The 7th North-West QualTech Awards, the most prestigious Quality Awards of the region, were presented at a glittering ceremony at PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM & Entrepreneurship, the first School of Excellence of Punjab Technical University. These awards have been instituted to recognize organizations and their project teams that have achieved extraordinary results in their Quality improvement journey.

Mr. R.I. Singh, Chief Secretary, Punjab, the chief guest of the occasion, said that such awards promote a healthy spirit of competition, leading to excellence, which is essential in today’s era of global competition. Quality is a matter of attitude and approach which the northern region had been lacking because of the gradual erosion of interest in mathematics and science. He said that the Punjab government is making special endeavours to develop Mohali as the knowledge hub where new world-class centres for the nano technology, biotechnology, management education are being set up to build up the critical mass of intellect much needed in this region.

Mr. Singh remarked that the region has the attitude of ‘chalta hai’ which needs to be changed by promoting education in mathematics and science in the schools.

He informed that Mohali shall soon have an international management institute which is being set up by ISB of Hyderabad, as also an engineering institute for telecom proposed by Anil Ambani group.

Mr. Arun Bharat Ram, Chairman & Managing Director, SRF Limited, in his keynote address, shared his experiences as a Deming Prize winner. He said the practice of total quality management has been a great rallying point for industry’s effort towards building the capabilities of its people, and said that the major challenge for any organization is to change the mindset of its people right from the top to bottom so as to bring in the culture of quality, which requires, he said, consistent education, training, and communication.

The competition this year was intense informed Mr. Manish Trehan, CEO of PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM & Entrepreneurship. Contestants from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, UP, MP & Maharashtra took part. 17 teams from various companies, who were short-listed for the finals, presented their projects before an august gathering of industry professionals in a day long session. The participating teams reported a total saving of Rs. 50.49 crores as a result of these projects.

The presentations were judged by a high profile Jury headed by Maj. Gen. (retd) N.K. Dhir, former Director National Academy for Training and Development, New Delhi, for the large business category, and Mr. P.L. Sharma, Senior V.P. - Manufacturing, Punjab Tractors Limited, for the medium and small business categories.

Padma Shree Chandra Mohan, Chairman, Governing Council of the School said that growing participation by large as well as small businesses, from both manufacturing and service sectors, in these Awards is a sure sign of the spread of the quality movement in the North-West region.

Mr. J.S. Bedi, member of the Governing Council of the Institute complimented the participating teams for sharing their best practices, and congratulated the winners.

The award winners were in three categories.

1. Vardhman Quality Navigator Award
   (Large Business with turnover greater than Rs. 350 crores)

Winner : Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co., Mohali
1st Runner-up : SRF Ltd., Bhind
2nd Runner-up : Reliance Industries, Hoshiarpur

2. Trident Quality Pioneer Award
   (Medium Business with turnover greater than Rs. 100 Crores to Rs. 350 crores)

Winner : Lakshmi Precision Screws, Rohtak
1st Runner-up : Arisht Spinning Mills, Baddi
2nd Runner-up : Gates India, Lalru

3. Winsome Quality Pathfinder
   (Small Business with turnover less than Rs. 100 Crores)

   Winner : GNA Duraparts, Hoshiarpur
   1st Runner-up : Hycron Electronics, Baddi
   2nd Runner-up : Rico Castings, Ludhiana

PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM and Entrepreneurship, one of the premier institutions of North India engaged in promoting quality culture, initiated the first session of the 10-day
workshop on Total Quality Management (TQM) for the senior executives of MILKFED.

Giving the details of this unique workshop, Manish Trehan,
CEO of the School informed that this workshop will be completed in 4 sessions, spread over a period of 4 months.
He mentioned that in the first phase, four cross-disciplinary teams of 20 senior officers from four plants of Milkfed are attending the programme to hone their skills in TQM implementation. During the course of this result-oriented workshop, which is based on Dr. Juran’s globally proven structured approach for quality improvement, the team from each plant will undertake an improvement project in its own premises, applying the skills learnt during the workshop, he added. So far, the School has conducted 6 such workshops with participation from 30 teams from 21 different organisations. Recurring financial benefits to the organisations through improvement projects undertaken by their teams, participating in these workshops, have averaged Rs 50 lacs per annum per team.

