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Bhoomi Pooja of CII
-Godrej-Green Business Centre Building


K. Vidyadher Rao, Minister for Major Industries, Government of Andhra Pradesh,
addressing the gathering as Chief Guest.

The construction of CII-Godrej-Green Business Centre Building at Hyderabad commenced with a solemn Bhoomi Pooja function held on 14 August, 2002.

A gathering of about 110 members witnessed the Bhoomi Pooja. This comprised representatives from the Industry and the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

K. Vidyadher Rao, Hon’ble Minister for Major Industries, Government of Andhra Pradesh, was the Chief Guest.

During his address, the Minister said that Andhra Pradesh has taken a major lead in creating a Clean and Green State. The setting up of the Green Business Centre (GBC) in partnership with CII, Godrej and USAID is an important effort in this direction. He appreciated the untiring efforts of CII in making the GBC building project a reality.


A. I. Bhuvaneshwar, Senior Branch Manager, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.,
Hyderabad Branch, performing the Bhoomi Pooja.

He applauded Godrej & Boyce for their fine gesture in sponsoring the building and added that the house of Godrej is known for their commitment towards environment and protection of flora and fauna.

The Minister acknowledged the excellent efforts that have gone into the building-design so as to meet the stringent international standards to get the "Platinum rating" of US Green Business Council under their LEEDs (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) programme.

Anil Kumar V. Epur, Past Chairman, CII (Southern Region) in his welcome address and introductory remarks highlighted the activities of the GBC and the salient features of the building. He said that this building will incorporate several eco-friendly features like use of fly ash based cement and bricks, Rain water harvesting, Water recycling, Wind towers, Energy efficient air conditioning & Lighting systems. Epur continued that the first LEEDs review is completed and the feedback is very encouraging.

Shobana Kamineni, Past Chairperson, CII-AP proposed a Vote of Thanks. She thanked the Minister for all the support and encouragement the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh have provided ever since the setting up of the Green Business Centre was conceptualised.


Anil Kumar V. Epur, Past Chairman, (CII) (Southern Region)
highlighting the activities of GBC in his introductory remarks.

The Minister and other dignitaries planted saplings on the occasion to symbolise the efforts towards greening the environment.

 

"We have a nice place here"


(Right): P. D. Lam, Executive Director, inspecting the newly set up Storage Solutions Group office. On the left is A. M. Visvanathan, Vice-President and Business Head, Storage Solutions Group.

No. 1, SIDCO Industrial Estate, the Godrej & Boyce (G & B) Complex at Ambattur, Chennai, is transforming itself into a very modern and contemporary campus, thanks to the decision of the Corporate to establish a factory for the Storage Solutions Business Division here and in a smaller way the decision to co-locate all G & B Divisions and Godrej Appliances Ltd. (GAL) at this location against the three we were operating from.

The Ambattur Complex of our Company extends to approximately 22 acres and, initially, in the 1960s and 1970s housed the Branch warehouse. Sales Office was functioning from Mount Road and the Service Department from Chepauk. Subsequently, a single storied office-building was added to house the Service Department.

In the late eighties one more warehouse was built and a two-storied office block was added, by when the entire operations of G & B, as it was then, was from Ambattur. After GAL was formed and the Company divisionalised further, GAL (then G-GEAL) and some of the divisions moved out of Ambattur to operate from "within" the "City" and thus by 1999 only the erstwhile Office Equipment (OE) Division, Material Handling Equipment (MHE) Division and common functions operated from Ambattur. Less than 70 odd people were working out of this complex spread over two floors of office area and the warehouse.

Construction of plant

On the auspicious Dussehra day in October 1999, the "ground breaking" for the Plant was done in the presence of Maneck Engineer and A. M. Visvanathan. An enormous amount of preparatory work was obviously done even as the Branch moved its warehouse from close to the office building to the first constructed and larger warehouse. The factory building itself is unique in concept in the sense that what was really built-up was the land between two buildings linking it up to form the entire Plant area. This resulted in complete usage of the two already constructed warehouses and resultant savings in cost.

