Volume 49 No. 1 January - March 2019
About the Cover As the summer sets in and gets warmer by the year, millions of birds traverse miles inexhaustibly in search of water with a hope to spot a tiny oasis and perhaps be deceived by a mirage. It doesn’t take a Fireside to realise the looming water crisis threatening the existence of all the living species on earth. But this picture will continue to remind us that while we are among the lucky few to be blessed with ‘abundance’ of this resource, it is our responsibility to preserve it for the future. Photo by Sameer Karmarkar
Comment BACK COVER Thousands have lived without love, A significant leap not one without water in the Middle East – W. H. Auden
Editor Swastika Mukherjee Correspondents : Assistant Editor Sheetal Bachkaniwala Process Cooling Pradeep Agnani FEPL Akansha Choudhary Apeksha Garse Absorption Cooling Saswati Kar TOESL Design Mukesh Ghodke Services Aishwarya Mankame IR Sameer Karmarkar Noorjahan Khan B&H Bakhtawar Battiwalla Administration Anand Antarkar B&H Services Connie Fernandes Finance Production & Circulation Akansha Choudhary Bhushan Chitaley Power Saheblal Shaikh Corporate Safety Hardik U. Patel Enviro Kirti Pitale Mumbai Printed at Kaustubh Reshma Mehrotra Delhi Vyoma Graphics, Pune Dharmadhikari WWS Swati Aditya Kolkata Sriram Mylavarapu Chemical Satyamanikkam M.B. Chennai Anubhuti Gupta Chemical Janki Thaker Savli Ambika Badve HR Sujata Deshpande Thermax Foundation
Copyright © Thermax Limited 2019 Fireside is the quarterly house magazine of Thermax Limited, Pune. For private circulation only. Company related news/features may be reproduced only with the permission of the Editor. Address : Thermax Limited,Thermax House, 14 Mumbai Pune Road, Wakdewadi, Pune 411 003, India. Tel : (020) 25542263 Fax : (020) 25541226 Fireside is also hosted on the website : www.thermaxglobal.com Email : [email protected] [email protected] Contents
• Cogen plant for a major sugar manufacturer in the Philippines • Sewage Treatment Plant for WHAT’S NEW? Hindustan Zinc • ROSS, smart service support 2 for Thermax chillers • New identity for Boiler & Heater • Rollout of SAP SuccessFactors • Solar Power’s first international project
With global warming rising at a rapid pace, Meher in her article shares examples of the EXPRESSIONS green initiatives taken by various organisations 6 including Thermax, while sensitising readers about environmental sustainability.
In a conversation with Swastika Mukherjee, Kirtiraj Jilkar talks about his tenure with Thermax UP CLOSE spanning more than 20 years and his vision for 8 the Solar and O&M businesses.
• Cooling the luxurious Carlyle Hotel in New York • Rajendran Arunachalam, Thermax’s new CFO ROUND UP • A proud moment for the Steam Engineering 10 unit • Highlights of International Women’s Day • Thermax chillers in Saudi Arabia • The Board at Sri City • Global Technical Services training programme • Learning intervention for the Heating vendors • Thermax, now on Instagram • Cricket season at Pune and Savli • In Touch with Vizag • CSR activities for the quarter • Awards & Accolades
• Water Expo • IFAT • ACREX 17 EXHIBITIONS • India Steel Show
Humans vs Machines - Two different schools of 18 SIGNPOSTS thought on technology • Sidhharth Dhar, a former colleague from the HR department shares his fond memories VOICES of Thermax • Manasi Joshi, ex-Thermaxian, 23 narrates her learning experience under the mentorship of Pravin Karve
An interview of a millennial 27 SLICE-OF-LIFE
1 What’s New?
The plant supplies steam and power to the sugar factory and refinery as well as clean green energy to the grid. 40 MW cogen plant at the Philippines
Commissioning of a cogen BTG plant
ictorias Milling Company Inc., a publicly 110 ata, 540°C bagasse fired travelling grate boiler listed company in the Philippines, produces along with Balance of Plant. The plant supplies integrated raw and refined sugar. Founded steam and power to the sugar and refinery factory Vin 1919, they enjoy the repute of being among the and also provides clean green energy to the earliest modern sugar mills in the country. grid. The scope of the project included design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, civil works, Thermax has successfully commissioned a Boiler construction and commissioning of the 40 MW Turbine Generator (BTG) cogeneration biomass cogeneration biomass plant. power plant for the customer comprising a 200 TPH,
2 ‘City of Lakes’ gets cleaner
he Water & Waste Solutions business of Thermax recently commissioned a Sewage TTreatment Plant of 25 MLD (million litres per day) capacity for Hindustan Zinc Limited, the world’s leading zinc-lead- silver producer at Udaipur. Based on the advanced Moving Bed Bio Reactor (MBBR), the treated water from the plant “This utilisation of recycled water from sewage will help will be reused by HZL at their processing unit in Dariba, in rejuvenation of water bodies in and around the area, around 50 km away. in addition to reducing the dependency on fresh water required for the process,” said Hemant Joshi, head of This project is a part of HZL’s CSR programme, wherein WWS, Thermax. they signed an agreement with Udaipur Smart City Limited in June 2017 to set up the plant to treat the city’s The STP is also equipped with a solar PV system sewage and conserve water (an article was carried in on the rooftop of the control room, which generates Oct-Dec 2017 issue of Fireside announcing the tie-up). 24 kilowatts of green power.
Supporting HZL in their mission to clean the city sewage
3 Smart service for Thermax chillers s a significant stride towards leveraging digitisation for creating a differentiated service offering to our customers, the AGlobal Technical Services (GTS) group of the Absorption Cooling division recently launched its smart service, ‘ROSS’ (Remote Online Service Support). It’s a web-based solution that helps to remotely monitor, troubleshoot, supervise and control Thermax chillers for optimal performance through 360º secured connection and customised reports for analytics. The team from GTS responsible for monitoring “With our business having installations in over Thermax chillers remotely 90 countries, this initiative aims to change the dynamics of the way service has been perceived so to send notifications in case of any functional far. Extensive data analysis and ease of root cause abnormality. A dedicated team of engineers are identification will enable us to provide proactive allocated for daily scanning of the connected units service support to customers across the globe. We and updating their status to the customer. The have already begun reaping encouraging results condition-based analytics have been formulated by from our chillers connected through ROSS by way of an expert team having over 30 years of experience in excellent customer experience,” says Suresh Kumar, field service. head of GTS. The ROSS centre is based at the Thermax Office, This intelligent analytical capability can be integrated MRC Nagar, Chennai and was jointly inaugurated by easily into the existing chillers and available as an Anu Aga, Meher Pudumjee, M.S. Unnikrishnan and inbuilt feature in the new smart units with an ability Hemant Mohgaonkar on February 1, 2019. Boiler & Heater has a new identity he last quarter witnessed a declined over the years, posing major strategic restructuring a challenge for manufacturing in Thermax when the Boiler & supercritical boilers and as THeater business was transferred to Thermax’s focus intensified Thermax Babcock & Wilcox Energy towards green technologies, the Solutions (TBWES). management decided to revisit this In 2010, Thermax formed a joint JV. Subsequently, Thermax entered This provides Thermax with the venture with Babcock & Wilcox into a definitive agreement in 2018 to opportunity to leverage synergies Power Generation Group to engineer, acquire the stakes of B&W in TBWES between the B&H division and manufacture and supply supercritical which was concluded on July 19, TBWES in terms of product offerings, boilers for catering to the growing 2018. Accordingly, TBWES changed customer base and manufacturing demand for supercritical technology its status from JV to a wholly owned infrastructure, particularly the modern in the Indian power sector at that subsidiary of the company. facility of TBWES at Shriwal and a few time. The agreement also covered The transfer of B&H business to of the B&W technologies. the manufacture of subcritical boilers TBWES has taken place through Fireside wishes luck to the entire above 300 MW. a ‘slump sale’ with approval from team of B&H for a seamless transition As the prospects for thermal power shareholders. and an exciting way forward.
