GMS 2019 - Fifth successful edition

The Machinist Global Manufacturing Summit (GMS) 2019 was held successfully on December 18 at the Novotel Ahmedabad. This was the fifth consecutive edition of the Summit that has acquired a great deal of popularity and significance amongst the manufacturing industry in India. The Summit, which started in Bengaluru in 2015, has also travelled to New Delhi (2016), Indore (2017) and Pune (2018). The theme for this year’s Summit in Ahmedabad was ‘Dealing with disruptions’. The theme for GMS 2019 evolved through a remarkable agenda filled with insightful presentations and exciting panel discussions.

Honouring a legend

A key highlight of GMS 2019 was the felicitation ceremony in the beginning wherein Shri Deepak Kumar Hota, Chairman & Managing Director, BEML Ltd. was being inducted into ‘The Machinist Hall of Fame 2019’. While accepting the honour, Shri Hota narrated his journey with BEML and the immense contribution BEML to the cause of nation building. He urged the industry to work towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative and contribute in transforming the Indian manufacturing industry into the Best in the world. Shri Hota received the honour at the hands of Niranjan Mudholkar, Editor, The Machinist magazine.

The Machinist Hall of Fame has been received previously by Mr. Baba Kalyani, CMD, Bharat Forge Ltd. in 2015, Late Mr. Rajan Nanda, Chairman, Escorts Ltd. in 2016, Dr. Mahesh Gupta, Founder & CMD, Kent RO in 2017, and last year, it was conferred upon Mr. Kevin Flynn, President & MD, FCA India.

Power packed programme

The felicitation ceremony was followed by a very insightful presentation by Anand Misra, General Manager (Quality & Launch), Ford Motor Company. Misra gave some interesting examples from various industries to show how dealing with disruption is the key to success in today’s VUCA world.

We all know that the manufacturing industry is going through a huge transformation across the world. Various factors – economic & social, political & bureaucratic, technological & industrial – are at play. These factors are changing the rules of the game, they are changing how the job is done. The people who are dealing with these factors at the forefront are the leaders – the CEOs. At GMS 2019, we had an interesting mix of leaders from the cross section of industries discussing the theme of the Summit from the leadership perspective. These included Bhasskar Bhataacharya, Managing Director, Vivanza Biosciences Ltd.; Chandan Mundhra, Chairman & MD, Savë Electric Vehicle; Khushroo Pastakia, CEO & Managing Director, Voxtur Bio Ltd; and Manish Kothari, Managing Director, Rhino Machines Pvt Ltd. The panel, which kept the audience engaged with a very exciting discussion, was chaired by Niranjan Mudholkar, Editor, The Machinist magazine.

Niranjan also chaired the next panel discussion that involved manufacturing heads from a diverse industry sectors. These include Anand Wankhede, Head of Manufacturing, Larsen & Toubro Limited; Rajesh Anand, Plant Head, Asahi India Pvt. Ltd; Sunil Kr Das, Sr General Manager, Somany Ceramics Limited; and Yashwant Ingle, AVP – Purchasing & Operations, Shandong Heavy Industry India Pvt. Ltd. These manufacturing leaders explained the importance of empowering ‘people’ in the quest for excellence.

The post lunch session had two interesting presentations including one on technical aspects related to the use of lubricants in ensuring smooth operations on shopfloor. It was done by Neeraj Agrawal, Regional Manager (North & East), MotulTech India. Of course, the highlight of the afternoon session was the inspirational talk by T. K. Ramesh, MD & CEO, Micromatic Machine Tools Pvt. Ltd. TKR, as he is fondly known, spoke about “New business models for new times” covering strategies for decision making. The presentation was very well received by the audience.