Orphans Get Commented on Eyes , Nose Lips ! Paid Ugly Duckling is also Cute.

This is a story on companies, which choose to sell their products on credit.

When I use to work in Silvasa, there was this certain behavior of companies, who would immediately find quality problems with the supply as soon as the goods were unloaded. The results was that the supplier was now trying to convince the customer for all the specifications. Yet the user would give him all such cosmetic issues that the supplier had no answer. Say a truck of POY landed with a texturizer. He would then find problems with the running of the POY, spin finish, broken filaments, etc etc.

However, where ever the customer bought POY with advance payment, the yarn much worst then the credit supplier was still ok.

Many a times, this was a deliberate attempt by the company to postpone the payments of the supplier. But also many a times, ,it was the incompetence of the user to run the yarn.

The more the incompetence, the more the user would resist the supplier and find umpteen issues with the quality.

On the other side, there were technical managers, who would say, get any yarn under the sun to us and we will run it. We know, how to run.

The same story happens to one and every product which is given Free For Evaluation process to a buyer. Even the best of the product is then commented for silly cosmetic features and usually rejected or poorly rated. All because the seller gave it free for Trial. If only the same customer would have bought the product, he finds all the value in it. Never ever make a mistake of giving anything free for Trials. No matter, how small and insignificant value it carries. The process of ownership has to be defined from the very first day, otherwise it will remain an Orphan and most likely kicked out.

The story is all about selling on Credit. A credit product is like an orphan, it has no mother , no father in the new company. It gets commented on Eyes, Ears, Nose lips etc. Whereas the same customer, if he pays upfront and gets the worst quality, yet finds the product, very nice and upto his standards.

Paid Ugly Duckling is also cute.

Corporate Learning Series/ Communiations

> Here is an example of miscommunication in a company, the boss of the
> company initiates a mail to invite his staff to witness an eclipse and
> how his message is passed by employees at different levels in the
> hierarchy and finally how it reaches to the staff...
>
> Mail from CEO to General Manager:
>
> Today at 11 o'clock there will be a total eclipse of the sun. This is
> when the sun disappears behind the moon for two minutes. As this is
> something that cannot be seen every day, time will be allowed for
> employees to view the eclipse in the parking lot. Staff should meet in
> the lot at ten to eleven, when I will deliver a short speech
> introducing the eclipse, and giving some background information.
> Safety goggles will be made available at a small cost.
>
> Mail from General Manager to Department Head:
>
> Today at ten to eleven, all staff should meet in the car park. This
> will be followed by a total eclipse of the sun, which will appear for
> two minutes. For a moderate cost, this will be made safe with goggles.
> The CEO will deliver a short speech beforehand to give us all some
> information. This not something that can be seen everyday.
>
> Mail from Dept. Head to Floor Manager:
>
> The CEO will today deliver a short speech to make the sun disappear
> for two minutes in the form of an eclipse. This is something that
> cannot be seen every day, so staff will meet in the car park at ten or
> eleven. This will be safe, if you pay a moderate cost.
>
> Mail from Floor Manager to Supervisor:
>
> Ten or eleven staff are to go to the car park, where the CEO will
> eclipse the sun for two minutes. This doesn't happen every day. It
> will be safe, and as usual it will cost you.
>
> Mail from Supervisor to Staff:
>
> Some staff will go to the car park today to see the CEO disappear. It
> is a pity, this doesn't happen everyday.

Corporate Lingo.

Commonly Used Phrases at the Office -What they really mean ......... :-)

1.For your information, please. (FYI)

Meaning: I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it.

2. Noted and returned.

Meaning: I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it little while.

3.Review and comment.

Meaning: Do the dirty work so that I can forward it.

4.Action please.

Meaning: Get yourself involved for me. Don't worry, I'll claim the credit.

5.For your necessary action.

Meaning: It's your headache now.

6. Copy to.

Meaning: Here's a share of my headache.

7.For your approval, please.

Meaning: Put your neck on the chopping board for me please.

8.Action is being taken.

Meaning: Your correspondence is lost and I am trying to locate it.

9. Your letter is receiving our attention.

Meaning: I am trying to figure out what you want.

10. Please discuss.

Meaning: I don't know what the hell this is, so please brief me.

11.For your immediate action.

Meaning: Do it NOW! Or I will get into serious trouble.

12. Please reply soon.

Meaning: Please be efficient. It makes me look inefficient.

13.We are investigating/ processing your request with the relevant authorities.

Meaning: They are causing the delay, not us.

14.Regards.

Meaning: Thanks and bless you for reading all the crap.

Know The Natural Laws.

These are the unavoidable laws of the natural universe...

1. Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease,
your nose will begin to itch.

2. Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least
accessible corner.

3. Law of probability: The probability of ‘being watched’ is directly
proportional to the stupidity of your act.

4. Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy
signal.

5. Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because
you had a flat tyre, the very next morning or soon thereafter, you will have
a flat tyre.

6. Variation Law: If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were
in will start to move faster than the one you are in now. (Happens
every time).

7. Bath Theorem: When the body is fully immersed in water or in the shower,
the telephone rings.

8. Law of Close Encounters: The probability of meeting someone you know
increases when you are with someone you do not want to be seen with.