4 n 2nd April, the HR team at Thermax rolled out SAP SuccessFactors, an industry-leading cloud human capital management (HCM) Osuite that uses the latest technologies in managing various facets of employees' organisational lifecycle such as core HR and payroll, attendance and time logs, recruiting and onboarding; learning and development; as well as people engagement. The core team behind the successful launch of the new people portal To make this initiative truly inclusive, a naming contest was announced and after a detailed deliberation, ‘THERMLive’ was the choice signifying a platform that’s agile and updated at all times. “In the last decade, Thermax has increased its footprint as a global player and grown in terms of employees and businesses. We realised the need to develop a strategic people portal that And, the ‘Change Champions’ for being their partners in success can integrate all our operations and comply with the highest international standards. THERMLive has project team under the leadership of Amit Choudhary many advantages – it is device agnostic, customisable within 180 days. as per specific country needs, user-friendly and provides THERMLive will be rolled out in three phases, the first analytics by way of dashboards,” said Sharad Gangal. being Goal Management and Continuous Performance, The implementation was managed deftly by a diverse introduced on the day of the launch. Thermax’s sunshine spreads to the Philippines
he Solar Power business the grid and commissioned its first meet 12% of ever international project their electricity Tcomprising a 152 KWp rooftop demand while solar photovoltaic system for one bringing down Thermax’s first solar PV installation outside India of the packaging giants in the 137 tonnes of CO2e annually. Philippines. This captive power Collaborative efforts between the system from Thermax is slated to Solar Power and International beginning in the global solar reduce the client’s dependence on Business Group led to this modest arena.
5 Expressions
aving the FEW- Fuel, the ongoing efforts, the global
Energy & Water. Sounds emissions of CO2 in 2017 Sinteresting? This was were 1% higher than 2016 at my topic of presentation as 53.5 gigatons. The past four a speaker at the CII Green years have been the hottest on Conclave, focussing on record; air pollution is now the environmental sustainability a fourth-highest cause of death few months ago. These kind of worldwide. Around 700 million forums are hopefully relevant people in over 43 countries in addressing the pressing need today suffer from water scarcity, for conserving the environment which is expected to rise to 1.8 against the backdrop of climate billion by 2025. Capetown in change, which is envisaged to South Africa just managed to have more catastrophic effects, survive ‘Day Zero’, postponing it than anticipated a few years ago. to mid-2019, when according to officials, the entire city will run For a moment, let us close out of water. our eyes and imagine the day when you turn on your tap and Realising this alarming there’s no water; no fuel to threat to our existence, many drive your vehicle; air travel will Governments, corporates, be frightening due to thunder startups and social enterprises storms; the sun will be hardly have taken up stellar work visible because of the polluted in saving fuel, energy and air; there will be a ration on food water. The price of electricity and millions of people will take generated by solar was Rs.16 to the streets due to poverty, per kWhr five years ago; thanks hunger, thirst and of course no to economies of scale, we are The past four years jobs. If we don’t think about now down to under Rs. 3. Let 'sustainability', this scenario may me state a few examples here have been the hottest not be too far away! - Google is leading the clean energy revolution today with We are now being told by on record; air pollution an aim to run 100% of its scientists in last year’s COP 24 operations on renewable energy. is now the fourth- Climate Summit that we need Mind you, Google’s data centres to limit the earth’s temperature highest cause of death also use 50 percent less energy to 1.5oC (half a degree lower than an average data center. The worldwide. than the previous target), significant efforts by auto majors, since the damage with 2oC will especially Tesla, that started the be far more significant, than ball rolling in e-mobility, have estimated earlier. Some startling come a long way. IKEA recently revelations have been made by announced that they would way of statistics – despite all
6 consider using crop stubble a paradigm shift in sustainable was a mat laid in the basin of a in the state of Punjab to make practices and resource recovery. five-star hotel – how powerful furniture, which is otherwise is that! Every time I see water, I Our solutions in waste heat burnt by farmers causing now think of this young boy and recovery, cogeneration, pollution. In September last year, turn off the tap, question myself trigeneration, biomass fuels, etc. India became the first country to as to why we cannot recycle or have gone to prove that energy have an action plan for ‘cooling’ use a lot less, to begin with. I efficiency also gives us the and released the draft policy with know this is a small gesture, but highest return on investment, a target to reduce the energy every little counts. We need to which is often not recognised by required for cooling by acknowledge that sustainability companies. In business, money 25 to 40 percent of 2017 levels, is the ‘collective responsibility’ is often used to buy back shares, by the year 2037. of society, defined as - meeting and in mergers and acquisitions the needs of the present, without This conclave was in (where failure rates are over compromising the needs of the concurrence with an exhibition 60%), but when it comes to future. that saw companies, including energy efficiency, people seem Thermax, showcase their latest to think twice! I want to end with a beautiful green innovations. From start- quote that says, “We have not On the other hand, it’s ups to mid-size and global inherited the earth from our heartening to see a new organisations, it was a good ancestors but have borrowed it generation of consumers demand platform to experience new from our children.” greener and more ethical technologies that are emanating products, consider life-cycle cost Let’s continue being the change from the need to make processes rather than the initial capital we want to see in this world. and lives more energy efficient outlay. This certainly opens a new - IoT in solar, organic waste With warm regards, horizon of hope to preserve the management, energy monitoring earth for our next generation! software and many more. Our Meher teams from WWS, Chemicals By emphasising on these and First Energy put up an examples, I do not necessarily impressive display of their green mean that sustainability is offerings – ZLD, Maxgreen range the sole responsibility of We should be proud of chemicals and a scale model organisations and governments. of pellet-based heating solutions The time has come when each that Thermax began from our brand ‘Oorja’- featured of us has to ensure that we ‘thinking green’ since in the last issue of Fireside. as individuals think and act sustainably, starting with our own inception, which today We should be proud that homes and behaviours, where we Thermax began ‘thinking green’ can ‘be the change’! is, a dire need. since inception, which today is, a dire need. With a perfect blend I remember seeing a beautiful of technology and expertise, picture of a poor boy cupping backed by continuous innovation, his hands with the writing ‘every we have the potential to bring drop of water counts’ – which
7 Up Close 'In service, we sell to customers round the clock by ensuring continuous productivity and performance'
