. The key word is ‘communication’: When there were few communication options during the independence era, our visionary leaders came up with creative ways to connect with one another. Strong communication strategies by the freedom fighters, such as secret codes, handwritten letters, patriotic songs and slogans, etc., fueled the movement for independence and ultimately helped them succeed in their strategies. Similarly, when management leaders devise tools for change management, they must execute a smooth flow of ideas with effective communication. It may start with a strong one-on-one discussion, team meetings, or even a potrayal of emotions towards achieving a common goal. 3. Bravery is determination: Nobody can deny the fortitude of the freedom fighters who gave everything—even their lives—for the advancement of their countries. Freedom fighters’ belief systems and actions were based on determination, perseverance, and goal-setting. When change management leaders begin to implement their own change strategies, the odds are not in their favor. Any change management model’s default state is failure if it is not implemented with steadfast commitment and resolve. Determination is bravery, whether it be used in the struggle for freedom or the launch of a new, changed system.   Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena Image source- www.freepik.com
- [Infinite Interview Series](https://faberinfinite.com/infinite-interview-series/): We are pleased to share our conversation with Mr. Mahul Shah, Director, Spin Venture Groups, as part of our Client Interview series. It is a pleasure to work with such a successful entrepreneur and his team to help the people of Africa develop and to provide services to the country in the consumer goods industry and beyond. Here are a few key takeaways from the discussion: The only constant is change. The key belief in giving back to society is adaptability to change. “Perfection is a habit,” and “quality is an attitude.” Click here to watch- https://youtu.be/X1o9ua6NeOI We sincerely thank Mr. Mahul Shah and his team for contributing to iFaber, Faber Infinite’s official newsletter, and for sharing their valuable insights. Best wishes! Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena
- [Feedback Series by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/feedback-series-by-faber-infinite/): The journey is always more beautiful than the destination, as they say, Faber Infinite Consulting has come a long way towards crafting growth opportunities. From promoting effective tools and solutions in uncovering hidden capacities, to serving clients for organizational transformation a decade of valuable service is dedicated to humanity. Industry neutral services to industry-specific methods our expertise in operational excellence and people excellence has provided an era of unique services. We are extremely glad to share wishes from our esteemed clients on celebrating 10 Fabulous Years of Touching HUMANITY. This is a milestone that we will cherish forever. Click here to watch: https://youtu.be/Zj6F5cbxvv8   Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena
- [Higher Productivity with Lean Facility Design](https://faberinfinite.com/higher-productivity-with-lean-facility-design/): Companies decide to make facility changes for any number of reasons, from adding new equipment to incorporating a new business they’ve just purchased. If yours is one of them, we have a something to offer! Now, more than ever, organizations want their operations to be efficient and future ready. To address the same, Team Faber Infinite has been helping clients with its proven and copyrighted methodology – Lean Facility Design© (LFD). This unique methodology crafted by team Faber Infinite supports organizations to build best in class facilities and infrastructure. Companies make facility changes for a variety of reasons, from adding new equipment to incorporating a newly purchased business. Thus, an ideal facility layout should be able to focus on providing a perfect relationship between raw materials, equipment, manpower, and final product at the lowest possible cost while also being safe and comfortable. The following objectives can be met by an efficient and reliable facility layout: To promote the safety of the plant and its employees Allow for layout expansion or change to facilitate new product lines or technological development. To increase the organization’s production capacity   An organization can accomplish the aforementioned goal by ensuring a 14-step methodology that focuses on several important aspects even before the layout by the approach of Lean Facility Design. The direct impact on implementing Lean Facility Design for your new facility layout designing are: Reduced need for FLOW & PULL floor space/storage space creation in order to minimize inventory and manpower availability. lowered investment income (in certain areas), all of which will result in higher productivity, shorter throughput times, less waste, and so on. Lean facility design: improved flow of materials and information Logistics equipment size planning Lean Facility Design Methodology Our proven copyrighted methodology covers strict process implementation of layout designing by streamlining the manufacturing flow, manpower planning , warehouse optimization, inventory design (raw material, WIP, finished goods), capacity analysis & ramp up plans, and more. For a perfect layout to be planned, the processes must include the standardization of storage locations, visual management of information & data and the most important, early equipment management. Among various other organizations where the LFD framework has been rolled out. Our teams are working in other industries such as – leading drip irrigation pipes manufacturer, a leading pharmaceutical plant, solar plant, consumer goods, FMCG and other engineering sectors. Thus, if you are looking out for growth and expansion, Faber Infinite Consulting is the right partner to engage for redesigning organization that is world class and efficient from day zero! To know more, READ: https://faberinfinite.com/lean-facility-design/ Ready to revolutionize your facility’s productivity with lean design? Fill out the form below and unlock the secrets to higher productivity, efficiency, and profitability. Don’t miss this chance to optimize your operations and stay ahead of the competition! Lean Facility Design: Benefits Plenty! Is LFD the secret to World Class Manufacturing?   Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena
- [Be Future Ready To Excel in Manufacturing Execution System](https://faberinfinite.com/be-ready-to-excel-in-manufacturing-execution-system/): The shift from lockdown to recovery is certainly not an easy process to manage. The parity between companies to rebuild their broken chain of operations is on the rise due to uneven technological advancement. The other hinderances faced across the world today majorly include material shortages, rising demand, unavailability of resources, rising costs and vessel unavailability. Thus, transforming manufacturing plants to support operations by inducing sustainable manufacturing culture. Manufacturing Execution System is one such terminology highly popular today, it promotes resource planning, smooth information flow and value addition to the manufacturing plants. Industries are aiming to be more agile and resilient through adopting new production processes and service effectiveness. MES is a computer system that performs manufacturing operations on the production floor or in accordance with production line operators and automation and control systems. This MES works solely on the shop floor to provide specific capabilities such as order execution, real – time tracking, technical specifications, quality management, inventory management, and performance monitoring. MES also incorporates smart manufacturing technologies, which can improve the following aspects of manufacturing: 1. Connectivity: The most valuable aspect of any business model today is strong connectivity. It eases the rapid communication between internal and external stakeholders. The rapid spread of Internet of Things(IOT), Blockchains and sensors identifies quick change requirements and provides the opportunity to stay ahead of challenging times. 2. Advanced analytics: Every industry goes through changes with time. The key is as to how these changes are measured in growth factors. Hence, through digitalization and innovative tools like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and more are essential to measure the scope of continual improvement by advanced operation techniques. 3. Automation: Digitalization in manufacturing has enabled to use data for implementing scalable control systems and foster continuous betterment of manufacturing processes through automation. Augmented reality and robotics were other highly used tools which transformed industries from production to product optimization. Faber Infinite Consulting has expanded its services with the new vertical called FabNXT, that aims at attaining operational excellence for industries around the world. It includes services for three extremely important segments of MES which are: 1. Automation 2. Material Handling 3. Visual Management. Automation focuses majorly on two areas such as 1. Pick & Place Automation 2. Low-Cost Robotics Automation. Automation delivers improvement in quality and productivity with faster ROI and the ability to be more competitive. While, Material Handling is another area of focus for FabNXT where, industries can avail benefits of reduced accidents in facilities and increase in work efficiency. Material handling is the movement, storage, and control of materials throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and disposal of material and products. Furthermore, ‘Visual Management’ services offered by Faber Infinite is the concept of making the workplace more effective and enhances the smooth flow of information by using visual and audio signals. Thus, organizations can leverage these advanced tools to improve the Operational efficiency, increase stakeholder value and to improve the customer experience. Contact for more information on FabNXT, additional offerings by Faber Infinite for the digital future of Manufacturing!   Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena
- [It’s time to bloom Your Flower Farms!](https://faberinfinite.com/its-time-to-bloom-your-flower-farms/): With the continuous advancement of greenhouse technology, as well as improvements in plant biotechnology, transportation conditions, and marketing strategies, floriculture has reached a historical peak of operation and competitive intensity. The global floriculture market is thriving due to consumer demand for cut flowers and personal disposal income. Furthermore, increased government involvement in providing high yield varieties of seeds aided the floriculture industry in fostering global market growth. Among the major challenges confronting the industry are: Inadequate Land Utilization Low productivity, which leads to low investment returns. In green houses and pack houses, a higher percentage of flowers are rejected. Higher rejection as a result of the flower spending more time in the pack house in hot weather. Inadequate infrastructure and weather unpredictability Obsolete technology and strict international regulations Inventory of chemicals and fertilizers Faber Infinite, one of the best global consulting organizations, has been collaborating with leading flower farms in East Africa to increase competitiveness and return on investment through the application of Operational Excellence and Continual Improvement principles. Here we bring some of the aspects on which Faber Infinite team has been working to deliver exceptional results: Optimum Land Utilization Almost every farm wastes land due to poor layout design at the outset, which could be converted into productive land with proper layout and planning. Team Faber has been working closely with their clients to improve flower production by identifying useful land and investigating its effectiveness, transforming non-productive land into productive land. Enhancement of Quality Flower farms have two flashes each year, and it is common for the second flash to have higher rejection levels and lower production than the first flash, which is known as the Variation or Gap between two flashes. Finally, there are alternatives such as developing proper layout and land utilization models, followed by logistical improvements that reduce input distribution costs. Pack house flow improvement The flow of flowers is usually very important in a packhouse because it affects the quality of the flowers due to the warm conditions of the packhouse. As a result, the goal of each pack house is to improve the flow so that the flowers move as quickly as possible from the pack house to the cold store after packaging. Team Faber Infinite improved the flow of flower after packaging by modifying the flow with operational excellence tools. One of our clients was able to reduce the flower flow time after packaging from 14 minutes to 30 seconds thanks to the efforts of Team Faber! Reduction in rejection Rejects received in pack house from greenhouses are a major concern, reducing export and increasing handling in the pack house. To reduce rejections, Team Faber infinite employs a variety of quality control tools. We reduced the rejection percentage at one of our African clients from 3.5 percent to 1.4 percent, increasing the exportable stems. Our expert consultants at Faber Infinite Consulting have thus, delivered many successful stories in flower farm transformation and is continuing to deliver even more. Contact us to know more about our deliverables in Operational Excellence at Faber Infinite . Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena
- [Improve your focus and embrace efficiency!](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-your-focus-and-embrace-efficiency/): Leaders must be efficient. They go to meetings, check items off lists, work on multiple projects at once, and meet deadlines. So, why isn’t anything done? Meaningless interactions, information overload, and distractions leave executives exhausted and unable to focus on anything else. Every microsecond spent on a low-value interaction takes time away from important, creative, and powerful activities. Instead of managing your time, you could manage your attention. Here are some methods for doing so that may Increase your efficiency and job satisfaction. However, it is not easy to manage your attention when challenges like constant distraction and interruptions are taunting you every second of your work. Finishing a solid eight hours of work seems nearly impossible in a world of instant access to information, co-workers, and friends. Avoiding distractions, on the other hand, is not a Tough job. Staying focused at work can be as easy as going to the gym every day. Some techniques you can use for effective focus management are: Establish clear targets Start making a list of your top priorities for a day, instead of saying, “I’m going to work a solid eight hours every day.” This enables you to prevent reacting to every distraction that arises. Each morning, go over your list and decide what tasks you can realistically complete that day. Work in 60–90 minute intervals. Our attentiveness decreases as we work, making distractions more appealing. Set a timer for each cycle and begin taking breaks near the end of each one. Listen to music, go for a quick walk, play solitaire, or go out to lunch to refocus your attention. Distractions from the agenda Distractions are not always bad, but you must learn how to use them effectively. Use them as a reward for finishing a large amount of work. Begin with interruptions that are beneficial to your health, such as exercising or calling friends. Set aside time in your schedule to post or browse other people’s updates if you enjoy Facebook and Twitter but stick to it. Keep in mind that the control is in your hands. Practice not being distracted. Meditation is a great way to do this because it is just you and your thoughts. If that doesn’t appeal to you, try single-tasking throughout the day. Simply consume at lunch. Try not to read the newspaper and check your mailbox at the same time. During meetings, do not doodle in your notebook or play with your phone. As a result, you can devise your own methods for managing your attention while working. It is ultimately determined by your workplace culture and task assignments. Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena Image Source- www.freepik.com
- [3 Key habits you must cultivate for effective work management!](https://faberinfinite.com/3-key-habits-for-effective-work-management/): Have you ever wondered why you can’t just take the day off? There are numerous responses. It could be due to a large amount of work, or it could be due to poor time management. Most of the time, you may believe it is due to a lack of work, but the majority of the time, it is due to your inability to manage your workload. This Transformation Tuesday, we’ll go over some tips for managing your work within the time constraints. If you want to stay ahead of your competitors, the most important skill to develop is time management. Here are some key habits to cultivate in order to manage projects effectively. 1. Prioritize First: This is the most underappreciated habit and one that we often overlook while working for a long time. However, this basic concept of deciding priority is a must-do task if you want to get things done. How do you decide what is necessary? The dilemma that comes to your mind is, “What is the one thing that gets you the most revenue or profit?” In today’s VUCA world, you may have to decide on your priority every hour and be adaptable and prepared to compromise. “Time management is an oxymoron,” John Maxwell once said. We have no control over time, and the clock continues to tick regardless of how we live our lives. Primary consideration should always be given to time management and listing down priority jobs to make the most of the time we have. 2. Control Interruptions: This is the ultimate key to time management. We are often distracted from our targeted goals when we allow interruptions. Being constantly interrupted is the most difficult challenge, but to be honest, we tolerate it. For example, “Do you have a minute?” someone asks as they walk into your office. You say, “Sure, come on in,” because you’re a nice person. However, it can be the most unwise move. You’ve now given your time away. Instead, if you politely manage them by saying, “I am in the middle of something—can you come back in an hour?” By doing so, you’re doing something brilliant here: you’re negotiating for time. 3. Block the Calendar: Our elders always tell us that we should plan ahead of time. It is not because you lack vision, but because you have to plan your way to achievement. It is the best practice to always plot down your tasks and deadlines before the beginning of any project. Get your calendar out (paper or electronic). Schedule your time off on a calendar. You understand that if you don’t plan ahead of time and limit your time, you will never have time off. You will work every day for a long time. Thus, managing time is the greatest achievement for every professional who is trying to excel in their career. Effective Work Management can deliver great productivity, less stress, a professional reputation, and greater opportunities in your career. Written & Compiled by Faber Aleena  Image Source- www.freepik.com
- [Project Management: This 3 Things you must to know](https://faberinfinite.com/project-management-this-things-you-must-to-know/): Project management is a practice, more precisely, a set of skills. Project managers must excel at leadership, time management, financial planning, risk mitigation, technological savvy, bargaining, investigative, and problem-solving skills. Leadership necessarily involves a combination of soft communication skills, reflective listening, and motivation, as well as bottom-line project management abilities. The ability to manage the team members and how they interact with one another is necessary to guarantee to work cohesively. A strong team commitment, which is at the heart of every project’s success is also the successful result of effective leadership. Being an effective project manager in today’s fast-changing workplace, with the rise of remote and hybrid teams, necessitates not only a stockpile of leadership skills but also a command of various leadership styles. While no one is born a leader, everyone has a “natural” leadership style—a way of guiding, coaching, motivating, and inspiring others that is compatible with their personality and personal strengths. Here are three major leadership styles, along with tips on how to implement each to the challenges of executing the project and the team behind it. Participative Leadership: Also known as Democratic Leadership, involves all team members in highlighting relevant project scope, developing processes and tactics to accomplish them, and innate response to keep the momentum going. When there is a high level of trust between the project manager and the team, as well as different perceptions on an issue, participatory leadership works best in these settings. Facilitative Leadership: This is the most liberating method for a leader while handling a project team. A facilitator leader plays a secondary role and allows team members to “own” project issues by providing them the responsibility and power to discover the perfect solutions. One such style is ideal when team members have the expertise and knowledge to make sound decisions for the project’s success and when group dynamics are strong. Directional Leadership: Project managers must now and then instruct their team members on what to do and how to do the project. That is when Directive Leadership shines the brightest. This approach may be perceived as more direct, “I’m in charge.” At the early stages of a project or in the case of emergencies, directive leadership is frequently required. This approach can also be practical when team members have no prior experience with the type of project at hand. A brilliant leader is required for every successful business. The best part about leadership is that there is no single path to success. There are various management leadership styles that you can employ to best suit you and your employees. Written & Complied by Faber Aleena Image Source- www,freepik.com
- [Be the Coach, not a BOSS](https://faberinfinite.com/be-the-coach-not-a-boss/): Coaching leaders believe that bringing out the best in their teams is essential. They lead their teams through challenges and accomplish their goals. This is the absolute opposite of autocratic leadership, which emphasizes decision-making from the top-down approach. On this # Transformation Tuesday, let’s evaluate how to be an enthusiastic coach to your teams. Here are a few traits you should build on to become the leader you always wanted to be: Building relationships: A strong team is built on healthy dynamics between its members. Needless to say, conflicts are also a part of the teams’ functioning. However, when you manage to discuss your opinions and suggestions without creating resentment for your team members, you have successfully mastered the art of managing a team. It is your responsibility to listen, keep an open mind, and welcome criticism, along with understanding others’ views and ideas. This way, you connect with your fellow mates to develop a sense of loyalty towards you. Be the example: It doesn’t mean, that you have to be the hero of your team always. But to set the example is very critical to developing trust among your team members. Leading with example may include basic habits such as you are reaching out on time to your workplace or helping your team members in challenging situations or even appreciating their work. These may be small gestures but has a great impact on the minds of people when they analyze the professional in you. Be a learner, not the expert: Leadership is often misunderstood as being a perfect individual without flaws. However, it is indeed not possible for any individual to be perfect. Thus, becoming a constant learner is the best-suited approach to represent yourselves to reach efficiency. The journey from Team member to leader is often differentiated based on this quality. You must know to involve and utilize the proficiency of your colleagues in their area of expertise along with learning your skills to manage them. In this way, you develop a productive and positive work environment and engage in effective team management. Be consistent: To become a team leader, you must consistently perform. This includes carrying out your tasks and responsibilities with dedication, teaching the team about goal realization, and stimulating team members to work efficiently by detailing the project to individual team members. Above all, consistency is about knowing your team’s strengths and weaknesses. Only then you can plan the scope of development and improvement of the team’s performance. Thus, leadership is not about what you know, but who you are. It is the attribute that is developed with specific traits, styles, and strategies developed by the deep understanding of acceptance and ability to change.
- [5 Essential Steps to Create Perfect work culture](https://faberinfinite.com/5-steps-to-create-perfect-work-culture/): An organization is formed to achieve specific goals and objectives by bringing people together around a unified system and motivating them to give their best effort. Employees must enjoy themselves at the job role in order to grow a sense of dedication towards it. Thus, developing a positive work culture becomes extremely important.  This Transformation Tuesday, let’s deliberate on how the management can use the following ways to foster a positive corporate culture at their workplace:  Focus on employee well-being: Without healthy employees, no organization can expect to foster a positive culture. Employees must be physically, mentally, and emotionally fit to participate in and contribute to a positive culture. Employee wellness is a basis for favorable company culture in many ways. Leaders must ensure that their teams have the resources, tools, and even medical opportunities they require to live their healthiest lives both inside and outside of the workplace.  Build on your current culture: Developing a healthy corporate culture does not imply that employers should abandon everything their company stands for. Employers should work on improving their current culture rather than hoping professionals will do a complete 180. Inquire with employees about what they like and dislike regarding their prevailing culture and organizational environment. These suggestions should be used by leaders to assist and guide them to promote a positive workplace culture that is suitable for their workforce.  Give purpose to work: The majority of employees seek meaning and purpose in their work. Without it, career progression suffers greatly. And a company cannot create a culture, if its work has no meaning. Construct a mission and vision statement and core values and communicate them to staff members. Give employees specific examples of how their roles benefit the company and its clients.  Set objectives: Without defined objectives, no organization can have a corporate culture. Employers should convene with their teams to develop goals and priorities that everyone can work toward. Building a business scoring opportunity brings employees together and gives everyone something other than a pay check to work towards.  Encourage optimism: Employers must first encourage positivity in the workforce in order to create a positive culture. It is critical to spread positivity constantly. Employers should serve as role models by showing appreciation, smiling frequently, and remaining positive in difficult situations. When employees see their employers engaging in positive behaviour, they are more likely to do the same.  Hence, establishing positive work culture is a process which can directly help the organizations to prepare their workforce for tough times as well. Therefore, positive work environment earns loyalty and constant effort from the teams to do better each time they are assigned a task. 
- [4 Ways to Increase Manpower Productivity by Faber Infinite Consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/4-ways-to-increase-manpower-productivity-and-profitability/): Kenya, the entry point to the East African market has also experienced all the challenges and disruption of the recent pandemic. But this time, the scenario worsened as the external factors kicked in with the difficulties. The Russia-Uranian war has fuelled the concerns for the Kenyan economy. During, these upsurges, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on May 1, Sunday announced that his government would raise the country’s minimum wage by 12% immediately to help workers cope with a rise in consumer prices caused in part by the Ukraine conflict. The propelling palm oil prices, rising food cost crisis, increasing poverty rate, disruption in exports hampering sunflower production and other huge shares of global supply are some of the reasons for quick government action. With the government’s move of increasing the minimum wage, employers and organizational leaders are largely unsatisfied, as they need to pay their employees more. There would be a negative impact because employers and organizational leaders would reduce the number of employees, and raise the price of goods and services, which can result in poverty, inflation, and unemployment. So, there should be a quick fix that can assist in resolving all these issues. The answer would be to increase manpower productivity to offset the impact of rising wage rates and to increase competitiveness in global markets. With the established approaches and technologies, Faber Infinite can help effectively address the problem by increasing manpower productivity by 15 to 20 percent. Faber has a track record of successful delivery, and the significant impact of its efforts has been experienced at the client locations. To improve manpower productivity, Team Faber employs fundamental tools such as time and motion study, Muda elimination, and other efficiency improvement concepts. The following four key drivers can be used to improve labor productivity: Identify and eliminate all non-value-added steps The first and most important task is to identify non-value-added efforts. If we successfully identify the non-value adding steps in the organization on time, we complete half of the task. However, this is usually a difficult task, and identifying it takes most of the time. After you have identified the wastes or non-value-added activities, you can work on eliminating them. Not all wastes can be eliminated, but such inadequacies (necessary evils) can be curtailed, if not eliminated, with the right tools. Providing a systematic review aimed at work-life balance The following step would be to go over the work balancing. Establishing decent work balance and load levelling is critical; otherwise, some resources, including manpower and equipment, will be wasted. There is also the possibility of Muda of overproduction, which causes a variety of issues such as overstocking, waste of space and resources, inefficiencies, and so on. The key would thus be to increase material velocity. Developing and implementing standards Improving is simple, but maintaining that improvement is difficult. That is where we must step in and implement standardized practices, which can be brought about by visual SOPs, daily work management, and other similar measures. These would aid in the improvement as well as the maintenance of improvements, thereby improving quality and efficiency. Instilling Correctly the First Time, Every Time The final key is to instil “right the first time, every time,” which refers to maintaining and improving quality each time you produce. Quality should be ingrained from the start. Quality at the source refers to having proper, robust processes in place so that no rework, reject, or inspection is required. The term “inbuilt quality” refers to maintaining the quality since the first step, which is an accepted standard. The successful implementation of these approaches has resulted in the addition of new clients to Faber Infinite’s client list. For example, Team Faber has assisted Atlas Copco, one of the world’s leading engineering companies, in increasing manpower productivity by 33%. There are numerous satisfied clients from various industries who have obtained the best possible results when working with Faber Infinite. Unlock the potential of your workforce with our proven strategies! Fill out the form below to gain exclusive insights on the 4 powerful ways to skyrocket your manpower productivity. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to elevate your business performance with Faber Infinite Consulting! Contact us to Increase Manpower Productivity Written by Faber Aleena Thomas  Image Source- www.freepik.com
- [4 Tips to Manage Your Team Effectively](https://faberinfinite.com/4-tips-to-manage-your-team-effectively/): Being a leader is a tough job. However, being efficient in what you do makes the job easier. For a leader, teams are the trusted hands to do the work without a doubt. But not every leader has the capacity to lead their team efficiently. This Transformation Tuesday, let’s right the wrongs we do while managing our teams. Here are 4 extremely important tips for you to increase your team’s efficiency.  Trust your team & let them know:  Managing a team is hard when you realize the diversity of thoughts running across your mind while assigning important tasks. The curiosity and eagerness to delegate the work become the manager’s or leader’s instinct. This particular trait is dangerous for teams trying to function independently. Thus, staying out of the team’s way while they execute the job is crucial to fostering quality communication between team members and growing in the process.  It is indeed the responsibility of the leaders to monitor their progress. In doing so, you must advise them before assigning the work in great detail and then, critically appraise them after the job is done. This is a true leadership quality. This will allow the teams to have the time frame to implement their capabilities and creativity.  Clarity of vision:  The answer to “why the team and what is the team’s end goal” will ensure that all successful management teams work efficiently. Each member must have the clarity to answer these questions. Only then can the purpose of the work they do be fulfilled.  Therefore, before assigning the tasks to your team, explain clearly why you have provided your team with particular tasks. Then, explain what needs to be done and your expectations related to the work given. Also, providing them with tips and important steps to complete the task will be a bonus to the teams, allowing them to accomplish the tasks much more easily.  Scrum planning & reviewing: Scrum planning is nothing but thorough planning of the assignments that are assigned to the respective teams. It includes a clear definition of the goal and deliverables of the project. Then identify the stakeholders, which here implicates thoughtful assignment of tasks and teams for particular projects. Then preparation of the whole schedule for completion of the project along with risk assessment associated with it.  Be a good guide to your team:  To manage efficiently, one of the mistakes that management often makes is excessive micromanagement. It is a threat to the teams’ productivity and efficiency. A manager/team leader should empower their teams and not micromanage. Therefore, coaching the teams actively involves listening to their doubts and mistakes, building supportive relationships, and then giving them constructive feedback. This way, teams will actively participate and engage in the work.  Hence, to manage your teams efficiently, you first need to build your team bonding and identify the individual capabilities of the team members. These 4 tips will further enhance the performance of the teams which directly benefits the management to deliver successful projects on time. 