9. Law of the Result: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't
work, it will.

10. Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional
to the reach.

11. Theater Rule: At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the
aisle arrive last.

12. Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss
will ask you to do something, which will last until the coffee is
cold.

13. Murphy's Law of Lockers: If there are only two people in a locker room,
they will have adjacent lockers.

14. Law of Dirty Rugs/Carpets: The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich
of landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the
newness, color and cost of the carpet/rug.

15. Law of Location: No matter where you go, there you are.

16. Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what
you are talking about.

17. Brown's Law: If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

18. Oliver's Law: A closed mouth gathers no feet.

19. Wilson's Law: As soon as you find a product that you really like, they
will stop making it.....

Experience Talks - Yarn Dyeing.

Some time back , one of my agents mailed to me that one of our large customer was about to migrate to " Dyetubes" against " Dyesprings". On further researching, this was the story.

This customer is one of the largest yarn dyer in SE Asia. He had been using dyesprings or the last 20 years , but for quite some time was experiencing a very unique problem in dyeing, wherein the packages on the upper end of the column would have black particles on the surface between two packages and these would get washed out easily with normal water. Which means, the dyeing was not a problem, however, the black particles were sitting between one package and the other and only middle up of the column of dye packages.

As usual, all Industry Experts set in action and the following got tried.

New Set of Chemicals to remove the black particles.

Higher pump pressure.

Longer washing cycles.

Then someone advised, well, it was coming from the winding machine , as the dyer was using random winder . He changed his winder to precision winder , but the black particles remained intact.

Another expert stepped in and said, well the other companies use Non Compressible Dyetubes and this customer is using Dyesprings, therefore he has a problem. The non compressible dyetubes will have some space between the two packages and the washing cycle therefore would remove the black particles . Customer was quite impressed and he wrote to me for the supply of Dyetubes for the trials.

After listening to the full story, I was convinced, there was some simple issue , which no one is able to see , because if black particles are coming only above middle length of the column, then it has something to do with either the pump pressure or there was some detioration of dyes or detioration of chemical as black would mean carbon deposits and this can come only on breaking of carbon chains.

Nevertheless, I flew to the customer and audited the whole process again. Everything was normal. The density of packages, the flow , the time, the chemicals, washing cycle etc etc. And yet the packages on top and middle end of column of dyeing machine would show these black particles, which got washed out with water.

I recalled that when I was entering the factory, I had seen ahead of me a Truck carrying Coal for the boiler. So, I inquired with the customer , did he change lately from the oil boiler to coal boiler. He confirmed that on account of rising oil prices, the whole industry was moving to coal boiler.

Next thing I did was to go the creel of packages awaiting dyeing. The packages had deposits of carbon lined against the wall, some seen with naked eyes and some could be brushed with force.

It was clear within minutes that the Boiler was the culprit and not the dyeing machine, nor the winding machine , nor the dyesprings, nor the chemicals or auxiliaries. But, how all the local industry experts in that country had tried all the stunts, without trying to think logically that if the process had a weakness, then it would show on all the packages and not just selectively. And ofcourse changing dyesprings to dyetubes was making the system still poorer and weaker.

The pump pressure would force the carbon particles for all packages till the middle level of the column and thereafter the force was never enough to remove the carbon deposits. This was causing the black particles to remain there and get washed out only when the package was removed and washed.

The department was then sealed against outside air and the water being used in dyeing was also sealed against any chance of carbon invasion.

The customer Dyed Happily Ever After.

Moral of the Story : Whenever you see Black or other washable deposits on your product line, there has to be some source of carbon pollution around. Before tampering with your machines and processes, check for carbon, sulphur or another pollutant in the environment.

Corporate Learning Series / Dogs Life.

A butcher watching over his shop is really surprised when he saw a dog coming inside the shop. He shoos him away. But later, the dog is back again. So, he goes over to the dog and notices he has a note in his mouth.

He takes the note and it reads "Can I have 12 sausages and a leg of lamb,please. The dog has money in his mouth, as well".

The butcher looks inside and, behold, a ten dollar note. So he takes the money and puts the sausages and lamb in a bag, placing it in the dog's mouth.

The butcher is so impressed, and since it's about closing time, he decides to shut up shop and follow the dog. So off he goes.

The dog is walking down the street when he comes to a level crossing. The dog puts down the bag, jumps up and presses the button.

Then he waits patiently, bag in mouth, for the lights to turn. They do, and he walks across the road, with the butcher following him all the way.

The dog then comes to a bus stop, and starts looking at the timetable. The butcher is in awe at this stage. The dog checks out the times, and then sits on one of the seats provided.

Along comes a bus. The dog walks around to the front, looks at the number, and goes back to his seat. Another bus comes. Again the dog goes and looks at the number, notices it's the right bus, and climbs on.

The butcher, by now, open-mouthed, follows him onto the bus. The bus travels through the town and out into the suburbs, the dog looking at the scenery.

Eventually he gets up, and moves to the front of the bus. He stands on 2 back paws and pushes the button to stop the bus. Then he gets off, his groceries still in his mouth.

Well, dog and butcher are walking along the road, and then the dog turns into a house.

He walks up the path, and drops the groceries on the step. Then he walks back down the path, takes a big run, and throws himself against the door.