ost of my IT company in Mumbai. “Moving assignments back to the comforts of Mumbai have been where I have spent my formative “Mlike a thrilling and unpredictable years with a job close to home was journey not knowing whether what a dream change, or so I thought. lies ahead is a bend or an end,” But destiny had other plans, the summarises Kirtiraj Jilkar on his Power business was resurrected tenure with Thermax, spanning with the first coal-based EPC order, more than 20 years, which and Thermax was looking for talent comprises a brief stint outside all over again. Ramani with his the company that he took up to penchant for evoking the unwritten explore new avenues. emotional contract with all his people had to take only minimal In a conversation with Kirti’s passion for the company efforts in bringing me back,” recalls is indomitable to the extent that Kirti. Swastika Mukherjee, he vividly remembers the day he Kirtiraj Jilkar, Strategic missed the campus interview at his Kirti has several firsts for Thermax Business Unit Head, college. He then decided to pursue under his belt. He bagged the higher education and not take up first international project for Power Solar and Power - O&M offers from other brands, against EPC from Bataan 2020 in the talks about his tenure his father’s wish who wanted Kirti Philippines; the first large power with Thermax spanning to take on the mantle of their family project – Meenakshi Energy Private business in Mumbai. Limited in 2009 comprising a 300 more than 20 years and MW IPP; and the first prestigious his vision for the Solar He completed his MBA and joined solar thermal project for Thermax Thermax Babcock & Wilcox as at NTPC Dadri, where he recollects and O&M businesses. a product manager under the that the bid was prepared within leadership of Ravinder Advani, 24 hours in collaboration with RTIC whose perseverance and eye due to the last-minute decision of for detail guided him well in the changing the technology where ensuing years. it usually takes months. “Every “Moving on to the newly established success felt like being baptised Cogeneration business (which by fire. It doesn’t come till you are is the Power division today) the grilled to the core,” says Kirti. experience was like joining a When asked what triggered the college after a grind in a convent passion for Thermax in him, he school. R. V. Ramani’s advice to remembers, “Thermax was a manage feelings apart from facts dream company for any GET remains as a backdrop in all my wanting to work in sales. The decision making,” he remembers. managers were inspiring and "I believe in making When the business faced empowered us with challenging headwinds, and there was assignments, be it closing a deal people happy and deliberation about exiting the EPC or managing large territories. We encouraging them to business altogether, as a part of did make mistakes but learnt in the the turnaround strategy in early process with the support from our live into their roles." 2000, Kirti took up an offer from an managers or should I say mentors
8 'In service, we sell to customers round the clock by ensuring continuous productivity and performance'
(remembers B.C. Mahesh and on compliance and safety which their roles.” Pravin Karve). The morbid fear of is where Thermax has the upper failing their trust evoked a deep hand. My focus will be to improve “With the burgeoning opportunities sense of learning while the energy, the service levels by investing in IT and Artificial Intelligence, motivation and enthusiasm were in people through rigorous millennials are drawn to these intoxicating. Personally, the journey field training, assessments and lucrative careers. For Thermax at Thermax has been a mix of leveraging digital technology,” to continue being a preferred highs and lows that challenged me says Kirtiraj on the way forward. employer, we need to embrace beyond limits. Though sometimes modern technology and digitisation exasperating, it never broke this Moving on to Solar, Kirti has an where we have already made umbilical cord.” entirely different take from the some head start”, comments Kirti buzz around the business. “Solar on the preferences of Gen X and Y. Today Kirti dons the two very PV is still at the teething stage of important businesses of the its product lifecycle with low entry Kirti is passionate about future – Solar and O&M. “It was barriers where customers are yet communications and was an a paradigm shift for me as I to witness the entire tenure of their avid participant in debates and moved from the project business projects. The skilled workforce public speaking when in college. of one-time high order value available is limited, and the falling He is happily settled in Pune to smaller recurring revenues prices of solar energy have led with his wife Kavita working as a from the services business.” He to delayed decision making by French professor in Fergusson further adds, “In service, we sell many customers. However, this college, daughter Shambhavi to customers round the clock by is the business of the future and who is pursuing her graduation in ensuring continuous productivity should stabilise in the coming Computer Applications and his son and performance. Business today years. Thermax is participating Shauryaraj who is is changing rapidly, and old beliefs judiciously in domestic projects in Standard XI. seem to be clichés – ‘going the and expanding its footprint in extra mile’ vs giving customers exports with the first success in precisely what they want and when South East Asia.” He also feels they want, or ‘serving customers that cautious progression in as you would serve yourself’ vs Solar Thermal will be a long-term offering customers what they investment that will outweigh the would prefer. But thankfully, glamour of Solar PV in the years one thing that never goes out to come and hybrids may be the of fashion for customers is the way Thermax would score over eloquence of actions when all other players. elegant explanations fail." Leading a large team at O&M, "O&M is expanding its presence he speaks about his leadership in new continents while investing style. “I believe in measuring in creating new service delivery the impact of my actions and models that will be market not numbers as the latter is driven. We see a small but only an outcome. Working in significant trend in Utility O&M this company, when Anu was where customers are exploring the HR head has instilled the outsourcing from equipment human element in me. I believe manufacturers; offering integrated in making people happy and service for all utilities; focussing encouraging them to live into
9 Round up
Providing comfort at Carlyle Hotel, USA
or more than nine decades, the Carlyle Hotel at New York City, USA has pampered the rich and famous from Faround the world with its timeless luxury. To continue providing a pleasant stay for its customers, they reached out to Thermax for three steam-driven absorption chillers of 300 TR each to provide comfort cooling at 6ºC; replacing their existing chillers of a different make. Since there was a height constraint for installing the equipment, Thermax modified the chiller design by increasing the tube length and reducing the overall height of the chiller Customised chillers installed at the thereby customising the products as per the Hotel. client’s requirement. Inset: A view of the luxurious Carlyle Hotel, New York
Rajendran Arunachalam is the new CFO
ajendran Arunachalam Finance Controller of the Chemical joined Thermax as the and Power businesses. After a Executive Vice President tenure of 15 years with Thermax, R(EVP), Chief Financial Officer and he worked with Tata AutoComp a member of the Executive Council Systems and subsequently moved from BITS Pilani and Advanced of Thermax Group in March to Gabriel India Ltd., where he was Management & Leadership 2019. Rajendran will take over the the CFO heading the Finance, Program from the Oxford University Group CFO role from Amitabha Secretarial, Legal & IT functions in the UK. Mukhopadhyay with effect from before rejoining Thermax. Rajendran is married to Meenal June 1, 2019. A Certified Public Accountant, and they have a daughter, Starting his career with Thermax Rajendran has completed his Priyadarshini, and son, Kishore. as a Management Trainee in 1993, Masters in Management Studies Fireside welcomes Rajendran and he worked across departments, (MMS), Integrated Program of wishes him a mutually rewarding his last stint being the Divisional Engineering & Management and fulfilling career in Thermax.