As the days passed, under the guidance of specialised departments at Head Office, work was going apace and the first pieces of machinery were transferred from Vikhroli to here. The Paint Shop inside the Plant with its powder coat painting facility will perhaps be the best of its kind in this area.


Aerial view of Ambattur factory complex.

Electricals, getting approvals from authorities, increasing the electric power sanctions and many, many other works were all performed with missionary zeal by the Storage Solutions Group (SSG) team led by A. M. Visvanathan. While some machinery like the roll former is about to be installed, the very first lot of multiflex components rolled out of this Plant even before the Plant building was completed.

Co-location of the Branch & GAL

Around the same time as the commencement of the factory construction, we started the process of co-location of all G & B units at Chennai to Ambattur. The first step was to shift the warehouse to the older warehouse to facilitate the construction and this was followed by shifting OE Service from the ground floor to the first floor of the office building. In fact the entire ground floor was completely cleared out by the Branch so that the SSG Head Office, which was to shift from Vikhroli, could be located on the ground floor next to the Plant.

A master plan layout for the first floor was prepared by the Branch Furniture Team to accommodate all the G & B Divisions of Chennai and all local divisional heads were consulted in the preparation of the plan. The plan incorporated the complete usage of defective and damaged components lying accumulated in the warehouse after repairs/refurbishing and only a few balancing components were picked up from Mumbai. As the Branch was to move to the BaaN ERP system, the plan also incorporated the "BaaN Room". Step-by-step the setting up of the Office was completed and one by one, Locks Division, Prima, Machine Tools and Process Equipment Division moved on to the second floor of our Ambattur complex from the former Chepauk premises. The shifting was planned and executed in such a manner that activity started at close of working hours on Saturday at Chepauk and people concerned could start Monday’s work at Ambattur without a single working day being lost.

At the same time, work on setting up the ground floor SSG office was on and here, too, the basic philosophy of using, as much as was possible, only refurbished material, was adhered to. The entire group commenced functioning from Ambattur, Chennai, on 1 April, 2001.

The GAL location

The next major move into transforming Ambattur was to enable the GAL location of both their warehouse and office. A. M. Visvanathan became our "Knight in Shining Armour" as he gave up a large chunk of the SSG office area by "shrinking" his SSG office and the entire GAL office was brought to the ground floor of the office building at Ambattur.

In the process of shifting from Mumbai to Chennai, SSG had also moved all their stock to Chennai and this included obsolete and damaged components, which were used to set up a mezzanine and re-layout the Chennai Branch warehouse, thereby releasing all the space GAL needed for their warehousing. The massive job of manually repairing/cutting/painting several hundreds of components to create the mezzanine and multiple-tier stacking was done by the Chennai Branch team led by Service Engineers. This work was accomplished without any disruption of normal warehousing activity.

Facilities

With the increase in numbers of persons working out of our Ambattur complex from less than 70 to more than 200, the complex needed urgent facilities for some basic requirements. The old service department building was fully cleared, cleaned and painted, and a canteen/dining hall set up. The canteen till date provides breakfast and lunch facilities at reasonable rates and is subsidised only to the extent of providing space. A car park was also added by adding a shed within the existing parking lot. Low cost solution was the key thinking behind all these activities.


Part view of the Chennai Branch office.

The story is not complete; it is still unfolding. There are many more miles to go. Complete erection of all machinery and allied equipment at the Plant, Horticulture and campus maintenance, improvements and upkeep of the refurbished furniture, etc. All this and much more figure in our plans and will become real as days go by. We will do whatever we can in-house and spend only what we must; most certainly, however, we will change and transform our Ambattur complex to be our "Pirojshanagar" outside Mumbai of which every Godrejite can be proud. Change impacts on people in many unique ways. The change at Ambattur is also impacting us at Chennai in unique ways. In Sales, we once closed our calls telling our customers, "when you travel to Mumbai, please visit our Pirojshanagar township at Vikhroli and see our manufacturing Plants." We are now getting used to saying, "Come to Ambattur, we have a nice place out here!"