He goes back down the path, runs up to the door and again, it throws himself against it.

There's no answer at the house, so the dog goes back down the path, jumps up on a narrow wall, and walks along the perimeter of the garden. He gets to the window, and beats his head against it several times, walks back, jumps off, and waits at the door.

The butcher watches as a big guy opens the door, and starts abusing the dog, kicking him and punching him, and swearing at him.

The butcher runs up, and stops the guy. "What in heaven's name are you doing? The dog is a genius. He could be on TV, for the life of me!" to which the guy responds:

"You call this clever? This is the second time this week that this stupid dog's forgotten his key."

----Moral of the story----

You may continue to exceed onlookers' expectations but shall always fall short of the boss's expectations! ! It's dog's life after all......... *

Value of Sales Experts .

Most companies look at Sales Guys as mere suppliers rather then an infinite pool of information and many a times an invaluable rich experience behind them.

Each time, I visit a client, I always give some tip to the customer. Now it is upto him to make the best use of it or simply delete it . After having travalled to more then 50 countries and having visited 5000 factories in my life, perhaps, I had become much wiser and experienced then most people sitting opposite to me. Having seen and solved the most unimaginable complexities of either the machines or the management, I knew exactly within 10 minutes of talking to my client, what was missing and would subtly hint him.

But the irony remains that most companies do not value the Tips that are given to them on their business processes or on the technologies. Simple reason " Change Is Disruptive And Dangerous". However, in the long run the same companies then pay a very heavy cost of complacency.

Here is a small story , which gives a good example of how even a simple sales expert working in a clothing store knows his products and clients related issues.

Joe had suffered from really bad headaches for the last 20 years. He eventually decides to go and see a doctor.

The doctor said, 'Joe, the good news is I can cure your headaches. The bad news is that it will require castration.

You have a very rare condition, which causes your testicles to press on your spine and the pressure creates one hell of a headache. The only way to relieve the pressure is to remove the testicles.'

Joe was shocked and depressed. He wondered if he had anything to live for. He had no choice but to go under the knife. When he left the hospital, he was without a headache for the first time in 20 years, but he felt like he was missing an important part of himself. As he walked down the street, he realized that he felt like a different person. He could make a new beginning and live a new life.

He saw a men's clothing store and thought, 'That's what I need... A new suit.'

He entered the shop and told the salesman, 'I'd like a new suit.'

The elderly tailor eye d him briefly and said, 'Let's see... size 44 long.'

Joe laughed, 'That's right, how did you know?'

'Been in the business 60 years!' the tailor said.

Joe tried on the suit it fit perfectly.

As Joe admired himself in the mirror, the salesman asked, 'How about a new shirt?'

Joe thought for a moment and then said, 'Sure.'

The salesman eyed Joe and said, 'Let's see, 34 sleeves and 16-1/2 neck.'

Joe was surprised, 'That's right, how did you know?'

'Been in the business 60 years.'

Joe tried on the shirt and it fit perfectly.

Joe walked comfortably around the shop and the salesman asked, 'How about some new underwear?'

Joe thought for a moment and said, 'Sure..'

The salesman said, 'Let's see... size 36.

Joe laughed, 'Ah ha! I got you! I've worn a size 34 since I was 18 years old..'

The salesman shook his head, 'You can't wear a size 34. A size 34 would press your testicles up against the base of your spine and give you one hell of a headache.'

Joe castration problem was solved by a mundane clothing sales expert. Though the Doctor was still sharpening his knife to reach out his Testicular.

Same is the story of most companies, which get a advised from all their travelling salesman, but still have to get their testiculars removed as they trust the consultant, specialist or local opinion leader more then the Experienced Salesman.

Corporate Learning Series / Skill Sensors.

A corporation advertised all kinds of positions to fill for their new office in a big city, the candidates were selected based on their resume and tested for their aptitude for the positions

The corporation put around one hundred baseball balls in some particular order in a closed room with the room window open Then they send a group of two to three candidates of particular discipline into the room and locked it from outside They left them alone and came back after six hours, to analyzed the situation:

[1] If they were counting and recounting the number of balls - They were hired for the ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT

[2] If they had messed up the whole place with the balls - They were hired for the ENGINEERING

[3] If they were arranging the balls in some other order - They were hired for the PLANNING

[4] If they were throwing the balls at each other - They were hired for the OPERATIONS

[5] If they were sleeping - They were hired for the SECURITY

[6] If they had squashed the balls into pieces - They were hired for the INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

[7] If they were staring out of the window - They were hired for the EXPORT

[8] If they were sitting idle - They were hired for the HUMAN RESOURCE DEPT

[9] If they had thrown the balls out of the window - They were hired for the MATERIALS DEPT

[10] If they were clinging onto the balls - They were hired for the TREASURY

[11] If they said they had tried different combinations, yet not a ball had moved - They were hired for the SALES

[12] If they had already left for the day - They were hired for the MARKETING and finally

[13] If they were talking to each other and not a ball had moved - They were hired for the TOP MANAGEMENT

Indian Textile Model

After I got sick of a certain Idiot Manager with pressed cheeks in a polyester staple fibre plant , which then was under another group and now belongs to Reliance. ( No wonder the plant made heavy losses with such Chutiya Manager as its spinning and fibre line incharge with zero experience in Textiles . Finally , it got sold to Reliance and is doing good ) . I moved to Machine Industry . This would mean migration from from a manufacturing job to a Customer Technical Services job with ICBT lincese manufacturer, LMML in India. The company was making Texturizing Machines, Twisting Machines and Winding Machines. All for the filament sector. I should record here that LMML a company of Mr R.K. Lohia was still one of my best experiences in the industry and he actually managed the company as any other multinational. Though LMML closed down as it had products , which were ahead of its time for the Indian markets. Also, it did lack good marketing and servicing managers.