10 Sailing to success he Steam Engineering unit of the Heating business Saddam Gadiwan, Thermax’s service had the privilege of being engineer at the site Ta part of the pride of India – INS Vikramaditya, the aircraft carrier Thermax’s ship of the Indian Navy. Thermax steam supplied a Pressure Reducing accessory De-Super Heating Station (PRDSH) unit used to provide to Alfa Laval distilling unit installed saturated onboard. As the ship sails away steam from the shore for months, this unit caters to the potable water demand for its occupants and requires saturated steam at around 2.5 to 4.0 g/cm2 at a temperature parameters. Our service engineer his commitment and customer of about 140°C. Since the steam Saddam Gadiwan was stationed centricity, he received a certificate available from the Navy’s boiler on the naval vessel, when it was of appreciation from the captain of is superheated, Thermax PRDSH on high sea for a month, for the ship. was installed before the distilling supervising the installation and plant to achieve the desired commissioning. Impressed with Celebrating Diversity
ike every year, the International Women’s Day was the world through dance and drama. The team at celebrated with enthusiasm across the company Indonesia released a short video on social media that under the initiative ‘Sakhi’ that symbolises highlighted the various facets of today’s womenforce. Lcamaraderie and bonding amongst women as well as The ladies from Thermax’s Delhi office stepped out acknowledges the commitment of Thermax towards for a team lunch followed by a movie on women gender diversity. The Pune team (all locations) staged empowerment; and in Savli, an hour-long training session performances around the theme of Glocal – global on personal hygiene was held for the women welders, by appeal local feel showcasing a fusion of cultures across the HR team with the help of videos and discussions.
(From left to right) The Savli HR team with women welders; a snapshot of the video made by the team from Indonesia; and Pune employees in their global attires
11 Thermax Chillers in Saudi Arabia
he deployment of Thermax chillers in the potato frying process for a Food & Thermax’s vapour TBeverages major is one of the path- absorption breaking applications developed chillers by the Absorption Cooling team. An earlier issue of Fireside carried pressure vapour driven absorption conditioning and refrigeration. chillers of 1000 TR each. These details about this solution. Being the largest capacity chiller chillers help conserve water supplied in the ultra-low category by After tasting success at its pilot wastage by capturing the vapour Thermax, to date, this technology manufacturing facility in India, released during the process of has resulted in significant power the customer has partnered with potato frying through a fan and savings of 4500 MW and reduction Thermax to replicate this technology further channelised through a duct of carbon footprint by 9,830 tonnes at several of its locations across the for providing chilled water at 7ºC. per year, equivalent to planting globe, the latest one being in Saudi This water is used for both process 5,22,240 trees. Arabia. Here, Thermax successfully and comfort cooling requirements commissioned two ultra-low of the customer, such as air
The Board at Sri City
As a part of the annual two-day Board retreat organised in Chennai this year on March 6-7, 2019, Thermax's Board of Directors visited the newly inaugurated Absorption Coooling facility at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh on the first day. They went for a guided tour of the plant, which was followed by the screening of a film on the making of the facility. Subsequently, they planted saplings in the factory premises before heading back to Chennai.
12 Global Technical Services (GTS) Training Programme he Global Technical Services (GTS) team from the Absorption Cooling business recently organised a customer training programme in collaboration Twith M/s Aadiushmaa (Thermax’s Channel Associate) in Chandigarh. The programme was an initiative to train our customers on the basic principles, operation & maintenance and troubleshooting of Vapour Absorption Machines (VAM) alongwith an overview of other new products. The event witnessed enthusiastic participation Customers along with channel associates and the Thermax from customers across Punjab and Haryana. team Supply Chain Sustainability
Heating vendors training at TLA
n line with its commitment to sustainable business half-day learning intervention on ‘Supply Chain practices, Thermax has been continuously Sustainability’ to provide their vendors knowledge upgrading its supply chain while managing its on safety, environment, labour laws and good Isocial, environmental and economic impact. On governance. A total of 32 vendors participated in this the 21st of February, 2019, the vendor development first time held training by the division. department of the Heating business arranged a Thermax through my lens merging as a new-age marketing treasure trove for brands with an estimated 100+ million photo uploads every day, Instagram is undoubtedly the single largest platform for visual story telling. As we stepped into 2019, Thermax commenced its Ejourney into the world of Instagram by launching its page @thermaxglobal. Fireside readers are invited to participate in the initiative, ‘Thermax through my lens’. Send your stories through a series of visuals – be it people, values, products, projects, customer success stories, manufacturing facilities, community relations or anything that describes the essence of Thermax to: [email protected]
Follow our page @thermaxglobal and stay updated!
13 Winners of Cricomax, Savli
f you believe that the IPL is the only tournament that Winners of TPL – Men’s Tournament and gives cricket enthusiasts an Women’s League Iadrenaline rush, you should have been at Tata Motors Ground, Pune on 24th February 2019 to witness the finals of the Thermax Premier League. For over two months, fifty teams across divisions and locations at Thermax Pune fought it out for the annual trophy in the men’s and women’s category. While the 'Killer Queens' beamed in gold as the winners of the intra-department ladies cricket tournament, the 'Bahubali XI' bagged the men’s trophy. Surekha Sakhare and Ganesh Bhaygude were declared ‘players of the match’ in their respective categories for their outstanding performance. The Savli employees too organised ‘Cricomax’ to demonstrate team spirit where close to 104 players participated in the game. Congratulations to all for displaying the true spirit of diversity and inclusiveness! In Touch with Vizag he In Touch series continues to be an essential programme in the regions, for maintaining customer Tconnect, keeping them informed and understanding their expectations. The latest edition of the series was organised in March 2019 at Visakhapatnam, where 150 customers, mainly from the Pharma sector in and around the city, attended A full-house gathering of the customers in the Southern region, enhancing the session to learn about Thermax’s their knowledge about Thermax’s products and services latest offerings and technologies across divisions. The event was a great success, leading to enquiry generation and meaningful discussions, followed by a gala dinner.
14
CSR on the roll! On the morning of 13th January 2019, 370 employees vicinity of Thermax’s Chinchwad factory in Pune. from Thermax woke up to a cause. At 5.45 am on a A street-play was performed by the students to convey Sunday, they assembled at Nigdi, Pune to participate in the consequences of not following traffic rules, and the ‘Runathon of Hope’ organised by the Rotary Club subsequently, they joined hands with the Thermax for corporates; comprising half marathons ranging from volunteers to distribute cards with the safety ‘Dos and 5 km to 21 km. In its ninth year, the theme chosen for Don’ts’ to people in the area. the event was rural education. Pranjali Ihare from the This quarter, Thermax Foundation also conducted the WWS division, won the 5 km race in women’s category, annual blood donation camp, organised every year as the third runner up. in the memory of Mr. R.D. Aga; witnessing whopping In another initiative, the Thermax Corporate HSE participation from over 730 employees across regional team in coordination with the students of Dnyandeep & area offices, manufacturing facilities and Pune Vidayalaya organised a ‘Road Safety’ drive, around the locations. Pranjali Ihare from WWS, one of the winners of Donating blood = saving lives; picture from the Solapur factory ‘Runathon for Hope’
Thermax employees staging a safety awareness Participants of Runathon session
15
AWARDS &ACCOLADES
M.S. Unnikrishnan, MD & CEO, Thermax Limited, was conferred the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' by the Army Institute of Technology (AIT), Pune Anu Aga was bestowed with the 'Lifetime on the occasion of their Foundation Day on Achievement Award' by The Economic Times February 24, 2019. This award was presented for (ET Prime) on the evening of March 29, 2019, in his immense contribution to green technologies, Mumbai, for her leadership role at Thermax and inventive thinking in business and an outstanding her philanthropic work. This was the inaugural stint at reputed industry bodies. At the event, edition of ET Prime Women Leadership Awards, Unny also spoke about the trends in Industry 4.0 instituted to celebrate women’s excellence in and careers in engineering. business and innovation. Anu also delivered a keynote address on leadership at the function.
