- Established in 2006, Mahindra Institute of Quality is an abode of learning, knowledge- sharing, and a pursuit of business excellence, of creating the business leaders of tomorrow
- MIQ’s programs available for Mahindra & non-Mahindra companies include Data Analytics, Internet of Things, Digital Revolution in Services, Accelerated learning on Safety and Innovations among several others
Mahindra group is known in India and abroad for its quality-centred manufacturing companies with customer satisfaction at its core. As quoted by Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, “Our Core Purpose urges us to make the Mahindra Group ‘known worldwide the quality of its products and services. Our Core Value of ‘Quality Focus’ emphasizes making quality a driving value in our work, products, services, and interactions.”
This year Mahindra Group completed its 75 years of existence, 2 years before India attained its independence. The story of Mahindra is well imbibed in the History of Partition where the principal promoters also parted their ways into newly formed countries way back in 1977. Over its 75 years long and rich history, the company has seen many overhauls in its quest for achieving a level of excellence, which is at the same level as the biggest international companies in the world.
In 2006, Mahindra’s leadership decided on incorporating quality in its large conglomerate of companies. To achieve that level of excellence they required a proper institution that can train its people in the art of excellence. This was how the idea of the Mahindra Institute of Quality (MIQ) was first seeded. In the words of Pawan Goenka, Governing Council Chairman of MIQ and Managing Director M&M Limited, “Mahindra Institute of Quality was born out of a passion to shape the Mahindra of tomorrow. In a little over a decade since its inception, the Institute has indeed travelled far and helped embed a culture of excellence across our various group companies.”
Machine Maker in an exclusive interview with Mahindra Institute of Quality spoke to Vijay Kalra, Head of MIQ along with his team, Rajinder Singh, Dean of MIQ, Rohit Pathak, and Samir Kachane who shared in detail about MIQ and The Mahindra Way and how its transforming Indian manufacturing sector.
Educate. Assimilate. Excelerate
Located at Nashik, Maharashtra, and set up as a residential institute nestled in lush green surroundings, the campus offers top-end infrastructure; a highly-rated faculty, both in-house as well experts and practitioners from industry and academia, and an ambience conducive to imbibing wisdom. The Mahindra Institute of Quality (MIQ) is India’s premier school of quality for the past decade.
Vijay Kalra, after his tenure at Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, is now leading MIQ as its Director shares, “MIQ is an abode of learning, a knowledge-sharing hub where quality is a way of life; MIQ is about the pursuit of business excellence, of creating the business leaders of tomorrow. MIQ’s differentiator is its focus on implementation, of hand-holding participants to realize the benefits of content imbibed by them during classroom learning, and of undertaking quality management consultancy projects for corporate,”
Mr Kalra adds, “The MIQ was established to create a culture of quality, and drive organization-wide excellence, both within and outside the group. It aimed at creating a community of hands-on problem solvers who can make a difference, both in their organization and society alike.”
The Journey Towards Quality
In the early years of the project, MIQ was supported by Japanese quality experts to start building competence among the people at Mahindra. The foremost among them was Dr Hitoshi Kubota, an established Japanese authority on manufacturing. When he was asked how to increase the quality of their products by Mahindra, he had replied, “Whenever I come to India, I find Indian engineers to be extremely capable and their grasping power- the rate at which they understand new and complex topics is truly worthy of praise. However, the field that they are lacking in is application. You need to focus on the application to be more successful and achieve a higher level of excellence in your products.”
Mahindra thus developed a working model keeping practical application above the theory of the production chain. A panel of ten Japanese professors was present to guide the Mahindra Institute of Quality to incorporate the values of quality and a practical application-based approach regarding their products. The process went on for about five years before the people at Mahindra became capable enough to spread their teachings. Mahindra further modified their teachings to suit their requirements and thus a famous model of manufacturing known around the world as ‘The Mahindra Way’ was born.
The Mahindra Way
“The Mahindra Way is a collective strategy of the entire Mahindra group to focus on developing products which would benefit the entire conglomerate to achieve its business goals,” said Rajinder Singh, Dean of MIQ. The Mahindra Way primarily focuses on three distinct but equally important areas: quality in manufacturing, safety in their processes, and customer satisfaction with timely delivery of their services.
“The Mahindra Way is not static, it changes with the ever-changing world and seeks to best adapt itself in the new environment. The basic values remain the same but the process to achieve the changes to better complement the new conditions,” said Mr Kalra. TMW is the reason behind the globally appreciated success of the Mahindra Group. It starts with developing a strategy for the respective department and identifying bottlenecks and how to overcome them in a way that would benefit the entire group.