I was posted in Bombay for a while and then in Silvasa, a town, which then was taking shape as the industrial town for filament yarns. It should have been rather called Texvasa then Silvasa. As India's all texturizing and twisting machines were based in this small tribal city. The reason being , it was a tax free zone and the government had thrown in many other incentive packages, which got the place buzzing.

This small city of Silvasa perhaps today could be the largest Texturizing zone in the world and soon could become the largest Textile City in the world. Those years, there were small texturizers with one machine and maximum of 2 or 3 machines. The Big texturizer was " Beekaylon" with more then 10 machines and I cannot recall the exact number after around 20years.

I was servicing machines with most texturizers for one year , till I got transferred back to Mumbai and switched to Marketing of Machines. This is where, I first started meeting the owners of all these small texturizing machines and year after year, each of these texturizer made hue and cry on the poor business and still went into add one more texturizing machine. Reliance , the dominant POY supplier always played the card well by giving credit notes to large volume users and getting texturizers to add more machines.

Today, some of the customers, whom I know have become Global scale are " Wellspun , Alok, Bhilosa, Siyaram, Kanodia ji, JBF and many more " But these were all entrepreneurs, who never had a global scale vision and there business style also did not reflect the kind of scalability , which the groups enjoy now. It was many a times very difficult for me to sell my machines as the investment decisions were far too slow and they operated in almost very low growth trajectory. My ex boss joined Alok as a GM and he would tell me that the company was working on investing in big way in textiles, but I never believed him. Though , today , Alok perhaps has seen the highest growth amogst all my customers. It is the same company, which had only two texturizing machines in the year 1988 and today it is one of the worlds largest textile companies. I still dont forget, how Mr Jiwrajka ( MD of Alok ) would bully me for machine quality etc.

Well, good to see all my old customers, who were rather not even medium scale are now global scale. That too in a short period of less then 25 years. In fact , whenever accidentally, I happen to meet one of my customers in a foreign land, they look so damn happy and invite me to come and visit and see, where they stand today. How and why it has come to this stage is being shared hereunder.

This is the most interesting model of Indian Textiles, which most other countries failed.

In India, Textiles was highly corporatized till the late 1970s, and with the Communist trade unions and later Datta Samanth Mumbai mills strike, the Industry took a dramatic turn. Once, what use to be a complete integrated textile mill, now became highly fragmented industry with spinning, weaving and finishing. But because of the advent of man made fibres, a totally new segment of industry cropped up across western India. This was the Texturizers, Weavers of texturized yarns, processors and finally the trade. The main centres were , Surat, Ahmadabad and Mumbai.

The large Integrated Textile mills were gone forever by the 80s.

Reliance in a very short time moved in to become the leader in Synthetic spinning and weaving. Quickly bought out a polyester plant and rather then Texturizing and Twisting the full production and then selling to weavers, it created a new industry of " Throwsters " , wherein the POY was bought by the texturizer and then the yarn was sold to the weaver. Interestingly the weavers were again only owners of 4 looms to 8 looms to 16 looms in Bhiwandi , Ahmedabad, Surat etc . Over the years, the same weavers now have thousands of looms . The small quantity of yarn was bought by the trader, he would get woven at the weaver centre, where he paid per pick insertion prices and then the cloth would move to the processors, who would dye and finish and finally the cloth moved to the market. The retailers from all over India would visit these three major markets , buy their stuff, place further orders and go back. This is how the Industry worked largely in and around Western India.

In short, Reliance had created Thousands of Entrepreneurs , who were as small as having only one twisting machine to one texturizing machine to only 4 weaving machines ( The most basic weaving shuttle type from the 19th century and not the modern machines ) to one jet dyeing machine etc . These same small entrepreneurs later over time have become large companies and ofcourse the texturizers have become global scale textile organizations.

Later this model got copied in other parts of India, like Bhilwara, Meerut, Panipat, Ludhiana, Calcutta etc. Each place, it created a large entrepreneur base and ofcourse the secondary employment associated with it.

Exactly similar thing happened with the Silk Industry in Bangalore and Hyderabad, where small weavers with 2 machines and so on ,have now become global scale silk fabric suppliers with very big factories.

Tirpur , a small sleepy town close to Coimbatore use to have 2 to 4 knitting machine per factory and these were all old simple machines. The same factories today are the suppliers to the best knitted garment brands in the world with the latest machines from Europe.