Dr. R.R. Sonde, Head of Research & Innovation at Thermax received the 'Global Excellence Awards-2019 in the Gas Sector’ conferred by The Absorption Cooling division of Thermax the Energy & Environment Foundation under the won the 'Award of Excellence' in the 'Energy aegis of the Petroleum & Natural Gas, Coal and Saving' category for their hybrid heat pumps Power Ministries, Government of India. and bagged the runners up in the 'Innovation' The award was presented at the inaugural category for sub-zero absorption chillers at ceremony of the 9th World PetroCoal Congress ACREX 2019 in Mumbai. which saw participation from delegates across countries.
16 IFAT hermax’s Water & Waste Solutions and Chemical Tdivision participated at one Water Expo of the biggest water expos he WWS & Chemical in India, the ‘IFAT 2018’, th businesses came together held in Mumbai from 15 th for the three-day Water – 17 October, last year. TExpo in February 2019 at Chennai, A highlight of the event showcasing their capabilities as was working models such as moving bed bioreactor for wastewater a ‘One Stop Solution’ provider for treatment and colour removing chemicals & membrane; attracting recycling and reuse of water in more than 600 visitors to the Thermax stall which was spread over industrial applications. 100 square meters. Thermax was also a Gold sponsor at the WATMAN Conference, concurrent with the expo, where Nandan Prabhune from Thermax ACREX presented a paper on ‘Industrial he Cooling business Wastewater Solutions’. displayed their Double Effect Steam Driven TChiller (COP of 1.5) as well as miniature models of Multi-Energy EJ Chiller and Evaporative Condenser at the Thermax booth in ACREX 2019. The event conducted between 28th February to 2nd March 2019 in Mumbai saw a footfall of around 400 visitors at our booth comprising customers, suppliers, government officials and students. ACREX, organised by ISHRAE is the largest exhibition in South Asia for air conditioning, ventilation, refrigeration and building services and recorded over 500 exhibitors this year.
India Steel Show ndia Steel show, a joint initiative by the Ministry of Steel and FICCI, housing all major steel companies under one roof, provided networking opportunities for Thermax’s Process Cooling division Iwith top industry consultants, influencers and international delegates. The team displayed its Closed Loop Cooling Tower as an ideal solution for the steel industry at the event which took place in Mumbai in January 2019 and saw over 220 exhibitors participate.
17 Signposts
The Fight for the Right to Drive
While the world is advancing towards higher levels of automation with minimal manual intervention, there is a parallel emergence of individuals who are uniting in significant numbers, challenging the intrusion of technology into the inherent human rights to freedom; particularly in the countries which are early adopters of digitalisation. Here is an interesting article by M.R. O'Connor that dwells between the conflicting perspectives of Man vs Machine, in this case - Human Driving Association vs self-driven cars.
n March, 2018, General the automotive industry calls a company, already produces Motors announced that it “level five” autonomous vehicle: level-five shuttles and taxis, and would invest a hundred a car with no steering wheel, has partnered with cities such as Imillion dollars in a new car called gas pedal, or human-operated Luxembourg City and Abu Dhabi. the Cruise AV. On the outside, brake. Ford, too, plans to release Silicon Valley futurists and many the Cruise resembles an ordinary a car without a steering wheel, Detroit executives see such cars car. But, on the inside, it’s what by 2021; Navya, a French as the inevitable future of driving.
18 Knowing how to fix things ourselves creates opportunities for meaningful work and individual agency; it allows us to grasp more deeply the built By taking people out of the world around us. controlling the car directly, driver’s seat, they aim to make one seems to pilot it by means travelling by automobile as safe of a user interface. as flying in a plane. Many people, Crawford thinks, Last fall, the Philadelphia Navy yearn to revolt against “the layers Yard hosted Radwood, a car buy cars like these, you’re getting of electronic bullshit that get meet-up with a very different something rawer. Half of these piled on top of machines.” Some conception of the automotive don’t even have A.B.S.” of them attend Radwood. One future. The only cars allowed at twenty-six-year-old salesperson Radwood are ones manufactured In his book “Shop Class as for a popular automotive website between 1980 and 2000. Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the told me that he didn’t “want Radwood was first held in San Value of Work,” from 2009, to be a test dummy for Tesla.” Francisco, in 2017; this year, it’s the political philosopher and He owns a few pre-2000 cars, being held in around a dozen motorcycle mechanic Matthew and sees them as valuable cities, including Los Angeles B. Crawford argues that manual investments. At Radwood, he and Sodegaura, Japan. With competence—our ability said, he had become a member their molded-plastic exteriors, to repair the machines and of the Human Driving Association, aerodynamic spoilers, and pop- devices in our lives—is a kind of an organization aiming to protect up headlights, many of the cars ethical practice. Knowing how people’s freedom of movement at Radwood share an aesthetic. to fix things ourselves creates and right to drive their own cars. What really unites them, however, opportunities for meaningful The H.D.A. imagines a future is their status as relics. They hail work and individual agency; it in which, for safety reasons, from an era when engine controls allows us to grasp more deeply human driving is made illegal. weren’t fully computerized, and the built world around us. The To prevent this scenario from when cars could be fixed using mass-market economy, Crawford coming to pass, it advocates laws hand tools. They represent a writes, produces devices that requiring carmakers to include a relationship to technology that are practically impenetrable. If steering wheel in every vehicle; has now vanished—one that we try to repair our microwaves it also argues that every future privileges user involvement over or printers, we’ll quickly be car should be fully drivable under convenience. “The majority of discouraged by their complexity; hundred-per-cent human control. people who are fans of cars in many cars produced today For members of the H.D.A., this era want to be able to work lack even dipsticks to check events like Radwood aren’t purely on their own cars,” Bradley their oil levels. Driving the Tesla nostalgic. They’re an expression Brownell, one of Radwood’s co- Model 3 has been compared to of resistance. They believe that, in founders, told me. “When you using a giant iPhone: instead of a world of level-five autonomous
19 vehicles, driving a 1991 Volvo GL speed across the country for no Roy also questions the could become a radical political damn good reason.” widespread assertion that act. It might make you an outlaw. driverless cars are safer than Roy’s sensational rhetoric belies those driven by humans. Car The Human Driving Association’s the depth of his critiques. He companies, he argues, have founder, Alex Roy has deep charges journalists with accepting chosen the metrics by which misgivings about the prospect too quickly the autonomous- autonomous safety is judged; of a fully autonomous, steering- vehicle industry’s narrative of some focus on the number of wheel-less future. In his view, cars inevitability without interrogating miles driven, others on how often that lack steering wheels or are its technological claims. Much hands-free systems must be inoperable when disconnected has been written about the five disengaged, and so on. This data from communications networks levels of vehicular autonomy is selectively published; there is subvert human agency, self- specified by the Society of no common standard. He argues sufficiency, and freedom. He likes Automotive Engineers. (They that no autonomous car has been to say that human autonomy—as ascend from level zero, where proved to be safer than one with a opposed to vehicular autonomy— most cars are today, to the human being behind the wheel. is the only kind that matters. fully autonomous level five.) “Autonomy = freedom,” he has And yet, Roy maintains, there Finally, Roy points out that many written. “The freedom to go is still broad disagreement of the problems autonomous anywhere, or nowhere at all, or to about where various real-world cars promise to solve also have systems, from Tesla’s autopilot to simpler, non-technological Cadillac’s Super Cruise, belong solutions. (This is true, of course, in that taxonomy. In his view, only if one assumes that driving this has led to a widespread isn’t a problem in itself.) To sense that autonomous-driving reduce traffic, governments technology is further advanced can invest in mass-transit and than it really is—a dangerous road infrastructure. To diminish misperception, because people pollution, they can build bike may overestimate the self-driving lanes and encourage the capabilities of the cars they buy. adoption of electric cars. In Roy’s Given today’s technology, he opinion, the best way to make writes, “The bar for use of the driving safer has nothing to do words ‘autonomous’ and ‘self- with technology: it’s to raise driving’ needs to be set so high licensing standards and improve that no media outlet can exploit driver education. them for traffic, no car company can use them in a press release Waymo, the driverless-car firm to boost their stock price, and owned by Google’s parent most importantly, no driver thinks company, Alphabet, has been they can take their hands off the test-driving its autonomous wheel, even temporarily.” vehicles in Arizona since 2016. People there have attacked the