 

Building Business Competitiveness

The annual workshop with the "top 50" Wholesale Dealers (WDs) of erstwhile Office Equipment (O.E.) Division was this year held at Kochi and the theme of the workshop was "Building Business Competitiveness". The workshop was organised at the Taj Malabar Hotel between 7 and 10 September, 2002.

P. D. Lam inaugurated the workshop on 7 September evening by lighting the traditional lamp and delivering the inaugural address. Lam spoke of the reality of WTO in 2005 and the need for us to prepare ourselves in advance to overcome the onslaught of competition and hence the theme of the workshop. He looked ahead at the top 50 WDs being catalysts along with the Company in creating the competitiveness required to not only succeed in India, but to make our products competitive in costs and quality, internationally.

The Heads of the four O.E. Divisions unveiled their short term and long term plans towards building business competitiveness.

A. S. Mathur, Head of Storwel Division, spoke of the new product development activities in his business and initiatives taken to expand the portfolio of products, offer value for money and yet have dealer-friendly earning policies.

A. M. Visvanathan, Head of Storage Solutions Group, spoke on the progress in setting up the Plant at Chennai and unveiled the new directions the Business is going into in the background of the global industry scenario and emerging trends and consulting opportunities in the field in India.

For the Furniture Business, Anil Verma, the Business Head, dwelt on the global best practices incorporated in the Furniture Business Model, clearly outlined the long term path being visualised and showed the road map being taken to really turn the Furniture Business into a world-class set-up. The Furniture Division under Anil Verma has pioneered the concept of a near perfect Business Model and adhered to it notwithstanding the inevitable pot-holes encountered in the journey so far. Questions from WDs were answered in relation to the overall big picture seen by the Business.

In the Security Business, Dara Byramjee, Business Head, played the Security Anthem composed and launched by his team and then went on to detail their plans, which included the upgradation of several existing products and their certification by international agencies. Especially for WDs, Byramjee also spoke about the soon-to-be-launched "Godrej Secure Home" concept which will expand the scope of WDs in this Business and increase their profitability.


A view of the participants

Highlight

The highlight of the workshop was the very special session of our Guest of Honour and Chief Speaker, Bhaskar Bhatt, Managing Director, Titan Industries Ltd., the well known watchmakers. Bhatt was specially invited to speak on Retailing for the extra competitive edge to our WDs.

Bhatt, who had spent five years with our Company in the early days of his career before moving to Titan, mentioned the fact that "Even if I had learned to drive the car in Titan it was because I learned to drive the Tricycle at Godrej" to spontaneous applause from the audience. He took us through the saga of Titan’s growth and evolution as one of the best companies, and dividing it into three distinct phases, each of which was a turning point. In particular, he emphasized on how the distribution chain was set up and expanded, and how they captured the customer’s voice through their distributors. He spoke of involving key distributors in product development and introduction plans in a systematic manner.

Play also

The workshop was not all work. The agenda was imaginatively drawn up to allow time to participants for sight-seeing, shopping, personal interaction and some rest. A picnic trip on the Backwaters to Kumarakom was organised on Sunday when the WDs got a chance to soak in the beauty of "God’s Own Country".

Short sight-seeing trips to places of historical importance in the city were part of the programme and a special programme for spouses was organised. In the evenings, cameo performances of the Kerala Fine Arts like Mohini Attam, Kathakali, Gaja Mela were organised and after the session was formally closed on 9 September, the evening was "special" allowing participants to literally let their hair down with a "Karaoke-Veejay" experience that will long be remembered.


Bhaskar Bhatt, Managing Director, Titan, addressing the workshop.

Thanks

Thanks are due to the efforts of our Kochi Branch team led by their Manager, Venugopal; the team had acted as perfect hosts attending to every detail with warmth. Lam specially thanked the Branch by taking time to visit it in the morning before the sessions started.

