The latest edition of Tata Innovista, the annually
held celebration of creativity in the Tata group,
saw a clutch of outstanding innovations being rolled
out by Tata companies from far and wide. Innovista
2011 was bigger than ever, with 3,200 entries from
some 80 companies for the three categories in the
competition: promising innovation (innovations that
have been successfully completed); The leading edge
(innovative ideas that can be worked on and carried
forward); and dare to try (attempted innovations that
have fallen short of achieving optimum results).
Philip Chacko showcases the 13 award winners
across the three categories and the innovations that
brought them to centre stage.
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Promising
innovation |
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Jaguar
Land Rover: More mileage, more value |
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Jaguar Land
Rover has re-hauled its supply chain to secure cost savings
as well as a sustainability equation that gives the company
a green edge |
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Rallis:
A plus for pulses |
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Increasing
the production of pulses, that essential staple of Indian
food, was the task Rallis and its fellow innovators set
themselves, and are now on the road to achieving |
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Tata
Chemicals: Purity is the key |
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Getting a less
tainted version of soda ash was the motivation for a team
from Tata Chemicals — and their efforts are likely
to yield a rich and clean dividend |
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Tata
Chemicals: Food for healthy thought |
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A team from
Tata Chemicals has found a method to produce a high-purity
carbohydrate that is at the core of an emerging class
of health food |
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Tata
Consultancy Services: iON in the business soul |
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An innovative
platform crafted by Tata Consultancy Services promises
to help small and medium businesses extract maximum juice
from the information technology fruit |
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Tata Steel Europe: Sold on the solid |
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Tata Steel Europe has
fashioned an appropriately named roofing solution for
buildings, Absorb, which scores over what preceded it
while having plenty of potential for future growth |
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Titan Industries: Something precious in the bag |
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Titan’s automated
diamond-bagging machine eliminates errors, saves on labour
and time, and ensures a much smoother process than its
manual predecessor, not to mention a business opportunity
that in theory should rake in $1 billion |
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Voltas (Unitary Products): Structured to succeed |
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Voltas’s air-conditioning
division was in hot waters before an ingenious transformation
of its business structure began paying off in spades |
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The
leading edge |
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Tata
Chemicals: A binding breakthrough |
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Tata Chemicals Innovation
Centre is focused on reducing the cost of producing a
wonder polymer that can be used in agriculture, cosmetics,
healthcare and more |
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Tata Communications: Into the box |
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Tata Communications has
fashioned a versatile ‘box’ that enables users
to access the internet and multimedia functions without
any of that conventional tech paraphernalia |
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Tata
Motors: A safe kind of corn job |
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Tata Motors is working
on a radical idea in which a material made of cornstarch,
light of weight and with flexible properties, could lead
to improving the safety of cars |
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Dare
to try |
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Tata Consultancy Services: One for the heart |
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The portable cardiac device
pioneered by Tata Consultancy Services has not found traction
in the go-to-market stage, but that does not diminish
its potential |
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Tata
Global Beverages: Jelly for the belly |
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Sukk is the drink and the
Clever Jelly Company the creator — there’s
the beginning of why Tata Global Beverages’ new
health drink stands out from the crowd |
