Onsite Seminar XII

Roche

Despite of having a lot of work Roche was very delighted to support our project and took their time for our visit. Roche, a giant within the pharmaceutical industry feels committed to Universities.

During our visit they gave us a brief introduction about the company having 80’000 employees globally. They also told us proudly about their success within the Chinese market. They are having the same expectations for India’s market due to the fast growing economy which makes India an attractive market for them.

Our company visit was a very interesting and interactive session about doing business not only within the Indian pharmaceutical industry, but in general between the management staff and us. Furthermore, Innovation has also been a topic. Roche follows the innovative sounding claims “doing now what the patients need” and “make your mark improves lives” within their researching program and marketing strategy.

In the afternoon as we were sitting inside our air conditioned bus on the way to Schindler, an incident happened: Suddenly our bus had technical problems and was undrivable. The first solution was that everybody has to get off the bus int the 40°C  heat, so that Rickshas can be arranged. The next order was that everybody has to get back into the broken bus.  A new bus was organized for which we only had to wait incredible 7 minutes. This is the proof that India - within all the traffic chaos -can be very well organized. This has also been our first real experience with the Indian “Jugaad” =)

Schindler

As we arrived at Schindler the management has started their introduction in a humorous way which created an easy-going atmosphere from the beginning. This was the basis of an interactive, funny but also high learning effected meeting.

Further on, the CEO of Schindler India gave us a brief overview of India’s culture and their way of doing business related to Schindler.

Finally the Focus India delegation got stunned by Schindler’s recent projects such as the installation of their products for some Indian celebrities or airports across the whole country. Fascinating was especially the height of the buildings and the amazing stories these buildings have to tell. On top of that, Schindler told us the reason why they actually plan a new lift with the amazing, but still comfortable, speed of 8m/s. Although Schindler could guarantee a higher speed up to 21m/s, they think that people would not feel good going up, and the company highly believes that comfort IS what Schindler lifts should stand for.

Onsite Seminar XI

Welcome to our second day in Mumbai! Today we found empty streets, no traffic jam and definitely less noise from blowing horns – the reason behind all this: today it’s Election Day in Mumbai. Since most offices have closed, we were forced to rearrange our seminar program and instead planed an unforgettable trip to Dharavi, the largest slum of Asia.

We were fascinated to learn that this and many other slums worldwide are not what we have associated with a “slum” so far. Dharavi is rather a small industry in Mumbai with a wide range of commercial activities such as recycling, pottery-making, bakery, soap factory or even leather tanning. An astonishing annual turnover of business is estimated to be more than 650 million dollars a year! We as visitors were able to feel the sense of community and spirit existing in this slum which is home to more than 1 million people – a mind-blowing number. This was probably one of the highlights of the week and a real eye-opening experience for everyone!

In the afternoon the delegates had the chance to explore Mumbai on their own. So many went to sights such as the hanging gardens, the gateway, to the famous leopold cafe or just enjoyed the sunny and hot weather at the hotel pool which was refreshing after three days of full program.

Later the whole delegation met for having dinner at a nice traditional Indian restaurant. After this day everyone fully regained strength and ready for tomorrow’s promising companies’ visits.

Onsite Seminar X

Today we had an early start again. We visited PRS Permacel (Formerly a division of Johnson & Johnson, India) outside of Mumbai. Traffic in India is dense and the roads are bumpy due to frequent speed breaker bumps. We arrived at PRS on time and got a really nice welcome drink: Fresh coconut and cake.

PRS were showing us their three main areas: Coating, Printing and R&D / Quality. It was a well-organized tour and the employees obviously had a great knowledge in the field. Their four strategic business units are: Industrial, Railway, Automotive and Kavach – brand protection. I personally liked to see the screen-printing of decals for two wheelers. It is a very precise work done with machines that seem to be rich of years.

In the evening Mr Premchand, who is the Executive Chairman of PRS Permacel offered an Apéro riche at our hotel and we had the opportunity to ask questions and give our opinion (positive ones as well as negative ones). This day was once more a very nice and dense experience. Thank you all so much!

Onsite Seminar IX

For our second and last business day in Pune we left the Hotel Hyatt at 7.30. We drived to the village Kondhapuri where the two companies Sulzer and Burckhardt Compression are located. 

First we visited Sulzer. They showed us an interesting presentation about their company. After that we had the chance to get an insight of the production plant. So it was possible to see how the internals of the tanks are produced. The visit was followed by an Indian Lunch at the canteen from Sulzer. 

For the next company visit at Burckhardt Compression we had to move just 200 meters. Everybody was happy about it because we have spent already a lot of time in the bus. Burckhardt Compression gave us an introduction about the company. There we also got an insight of the production from the compressors. The huge dimensions were very impressive. At 4 o’clock we had to drive back to Pune.

