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A great opportunity to learn, manage a team and prove my ability

Everyone has different experiences that trigger memories of certain events and at times some of these stories can go a long way in inspiring us to keep pursuing our goals and dreams. With this thought I decided to write about one of ‘my’, rather ‘our’ (Semsites) successes, which will always be remembered as a remarkable achievement of my tenure in Secure Meters Ltd.

When I need to recharge and re-energise my mind, I think of January, February and March 2011 (JFM 2011) and it puts me back on track. I remember the day, when in a production team meeting, Gole sb. presented an AMI project, he declared that we have received a huge order for ICM-500. All the terms and conditions of the deal were well defined and were explained to the team with great emphasis on every clause pertaining to quality and timely delivery. When asked who will be the DD (dhani dhori) for this particular product, there was complete silence in the room. Within a few seconds, my mind urged me to volunteer and I accepted the challenge by agreeing to be the first person responsible (FPR) and to ensure a smooth and timely production. This was the first time that I had worked closely with the operations head; I reported on the progress to him regularly. Yes, it was a challenge but a great opportunity to learn, manage a team and prove my ability. Now, I was convinced of my ability to take up this role, my challenge was to convince my team.

This wasn’t an easy journey and we faced a lot of difficulties

One thing is certain, success starts in your mind before you experience it in reality. Though not very confident, I somehow accepted success in my mind. I prepared my team for the required cycle time: 400 meters per shift. Trusting in my will and confidence, the team fastened their seat belts for Flight ICM-500. Before the actual production commenced, we had to supply some samples to the customer to satisfy them about our quality. 50 samples were to be provided within a limited time frame. For the first time, I, my team, teams from PPE, and NPD worked for 24 hours in the factory and managed to deliver the samples. 50 was the beginning and the roller coaster ride began. Once the samples were approved, we got a green signal from the customer, and production started according to the set target – 400 meters per shift – and products were dispatched as scheduled.

But as predicted, this wasn’t an easy journey and we faced a lot of difficulties. In the initial dispatches, we found the break-up of ‘push buttons’ in the meters. Some meters were rejected and this meant there were some hardware issues and rework was needed to resolve the problems. During this phase, for everyone involved, a sense of disappointment set in, the success of the project was at stake. However, our NPD team helped us come out of it; we started the rework alongside the next production run. Hats off to the production team who managed both the rework and production simultaneously and met the deadline for the next delivery.

Spend some time thinking, planning and visualising your success.

Time is our most valuable asset.

Whatever your idea of success may be, it’s time to get going, because time waits for no one.

-Nagendra Singh

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
– Seneca

“Celebrate endings – for they precede new beginnings.”
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie