APRIL 2014 ISSUE 18

We  have  ended  FY  13-­‐14  positively,    despite  the  challenges  of  a  slowing  economy  and  all  attention  focussed  on  the  Lok  Sabha  Elections!  Certain  segments  of  the  electric  motor   industry   even   degrew   and   several   big   players   having   lower   profitability.      Despite   a  small  topline  growth  driven  by  external  sales,  our  net  operating  surplus  grew  by  45%  over  last  year.

Our   Team   undertook   several   initiatives   -­‐   in   infrastructure   and   processes,   new  products,   adapting   new  technology,   building   people  capability   and  increasing  market  reach   supported   by   new   service   centers.   This   improved   our   performance   and   will  provide  a  platform  to  build  on  in  future.  As  we  open  the  new  FY  we  are  in  line  with  our  new  plans  for   14-­‐15.   We  expect  to  build   steadily   though  market  conditions  have  not  yet  improved.    Hopefully  a  stronger,  positive  government  will  create  more  buoyant  market  conditions  in  future.  But  we  will  accomplish  our  plans  for  the  current  year  in  a  much  stronger  manner  as  we  focus  on  bottomline  strength  despite  turns  that  market  conditions  could  take.  

LAWKIM INNOVATION!

Lawkim’s  Concept  Vehicle  for  those  with  special  needs  –  “Humsafar  Viman”!

People   with   severe   restrictions   on   their   movement,   such   as   those   with  spinal   injuries   or   injuries   to   their   lower   limbs,   lead   very   difficult  lives.   Some   vehicles   are   available   to   them,  but  they  involve  huge  effort  like  use  of  both  arms  to  either  push  wheels  of  a  manual  wheel-­‐chair,   as   here,or   to   propel   themselves  forward.      Most  vehicles  for  people  with  very  low  income  or  no  means  of  employment  are  even  more  rudimentary.

Lawkim’s   Design   Cell   studied  this  problem   by   visiting   the   Army’s  Khadki  unit,  Dr.  Ketna  Mehta  of  the  Nina  Foundation,  Fellowship  of  the  Physically  Handicapped   and   challenged   people   in   the   vicinity   of   our   Shindewadi  factory  to  study  their  needs  and  see  if  a  new  approach  could  be  evolved.

Lawkim’s  Concept  Vehicle  emerging  from  this  study  motorises  the  challenged  person’s   wheel-­‐chair   powered   by   one   of  Lawkim’s   Hub   Motors,  whose  speed  variation  and  power  supply  is  controlled  by  a  BLDC  (Brush-­‐less  DC)  motor  controller.     A   separate   cover   for   the   wheelchair   snaps   on   top   of   it   -­‐  providing  both  shade  for  the  user  and  usage  of  a  solar  panel  to  charge  a  battery   powering   the   hub   motor.   Lawkim’s   vehicle   would   carry   a   maximum  payload  of  110  kg,  and  cruises  at  a  maximum  speed  of  25  km  per  hour  -­‐  with  drum  type  brakes  for  better  control  of  both  front  and  rear  tyres.    

The  purpose  of  the  exercise  to  bring  smiles  to  the  faces  of  countless  physically  challenged  persons  in  the  country  by  reducing  the  effort  they  need  to  get  around.  

An earlier concept

S M Kuchekar from  our  Tool  Room,  won  a  Certificate  of  Merit  at  the  CII  Regional  Workskills  Competition  in  February  this  year!    He  was  placed  2nd  in  the  Competition  under  the  Tool  &  Die  Maker  Category.  The  Competition  is  conducted  to  encourage  workers  in  the  industry  by  recognizing  excellence  in  skills  

through  organized  Competition  is  select  trades,  to  promote  skills  

development  programmes  in  the  industry  and  to  benchmark  Indian  skills  at  the  international  level.  The  Workskills  India  Competition  continues  to  be  an  important  initiative  of  CII  to  inspire  and  motivate  industrial  workers  and  has  received  tremendous  support  and  enthusiastic  participation  for  the  industry  in  the  industrial  trades.