20 The bar for use of the words ‘autonomous’ and ‘self-driving’ needs to be set so high that no media outlet can exploit them for traffic, no car company can use them in a press release to boost their stock price, and cars in a variety of most importantly, no driver claim that, by seeing ways: throwing rocks; thinks they can take their more and responding cutting tires; aiming guns; hands off the wheel, even faster than human drivers trying to run them off the temporarily. can, their cars will save road. Like the Luddites of thousands of lives. According the early nineteenth century, to this logic, not adopting who brandished hatchets, autonomous-vehicle technology hammers, and muskets and would be irresponsible—even smashed the mechanical looms resistance to autonomous unethical. “People may outlaw that were taking their jobs, these vehicles in her recent book, driving cars because it’s too attackers seem to be expressing “Artificial Unintelligence: How dangerous,” Elon Musk said, at a a visceral feeling of contempt Computers Misunderstand the technology conference, in 2015. for the promised disruptions of World.” “The people who are (“To be clear, Tesla is strongly in autonomous technology. Their protesting and messing with favor of people being allowed distrust and resentment may these vehicles—I wish we to drive their cars and always be widespread. According to would listen to them,” she told will be,” he elaborated later, on the Pew Research Center, a me. Broussard argues that the Twitter. “Hopefully, that is obvious. majority of Americans say that autonomous-vehicle industry has However, when self-driving cars they would not want to ride in a short-circuited the debate around become safer than human-driven driverless vehicle; seventy-two the issue of safety. “The logical cars, the public may outlaw the per cent of the skeptics said that fallacy is where they say, ‘If you latter. Hopefully not.”) they don’t trust the cars, have don’t adopt our technology, safety concerns, or simply worry people will die,’ ” she explained. Perhaps it was inevitable that a about giving up control. And “It shuts down the conversation. nascent right-to-drive movement yet the same study shows that No one wants someone to die.” would spring up in America, two-thirds of Americans expect where—as fervent gun-rights cars to become driverless in the Safety has long been a central advocates and anti-vaccinators next fifty years. Who wouldn’t argument for the adoption of have shown—we seem intent on feel resentment, contemplating a driverless cars. According to the preserving freedom of choice future they don’t want but is going National Highway Traffic Safety even if it kills us. “People outside to happen anyway? Administration, ninety-four per the United States look at it with cent of serious crashes are due bewilderment,” Toby Walsh, an Meredith Broussard, a former to human error, and some thirty- Australian artificial-intelligence software developer who is now five thousand Americans die in researcher, told me. In his book a professor of data journalism traffic-related accidents each “Machines That Think: The Future at New York University, explores year. Autonomous-vehicle makers of Artificial Intelligence,” from
21 2018, Walsh predicts that, by ton killing machines. They do not underlying principle—taking or 2050, autonomous vehicles will be work as well as advocates would leaving technology according so safe that we won’t be allowed have you believe.” to one’s values—may be Amish to drive our own cars. Unlike Roy, at heart. The philosopher Albert he believes that we will neither Rather than create a constitutional Borgmann—the author of notice nor care. In Walsh’s view, amendment, Broussard argues “Technology and the Character of a constitutional amendment that drivers should resist laws Contemporary Life,” among other protecting the right to drive would that would take away their books—told me that he sees the be as misguided as the Second existing rights. Although steering adoption of self-driving cars as an Amendment. “We will look back wheels are legally mandatory, end point in an ongoing process on this time in fifty years and think the self drive Act, which passed of technological colonization. it was the Wild West,” he went the House in 2017, would allow When this colonization is on. “The only challenge is, how autonomous-vehicle companies complete, consumers will be do we get to zero road deaths? to request exemptions from tens passive, estranged from their own We’re only going to get there by of thousands of other regulations. skills, and disengaged from one removing the human.” (The Act died in the Senate, another. “Once we are reduced but driverless-car companies to total passivity in our cars Broussard has a term for the are urging Congress to take it and homes, we are no longer insistence that computers up again this year.) According inhabiting them,” he said. “We are can do everything better than to Broussard, the best way to kept by them.” humans can: technochauvinism. protect the right to drive may be “Most of the autonomous- simply to defeat laws that would “It’s very obvious that one vehicle manufacturers are legalize autonomous vehicles. hundred per cent of the people technochauvinists,” she said. “We can challenge the notion sign up for our list because cars “The big spike in distracted- that autonomous vehicles are are an extension of the self,” Roy driving traffic accidents and inevitable,” she said. “They are said. “Even if cars were one- fatalities in the past several years not even legal right now.” hundred-per-cent safe—even has been from people texting and if they were free—they would driving. The argument that the Today, the Human Driving still want to own one. There’s cars themselves are the problem Association has around ten something happening here is not really looking at the correct thousand members. In addition beyond a car.” issue. We would be substantially to a constitutional amendment, safer if we put cell-phone- it advocates for the adoption of I nodded, contemplating the jamming devices in cars. And we automotive technologies that low-tech Toyota Corollas and already have that technology.” improve safety without limiting Honda Civics of my childhood. If I Like Roy, she strongly disputes freedom. squinted, I could almost see them both the imminence and the as the horse and buggies of the safety of driverless technology. The human-driver movement, future. “There comes a point at which of course, rejects autonomous you have to divorce fantasy from vehicles for exactly the opposite By M.R. O’Connor reality, and the reality is that reason: to preserve the freedom Source: The New Yorker autonomous vehicles are two- of the individual. And yet the
22 Voices
THERMAX -The Legacy Lives On! very time during my talks, discussions or slice of your professional life (about five years) could business sessions, when it comes to people, have such an overwhelming influence on your life and processes and leadership, one common impact your thought process so irreversibly. Efactor is always Thermax. And, I keep asking myself one question; how is it that some organisations are Let me give you a few instances which may give you remembered by their ex-employees long after they some glimpses of how organisational culture, have left and even after so much of water has flown values and beliefs are built, brick by brick. My first down the Indrayani River? intersection with Thermax began with an apparently innocuous interview at the Apollo Bunder office of To look for an answer let me begin from the Thermax which at that time housed it’s regional beginning. Thermax has a special place in my office, in Mumbai. The interviewer was P M Kumar heart and mind. Having been a member of this and he in his inimitable style never made it look organisation, it has in many ways significantly like an interview. We were talking, discussing and changed the way I Think, Act and Relate, and exchanging thoughts on various issues, including every time I think about it, I feel a strange aroma or HR. This meeting resulted in a chain of interviews, aura gradually welling up inside me, and I become and I made three to four trips to Pune, during which nostalgic instantly. This may look a bit dramatic, but I I met about ten or more people including Business am trying to express my feeling as precisely as I have Heads, top management representatives, and my always felt. It is quite strange that a relatively small prospective ‘peer’ in HR.