The same story took place in the dirty small lanes of Panipat, which has now become the global preferred home furnishing textile centre . There each weaver had one or two machines and today is a preferred supplier to Top stores in New York and some of them have their own store in New York. Much that My uncle told me after textile graduation that I buy two looms and start a small workshop in Panipat, but I wanted to be a nice looking big officer of a big company wearing a coat, boat, tie . And here it is, after 25 years, I am writing blogs like a joker and those who put the looms are multimillionaires driving around with Audi's and Bentley etc . Such is the irony of life.

In the spinning sector, again, mills which were like 25000 spindles now started going to as high as 100,000 nos and nos of mills kept adding year after year. Here the groups like " Nahar, Premier, Suryavanshi, " and many more did very well.

Weaving and Processing still remained fragmanted and till date is not in the organized sector. It is quite impossible to find one single company which has say 1000 latest weaving machines . Most of it is spread across weaving centres with traditional weavers.

The last large Investment in corporate sector in Integrated textile was " Arvind Mills" in the year 2000.

Garmenting came a little late to India, but now is too big an industry.

The idea of telling this long story is only one, that all what we see today as the major global players of textile were extremely small companies 25 years back and employed not more then 15 to 25 workers and today, because of the structure of the very textile industry in India, it has created an invaluable wealth to millions of small entrepreneurs, many of who never even went to university forget a Business School. None of the banks ever lend them money to start a business and only at very late stage of business granted working capital to them.

Alteast in Bangladesh, I see the exact replica of the Indian Textile model and I am quite confident that Bangladesh will make millions of entrepreneurs of global scale some day. China Textile Industry is quite interesting and merits a full blog. I will write on it separately.

Most other countries, did not go the same way, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Pakistan ( I am not really sure , but perhaps Pak Industry is quite good ) . But are still not late in emulating the same model. In Thailand, one such model which did good for itself was the silk Industry. The weavers there got organized by an Ex American Spy, " Jim Thompson " and the silk weavers across the country till date have leveraged his name to an Icon of Thai Silk Industry.

Another one country which actually has done quite well with its Textile Industry and can be mapped to the Indian Model is " Iran" . There too the Texturizers are separated from the Spinner and yarn moves to weavers and finally the fabric to the market. In short, Textile is one industry, which shows better deliverables, when in small manageable units and brings about greater economic value to the nation.

If World Bank, IMF has any sense, then it should commission some of its officers and present to all the developing nations in Asia and Africa, how small companies grow to medium and then become global within a span of 25 years. The total wealth generation out of these small companies scaled to where they are today will be larger then the GDP of many a medium size countries.

It is not just IT in India , which has scaled global heights, but Textile is another Industry, which has done very well for itself. Today Indian Textile Professionals work across the world, bringing value to their organizations. Only that unless the Asian Textile Industry understand that " Branding " and " Fashion " will move them to the visibility rainbow of Global Businesses, otherwise they will largely remain commoditized.

Value Enterpreunership

Last week, I was watching a program on Taiwan TV, which went around discussing the new generation and its aspirations.

The New Generation in Taiwan is known as " The Strawberry Generation". They don't want to follow the conventional wisdom of their parents and do not want to take a 8 to 5 job or do a business, which is routine. The new generation wants to be exclusive , be a multimillionaire in short time and wants to have its own business and want to try new models and new executions within the same business. I reckon, it is the same all over the world and not just in Taiwan, however, since it was Taiwan TV, it got it bundled as the young generation there.

There was an interview of this very young girl of only 23 and she said something extremely brilliant, which I have been routinely telling my friends, who wish to blunder into brick and mortar business. She said " The cost of setting up business is now the lowest in the last century, all you need is a computer and a website, rest is your management skill of finding , placing and selling the products which are HOT SALE " The world is your market. The girl was selling special gifts and souvenirs and had within 6 months employed 5 workers to take care of the flow of traffic and volume of business. Each of us knows this business route, yet to be successful in it is still a big challenge.

Millions of us have millions of ideas and each one of us considers that he can be successful in business, but as soon as people start the business with their shoe string budget. The string is gone first and then shoe is also gone and most of the times the foot is also a casualty . If you have not watched the " Dragons Den " program on BBC knowledge, then it is worth watching once to see, how even the best of business ideas actually have no value in the business space. Success of finding funds for scaling your business is less then one percent.

The year 2000 and above has now become the century of " Knowledge Economy " There is no greater value then your own knowledge and experience. All it takes is a simple website to offer your specialization , which then brings value velocity to the user. Last time, I checked out of the hotel in Singapore, the front desk guy said something very nice. He asked me , if I had not forgotten any valuables in the safe and my passport is with me. I replied humorously, the passport is still in my pocket and valuables I never had in my life . He was brilliant in replying. Sir at your age, the highest value is your own wisdom and experience. I was stunned. How right he was that we dont even value our most hard earned experience.

If only each of us valued our experience and had an offering to the user industry, we would have all made good wealth from our experience. But only if we could give the following Online.