“What  lies  behind  us  and  what  lies  before  us  are  tiny  matters  compared  to  what  lies  within  us.”–Ralph  Waldo  Emerson

.....so,  do  the  thing  you’re  good  at.    Not  many  people  are  lucky  enough  to  be  good  at  something!  .....

We  also  had  Our  Little  Masters........!

UCMAS Gujarat , 2nd Floor, Wedperor Fatehgunj Main Road, Vadodara - 390 902 Gujarat, INDIA.

Alrithmetic Competition 2 013

Certificate of QExteUetree issued to

SHAH VRUTANT of MEGA MINDS, PANIGATE, VADODARA for

winning the champioil in the C 1 category during the competition held at

Shri Saurashtra Leuva Pate1 Seva Samaj Hall, Gorwa, Vadodara on 1 5 t h September 2013.

Congratulations!

&unde?& President UCMAS Global Education Gmup

Vice Chairman Omnisoff Technologies A d Ltd

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Tanmay   Suvichar   Kumbhar,   son  of   Suvichar   Kumbhar   from  Machine  Shop

Vrutant   Kinjal   Shah,   son   of  Kinjal   Shah,   Asst   Manager  Calibration  at  Vadodara

Tanmay,   Std.   V   student   of   Tiranga  English   High   School,   Satara,   won   the  Gold  Medal  at  the  “International  Olympic  Cup,   Mathematics   &   Mental   Arithmetic  Competition   2014”   held   in   Bangkok   in  January  this  year.    In  4  minutes  Tanmay  solved   two   Papers   of   140   Mathematic  questions.    He  was  also  the  2nd  Runner-­‐Up  at   the   Primary   3rd   Level   of   the  competition.    A  remarkable  feat  indeed!

Vrutant,  a  Std.  II  student  of  Bright  Day  School,   Vadodara   won   the   Championship  Title   at   the   UCMAS   Abacus   and   Mental  Arithmetic   competition.   Solving   120  examples   mentally   within   8   minutes  without   using  any   device,   he   broke  last  year’s  record  which  stood  at  98  examples  in  8  minutes.  A  great  achievement!  

Women’s Day Celebrations

Lawkim’s commitment to creating environmental awareness continues....

India’s   is   the   richest   biodiversity   in   the   world,   and   Maharashtra   blessed  with   some   of   the   most   diverse   habitats   in   India.   Yet   forest   ecosystems    

dominate   conservation   work   and   the  research   world   in   every   aspect.  Ecosystems   other   than   forests   are  neglected.   Lack   of   attention   at   policy  l e v e l ,   a m b i g u i t i e s   i n   e x i s t i n g  conservation   policies,   absence   of   a  dedicated   enforcement   mechanism,  inadequate   financial   and  human   resources  and   self-­‐defeating   mandates   of   various  departments,   are   a   few   of   the   major  causes   for   concern   for   neglected  ecosystems.  Thought  provoking  discussions  with   real   action-­‐based   agenda   were  central   to   Bharatya   Vidypeeth’s   unique  and   first   ever   conference   on   neglected  ecosystems.

Vijay   Crishna   inaugurated   the   Conference   on   Environmentally   Sensitive  Ecosystems  of  Maharashtra  in  Pune.

In  his  introductory   address   he  emphasized  how  ground  cover  impacted  ground  water,  the  factors  affecting  the  Water  Table  and  Lawkim’s  efforts  at  bringing  about  an  awareness  around  our  Shindewadi  factory  by  creating  a  forest  in  the  area   that   belongs   to   the   communities   and   everybody   around   it   -­‐   and   is  nobody’s  personal  possession!

Lawkim’s   ladies   took   part   in   a   program   organised   by   the   Nira   Valley  Manufacturers  Association  Shirwal  on  8th  March  2014  on  the  occasion  of  “Mahila  Diwas”.    