23 My final meeting was with Mr. Rohinton Aga, and this organisation it could have easily been construed proved to be one of the most precious moments of as an ‘indictment’ but knowing Thermax, I clearly my life, the memories of which are still vivid in my understood it as an ‘invitation’. But, before that let’s mind. He came out of his office, invited me into his ask ourselves, “How many HR Directors/CHROs, office, held the door for me as I walked in, made me leave aside Business Owners, have the courage to sit comfortably in the sofa next to him; and not across say this and demand this particular behaviour from the table of his official sitting place, and began to their subordinates?" make tea for me. During the ongoing discussions, again, not an interview, at one moment, he asked Now all these were different incidents, apparently me that he had seen quite a few HR people start unconnected to each other but were they really their own consulting business, after gaining enough unrelated? I don’t think so. I saw a pattern emerging; confidence and experience. How about you? To a careful nurturing of what we ostensibly call culture, which I replied, “I am basically an organisation man, values or beliefs. It was, without doubt, different, and and at this stage, I have no such intentions.” The maybe that is why it has, even after more than two moment I said, “organisation man”, I could see his decades, remained etched on my mind, fresh and eyes suddenly light up with a childlike curiosity; he fragrant. leaned forward with a smile on his face and asked And thus, began a journey; or a quest for a meaning; me, “Have you read The Organization Man by William for the mind, spirit and intellect. I, many times tell my Whyte?” I said ‘yes’, and we then began to discuss audience that my five years with Thermax were much the book. more precious and satisfying than a degree from any When I left his cabin, the thought that came to my of the top business schools in India. mind was; I just met a business leader, an intellectual, And that brings me to the next question that I ask a thought leader and a philosopher, all rolled into an myself: How do organisations survive and thrive? illustrious Mr. Rohinton D. Aga. Trust me, I felt little How do they ensure that perhaps insignificant, but dizzy and a lot honoured! emotionally profound gestures keep them relevant I was selected and then came the day of my joining. and connected not only with their current but ex- My first encounter was with the lady handling the employees too? And finally, how do successful reception desk, who called me ‘Siddharth’. Having organisations keep learning and growing? come from an organisation that was during those Here is another example of how a small get-together times mired in an overwhelming hierarchy, laborious turned out to be a memorable moment for us and bureaucracy and excessive niceties, this was why Thermax, and our association with it, continues different. In fact, being addressed by my first name to enthral us, even after so many years! was itself a first! Somewhere in October last year, many of us, the ex- And then came my meeting with Anu and here is HR professionals of Thermax, had a 'reunion' and to her first sentence to me: ‘My name is Arnavaz Aga, our immense delight Anu Aga, our ex-colleague and but this name is a bit of a tongue twister, so you can the then Director HR of Thermax, also joined in, and call me Anu. However, you may initially have some she hosted us at her house. For me, the additional hesitation calling me Anu, so you can start with high came from the fact that I got an opportunity to calling me Mrs. Aga, but never call me Madam.’ meet two of my three HR mentors - Anu Aga and My next formal meeting with Anu was at the time of Prasad M. Kumar. my confirmation, which turned out to be yet another There were no expectations, no agendas, no life-changing moment, that has stayed with me even speeches, and no self-aggrandising gestures but after so many years. Here is what she told me: an unbridled expression of nostalgic moments, “I am very happy with you and would like you to be emotional affiliations and feelings of relatedness that part of my team. But there is only one thing which binds us together even after so many years (some of I would like to share with you as feedback, and that us were meeting after about two decades). is; you don’t seem to disagree with me quite often, and largely say ‘yes’ to what I say?” In any other The group represented six waves or generations of
24 HR professionals, separated by different timelines yet But as the glorious moments of togetherness came united by a unique culture; and the common thread to an end and as we parted reluctantly, we were filled, was how Thermax had touched our lives in some way with a refreshing interaction on the one hand, and the or other and how it became a 'way of life', rather than other, by sadness about the beautiful moments that being a mere organisational milestone to be proudly we had left behind and the glorious legacy that we all displayed in our CVs. For some of us, Thermax had are part of. indeed changed our lives forever. But the most reassuring realisation was that Thermax All of us, including Anu, shared experiences, and its legacy lives on! anecdotes and memories that represented slices of our lives, but when seen in totality, emerged as a brilliant and larger than life collage of culture, built and nurtured over decades by the founders of Thermax. And for most of us, our experiences represented a reaffirmation about how Thermax valued people and respected the contrary viewpoint.
Thermax is more of an institution; an organisation so different yet grounded, informal yet process oriented, – Siddharth Dhar organised yet creative, and structured yet so devoid (Managing Partner, Saffron Strategic of hierarchy. Consulting and ex- Thermaxian)
s I penned down my thoughts on A mentor the occasion of AInternational Men’s Day which in need falls in November, I took the opportunity to reminisce and acknowledge is a the contribution of men in my personal and professional mentor growth. Let me explain. I have always expressed my indeed! heartfelt thanks to the men in my family and my friends from time-to-time, whenever I had the chance to do so. But this time, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my first mentor and manager, Pravin Karve; who is currently the Executive Vice President of the Boiler & Heater division at Thermax.