1. Debottlenecking : In complex technological and professional issues, where decision making has to be guided through logical clean agreeable and implementable options with low cost and quick execution. In my own memory, I once changed the packing system of one of my clients and there was saving of 50% of its worker cost in packaging. Present it to the world and get rewarded.
2. Change : The most hated thing within the Industry or for that matter in personal life of each of us. Because it brings anxiety, fear, disruption, uncertainty and sometime calamity. If only , one has a positive experience with any change and can quickly get the others to experience it without any risk, the value of such an experience is huge with any user industry.
3. Value : The most fuzzy concept : There are different value needs at different stages of a business cycle and there are certain value needs at each time within the organization. If your experience is what will bring value to the organization at that particular stage of business cycle, it will get rewarded. Eg : Say, you are a specialist in the making of dyed FDY yarns or dyed Nylon yarns or dyed viscose yarns. Then this specialization , if well blogged and sited on the net will automatically get a revenue stream sooner or later by a company which suddenly finds orders for FDY yarns dyeing, but was always a specialist with spun yarn dyeing. Another Eg, if you are a civil engineer and you have experience with prefabricated structures and you blog and get sited enough on the net, then your experience is well automatically get fished.
4. Design : This is one area, which has a scope of exponential business. If photographs can be sold online and drawings can be sold, then Design for machines, fabrics, garments , yarns, etc is a very large untapped market within the textile space.
5. Technology : In Textiles, there is no machine technology. There is only an Operations Technology. If one can bring about major design changes to get a higher output and lower cost of production and has already physically done it in his own work place, then this know how has very large value. I have developed a Technology, where in yarns will now be dyed with only 25% of the total water currently used. It was just my own experience and observations and a few changes and I found that the industry has been missing something so simple and easy. There is always something around you, which the conditioned mind is not able to see, but if you break the barrier, the experience is waiting to get unloaded as the Technology input for major changes . A Turkish Engineer designed a Twisting machine, which does not need a spindle at all. No killing sound, no big power cost etc etc. A very unique invention, but if only he would have sold his idea and taken money for his patent and licensing, he would have been more famous and richer. Starting a Brick and Mortar company is not for professionals.
6. Commercial Expertize : The whole world wants to know, if its sourcing cost is sensible or not. Only the best commercial managers have all the experience and idea on each of the product lines available in the market and the best possible prices. If only a material manager would exploit this on the web space and offer online consulting for USD1 per advise, he would still make millions of dollars. Lately I saw a company buy a machine at double the price which otherwise in India would have been bought for less then half. I would keep my mouth shut, but I pitied the owner of the company that a little global research and one will find , how different products get sold at different prices in different markets and if you are only aware of the bottom line of the price, then it is your negotiating skill to get the price.

These are business models for professionals. The best thing about these models are that they are fully guarded against any government regulations, overheads, cash flow problems , cost of running the business or any sales or excise duty and above all the full income is Tax Free. ( Only if you are a genius) Have a global customer base and your " Genius" then can make a business out of selling " Knowledge "

Viscose Fibres or Eco Disaster . Ringing the Warning Bell.

Viscose was the first industry where I started my work as a student in the year 1981. Though, it was quite accidentally then planned, but as a young man, I would walk down the alleys of reactors where cellulose was being washed with caustic soda, then pressed and moved to Xanthation, a process of treating with carbodisulphide. Finally after all the washing again with caustic, ripening and filteration, the natural polymer was extruded through small jets in a sulpheric acid bath. I would find it very funny, how the workers would take the broken filaments with bare hands in a sulpheric acid bath and join to restart the position. At this time, the filaments were also drawn and taken to the next job of washing and finally winding to a marketable size. Funny thing was it was called a " Viscose Cake"

This is all I recall of my training at the Viscose filament plant, which religiously was shut down by the " Red Flag " communist , who successfully shut many more textile mills across India.

What was most striking during my training was the level of Pollution caused in the manufactuing of Viscose Fibres. The whole place use to stink so badly that I wondered, how a normal person survived working there for his life time. Then working with latex gloves in sulphuric acid bath was never a discipline. Workers invariably would choose to use bare hands. And at the end the disposal of effluent into the nearby river was such a pathetic site.

Anyway, the above short description is to give only an idea on the manufacturing process of Viscose Fibre. Wherein against all other polymers which go through a direct polymerization process, the Viscose, which is cellulose based first gets Caustic washing and CS2 treatment and again caustic washing and then extrusion through sulphuric acid ,before reaching a sensible stage of textile fibre.

Let us now deeply explore, if viscose even merits manufacturing in the global fibre space?

I cannot research anywhere on the net, how much cellulose is used in making of one kg of viscose fibre, however, going by the Law of Physics on " Conservation of Mass" I would still assume 1 kg of viscose fibre will atleast use 1.25 kgs of air dried wood pulp or say around 2 kgs of oven dired wood or 4 kgs of tree wood. ( I have taken very conservative numbers , actual wood consumped could be much higher) Therfore , if the global capacity of viscose fibre production is pitched around 2.5 million tonnes per annum. This would need around 10 million tonnes of Tree wood. Assuming a standard tree yield is approximately 500 kgs ( which is actually very generous ) , the number of trees to be cut to satiate the global viscose demand would be

MIND BOGGLING 20 MILLION TREES PER YEAR.

Where does so much wood come from ? Thanks to some of the legal forest logging allowed in Canada, Indonesia and some other countries that cellulose users are still surviving. Some of the viscose comes out of Bamboo pulp and is still within an acceptable Eco Frame.

But , the bigger question is not just about the usage of cellulose for maunufactuing of fibre, because anyway cellulose also gets used for making of paper. Every time you get an email. you get a note, print only if no other option ,otherwise save a tree.

