As a second generation entrepreneur, Rujuta Jagtap had a huge responsibility to maintain the legacy of her father Prakash Jagtap. But, she showed uniqueness in her decision making by starting her career from the scratch outside her organization and proving her worth, in the lead up to joining the family business.
Rujuta Jagtap, Executive Director of SAJ Test Plant Pvt Ltd, had huge shoes to fill when it came to keeping up with the legacy of her father Prakash Jagtap, who was the founder of the company. “It's impossible to match up the first-generation technocrat, and as you step into an already established enterprise it could be construed as being born with a silver spoon, but with great power comes great responsibility as well,” says the proud daughter who takes pride in being called the daughter of the legend, Prakash Jagtap.
“I and my siblings are trying to at least come slightly closer to our father, who is such a visionary and has put in tireless efforts for over 52 years in growing this company and continues to do so. But we are glad he is mentoring us and guiding us and our teams along the journey so we can execute and carry forward his vision and mission,” she adds.
Inspiration from Childhood
Being born in a family where one didn't have to step out to find inspiring personas, Rujuta’s childhood has been positively influenced by the people around her. Her father, who was a BE Mechanical from COEP and got a 100% scholarship to go to do his MS in Michigan declined the offer and started the business straight out of college in a garage in 1969. Rujuta would always witness how her father worked 24×7 and even on weekly offs and he was adamant about building this high-technology niche company from scratch investing tireless efforts.
Rujuta passed out of SIIB (then known as SIFT) in 2002 and joined Tata Steel Wire Division in Mumbai to handle International Sales and Marketing. Even though she had got a job offer from HDFC as well, she decided to pursue her career in Tata Steel as it was in the manufacturing sector. Rujuta knew that sooner or later she would join her family business which is again into manufacturing, hence the logical choice.
“Though my father was against me working anywhere else and insisted that I join the family business right after graduating, I wanted to work as an employee first learn and prove my calibre as an employee on my own merit. And my mother stood by me on this decision to work outside and I took up the job at Tata Steel Wire Division. Though I was permitted to work for 6 months by my father, I ended up working for over four years because of the rich and diverse experience I gained,” comments Rujuta.
“Joining SAJ and working along with my father and siblings was always the plan, but before that, I wanted to prove my worth to myself. I wanted to be sure that I was capable of the position that was in one arm's reach rather than just getting it handed down,” Rujuta says. Starting her career as an employee, Rujuta believed, would be priceless to her in the long run as she would always be able to resonate with the workforce on a personal level as well.
Acing the Excellence
Later in May 2006, she joined SAJ Test Plant Pvt Ltd, a pioneering company in the field of manufacturing Capital Goods for testing Engines, Vehicles, Transmissions, Customized Special Test Rigs, and Electric Vehicle Test Systems. “When I started working in SAJ, it was a completely new field for me, as I had worked in a metallurgy company for four years. I had to learn Mechatronics which is SAJ’s core competence.
Being a non-engineer it was challenging for me but I took it up positively and dared to venture into this highly technical field by starting from the shop floor making the dynamometers myself amongst the workers. It was a great learning experience. I then started looking into the functioning of various departments and started to grasp ideas from the reviews that our Chairman and Managing Director conducted.
She started overlooking all functions except Engineering and R&D which are looked after by her brother Vikrant Jagtap. “We both complement each other with our expertise and core competence and that's the strength that helps us gauge the market requirement and work on futuristic technologies together. In the last almost 16 years that I have been with my family business, we have added a lot of new customers, expanded our product portfolio and System Integrator network through which we harness our international business,” she says.
Today, the company that started in a garage 52 years ago is a state-of-the-art integrated manufacturing facility equipped with a Precision CNC Machine Shop, Training and Skills Enhancement Center, System Integration and Assembly area, Mechatronics R&D Center, Software Center, Digital Control System manufacturing centre, etc. SAJ has over 6500 testbeds in India and enjoys the patronage of over 750 esteemed customers. The global footprint is very strong as well with more than 700 dynamometers exported globally through a strong System Integrator Network worldwide.
Vision for Gender Inclusiveness
“It's quite sad to note that there is very little diversity in this sector as most women prefer to work in the service sector or then in secretarial roles in manufacturing but not in the main functional areas. It was the scenario when I started my career. Inability to work for long hours, and hesitance to travel to sites or work on shop floors were the reasons employers attributed for the lesser number of women on the shop floor. Though it's pleasant to see that is changing, the numbers are dismal,” she explains.
Adding more to her vision of inspiring women, she says, “Still, both employers and employees are becoming aware of the potential this industry has irrespective of gender; this paradigm shift ensures a bright future to look forward to. Women being natural multi-taskers tend to be very productive and are generally disciplined and endowed with soft skills which are key traits to be at the leadership level.”
Rujuta feels that there should not be any separate entrepreneurship forums for women. In fact, there should be joint forums with men who are entrepreneurs too. In the end, women have to coexist with men in the business world and work cohesively with the entire ecosystem. It will also help them to become independent, confident, and self-reliant if they mingle among general forums where they are exposed to all types of Industries and Entrepreneurs. “It should be ‘Equality’ that we thrive for and not overpower and overthrow others as there is so much to learn from both genders.
The Government has surely taken many initiatives in various areas and has come up with brilliant initiatives, but a lot of them are still favouring large or medium-scale
organizations. There is much to be done for MSMEs, which form the bulk of the economy and contribute to the country,” she remarks.
Citing an example she points out that the rule of payments to MSMEs within 45 days is only on paper and not implemented by the government or private organizations due to which MSMEs are facing a huge crisis of cash flows. Also, Ease of Doing Business or many other initiatives announced have not been effective yet with MSMEs and need to be given impetus.
Working for Society
Rujuta has been closely working in the areas of rural education, and technical education leading to rural development in villages. She is mentoring and helping institutes, be it engineering, management, or commerce, to help them keep up with industry requirements. Be it helping with changes in their curriculum, internships, industry readiness lectures, or training them for succeeding in the corporate world, Rujuta is always there.
She is also on the board of three reputed chambers of Commerce in Pune – Director on the Board of MCCIA, The first Woman Chairperson of The Indo American Chamber Of Commerce (IACC) Pune, and Vice-Chairperson of The British Business Group, Pune, to help in connecting with people and in helping them to augment their businesses with these connections. This workaholic, no matter how humbly she declines that she is ever near to filling her father’s shoes, showed a glimpse that she is on the right track.