I would like to thank all the participants for being so nice and understanding, and for whole-heartedly getting into the spirit of things. Special mention must be made of D. B. Chhapger and Mehernosh Pithawalla who made a marathon journey by train carrying a van-load of workshop materials and A. N. Choksey, Vice-President & Commercial), Office Consumer Products, who, as Chief Co-ordinator gave clear guidelines from time to time to ensure success of the programme.

This article has to close with the remarks of many of the WDs before departure ?"This was the best workshop so far ?the Businesses are now really seeing us as Partners".

K. M. Vinod Kumar
Chennai Branch

 

Surprise!

An anniversary is, or should be, an occasion for surprises. The surprise this anniversary is a gift voucher of Rs. 500 to whichever contributor from the Company staff/worker who makes an original contribution to CHANGE, as distinct from routine reporting. The prize on this, our first anniversary, goes to F. S. Correa.

Editor

Bankers Meet

Banks are one of Godrej’s biggest customers. Jamshedpur Branch organised a Bankers
Meet on 7 August, 2002 at Yuvraj Palace, Ranchi, to celebrate 100 years of Security Equipment Group. Top officials from various banks were invited. The Branch gave a presentation on the range of products as also the trend in the banking industry. It displayed and demonstrated new products such as Banding Machine, Cash Counting Machine, etc. A Press Meet was organised and the Meet was well covered in leading newspapers.

 

New Home Furniture Launch

The Storwel Group introduced a new range of home furniture items, including Sofas, Recliners, Beds, i-Space, etc. The launch took place in various districts.

Dealers Place Month
Starline Jamshedpur June
Krishna Sales Jamshedpur July
B. P. Agarwalla & Sons Dhanbad August
N. K. Jain Ranchi August
Citico Ranchi September

During the launch, showrooms were well decorated and awareness generated through mailers, handbills, banners and advertisements in newspapers as also by organising a Press Meet. An introductory offer was made. The response was good.

Bibhash Biswas
Jamshedpur Branch

 

Institutional Sales

One of our key areas of sales focus is Institutional Sales.

In order to cater to the institutional customer effectively, a special workshop for Institutional Sales personnel was organised by M/s. Team Productivity in two phases at the CII Training Centre. Phase I was held on 3rd, 4th and 5th of June, 2002 and Phase II on 13th and 14th of August, 2002.

The following were the main objectives:

  • Gain a better understanding of the steps involved in a Sale and master each step in the selling cycle.

  • Understand the Customer Needs and Develop a Consultative Selling Approach aimed at both getting commitments and building long-term relationships.

  • To create Simulated Selling Situations to facilitate corrective measures thereby ensuring effective learning.

  • Understand the definition of a Key Account and sensitise the purchase on how the handling strategy differs in a Key Account.

A review was conducted at four major metros for two days to review delegates.

Amita Panchal
Locks Division

 

Thrust Chamber

Godrej Aerospace is proud that India’s First Cryogenic Thrust Chamber manufactured inhouse has been successfully hot tested for its Full Duration Test of 1,000 Seconds on 7 September, 2002. This Engine of Russian origin uses High Tech, State of Art Technologies, which have been established in our manufacturing facilities in Plant-7 and Plant-15. The Thrust Chamber manufactured by us is the Second in the series of Six Thrust Chambers to be delivered. At present, we are in the process of realising Thrust Chamber No. 3 and 4. Once this Engine is proved by logging of 4,000 Seconds of firing at ground level, it will enable us to get a certification for flight hardwares. This Engine is planned to be used in launching Geo Synchronized Satellites at 36,000 kms. away from the Surface of the earth by ISRO’s Geo Stationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Rocket.

This engine once inducted will be deployed in the Third Stage of GSLV. We are already supplying engines for the First Stage Booster and Second Stage Core Motor. With the success of indigenously developed CRYO Thrust Chambers, we are sure that future GSLV’s will have Godrej Thrust Chamber in all the Three Stages.