Mr. V.K. Singh, IAS, Managing Director, Milkfed Punjab, affirmed that TQM inculcates the habit of excellence that ensures radical positive organizational transformation. He said that this TQM workshop would facilitate the process of transformation of Milkfed to meet the challenges of global competition. We will be implementing TQM projects with full vigour and hope to extend the programme to other units, he added. As a consequence of this workshop various TQM projects will be undertaken by Milkfed and their results will be evaluated. He announced a cash prize of Rs. 1 lac to the best project. “Milkfed and Gian Jyoti School - Together we will create wonders” he said.

Dr. Arwinder Singh, IAS, Additional Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Punjab, highlighted the importance of TQM in the government and cooperative sector, and said that based on the success of this pilot project, we will encourage other Punjab Government corporations to adopt structured TQM. A professional approach will be adopted for implementation of TQM projects which will lead to an improvement in business processes of Milkfed.

Mr. TPS Walia, Manager P&HRD, Milkfed felt that a paradigm shift will take place as a result of this workshop and the changes will not be merely cosmetic in nature.

Total quality management is the only route to ensure productivity, efficiency and profitability of an organization in the current economic situation, said Mr. Chandra Mohan, Chairman of the Governing Council of PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM and Entrepreneurship. Recalling his own experiences with TQM he said that it had worked wonders for Swaraj Mazda brand of Punjab. “I hope this workshop leads to full-scale adoption of TQM by Punjab Government to enable it to meet the challenges of the future”, he added.

Mr. J S Bedi, Chairman, GIJMT, proposed a vote of thanks.

Student Success Story

Hardev Singh, student of our 1st B.Tech. batch, who graduated in July, 2009, writes:

I dedicate my success to PGSTE who are offering first ever hybrid course
which is having brain of old experienced managers and the strength of strong
shoulders of young managers of the Indian industry. It is providing us a
platform to discuss various work related issues with the eminent faculty of the
School, comprising of top-notch industry professionals and academicians,
who are familiar with best industrial practices.

This course is also meant for self development and encourages the learners
to develop their overall personality. This course has transformed my life by
enhancing my level of thinking and making me a quality conscious person.
It has boosted my career tremendously. At the time of joining this course, I was working as a Dy. Manager Mechanical) in a cement grinding unit and now I am working as Dy. General Manager (Projects) in a 3 million tonne full fledged cement plant.
In my current profile, I along with my team (comprising 20 managers and engineers), have achieved a lot of milestones during execution of our Rs. 700 crore green field project. We have brought down the monthly manpower supply bills from Rs. 18.00 lacs to Rs. 2.00 lacs by eliminating wastes, without affecting the work progress.          to read more click here

8th North-West QualTech Awards for Excellence in Quality

North-West QualTech Awards, the most prestigious Quality Awards of the region, have been instituted to recognize project teams from organisations who have achieved outstanding results in their Quality Improvement journey. The 8th competition for these awards was a day-long event at PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM & Entrepreneurship, Mohali, the first School of Excellence of Punjab Technical University.

Inaugurating the Convention in the morning, Mr. S C Bagrodia, President, PHDCCI and Chairman, Winsome Group said best Quality at the lowest price was the only route to survival, in the recession which has hit the entire world today. Such Quality Awards go a long way in building the culture of Quality, he emphasised.

Addressing a galaxy of corporate leaders and Quality professionals during the evening’s Award ceremony, Chief Guest Dr. Rajneesh Arora, Vice Chancellor, Punjab Technical University, spoke of the urgency of spreading the Quality Movement across the length & breadth of the country for building an India of our dreams.