- [4 Tips to become the leader of the leaders!](https://faberinfinite.com/4-tips-to-become-the-leader-of-the-leaders/): Effective leaders, in my opinion, are quick to put their egos aside but rather focus on the development and subsequent success of their top team. Leaders who focus on the advancement and improvement of their team members set themselves up to succeed not only with their group goals but also with their overall, company-wide goals. One of the most important goals is to concentrate on actual leadership. However, leading a group of people to a great business outcome is not as simple as you might think. Here are top tips for becoming a leader of leaders: Make your approach unique to each team member.  A perfectly qualified performer who is an expert in their field is not always trained or suited for management. People are unique individuals. Each person learns in a unique way and at a unique pace. The trick is recognizing how each individual ticks and how he or she learns in a lasting and profound way. Attacking each member of your team as if they were a carbon copy of you and your work style will not get the job done. Thus, accepting the abilities and weaknesses of each team member is the first approach to being a leader. Explain the “why” behind your behavior. A common mistake made by leaders who are picked for positions of authority is to assume that everyone who reports to them should adjust their behavior to match their own. Everyone reporting to you now as a leader should be clear about why you have chosen this role. You may be prone to anger and not understand why the most qualified person (in your view) is considered “chosen”. The other team players may be reluctant to accept the leadership role granted to an employee recently viewed as equal to the team. Therefore, understand the scenario well before responding. Don’t be afraid to delegate tasks or responsibilities to others. This will help you focus on more important tasks and will keep your workload manageable. One important part of being a leader is recognizing what your strengths and weaknesses are, and delegating tasks to those who are better suited to carry them out. You can’t be an expert in every aspect of the contributions of the team. Different employees bring different strengths and abilities to the job. Hence, understanding and admitting simple facts is not only the ability to perform larger and higher leadership tasks but also a worthwhile opportunity for an employee waiting to become a leader. You will also be given the power to invest on your own. Motivate your team. It’s not hard to inspire another person and point them in a positive direction. After all, that’s what someone else did for you. Inheriting favors and traditions and forwarding those to the talents coming ahead of you becomes extremely important for a leader. When you work for an inspiring leader, you know it! You will feel it! He or she will be enthusiastic and excited about your efforts to inspire another leader. They will encourage, mentor, and cheer on your efforts to develop another leader who can add value to your organization. So, keep your efforts high and inspire others to become a leader along with paving your way to becoming one. Written by Faber Aleena
- [Transformational Leadership: 4 Key Points to Rebuilding Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/4-key-points-to-rebuild-organizations/): The current environment, which is marked by uncertainty, global turbulence, and organisational insecurity, necessitates transformational leadership at all levels of the organisation. Such leaders’ followers exhibit high levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment, as well as engaging in organisational citizenship behaviours. With such a dedicated workforce, it will undoubtedly be beneficial to consider developing methods of transforming organisations through leaders. Developing a high-performance workforce is becoming increasingly important, and in order to do so, business leaders must be able to inspire organisational members to go above and beyond their job responsibilities. As a result, new leadership concepts have emerged, including transformational leadership. Transformational leadership can be found at all organisational levels, including teams, departments, divisions, and the organisation as a whole. Such leaders are visionaries, motivators, risk-takers, and deep thinkers. They have a magnetic personality. However, charisma alone will not change the way an organisation operates. Transformational leaders must demonstrate the following four characteristics in order to effect significant change: Vision with values: They believe that a leader can only influence his followers if he practises what he preaches. Leaders serve as role models for their followers to follow. Such leaders consistently earn the trust and respect of their followers through their actions. The use of power by such leaders is intended to persuade them to work toward the organization’s common goals. Professing intellectual thoughts: Leaders who are innovative and creative encourage and inspire their followers. They encourage their followers to come up with new ideas and never publicly criticise them when they make mistakes. Leaders focus on the “what” of problems as opposed to the “blaming” aspect of them. They have no qualms about abandoning a long-established practise if it is found to be ineffective. Constant Motivation: The foundation of transformational leadership is the promotion of a consistent vision, mission, and set of values to members. They know exactly what they want from each interaction because their vision is so compelling. Transformational leaders inspire their followers by providing meaning and a challenge. They work tirelessly and cheerfully to foster team spirit. Avoiding Crowd practice: Leaders act as mentors to their followers, rewarding them for their creativeness and ingenuity. Depending on their abilities and knowledge, the followers are treated differently. They are given the authority to make decisions and are always supported in carrying them out. Mahatma Gandhi and Barack Obama are two well-known examples of transformational leaders. It is sufficient to comprehend how leaders can transform society through their leadership. The importance of leaders and their skill sets determines how a liberal society can be designed to allow organisations to grow to their full potential. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Ways to Inspire Your Team](https://faberinfinite.com/3-ways-to-inspire-your-team/): Leaders mostly have vision for the future. The vision has been deliberately and purposefully designed. The leaders are noticeably clear and optimistic about the results they shall deliver. But the issue is that the members of the team around you are not buying in. When you create the vision, people are unbiased and unaffected at best. You may even receive resistance. No one in the team or in the organization is excited about the same.   This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at what needs to happen for team members to get excited about your vision. You must make it motivating. Let us look at three ways to do just that.   Discuss what is not happening rather than what is happening   Forsee the future. Describe what is visible. Think about all the possibilities. When you move from telling what is possible to what might be possible, then there no real constraints—apart from the ones you draw from the present. That is where you will get the vision. That is where you get thrill. And then the teams will follow.   Make the change exponential   When you focus just on what is at the present then the change is incremental in nature. But vision stirs the chance of exponential change for the better. This helps you to create push, and it is this push that gets you into the future. It is that kind of push that makes the stage for creating innovative and revolutionary products. To get there, here are some questions to be thought of: What is the product you would create if there were no limitations? What do you want to do for people? When you get stuck in the how you ignore asking questions like these. But that is where the innovation happens, and the exponential thinking comes from. And a huge vision is what will line up your team and assist people to unite around it.   Make it hazardous, not a delusion  A level of self-understanding is necessary at this point. Your vision must be exciting but not thoughtless. It should be extended but should not seem impossible to achieve. A competitive level of risk is good for any business. It drives innovation and inventive thinking. It also gets people excited, since, if there is no challenge, then there is no fun to think about getting on board. No one is going to be motivated by doing the same old thing as the last year.   But your team follows you when your team sees you confidently looking into the future. When they look at the thrill of starting something together where you don’t exactly know how it will all work out, something you have never done before but know that, if you pull it off, it’ll produce breakthrough results. This is when the teams will engage. This is what will get your team going.   Everything finally leads to vision. If your business is not growing, and your team seems neutral or lack the charm, it can probably lead to an issue with your vision.   So, which one of these three vision strategies would you need to implement to inspire your team?   Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri Image Source: www.freepik.com
- [Feedback Video Series by Faber Infinite Consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/testimonial-video-series-by-faber-infinite-consulting/): The journey is always more beautiful than the destination, as they say, Faber Infinite Consulting has come a long way towards crafting growth opportunities. From promoting effective tools and solutions in uncovering hidden capacities, to serving clients for organizational transformation a decade of valuable service is dedicated to humanity. Industry neutral services to industry-specific methods our expertise in operational excellence and people excellence has provided an era of unique services. We are extremely glad to share wishes from our esteemed clients on celebrating 10 Fabulous Years of Touching HUMANITY. This is a milestone that we will cherish forever. Click here to watch: Mr. Deepak Acharya – CEO INOX india Mr. Robert Kotut – Director – Karen Roses, Africa Mr. Ravi Rao – Plant Head – Peass Industrial Engineers Dr. Sanjay Pathare – Founder & CEO SmartHealth Solution
- [6 Ways to Build the Art of Listening Skills](https://faberinfinite.com/build-the-art-of-listening/): One of the greatest gifts as humans we have ever received is listening. It is also one of the greatest gifts we can give to anyone. We live in a world where each one of us is always talking and very few are listening.  Listening is a difficult task. Not all of us have this art. We need to learn to listen. Like we do in case of every skill, the more we practice the better we become at it. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how can we improve our listening skills: Be Present We should always be present in any conversation that we make. Sometimes We are often distracted by a lot of things around. We try to listen to people while we are on the mobile phone or are watching TV. We need to be fully present. To be fully present we need to avoid all such distractions and focus on listening to the other party. It takes a lot of effort to be present now. We need to learn to focus on listening and give all ears to the other party with open hearts and ears.  Question We need to train ourselves to ask more questions. Rather than just commenting when it is your turn you should ask relevant questions based on the conversation with the other person. Maybe you can ask questions about something that the other person mentioned, and it needs more explanation. It might happen that you need some more examples to understand it better. Nevertheless, a question can improve the discussion further. Ask more Questions Asking more questions is a necessity for great conversation. It is always good to ask questions. It is even better to ask tons of questions. The more you listen, the more understanding you collect and the more appropriate your remarks will be. Be in Other Person’s Place Words are only part of the interaction. Sometimes we need to be in other person’s shoes to really understand what they are going through. We need to listen to another person with open hearts, and minds. Confirm Their Feelings and Thoughts As we learn to listen to others, we need to learn to validate their thoughts and feeling. The kind words that we use as we validate their thoughts and feelings help to make the conversation more engaging and meaningful. Repeat When we do this—and do it accurately—we communicate that we understand. It also gives us an opportunity to recalibrate our understanding if we misunderstood something. Many of us are good talkers. Few of us are good listeners. If you work on developing your listening skill, you will be invited to incredible conversations that would not have happened otherwise. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source– www.freepik.com
- [Six Sigma: Foundations For Operational Excellence](https://faberinfinite.com/six-sigma-foundations-for-operational-excellence/): To stay ahead of the competitors in today’s VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous), organisations are constantly working on the concept of continuous process improvement. This can be attained by raising quality requirements and striving to achieve operational excellence. Different organisations use different strategies/ frameworks to improve quality standards and achieve operational excellence. A sustained level of quality in the products or services is among the most essential factors for businesses and customers. Constant focus on improving quality processes enables you to value-add your offerings in accordance with the versatile economic climate and industry standards, resulting in maximum customer satisfaction, cost minimization, delivery of quality products, process improvement, and establishment of international quality management systems. This is due to increased competition and higher customer expectations. Fact that the company must have the necessary systems and support infrastructure to keep up. Before delving deeper into operational excellence, consider the fundamental concepts of quality, lean, and six sigma, as well as how they contribute to operational excellence. A clear plan of action and a good partner to assist the organisation in implementing the key elements of an Operational Excellence Program can lead to operational excellence. Lean Six Sigma, Lean, Kaizen, Change Management, and other methodologies are critical components for equipping organisations and driving operational excellence. Progressive organisations around the world are investing in employee training. We have been offering several training sessions on various topics and have rolled out numerous batches with many ongoing programmes. Aside from one-on-one training, we work with top organisations across organizations to train and upskill employees, thereby supporting them on their journey to operational excellence. Six Sigma White Belt Certification is the first level of Six Sigma certification. A Six Sigma Certification enables an individual to gain visibility at all levels of the organisation. With the help of Six Sigma, the employees’ knowledge, skills, and expertise, begins to add value to everything various processes of the organization. Six Sigma White Belt Certification is at the forefront of providing you with the EDGE you’ve always desired. A certified Six Sigma White Belt professional is benefitted in: Click here for more training-related webinars with Faber Infinite Consulting. CONTACT NOW! Ready to unlock the power of Six Sigma and drive operational excellence in your organization? Fill out the form below and gain exclusive access to the foundational principles and strategies of Six Sigma. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to elevate your business to new levels of efficiency and success! Contact us for Six Sigma Consultant   Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Build Sustainability and Competitiveness: Plastic Packaging Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/build-sustainability-competitiveness-in-the-plastic-packaging-industry/): Packaging is one of the fastest-growing industries, with a global value of USD 700 billion. Plastics are being used in the packaging of materials such as food, beverages, oil, and so on. Plastics are used extensively due to their performance, cost-effectiveness, and durability. The plastic packaging market grew at a 3.47 percent CAGR from 2021 to 2026. However, there are several challenges and risks faced by the plastic packaging industry today. High inflation and rising prices, a lack of skilled workforce, difficulty obtaining raw materials due to insufficient infrastructure, growing environmental concerns, efficient recycling of mixed plastic waste, and many more are some of the issues facing the industry. Most often organizations are hardwired to consider factors such as the product’s quality, usability, and benefits. This frequently takes the focus away from the packaging. In some cases, businesses are unaware of how their packaging affects them. Thus, to make organizations aware of the market trends and to enhance efficiency, Faber Infinite has devised tools like Inventory management, Single Minute Exchange of Dye (SMED), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), Time & Motion Study, and others. These are some of the methods for developing structured manufacturing facilities and profitable businesses. Food packaging, which is a major consumer of plastics, is increasingly replacing traditional materials such as paperboard, metals, and glass with more advantageous properties such as plastics due to its lightweight and low-cost benefits. One of the clients in the plastic packaging industry had collaborated with Faber Infinite Consulting for efficiency improvement, changeover time reduction, and productivity improvement across various sections of manufacturing as part of the continuous improvement journey. The tangible benefits delivered to the client from the plastic packaging industry during their improvement journey are: Productivity increases not only contribute to overall industry production but also help to increase competition and innovation in the market as a whole. Another key area where improvement can impact the organization’s resilience and agility. Plastic consumption has skyrocketed as the significance of plastics in our lives has become undeniable. They are the essential foundation of most medical equipment and safety gear, keeping our medical systems running. As a result of Team Faber’s contribution to the plastic packaging industry, we are glad that our clients have been able to build a sustainable and competitive market. Contact us today to receive the best-in-class methodology from Faber Infinite Consulting’s expert consultants. Ready to lead the way in the plastic packaging industry? Fill out the form below to unlock valuable insights and strategies for building sustainability and staying ahead of the competition. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to secure your future in the ever-evolving world of plastic packaging! Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Optimize Inventory with ISCOPE by Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/optimize-inventory-with-iscope-by-faber-infinite/): Inventory management governs how your organization operates, serves its clients, and increases sales. To be profitable, every organization needs to manage its inventory optimally. To keep track of what is in stock, many organizations rely on manual stock counting. Faber Infinite Consulting offers excellent benefits to help profitable businesses become more stable through its Inventory and Supply Chain Optimization Program and Execution (ISCOPE) module. To obtain accurate figures, it is vital to establish a system that does not require stock takes. It is essential to monitor and maintain optimal inventories, but estimating where, what, and how much is required is difficult. Overstocking reduces working capital, whereas understocking increases the risk of missed opportunities. Faber Infinite’s approach to inventory management is geared towards the implementation of an accurate and fit inventory management module based on scientific calculations developed by our expert team. The system can help the client understand the current inventory situation, the future state of inventory details, proposed savings in each component, what needs to be stored, and most importantly, in what quantities. The scientific inventory management module devised by Faber Infinite Consulting is industry neutral and can resolve supply chain and inventory issues in any organization from the ground up. One of the world’s largest wire harness suppliers from Japan engaged with Team Faber Infinite Consulting to streamline the inventory. With expertise in inventory management, a thorough analysis was done by our consultants, which helped the client to identify high buffer stocks and safety stocks. Team Faber Infinite then assisted the client team in reducing buffer stock and safety stock by improving customer forecast and supplier reliability. Thus, Faber delivered tangible results to the client by delivering a 30% reduction in inventory carrying costs. Additional tangible benefits provided by Faber Infinite to make profitable businesses more stable are: 31% Reduction in overall inventory value 30% Reduction in Inventory carrying Costs 13% Inventory Optimization for Finished Goods 17% Reduction in stockout incidents The primary inventory management challenges are having too much inventory and not being able to sell it or not having enough inventory to fulfill orders, and not knowing what items you have in inventory and where they are located. Team Faber with immense experience has identified key improvement areas which can impact the overall business efficiency, which are: Reduction in overall inventory value A faultless replenishment framework Avoid excess ordering Reduction in air freight orders Zero stock-outs Linkage to existing ERP All businesses, particularly those in inventory-intensive industries like manufacturing, retail, automotive, etc must avoid tying up more cash than necessary in inventory while minimizing waste and shrinkage. Inventory models are used by successful businesses to accomplish this. Faber Infinite is the best to assist with your inventory crisis! Roll out the best-in-class inventory management module today! Contact us at consulting@Faberinfinite.com and build a profitable organization to compete in the market. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri  
- [Operational Excellence in FMCG - Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/operational-excellence-in-fmcg/): Global food retail sales exceed $4 trillion per year. The industry has evolved significantly over the last two decades as a result of technological advances, keeping up with the rising demand for convenience foods. This industry demands more packaging to ensure safe, fresh, and easy-to-use products. Demand for higher-quality foods in greater quantities drives several other industries, including convenience stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and gas stations with grocery sections. In this article, we will talk about the How Important Operational Excellence in FMCG. An increasing global population and a shift toward convenience food continue to propel the industry forward, with Asia-Pacific accounting for 45 percent of the overall market. Food culture is changing, which means that different tastes are increasing demand for ethnic foods and newer formats like microwaveable food products. As a consumer, convenience is critical. Quality and quantity both are crucial to the food processing industry. Multiple challenges limit the production and delivery of the items due to inefficient systems and manufacturing processes. The key challenges the food industry faces worldwide are: Faber Infinite Consulting’s expertise in implementing improvement tools for Food Industry has delivered excellent results for clients in different countries. One of the renowned clients from Africa that produces maize and soya-based food products had engaged with us for shifting their manufacturing unit to a new place. Team Faber has assisted them by remodelling and facilitating a new layout design for their new facility with our proven and unique Lean Facility Design© (LFD) framework. The approach taken by Faber’s expert consultants included Value Stream Mapping, design flow, capacity planning, Manpower planning, equipment management, visual management, material handling, and more. The tangible benefits delivered by implementing our well researched, copyrighted tool, Lean Facility design is: Our quest for improvement projects in Food Industry continues to even sales excellence. Our project on increasing sales for one of our clients from Zambia has given us the chance to guide the client team productively by engaging in training and analysis. Both, Team Faber assisted the client to prepare annual budgets, reviewed and restructured the organization with performance management tools, and also introduced them to new markets and product penetration. The improvement numbers have helped us to determine more than 80% growth in sales for our valuable client. One of the well-known clients from the food processing industry in India, also engaged with the Faber Infinite Consulting in the success story race. We identified key tangible benefits delivered for the client which improved the overall productivity of the manufacturing unit, they are: Contact us Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Ways to Keep Your Teams in Sync](https://faberinfinite.com/3-ways-to-keep-your-teams-in-sync/): There is always a difference between a weak and a strong leader. A weak leader will blame the team for not getting things right, while a strong leader will always know that it is his/her responsibility to get it correct. A good leader is always responsible for creating organizational alignment with the team. If something slips out of alignment and the leader is unhappy with the outcome, then the leader must ask himself/herself, what was it about my leadership that generated this outcome? In this article, we have listed 3 ways to Keep Your Teams in Sync. The reality is alignment will not just happen; leaders need to create it. Let us look at how it is to be done: Frequent Connect A leader cannot keep the team aligned unless he/she is in frequent touch with them. The better team will perform the more information is given to them. If the leader does not spend enough time with them then they are bound to take decisions that the leader is not comfortable with. Interaction Connect is not enough. A leader should interact with his/her teams. Your teams cannot read your mind. The team needs to understand the vision, mission and the goals of the organization. Leader needs to verbally communicate the expected results time and again only then the desired outcomes will be assured.  If there is any problem in understanding, then you need to speak up with the team before it gets worst. Earn their trust Frequent connection and interaction are not enough. For true alignment to take place, your team needs to trust you. The team needs to be committed to your success and the success of the team. It is not that if you are a leader, you can buy the heart of the employees. You need to earn the trust. You can create a connection – and so can build the alignment when you open your heart and let them in. All the team members should be aligned to what is at stake, only then success can happen.  So every leader should keep a check on the alignment of the 3 ways to keep Your Teams in Sync with organizational goals. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source – www.freepik.com
- [Improve Process Flow with Value Stream Mapping.](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-process-flow-with-value-stream-mapping/): With organizations coming back on track, the competition in the market is seen like never before. Companies are finding new and faster ways to win the touchline by equipping with the latest technology and tools to enhance their processes and systems of work. Value stream mapping is a widely used tool to determine the prevailing process within an organisation. Value stream mapping (VSM) is being used to map information and materials through a manufacturing process. Lean practitioners have been utilizing Value Stream Mapping to visualize and measure the efficiency of their systems.  Advantages of Value Stream Mapping The primary goal of creating a value stream map is to demonstrate where you can strengthen your process by visualizing both value-adding and non-value-adding steps. You can recognize unwanted activities with the help of VSM. VSM provides a clear picture of the work process, including the formation of value-adding and non-value-adding stages. It’s also a good idea to visualize how long it would take for operations to go through them. VSM emphasizes current workflow while focusing on future improvements. Faber Infinite Consulting utilizes Value Stream Mapping (VSM) as part of an overall process for mapping, analyzing, and developing value streams to reduce and eliminate waste. Digitization and Industry 4.0 present new and exciting opportunities for integrating information flows, reducing lead times, and increasing flexibility and efficiency in complex situations. Value Stream Mapping as an effective tool has helped us provide tangible results to our clients. Team Faber Infinite has been delivering remarkable results at several organizations – right from leading lighting solutions company to the largest engineering company to the leading supplier of Indian Railways and many more! Here are some exclusive benefits we delivered for the clients: Improvement in production / throughput by 23% Reduction in production throughput time by 36% Reduction in inventory by 39% Improvement in productivity by 30% Improvement in component availability by 16% Reduction in distance travelled by 31% Reduction in change over time of the machine by 30% Reduction in cycle time by 40% Improvement in the value-added ratio by 100% We are extremely glad to share glimpses of our assistance for one of our clients from automotive industry to map current state for two lines & prepared a project plan for line layout with them to improve machine & human efficiency. Similarly, using Value Stream Mapping tool for a client from machine building industry, Team Faber has delivered productivity improvement by 16% and reduced inefficiencies in the workflow. Thus, the value stream maps depict all of the critical steps in your work process that are designed to achieve value from beginning to end. It helps to visualize every work that your members work on and provides status reports on the progress of each assignment at a glance. Thus, we must always focus on optimizing the value creation actions and strive to gain significant benefits by minimizing waste in our flow. Thus, Value Stream Mapping can be the first step for Industry 4.0 & Industrial IoT (IIOT), a powerful framework for efficient and enhanced operations. Contact consulting@faberinfinite.com for more details. Ready to streamline your operations and achieve peak efficiency? Fill out the form below to gain valuable insights on improving process flow with the power of Value Stream Mapping. Take the first step towards optimizing your workflow and driving remarkable results! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya & Faber Aleena
- [Effective Crisis Management](https://faberinfinite.com/effective-crisis-management/): Any organization, big or small, any sector or industry comes across a crisis situation for sure. Whether this situation arises out of internal or external factors the only objective of the organization is to keep the organization and all its stakeholders optimistic. This is when the management needs to get into action. Management needs to prepare themselves for crisis management. They need to adopt an attitude toward good crisis management.  First, we need to understand the different types of crises that exist. This Transformation Tuesday let us look at the top 8 crises that can cause major harm to the organization: As we have seen, there are different types of crises that can occur. Organizations should create realistic and effective action plans for different types of crises. To achieve this the management should mark new milestones that define the progress of crisis management. The action plan should be clear, as clear as the action plan is employees are more confident about the strategy being implemented. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Image Source – www.freepik.com
