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
