Maruti Suzuki needed to quickly increase production to catch up with a spurt in demand for cars. Here’s how M.M. Singh did it
The Man: M.M. Singh, 55
His Profile: Managing executive officer (production), Maruti Suzuki
The Challenge: Increase production by a fifth to cater to an unanticipated surge in car demand
How He Did It: Worked on improving the efficiency in each shop floor process; robots were reprogrammed; a flexible final stage assembly line, which could work on any car model, was set up
What Next: Transfer these learnings to suppliers, and if required, to other Suzuki plants in Hungary and China
(This story appears in the 08 April, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)