- [3 Simple Ways to Increase Manpower Productivity by Faber Infinite Consulting](https://faberinfinite.com/3-simple-ways-to-increase-manpower-productivity/): Kenya, the entry point to the East African market, has also been affected by the recent pandemic’s challenges and disruptions. However, the situation deteriorated this time as external factors contributed to the difficulties. The Ukraine-Russian conflict has heightened concerns about the Kenyan economy. During these upsurges it is announced that there would be a rise in the country’s minimum wage making it 12%. This immediate measure has been taken to help workers cope with the rise in consumer prices. There can be possible imbalance resulting from the step taken to increase the minimum wage. Employers and organizational leaders may take this chance to reduce the number of employees for cost benefits. So, there should be a quick fix that can assist in resolving this issue without incurring loss to the organization. The answer would be to increase labor productivity to offset the impact of rising wage rates and to increase competitiveness in global markets. With the established approaches and technologies, Faber Infinite can help effectively address the problem by increasing manpower productivity by 15% to 20%. Faber has a track record of successful delivery and significant impacts of its efforts on the clients. To improve manpower productivity, Team Faber employs fundamental tools such as time and motion study. Time and Motion Study is a proven work measurement methodology not only for recording and evaluating a rate of work for the elements (of a project to be performed under routine conditions) but also equipped to uncover inefficiencies and areas of improvement.  Muda elimination, and other efficiency improvement tools are also associated with increasing manpower productivity. The following three key drivers to improve labour productivity at any organization are: 1 Identify and eliminate all non-value-added steps The first and most important task is to identify non-value-added efforts. If we successfully identify the non-value adding steps in the organization on time, we complete half of the task. However, this is usually a difficult task, and identifying it takes most of the time. After you’ve identified the wastes or non-value-added activities, you can work on eliminating them. Not all wastes can be eliminated, but such inadequacies (necessary evils) can be curtailed, if not eliminated, with the right tools. 2 Developing and implementing standards Improving is simple, but maintaining that improvement is difficult. That is where we must step in and implement standardized practices, which can be brought about by visual SOPs, daily work management, and other similar measures. These would aid in the improvement as well as the maintenance of improvements, thereby improving quality and efficiency. 3 Instilling Correctly the First Time, Every Time The final key is to impart “right the first time, every time,” which refers to maintaining and improving quality each time you produce. Quality should be ingrained from the start. Quality at the source refers to having proper, robust processes in place so that no rework, rejection, or inspection is required. The term “inbuilt quality” refers to maintaining the quality since the first step, which is an accepted standard. The successful implementation of these approaches has resulted in the addition of new clients to Faber Infinite’s client list. For example, Team Faber has assisted one of the world’s leading engineering companies, in increasing manpower productivity by 33%. There are numerous satisfied clients from various industries who have obtained the best possible results when working with Faber Infinite. Unlock the untapped potential of your workforce with Faber Infinite Consulting’s proven strategies. Discover the 3 simple ways to skyrocket manpower productivity and drive business success. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to expert insights and start maximizing your team’s efficiency today! For more information, kindly contact our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Aleena
- [Become Best in class with Lean Facility Design Framework](https://faberinfinite.com/become-best-in-class-with-lean-facility-design/): An organization needs to pay close attention to facility layout to have an effective and efficient manufacturing unit. A facility layout is the proper arrangement of various aspects of manufacturing to achieve the desired production results. The placement of facilities in the plant area, also known as the “facility layout problem,” has been shown to significantly impact manufacturing costs, work in process, lead times, and productivity. Now, more than ever, organizations want their operations to be efficient and future-ready. To address the same, Team Faber Infinite has been helping clients with its proven and copyrighted methodology – Lean Facility Design© (LFD) framework. This unique methodology crafted by team Faber Infinite supports organizations to build best-in-class facilities and infrastructure from day Zero! We have delivered phenomenal results in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, by implementing Lean Facility Design across various sectors such as: FMCG Automotive Component Engineering Woven Sacks Pharmaceuticals Packaged Food Irrigation Pipes Ceramics With a combination of Industrial Engineering, Lean Management, and Project Management, the LFD methodology has been successfully deployed for best-in-class facilities. Team Faber implemented LFD at one of the country’s largest FMCG players. Project planning, system-level conceptual design, value stream design at the functional level, and in-depth design at the operational level are all part of the process. The design also includes safeguards in case of a black swan event. Tangible benefits delivered by implementing Lean Facility Design for the clients in different sectors are as follow: 36% increase in production  33% decrease in throughput time 17% increase in space utilization  42% increase in productivity  34% decrease in inventory cost 49% increase in overall transportation index According to global standards, Lean Facility Design is the best solution when considering material flow practices, visual management, safety, and other factors. It has never been easy to compete, make a profit, and grow all at the same time. Lean Facility Design is a 14-step methodology that focuses on several important aspects even before the layout. Faber Infinite Consulting’s qualified and certified consultants have first-hand experience implementing LFD across industries and geographies with utmost precision, assisting organizations in becoming more efficient and effective. Our copyrighted methodology provides efficient layout design with multiple options for clients, as well as best-in-class flow design and logistics equipment planning. One important aspect of Lean Facility Design is that it helps to reduce capital investments, throughput time, and inventories, as well as floor space/storage space requirements. A 200% improvement in productivity, 100% reduction in production throughput time – Sounds too good to be true? Now make the new plant become most efficient from Day Zero with Faber Infinite Consulting TODAY! We can deliver these results through Lean Facility Design©. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Aleena
- [Stop Postponing with Right Strategies](https://faberinfinite.com/stop-postponing-with-right-strategies/): Do you keep delaying the work you do? The delay might be due to multiple reasons including your habits, boredom, or mistake in your thinking. We do feel bad about this delay that we do. We criticize ourselves for it. But once we understand the cause for the delay, we can strategize our work.  Today, let us look at the three prime reasons for the delay that we create: Habits One of the main reasons for delay or postponing of any work is lack of discipline. People who keep delaying, enjoy the leisure and fun overwork. In other words, we can say is such people do not have the right systems in place. To understand if this is the issue that is affecting your work then follow the below approaches: Schedule your most important or long-term work consistently. Work on such tasks every day. It will make it easier for you to execute it.  Make a schedule for new tasks that you are starting. Develop your own system, a system that matches your personality and assets. Tasks that create boredom or negative emotions To understand whether it is your emotions that are the main reason for the delay ask yourself – How I my mental health? Do the tasks that I delay evoke certain negative emotions? Do these tasks make me feel bored, angry, impatient, or annoyed? In such cases, we need to identify what part of the work annoys you the most and what does not. Based on this you need to plan the work. Your Thought Process If you are relatively well-disciplined in many areas but struggle in others, then you need to work on your specific thought patterns. Ask yourself – Do I enjoy the task? Is the task more difficult compared to the skills that I have?  If the answer is yes, then it means you are thinking of work in a way that makes it more unpleasant than it is.  Though we have looked at 3 parameters that cause the delay, all of these are interrelated. No matter what the primary reason for the delay is, you need to try the combination of different strategies to avoid delay and minimize postponing Image Source: www.freepik.com
- [ISCOPE - One Stop Solution for Inventory Optimization](https://faberinfinite.com/iscope-one-stop-solution-for-inventory-optimization/): It was a lovely fun filled morning of 14th January, and there I was sipping my morning coffee and was thrilled about spending this day with friends and family. This is a big day in India, especially in western part of the country, where the festival of kites also called as Sankrant / Uttarayan is celebrated with a lot of fanfare. It was 11 am and my phone rang. I was in a rush to the terrace with my sister who was running around in the house with kites in her hand.  I told her you carry on and I will join soon after I had to pick up the call. On the line, was a leader representing a global automotive parts manufacturer with focus on wire harness, instruments, and components. With the company’s origin and headquarters in Japan. It was interesting to discuss more with the client about the Indian supply chain situation. The client team faced issues of line stoppages as well as excess inventory.  Supply Chain and Inventory Optimization Management in Manufacturing The automotive wire harness manufacturing facility has multiple assembly lines. which carry out activities like cutting and crimping, sub-assembly, layout, testing, and packing. In case of a shortage of material, the whole line comes to a standstill. Yet, another challenge mentioned was several items in stocks had coverage of more than 100 days which increased the inventory costs! With our background and experience, we do understand such a complex situation and also acknowledge that the cost associated with excess inventory as well stockouts (which is a crime as the opportunity cost has much higher stakes on the ground). I spoke to him to understand his concern and in the subsequent weeks. We worked out a customized Inventory and Supply Chain Optimization Program & Execution (ISCOPE) for their complex nature of operations and needs.  We deployed one of our expert consulting teams for rolling out this power packed ISCOPE module to deliver phenomenal results. To understand the current state, a detailed supply chain study and business process mapping was conducted. The consulting team worked out a solution not only considering consumption patterns. But also variations in customer demands and delays in supply.  A PFEP (Plan For Each Part) was devised and each component was treated as per the need leading to a robust inventory management model which can later be integrated with the client ERP system.    Benefits of Supply Chain and Inventory Optimization 1. Reduction in overall inventory value by ~31%2. A faultless framework to indicate when to order and how much to order3. Avoid excess ordering4. The levels of inventory will cover all variations5. Reduction in air freight orders 6. An easy and user-friendly mechanism that will ensure no items are missed for ordering7. Standardized buyer workflows across all the plants of the client8. Zero stock outs9. Linkage to existing ERP So glad to be able to contribute towards the competitiveness of this global automotive parts supplier headquartered in Japan with team Faber Infinite Consulting. The Inventory and Supply Chain Optimization Program & Execution (ISCOPE) module can support to address all your material challenges even in this VUCA environment.  Narrated by: Faber Deepak Rane Image Source – www.freepik.com  
- [It is All About Asking Right Questions](https://faberinfinite.com/it-is-all-about-asking-right-questions/): Are you handling new and challenging issues at work? Are you making an attempt to both understand the new roles and responsibilities with a fresh viewpoint? Or is it that you are new to the profile and are looking for ways to significantly influence along with your more proficient teammates? If so, then critical thinking is the ability to study and effectively break down any task at hand to make a decision or find a solution. Critical thinking includes the capacity to devise profound, distinct, and effective questions. Today, let us look at some of the ways to boost our skills to solve even the most difficult problems: Do not stick strongly to your assumptions You should always hold your initial assumptions lightly. If you hold them strong then you will not be able to find the solution no matter what the data has to indicate. Critical thinking might want us to reconsider the initial assumptions and we should be open to doing so without being defensive. Talk less and listen more Active listening is the key to critical thinking. Active listening is the process of understanding what another person has to say — both directly and indirectly. One also needs to show that you are involved and paying attention. Successful active listeners fully understand an argument, thus making it simpler to question its rationality. Ask open-ended questions Avoid asking Yes or No questions. Instead, ask questions that they have to answer in detail. Try to understand the conversation that emerges out of the interaction. Open-ended questions encourage critical thinking thus allowing individuals in the team to expand their viewpoint thus allowing teams to solve the problems Challenge the group’s collective thinking Do not fall into the trap and follow the group thinking, rather keep asking questions that challenge the group’s collective thinking. There might be some people in the group who want to move fast and do not like this interference that you create. But be bold enough to counter the thoughts of the team. Follow up hard It is similar to why kids keep asking why hundreds of times even after being given an answer. As parents, we start rethinking our own answers at the end of this chain of questions fired by our kids. This is the heart of critical thinking. We need to listen properly and keep asking hard follow-up questions and this is the only way we can dive deep and get a better understanding of the subject. Critical thinking is the best way of solving complicated problems in new and thrilling ways. Building on critical thinking will help you to traverse new roles and responsibilities, prove yourself in your organization, or simply face a challenge. So as Albert Einstein quotes – “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing”, let us keep asking the right questions. Written by Faber Mayuri
- [4 Must Have Attributes To Transform Workplace](https://faberinfinite.com/4-must-have-attributes-to-transform-workplace/): The workplace has been currently experiencing the most radical transformation in generations. Employee expectations have changed, and the pre-pandemic way of working is unlikely to continue. The pandemic has hastened a movement of employees seeking a Transform workplace value proposition that is vastly different from what employees were drawn to years ago. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for any and all organisations. Thus, let’s discuss what leaders can put in practise for the changing work environment. This Transformation Tuesday, know the top four must have attributes for a leader of this new era.  Fairness: On the one hand, people are missing out on human interaction and highly regarded collaboration, while on the other hand, there is the risk of an unequal hybrid workplace. Working from home increased workplace fairness. The “zoomocracy” was the “great leveler,” with everyone working in similar conditions, displaying as rectangles of similar sizes and randomly arranged on a screen. People have varying preferences when it comes to office work. As leaders, we must recognize each individual’s uniqueness and respond to their needs intentionally, or else inequalities will worsen. To influence the culture of the future, we must purposefully design hybrid work. Fairness should be defined as a daily goal. Inclusion: Inclusion is fostered by a fair workplace. However, an inclusive workplace is more than just being fair. It is about creating a culture that encourages everyone to bring their best selves to work every day. The role of the leader is to foster an environment in which everyone can be heard, be themselves, and differences are valued. How can you tell if you’re doing a good job as a leader? Two questions to ponder: Is it common for your team to agree on your point of view without debate? Is your team similar in terms of lifestyle, ethnicity, gender, skin colour, sexual orientation, religion, and political preferences? If you answered yes to either of those questions, you should reconsider your leadership style. Trust : Fairness and inclusion are required to establish a culture of trust. Trust serves as the foundation for fostering collaboration, engagement, and a positive workplace culture. It’s a good thing. Clear rules, transparency, accountability, and direct communication are all critical components in establishing trust. This generation is strongly opposed to backstabbing competitive cultures. Trust reigns supreme. Empathy: You’ve probably heard the expression, “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” That is not an example of empathy. Empathy is the practice of treating others in the manner in which they would want to be treated. To do so, we must be able to viscerally feel the other person’s experience. To be a compassionate leader is more essential than ever during these challenging times. It entails more than just being sensitive to others’ feelings; it entails genuinely expressing concerns, inquiring about challenges, and then listening to and assisting employees’ responses. Adhering to this model will result in a more dedicated and engaged workforce. Workspace should be a source of fulfillment, trust, collaboration, and a safe space for employees to be their true selves, rather than just a physical traditional office. Take advantage of the opportunity to create a new workplace that represents the set of possible hybrid worlds. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri & Faber Aleena
- [Improve Production and Efficiency with TPM](https://faberinfinite.com/improve-production-and-efficiency-with-tpm/): Faber Infinite has massive experience in Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) implementation and has delivered results across 10 countries and 3 regions. We have trained more than 50000 people from various industries and supported more than 100 clients to improve their productivity. Team Faber Infinite has more than 20+ experts with hands-on experience in different industries. Typical Areas of Improvement TPM is one of the key frameworks that stands between the success and failure of equipment/machine/asset management for any organisation on its journey of continuous improvement today, with industry competition at an all-time high. Few of the tangible benefits delivered by Faber Infinite at client locations with TPM implementation: With the cumulative experience of Team Faber Infinite in organizational transformation, there plenty of TPM use cases and success stories, contact us to take the leap of transformation for your business operations and accelerate the excellence journey with TPM. Reach us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com Ready to revolutionize your production processes and boost efficiency with TPM (Total Productive Maintenance)? Complete the form below and unlock the secrets to improving production and maximizing efficiency. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take your business to the next level! To read more click here Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [How can TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) help Build Efficient and Profitability?](https://faberinfinite.com/tpm-help-build-efficient-and-profitability/): Faber Infinite specialises in Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence, and Business Excellence. Manufacturing organisations should strive for basic stability of the 4Ms – Man, Method, Material, and Machine – to progress toward excellence. In this article, we will talk about How can TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) help Build Efficient and Profitability? and Key points of TPM. It is a well-known fact that equipment/machine maintenance can be improved by implementing TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) methodology, which can lead the organisation to the goal of continuous improvement. One of our esteemed clients in Gujarat, India, was experiencing equipment performance issues that were impeding the organization’s continuous improvement journey. As a result, the client team, in collaboration with team Faber Infinite, implemented Autonomous Maintenance, one of the pillars of the TPM framework, to improve the operational excellence journey and build culture of continuous improvement on the shop floor. Key point of Total Productive Maintenance TPM is a globally accepted and proven Japanese framework. The Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance introduced preventive maintenance in Japan in 1951, which is when TPM got its start (JIPM). TPM framework entails a well-defined concept for maintaining plants and equipment. The TPM program’s goal is to significantly boost output while also improving employee morale and job satisfaction. By reducing errors and accidents, this method improves existing processes and equipment. TPM is divided into eight pillars, each of which focuses on proactive and preventative techniques for increasing equipment reliability and stability. When businesses begin to implement TPM, they frequently begin by experimenting with Autonomous Maintenance (AM). This is understandable given that one of TPM’s key distinguishing features is autonomous maintenance. The second of TPM’s eight pillars is autonomous maintenance. In Japanese, it is also known as JISHU HOZEN. It takes a systematic approach to increasing personnel skill levels so that they can understand, manage, and improve their equipment and processes. The main goal is to shift operators from a reactive to a proactive mindset to achieve optimal conditions that eliminate minor equipment stops while also reducing defects and breakdowns. TPM is one of the key frameworks that stands between the success and failure of equipment/machine/asset management for any organisation on its journey of continuous improvement today, with industry competition at an all-time high. Total Productive Maintenance in Manufacturing Industry Faber Infinite has been working with one of the leading automobile component manufacturing companies for the past year and has consistently delivered excellent results. Team Faber joined the organisation and assisted it in pushing up the success numbers and objectifying the operating environment for optimal results. We recognise that TPM and its pillars have added value to organisations by striving for zero defects, zero accidents, and zero breakdowns. With TPM, we were able to assist the client in achieving tremendous results in a short period of time. The results have been so positive that the client, who has been using TPM for over a decade, has exceeded its own expectations in such a short period of time. While achieving this level of excellence, we also assisted the client in developing a Manufacturing Excellence Roadmap for the next three years, as well as in various other aspects of manufacturing such as inventory management, manpower productivity, and so on. Typical results delivered for the client are: Contact us to build more efficient and profitable organizations with TPM. To read more click on the links below: Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Aleena Image Source – Freepik.com
- [What Courageous Leaders Do Differently?](https://faberinfinite.com/what-courageous-leaders-do-differently/): Courageous leaders understand that their job entails doing important work for others. And, because there will always be differences of opinion and limited resources, they are willing to engage in difficult conversations and deliver bad news tactfully, even if the news may be hurtful to the other person. Courageous leaders encircle oneself with people who challenge them rather than flatter them. They reward rather than punish those who attempt new things, even if they fail. They reform outdated systems that exclude different points of view. Here are some core elements for a perspective that would be more appropriate in today’s environment. Courageous leaders are open and humble. Pretending to be fearless, no matter how valid the reasons for fear, or acting like a know-it-all, is not impressive. It’s dangerous, both for you and for those who rely on you. When people know you’re competent, admitting “I don’t know” or saying “Please help with this” makes you appear stronger (rather than weak). Consider the numerous challenges encountered during the Covid-19 pandemic. Did you admire your leader if she came online and pretended like nothing was wrong? Or, alternatively, when she admitted she was facing a series of work and life challenges unlike any she had faced before, but was committed to getting through them together and growing as a group as a result? Apologies are the same way. When a leader sincerely apologies and says, “I’m sorry, I messed that up,” we perceive that person to be more likable and trustworthy. We want to contribute to the improvement of the situation. We, on the other hand, do not consider someone to be a great leader or a hero if they conceal mistakes through lies or omissions. Principles are prioritized by brave leaders. Winning a popularity contest is not the goal of true leadership. This is about doing significant job for others. And, because there will always be differing views and limited resources, you’re unlikely to make much progress on that essential tasks if you can’t bear the thought of upsetting some people from time to time. Being trusted and respected for the effectiveness of your decisions is a sign of good leadership. It is about taking brave action to defend core principles, even if it means jeopardizing one’s own popularity or having to stand in the short run. Courageous leaders prioritize making their spaces safer for others. In the vast majority of organisations, urging people to regularly stick their necks out in the face of legitimate fear isn’t exactly a sign of great leadership. Yet that is essentially what leaders who “encourage courage” are doing. Leaders of today must surround and promote people who challenge them rather than flatter them. They should be given incentives rather than punishment. Those who attempt new things, even if they fail miserably should be motivated. They are reshaping old system that exclude multiple perspectives. Today’s leaders must demonstrate brave action rather than demand it. They choose to be vulnerable, as Fred Keller did, even if their position, gender, race, or other prestige markers tell them not to. Written & Compiled By Faber Mayuri and Faber Aleena Image Source – Freepik.com
- [Leadership Styles To Reconsider](https://faberinfinite.com/leadership-styles-to-reconsider/): Leaders are currently under constant strain from two sources. The first one is the intense pressure to deliver excellent short-term results despite big changes in what consumers need and want, where and how people might choose work, and whether supply chains function at all. The second pressing need is to convert — to reinterpret the future of your market system and workplace in light of changes, and to rediscover your company’s strategy and objectives to win that future. Dealing with either type of pressure is challenging, which helps to explain why so many leaders appear nervous and stressed. Agreeing to meet both of them at the same time, on the other hand, can be terrifying. Leadership qualities to consider during this changing times are: Necessitates managing time How do you deal with the chaos of the present — the onslaught of Slack messages, customer crises, and people issues — while also making room for the future? How can you avoid becoming overwhelmed by day-to-day tasks that seem so urgent, at the expense of game-changing initiatives that are truly important? Providing that information begins with finding concrete ways, both institutionally and personally, to basically make time for the future. Encompasses the stress levels of leadership How could you solve problems that your organisation has never seen before without becoming exhausted or giving up? How do you keep going in a role that seems to get bigger, harder, and more unmanageable by the day? Answering those questions begins with rethinking your leadership style and trying to recapture some leadership wisdom from more than a century old. Mary Parker Follett, a highly respected (but often overlooked) “prophet of management” from the early twentieth century, differentiated between leaders who possess power over people and those who focus primarily on power with people. “That is always our problem,” she famously wrote, “not how to get power over people, but how to get control of a situation all together.” involves rank-and-file morale. How else can you help people stay positive and energetic when it’s so normal to feel anxious and defeated? If we ask people to spend so much of their time — and so much of themselves — in their job role, shouldn’t we also help them? Answering these questions means assisting people in recapturing something that has gone missing in far too many organisations: a sense of pleasure, even joy, in day-to-day implementation and the enthusiasm of meaningful innovation. There has never been a more tough period to be a leader, whether you’re in the charge of a large corporation or a small team. But if you can come up with solutions to these questions, you have a chance to pass our generation’s leadership test. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri and Faber Aleena