In the evening we travelled to Mumbai by train. The whole delegation was worrying about the overfilled Indian Trains during the whole day. But the reservation has worked and we didn’t had to sit in the economic class. After a 3 hour ride we arrived in Mumbai.

Onsite Seminar VIII

Dear Blog followers! Yesterday we flew to Pune and everyone was exited about our new Hotel, the Hyatt, and i think nobody was disappointed. After having enjoyed the free Easter Weekend, we started off the second business week fully motivated. 

At 7.30 a.m, Reto Müller welcomed the entire delegation at the reception and we drove on a bumpy road to our first company visit. Faber, the subsidiary of Franke, gave us a very warm and traditional welcome called Kumkum. Due to this, every member of the delegation was walking around with a red point on their foreheads. After a short introduction about Faber, we visited the plants. The offered Indian lunch buffet was great but still, not everyone of us trusted the Indian food! I can't imagine why ;)

The afternoon we spent with Schindler, an escalator and elevator producer. The big surprise after the arrival -  the escalator wasn't working, so we had to take the stairs. At the beginning, we had a short presentation about Schindler followed by a plant visit. For that reason, we had to wear safety shoes with steel toe caps which underlined our business dresses perfectly.

Onsite Seminar VII

It’s Thursday morning: Election Day in Bangalore, tired faces are displacing heavy-looking luggage pieces in the hotel lobby and waiting for the bus to be picked up for a visit to Swissnex. In order to keep spirits high, one of our valuable PR Team members with a natural born showman talent, Sandro Bernasconi, has delighted our delegation with an astonishing performance of “Con te partirò” by Andrea Bocelli: goose bumps guaranteed! So we arrived at Swissnex well awake and with a bright smile on our lips.

The trip to Swissnex was relatively short, as Election Day is experienced as some kind of regional holiday, where no alcohol is sold and the traffic decreases to Swiss levels because all the businesses are closed. This fact is the best way to prove the good relationships Focus India and Swissnex are sharing, as they opened up just to meet us and have a very interesting presentation about their function as entry point for adventurous Swiss entrepreneurs. We also had the chance to meet one of the successful business man, who has developed a social media network for communication amongst peer groups, which is a bit more formal as Whatsapp and Facebook might be.

From there we went for lunch to a very fancy, vegetarian restaurant, which managed to decorate their walls with spices of all kind and colors. Being the only customers in the place, all the servants would spoil us with an endless refill of unknown, but delicious Indian tastes. Some very courageous men even tried a bite of the spicy “green chili”, fortunately with no major side effects.

Afterwards we got on our way towards the airport for the next presentation.  For some unexplainable reason, we could feel the magic of Focus India creating a very positive mood within our travelling delegation.

The presentation at the Bengaluru Airport started with a kind “Grüezi”, and was held by Swiss managing director Daniel Bircher. In short, he showed us the fast and incredible development of the Indian air business. The Bengaluru Airport is seen as a role model for all other growing Indian airports. Along to its growth, there goes the Nuance Group, taking care of all the concessions for commercial use within the airport. Their growth has been amazing as well. Their commitment to social responsibility, giving work to over 20’000 people in the rural area is impressive too.

After the presentations, we would round up our visit with a coffee together with the management team inside the airport facilities. It was another incredible Focus India, and we’re going for more!

Onsite Seminar VI

Date: April Wednesday 16, 2014

Location: Bangalore India

Temperature: increasing hot

After spending our first night in Bangalore we went on our  way to Accenture, our main sponsor. 

During the ride to Accenture we noticed that there are many differences to Delhi. The air seems to be better and there is less traffic. We were able to drive much faster than in Delhi. Probably because the election days in Bangalore have begun… or we were just lucky.

Arrived at Accenture the security checks were is done by two highly motivated Agents. After the whole security stuff the presentation of Accenture started, presented by many employees who currently take care of a big Swiss insurance company based in Winthertur. After that we had the opportunity to visit the innovation lab of Accenture where they create many useful tools and programs for the company. The highlight was the lunch with the Accenture people. The food was really good and the talking with them was not so formal anymore.

In the afternoon we visited Microsoft Ventures and had a presentation followed by a chat with young start-up entrepreneurs in the IT-sector supported by Microsoft. This was really interesting and a lot of questions have been asked and real life answers were giving. This was really what our program stands for. It was a great visit. On this occasion: Thanks to all the enterpreneurs.

Back at the Hotel a feedback round was done by Pieter and the project team. So far this day was not finished, tonight we are going out seeing the streets of Bangalore. Bye

Todays Blogger

Nicolas Balimann