The book reviewed

“ Small Wonder: The making of the Nano “

What the book is all about ?

Concept of Nano Target Costing

Determination & crisis management Focus on customer

Leadership Innovation

Concept of Nano

• Was first doodled by Mr. Tata during a board meeting

• He had the idea of $2500 car in mind. “Financial Times“ published that Tata’s coming with a Rs. 1lakh car soon

Target Costing

• The only constant during the project was the cap of Rs. 1 lakh

• The team would find a solution first & then look to reduce cost eg. 3 nuts, one wiper

Focus on customers

• Mr. Tata made it clear that the small car should feel like a car, not like a cheap replacement

• Wanted to give the people an affordable & safe car

• Quality of parts used are of Mercedes, BMW quality

Innovation

Technological

• Engine at the rear• Opening on the

sides for in & out of air

• Different size of front & rear types

• One part perform multiple functions eg. switch near steering

Manufacturing

• Distributive manufacturing

• Seats on a single steel rod

• Central console same for both right & left hand drives

Supply Chain

• Single supplier at cheapest price

• Using the Golden quadrilateral for shifting from Singur to Sanand

Determination & crisis management

Flood at Singur facility

Feedbacks from Mr. Tata

Inflation

Shifting from Singur to Sanand - Delivery from Pune & Uttarakhand facility

Setting new factory in record time of 9 months and half the cost

Multiple engine & body designs

Leadership“For the team it was as if

there was no fear of failure “

“Girish you have our full support. You

will report directly to me

or the chairman

During flood at Singur: Girish

what has happened has

happened. I know you have a plan,

now go & implement it

Ratan Tata tested the prototype himself

Ravi Kant & other seniors would spend many a nights at the factory

Ratan Tata would come every Saturday from Mumbai to Pune to look after the work & give suggestions

“The parts used are what

of same quality of Mercedes

or BMW”

Leadership

Leadership team

Girish Wagh: Small car

project-in-charge

Ratan Tata, then Chairman-Tata

Group

Ravi Kant, then Managing

Director, Tata Motors

“For the team it was as if there was no

fear of failure “

“Girish you have our full support. You will report

directly to me or the chairman

During flood at Singur: Girish what has happened has

happened. I know you have a plan, now go &

implement it

• Ratan Tata tested the prototype himself• Ravi Kant & other seniors would spend

many a nights at the factory

Book Review : Poorly Made In China

An Insider’s Account of the China Production Game

• It was written by Paul Midler, an American procurement agent who has worked for twenty years in China, mainly protecting or trying to protect the interest of Western importers.

• He reveals, in a very entertaining way, the behind-the-scenes of the “Chinese manufacturing and exportation game.”

• From one side there are the Western importers that wish to outsource their production in China but don’t know how to do (or don’t want to deal with all the hassles yielded by this process).

• From the other side there are the Chinese suppliers, who offer prices than can’t afford or products they can’t produce with the only goal of securing a new, greedy client (and then scam him without any mercy).

• Between them there is Paul Midler!

• Here is where the game starts. Through the pages of this book you’ll discover how many Chinese manufacturers slowly proceed to decrease the quality of the product in order to get a larger margin of profit.

• Also, they love to introduce last-minute price increases when the importer, pressed by his deadline, can’t refuse anymore.

What I liked about the book

• Poorly made in China is damn funny, easy to read and you can tell that the author knows the subject quite well. Also, this book prepares you to a wide range of common problems that you may encounter while dealing with a Chinese manufacturer.

• Many people think that make business in China is fairly easy because there are no unions or state regulations: you can visit the Canton Fair, shake hands with the bosses and close the deal in a couple of days walking away with an astonishing cheap price.

• Let’s say that after reading this book you’re in a better position to understand whether you’re ready for outsourcing your production in China or it’s better to keep manufacturing your goods in your own country.

What I didn’t like about the book

• The first thing I didn’t like about this book was that it only underlines the stories of importers that weren’t able to handle their Chinese counterpart and ended up losing money (or even broken) because of it.

• Why I didn’t like it? Because there are thousands and thousands of importers that do quite well importing from China so I’m sure that, as long as you’re prepared, you can still doing business with China in a satisfactory way.

• Finally, most of the problems occurred to the importers featured on this books could be avoided with a better agreement or planning. An example? If your supplier raise the price at the last moment and you’ve to buy the goods anyway because if you don’t you’ll run out of stock it means that you ordered your goods too late.

What you shouldn’t expect from this book

• I noticed that most of the critics of Poorly made in China were concerned with the fact that Midler doesn’t offer a solution for the quality fading problem.

• I disagree with this criticism as the main goal of this book was to expose a phenomenon and prepare the wannabe importer to the main drawbacks of dealing with a Chinese manufacturer. There isn’t a general solution to this problem, which should be addressed in a different way according to the situation.

• Another common criticism was that the novel doesn’t offer any practical advice. And it’s true: here you aren’t going to find any step by step procedure for importing from China. But you should have understood it before to buy the book, just looking at the cover!

About the Book• Author: Brian Tracy• This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks

before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first.• Develop Habits of Success

1. Your success in life and work will be determined by the kinds of habits that you develop over time.

2. Whenever you complete a task of any size of importance, you feel a surge of energy, enthusiasm, and self-esteem. The more important the completed task, the happier, more confident, and more powerful you feel about yourself and your world.

3. The completion of an important task triggers the release of endorphins in your brain. They give you a natural “high”. The endorphin rush that follows successful completion of any task makes you feel more positive, creative and confident.

21 Great ways to stop procrastinating and Get more done in less time

• SET THE TABLE• There is a great rule for success: Think on paper.• The power of written goals

• PLAN EVERY DAY IN ADVANCE• Six-P Formula

(Proper-Prior-Planning-Prevents-Poor-Performance)

• APPLY THE 80/20 RULE TO EVERYTHING• CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES• PRACTICE CREATIVE PROCRASTINATION

• Learn to say … No!• Procrastinate on purpose

21 Great ways to stop procrastinating and Get more done in less time

• USE THE ABCDE METHOD CONTINUALLYThink on paper

A – must do’s – frogs B – should do’s C – nice to do D – delegate E – eliminate

FOCUS ON KEY RESULT AREASPREPARE THOROUGHLY BEFORE YOU BEGINTAKE IT ONE AT A TIMEUPGRADE YOUR KEY SKILLS

Never stop learningIDENTIFY YOUR KEY CONSTRAINTS

21 Great ways to stop procrastinating and Get more done in less time

• PUT PRESSURE ON YOURSELF• MOTIVATE YOURSELF INTO ACTION• Seek the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty• Think and talk continually about goals

• SLICE AND DICE THE TASK• SCHEDULE BLOCKS OF TIME• DEVELOP A SENSE OF URGENCY• Get into “flow”• Do it now!• Once you get going, keep going (momentum)

• SELF-DISCIPLINE IS THE KEY