- [Build More Efficient and Profitable Organizations with TPM](https://faberinfinite.com/build-more-efficient-and-profitable-organizations-with-tpm/): Faber Infinite specialises in Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence, and Business Excellence. Manufacturing organisations should strive for the basic stability of the 4Ms – Man, Method, Material, and Machine – in order to progress toward excellence. In this article, we will discuss about How to Build More Efficient and Profitable Organizations with TPM? It is a well-known fact that equipment/machine maintenance can be improved by implementing the TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) methodology, which can lead the organisation to the goal of continuous improvement. One of our esteemed clients in Gujarat, India, was experiencing equipment performance issues that were impeding the organization’s continuous improvement journey. As a result, the client team, in collaboration with team Faber Infinite, implemented Autonomous Maintenance, one of the pillars of the TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) framework, to improve the Operational Excellence journey and culture of continuous improvement on the shop floor. Total Productive Maintenance Framework Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a globally accepted and proven Japanese framework. The Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance introduced preventive maintenance in Japan in 1951, which is when TPM got its start (JIPM). TPM framework entails a well-defined concept for maintaining plants and equipment. The TPM program’s goal is to significantly boost output while also improving employee morale and job satisfaction. By reducing errors and accidents, this method improves existing processes and equipment. TPM is divided into eight pillars, each of which focuses on proactive and preventative techniques for increasing equipment reliability and stability. Faber Infinite has been working with one of the leading automobile component manufacturing companies for the past year and has consistently delivered excellent results. Team Faber joined the organisation and assisted it in pushing up the success numbers and objectifying the operating environment for optimal results. We recognise that TPM and its pillars have added value to organisations by striving for zero defects, zero accidents, and zero breakdowns. With TPM, we were able to assist the client in achieving tremendous results in a short period of time. The results have been so positive that the client, who has been using TPM for over a decade, has exceeded its own expectations in such a short period of time. While achieving this level of excellence, we also assisted the client in developing a Manufacturing Excellence Roadmap for the next three years, as well as in various other aspects of manufacturing such as inventory management, manpower productivity, and so on. Typical results delivered for the client are: TPM is one of the key frameworks that stands between the success and failure of equipment/machine/asset management for any organisation on its journey of continuous improvement today, with industry competition at an all-time high. Team Faber Infinite has been delivering excellent results in these tough times and supporting clients across industries in the world with the objective of crafting growth opportunities always! The right time to start your Organizational Transformation & Operational Excellence journey is now! Start your organization transformation journey with Faber Infinite Consulting using Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [4 Stages of Leadership Development](https://faberinfinite.com/four-stages-of-leadership-development/): Many people have called for new leadership approaches to meet the demands of a rapidly, unpredictable world. An autocratic management approach, whether traditional or emerging, will be insufficient to meet the multitude of challenges that today’s leaders face. So, on this Transformation Tuesday rather than perfecting a “leadership right fit,” assess how a leader can establish and expand his or her “managerial scope”. The wider this range, the more impactful or flexible the leader will be. Stage 1: Become Acquainted With Yourself Cognitive self-awareness To increase your cognitive self-awareness, the first part of developing your leadership balance is to become aware of your own instinctual pluses and minuses. This will give you a frame of reference, or de facto range, of where you feel most comfortable. Being more conscience necessitates being aware of public responses (both formal and informal), as well as paying attention to the areas where you find it difficult or forgo, or paying attention when your colleagues aren’t totally dependent on you to complete a task or assignment. Stage 2: Become aware of your surroundings Situational awareness is critical. When faced with disruption, leaders must be able to perceive their surroundings, evaluating what characteristics are present and what implications they have for the work at hand. It perceives and comprehends the environment. To start, you must undergo a present predicament in real time but without judgement. Then you must describe and separate the perceptions from the background noise. Stage 3: Extend your horizons. If you’re fortunate, the most acceptable conduct in any given situation will be within your leadership scope. The action, in this case, is straightforward. However, if the situation demands you to act in a way that is outside of your comfort zone, you must bridge the gap. Micro-behavioral skills should be honed. Rather than making a large transformation to modify your behavior, you can concentrate on micro-behaviors that will bring you nearer to your ultimate goal. A micro-behavior is also something small, perhaps even insignificant, but consistent with the direction you want to go. Stage 4: Look for role models. Peers with varying abilities who can serve as role models for the kinds of behaviors you want to interpret and implement can be an excellent source of motivation. Seek assistance from both within and outside of your team. Teamwork bridges the gap between your preconfigured style and also the most obvious solution, which can take time and effort. For such cases, the best course of action would be to look for an alternative either within or outside of your current team. As a result, organizations require leaders who can adapt to their environments, which necessitates the continuous development of self-awareness, compassion, understanding, and behavioral experimentation to broaden their behavioral range. Leaders must experiment with various behaviors and strategies, determining which ones are appropriate for a particular situation and amassing behavioral and cognitive experiences over time. This is a learning loop in which they function out behavior and then demonstrate it to determine what went well, what didn’t, and how to improve in the future. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [A Decade of Touching Humanity](https://faberinfinite.com/a-decade-of-touching-humanity/): The journey is always more beautiful than the destination, as they say, Faber Infinite Consulting has come a long way towards crafting growth opportunities. From promoting effective tools and solutions in uncovering hidden capacities, to serving clients for organizational transformation a decade of valuable service is dedicated to humanity. Industry neutral services to industry-specific methods our expertise in operational excellence and people excellence has provided us with an era of unique services. Manufacturing industries being the backbone of any economy, it is significant to make them resilient and agile in terms of production and process. Faber Infinite has worked across different sectors for delivering tangible results. Whether it is for productivity improvement or capacity building, our proven solutions have always aided our clients in achieving continual improvement and constant growth. 10 Key sectors of Humanity touched are: Pharmaceutical Industry Packaging Industry Engineering Industry Chemical Industry Automotive Industry Textile Industry Renewable Energy Industry Thermal Power Industry Commercial Farms Food Processing Industry 10 Key benefits delivered across the industry are: Productivity Improvement Production Improvement Inventory Optimization OTIF Delivery Improvement Material Velocity Improvement Wastage Reduction Process Planning Cost Optimization Performance Enhancement Quality Improvement Change is inevitable. Only timely changes can help you move forward. To stay ahead in the market, adopting new technology and processes is mandatory. Faber has formulated proven solutions like Lean Facility Design and Organizational Transformation Framework to make the shifting changes easier for clients to lead the market. ‘Innovation’ has always been at the core of Faber’s philosophy. Digitalization being the new normal, we support our clients by implementing VSM 4.0, Industry 4.0, and solutions for more advanced services with FabNXT. Thus, branching out Faber Infinite’s services in more than 10 countries and across different sectors, we target transformation to its fullest. With fierce competition to outshine in the market, our focus is to improve the business performance matrix, flexibility improvement to adapt to new demands and standardize processes to execute culture in an organization. We believe in real value addition and thus uncover capacities to increase the scope of development of each organization. Thus, from analysis to implementation and then to sustenance, Faber Infinite serves beneficiaries in all areas of improvement for a profitable and stable business. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Key Themes for Future Growth and Development](https://faberinfinite.com/3-key-themes-for-future-growth-and-development/): As we are on the path of pandemic recovery, things are settling down with the adoption of new normal being the only way out. Several alarming situations have given rise to challenges across sectors due to disrupting supply chains, increasing fuel prices, inflation, geopolitical tension among the superpowers, and so on. However, economists have proposed more positives for the coming financial year, 2022. One of the reasons behind this positive prediction is the urge to rise from the epidemic’s downfalls. The data from International Monetary Fund(IMF) released in January 2022 has predicted 5.9% growth for Asian economies while projecting 4.4% growth for the global economy. The fiscal year 2022-23 is expected to grow more than last year and for the coming year. The bright side is that experts have predicted the market to grow upside down with potential growth rates for the Indian Economy. The 3 most valuable, adaptive, effective, and performing themes for this financial year are: Value Stream Mapping (VSM) 4.0: Smart Manufacturing is the need of the hour. To fulfill this need, implementing Value Stream Mapping 4.0 is the only possible option for industries that aim for digitalization and Industry 4.0. VSM 4.0 is well accepted and utilized for integrating information flows, improving flexibility, and even increasing production output. Machine learning, automation, the Internet of Things(IoT), and others are the other benefits that VSM 4.0 offers to manufacturers for continual improvement and sustainable development. 2. Manpower Productivity Improvement: Another major theme that the Fiscal year 2022-23 will focus on is ‘Manpower Productivity Improvement’. Productivity has always been an issue for manufacturers across the globe. Faber Infinite Consulting’s proven productivity-improving exercises especially focus on areas such as:  Analysing all activities and arriving at the standard time of each activity, identifying NVAs (non-value adding activities), providing recommendations for eliminating NVAs for future practices, and providing systematic review aimed toward line balancing activities. These exercises have helped client organizations to improve by 33% in terms of production output.  3. Equipment Performance Improvement: Total Productive Maintenance is the methodology that involves maintaining performance across the facilities and increasing equipment performance. By improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness(OEE), improvement in terms of performance rate and the quality rate is achieved. It can be achieved by reducing unscheduled breakdown time and wastage. Thus, it’s a tried and tested fact, that equipment/ machine maintenance can be improved via deploying the TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) methodology, which can lead the organization towards the goal of continuous improvement.  The entire world is focused on these three key themes for future growth and development. Are you competing for faster growth too? Faber Infinite has been working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, Operational Excellence, and Business Excellence. To graduate towards excellence, manufacturing organizations should work towards the basic stability of 4Ms – Man, Method, Material, and Machine for transforming organizations towards continual improvement. Contact us for implementing an efficient and smooth business transformation journey. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [In True Sense “Gati Se Pragati”](https://faberinfinite.com/in-true-sense-gati-se-pragati/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a pioneer in machine manufacturing specifically for the textile industry. We had a chat with Mr. Anand Patel – Executive Director at Peass Industrial Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Excerpts of this interesting interaction are as mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI): As a leading textile machine manufacturer in India, can you tell us more about Peass Engineers Private Limited? Mr. Anand Patel (AP): As you know, Peass was started as a machinery manufacturing company focusing on products for Textile Industry. The very first machine manufactured was Cone Winder. It was accepted in the domestic market first and later the company developed customers from around the world. Peass also has collaborated with many leading textile manufacturers. I can say that with time, we moved along the way of innovation. Continual Improvement & Automation is now a part and parcel of our production processes due to which challenging times were faced without quality compromises. We also had an in-house tool room equipped with all types of Precision Machines to cope with demanding requirements. One of the striking features which I can highlight here is that ‘Quality’ is an obsession with PEASS. Inspection at every stage of manufacturing, after-sales services, and supply of spare parts, are our mantra for continual improvement. Thus, we can proudly say that we are built on a strong foundation or base as we developed over these years. FI: Sounds great! Today, as we are rowing through difficult times of pandemic, operations and supply chain are deeply affected. However, Peass as an organization has always been managing in terms of deliveries and operations. We would surely want to know what your mantra of excellence is. AP: With the pandemic, difficulties increased manifold with respect to manufacturing. The economic trends started shifting. Demand evaporated and supply got stuck, especially the hit was more impacting for the textile industry. Leisure spending dipped to an all-time low which directly challenged the supply-demand trends for the textile industry. The supply chain was disrupted due to covid, although we at Peass tried our best to put on our best work in those difficult times. On-time delivery and assured quality products remained our trademark for deliveries and operations. I believe the success mantra of PEASS follows is that we are ‘Customer Centric’ manufacturers. Being the market leader for winding machines, I believe we try to live up to customer satisfaction with Quality production and consistency of products such that no compromise is made in terms of demand and supply. FI: Glad to note that Sir! Moving further, with the ever-evolving demand and technology trends in textile machinery manufacturing and how is Peass living up to the changes? AP: As mentioned earlier, change is inevitable. The success of any organization relies on how adaptable it is to the rapidly changing environment whether it is technologically or culturally. We, at Peass, have always created an environment where agility towards manufacturing has been a guiding principle of our growth. From assembly line to deliveries, we made the process of adopting the latest technologies easier. Peass has been equipped with all types of modern machine tools and techniques to cope with the demanding times. FI: As per our observation, you have always focused on culture-building along with operations improvement, especially when it comes to people practices and culture-building exercises. Because Peass is unique and known for its excellent people practices! AP: To be very honest, there is no conscious effort as such in terms of culture building and people practices. Perhaps, it is how we are built from the time we started. Many have remarked that our members have excellent hospitality and an accommodating attitude. Opportunities are created and built on, which not only helps in the growth of our organization, but we focus on individual growth too. Human Resource Development is an ongoing process at PEASS. Training to all employees at all levels is imparted regularly. Employee involvement programs like Quality Circles have been underway for some time now and they have yielded very encouraging results. However, the warmth of the team has helped this organization to maintain its culture. FI: Team Faber has been associated with Peass in operations and process efficiency. Can you share more details about the journey and the role of Faber Infinite in the improvement numbers? AP: Team Faber Infinite conducted extensive research and analyzed all possible parameters to improve productivity at our organization through various Operational Excellence tools. Faber Infinite along with our teams has worked on a variety of improvement projects, such as Time and Motion Analysis, Productivity Improvement, Equipment Performance Improvement, Culture Building, and so on. We appreciate the Faber Infinite team’s assistance in sharing insights, adding value, and improving our organization’s efficiency. The initiative not only achieved the desired exponential results, but it also resulted in a culture of continuous improvement on the floor, where the last person on the ground is sensitive and appreciative of the growth and improvement, which, in the true sense of the phrase “Gati Se Pragati”. To mention the improvement numbers of the workshops, 67% improvement in unit production per day, 37% improvement in manpower productivity, 26% improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and much more. These are some immediate numbers that come to my mind as of now. As a result of our workshops with Faber Infinite, our teams have won a number of national and international competitions, including gold at an International Convention in Singapore. So, yes, Faber Infinite has aided us in achieving a great deal over the last few years. FI: What is your take on Operational Excellence as an industry leader that focuses on machine manufacturing for the textile industry? AP: The competition is heating up in a global market environment. Organizations of all sizes and sectors are increasingly been looking toward Operational Excellence (OE) and Lean Management to eliminate waste across their value chain, which ultimately helps them
- [New Factory Layout Design | India’s Leading Lean Facility Design© Consulting Firm](https://faberinfinite.com/lean-facility-design-layout-design/): With the end of the wrathful pandemic, opportunities have flooded industries as we move along the path of a speedy recovery. To the futuristic and competitive market leaders, Financial Year 2022-23 will be better than the last few years if planned properly. Organizations that intend to expand their operations always seek efficient and future-ready layouts. Lean Facility Design (LFD) by Faber Infinite Consulting is the best-in-class tool for crafting world-class and efficient facilities for new plants or New Factory Layout Design. Lean Facility Design (LFD) is a unique, copyrighted toolkit developed by Faber Infinite. If implemented, it assures that the new plant becomes the most efficient from Day ONE. This methodology is a combination of Industrial Engineering, Lean Management & Project Management. 5 Key reasons why Lean Facility Design is the best tool for every New Factory Layout Design:  Typical areas covered under Lean Facility Design Methodology are: Benefits delivered from Lean Facility Design: To facilitate planning and processes for new facility design using operational excellence, Lean Facility Design is the tool you are looking for! Team Faber has been delivering excellent results for FMCG industries, Renewable Power Source Industry, Food Processing industry, and more via this proven and customised Lead Facility Design framework.  This unique best-in-class methodology is not only applicable for organizations that are coming up with new facilities but also offers exemplary benefits in revising layouts, shifting, or expanding the current setups of organizations. Our experience-rich team members have delivered tangible results such as: Team Faber’s expertise in implementing Lean Facility Design has significantly helped clients to design and structure new plants/facilities. The management processes and wide scope of improvement have led to the making of new success stories with continual and sustainable development goals for clients in the long run of production. Lean Facility Design, as a reliable tool, has always resulted in tangible benefits for clients throughout the whole process of the new setup. Are you ready to revolutionize your facility design? Fill out the form below to unlock the power of lean principles and transform your layout into a highly efficient space. Don’t wait, take the first step towards maximising productivity and minimising waste today! Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Inclusive Leadership: For Future Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/inclusive-leadership-for-future-growth/): Inclusive leadership as defined is: “leaders who are aware of their own biases and preferences, actively seek out and consider different points of view and perspectives in order to make better decisions. They view diverse talent as a source of competitive advantage and inspire diverse individuals to drive organizational and individual performance toward a shared vision.” This #Transformation Tuesday let us understand the significance of inclusive leadership in the work environment. We live in a diverse business environment. It’s not just our workforce that varies. There is also variation in the customers we want to attract, the messages we share or consume across various platforms, and the markets we want to enter. All of these elements are balanced by inclusive leadership – inclusive leaders adapt quickly to diverse scenarios. They look at things from alternate perspectives with an open, non-judgmental mind to achieve the best results possible. And research shows that when done correctly, there are numerous advantages; teams perform better and more collaboratively and make better overall decisions. Key Characteristics of an Inclusive Leader: They demonstrate a genuine commitment to diversity by challenging the status quo, holding others accountable, and making diversity and inclusion a personal priority. Three steps to promoting Inclusive Leadership in the workplace: 1. Inform stakeholders. Identify those who have a financial investment in your company and keep them up to date on new company developments, as well as inform them that the transition to inclusive leadership is both exciting and profitable. Lead with research, energize stakeholders with what inclusive leadership entails, and frame this shift as empowering for all parties involved. 2. Keep the lines of communication open. Clean lines of communication are essential for inclusive leadership, and this applies to both new and experienced staff. Employees can express their feelings about their work experience during leadership assessments. Leaders should meet with team members one-on-one to check in on their professional and emotional well-being. When leaders are made aware of their unconscious biases, they could indeed view individuals as the potential for advancement rather than rejections. 3. Make an effort to hire a diverse workforce. Creating an inclusive environment entails strategically recruiting workers from diverse backgrounds. This will provide a broader knowledge of the world and market as a whole, allowing businesses to better understand their customer base. It is equally important is putting such employees in positions of responsibility and ensure that everybody feels a sense of belonging. Thus, ‘Inclusive leadership’ is the need of the current work culture since diversity is the part and parcel of an organization’s growth. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [7 Tips to Enhance Workplace Competition](https://faberinfinite.com/7-tips-to-enhance-workplace-competition/): Employee productivity and performance improvement can be a result of workplace competition. It keeps your teams motivated and happy. But how much is too much? Here are four ways to foster a culture of healthy competition without jeopardising employee well-being. This #Transformation Tuesday, let us discuss seven ways to promote healthy workplace competition: Keep the competitive spirit alive by organizing light-hearted team fitness challenges, such as a lunge or push-up contests. Form teams across the company so that employees can get to know their co-workers in other departments. To keep competition high, provide incentives to the winning team, such as points in your wellness program or gift cards. Connect your employees’ individual goals to your team and company goals to ensure everyone is competing toward the same vision. Encourage outside-of-work competition to foster camaraderie through activities such as bowling, company-sponsored dodgeball, or park soccer. Alternatively, keep it in the office and try some of our favourite lunchtime games like Jenga, ping-pong, or chair races. Leave the “office talk” at the door and focus on each other. When competition is meaningful and employees feel valued, it is most effective. Thank your employees for their efforts with thoughtful incentives or handwritten thank-you notes.  To implement a team reward system for recognising peers will contribute towards building team. Employees can become embroiled in conflict as a result of competition. Competition for limited resources can lead to tension. Competition, on the other hand, becomes a facilitator for innovation and improvement when team members understand how to have a healthy debate and when they openly share their views. The first step is to teach healthy conflict resolution. Your employees should compete not only with others in your organization or with competitors but also with their previous efforts. Raising the bar and setting loftier goals will help your employees perform at their best. The finest gift you can give your employees is your genuine evaluation of their work. Employees need both benefits and repercussions to perform well. A heavily skewed environment, either positive or negative, will result in instability. Workplace competition can enable your employees to be more productive, engaged, energized. It can, however, stress them out, undermine their confidence, and cause long-term resentment. Some people are inherently dynamic and succeed in contests, while others are not and will feel embarrassed at the mere mention of competition. Therefore, it is up to the organization to identify and make their employees comfortable enough so they participate and contribute to reaping the benefits of healthy competition. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Workplace Habits to Keep Your Mental Health in Check](https://faberinfinite.com/3-workplace-habits-to-keep-your-mental-health-in-check/): Work is an important part of our lives. It is where we spend the majority of our time, where we earn our money, and where we often meet new people. Having a job that you enjoy can be beneficial to your mental health and overall well-being. The way we think and feel, as well as our ability to deal with ups and downs, are all aspects of our mental health. We all may have mental health issues. We have a sense of purpose and direction when we have the energy to do the things we want to do and the ability to deal with the challenges that life throws at us only if we are mentally good. Here are three vital tips to protect your mental health at work:   Regular exercise can improve your self-esteem as well as your ability to concentrate, sleep, and look and feel better. Exercising is more than just playing sports or going to the gym. According to experts, most people should exercise for 30 minutes at least five days per week. Make physical activity that you enjoy a part of your daily routine. You may have a physically demanding job, such as construction or teaching; if you are absent due to injury or illness, you will notice how quickly your mood is affected by the change in activity level. Talking about your feelings can help you maintain your mental health and deal with difficult times. Talking about your feelings isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s part of taking control of your health and doing everything you can to stay healthy. It can be difficult to express one’s emotions at work. It can be extremely beneficial to have colleagues you can talk to or a manager who asks how you are during supervision sessions. Choose someone with whom you feel at ease and who will be supportive. You should consider what you want to disclose, who you want to disclose it to, and when and where is the best time and place to do so. Relationships are important for our mental health. Working in a supportive team is extremely beneficial to our mental health at work. We don’t always have a say in who we work with, and if we don’t get along with our bosses, co-workers, or clients, it can lead to conflict. You may need to practice more self-care during these times. But you may also need to address the issues that affect you. When we have mental health issues, work politics can be a real challenge. It can be beneficial to find a mentor or a small group of trusted colleagues with whom you can discuss your work-related feelings – to help you, sense check, and help you. Remember that the best expert on a person’s needs is the person themselves – if there is one cardinal rule for assisting a colleague, it is to never assume and always ask. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Break the Bias at Workplaces!](https://faberinfinite.com/break-the-bias-at-workplaces/): #FaberInfiniteConsulting #Women'sDay #March8th #BreakingBias #GenderEquality #Womenempowerment #WomenInBusiness #WomenInLeadership #Womenspportingwomen #WomenLeaders #BreaktheBias
- [Team Building: Essential Tips to Inspire your Employees](https://faberinfinite.com/inspire-employees-through-effective-team-building/): Team building encourages collaboration and teamwork brings people together collectively. In the workplace, building groups is the way to form a coherent institution working toward a single purpose. The essence and main goal of group formation are to build strong bonds and connections if you want to form a strong group. Businesses and institutions benefit greatly from forming these bonds through group building. Improved communication, planning skills, employee engagement, and employee ownership are benefits of team building. Fun sports that allow employee interaction in a different environment inspire, to see everything that is different in a new light. People on your team are asked to remember the employment impact of these sports. One of the most compelling reasons for creating groups is to improve communication. Achieving consequences is one of the most compelling reasons for creating groups. Teams develop skills such as communication, planning, problem-solving, and combat resolution through a series of fun and challenging team-building events. These group-building hobby thoughts encourage the right connections and deeper conversations, which facilitates long-term team building. Productivity and a pleasant talking climate can be guaranteed by a closely connected institution. Here are 12 compelling reasons to build an institution together: Even if you’re working from home, inspire your employees and bring them closer together! 12 Reasons to Build Effective Team Bridging the gaps allows for the formation of tremendous relationships, that contribute to an extra efficient business. When it comes to developing a stronger team, ties between employees inside one department were not the only ones that matter. The term “team” isn’t limited to the sales or marketing departments. It is a single collection of all of your organization’s working teams.  Encourage employees to get to know colleagues from different departments rather than working in silos with members of their current team. This is a technique that you will most likely find beneficial. Assist everyone in the office to feel more at ease and provide opportunities for new partnerships. Bridging those gaps enables for the formation of positive relationships, which leads to a more productive business. Ready to inspire and strengthen your team? Unlock the essential tips for effective team building and watch your employees thrive. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to expert insights and start fostering a culture of collaboration and success today! Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [How to plan Operational Excellence for the Year 2023?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-plan-operational-excellence-in-2023/): An organisation must have two components to achieve operational excellence in 2023: an operational discipline and an integrated management system. A holistic management system is a framework that integrates procedures and standards. It allows a business to identify and manage the risks that come with a course or project. The best way to characterize operational excellence, according to Business Dictionary, is as follows: “A workplace philosophy in which problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership lead to an organization’s continuous progress. Focusing on the needs of consumers, keeping employees positive and empowered, and constantly improving existing workplace activities are all part of the process.” Because your operational house is in order, overall excellence leads to next-level performance. In reality, the notion of operational excellence can be whatever your organization determines. Many people feel that the key concepts of operational excellence imply outperforming your competitors by increasing revenue and cutting costs. It’s also a mindset that’s deeply embedded in your company’s culture and encourages your employees to keep improving. What Are Your Operational Objectives? Six Sigma, Lean Management, Kaizen, are examples of operational excellence approaches. Each approach has its own set of guiding principles that will assist you in making judgments. Operational goals are concerned with increasing firm productivity and improving the quality of products or services. Increasing safety precautions and improving product or service adaptability are two examples of goals. For operational excellence, you’ll need the right tools and technologies. The good news is that there are numerous project management solutions available. The bad news is that few of them offer all of the features needed to create business-wide operational excellence. When it comes to sourcing technology, Directors of Operations should seek for platforms that can: Optimize labor : intensive procedures: Tools that automate manual processes reduce human error and boost efficiency. Improve team efficiency: Tools that map skills and availability to predicted work can help teams make better use of their resources. Increase data visibility: Tools that convey granular data from across the organisation quickly can aid in better informed strategic decision-making. Boost profitability: Tools that report on a variety of key parameters can help you improve your bottom line. Operating Excellence Principles When critical roles to the company’s growth aren’t accomplished, it’s one of the most telling signals that the principles of operational excellence aren’t being followed. This is frequently due to the fact that the persons in charge of these duties are not given enough time to perform them. Managers must use operational excellence principles to overcome these difficulties. There are a few different sets of principles that are used to quantify this, but they all involve the same elements which include: 1. Start with the end in mind. 2. Assisting various groups 3. Working together to develop workflows 4. Automate time-consuming tasks 5. Make use of graphs, charts, and timelines 6. Establish time management procedures. 7. Automate processes that are repeated frequently. 8. Create a common work template for staff to use in the event of a disruption in the flow. 9. Encourage employees to take responsibility for their own actions. 10. Effectively use resources Team Faber Infinite has helped 150+ clients in various industries across geographies in successfully implementing operational excellence processes and benefitting from them. With our structured framework, we have helped many clients in achieving excellence and attaining continual improvement and sustainable development.  Contact us for more information on www.faberinfinite.com Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Picture credit: FacilitiesNet
- [5 Key points for Greenfield Projects via Lean Facility Design (LFD)](https://faberinfinite.com/5-key-points-for-greenfield-projects-via-lean-facility-design/): A greenfield project is when construction begins from the ground up. It’s a plot of land where no previous development has taken place, and no demolition or reconstruction work has been done. A greenfield project is one that is created on land that has never been used before and does not require the reconstruction or demolition of any existing structures. It’s a project that starts from the ground up, with no constraints imposed by past work on the property, such as an existing structure or infrastructure. On undeveloped greenfield land, it can comprise infrastructure, industrial, manufacturing, and urban development projects. New factories, power plants, and airports built from the ground up on greenfield land are examples of greenfield projects. Faber Infinite’s Lean Facility Design (LFD) is a one-of-a-kind toolset (methodology) that helps companies create best-in-class factory layouts.  LFD framework has been implemented for Remsons Industries Ltd, a pioneer in India for Auto Control Cables and Gear Shifters with Push-Pull Cables, when they were shifting their facility. They got the new plant layout done by Faber Infinite. We helped them map out all the processes including raw materials, stores, material flow, movement between material flows taking into consideration COVID norms as well. Similarly, Goldi Solar Private Limited, one of the fastest growing Solar PV module manufacturing companies deployed our patented Lean Facility Design© (LFD) framework for their new facility for efficient processes and operations. The client was extremely intrigued with LFD framework and got superlative results. Yet another leading drip irrigation pipes manufacturer, Kothari Agritech Pvt Ltd resorted to Lean Facility Design framework for top class productivity and capacity and thus built a world class plant. They were in the process of consolidation of 6-7 units at a new facility called Kothari Udyam Nagar in Solapur. They wanted to design a world-class layout and Team Faber supported them in setting up top-notch facility with higher than planned capacities and manpower productivity. When constructing a Lean facility from the ground up, there are often numerous project rollout phases: Map current-state and ideal-state processes This phase includes “baselining” the present state and identifying “future-state” mapping, as described in more detail below. The main purpose is to figure out what the organisation as a whole, and the facility in particular, require and should provide. The concept of value stream mapping and understanding the client journey take centre stage in this phase, and lean thinking is essential. Create a process model Because the costs of implementing a design and process from scratch can be significant, many businesses opt to model their design and process. Modeling bridges the gap between action and outcome, enabling for more effective iterations and improved results. Using Lean thinking throughout the modelling phase guarantees that the chosen design pulls value through the process, minimises defects, and delivers one-piece flow—all of which are principles aimed at enhancing customer value and increasing efficiency. In terms of production output and end-of-shift inventory levels, a model can indicate the impact of running two eight-hour shifts versus three. Devise a strategy This phase combines the existing state, ideal state, and unique conditions at the new site to produce an executable, in-scope design. Personnel selection, raw material and waste management, customer consumption process and experience, and everyday work experience of staff at the new facility are all design processes that must be strategically (and realistically) considered. Create an implementation plan The ensuing blueprint, based on the outcomes of the modelling efforts, specifies precisely each step essential for effective implementation. Design to Production ­­ Crossing the bridge from design to implementation is the final step, which necessitates careful consideration of human infrastructure and resources. A greenfield project has the advantage of allowing developers to start from scratch and design a project that meets both current and future needs. They will also have complete architectural flexibility with the project because they will not be required to demolish or alter anything on the site. It is the need of the hour with more and more manufacturing units being set up across industries. Lean Facility Design focuses on aspects like flow design, capacity calculations, manpower and equipment optimization, material handling, beyond optimal layout design. It also covers aspects like project planning, conceptual design at the systems level, functional design at the value stream level, and detailed design at the operational level, standard work development for operating. LFD is a proven and copyrighted methodology, that supports organizations to build best-in-class facilities from day zero! Lean design maximizes efficiency, reduces costs, and ensures flexibility for future growth. It promotes sustainability and fosters collaboration for better project outcomes. Ready to optimize your design? Explore Customized Supply Chain Solutions for growth. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [5 Aspects to Avoid while Improving Manpower Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/5-aspects-to-avoid-while-improving-manpower-productivity/): When you know-how, increasing your own Manpower Productivity is simple. Take note of these typical blunders to avoid beginning off on the right foot: 1. Expecting to remember everything You are fortunate if you have complete faith in your memory, yet your intellect may still fail you. Trying to recall all of your pending chores, a large amount of data, dates, and times will only hinder your efficiency and make you feel more stressed in the long run. Clear your thoughts of unnecessary information and create worklists to help you prioritize and track your progress on a daily basis. 2. Uncertainty about where to begin Most of us are more productive early in the day, yet we frequently waste that time because we don’t know where to begin. To increase productivity and efficiency, avoid wasting time and make it a mission to begin each day with your most critical duties. Working on your To-Day List for the next day the day before is a simple method to attain this aim. Keep in mind that time is money. 3. Failure to adhere to deadlines A deadline is required for every task. Without a time frame, it’s likely that the work or goal may be postponed or stretched in time unnecessarily. Whenever you are given an assignment, inquire about the deadline. Similarly, if you’re delegating work to a team member, make sure you spell out exactly when the assignment is due. 4. Participating in ineffective meetings An ineffective meeting is one in which you don’t know what subjects will be discussed (due to a lack of an agenda) or where the goals are ignored. As a result, you’ll have an unprepared meeting that will merely waste time, and you’ll be unable to increase productivity. To make the most of your time, you might be interested in learning about these 10 scenarios when a meeting isn’t required. 5. Ignoring your top-of-the-line program The most typical blunder is interrupting what we’re doing to solve a new problem that may or may not be more pressing. It doesn’t matter if you get a phone call, a last-minute email, or someone comes to ask you a question: sticking to your priorities means being more productive. The first step in sticking to your priority program (task list) is to learn how to say “no” and postpone chores that can wait (most of them). Team Faber has been helping organizations across industries and geographies to successfully design and implement performance management systems. We follow a holistic approach that has a hierarchy-driven approach with weightage for company performance, departmental performance and individual performance. We provide timely feedback, there is an elimination of favoritism, transparency, team win over the individual win and includes evaluation by self and not by the boss. It is two-way communication between employee and employer for a defined period of time with the objective to achieve the organization’s goal. Unlock the keys to skyrocketing manpower productivity! Discover the 5 critical aspects to avoid for maximum efficiency. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive access to expert insights and take your workforce productivity to the next level! Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Important Skills for a Leader During Crisis Management](https://faberinfinite.com/important-skills-for-a-leader-during-crisis-management/): Leaders that are able to adapt at the speed of change are the best. They anticipate, try something new, fail, and then fine-tune. A crisis is a situation to improvise and evolve. Only the best leaders can manage organizations during times of crisis, whereas others may panic and flee from their responsibilities, blaming them on others. Today, on Transformation Tuesday, let us analyze the important skill set that a leader should possess during crisis management. Communication It is the most important element for managing the leadership role at all times. Well, a crisis is the best time to test the communication skills of the leaders because it is only during such situations that intentional communication takes place. During crisis management, leaders are burdened mainly with 2 issues: overloaded information or limited information. Thus, communication within and outside the organization is difficult. Formulating contingency plans, communicating them with team members, organizing central communication systems, and blending the entire situation focused on solving the crisis that erupted are all part of intentional communication. Authentic and concise information flow is the key to crisis management. Responsiveness A true leader never steps back when there is a crisis situation. Rather, the quality of responsiveness is displayed, and an experimental mindset is advised for the best leaders to respond to crisis situations. Developing agility and function in crisis management situations requires a leader to adapt to changes and manage failure. The approach towards dealing with the problem is formulated in such a way that creative solutions are implemented by weaving the whole team together. Thus, taking responsibility and communicating the plans and goals to deal with the emotional and logistical hurdles should be the primary steps of the best leaders during crisis management. Creative Decision-Making: Every crisis calls for decision-making. It is the leaders’ qualities and skill sets that determine whether the decision will be the worst or best. During crisis management, the future of the organization and team members are on the line, so it is on the leaders to come aboard and rescue the team with quick responses and planned directive management. Having a calm and cool mindset during any problem situation is extremely essential for the leaders in order to communicate the plans and objectives of the organizations and trust the team for execution of the plans. It is during this time that the whole team has the chance to use different and creative solutions to tackle the problems at hand. The decision to manage work and personal relationships in the best possible way has always had a positive impact on decision-making. Thus, the best leaders emerge during crisis situations in any organization, and the necessary skills always come from experience and creative thinking. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Three Important Steps for Organizational Change Management](https://faberinfinite.com/three-important-steps-for-organizational-change-management/): Change is inevitable within the process of life. Organizations that shall grow and develop for achieving their vision and mission should cater to the timely changes. This #Transformation Tuesday, let us attempt to ‘be the change’ for the betterment of the organization we are related to. Change has an impression on the foremost valuable asset: people. Due to the related recruitment costs and therefore the time required to bring new staff up to hurry, losing personnel is expensive. Whenever an employee leaves the office, they take with them vital information about your company. A change management strategy can assist you to make a smooth transition and guarantee that your staff is led along the way. Therefore, the Three key steps for efficient organizational change management are, as below: Define the change and the company’s objectives. Although it is going to appear simple, many organizations overlook this significant initiative. It’s one thing to precise the needed change; it’s quite another to undertake a rigorous evaluation against organizational objectives and performance goals to ensure that the change will lead your company within the appropriate strategic, financial, and ethical direction. Questions to consider here are: What needs to be changed? or What is the necessity for this change? This stage can also, assist you to assess the price of the change, which can help you define the time and resources you will need to form it happen.  You should then analyze the impacts of the change at various organizational levels after you recognize exactly what you would like to realize and why. Examine the impact on each business unit, also as how it spreads through the management to the individual. This data will begin to develop a roadmap of where the foremost training and support is required to mitigate the consequences. Management must answer these questions before any change implementation such as: How will the change affect your organization? Who is going to suffer the most from the change? How will people react to the change? Although all employees should be included within the change process, the prior two steps will have to identify which employees must be told of the change. Determine the foremost efficient method of communication for bringing the group or individual on board by asking what message are you conveying by the change? How will employees handle feedback? An effective communication strategy consist of a time frame, for the way the change is going to be communicated. Important messages, and therefore the communication channels and mediums are proposed to be included within the communication strategy. Thus, effective organizational change management results in an improvement in productivity and overall development of organizations. Ready to lead successful organizational change? Unlock the power of three crucial steps for effective change management. Fill out the form below to gain exclusive insights and strategies. Embrace change and drive your organization towards a brighter future! Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Picture attributes: Hand photo created by master1305 – www.freepik.com
- [How to build an Effective Communication Strategy?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-build-an-effective-communication-strategy/): Crafting an effective communications strategy, to assist and govern your relationship with customers and employees, involves a strategic approach and a thorough grasp of your communication plans. This #Transformation Tuesday, lets evaluate the key features of formulating effective communication strategy for business organizations. Understanding your demographic, being relevant with your messages, and to bring actual value to the table are all equally crucial elements in developing a top-notch communications strategy, according to the experts. Any organization’s administration requires effective communication. Whether the goal is to inform employees about new policies, prepare for a catastrophic disaster, maintain organisational safety, or respond to work engagement, good communication is a critical component of efficient management. Organizations must have extensive procedures and strategies for interacting with their clients, employees, and partners, as well as the general public, in order to be successful. Communicate in both directions – Two Way Communication After you have agreed on the employees and the qualities they are looking for, the next process is to figure out how to get these messages to the people who need to hear them. It is indeed important to remember that feedback is always delivered in an informal setting. If this is followed, employees will have a higher level of trust in the organisation. Responding to employee problems and challenges fosters loyalty and increases productivity. Managers are in charge of everyday communication with their staff as well as interpersonal interaction with peers and collaborators. It is the obligation of all employees to express their problems and suggestions. Creating a Communication Strategy Employers should start by connecting communication to the strategic plan, which includes the organization’s mission, vision, and values, as well as its purpose and objectives and employment brand. HR professionals and communication leaders play important roles, especially in difficult economic times. Managers are in charge of everyday communication with their staff as well as interpersonal interaction with peers and collaborators. It is the obligation of all employees to express their problems and suggestions. Obtain detailed feedback prior to launching Prior to launching the strategy, it is critical to obtain input and feedback from a variety of sources, both inside and externally. Whether it is for employees, Customers, industry analysts, product management, sales, or executives, always remember to let them know, how the strategy is implemented. To do so, interview, consult, and update these important stakeholders throughout the process to ensure the strategy is relevant to these audiences. Acknowledge Achievements It is critical for a boss or department head to maintain high morale and motivation. By publicly acknowledging individual and team accomplishments, you demonstrate that you are aware of and concerned about your team’s performance. Recognition for accomplishments can improve performance and increase productivity. Thus, keeping employees and other stakeholders of an organization will always develop the scope of growth for the organization and create a healthy work environment. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Accelerate Operations in Pharma Industry](https://faberinfinite.com/accelerate-operations-in-pharmaceutical-industry/): In the post-COVID recovery route, pharmaceutical organizations are focusing on network risk management, being more agile, making operations more transparent, and creating the future workforce. Many in the industry, however, were extraordinarily responsive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders in the pharma industry have joined together to facilitate the cross-border supply of critical medicines and raw materials, manage labour safety, and deal with changing government regulations, all while preparing for new vaccines and therapeutics. Setting Strategic Goals  for Rapid Response: Most businesses have also established crisis-response command centres to effectively manage and bring normalcy to a rather chaotic situation. Companies can begin to assess the potential measures for turning their attention to speedy recovery and the path to the new normal as a reaction to the crisis. This is anticipated to bring in significant changes in the pharmaceutical industry. Network strategy has evolved at the industrial level. As the attention changes to the cost implications of location risk, landed costs are no longer the most important parameter. As the pandemic has demonstrated, supply chains can be jeopardized when they are overly reliant on an area that is prone to damage. Shifting production locations closer to end markets or to lower-risk countries that are less susceptible to disruption is now a standard risk mitigation strategy. Digitalization for resilient operations: Because of the rising usage of digital tools, telehealth, and app-based ecosystems, supply chains are becoming more patient-centric. Companies are focusing more on operational resilience and accelerating initiatives that enable more agility, including workforce agility. As workforces become more remote and distributed, transparency can be established through the deployment of digital and analytics tools along with automation at the individual company level. Companies will seek more transparency across the value chain and create more responsive operating models in response to risk mitigation objectives. Companies that rely on digital and analytics-driven solutions will be benefitted at large as a result of the changing phenomena. If international transparency on stockpiles of crucial (and maybe all) pharmaceuticals and medical supplies becomes the norm, digitalization will play a critical role. Agility for increasing production: The complex manufacturing processes with different types of equipments and systems are controlled by integrating technology and optimum resources to increase productivity. Manufacturing and warehouse automation will play a key role in the future, improving data availability and, more significantly, reducing dependency on humans. Agility has to be a distinguishing aspect of a resilient strategy, particularly in product transfers and new material validation. Traditional pharmaceutical procedures will give way to agile models, which will allow for faster response times in the event of an emergency. Improved medical-equipment approval, quality and risk-assessment processes for new material qualification and validation, remote monitoring for site quality audits. And faster adoption of electronic batch records are a few examples of an agile model of the Pharmaceutical Industry. With our customized solutions within the GMP and regulatory frameworks, pharmaceutical manufacturing organizations. They have been able to overcome these challenges via the Organizational Transformation Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting. Contact us to know how the improvement journey can be accelerated for your organization as well. Ready to revolutionize your operations in the pharmaceutical industry? Fill out the form below and gain access to game-changing strategies and expert insights on accelerating your success. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take your pharma business to the next level! Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Total Productive Maintenance: 3 Tips to Boost Efficiency](https://faberinfinite.com/3-tips-to-boost-efficiency-with-total-productive-maintenance/): The vision of the Government is to make India a ‘5 trillion Economy’, which seems to be a challenging goal yet achievable if real capacity is uncovered for the manufacturing units. Maintenance and Manufacturing professionals are continually seeking “perfect operations.” This is particularly challenging since even the best-planned systems may encounter unexpected problems. In the manufacturing industry, maintenance is positioned as a business benefit: no downtime and no equipment failure that equates productivity and profit. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance strategy that involves all aspects of a manufacturing or company’s operations. When production is efficiently expanded over time, while losses connected to equipment and people are reduced, quality is improved, accidents are avoided, and energy is saved. After thorough research, the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) rolled out the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) framework in 1971. It’s also recognized as overall manufacturing maintenance. It’s a maintenance method (technique) that focuses on equipment and people to boost productivity and sustain production foundations. TPM is also based on the Five S principle, which facilitates the organisation and standardisation of facility procedures, resulting in a number of operational and workforce quality improvements. There are of course 8 pillars in the house of TPM. However, today we want to draw your attention to the three of the important pillars associated with TPM: Jishu Hozen (JH) /Autonomous Maintenance (AM): Equipment maintenance and upkeep should start with the people who utilise it. Allowing operators to handle minor maintenance tasks effectively frees up maintenance crews to focus on more specialised tasks. The purpose of this pillar is to prevent forced equipment deterioration by maintaining basic equipment conditions such as cleaning, lubrication/ oiling, tightening & inspection (COTI), and keeping equipment in good operating order. Planned Maintenance: Maintenance operations that are well-planned can help prevent equipment failure. Planned maintenance comprises assessing the condition of equipment on a regular basis to avoid degradation and mechanical issues. Planned maintenance enhances equipment reliability and production uptime while minimising maintenance costs by reducing failure and establishing efficient maintenance monitoring systems such as MTBF, MTTR, and others. Kobestu-Kaizen (KK) / Focussed Improvement: In processes and plants, the KK pillar assists in achieving zero losses and boosting Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Focused Improvement is a Japanese term that refers to prioritising and eliminating the most significant losses. Individual improvement focuses on Losses, Quality Defect Reduction, Cost, Inventory, and Accidents, among other things. The goal of this pillar is to eliminate 16 different types of losses in order to increase overall plant effectiveness, process improvement, and plant efficiency. By integrating all departments and personnel inside an organization, TPM expands on the notions of maintenance and preventive maintenance. Even with a limited number of resources, an organization-wide approach centered on accepting responsibility for the machinery and equipment can improve overall performance. Faber Infinite Consulting has engaged with clients for competitive and more productive business operations by uncovering hidden capacities via Total Productive Maintenance across manufacturing units. Exceptional results have been delivered to Engineering, Plastic Manufacturing, Precision machining, and similar industries by Team Faber. Contact us for further details. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri  
- [Time and Motion Study Consultants/Experts – Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/time-and-motion-study-experts-in-productivity-improvement/): What is a Time & Motion Study? A Time and Motion Study is a systematic method used to analyze work processes to improve efficiency and productivity. It involves breaking down tasks into smaller elements, measuring the time taken for each, and identifying areas for optimization. By understanding the workflow and eliminating inefficiencies, businesses can enhance manpower productivity, streamline operations, and reduce costs. Time and Motion Studies are widely used in manufacturing, logistics, and service industries. They help organizations determine the best work methods, allocate resources efficiently, and establish performance benchmarks for improved workforce management. How to Prepare for a Time and Motion Study Preparation is crucial to ensure accurate results from a Time and Motion Study. The following steps outline how organizations can set the stage for an effective study: Define Objectives – Clearly outline what you aim to achieve, whether it’s improving productivity, reducing costs, or optimizing workflows. Select the Right Team – Assign trained professionals or experienced time and motion study agents to conduct the analysis. Identify Processes to Study – Choose specific tasks, workflows, or departments that require improvement. Gather Baseline Data – Collect initial performance metrics to compare against study results. Communicate with Employees – Inform the workforce about the study to ensure cooperation and accurate data collection. Select Data Collection Methods – Use stopwatches, video recordings, or digital tracking tools to measure time and movement accurately. How to Conduct a Time and Motion Study Once prepared, the actual study is carried out following these steps: Break Down the Task – Identify each step involved in the process. Record Time and Movements – Measure the time taken for each step and note unnecessary movements. Analyze Collected Data – Identify bottlenecks, delays, or redundant steps that affect efficiency. Compare with Industry Standards – Evaluate how the current workflow measures up to industry benchmarks. Develop Improvement Strategies – Propose modifications such as process re-engineering, workforce adjustments, or automation solutions. Test and Validate Changes – Implement pilot programs to measure the effectiveness of suggested improvements before full deployment. Implementation of Time and Motion Study Effective implementation of a Time and Motion Study ensures that the insights gained translate into tangible benefits. Key aspects of implementation include: Redesigning Workflows – adjusting processes based on study findings to improve productivity. Training Employees – Ensuring the workforce understands and adapts to the new optimized processes. Technology Integration – Implementing automation or industrial IoT solutions for enhanced efficiency. Setting Performance Metrics – Establishing KPIs to track improvements and ensure sustainability. Continuous Monitoring – Periodically reviewing processes to refine and maintain efficiency improvements. Application of Time-Motion Study A Time and Motion Study can be applied across various industries to achieve multiple operational benefits. Key applications include: Improving Manpower Productivity – Enhancing workforce efficiency by eliminating redundant tasks and optimizing workflow. Increasing Production Output – Identifying ways to speed up processes without compromising quality. Work Measurement and Effort Estimation – Determining the right amount of effort required for specific tasks. Workforce Right-Sizing – Ensuring the optimal number of employees, equipment, and tools are in place. Cost Reduction – Lowering production costs by minimizing waste and inefficiencies. Assembly Line Optimization – Ensuring conveyor belts and production lines run at peak efficiency. Reducing Changeover Time – Streamlining transitions between processes to minimize downtime. Improving Employee Performance – Providing employees with structured workflows that enhance their efficiency and reduce fatigue. Wage System Determination – Establishing fair compensation structures based on work measurement. Line Balancing and Process Optimization – Ensuring an even distribution of workload across operations.       How Faber Infinite Can Help with Manpower Productivity Faber Infinite Consulting specializes in conducting structured Time and Motion Studies to drive manpower productivity improvements. With extensive experience in process optimization, we provide customized solutions tailored to each organization’s unique needs. Our team helps businesses: Identify Productivity Gaps – Using a data-driven approach, we pinpoint inefficiencies in workflows. Develop and Implement Improvements – Providing actionable insights and implementation support to enhance workforce performance. Optimize Resource Utilization – Ensuring the right allocation of manpower, tools, and equipment. Sustain Performance Gains – Establishing monitoring systems for continuous productivity improvements. Knowledge Transfer and Training – Equipping teams with skills to maintain and expand efficiency initiatives. Proven Results Across Industries Faber Infinite has successfully implemented Time and Motion Studies for various industries, delivering remarkable improvements, including: 30% improvement in production efficiency 33% reduction in material waste 26% reduction in workforce requirements 23% increase in employee productivity 25% reduction in labor costs Our expertise ensures that organizations achieve sustainable productivity gains, enhanced profitability, and a competitive edge in their industry. Partner with Faber Infinite to optimize your workforce and drive operational excellence through a Time and Motion Study. Boost your productivity even further! After optimizing your operations with our expert Time and Motion Study solutions, take the next step to streamline your entire supply chain. Discover how our Supply Chain Consulting services can drive efficiency and growth for your business – click here to learn more: Explore Supply Chain Solutions.   Contact us for Time and Motion Study Consulting
- [Supply Chain Management Consultant/Experts - Faber Infinite](https://faberinfinite.com/supply-chain-management-experts/): The Covid -19 epidemic has wreaked havoc on the global supply chains. Rising commodity prices, logistics disruptions, and port congestion, and changed customer behavior have impacted the overall supply chain issues. Simultaneously, the push for sustainability is propelling nearly every industry sector towards locally integrated production and services that benefit both people and the environment. Companies are reorganising their goals and ways of operation in response to changing demand and supply pressures in this rapidly evolving environment. The prevailing supply chain management model in the future is likely to be one with agility and sustainability at its core, as well as effective cash flow management. Managing demand-supply imbalances: With flexibility: Demand was highly unpredictable in the months following the epidemic, with dramatic drops in demand due to lockdowns followed by surprising bursts of recovery. Most businesses reacted to the volatility by implementing frequent forecasting processes to capture the most recent market signals, changing from monthly to weekly evaluations. These measures only had a minor impact. Supply planning involves being ready for a variety of eventualities. Most systems calculated solely in-house resources before the pandemic, and raw material supply was not recognized as a barrier, hence it was not addressed. Faber Infinite is Your top choice for Supply Chain Management Consulting. We excel in optimizing supply chains for efficiency and resilience. In today’s world, where supply chains are being disrupted, agility is more important than ever for a successful response. Businesses today must be able to anticipate different scenarios quickly in order to keep up with shifting surroundings. They need to keep a laser focus on planning accuracy – agility and rapid response. A significant success factor supported by digital enablers is visibility beyond the company and collaboration with suppliers and customers. Cash management is critical for a company’s survival and growth: Enterprises with strong reserves have largely withstood demand-supply shocks over the past years, whereas smaller businesses and unorganized businesses have struggled. As a result, cash management has emerged as a strategy for assuring organizational survival and growth. Effective cash management has become critical in supply chain processes, especially for growing enterprises. Companies must contemplate recovery speed and strike a balance between the desire to drive cash and the flexibility to adapt to market demand and flourish. Supply chains must increasingly prioritize speed, establish performance KPIs for lead times, and implement agility. The focus must be on cash management that captures market potential while avoiding stagnation. Faber Infinite is recognized as one of the leading Supply Chain Consulting Firms in India. With its expertise in supply chain management and a strong track record of helping businesses optimize their supply chain processes, Faber Infinite has earned a reputation for delivering effective solutions that drive efficiency and enhance overall business performance. Their consulting services encompass a wide range of supply chain areas, making them a trusted partner for organizations seeking to improve their logistics, inventory management, and distribution operations. Building supply chain resilience through business continuity:  The pandemic has emphasized the serious supply chain disruptions that black swan occurrences can entail. Poor design and a lack of preparedness and response affect the company because unplanned disruptions come with multi-fold costs that can last for years and can even lead to the disintegration of organizations. As a result, today’s businesses should make concerted attempts to strengthen their resilience. Organizations had to place a higher emphasis on a variety of processes, like business continuity, quantifying risk measures, establishing risk mitigation plans, and identifying bottlenecks, in order to protect financial health in the long run. Incorporating flexibility into company strategies and addressing complexity in the value chains should be the key focus.  Thus, there has been a lot of focus on self-reliance and being ‘Vocal for Local’ for having extremely robust and responsive supply chains. Faber Infinite Consulting’s solutions for self-reliant, responsive supply chains and operational excellence framework for organizations are reaping phenomenal results via supporting with the 3As: Availability, Affordability, and Adaptability to build a robust ecosystem. Faber Infinite is instrumental in designing efficient and robust supply chains for clients across automotive, engineering, F&B, pharma, and many other domains.   Unlock the power of efficient Supply Chain Management! Fill out the form below to gain valuable insights and guidance from our team of supply chain management experts. Take the first step towards optimizing your operations and driving sustainable growth in your business today! Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Contact us   