Aerospace Team

 

Warehouse Of The Year

Chandigarh Branch Warehouse was adjudged the "Best Warehouse of the year 2001-02". This Award was based on the points given on various parameters such as Building Premises, Goods Handling/Sound Storage Practices, Electrical Fittings, Fire Fighting, Safety Factors, Machine and Tooling Equipments and Environmental Concerns. To award the Rolling Trophy, A. N. Choksey, Vice-President ?Finance & Commercial, along with Dhruv Sharma, General Manager ?Sales (North) visited the Branch on 6 August, 2002.

This opportunity was also utilised by getting the traditional lamp lit by A. N. Choksey in front of the Mural depicting the ‘Partnership Insignia? designed at the Waiting Lounge of the Administrative office, after which he addressed the entire Branch.

They then proceeded to the Warehouse and were shown around the place. The Award ceremony was preceded by an address from Barinder Singh (Branch Manager, Chandigarh), A. N. Choksey and Dhruv Sharma. A. N. Choksey was all praise for the team efforts in keeping the warehouse well maintained and hoped that the same shall be pursued with vigour in the future. Dhruv Sharma was pleased that his judgement of placing Chandigarh Warehouse at No. 1 was affirmed by the HO Selection committee which declared the Branch as the Winner. All personnel associated with warehouse management, including Service Executives ?Jaspreet Singh, D. P. S. Bal, Mukesh Jandial for Storwel, Furniture and Security respectively, Warehouse Keeper ?Venkatesh Iyer and the contractors?employees, were given prizes.

A. N. Choksey

 

Chandigarh Branch Celebrates Silver Anniversary

5 September, 2002 will always be remembered as a landmark in the history of Chandigarh Branch ?the day it completed 25 glorious years.


Barinder Singh and Satish Dogra together cutting the cake, on the Silver Anniversary
of Chandigarh Branch. Clapping in the background are Branch personnel.

Congratulatory messages had started pouring in a week in advance. The morning started with the Branch Manager, Barinder Singh’s address to staff members, congratulating them on the Silver Anniversary and recalling with reverence all Branch Managers, beginning from N. E. Tarapore, the first Branch Manager and later the Regional Manager ?North, to Neel Kamal Raizada, as it was due to their able guidance that the Branch scaled such great heights. Also remembered were all Regional Managers under whom the Branch grew and had the privilege of working as also contributions of those who had their short stint as Acting Branch Managers at Chandigarh. Sharing Branch operations that started with business of a few lakh rupees per month in 1977, the Branch Manager was happy to inform of the volumes, which today run to over Rs.130 lakhs on an average per month. He also appreciated the good trends started years ago under the aegis of N. E. Tarapore when the Branch functioned with barely six on its staff and is today having a total strength of 55 enjoying the warmth of a family atmosphere.

The evening function was in fact a tribute to the families whose unstinted support plays a key role in successful execution of day-to-day activities by Branch personnel. It commenced with the cutting of a cake by Barinder Singh along with Satish Dogra, the oldest Branch employee, who came to the Branch on 4 September, 1977 along with Tarapore from Delhi. It was truly a nostalgic moment for all those associated with the Branch for over two decades as Satish’s reminiscences took them down memory lane to the moments of caring and sharing while working together during the last 25 years. Speeches were followed by games and dances. Dinner was served at 10.30 p.m. and, before wrapping up, Barinder thanked all family members for making the evening a memorable one as also distributed sweets amongst kids and mementos to the staff on successful completion of 25 years.

Barinder Singh
Chandigarh Branch

 

How to present a presentable presentation

A good presentation is not only a treat to the eyes, but also to the ears and mind. Sometimes the contents may not be good, but the presentation covers up to have a good effect on the audience. Of course, nothing can beat good contents with good presentation. While one can have numerous innovative ideas, given below are some of the basics that the presenter has to take care of.

Do’s:

1. Dress appropriately for the occasion.

2. Speak slowly enough to be understood.

3. Speak fast enough to maintain energy and interest in the audience.

4. Let the transparency/slides be either vertical or horizontal. It irritates the mind if you switch from vertical to horizontal or vice versa.

