The participants and delegates were given a taste of “Tomorrow’s Technology” with the use of RFID smart-identification cards, a student-body initiative.

The event was graced by Chief Guest, Mr. Gordon W. Robinson, Managing Director of Timken India Limited; Dr. S.B. Majumdar, President and Founding Director, Symbiosis Society; Ms. Vidya Yeravdekar, the Joint Director, Symbiosis Society; Mr. Bhausaheb Patil and Mr. Anand Agashe of Sakaal Publications; and Prof. K. S. Subramanian, Director SCMHRD.

The 2-day event also included a Yakshagana puppet show, a Karnataka folk art form, by “Bhaskar Koga Kamath & Group” in conjunction with SPIC-MACAY, Pune Chapter.

The awardees under the six different categories included Goodyear Ltd for DMAIC Manufacturing, Max New York Life Ltd, Airtel Enterprise Services and E-Funds International India Pvt Ltd for DMAIC Services, Reliance Energy for DFSS Manufacturing, Airtel Enterprice Services Carriers for DFSS Services, Reliance Industries ltd, Hazira for Lean Manufacturing, HDFC Bank, Wipro Technologies and GE India Industrial Pvt Ltd for Lean Services.

Mr. Naresh Raisinghani, CEO BMG Ltd, applauded SCMHRD’s bold stand in not declaring winners in every category. The Director, Prof. K. S. Subramanian stated that SCMHRD believes in awarding efforts towards achieving excellence. Winners have been declared in categories where there has been a clear-cut winner. However, where the panelists felt that the entries needed further work, a runners-up and commendation prize have been declared.

While stating the importance of Six Sigma to business organizations, Mr. Robinson, the Chief Guest, said that he ascribed the phenomenal turnaround of Timken India Limited since 1995, to the Lean Six Sigma initiatives undertaken by the organization. He believes that providing a means to measure the financial impact of change initiatives is the single most important contribution that Six Sigma can impart to businesses. He congratulated SCMHRD for providing a platform to recognize the industry’s efforts towards achieving continual excellence in quality and looked forward to more such endeavours.

In their address, Dr. S.B. Majumdar and Ms. Vidya Yeravdekar reiterated the importance of the academia in inculcating a spirit of innovation and continual improvement.

Prof. O.S. Vaidya, Head – “Operations Center of Excellence” SCMHRD, attributed the event’s success to the core student committee including Abhijit Ghosh, C. R. Prabu, Neha Chabbra, Priyanka Kohly and S. Balamurugan.

Commenting on the entries received this year, Prof. K.S. Subramanian, on behalf of the academia, urged the industry to encourage true innovation and continual improvement on a continuous basis. He further stated that SCMHRD should continue to host the “Sakaal Six Sigma Excellence Awards” in the times to come as a platform to recognize industry efforts in quality arena.