- [Value Stream Mapping 4.0 Experts to Increase Production](https://faberinfinite.com/value-stream-mapping-experts-to-increase-production/): “Value” is defined as an action or process that a customer is willing to pay for. Value streams are all the actions (both value-added and non-value added) currently required to produce a product that meets customer demand. VSM is a pencil paper tool that means improving the whole process of manufacturing, not just an isolated process. This Value Stream Mapping is the language of lean practitioners, just as drawings are the language of engineers. Value stream maps serve as an important tool during the review process, revealing key opportunities to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, reduce inventory, and improve overall performance. Value stream analysis includes:  No matter how fundamental the tool (value stream mapping) is, it forms the basis for further improving productivity and process flow. The Faber Infinite Consulting team is an avid implementor of value stream mapping tool across various industries and sectors. We have always believed in deploying value stream mapping to provide optimized business solutions. We believe in innovation and are always supporting the same across industries and sectors to achieve the ultimate goal of continuous improvement and sustainable development.  Team Faber Infinite has produced staggering results for multiple organizations, from leading lighting solutions companies to the largest engineering companies to leading suppliers of  Railways & Metro manufacturers! Faber Infinite’s breakthrough methodology – Value Stream Mapping 4.0 – where organizations identify solutions from both traditional and Industry 4.0 perspectives, handle inefficiencies, and the future. It helps you design a lean value stream in preparation for, the Industrial IoT (IIoT) as a powerful framework with great potential. This framework is incomplete without the idea of LEAN. Only lean thinking leads to IIOT. Therefore lean thinking makes it more important than ever, so we can focus on creating value. Value stream mapping as the basis for lean management identifies areas for improvement by comparing the current state with the desired future state. This ultimately takes the organization to the next level of intelligent manufacturing journey. Few of the tangible results delivered at client sites include: Over the years, Team Faber has consistently produced results and provided the best solutions to customers in all industries. We are pleased to roll out this combination of innovative and proven approach of Value Stream Mapping 4.0 at a few of our clients from the engineering and pharmaceutical manufacturing domains. We support our customers with the implementation of the Organization Transformation Framework©, which is designed and copyrighted by Faber Infinite Consulting.   Unlock the power of Value Stream Mapping 4.0 and skyrocket your production levels! Fill out the form below to gain access to our team of expert consultants who will guide you in optimising your processes and boosting efficiency. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your production and achieve remarkable results! Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [A Decade of Touching Humanity!](https://faberinfinite.com/celebrating-10-years-of-faber-infinite-consulting/): The journey is more beautiful than the destination is a great proverb which suits best for every journey which accomplishes milestones with every initiative taken bravely. Faber Infinite Consulting, has been on this service journey for 10 years and made the path worth celebrating with touching humanity in each walk of the development. Some of the work includes operational excellence in industries like Pharma, Healthcare, Food & Beverages, Infrastructure, Textile, Garments, and life-saving products. Team Faber Infinite brings in more than 300 years of cumulative experience and has led several transformation initiatives in the past, across different geographies in 40+ sectors in 10 countries with 10,000+ projects & more than 250 happy clients. The dedication and support of  Faber & client team members together have helped us achieve millions of savings for our clients in the past decade. Even in these challenging times of pandemic, we were able to deliver sustainable results through evolution & innovation by designing and conceptualizing half a dozen world-class factories for Solar EPC, Food, Heavy Engineering, and other industries. Industries have been a prime promoter of development for increasing the living standards of people across the globe. Attempts to make them efficient, resilient, flexible to change, and technologically equipped have always been the goal of our organization. We take pride in implementing well-established methods from the patented Organizational Transformation Framework by Faber Infinite, Lean Facility Design, and tools like Value Stream Mapping, Time & Motion Study, TPM, and others to provide sector neutral offerings towards continual improvement by value creation. The Organizational Transformation Framework© is entirely focusing on the REAL PLACE approach with REAL PEOPLE and REAL PROBLEMS in REAL TIME. We don’t believe only in boardroom consulting, but focus on a full-fledged partnership for continual improvement with implementation-oriented consulting. From shop floor to overall development of an organization has always been Faber’s style of working. As a result, revolutionary methodology of customized strategy implementation for each organization is enabled for businesses to generate continuous benefits and customer satisfaction through continuous improvement. Thus, we make certain that the delivery is totally centered on the real-world approach. This development journey is a continuous effort to do better each time we approach a client. These 10 years are the mark of several success stories with the clients and the patrons who always were a constant support and indeed contributed to our stories worth telling the world. Heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to all our patrons and partners to Faber Infinite Consulting. Watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7lLe-V6jR4 Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Communication Skills: Part & Parcel of Business](https://faberinfinite.com/communication-skills-part-parcel-of-business/): This #Transformation Tuesday, let us engage into the most underrated aspect of business growth- ‘Communication’. Communication is the process of exchanging information, whether verbally or in writing. . In the business sector, understanding the value of communication channels is critical to an organization’s growth. “Communication is a primary step for an organisation,” writes a well-known author. There can be no commercial activity unless there is communication. Business communication isn’t confined to speech and thus can take many other forms. Companies interact with a diverse group of individuals and enterprises, requiring them to communicate through a variety of channels. Regardless of the communication technique, emphasis is made to the tone and clarity of the message in order to be effective. There are four standard business communication methods: Any use of your voice to deliver an idea or express an opinion is known as verbal communication. Seminars, phone conversations, and in-person conversations are all examples. The use of visuals or graphics to communicate a message is known as visual communication. Diagrams, images, illustrations, and videos are just a few examples. The message we provide and receive through our gestures is known as nonverbal communication. Body language, actions, posture, and facial expressions are all examples. We create written communication in the form of print or digital media. Emails, letters, documents, reports, and other publications are examples. What are the benefits of communicating in the workplace? In business, clear, strong statements regarding strategy, customer service, and branding must be communicated. A company that is creating a brand sends out a consistent message to its target market. Internal communication promotes teamwork and collaboration through building relationships between employees and management. A company’s profit margin and reputation are dependent on good communication. Employees who are able to communicate effectively and comprehend the company’s vision contribute to the company’s performance. A company and its employees can benefit from strong communication skills in a variety of ways, such as: Benefits from Communication Skills Developing stronger teams: Efficient communication creates a positive environment in which teams can thrive. When team members communicate in a good and encouraging manner, they become stronger and collaborate more effectively. Avoiding miscommunications and conflicts: Listening is a form of communication that is employed to completely comprehend a situation. Good communicators pay attention to what others are saying, deliberate before they speak, and respond properly. Listeners who are good at finding answers are less likely to become hostile. Raising client satisfaction: Companies create trust in their brand and draw customers back by forming commercial connections. Maintaining a strong customer service reputation necessitates consistent and positive connection with customers. Encouragement of creativity and innovation: Team members are more likely to share with one another to stimulate innovation when trust is developed via effective communication. Companies can adapt their tactics and develop fresh ways to assist customers and clients when staff are eager to share ideas. Increasing individual career opportunities: Open and honest communication, for example, eliminates surprises and reinforces your dedication to solving challenges and supporting the organisation. Thus, organizations can use several effective tools and techniques to create a suitable environment where employees communicate and develop themselves best in pursuit of the individual as well as business growth. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [How to boost employee morale during Covid-19?](https://faberinfinite.com/how-to-boost-employee-morale-during-covid-19/): Maintaining staff morale is a concern for 65 percent of firms during COVID-19. Learn how to increase employee engagement and productivity during COVID-19 by attempting to address their main issues and difficulties on this #Transformation Tuesday! #1: Celebrate milestones and events It’s no secret that COVID-19 has posed difficulties for numerous businesses around the world. Many businesses are simply struggling to stay afloat during this pandemic, with significant declines in revenue and fewer sales. Given the current economic climate, it is critical for business leaders to recognise corporate and employee successes when they occur. Even if the wins are minor, try to share them with your team on a regular basis. A new sale, a great storey or comment from a consumer, or a new partnership with another company are all examples of this. It’s critical for employees to understand that there are still possibilities and triumphs available throughout this crisis. This will keep their morale and motivation high. #2 Make resources more accessible. Ensure that your employees have the resources they need to execute exceptional work in order to maintain a positive employee experience. To work efficiently in a remote workplace, they may now require additional tools. For example, new video conferencing software, a VPN, a headset, or a separate laptop and display arrangement may now be required for all employees. The first step is to ensure that they are at ease in their remote working environment. Consider giving wellness services to your staff during this time of distress. It’s no secret that since the revelation of COVID-19, stress levels have increased. Some employees may feel overwhelmed at times, with concerns ranging from their health to their job security. Don’t forget about your employees’ mental health during this pandemic; make sure they have the resources to get help if they need it. These are some methods to show that you care during COVID-19, whether it’s emphasising and encouraging them to use the benefits that they have accessible, holding virtual fitness sessions, or sending them resources regarding stress management. #3 Expand your strength and flexibility. Some employees may discover that their typical 9–5 schedule is tough to maintain when borders between home and work life dissolve. Some employees may have children that they now have to care for 24 hours a day, while others may be caring for ailing relatives. It could be beneficial to provide flexibility in terms of working hours. Allow this option if some employees need to start work earlier or work later in the evening. Additionally, if some staff aren’t as quick to respond to emails or messages, consider giving them some leeway. We are living in an epoch that is unlike any other. Trying out different workplace dynamics during this pandemic could pay off in the long run. Companies that can create flexible work arrangements today and sustain them beyond the COVID-19 issue will have a better chance of attracting job candidates and retaining talent in the future. #4 Communicate effectively During COVID-19, it’s vital for company executives to keep the public calm. Employees generally admire company leaders and seek to them for guidance during times of crisis. Employees are likely to model a company leader’s tension and dissatisfaction if he or she is stressed and frustrated. As a result, when dealing with their staff, leaders should aim to remain calm and moderate their emotions. While it’s natural to turn inwards in times of stress, it’s vital for business leaders to avoid doing so. At this time, it is critical that company executives interact often with their employees and provide them with accurate information. Consider holding a bi-weekly or monthly “COVID-19 Meeting” to discuss your contingency measures as the situation unfolds. Employees can use this as a resource. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Value Stream Mapping - Expertise at your service!](https://faberinfinite.com/value-stream-mapping-expertise-at-your-service/): Companies have been using the Lean manufacturing approach to enhance their operations for more than thirty years. As part of the Industry 4.0 shift, organizations can tailor both ideas and concepts to take operational excellence to the next level by combining digital and physical systems. As manufacturing moves into the twenty-first century, the Lean and Industry 4.0 concepts are frequently complementary and can produce incredible benefits. There is a new wave of transformation on the horizon. As they strive to characterize this phenomenon, organizations compete for a competitive position. Industry 4.0, often known as the fourth industrial revolution, and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) are two concepts that have been widely tested. Although technology has aided the current change, there is a timeless force at work. Material velocity and manufacturing efficiency are two factors to consider. The goal of manufacturing or operations management is to increase production efficiency. Experts have coined the term ‘Lean Industry 4.0.’ The primary focus of Lean and Digital Manufacturing will always be on addressing quickly evolving difficulties. As a result, this paper proposes a comprehensive technique – Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – for improving processes in the context of Lean and Industry 4.0. Value Stream Mapping has become one of the most powerful Lean Manufacturing methods for holistic value stream improvement for many firms. One of the key ideas pursued by Value Stream Mapping Consultants is the reduction of non-value-adding activities. Industry 4.0 has received more attention in recent years as a response to the rising complexity and dynamics of modern manufacturing processes. The goal is to achieve higher degrees of data and material flow digitalization, integration, and automation within a factory and beyond, including suppliers, vendors, and customers. Value Stream Mapping aids in the development of more transparent and unambiguous decision-making processes as well as the improvement of production systems. Lean practitioners have been utilizing Value Stream Mapping to visualize and measure the efficiency of their systems. It is not the only tool available, and it is frequently claimed that using any instrument to get it on paper is the most important thing you can do (virtual or otherwise). You don’t know what you’re dealing with unless you’ve established the process, information, and material flow utilizing a solid Value Stream Mapping approach. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a well-known, extensively used, and comprehensive process for mapping, analyzing, and developing value streams to reduce and eliminate waste. Digitization and Industry 4.0’s new, exciting prospects to integrate information flows, reduce lead times, and improve flexibility and efficiency in complicated situations can also help. Many firms have found success with Value Stream Mapping; a brief Value Stream Mapping exercise for “getting started for smart manufacturing” will produce a lot of outcomes. Value Stream Mapping has always included information flows, and thought leaders in this space have already recognized the benefits of Value Stream Mapping, such as how it seamlessly integrates with Industry 4.0 initiatives like smart manufacturing, machine learning, automation, and the internet of things, among others. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a popular tool implemented by Faber Infinite Consulting in a comprehensive process for mapping, analyzing, and developing value streams to reduce and eliminate waste. Digitization and Industry 4.0 offer new, intriguing prospects to integrate information flows, reduce lead times, and boost flexibility and efficiency in complicated situations. Contact us for more information. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Four Takeaways from the Indian General Elections](https://faberinfinite.com/four-takeaways-from-the-indian-general-elections/): India is the world’s largest democracy, with the second-largest population, so, astonishingly, we’re still able to run our democratic procedures efficiently and effectively. On today’s Transformation Tuesday, we’ll discuss the most important takeaways from the Indian general election, in which management plays a critical part in the overall process’s success. With the following essential teachings, India’s Former Chief Election Commissioner, SY Quraishi, offers some extremely fascinating learnings for top executives in order to run a seamless business: Prior to implementing strategies, it is critical to guarantee that the plan of action is in place through proper resource management and second-by-second micro-planning. With the world’s largest population, keeping an eye on every detail from ground zero until the day the results are announced is the most difficult task. Thus, planning is essential, and taking a liberal approach to implement them has the largest impact on the entire election process, which is directly applicable to large corporations. Ensure accountability and act impartially. Accountability is a key management role, and transparency is gained by responding to work assignments with tangible outcomes. It comes from a moral place, with an inherent incentive to guarantee that every procedure is carried out correctly, and it motivates us to be more responsible for one another. Above all, the best way to deal with whatever obstacles you may encounter is to remain neutral. Because it allows you to consider issues from several angles and come up with answers that are also neutral in nature. When it comes to cost containment in mass communication, social media has shown to be an efficient instrument for communicating with both internal and external stakeholders. It not only allows us to communicate with the general public, but it also allows us to cover a huge geographic area by distributing large campaigns with information over a fixed channel. As a result, the expenses of convoluted data collection and implementation processes are reduced. Always have a backup plan. Be prepared with a Plan B! It’s probable that not everything we plan will go as planned and produce the anticipated outcomes. As a result, having a backup plan in place is critical to ensuring that the process runs smoothly even if the first plan fails. Having numerous plans is a proactive technique of dealing with previously unknown issues that may be addressed and remedied without delay. Thus, organizing and holding a large-scale election with a population of more than 140 crore people is never easy, and operating a firm with a huge number of employees and functions in manufacturing and other industries is no different. These views from our previous Election Commissioner are helpful to understand how important micromanagement is before embarking on any major projects. Written by Faber Aleena & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [8 Tips to Managers for Employee Engagement](https://faberinfinite.com/8-tips-to-managers-for-employee-engagement/): Managers have a difficult task ahead of them. To begin with, they have information or abilities in their field of expertise that the company relies on. They also have a responsibility to keep staff engaged. One would argue that their engagement responsibilities extend beyond their direct reports. With each employee interaction, managers are expected to lead by example and create an appealing work environment. In this article we will talk about some Tips to Managers for Employee Engagement. Many managers rise through the ranks. They are high-performing employees with superior technical abilities. Manager also have a few tendencies that set them apart when it comes to working with others. 8 Tips to Managers for Employee Engagement They understand when to assist staff and when to let them figure things out on their own. One of the most difficult lessons for managers to master is not to jump in and solve everything. Employees must learn, and learning sometimes entails making mistakes. Great managers strike a balance between teaching and allowing their staff to develop on their own. Great leaders don’t have to be saccharine-sweet to be effective. But, let’s face it, negativity isn’t going to motivate your employees. Managers understand how to see the bright side of things and transform hardship into an advantage. They ask for feedback from employees (including about their performance.) Making employees a part of the job is one of the most effective methods to engage them. Inquiring about their thoughts and getting comments. Great leaders solicit feedback on a regular basis. Employees also understand that they are free to provide suggestions and criticisms. They acknowledge employees in the manner in which the employee wants to be acknowledged. This is also true in terms of communication. Great managers understand that true and genuine communication and recognition are tailored to the individual. They recognize the distinction between fair and equal They are capable of making decisions. Not just the basic ones, but also the messy, convoluted ones. They understand when people should make decisions on their own, when they should make decisions for the team, and when decisions should be made together. They work well with others (with their staff and with their peers.) Great managers understand that they are not just in charge of a team, but also a member of one. Employees are acutely aware of supervisors who are at odds with their peers. It raises questions about their leadership and ability to defend their personnel. They’ve mastered the art of rising to the top. Great leaders recognize that effectively managing up is critical to getting things done. Managing up is keeping senior management informed and educated about work so that organizational efforts and resources remain flowing in the proper direction. They add value to the organization by effectively delegating. This is a follow-up to the first habit. Great managers understand which tasks they should complete themselves and which they should outsource to others. They value staff learning and are open to new skill acquisition. Managers engage employees with constructive feedback, communications and recognition. Managers who develop these good habits, create employee engagement. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [Planning: 6 Important Key Function of Management](https://faberinfinite.com/planning-a-key-function-of-management/): No matter how the previous year ended, the beginning of a new year always symbolizes the possibility of new chances and a fresh start. For a concentrated strategy and perspective of researching a range of new subjects, planning ahead of time and defining precise goals become extremely pertinent. The focus of today’s Transformation Tuesday is on how the ‘Planning’ function is critical for managing every element of life, from maintaining a disciplined lifestyle to building a successful business. Planning entails determining what to do and how to do something based on sensible, well-researched assumptions about the future. It’s a creative process aimed at bridging the gap between where a company is now and where it wants to be. Planning is critical because it tells us where to go, gives us direction, and reduces the risk of failure by making forecasts. The following are some of the major advantages of planning: Planning offers direction: Planning ensures that the objectives are clearly stated so that they may be used to determine what action to take and in which direction. Employees are aware of what the organization needs to do and what they need to do to achieve those goals if the objectives are clearly defined. Planning reduces risk: Planning is an activity that allows a manager to look ahead and anticipate changes. As Planning notes the technique to deal with changes and unanticipated effects by determining the activities to be completed in advance. Planning reduces redundant work: Planning serves as the framework for organizing the actions and goals of several branches, departments, and individuals. It aids in the prevention of chaos and confusion. With planning ensures precision in knowledge and action, work may be completed quickly and without delays. Planning fosters innovative ideas: As planning is a fundamental management function, new approaches can take the form of actual plans. It is the most difficult project for management since it directs all planned efforts toward business growth and development. Planning aids decision-making: It helps in motivating the management to think forward and select from a variety of choices. The management must weigh the pros and cons of each option before deciding on the best course of action. Planning establishes control standards: Controlling and coordination functions are made easier by planning. Because of the interdependence of controlling on planning and vice versa. It is frequently regarded as an extension of the planning process. A firm will not be able to examine where it went wrong without a concrete objective defined by planning. And hence will not be able to take corrective measures to ensure success. Today’s world and markets are becoming more dynamic by the day, and in order to stay ahead of the competition. Creative thinking is essential to manage the tasks of the business. Is it necessary for the company to discover a new product? or is it enough to consider a new way of managing operations that would result in significant cost savings and efficiencies? Well, now you know the answer to this question!  Unlock the power of effective planning and master the 6 key functions of management. Fill out the form below to gain access to expert insights and strategies that will enhance your managerial skills. Take the first step towards becoming a successful leader and propel your career to new heights Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya Contact Us  
- [7 Key Habits for Higher Productivity](https://faberinfinite.com/7-key-habits-for-higher-productivity/): ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey are a set of seven behaviors that highly effective people have in common. This Transformation Tuesday, let’s elucidate these seven habits which are intended to improve how we manage our time, how we get higher productivity, stay motivated, and cultivate relationships in both our professional and personal life. Here are Stephen Covey’s seven habits, as well as what we can learn from each of them. 1. Be proactive in your approach. The very first habit is probably one you’ve heard before: be proactive! Proactivity, according to Covey, is just accepting responsibility for your life. The way you respond to situations can have an impact on the entire outcome, and we often forget that we have the power to alter that. 2. Starting with the end in mind is a good way to go. The above habit revolves around one word: objectives. Imaginative thinking is required when starting with the end in mind. Consider what you want to do with your life and where you want to be in the future. Then, using that vision, make a strategy for what you’ll accomplish today to get there. This could be about your personal life, a job endeavour, or a relationship. What is your ultimate aim, and how can you get there? This habit is linked to being proactive because it encourages us to take action! 3. Prioritize your tasks. Simply said, this behavior entails prioritization. When you prioritize your tasks, you’re taking the time to evaluate what needs to be done first, but other things can wait. There’s no need to push oneself too far. Instead, focus on the most critical issues. We should spend most of our time in Quadrant Two, notwithstanding how difficult it may be. 4. Consider the win-win scenario. Such habit encourages you to focus on collaboration rather than rivalry. Win-win thinking seeks not just mutual profit but also a solution for both parties. Like the others, this habit can be applied at business or in a personal connection. It demonstrates respect, maturity, honesty, and confidence when you take the time to consider what helps both parties. This kind of thinking can help you become a better person and improve your relationships. 5. Attempt to comprehend first, then to be comprehended. The core of this habit is communication, specifically listening. When someone is speaking, delivering a narrative, or giving directions, we often feel compelled to interject with our own opinions. So, what’s the big deal? We don’t always give ourselves the chance to engage with the other person this way, and you may completely miss their point. 6. Synergize Teamwork is referred to as synergy. Synergy, a term Covey invented, is “not the same as a compromise,” according to Covey. At best, one plus one equals one and a half in a compromise.” People that are experiencing synergy are taking the time to accept the differences of others. You then feed off of each other’s understanding to get new insight into your circumstance. 7. Make the Saw Sharper This final habit focuses on the most valuable asset you possess: yourself. You’re taking the time you need for self-renewal when you sharpen the saw.’ When it comes to living a balanced life, taking care of oneself is crucial. We are frequently ‘too busy to make time for what we may require. The rest of the six habits are held together by sharpening the saw. We have no boundaries when our body and mind are empowered. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & Compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya  
