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