With the Make in India wave in full fervor, IIM Indore students got real insights on the sourcing and investment opportunities in India by Mr. Rajesh Marwah, Quality Management Professional from Sweden based home furnishing firm, IKEA, in his special lecture held at IIM Indore on August 17, 2015.
In his insightful address, Mr. Marwah talked about the value systems and vision of IKEA to create ‘A better everyday life for many people, together.’ He stressed on the importance of customer focused quality culture and ethical standards in the success of any business. He emphasized on the Democratic Design and long term sustainability of IKEA products.
IKEA’s plans to increase sourcing opportunities and consumer base in the south Asian countries, especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were elaborated upon. IKEA plans “Make More in India” and aims to set up around 20-25 stores across various parts of the country, he said.
Mr. Marwah elucidated on the Kaizen events conducted in collaboration with IKEA Suppliers in various IKEA supply and manufacturing units across India to improve the quality and efficiency of manufacturing processes. He stressed on the importance of improving manufacturing efficiency and work culture to achieve higher results every day.
He proposed collaborating with Club Kaizen, IIM Indore by conducting workshops with the suppliers and creating platforms to learn best industry practices. He encouraged the students to solve real life management problems and challenges at IKEA suppliers.
The talk was followed by a workshop on problem solving techniques through case studies and team activities. The students were given practical problems through different cases and were asked to find the root cause of the problems. Mr. Marwah made it extremely clear to the participants about how to go ahead confidently and identify or reject a root cause. At the end, the students had some really valuable takeaways from the session.