- [Involvement of Employees in Effective Change Management](https://faberinfinite.com/involvement-of-employees-in-effective-change-management/): Change is inevitable in every aspect of our life. The key to adopting such changes is to imply strategic methods and effort which can make the journey easy and acceptable to all. This Transformation Tuesday, lets look for some key solutions which management should try to implement for employees to adapt to changes in the institution. These are the measures you should take when including your staff in making a change: Make a strategy for incorporating as many individuals as feasible in the change process as soon as possible. Make a strategy with your change team, top management, and whoever will be in charge of the transformation. This senior or executive team is crucial in generating and maintaining change support. As much as feasible, include all stakeholders, process owners, and employees. Who will be affected by the changes in the learning, planning, decision-making, and execution of the change. When it comes to change management, it’s common for a small group of employees to learn critical information. If they don’t share the information with the rest of the team, the remainder of the team will struggle to keep up with the learning curve. You must not abandon any staff. Employees affected by the decisions will not have had enough time to examine, consider, and adjust to the new ideas if the change management plans are made by a small group. If you leave people behind at any point during the process, you are inviting misunderstanding, resistance, and hurt into your Effective Change Management process. Involve each employee in important decisions affecting their work unit and task. The departmental level is a good place to start. Talk to your team and then to each employee directly about the changes as they happen. The goal of these discussions is for each employee to take part in determining how decisions will affect their employment. Incorporate measuring techniques into the change process to let individuals know if they’re successful or failing. In any instance, provide consequences. Employees that are willing to embrace change deserve to be rewarded and recognised. Getting Rid of the Doubters After giving employees some time to go through the anticipated stages of change, it’s appropriate to impose negative consequences for failing to adopt the changes. You can’t let the doubters keep going down this bad route indefinitely; they drain your time, energy, and focus, and eventually damage the morale of the positive majority. The idea is to recognize when enough is enough during your Effective Change Management process. Most businesses wait too long, and staff has a powerful opportunity to sabotage your objectives. By using these steps to effectively involve employees in making the appropriate adjustments, you can make them feel as if they are part of a broader change management process. You’ll be glad you did when the progress of the modifications is measured. Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & Compiled by Mayuri Pandya
- [The Four Secrets Of Entrepreneurship!](https://faberinfinite.com/the-four-secrets-of-entrepreneurship/): This #Transformation Tuesday, let’s learn from the best, who changed the outlook for every budding entrepreneur in the early ‘80s, ‘Brijmohan Lall Munjal’  founder and chairman of Hero MotoCorp. Even though Brijmohan Lall Munjal made it look like a pleasant dream, beginning from nothing and then establishing and managing a $4 billion group was not an easy feat. He valued his family equally and spent a significant amount of time with them. Apart from becoming an admired entrepreneur, every entrepreneur may learn a lot from his life path and try to be a better human being. A few Secrets of Entrepreneurship to takeaways from the life of this well-known businessman: The word of the day is patience. Brijmohan Lall was an Indian Businessman. Munjal had to overcome numerous obstacles on his route to achieving his ideal objective. With each setback, he grew stronger and more patient. He never gave up in the face of hardship, no matter how great it was. Brijmohan Lall began in the post-independence era and worked his way up to making Hero Group a household name. He developed a corporate empire that every entrepreneur aspires to someday. The mantra he followed was, ‘patience’. Relationships matter a lot: Munjal was a well-known figure in the business world. Suppliers, dealers, and workers made, comprised the Hero Group. Munjal was known for not just building a thriving enterprise, but also for treating everyone he met with respect. Even though he was a savvy businessman, he understood the value of relationships and how networking can propel an entrepreneur forward. Maintain your faith and respect during tough times: Honda, a Japanese company, signed a historic agreement to manufacture motorcycles in 1984. The initial plan was to manufacture scooters, which were very popular in India. Honda, on the other hand, had already formed a partnership with someone else. Hero Honda’s motorcycles became a household brand and a big success as was destined and due to tenacity and dedication. The company’s revenues continued to rise until 2010, when Hero Honda and Honda parted ways amicably. Honda’s stock was purchased by Munjal. Negative publicity and an uneasy atmosphere resulted from the competitive environment. Munjal placed a higher value on trust and respect at the time than on dirty games. Even his competitors were treated with great respect by him. As a result, each competitor and entrepreneur became more aggressive. Keeping your roots in mind and being courteous to everyone:  Brijmohan Lall Munjal always said that his father and mother were his inspirations, and that they taught him everything he knew about running a business. This is coming from a man who is the public face of a global economic empire. He was fair to his boss, subordinates, and employees. For him, no one was different. He treated everyone as if they were family members, whether it was his secretary Rakesh Vashisht or the company’s suppliers and dealers. He even called and wished them on their birthdays. That speaks a lot about this world-famous, down-to-earth business legend. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [The secret to being the ‘Titan’](https://faberinfinite.com/the-secret-to-being-the-titan/): ‘There are no real rules, so make rules that work for you is a famous quote by Seth Godin, an author, and entrepreneur who rightly points out to be courageous enough to make your own rules than becoming a follower. Long-term goals need a clear vision that is developed only by habits and behaviour which can align with your success journey. This #Transformation Tuesday brings to you yet another inspiring compilation of habits and beliefs of 101 high-performing individuals from the book ‘Tools of Titan’ by Tim Ferriss. Success is a journey full of challenges. To overcome them, you have to be extraordinary. Motivation, good health, a positive mind-set, and confidence are key factors one has to have to set on their success journey. Tools of Titan is a book filled with these key factors utilized by different ‘Titans’ to become successful by inculcating the beliefs and values for transforming their lives to the dreams they saw while asleep. According to Tim Ferries, the first life lesson is to combat peer pressure. Once that is done, you get the space to think creatively without limiting or setting up boundaries for your goals. Every chapter of ‘Tools of Titan’ is a motivation as well as a life lesson for individuals of different fields. Secret tips of experts in all fields are made into a book where investors, entrepreneurs, athletes, etc. can consume their piece of information to transform their life into a successful journey. Top processes which can turn your visions into plans and plans into action as the Titans do! Be the first:  Practicing simple yet powerful habits is a very necessary step for planting a start to the initiative. Gabrielle Reece, a well-known athlete, and model discovered this habit of always going first. She’s the first person to make eye contact with a person and she is the first to smile at them first. By doing this, confidence is built to initiate conversation and connect with people. Thus, being the first means you don’t need to wait for a cue from others before you act. You put yourself out there for anything and everything with self-confidence. Seek Opportunities: Obstacles are the best opportunities where a person harnesses all his/her talents and skills to tackle the obstacle coming their way. Ryan Holiday, a writer and media strategist reminds the readers to seek out scary things and has challenges because growth occurs only in that space where you push your limits to the extend. Thus, achievements always have a fair share of stress and difficulties in themselves. Consistency is the KEY: No matter how good you plan for achieving the goals, unless you take a firm decision to stay on course towards working for it nothing can be worked out. Most people worry about performance rather than learning what it takes in working towards the goal. You are halfway towards achieving success, if you focus on developing consistency as an innate habit. Be unique, seek the ‘hard routes’: According to Robert Rodrigue, a writer, producer, and composer, always go against the grain. Don’t be a herd follower. Because new ideas and success are bound to be achieved only when you have what it takes to travel to a different path than the usual one. There is no challenge in the crowded channels so develop a habit when everybody goes left, train yourself to go right, even if you stumble and fall. As Alan Ashley-Pitt rightly quoted, ‘The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before. Thus, rethink before following the ‘herd’ and inhabit to be unique, because no matter what following your passion is always satisfactory and purposeful. Tim Ferriss therefore by compiling the interviews of Titans, helps us to throw some reality check upon our daily routine. To take control means refusing to compromise. Stop compromising and build habit that takes action and deliver desired results! Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Aspire To Be Great!](https://faberinfinite.com/aspire-to-be-great/): On this #Transformation Tuesday, we are going to explore what it takes to transform oneself from ‘good to great’ entrepreneurs and successful business owners by taking references from Jim Collin’s most famous book, ‘Good to Great’. Some habits and values need to change if it doesn’t work well for you. Not every individual is expected to have similar results of their action. The magnitude and impact of every action taken, vary from person to person. Success is also the result of that actions taken by different individuals for the achievements of set goals. ‘Good To Great’ teaches us how some habits and actions can promote the rate of growth for individuals having similar goals, especially for young and aspiring CEOs of new ventures. To begin the journey,  determination to be curious enough is very necessary. ‘Become a curious learner, before teaching to lead a path of your own’ is a simple formula to confront the reality and challenges thrown towards you. Another key point to remember is, ‘being good is not enough’. Competing with yourself every single day to raise your own standard will not only help you to become good, but it can surely transform the ‘good’ into ‘great’ someday. It is rightly said that ‘good is the enemy of great’ and those who settle for good cannot move forward but get stuck in one place only. Great is when you keep your eye open for possibilities and changes, where, transforming into extraordinary is the only challenge you want to encounter. Being great also means being a contributor. No matter what position you are in, always support your team by involving yourself in it every possible way and making your contribution worth appreciating. A leader never rests when the battle is ‘on’. So, learning to let go of ego and self-doubt is what matters if you want to compete with the world with full confidence. Always challenge your capabilities and push your limits every day, is another simple formula to transform your entrepreneurial efficiency for increasing your rate of success. Limiting yourself into your small mental world won’t help you to evolve both professionally and personally.  To tap on challenges and to turn them into opportunities are the shortest route to new innovations. Thus, let’s try to keep ourselves motivated and thrive for becoming ‘great’ in whatever field we invest in. Because success is not a journey for becoming good at your passion, but to be the best among others following the same. Written by Faber Aleena & compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [3 Most Important qualities need for CEO](https://faberinfinite.com/three-most-important-qualities-need-for-ceo/): Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Lakshmi Mittal, and more, are renowned personalities who made the impossible possible and emerged as one of the greatest CEOs of all time. This #Transformation Tuesday lets eye on some key traits or behavior an emerging CEO must possess to meet the ends by unique means as per the mindset one has for the focused goals. The book ‘Steve Jobs’ written by Walter Issacson, is a famous biography that engages the reader through the personal as well as professional life of Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple (1976-2011). you must this qualities need for CEO. ‘The man who thought different’ as mentioned on the cover of the book, stands out for every aspiring CEO who is trying to reach the finish point where achieving means to work hard and think differently than others. Passion is another driving force that keeps us going every time we struggle with new challenges. But with passion comes bias, which can be both positive and negative in terms of handling a particular situation. Habits developed aligned with the passion for our work may result negatively too. For example, Steve Jobs was the most passionate CEO, who always engaged in work that he skipped taking shower for a long time and had an unbalanced diet because of which he was severely ill for a long time. This itself shows how passion and hard work can impact negatively while on the road to achieving the ends. Issacson highlights in the biography that with varied personalities and a different mindset, all ends justify the means. Steve Jobs who works in providing the most important technology products has some striking lessons from his life which can help an individual to dream of the impossible and work hard for reaching the goal to become a CEO one day.  The three most needed CEO traits for an aspiring generation of entrepreneurs are as follows: Strict work ethics and creativity: To lead is to be the role model. Every renowned CEO has this trait developed in their life which helped them reach the point of success they are in now. Strict work ethics that initiate the journey are key to having superior diligence towards the work you want to accomplish. Respecting people’s time, showing up in crises, being honest, and telling your opinions and feedback on the face without hesitation are some marking behaviour Steve Jobs had while working on his success story. Creativity is yet another most needed quality one must have, as working in a different angle always gives us the reasons to explore new roads of opportunities and the result itself may be marvellous in the end. Demanding attitude: Steve Jobs’ personality especially when it comes to making decisions is often termed as ‘demanding’. He was the CEO of the incomparable Apple company, yet he got involved in almost every aspect of what he wished to produce. For example: From designing the iPad and what features to be included, Jobs was very clear about the specificity and asked the engineers to manufacture them in the told way. He never took ‘No’ for an answer when it comes to expecting from his fellow workers. He gets the work done. Dealing with the setbacks: As mentioned in the book, Issacson states that Steve Jobs always was the front face of the controversy related to the products of Apple. He takes only the comments and remarks seriously which he thinks is genuine and needs to be tackled. For a CEO, decision-making in such a situation is crucial. Filtering out the needed criticisms is hard but can be practiced with a lot of lessons. Being in control of every process is what makes the CEO an all-rounder as well as responsible and accountable.   Written by Faber Aleena Thomas & compiled by Faber Mayuri Pandya
- [From The Director's Desk](https://faberinfinite.com/from-the-directors-desk/): We are extremely excited to share the first feature video theme ‘ From the Director’s Desk’. The feature has new insights on Faber Infinite and its offerings along with trendy discussions on various relevant topics. We expect your sincere feedbacks and suggestions. Watch now!  Link to YouTube Channel
- [5 Future Leadership Trends](https://faberinfinite.com/5-future-leadership-trends/): A leader who wants to be truly exceptional should be aware of all the current happenings and trends that are affecting their organization, their industry or sector, their team members, and themselves. Today organizations across geographies are witnessing massive changes in the macroeconomic factors that are impacting the cash flow, success, and morale of the employees in the organization. Being a good leader needs a lot of unlearning and learning of new skills and techniques. Changes happening around should serve as indicators, on how to improve the way the organization has been operating. Disruptions in the organization can be challenging, exceptional, and unknown like what the organizations are facing today. But leaders should consider every challenge as an opportunity and figure out new ways of operations that were never implemented earlier. Let us look at some of the leading trends that will help you lead better even in times of crisis: 1. Offer Flexibility Leaders should be clear about the requirements and the expectations of the work quality and the efforts that are expected from the employees. But at the same time leaders should be open to discuss and try new ways of implementation that provide flexibility to the employees and teams. A recent study has shown that 90% of the employees believe that their excitement for work would increase if their leaders were more lenient with the time schedules. 2. Managing Remote Workforce As flexible working increases so are the challenges related to managing the workforce will increase. Leaders should follow some of the below mentioned general strategies to manage the challenges of the remote workforce: Leaders need to build and maintain relationships based on trust, as the work now would not be done under the direct supervision of the leader. Leaders should set well defined and clear standards for the work expectations and the employee conduct A leader needs to be in constant touch with the employees and should maintain positive morale thus enhancing the organization’s culture Improve communication and restrict quarantine by getting employees face-to-face via online video calls. 3. Manage Accountability With the remote work option, the need for accountability in leaders and teams is increasing rapidly. A leader should manage accountability with the employees to ensure that the bonding in the teams is reliable and robust. 4. Build High-Performance Teams As the world is changing at rapid speed, employees should grow, morph, and adapt as per the changing market demands and the needs of the business. So employees constantly need to acquire new skills and upgrade themselves. Leaders should have clearly defined processes as to how they are assisting their teams to acquire the new skills needed for the growth of the organization. Leaders cannot themselves develop new skills in their teams, but they can inspire and confront them to take the necessary steps and thus build high-performance teams. 5. Human Resource a Strategic Role Human Resource plays a strategic and most important role in an organization when there is a change and the employees are trying their level best to cope up with the new ways of operations. When employees are struggling to manage work and home, struggling to take breaks while fighting the distraction from family and kids, internet connectivity issues, and many more, it is the responsibility of the HR to offer support to assure work continuity without affecting employee’s personal needs.   Being a leader today is frightening, but you always have your colleagues and teams, to help you sail through the tough times.  All in all, leadership will keep undergoing changes as organizations are facing a more complex and competitive environment than ever before. As a result, the competencies of the leader who succeeds in the modern-day business world is changing.  Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [Inspirational Life Lessons from IPL](https://faberinfinite.com/inspirational-life-lessons-from-ipl/): The cheers and the music are back again with a lot of excitement. This is yet another season of the second highest paid league – Indian Premiere League (IPL). We are really stunned by the facts that Wikipedia has to offer about IPL. There is no greater delight for cricket fans to see great players share the same ground and screen. Though all of us have different teams that we are supporting and want to win in the IPL, there are inspirational life lessons that we can learn from different players. We should learn and implement such life lessons to excel professionally as well as personally. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at the lessons we can learn from some of the top performers of IPL: Virat Kohli We all know him for his aggression. The amount of self – discipline that Kohli has, gives him confidence to use his aggression positively in the game on the field. Already being a best ODI (One Day International) player he always works on improving and being better than his own self. We should learn the self-discipline  and the urge to compete with the self and become the best version of himself/herself with each passing day. MS Dhoni The calm attitude of this player helps him to get through the toughest of the times. Being calm even under unmatched tension of the game has been the USP of this player. Even after numerous remarks on his fitness due to age, there has not been a single time when he failed to prove himself with a comeback. Always strving hard and not settling for something because it is an easy option is a life lesson to learn from MS. Dhoni. He believes – Keep Calm and Focus on your Goal. His calm and composed attitude helps him strategize better on the field. AB De Villiers He is a perfect example of determination, discipline and pushing ones limit such that everything appears like magic at one point in time. He is an all rounder and he has had a number of injuries in his career, but that has never stopped him from getting number of international records to his name. What we can learn from him is that there is no limit to what you can learn and master. Hardik Pandya Being true to your passion is what we can learn from him. He is a very keen and fast learner. Hardik Pandya teaches us that talent can only help us achieve short term goals if not matched with the eagerness to learn from experience. Many a times we get carried away with our initial success and do not put efforts to improve further. Hardik teaches us that passion is needed for success. Shane Watson If he fails with the bat, he proves himself with his balling. Whether batting or balling he always gives his best in the game. He believes that no one can control the results and it can only affect ones performance. Thinking about the results or outcomes can only consume our time and efforts, so it is not worth thinking. What is under control is the efforts that we put in and whether is the best that we can do. Rishabh Pant He denotes that age is just a number if you want to follow your passion. There are no defined rules, age or boundaries to when to start unless you know what you want to achieve. After all the negative reviews or comments that he received after the India Australia series, he showed that all the critics should be used to improve your skills and shape the game further. He has been passionate about his work. There was an instance when India had a match and his father expired but still, he did not miss the match. He teaches that do not let any event come in the way of your goals and passion to build a success story. He is a personification of motivational life lesson that if you have made your mind for something, you need to make every possible sacrifice and struggle to achieve it because no opportunity knocks your door twice. Kane Williamson He is a consistent player who has style and class. For him consistency is the key, and you cannot see a lot of variations in his performance graph. Learning from mistakes is another great learning from him. He also teaches us that you need to be agile and adaptable to the changing formats to be competitive. For him, every match is a learning be it a success or failure for his team. Even after his team loses a very important match, he accepts the defeat with grace only to learn from the mistakes that they have committed in the match. Dwayne Bravo He is a versatile player. He teaches us that you cannot be a jack of all trades. You need to focus on one thing at hand and master it. He also teaches that you practice and work hard right from the beginning then you can enjoy on the judgement day. This means that we should work on the projects from the beginning only then we can relax on the project delivery day. He keeps doing different dance moves, singing, cheering his team, boosting their confidence and all forms of enjoyment. This is the best quality to pick, we should enjoy what we are doing and take the whole team with us in the journey. Yuvraj Singh He is the one army of his team who would keep playing even after 9 wickets have been lost. He teaches us that we are not defeated until we decide to lose. He teaches us to play to win and not to finish the match. He has fought with cancer and in his case even cancer could not distract his from his goal. He teaches us that we should not find reasons for failure. We should work on our goals as nothing can come
- [5 Ways to Master The Art of Never Giving Up](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-master-the-art-of-never-giving-up/): In today’s situation, it is more difficult to stay consistent than to give up. It takes time, effort, and patience to continue when the going gets hard. Especially in these COIVD times, which has brought us to understand that no matter how difficult it gets, together we can conquer all the hurdles and challenges of life, and giving up is not an option at all. Recently, we saw a similar situation in the famous sport – cricket, Indian Premier League (IPL). In one of the matches between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, Rahul Tewatia showed such amazing spirit that it changed the entire game and broke the record of highest successful matches in the history of IPL. At the beginning of the match, Rahul was not able to fight against the competition. He kept trying but was not able to match the desirable outcome. As a result, people started to take a toll over him on social media asking him to get out and let other players play so that the team can win. At the peak of that very moment, he came back and hit 5 sixes in one over and changed the entire game and got it in favor of his team. It was then when all those who were trolling him for his game, started to praise him. This shows how patience, efforts, and not giving up can deliver good results. This Transformation Tuesday, let us look at how we can master this art of not giving up – 1. Keep up the hard work No matter what you are doing and how difficult it seems, if you want to yield good results, you must work hard. Nothing can be achieved overnight; no success can be achieved without hard work. If you want to become successful in what you do, it will demand hard work so we should give more than 100% to achieve success. 2. Have faith in yourself For all the hard work and the dedication that you have put in, it will never go worthless. It will take time and effort, but it will always show the desired results. You might fail in the beginning, but you will rise above it and achieve success when you keep faith in yourself.   3. Stay motivated One can conquer all the hurdles in life if he/she finds the right motivation. It is very important to stay motivated. One can work hard all day long, but if there is no motivation then there is no way the hardship would continue. Hence, to make your way through success, one needs the right motivation. 4. Do not let others define you In the journey towards success, there will be many people who would make fun of your failures. But do not let them get to you, do not let them decide who you are and why would you not succeed. These are usually those people who have lost their way towards success and are trying to bring you down as well. Hence, stay focused on your journey and show them who you are. 5. Hard work always pays off Hard work can never let you down. There is no way you cannot succeed if you work hard to achieve it. Hard work always pays off and paves its way towards success. There will be hurdles, and you might feel that you cannot do this anymore, but it is possible to see the glorifying success only when you have experienced failure and hurdles. There is no one who will not succeed if he/she has put in hard work. We should learn from your past failures and go ahead, work harder, and achieve all the success. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Reinventing Supply Chains to Benefit from Vocal for Local](https://faberinfinite.com/reinventing-supply-chains-to-benefit-from-vocal-for-local/): With the pandemic hitting the economies across the world, people are trying to adjust to the new normal. Due to lockdown and closed country borders, businesses are still struggling the most with the supply chain disruption. The fact that the virus originated from China which is referred to as – Factory of the World, has only aggravated the damage from an economic point of view with a considerable percentage of supply chains stumbling in shock and deteriorating with each passing day. As per a survey conducted by a global institute for supply chain management, 75% of the organisations reported supply chain issues in some of the other forms due to COVID-related transportation restrictions. Another learning from the survey shows that more than 50% of the organizations had no contingency plan in case of supply chain issues leading back to China. Over 50% of the organizations also mentioned about the delays in orders a problem because of the supply chain collapse from China. While people are comparing this current situation to the Spanish flu situation of 1918, but there are several differences between the trade practices post World War I and the world that we live in today. To quote an example, when the SARS virus hit the world, China contributed only 4% of the world GDP and today it is 17-19% of the world GDP. The economic conditions and equations are completely different. Supply Chain Management for Manufacturing Manufacturing is a very complex process today. The components and sub-components that make a product are sourced from different parts of the world. The raw material required to make these components come from different countries and continents. The finished goods are then sent all over the world. This huge dependency on transport and logistics makes import and export very difficult with the current disturbance in the supply chains.  For example, India imports more than half of the APIs from China. With the government policies and restrictions along with the logistic issues due to COVID-19, Indian pharma organizations are challenged to meet the export numbers. Also, India being the largest supplier of generic drugs across the world, this could cause a worldwide shortage. With global integration, economies across the world are dependent on low-cost production geographies like China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and many more. With the pandemic originating from China and spreading to other countries across the world, the need for diversification has become more evident than ever. After manufacturing and procurement, even distribution has its own set of challenges. With the lockdowns and the curfews, there are situations where there is a demand for essential products, big challenges in the luxury items segments thus affecting the retailers. To overcome this struggle, many organisations came forward and started manufacturing and supplying the essential goods that used to be imported from other countries, to avoid any interruption in the supply chain. For example, India used to import all the PPE kits. But because it could not import any further and it falls under essential goods, India started to manufacture it on its own and now India exports the same! Recently there has been a lot of focus on self-reliance and being ‘Vocal for Local’ for having extremely robust and responsive supply chains. To be self-reliant, responsive supply chains and operational excellence are two sides of the coin, and below are the 3As: Availability, Affordability, and Adaptability to build a robust ecosystem. 1. Availability To become a self-reliant ecosystem, one needs to focus more on the availability of goods that have need and demand in the market. To make that happen, manufacturers will have to strengthen two parameters: Research and Development (R&D) Last Mile Reach For building a self-reliant ecosystem, manufacturers should research about products that they want to offer as a substitute for foreign brands. Only thorough research and highlighting the key features will attract the customers to use the local brands more than foreign brands. Along with R&D, organisations also need to make the products accessible even at remote places for the people to use the local brands across the country. If the availability of the products is not ensured until the last mile, customers will have no other option than to use foreign brands. Hence, the supply chain needs to be strong enough to make this happen. 2. Affordability The costs of the substitutes should be affordable and the total cost of ownership (TCO) should be not higher than the imported goods. If its higher, than the customer, is going to buy the imported ones. How can we optimise the cost to make it equivalent to the imported products? Research says that the production cost in India is 10% to 12% higher as compared to South East Asia. Also, apart from that, the inefficiencies in the supply chain, losses such as productivity, damages, poor infrastructure, etc.  are added to the selling price. To avoid all these extra expenses, organisations need to incorporate operational excellence throughout the supply chain. This will help organisations cut unnecessary expenses and losses and thus deliver the goods at the right prices. 3. Adaptability To become a self-reliant ecosystem, one needs to be agile and deliver goods and services at the expected quality levels. Organizations need to gear up and adapt to the futuristic thought process to deliver goods on time as per the demand. Organizations need to start looking at the bigger picture if they want to become part of a self-reliant and competitive ecosystem and deliver the best quality products at the right time. If these 3A’s are incorporated in the operations, there is nothing that can hold us back to become a successful self-reliant, and robust ecosystem. Let us all work together and make supply chains leaner and competitive by implementing the Operational Excellence framework by Faber Infinite and get set to become a world leader. Click here to watch the video!  