Doyen of India’s Quality Movement, Dr. Krishan Kumar, who led Maruti’s Quality initiative since its inception, and now heads Maruti Centre of Excellence, delivered the keynote address. Complimenting the School for organizing an event of this stature for promoting the spirit of competition, he said that the Convention provided an excellent platform for sharing best practices and linking industry with academia.

Guest of Honour, Mr. VK Singh, IAS, Managing Director, Milkfed, the first CEO of a Cooperative enterprise in the region to adopt Total Quality Management (TQM) as a business strategy, highlighted the positive impact of TQM on Milkfed’s Top management teams from 11 plants of Milkfed, going through the School’s unique Sandwich TQM Programme.

Chairman of the School’s Governing Council, Padmashri Chandra Mohan and its CEO, Manish Trehan, also addressed the delegates. They expressed happiness at the roots which TQM was developing in the region, as evidenced by the growing participation in this competition. Giving the details of the competition this year, Manish Trehan informed that 14 projects from different companies were short listed for the final presentation, in various categories, based on an independent evaluation of the Quality Improvement Project papers submitted by the applicant teams. The projects were presented before an eminent Jury during the day-long competition. Average savings achieved by these 14 teams for their respective organizations are to the tune of Rs. 79.9 lacs per annum.

The awards were presented at a glittering award ceremony. In the Large Business Category (turnover above Rs. 350 crores), Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Mohali bagged the Vardhman Quality Navigator Award. Philips Electronics India, Mohali and Vardhman Spinning & Gen. Mills, Ludhiana were the 1st and 2nd runner up respectively.

Trident Quality Pioneer Award for Medium Business Category (turnover between Rs. 100 to 350 crores) was won by DCM Engineering, Ropar with Gates India, Lalru as the 1st runner up.

In the Small Business Category (turnover less than 100 crores), the Winsome Quality Pathfinder Award was won by Hycron Electronics, Baddi while Chang Yun, Gurgaon and Cosmo Ferrites, Solan were the 1st and 2nd runner up respectively.

PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM and Entrepreneurship,
the first school of excellence of Punjab Technical University,
held an orientation programme at its Mohali campus for the
8th Batch of students, who have enrolled for B.Tech. -
Industrial Engineering & Management (specialisation in
Total Quality Management). The program was held on
19th July and 26th July 2009.

More then 100 working diploma holders from over 60 organizations in the North-west region, with experience ranging from 2 to 22 years, have enrolled in the 8th Batch of this unique distance learning programme, which was launched in November, 2005.

Brig. Surinder Singh, Program Leader, mentioned that this innovative degree programme provides an unparalleled opportunity for career advancement to Diploma holders, in a field of growing importance. Change is the order of the day and all of us must remain receptive to new idea.

CEO of the School, Manish Trehan, congratulated the participants on their bold decision to venture out on the Quality path rather then traveling the worn and accepted tracks. He assured them that this application-focused programme will transform their careers by bridging the gap between theory and practice, since the curriculum and course material has been developed by top-notch professionals and industry experts. He highlighted the universal appeal of this innovative programme through the combination of TQM, Industrial Engineering and General Management in the curriculum, which will produce well-rounded engineer-managers. This is reflected in the registration of more than 952 students in the first 8 batches of this programme from various industries and functional areas.

Mr. T K Magazine, Director TRAAM Services Pvt. Ltd., Chandigarh was the Chief Guest. He said that this program will open up a world of new opportunities for the students. He emphasized that quality should reflect in our day-to-day activities. It inculcates good habits which are reflected in our professional life. He said, in the industrial recession as we are experiencing these days, TQM is the only possible saviour.

PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM and Entrepreneurship,
the first School of Excellence of Punjab Technical University,
and Maruti Center for Excellence held an orientation
programme at Pearl School of Business for the students,
who have enrolled for B.Tech. - Industrial Engineering &
Management (specialisation in Total Quality Management)
in Delhi NCR.

