Sujata Agrawal

The Tinplate Company of India made light of difficult times to become a key stakeholder in packaging, especially processed edibles

The next time you are at a supermarket and you cast your eye on the food cans lining the shelves, spare a moment to consider the minor miracle that is healthy and safe packaging. At the heart of this latter-day
revolution is tinplate, the material with which much of the food that we consume today is best preserved.

Tinplate offers many advantages. It has excellent barrier properties and is yet, light, strong and resistant to corrosion. It is the most versatile form of packaging and is used not just to keep food and beverages fresh, but also as containers for oil, paint, polish, chemicals and more, as well as the casing for aerosols, batteries, etc. One reason why tin cans made from tinplate are so popular is that they can be easily transported and stored.

In India, the enterprise carrying the torch for tinplate is 'The Tinplate Company of India' (TCIL), an associate company of Tata Steel. Incorporated in 1920 at Jamshedpur, TCIL is the leader in the Indian
tinplate industry.

“We have always focused on technology,” says the company’s managing director, Bushen Raina. “We were the first company to set up a combination line capable of producing both electrolytic tinplate and tin-free steel.” There’s more to the pioneering side of TCIL. In 1995, it established a cold rolling mill complex to produce special kind of steel coils to make tinplate. In 2005, it set up lacquering and printing facilities, to ensure a differentiated value proposition on tinplate to its customers.

The ride has not always been smooth for TCIL. In 1997, it suffered losses of up to Rs5 crore a month and ended up with a net loss of Rs61 crore for the financial year 1997-98. “The organisation was bleeding,” says Raina. “We were ensconced in a manufacturing mindset; we weren’t looking at the needs and demands of customers, let alone consumers, something that’s essential with a product such as tinplate.”

It was a tough call for the company. But Raina, who had taken over as managing director in that disastrous year, and his people were able to craft a turnaround. The first item on their agenda was a thorough evaluation of the tinplate business. This indicated there were potential
opportunities aplenty in India as well as abroad, but serious work was required on the positioning front. They designed a strategy comprising three parts: cutting their numbers, driving excellence and empowering employees.

“We had about 5,000 employees and, for the volumes we were doing, we needed to shrink to some 1,500 people in the first instance,” explains Raina. “That itself was a huge exercise.” To achieve this, TCIL had to close some of its shops. It was a painful decision.

The other two tasks took a little longer. The challenge of inculcating excellence was daunting. Rather than go for the top-down approach, Raina and his team created a cadre of ‘change apostles’, who adopted the Tata Business Excellence Model and wound the company tightly around its philosophy. Executives were sent for training to become external assessors, and recognised and rewarded. They brought in what they had learned from other Tata companies and shared this with TCIL employees. More than 25 per cent of TCIL’s executives are assessors. “They have been a critical factor in the company’s success,” says Raina.

A ‘situation room’ on business excellence, located at TCIL’s general office at Golmuri, showcases the company’s processes. “When we began the TBEM journey our people did not understand its implications,” says Raina. “Today people at all levels have embraced the model and committed themselves to the pursuit of excellence.”

TCIL and its people have been richly rewarded for their endeavours. This year, at the 13th JRD QV Award night, Raina and his team stepped up proudly to receive the JRD QV Award from Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata. “The award is an outcome of the spirit of excellence that we have incubated in the company,” says Raina. “And excellence cannot be achieved without people.”

Raina emphasises that the company’s focus on its employees — their development, empowerment and steadfastness — was a critical factor in the transformation initiative. And this is not a selective exercise.

TCIL realised that while its executives and officers had a structured training programme, there was nothing of that kind for the company’s workers and set about righting matters. In the last 22 months, the entire workforce at TCIL has gone through the WIN Process, a training programme in Gurukul, structured to build a world-class cadre of shop-floor people.

Gurukul has helped employees take ownership for their work; it has enabled them to look at their jobs not just functionally but also in the context of how it relates to the company’s objectives. This has encouraged interactivity, facilitated the exchange of knowledge and
brought innovative ideas to the fore.

TCIL is evolving from a downstream steel-processing unit of Tata Steel to providing innovative and cost-effective packaging solutions. “With India riding high on organised retailing, food processing and exports,
business opportunities are increasing. This is going to be the key enabler for us,” says Raina.

TCIL is keen on leveraging the advantage of its efficient operations — low cost converter of hot rolled coils from Tata Steel to tinplate. The company wants to be a dominant player not only in India but in the wider region as well. It has been exporting 25-30 per cent of its production to South East Asia, West Asia and Europe, and hopes to increase this proportion.

Since 70 per cent of tinplate is used for packaging edible products, it is critical that the company maintain high quality standards. “Our focus on zero rejections and zero breakdowns has helped us ensure international quality standards,” says Raina. To further its quality agenda, TCIL has started co-branding with some companies by having its Tinplate mark on the cans and other material it manufactures. “We are doing this in a judicious manner to make sure that our brand is not misused,” says Raina.

TCIL has a state-of-the-art ‘Solution Centre’ at Jamshedpur which works on cost-effective designs and value additions. It has embarked on consumer research programmes to better appreciate the packaging needs of retail consumers. These initiatives are part of a
comprehensive programme to help it connect better with its customers. “Our focus is on delivering solutions, not just products,” emphasises Raina.

Beyond business, TCIL is doing more than its bit for society and the environment. Two projects highlight this commitment: in 1997 when it was recommended that the Tinplate Hospital be sold, Raina decided to open the hospital to all (not only Tinplate employees) and operate
it as a separate profit centre. Today the hospital is an asset that caters not only to the needs of its own employees but offers its services to other companies in Jamshedpur; in 2004, TCIL adopted the Hudu village near Jamshedpur and has developed it as a model hamlet, helping the villagers in the areas of crop productivity, water management, health and women’s empowerment. It now plans to replicate this model in other villages.

Simply put, TCIL has made a habit of thinking inside and outside the tin box.

Uploaded in December 2007