All   nearby   industries   and   Local  Tanishka   Group   participated   on  this  occasion.Not   only   were   all   the   ladies  felicitated,   but   several   special  programmes   such   as   Health   &   diet  guidance   for   women   by   Dr.   Veena  Pandit   as   well   as   various   health  factors   including   Bone   Density,  Hemoglobin   and   Blood   Sugar   were  checked   up   by   the   Shri   Seva  Medical  Foundation,  Shirwal.  The  complete  event  was  organized  at  Rajaramdada  Sanskar  Bhavan,  Shirwal.  

Dr. Sachin Punekar, NGCPR Senior Scientist, in the news!

Heroes of the Night!

!

City  organisation  Biospheres  has  launched  brochures  that  educate  citizens  on  bio-­‐diversity  of  the  hills  in  and  around  Pune  and  the  measures  to  

protect  them

-­‐-­‐-­‐  Aditya  Shekhar(Reference:  The  Indian  Express,  PUNENewsline,  Real  Page  Three,  Monday,  April  21,  2014,  Page  3)

Över   urbanization   has   made   people  lose   connect  with   the   environment.   These   hills  that  you  see  around  Pune  were  a  part  of  Western  Ghats  once  upon  a  time.  The  geographical  distribution  has  made  them  home  to  many  different  species  of  plants  and  animals  which  you  cannot   find   anywhere   else.   Therefore   it   is   necessary   to   understand   and   preserve   the  diverse  habitat  of  these  hills,”says  Sachin  Punekar,  the  founder  president  of  Biospheres  and  a  senior  scientist  with  Naoroji  Godrej  Centre  for  Plant  Research.

Established   in   2010,   city-­‐based   NGO   Biospheres,   which   works   for   environmental  conservation,   has   introduced   an   initiative   to   educate   people   on   need   to   protect   and  preserve   the  bio-­‐diversity   of  hills   and   hillocks.   Biospheres   has   come   up   with  brochure  that   provide   all   the   basic   knowledge   about   the   natural   habitats   of   the   hills   and   the  measures  for  preserving  them.  While  Punekar  has  conceptualised  the  brochures,  Pune  Forest  Division  (Territorial)  and  Indradhanushya  Environment  Education  and  Citizenship  Centre  of  Pune  Municipal  Corporation  took  the  onus  of  publishing  them.  

Launched   at   the   biodiversity   festival   in   December   2013,   the   brochures   list   the  native  plants  and  animals  of  hills  and  major  threats  associated  to  their  lives.  Besides,  it   also  provides  a  stepwise   solution  to   preserve  it.     The   idea  is   to  create   awareness  amongst  people  so  that  they  knowingly  or  unknowingly  do  not  harm  the  ecosystem  of  these  hills.  It  is  necessary  that  people  recognize  the  native  flora  and  fauna  and  refrain  from  introducing  any  exotic  species.  These  documents  will  act  as  guidelines  and  help  in  future  activities  of  conservation,  “he  says.

An  introduction  of  exotic  species  of  plants  in  the  surroundings  possesses  a  natural  threat  to  the  native  plants,  says  Punekar.  Ëxotic  plants  are  those  species  of  plants  which  are  not  naturally  found  in  a  particular  habitat  but  are  introduced  from  some  other  place.  In   absence  of  adequate  knowledge  and  zeal  of  plantation,  people  often  end  up  disturbing  the   natural   setting   of   an   ecosystem.   Though   they   do   it   with   noblest   motives,   the  environment  illiteracy  may  prove  hazardous  at  times.”

Talking  about  the  ways  the  citizens  can  preserve  the  biodiversity  of  hills,  Punekar  said  that  the  first  and  foremost  step  is  to  thoroughly  assess  the  biodiversity  and  spot  the  areas  which  needs  attention.  Öne  needs  to  old  facts  and  figures  so  that  we  can  compare  the  conditions  with  the  present.  Hill  corridors  should  be  established  to  allow  migration  of   the  local  fauna;  nurseries  should  be  provide  native  plant  species  and  human  invasion  should   be   restricted.       “Preserving   what   we   already   have   is   better   than   losing   it  altogether”,    adds  Punekar.  