60 working diploma holders from over 40 organizations in
the Delhi NCR, with average experience of 17 years, have
enrolled in the 1st Batch of this unique distance learning programme, being started in Delhi NCR. This programme was launched in November, 2005 in Mohali where 8 batches are already running.

Mr R B Madekar, CGM, MACE, congratulated the learners joining the B.Tech. programme and the School for starting this innovative programme. The programme will help the learners in improving their skills and performance.

CEO of the School, Manish Trehan, congratulated the participants on their bold decision to venture out on the Quality path rather then traveling the worn and accepted tracks. He assured them that this application-focused programme will transform their careers by bridging the gap between theory and practice, since the curriculum and course material has been developed by top-notch professionals and industry experts. He highlighted the universal appeal of this innovative programme through the combination of TQM, Industrial Engineering and General Management in the curriculum, which will produce well-rounded engineer-managers.

Dr. Krishan Kumar, Director Maruti Center for Excellence, was the Chief Guest. He highlighted the need for TQM professionals to make India globally competitive. We should focus on doing things right the first time and do away with the “Chalta hai” attitude. He said that this program will open up a world of new opportunities for the students.

Maj. Gen. N K Dhir, Program Director, mentioned that this innovative degree programme provides an unparalleled opportunity for career advancement to Diploma holders, in a field of growing importance. He thanked the management of MACE and Pearl School of Business for their support to start the programme in Delhi NCR.

An inaugural function was held for a Six Sigma Black Belt
training programme at PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM &
Entrepreneurship, Mohali on 4th September 2009. The School
is one of the premier institutions of North India, engaged in
promoting quality culture and conducts capsule courses aimed
at quality improvement in addition to the B. Tech. Industrial
Engineering & Management (Spl in TQM).

Six Sigma is an organisation-wide approach used to achieve breakthrough improvements in the performance of an rganisation. A dramatic reduction in errors leads to improvement in the bottom line.

The programme provides a thorough knowledge of 6 Sigma philosophies and principles including supporting systems and tools. A certified Black Belt exhibits team leadership, understands team dynamics and assigns his/her team members, roles and responsibilities. The programme is split in four sessions of two days each spread over a period of four months, commencing from 4th September 2009.

The programme shall be conducted in the School premises in association with QT&T Consulting (Asia) Private Ltd. Singapore by Mr. Santosh Bhosale, Principal Consultant from Mumbai, who is a Certified Master Black Belt.

As many as 35 participants from various corporates of the level of Engineers and Managers will be participating in the programme.

Inaugural session was chaired by Padma Shree Chandra Mohan, Chairman, Board of Governors. He stressed the importance of a programme of this nature which leads to adoption of TQM practices in the industries where it is implemented. Mr. Manish Trehan, CEO of the School gave a brief presentation highlighting the activities of the School.

The first convocation ceremony of PTU’s Gian Jyoti School
of TQM & Entrepreneurship, the first School of Excellence of
Punjab Technical University, concluded amid cheers at its
campus in Mohali today morning. In a historic moment for the
School, 77 students, graduating in B.Tech. - Industrial
Engineering and Management, with specialisation in Total
Quality Management, received their degrees.

The convocation address was delivered by Dr. Rajneesh Arora, Vice Chancellor, Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, who also conferred the degrees on the first batch of formally qualified quality professionals. He recalled that PTU had indeed taken a bold decision six years ago by dedicating its first School of Excellence to the uncharted domain of TQM & Entrepreneurship. Launch of India’s first B.Tech. programme, specializing in TQM, for working diploma holders was a pioneering step. He emphasized that continuous learning is a way of life in the world. He called upon the graduating engineers to utilize the knowledge gained from this unique application-focused programme for the betterment of one and all in our society including the rich and the poor, the urban and the rural.

The audience was also addressed by Mr. Suresh Kumar IAS, Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Punjab and Padma Shree Chandra Mohan, Chairman, Governing Council of the Institute. Mr. Chandra Mohan expressed great satisfaction at the fact that his dream of creating a pool of engineers having expertise in the field of TQM has been finally realized. These TQM professionals have already started making an impact on the organisation in which they work. “The next decade” he said, “clearly belongs to those who excel in quality”.