Does a viscose fibre maker put on each bale : Do not use unless no other option . Using one bale is like logging 2 trees of age 20 years . Does a Viscose Garment supplier put a warning label on his produce> Do not wear, until no other option. By not wearing you are saving a tree.

Or is it that I have to start a global campaign of awareness that viscose is cellulose based and is consuming our forest. Perhaps , most of the non textile world does not know this.

Further, let us explore technically, if viscose fibre actually merits such a large usage in textile fibre space.

Viscose has a very poor wet strength, soft, lustrous and not so friendly in dyeing ( specially in filament form, though fibre dyeing is still simpler ) . Because of its lustre and soft appeal, it was more of a ladies dress fibre and found its way in lingerie's , blouses, scarfs, etc . And later got extended in being used in home furnishings etc. But the fact remained, unless it was blended with polyester , the 100% viscose fabrics would after a few washes crumble away. However, each product finds its own market and in 100 years of its offering in market, it has found a large global space for itself.

Till very late around 1970, it was generally Rayon Filament yarns, which were used in textile applications and only the waste was cut and then made into fibre and used along with cotton. Polyester staple fibre had just been introduced and polyester spun yarn was considered the : "King of All The Yarns" However, given the limitation of polyester on its moisture regain, the industry started blending viscose around 35% to the polyester. This then became the famous PV or TR yarns. Till date, these yarns are the most popular yarns. The other reason was ofcourse that Polyester was obscenely priced and viscose prices were much lower, so any mix of the two would make the yarn more economical for the market.

The option to be used should have been Polyester Cotton Yarns, but processing cotton in a polyester plant was always a very messy operation and hence the industry found viscose as a good solution. Though PC yarns were any day much nicer and better then PV yarns. Therefore, viscose during all its lifetime has had a much nicer substitute fibre , which if the industry wants, it can shift in short time.

Viscose in the last one decade suddenly found a better application out of Open End Spinning and MVS spinning. The soft handle became the darling of the South American Textile Industry and started selling at obscene prices. However , textile is fashion related and nothing lasts forever. The romance ended and viscose prices came to sensible levels.

Actually, viscose is nowhere comparable to Cotton as a fibre in all its properties. But then the industry works only on demand and supply. There are no innovators, no genius marketers, who can shape the industry to rethink that viscose in not a fibre of choice. But was always an optional offering. The way the industry works is that the yarn makers have very little idea on the final fabrics that are taking trends since these are in the hands of Merchandizers and Brands. Both these channels have no clue of Textile Fibre properties and generally manipulate designs and colours to fit a season. Therefore , industry largely works on the cave man textile principle of churning out volumes , without having any influence on the market. Otherwise any sensible marketing manager would have pitched Cotton against Viscose as the most preferred fibre.

However , with the current " Green Revolution " Viscose needs to be highly restricted a fibre .

Further, in case of paper, there are no other options available ,except cellulose base. But for viscose, there are plenty of fibres which fill in the space easily. Then why should the world allow falling of 20 million trees per year?

It is about time that either Industry itself takes a moral route or the Regulators step in to make laws that the viscose fibre usage has to be not more then certain percentage ( 10 to 15% ) in their supplies and 100% viscose yarns will have to pay a penal duty of 100% of the value of the yarn. We cannot enjoy short term viscose share holders profits with long term Eco disasters.

I am still not writing anything on the pollution effects of this industry. But here I think , companies are so well rich that they have shown quite a lot of decency to make it pollution free.

The one company I admire in viscose making is " Lenzing " . Though I have a strong bias towards Austria and it is one of my favorite nations for its great folk music, opera, landscapes, medical science and above all the nicest people in Europe. However, nothing against " Lenzing" or any other viscose fibre maker, it is just that we as textile specialist should bring " Green Revolution " into our industries voluntarily and not wait to be forced by Greenpeace of any other such organization some day.

Interestingly , because of its monopolistic or oligopolistic nature of business, the customers have to stand in a Q, pay in advance and then hope the goods will be delivered. I once jokingly sent an email to the marketing dept of Lenzing ( Indonesia ) that if next time, they have a vacancy in Marketing, I would like my CV to be considered, as then I would move the office from Jakarta to Bali and have a ocean front office and sell the produce within the first month and then run naked to the ocean to celebrate the next 11 months. Now after 10 years again I contacted Lenzing for a request from one of my International customer, whom I many times told that if he wants supply from Lenzing, he has to become a shareholder there, otherwise, his chance of getting the supply is only in the next century. But he insisted and I wrote again . Promptly the expected reply came. But, I was still thinking why did Lenzing not move its office from Urban Disaster Jakarta to a more greener area outside Jakarta, if not to Bali. Sometimes I don't understand why companies choke the urban cities by having a glamor office there. Customers never visit the office, suppliers will visit only the factory. Then why have a show piece, which is choking the roads of Jakarta. But this is something which has to be noted by each of the textile company which has its head office or some office located in the capital city . Urban Life has become such a mess , because of the poor management of governments and the corporate sector equally. If only 100 textile companies shut their Jakarta office and move it outside Jakarta, it would already mean 1000 less cars on the street of Jakarta during rush hours. City offices are generally liaison offices and work on telephone, Internet and an occasional stepping out or a visitor . It can be moved anywhere under the sun in short time. Absolutely no reason, why companies have their offices in capital cities. All it takes is a very heavy taxation on the city office and within 1 year, all global congested cities will be clear of the urban choking. ( Ofcourse in case of Lenzing, even if the tax is 1000%, it can still live happily there )

Corporate Learning Series 14/ Entreprenuer.