5. Only key words or phrases should be used on the slides.

6. A maximum of six words is to be used in a sentence/phrase.

7. Total sentences/phrases in a slide should be limited to six. (Approximately 36 words.)

8. The smallest letter height should be 10 to 12 mm (?quot;).

9. Ensure that lights near the screen are switched off while the Over Head Projector (OHP) is "on".

Don’ts:

1. Avoid clothing that distracts the message.

2. Avoid speaking too slowly, which may bore the listeners.

3. If you speak too fast, you may lose your listeners.

4. While people are reading what is written on the slide, do not disturb them. Your reading speed and their speed may not match.

5. Do not keep the OHP "on" while speaking.

Use of colours: Very often, people use any colour that is available to them. Colour combination plays a vital role in a good presentation.

Green to be used to convey positive thoughts, ideas and figures.

Red to be used to convey negative thoughts, ideas and figures.

Black to be used for heading and blue for the body or vice versa.

Research has shown that the average thinking speed of a person is 400 words per minute. The average speaking / listening speed is 125 words per minute. Therefore the listener’s mind is free only for 275 words per minute. Hence, if your speech is for three minutes, you should not have more than 825 words in your speech.*
* “The Art of Talkamatics?by Arvind Nadkarni.

Your beginning should catch the attention of people. The end should remain in the minds of the audience for a long time. If you did not know the above facts earlier, it is not too late to change now.

F. S. Correa
BaaN Implementation Centre.

 

Bihar ?New Software Destination

Software Tech Park at Patna (Bihar) may sound a bit surprising for many, but, yes, the Bihar Government has drawn up mega plans to promote IT industry in the State. As a first step forward, the Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation (BSEDC) has decided in favour of Godrej (Chennai Branch) to purchase our Modular Furniture and Seating on the three floors of Biscomaun Tower, Patna. The contract awarded to Furniture Division is worth 1.02 crore.

It all began with a tender published in The Economic Times on 9 April, 2002 for this project calling for turnkey solution provider for Modular Furniture + Interiors, the consultant for which was based at Chennai. We were in touch with the consultant right from day one and then started the routine: we got our specifications incorporated, arranged for site visits, presented a mock-up and gave a presentation on our capabilities to handle and execute such projects. Our Sales Officer, Ashwin Matey, put in a lot of effort and built up a good relationship with the consultant. At one point of time we felt it would be difficult to execute the entire turnkey component (Air conditioning, electricals, false ceiling, etc.) and suggested to the consultant to split the work into two components: Modular and Interiors to which he agreed and thereafter we were in the race for Modular Furniture. Competition was fierce with players like Blowplast, Jasani, Featherlite, PSL, etc. in the fray. Most of the competition was knocked down on the specification front and balance on their capabilities to execute such a project. We managed to clinch the deal at a good price because of the support extended by the consultant. In fact we were rated No. 1 against competition in the list of the comparatives, which was forwarded to the client and we hardly discussed pricing thereafter.

This order is prestigious because this will be one of our first major installations at Patna. We did get a lot of coverage in print and visual media post signing the agreement. This order is just one slice of the huge pie ?Biscomaun Tower, a 15-floor building, is all set to get a face lift in the coming months and we are confident of grabbing this opportunity.

Manoj Rathi
Chennai Branch

 

Dynamic Salesmanship

A three-day training programme was conducted by K. T. George, M/s. George Associates at Hotel Sai Inn, Alibaug on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of August, 2002 with an aim to help Sales Personnel take correct decisions in the marketplace.

This programme was a step further to the training, which was held in February 2002. The topics were in continuation with the ones which were already covered in the last training programme at Khandala.

  • The Neglected Half of Communication ?Listening.
  • FAB (Features, Analysis & Benefit) ?two products were given to each group whereby they had to explain the special characteristics of the product by converting the features into the benefits. Each group was then evaluated on the basis of the presentation they made.
  • Effective Presentation.
  • Merchandising.
  • Two case studies were given to each group, wherein they had to prepare on both the case studies and were asked to present any one on the next day. The groups enthusiastically worked till early morning to prepare the case studies. Teams were evaluated and prizes awarded to the best team.
  • Objection Handling.