Mr. Manish Trehan, CEO of the Institute, presented the progress report in which he highlighted the various achievements of the Institute, especially the brisk progress made in reaching out to industry in the North-west region through technical consultancy, corporate training and Awards for excellence in Quality. He also reported that the graduating batch of B.Tech. students undertook 26 projects in the final semester, in their own organizations, attaining an average annual financial saving of Rs. 60 lacs per project.

Mr. J S Bedi, Chairman, Gian Jyoti Institute of Management & Technology and Member, Governing Council proposed the vote of thanks.

After the award of degrees, Prizes were given to toppers in academics and also to those students whose projects had been adjudged the best. Two outgoing students shared their experiences in which they described the manner in which this unique, application-oriented course had helped them in the betterment of industrial practices resulting in significant financial benefits to their organisations. A unique feature of the convocation ceremony was the administration of oath to the new graduates.

Finance Minister of Punjab, S. Manpreet Singh Badal today
conferred the North-West QualTech Awardsfor 2009 in a glittering
ceremony at PTU’s Gian Jyoti School of TQM & Entrepreneurship, Mohali, the first School of Excellence of Punjab Technical University. Instituted in 2004, these are the most prestigious Quality Awards of the region, which recognize project teams from organisations which have achieved outstanding results in their Quality Improvement journey.

In the manufacturing category, Subros Ltd., Noida won the Vardhman Quality Navigator Award for large business, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic Ltd., Noida won the Trident Quality Pioneer Award for medium business, and Hycron Electronics, Baddi won the Winsome Quality Pathfinder Award for small business. In the service category, Tata Teleservices Ltd., Mohali won the Educomp Quality Innovator Award.

“Such Quality awards have a tremendous impact on the work culture & productivity of organisations, and this year’s recipients have shown how quality, innovation and an unending quest for excellence are helping India march forward on the road to global competitiveness,” Mr. Badal said.

Mr. R C Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., in his keynote address, shared his experiences of building a world-class organization. Complimenting the School for organizing an event of this stature, he said, “companies today face a huge challenge of sustaining growth while driving improvements to create and retain a competitive edge.”

The competition this year was intense, informed Mr. Manish Trehan, CEO of the School. “The winners were selected from a field of 40 applicant teams from various companies from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, after a rigorous evaluation,” he said. 18 teams, who were short-listed for the finals, presented their projects before an eminent jury and an august gathering of industry professionals during a day-long event. “The 18 finalist teams reported a total saving of Rs. 29.16 crores as a result of these projects,” he added. 

Chairman of the School’s Governing Council, Padmashri Chandra Mohan, expressed happiness at the enthusiasm shown by the participating teams this year, which is an indicator of the increasing response to the competition for the North-West QualTech Awards. “Not only has the number of entries risen, the depth and substance of entries has improved considerably, over the years,” he said.   

from the CEO’s desk

It gives me immense joy to present the 2nd issue of Pragati. The warm reception extended to the 1st issue by our alumni, current learners, corporates and academics of the region has been highly motivating. We hope this newsletter will give you a quick glimpse of the School's activities as well as a better sense of connectedness with us.

The School crossed a major milestone in its journey in January 2010, when students of the 1st Batch of its flagship B.Tech.-Industrial Engineering & Management (Specialisation in TQM), were conferred degrees during the 1st Convocation. It was a very emotional and satisfying moment for all of us. Yet, the only thing constant in today's dynamic environment is “change”. Therefore, the B.Tech programme, after a successful intake of 8 batches, has been totally revamped, and it is being launched in a new Avataar from July 2010 session. Our Alumni Association has come into being and vigorous activities are around the corner. We are actively engaged in further expansion of our consulting and corporate training activities.

As we move ahead, we look forward to your support and suggestions. Do write in and let us know your thoughts!          to read more click here