I have been posting all the Corporate Learning Series as Anecdotes for enjoying the learning process. The following is my favorite story and I tell this lucidly to each of my friends, who wants to start a new business. Enjoy!

A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died."

Kenny replied, "Well then, just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Kenny said, "OK then, just unload the donkey."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Kenny, "I'm going to raffle him off."

Farmer, "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

Kenny, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he is dead."

A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"

Kenny, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $898.00 with donkey’s cost price of $100.00."

Farmer, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Kenny, " Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."

Kenny grew up and eventually became the chairman of Enron...

In Third World, Kenny would most likely be a Politician !

Management Hierarchy1

Corporate Learning Series - 13/ Wisdom

The first testicular guard
was used in cricket in 1874

and the first helmet
was used in 1974.


It took 100 years
for men to realize
that the brain
is also important ...........

Corporate Learning Series - 12/ Proposal Analytical Skills

Johnny wanted to have sex with a girl in his office,
but she belonged to someone else...


One day, Johnny got so frustrated that he went up to
her and said, "I'll give you a $100 if you let me
screw you. But the girl said NO.


Johnny said, "I'll be fast. I'll throw the money on
the floor, you bend down, and I'll be finished by the
time you pick it up. "


She thought for a moment and said that she would have
to consult her boyfriend... So she called her
boyfriend and told him the story.


Her boyfriend says, "Ask him for $200, pick up the
money very fast, he won't even be able to get his
pants down."


So she agrees and accepts the proposal. Half an hour
goes by, and the boyfriend is waiting for his
girlfriend to call.


Finally, after 45 minutes, the boyfriend calls and
asks what happened.
she responded, "The bastard used coins!"



Management lesson:
Always consider a business proposal in its entirety before agreeing to it and getting screwed!

Corporate Learning Series - 11/ Management Lessons

Lesson 1:
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there
stands Bob, the next-door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you
£800 to drop that towel."
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.
After a few seconds, Bob hands her £800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?"

"It was Bob the next door neighbour," she replies.
"Great!" the husband says, "did he say anything about the £800 he owes me?"

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure

Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift.
She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.
The priest nearly had an accident.
After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.
The nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?"
The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?"
The priest apologised "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak."
Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129.
It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."

Moral of the story:

If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish."
"
Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world."

Puff! She's gone.

"Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life."

Puff! He's gone.

"OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral of the story:

Always let your boss have the first say

Lesson 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.
A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?"
The eagle answered: "Sure, why not."
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.
All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:

To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up !!!!!!!!!!!!

Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy."
"Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.
Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:

Bull5hit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there

Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.
Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and
promptly dug him out and ate him.

Moral of the story:

(1) Not everyone who sh!ts on you is your enemy
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sh!t is your friend
(3) And when you're in deep sh!t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

Corporate Learning Series-10/ Donkey Job

Once upon a time a Washer man had two donkeys.

Let's say Donkey-A & Donkey-B.

Donkey-A felt it was very energetic and could do better than the other.

He always tried to attract the washer man by taking more load and walking fast in front of him. Donkey-B was innocent and behaved very normal, irrespective of the washer man's presence. After a period of time, Washer man started pressurizing Donkey-B to be like Donkey-A. ; But Donkey-B was unable to walk fast and got punished by the washer man. Donkey B was tearful and requested Donkey-A "Dear friend, only we two are here, why to compete with each other....we can carry equal load at normal speed ".

That made Donkey-A all the more energetic and next day he told the washer man that he can carry more load and he can run faster also.

Obviously happier, washer man looked at Donkey-B., got more angry and he started kicking Donkey-B. Next day with a smile, Donkey-A carried more load and started running fast. But it was breathtaking for Donkey-B and he couldn't act that way.....The washer man was very angry & frustrated, so he harassed Donkey-B terribly, and finally it fell down hopelessly.

Donkey-A felt very happy and elated and with more vigor started carrying more load with greater speed. But now the load of Donkey-B was also being carried by Donkey-A., and still it had to run fast. For some period he did, finally due to
fatigue he got tired and started feeling the pain. But washer man expected more from Donkey-A. He tried his best, but couldn't cope up with his owners demand. The Washer man got angry with Donkey-A also and started harassing to take more load... Donkey-A was sad and harassed and tried its best... but he couldn't meet the owner's satisfaction. Finally the day came when due to frustration the washer man killed Donkey-A and went searching for some other Donkey.

The moral of the Story in Corporate and social life is......,

"Consider all colleagues as equal and remember everybody is capable in their own way....

Always Share the Load equally.....

Don't ever act smart in front of your Boss and never try to get undur-credit. ..

Don't feel happy when ur colleague is under pressure.. "

It doesn't matter if u r A or B, for the Boss u shall always be a DONKEY

And most important: Less Work Hard, More Work Clever...!!!