On the last day of the programme, Atul Dixit, Assistant Sales Manager (Chennai) made a presentation to and shared his day-to-day experiences with Sr. Sales Officers (SSOs) on Dealer Management, Market Infilteration and Market Operating Price.

Amita Panchal
Locks Division

 

Unique Achievement



Unique Achievement ?An M.B.A. in materials ?Dr. Bhalchandra L. Mungekar, Vice Chancellor, University of Mumbai (Right), handing over a Post Graduate Diploma Certificate to Sanjay Kumar Trivedi (Left) at the Annual Indian Institute of Materials Management Convocation. Trivedi is Assistant Manager in Materials Department, Plant-4, Furniture Business.

 

 

 

Retailer Relationship Programme


Godrej Locks: Retailer Relationship Programme, 17-8-2002

Locks Division has initiated a new concept, Retailer Relationship Programme, to create a special bond with our valued retailers and build a long-term relationship with them for mutual prosperity.

"Prosperity Through Partnership" was the theme for the one-day programme held for Mumbai retailers on 17 August, 2002 through distributor, M/s. Active Distributor and on 21 September, 2002 through distributor, M/s. Prime Distributors.

The programme began with a welcome note by Sashi Kumar, Regional Manager (West), followed by address delivered by Kartik Modi, General Manager (Sales and Marketing) and showing of the Locks Division film. The distributor and retailers gave a short introduction about themselves and their association with the Company.

This was followed by a presentation made by Aspi Wadia, Assistant Sales Manager (Mumbai) on the current Mumbai market scenario, new marketing initiatives, added focus on Institutional sales, new products, etc. Retailers were taken to the Locks Product showroom and to the Manufacturing Plant. They were explained various manufacturing processes, quality tests done and our Research & Development setup. This was followed by a tour of Pirojshanagar.

An interactive session with Divisional Head, B. K. Rajkumar, took place later, where retailers shared valuable inputs on products, service issues, company policies and gave feedback about the programme.

The success of both the programmes was due to the joint efforts of the Mumbai Sales team, Marketing team and our two Distributors.

Dean Noronha
Locks Division

 

Congratulations!



Radhika Parab,
daughter of Vinayak R. Parab of Press Shop, Plant-17, secured the 45th rank at an all-India level in her C. A. Intermediate Exam held this year.

 

 

Architect Relationship Programme

Locks Division took a step forward in associating with top architects, interior designers and builders by sponsoring the “Ambience Anniversary Awards?for Architects at Hotel Taj Blue Diamond on 24 August, 2002. A distinguished gathering comprising approximately 400 professionals and eminent personalities from Mumbai and Pune graced the Awards function. The jury, headed by Prof. Christopher Beninger, comprised Kamal Mallick (Kamal Mallick Architects), Prof. Akhtar Chauhan (Director and Principal, Rizvi College of Architecture), Shirish Beri (Beri Architects) and Sarita Vijayan (Editor, Indian Architect & Builder). The Awards were categorised into five groups: residential, commercial, office, landscape and one-piece furniture.

K. N. Modi, General Manager (Sales & Marketing), Locks Division gave away the Awards to winners along with Chief Guest, Shobha De. Modi also gave a presentation on the changing face of Godrej Locks in terms of pioneering technologies, customised product solutions and establishing new standards of service in the locks industry. He called on the architects, interior designers and builders to join hands with Godrej Locks to Progress through Partnership.

This mega event created wide publicity for Godrej Locks through hoardings in Pune, canvassing in top shopping malls and pre- and post-advertisements and write-ups in The Indian Express publications in Pune (Pune Newsline, Loksatta, Ambience magazine, etc). The stall of Godrej Locks installed in “Ambience Lifestyle Exhibition? from 23rd to 25th August, 2002 attracted many visitors.

This event has indeed helped us strengthen our relationship with top-notch architects, interior designers, builders and the general public in Pune.

Vivek Mahajan
Locks Division

 

No “Feedback?
Owing to heavy pressure on space, Nariman Bacha’s column, “Feedback?has been held over for the next issue.