Lawkim’s  Kaizen  teams  continued  to  win  awards,  this  time  the  “Kaizen  Excellent  Award”  at  the  “9th  CII  State  Level    Kaizen  Competition”  held  at  Nashik  on  15th  Jan  2014.    The  winning   Kaizen   concerned   ‘Energy   saving   in   water  pumping’.  The  Award  was  given  by  Mr.  P  K  Joshi,  Chairman,  CII   Kaizen   Award   Committee   for   Maharashtra   State,   and  General  Manager  -­‐  Bosch  Ltd.

A  total  of  130  Kaizens  were  presented  by  Large  and  Medium  Scale   enterprises   of   which   14   were   from   Godrej.   In   the  introductory   year   of   the   “Excellence   Award”,   Lawkim   won  the  special  recognition  for  consistent  performance  in  the  large  scale  category.    Other   winners   in   the  competition  included   Mahindra   and   Mahindra,   Vishay   Components,  Greaves  Cotton,  Bajaj  Auto  and  RPG  Life  Sciences.

LAWKIM WINS ‘KAIZEN EXCELLENCE AWARD’!

Le#  to  Right  -­‐  Santosh  JAgtap,  Vi5hal  Tambe,  Sanjay  Jadhav,  P  K  Joshi,  Sa@sh  Surve,  Anil  Pa@l  and  Somnath  Bhosale

Learning from the best!!The  Lawkim   Team  aims   to  leverage  its  associations   in  every   direction   of  its  business  to  learn  and  improve  its  functioning.  A  key  component  of  this  is  its  excellent  suppliers  –  and  so  we  conducted  our  2nd  Suppliers  Meet  at  Hotel  Sayaji  to  involve  60  of  the  top  officials  of  our  key  suppliers.  

The   theme  of   the   Meet   was   “BUILDING   STEADILY   WITH   LEAN   &   GREEN”   –  that  was  appreciated  by  one  and  all,  with  participants  sharing  their  home  work  with  us  as  to  how  to  make  our  supplies  smoother  and  Greener.  

We  focused  on  educating  participants  as  why  the  theme  was  so  important  for  our  shared  future  –  and  as  to  how  we  can  work  at  reducing  use  of  wood  and  making  our  Carbon  Footprint  ever  smaller,  utilizing  rain-­‐water  collection  and  improving  rain-­‐water  Harvesting.

By  sharing  our  detailed  Annual  &  Strategic  business  plans  we  were  better  able   to   involve   them   in   preparing   for   our   coming   needs   for   low   cost  technology  and  set   ups.  A  key   element  of   the   Meet  was   to   listen  to   the  pain   areas   of   suppliers   and   provide   solution   right   there   at   the   forum  itself.   We   recognized   noteworthy   achievements   by   suppliers   with   various  awards,  and  the  concensus   at  end  of  the  Meet  was  that  an  excellent  note  had  been  struck  and  grounds  laid  for  a  lot  of  interactions  in  future  to  improve  business  for  both  sides.  

From the Editor’s Desk.....

Dear Friends,

I am happy to tell you that the Lawkim Shindewadi team have won, for the third consecutive time running, the highest place in the manufacturing category awarded by the National Safety Council of India. Our stated objective is for every Lawkimite to come to work and return home safe to their family at the end of every working day. Today we complete 2016 safe working days, the whole team driving to keep extending that record into the future. It will be appreciated that a score like this takes a lot of dedicated effort at every level to learn from mistakes made and see they are not repeated - and to bring focus and effort into getting better all the time.

I can think of no better metaphor to illustrate the dedication, perseverance and energized desire of Lawkim to be the best team in our business and fight back the effects of an economy that has run out of steam and the diversion of effort that should be driving the economy but has instead gone into finding a new set of political leaders to do that work.

I am also happy to tell you that I have just been informed that Shindewadi factory has met all the requirements in accordance with GreenCo Green Company Rating system and is being rated “GreenCo Gold”!

I wish our whole team every good luck and intelligent team-work as we head into this new financial year - so that we emerge as winners!

Warmly,Vijay Crishna

The GreenCo Assessment Team!H Soni, AMP, L Ganapati, M Kulkarni, XKM