I met Pravin for the first time at a mentorship programme when I
25 joined Thermax as a management I confidently faced any pass on its own, life is too long for trainee in November 2006. I had professional challenge that came such experiences to last forever! heard a lot about him from my along my path at Thermax, while The most important lesson of colleagues. However, when I saw on the personal front; Pravin life that I have learnt from Pravin him, I was pleasantly surprised by introduced me to ‘The Art of is how important it is to make his personality, which is an epitome Living’ foundation that resulted other people feel good about of grace and humility. He agreed in calming down the personal themselves. By doing so, we to be my mentor, and that was the storms. I was made to understand automatically empower them and start of my professional grooming that every person deals with give them confidence. This helps for an exciting career ahead. I their struggles that others would them gather enough strength to was this gawky newcomer with not be aware of, which is why it fight and survive alone under any absolutely no practical technical is important to be nice to all. At circumstance. knowledge of a boiler, and here the same time, he also advised I was recruited for handling the me not to be a pushover, not Because of my association with international marketing and to apologise unnecessarily Pravin early in my career, I have tendering of boilers. But not once and never allow people to walk developed a passion for teaching during any technical discussion, over me. He advised me to and training newcomers. I derive did Pravin make me feel that I was have the wisdom to identify great pleasure when I instil immature, incompetent or a misfit people, analyse situations and confidence in the new joinees for the job. Instead, he taught me avoid emotional reactions or by making them feel good about the basics of professional conduct responses to anything. I learnt the themselves, guide them about the like how to organise emails, files importance of turning up to work right channels and motivate them and folders in my laptop so that every morning with a fresh mind, to attain greater heights in life and any information could be easily fresh face, professional and clean career. This is my karma now. retrieved, as and when required. It attire, greet people warmly, and to was he who also taught me how travel light with no past baggage. to respond to emails, not to use I thank Pravin for making me bold or capital letters in emails confident, ensuring that I pay (as it seems like shouting) and to attention to details, and practice use dispassionate salutations and high ethics at work. greetings. He suggested that if a colleague or customer expects Back in the year 2008, I recollect my replies on queries pointwise, how during a meeting, a dear – Manasi Joshi my response should be just next colleague complained of what (Operations, Jabil Circuits Pvt. Ltd. to each question in a different he perceived as being bullied and ex- Thermaxian) font colour. I still continue to use at the workplace and how given these methods, even after 12 his frustration, he wanted to years. He deeply ingrained in me resign. After giving him a patient the importance of developing an listening ear, Pravin laughed expertise in tools like MS Excel it off and shared how every and MS PowerPoint, to be always person’s professional ship will hit curious about all the latest trends an iceberg once in a while. He and advancements in technology expressed how he has undergone and to make use of the same in such hardships himself, and the day to day tasks. “Technology and only thing one could do is to grin, efficiency go hand in hand,” he had bear, breathe, concentrate better, said. work harder, and the phase would
26 Slice of Life
An Interview of a Millennial
X: Good afternoon Mr.Z. It’s great to have you today squash and in my free time I enjoy playing video for a tete-a-tete. I’m X, the HR manager here and in- games. charge for lateral hires. Please feel comfortable. X: Well, that’s an interestingly diverse profile (raised Z: (keeping his phone aside which kept buzzing) eyebrows and tight lips). To be honest, it is difficult Hello ma’am. It’s so nice you’ve agreed for this for me to see how you fit in our requirement. What do interview. I’m glad to be here. you think makes the greater difference- Your work or your boss? X: The feeling is mutual. Welcome to our company. Can you please tell me something about you? Z: I really appreciate that you asked this. To me, the job is of course a very important factor, but the Z: I’m a major in mechanical engineering and minor right manager can make a great difference. I really in marketing. I’ve done a diploma course in Artificial think the manager has a lot to do with how a person Intelligence. My last job was in a fin-tech company fairs at a job. I don’t want a helicopter, hovering where I worked as a Risk Analyst. I like playing
27 over me and micro-managing my activities. It will be for women’s rights. A college mate has become an really great if I have someone who will be focused influencer on Instagram and is travelling the world. on growing together, who will be easy enough to The bottom line is not my priority. My job should give me the freedom to explore avenues while at create some impact in the organisation as well as the same time sees to it that my KPIs are in a good my life. shape. X: Even I hate my job now (thinking). I really don’t X: Don’t we all want a boss like that! We will try our get you millennials. You worked there for only a year. best to get you someone who fits to the best of your Wasn’t it too soon to ask? measures. Just asking, was it your previous boss that Z: I wish it were simpler for you (giggles), but made you leave your last job? as a matter of fact it is. “Adults” look at us with Z: Lol, funny that you ask. Okay so, yeah, there were presumptions. You patronize us because you have like various reasons I left that job. already stereotyped us in your minds. We want to be your partners in growth. We want to be considered X: Was it the pay? more seriously. Maybe you have misunderstood our Z: The pay was of course less. But when is it good expectations. I want to make money, I really do, but enough!? What irritated me was the incompetence. what we want to make more is real impact.
X: Your boss’s incompetence? X: Very well. It was pleasure meeting you. I am not sure if my organisation will be fit enough for you, but Z: Haha.. No. My previous job tolerated can we come together and work in tandem to ‘make incompetence. My colleagues were lethargic and an impact’? my boss didn’t mind that all. It really ticked me off. My company has so much potential but the nonchalance was really keeping us tied back. It got frustrating for me to work there.
X: Well, that’s something new.
Z: Maybe. Also I didn’t have a sense of purpose there...
X: Why? Was your job role not well defined?
Z: It very much was. I wish it wasn’t so much. I enjoy doing cross-functional work. Moreover, I was raised to believe I could change the world. – Akshay Raje (Chemicals) I’m desperate for you to show me that the work we do here matters, and makes some real change. Just to give you an example, my connections on Linkedin are doing some path-breaking work. Someone is creating a positive change in society by cleaning beaches while some are leading the march
28 National Safety Week
‘Cultivate and Sustain a Safety Culture for building the Nation’ was the theme of the National Safety week celebrated in India this year, beginning 4th March, 2019. To commemorate this occasion, Thermax employees across offices, sites, and manufacturing locations participated in flag hoisting, taking the safety oath and sharing of best practices. Refresher training on near miss and mock drills were conducted at key customer sites to improve the preparedness in the wake of unforeseen incidents. A host of other activities were organised to address every aspect of occupational health and safety such as games to understand risk vs opportunities, safety quizzes, slogan and poster competitions, sessions on lifestyle and stress management as well as short trainings on handling health emergencies. “As part of our HSE (Health Safety and Environment) philosophy, we strive to make every location injury and incident free and to sustain a safe and healthy culture. An overwhelming response from our employees during the Safety Week is one such reflection of this commitment,” says A.G. Kshirsagar, Corporate HSE head. A significant leap in the Middle East
The Power division of Thermax recently commissioned a 40 MW coal-based captive power plant for Sharjah Cement Factory, a leading cement and clinker manufacturer in the UAE. This is the first full-fledged EPC project to be executed by the division in the region. It comprises two CFBC boilers of 90 TPH capacity each that are capable of firing multiple varieties of coal along with a first-of-a-kind 30% wood chip firing. The project scope involved the supply and commissioning of Thermax DM plant, bag filters and dust extraction system along with other Balance of Plant equipment. The plant was conceptualised and synchronised within a record time of 18 months. Commencing 25th March, the plant is operating on stable load and generating power till date.
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