“MIQ is a very progressive and extremely adaptive organization. Our key focus is on implementation of knowledge in business processes”, comments Rohit Pathak, Deputy General Manager with MIQ. One of the USPs of MIQ is its ability to customize programs as per the needs of the business partner. “We believe that happy people deliver the best results and we have been among the top 5 entities of M&M Ltd in terms of Employee satisfaction Index for many years. I am very happy that I am a part of MIQ for the last 10 years and have been enjoying my role with full freedom and responsibilities”, adds Mr Pathak.
Sharing Video , I clicked around 7.30 am today of “Mahindra Institute of Quality”. Lush green cool surroundings with birds chirping. Ideal location for “Reflections” & “Learning” @anandmahindra @MahindraIQ @nikunjsanghi @rajindersingh21 @mahindrarise pic.twitter.com/d119039ROK
— Vijay Kalra (@07Kalra) January 23, 2021
The Mahindra Way aims at developing a skilled workforce by taking the focus down to the ground level, through sound business management models and excellent leadership to implement those models. Innovation is also an integral part of TMW and is a part of Mahindra’s vision for the future.
MIQ’s role in Mahindra’s success globally
“MIQ is more like a coaching institute constantly benchmarking the best quality services around the world,” said Mr Singh explaining how MIQ works. Mahindra’ stability to move beyond manufacturing conventional jeeps in the 1980s to launching Thar in 2020, is a result of its ability to move out of conventional thinking and focus on the future of its products. MIQ is Mahindra’s equivalent to the big internal coaching workshops of the big Multi-National Companies present in the developed part of the world.
MIQ helps the people working at Mahindra and even other companies to participate in its brainstorming and educational sessions to adapt to the new and improved industry standards like Manufacturing 4.0 which gives Mahindra a decisive advantage compared to its peers.
Mr Kalra adds, “We are trying to bring some sort of link between Mahindra’s educational institutes close to our manufacturing sector through Mahindra Institute of Quality (MIQ). These would benefit all those who are looking to work in the manufacturing industry by providing them with a hands-on experience with how the entire manufacturing models and latest technologies at Mahindra.”
MIQ’s premier teaching practices enable the people involved to be well-versed in both the application as well as the working principles of the latest technologies and inventions of the sector. Organizations involved in the MIQ have the benefit of getting stronger in their management and quality areas, both of which are extremely important ingredients for success. As quoted by Pawan Goenka, “Having succeeded in creating the basic building blocks within our group, MIQ’s revised mandate is to step out of the confines of the group to help foster a culture of outperformance, and shape quality evangelists in the country, in our small way Mahindra’s contribution to shaping the India of tomorrow.”
Open to Indian Manufacturers: MIQ & The Mahindra Way
Mr Singh adds, “Any organization which seeks to make itself more efficient and customer-oriented can approach us. We have worked with several MSMEs as well as large groups in the past, and all of them had a positive outlook on MIQ. We want the entire Indian ecosystem to be benefited through MIQ and want to instil quality not only at Mahindra but other companies as well.”
Mahindra runs two separate types of programs. These include- regular programs announced through the Training Calendar, customized programs based on specific customer requirements.
There are various Post Graduate Diploma Programs like- Post Graduate Diploma in Quality Management and Post Graduate Diploma in Operations Management. These are an essential addition to any person’s skill set for working in the manufacturing industry. Beyond these programs, MIQ also offers Quality Management courses which include a focus on Quality Tools, Problem Solving, Process Development, Optimisation & Control.
Courses on Reliability are also present which mainly focus on- Daily Work Management Project Management and incorporating the ‘First Time Right Every Time Right’ formula. The main areas on which MIQ’s programs are based include- Data Analytics, Internet of Things, Digital Revolution in Services, Accelerated learning on safety and innovations among several others. Such a diverse collection of courses present at MIQ makes it possible that everyone can find the areas on which they like to focus on.
As Anand Mahindra quotes, “As our dream of globalization gradually fructifies, it becomes more important than ever before that our business performance, business processes, and business practices should be globally acknowledged to be excellent. The fact that global excellence in quality is emphasized by our Core Purpose and Core Values demonstrates how relevant they are, to today’s business scenario.”
Just not Mahindra & Mahindra, MIQ is an institute that can change the face of Indian Manufacturing. To know how Mahindra Institute of Quality can enhance your manufacturing process, do visit https://www.miq.in/