- [It is Time to Rethink Performance Management](https://faberinfinite.com/it-is-time-to-rethink-performance-management/): In times of COVID, where the organisations must operate with limited manpower, it is difficult to achieve the desired output. Due to this situation, there are constraints regarding production throughput, productivity, quality, on-time delivery, etc. Hence, to enhance and achieve the desired results, organisations need to have effective Performance Management System. Also, with current constraints of cost optimization and layoffs, it is all the more important now to motivate an existing workforce! Most of the organisations are struggling with their performance reviews at present because there is no estimate of what to set as a goal for the present situation and how to achieve. Hence, a comprehensive performance review system by Faber Infinite consists of evaluating the situation, setting the standards, goals, eliminating non-value adding activities, and much more to motivate performing team members. This review consists of a 1-on-1 review between an employee and manager which focuses rigorously on the individual’s competence to accomplish their job responsibilities. In addition, it considers the team and organization performance appropriately in the individual Performance Management System as per the hierarchy in the organization. What is the Performance Management System (PMS) by Faber Infinite Consulting? Performance Management System by Faber Infinite is a tool that will help the organizations immensely in times like these. It is a regular process in which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor, and review an employee’s work objectives and its total contribution to the organization. Except for reviewing employees and organisational performance annually, PMS is a continuous process of setting goals, reviewing progress, and providing on-going coaching and feedback. It is a simple yet powerful system that can be administered every month! With the in-depth understanding and hands-on experience of working in the domain of Organizational Transformation, we have devised and crafted an extremely powerful and robust Performance Management System which is delivering phenomenal results across the industries even in times of such crisis. 7 reasons why you should integrate this highly effective and robust Performance Management System by Team Faber Infinite Consulting at your organisation– Faber Infinite Consulting PMS has been helping leading organisations from various industries to achieve higher growths and results even in times of COVID crisis. We have been supporting various organisations to achieve desired goals even with limited resources. The same can be done for your organisation as well. Contact our team at consulting@faberinfinite.com and deploy PMS by Faber Infinite Consulting to sustain this cut-throat competition post-COVID. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Best Athletes are Made During the Off-Season](https://faberinfinite.com/best-athletes-are-made-during-the-off-season/): In these different times, when remote working is a new norm and everyone is getting ready to bounce forward into the new normal, we have the time to upskill our teams. It is now when each organisation can help improve and improvise the skillset of its employees. In times of COVID, where operating with full strengths is dangerous and difficult, it is the right time to train your athletes (employees) to get set with an upgraded version of themselves by upskilling. Progressive organisations across the world are investing in employee upskilling initiatives. This in turn will help them achieve greater growth in times to come as well as organizational development. We, at Faber Infinite, have been supporting several organisations by rolling out comprehensive virtual online trainings which are helping organisations stand out amongst their competitors. These programs are focused on various elements relating to operational excellence. Recently, we are engaged in training employees of India’s largest thermal power producers to prepare them for the times to come. We are training more than ~3000 professionals on enhancing overall productivity, quality, and cost-consciousness. Productivity enhancement training shall focus on the overall organisation’s productivity to improve on-time delivery & efficiency ratios. The objective is to focus on improving the overall performance to sustain post-pandemic competition. The quality enhancement program is designed to focus on overall organisational quality including work quality as well as product quality. This will help the organisation deliver better output and reduce the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ). Improving Cost consciousness is yet another customized program to focus on cost optimization, which will help the organisation enhance profits by reducing the overall costs. These specially designed power-packed programs will set the foundation for the new normal and help the organisation thrive in the post-pandemic situation. Not just this, we have been running several training sessions on various different topics since May 2020 and rolled out numerous batches with many ongoing programs. We are glad to receive extremely positive feedback from the participants from across the industries, sectors, and geographies. So make the best use of this opportunity and prepare your best athletes for the times to come! Contact us at consulting@faberinfinite.com today to plan training programs for your organization. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Transforming Organizations for Rapid Growth](https://faberinfinite.com/transforming-organizations-for-rapid-growth/): Post-COVID, the entire world is getting used to the new normal. Organizations have transformed in a way where getting back to the old strategies is not an option anymore. In times like these, it is mandatory for organisations to set the foundation for new normal. The foundation for new normal should include post COVID strategies, sales strategies, cost optimisation for better realization in limited time and with limited resources. To help organisations adapt to the post-COVID situation sooner, Team Faber Infinite has rolled out various proven frameworks. These frameworks will help organisations for sustainable growth and transformation in the post-COVID situation. It will also help organisations to adapt to the change to the new normal in a better and faster way. A glimpse of the frameworks below. 1. R-A-C-E Framework With the pandemic hitting the world, organisations must have realised that there is no certainty in the future. The future is unpredictable, and organisations need to be ready to face any Black Swan Events and to survive through that. To be able to do that, organisations will have to re-evaluate their current business strategies for the financial year, develop smart goals, and ensure better control over business plans and revenues.   The R-A-C-E framework will help you be prepared for the industry 4.0 & for uncertain situations like these. Grab this golden opportunity for turning your organisation into a futuristic organisation. 2. Sales Growth Framework In times of the shrinking economy, it is becoming difficult for organizations to improve their sales and sustain themselves in this market. Post-COVID, every organization, is trying to adapt different ways to sustain and grow. But the only way to sustain in such a crisis scenario is by deploying a unique Sales Machine, which will support to create a path for improving sales to sustain. The unique Sale Growth Framework by Faber Infinite Consulting is helping organisations improve their sales, supporting organisations to unlock the potential for demand generation, and helping sales force over achieve its targets even in the time of COVID. This framework has been helping organizations for years to thrive in situations as this and help them emerge stronger. Deploy our unique Sales Growth Framework to see fabulous revenue growth. Both frameworks have been crafted to prepare organisations for the future and are customised as per the need of the organisation. These frameworks have helped our clients to be prepared for the crisis as well as emerge stronger in times of crisis. Don’t delay the decision to change. Because “Your Industry Will Survive! Will You?”  Get in touch with us today and get started on your journey towards the new normal. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [We Are Back In Action](https://faberinfinite.com/we-are-back-in-action/): Change is imminent and so is new normal. Today, when the entire world is surviving through the pandemic, everyone is trying to adapt to the change. As we continue to navigate through the changing tides posed by the novel coronavirus, in addition to safety our priorities remain the same. Like always, the growth and development of our clients is our top priority. Though work environments have changed, our commitment to your business remains the same. Hence, team Faber Infinite is glad to announce that “We Are Back in Action with our Onsite Consultation – as that is what we are known for!” Our focus has always been doing everything we can to maximize our client’s profitability and stay prepared to navigate tomorrow’s challenges. The consulting support never stopped, as we were continuing the engagements and projects online. Now, as we bounce forward into the new normal, we are thrilled that we are back in action to support our clients in their transformation journey – on-site – The Faber Way! We are supporting our clients by working together with them on the gemba for their transformation journey. Considering the situation, we are working on the gemba with all the necessary precautions. Team Faber has started working with clients from the FMCG industry in India, supporting their transformation journey in this new normal.   Our support to sectors touching humanity has always been a top priority and the same reflects in our engagement with one of the global giants in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing industry. We are supporting them in improving overall productivity and profitability with powerful Time & Motion Study so that the industry can produce more to support the needs and demands on time in the global market. We have also restarted working with one of the leaders from FIBC industry in India, supporting their transformation journey, by mainly focusing on throughput improvement and wastage reduction. The same support can be initiated for your organization as well. Contact us today at consulting@faberinfinite.com Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri & Faber Priyal
- [Enhance Performance by Lean Facility Design](https://faberinfinite.com/enhance-performance-by-lean-facility-design/): In this edition of iFaber, we bring to you another tale from the floors of one of our clients, which is a pioneer in India for Auto Control Cables & Gear Shifters with Push-Pull Cables. We had a chat with Mr. Rahul Kejriwal – Executive Director at Remsons Industries Limited. Excerpts of this interesting interaction are as mentioned below – Faber Infinite (FI) – We have a subscriber base of around 20,000+ readers across 8 countries, our readers would want to know more about Remsons Industries Limited and about your journey in the organization? Mr. Rahul Kejriwal (RK) – Remsons Industries is a pioneer in India for Auto Control Cables & Gear Shifters with Push-Pull Cables. It started almost over 65 years ago, founded by Mr. V. Harlalka, a visionary and a pioneer in the Auto Ancillary Sector at the time when there were very few automobile companies in India, Remsons commenced its operations at a time when only Mahindra and Bajaj were present, even before Maruti Suzuki entered India. The industry size was much smaller, that is when most of the family business owners started the journey in the automotive sector. In those times, we had to be dependent on the technologies which were developed in India. This was because there were too many restrictions to bring foreign technologies, for joint ventures for foreign exchange because India was in great deficit at that point in time. There were many other challenges like power as well in the industry. Hence, all the machines and technologies were developed in India. This is the era from where Remsons began its journey. Later, it graduated to multiple units, we got Global OEM customers and started exporting our products from the year 1996. In the cable industry, most of the technologies that have been introduced in the country have always been first introduced by Remsons and then followed by the other organisations.  Later, many multinational organisations started to enter and set their base in India, post 90’s after the Indian economy was globally opened. All the technologies that are globally available today are also available with Remsons. So, we started by manufacturing Pull Cables, then we started Cable Assemblies, later we went into manufacturing Parking Brake levers, and then Gear Shift Mechanism with Push-Pull Cables. Today Remsons is a full system supplier with Design, Production, and Validation Capabilities. I joined the organisation somewhere in the year 2000, while I was still completing my education. The journey has been phenomenal. I have seen the organisation in the transition from my grandfather’s times to the new generations joining in, the cultural changes, the OEM transformation, the technological changes, and the changes in working patterns. From how it was a family-run business to how it has shaped to a more professionally run business today. Even today, the transition phase is on which is an ongoing journey. Recently in the last couple of years, the organisation has got a good boost in its growth. We have started to look for global expansions, some joint ventures that will give us multiple growth very rapidly. So, it has been a highly interesting and fascinating journey for me. FI: Great Sir! Further, we understand every industry has its own challenges. What are the challenges unique to your industry? RK: Our industry is very labour oriented. So, our challenges have always been to find and hire the right skilled, productive labours that can be retained for long. Along with that, our products are low-cost products. So, the slightest change in the raw material, labour cost, or the power and fuel costs directly affects the overall profitability of the organisation. So, to maintain that balance well is a challenge.    FI: What is your strategies post COVID to get back to normal?    RK: Remsons Industries is into a range of automobiles such as two-wheelers, three wheelers, four-wheelers, light, and heavy commercial vehicles. We are also divested into the Farm Sector. So, this has helped us a lot during the post COVID recovery. Like, the two-wheeler industry is doing great at present, both in the OEM as well as after-markets. Light commercial vehicles are also doing very well at this stage. So, we are trying to maximize the sectors which are pulling businesses like Farm, Two Wheelers, Light Commercial Vehicles, Exports. But every day is a new challenge due to material movement, raw materials availability, intermittent lockdowns happening, the employee’s exposure to the virus, isolation requirements, the work needs to be managed. Work from home has put a lot of stress since it is not time-bound and the work-life balance is lost which was supposed to be the other way around and now everyone is waiting for offices to start.  Because over calls and meetings any work is bound to take more time to finish than when in a collaborative face-to-face meeting. All the above-mentioned factors are affecting productivity as well. FI: How do you plan to work on productivity and profitability strategies post-COVID?  RK: We have a lot of new laborers because the old ones have migrated due to the COVID situation. So, we need to train new employees. A lot many other factors are affecting the cost of the organisation. The raw material costs are premium, the labour costs are premium, everything has been at more cost, but the product prices are not going up. So, these challenges are tough, and we are trying to hire more skilled staff, trying to train them faster so that things can go back to how they were. Also, the festive season is coming up, so the demand is very high and we have to meet the OEM’s requirements which require high productivity. FI: Team Faber has been associated with Remsons Industries Ltd in the Lean Facility Design journey. Can you share more about the journey and the role of Faber Infinite along with the outcomes of the project – that has helped Remsons stay ahead of the competition?  RK: We engaged with Faber for a
- [5 Ways to Promote Mental Health and Wellbeing](https://faberinfinite.com/5-ways-to-promote-mental-health-and-wellbeing/): Employee wellbeing has always been the most critical factor in an organization’s success. Without healthy and productive employees’ organizations would not survive or recover the business costs. Research says: 1 among 5 are suffering from mental illness 2/3rd do not get treatment due to multiple reasons like ignorance, disgrace, cost issues, delay, and lack of access to treatment According to WHO, mental health issues are the biggest issues of the century with depression being the leading cause But should organizations or employers be responsible for the mental health of their employees? Yes, they should, and below are a few of the pointers that can help them improve the mental health of the employees: Create a positive workplace There is still a shame surrounding mental health. By opening, people fear that they would be ignored or isolated, would be considered as abnormal, and thus considered as ineligible for the job. Employers and managers have a very crucial role to play by educating employees about mental health and creating open channels for communication. This can help create a positive work culture that promotes employee engagement and attracts talent. Early prevention We happen to spend 60% of our time at the office. There is a lot of stress at work including meeting deadlines, working with people of different behaviors and personalities, stress related to job security, need to learn new skills, and many more. In the middle of all this, educating employees about the ways to cope with stress makes a lot of sense. This approach will help to address issues much before they become trouble for the employee as well as the employer. Provide treatment to reduce the impact This is where the HR of the organization will play an important role. It is the responsibility of HR to find the best in quality and evidence-based solutions for success. It can be done through maybe a benefit plan or a wellness counselor or online programs or a combination of the mentioned options to help reduce the issue of suffering for the particular employee and thus help them perform better at work. Improve engagement If you are physically fit, you are healthier and thus you perform better. This goes the same as your mental health. If you improve the mental health of the employees it will make them mentally strong and they can handle stress thus improving their decision making, performance, and productivity. In this way, you can help the employees to be the best version of themselves. Cost-saving When organizations take care of the mental health of the employees, they end up saving costs. This is because employees that are mentally fit tend to be less absent, tend to be more productive. This helps organizations to grow. Organizations should have effective mental health resources in place for productive and engaged employees that deliver growth and sustenance. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [To Improve Teams, Work on Self First](https://faberinfinite.com/to-improve-teams-work-on-self-first/): Teams are a complicated system of members with diverse skill sets, experiences, viewpoints, behaviors, and tendencies. Both the team members and leaders should work together to make this complex system meaningful and sustainable. This is possible only when both the leader and the team members work together on three fundamental parameters: Inner Self-Awareness Leaders should understand their own emotions, opinions, and values. If they do not understand their own feelings and emotions, it is less likely that they would understand the team member’s feelings and emotions. Leaders should check what they are assuming about the team member. They should check on facts and clarifications. Leaders should pause and reflect. Leaders should not be impulsive to rush into a conclusion. Leaders should learn a lot about themselves. This will help them to understand the team better. Outer Self-Awareness Leaders need to understand how their words and actions affect others in the team. Most of the time leaders and team members are not aware of how their behavior impacts the team. As a result, it is difficult for leaders to identify and use their strengths that will make them more productive and profitable. Leaders should also keep an eye on the behavior that has a negative impact on the team. One way to build outer awareness is by starting to observe team members’ reactions and gestures during team discussions. Another way is to ask the team members for their feedback like: How is the leader helpful? What is the leader doing is not helpful? If there is anyone thing that you want me to change as a leader on high priority? This can be one of the ways. Other can be by getting one on one feedback from the team members. Be Accountable Leaders Successful leaders do not hold others accountable.  They hold themselves accountable. This sounds simple but it is not. When faced with a challenge or discomfort, many of us have this habit of blaming others, or defending ourselves or just avoiding the discomfort altogether. But a leader as well as the team member should be highly accountable for their work. They should take personal responsibility to solve the issue or problem. They should not leave the problem unless it is solved. A small change in the mindset will have a significant positive impact on the entire team. Work together as a team to build and strengthen the above mentioned three capabilities. Form these new habits to be effective teams. Invest time and energy needed to build these foundation skills so they can be better at tackling business opportunities and challenges. Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri
- [5 Essential Elements of Progressive Organizations](https://faberinfinite.com/5-essential-elements-of-progressive-organizations/): Progressive organizations work on continuous improvement. When it comes to the change management initiatives there are several factors that affect the success of the initiatives. There are certain activities which when included and followed in the right sequence. They will help the organizations sustain and benefit from the change management initiatives. This Transformation Tuesday lets us look at 5 elements that are essential in bringing stability to the organization thus assisting it to excel continuously for sustainable growth in business. Objective The reason for any change management initiative is to understand the larger picture of why the change is being implemented. When the objective is very well defined, it will create a positive effect on the team and the team gets charged up to work for the initiative. It helps the entire organization to understand the need for the change initiative. Lack of defined objectives will keep the employees disoriented and will take the focus away. When the purpose is defined then the whole organization works towards achieving it. It also helps organizations to come up with the most difficult situations. SMART Goals One the objective or the why part of the transformation journey is defined, organizations should move on to setting clear expectations on the goals. The goals can be hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, they must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic, and Relevant, Timebound). If the goals are clearly defined, then the transformation journey is meaningful and fast. Right Tools and Technology Once the why of the transformation journey and the goals are defined, organizations should look at defining how of the transformation journey. Using the right tools and techniques to achieve goals is imperative. It is necessary to use a structured methodology with the right tools, techniques, and technology to achieve short-term and long-term goals. Discipline Why some organizations even after well-defined objectives, SMART goals, right tools, and techniques, do not achieve success is because of lack of discipline. Leaders should have constant self-discipline to master the art of achieving goals. Discipline helps to achieve the real purpose. All progressive organizations focus on doing things right now and thus eventually cultivate the habit of discipline. It is the bridge between the purpose and the achievement, and all the organizations should work towards making the bridge stronger. Assess yourself Organizations need to assess themselves and understand what went wrong and what needs to be done to improve. Teams in the organization need to do the analysis of the things that went wrong and how can they be improved. It should be a continuous improvement process that the organizations should follow. Organizations should focus on the above-mentioned elements and gain long term profits. And sustainable growth through employee engagement, teamwork, and self-assessment. Unlock the full potential of your business by optimizing your supply chain with expert solutions designed for growth, efficiency, and innovation. Ready to streamline your operations? Explore Customized Supply Chain Solutions now! Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri   Contact us 
- [6 Ways to Ensure Growth Culture](https://faberinfinite.com/6-ways-to-ensure-growth-culture/): As organizations grow the dynamics in the organization begins to change. It does not remain the same as it was when there were only founding members in the organization. Change is not always good. None of the organizations would want the culture to fall behind when the organization is growing fast. Culture must be in sync with the growth of the organization. In case of lag, between growth and culture, it cannot be ignored. Organizations should consider this change as an opportunity to reshape the culture as the new business dynamics. Let us look what we leaders can do, so that the employees in the organizations move in the right direction: Keep communication open in all directions As your organizations grows it is difficult to be in touch with every employee in the organization like the old days. So, you need to use different mediums of communication like – emails, phone calls, video calls and keep motivating the employees so that they are aligned to the organizations culture. You also need to communicate to the employees how important is their contribution in the growth of the organization. Get employee feedback Leaders need to observe company culture. It is difficult to quantify, still they should keep observing the organization’s culture. This can be done by getting feedback from the employees. Besides asking for feedback during meetings , organizations should conduct anonymous surveys where employees can share somethings that they cannot share openly otherwise. Share growth culture related stories Leaders should share stories that highlight their culture. Leaders can discuss stories where the organization went above and beyond for a client or an employee. Stor