Author: Sai

Bengaluru, November 21, 2022: The Export Manufacturing Strategic Business Unit of the Bangalore Complex of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited bagged 2 awards at the National Productivity Summit organised by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) on November 18-19, 2022. BEL received the Champion of Champions Award (First Prize) and the Vox Populi (Voice of the Audience) Award for outstanding contribution to raising manufacturing productivity. The prize winning team consisted of Mr Premkumar D, Mr Nagendra Babu R, Mr Deepak G H, Ms Kalyani B, Mr Changappa N R and Mr Anjan K N of Export Manufacturing SBU, Bangalore Complex, BEL.

The award winning case study focussed on how defence major BEL entered into the field of manufacturing ICU ventilators for the first time and took up the challenge to manufacture 30,000 ICU ventilators in a record time of 90 days, against all unprecedented odds during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government of India reposed confidence in BEL and its agile production system capability when it placed an order for 30,000 ICU ventilators. Manufacturing these ventilators was undertaken during the lockdown period. BEL received immense support from various government agencies to resolve the supply chain disruptions. The project was taken up in the first week of April 2020 and the production of 30,000 Ventilators was successfully completed on August 14, 2020, surmounting many challenges.

Some of the key challenges faced by BEL were: BEL entered into critical care medical equipment manufacturing with no prior experience / domain knowledge / infrastructure; Design to Delivery of 30,000 ventilators in a short span of 90 days; importing critical components with export restriction and overseas domestic demand, dynamic pricing and unpredictable lead times; sub-contracting of work packages from MSMEs due to the nation- wide lockdown; logistics issues due to cross border and inter-State traffic closure, etc; meeting various technical parameters during concurrent production phase since the CV 200 Ventilator was continuously being upgraded by the design teams (DRDO, Skanray and BEL) to cater to indigenization efforts of critical components; Clinical trials and approvals by DGHS as the CV200 was a new launch; realignment of manufacturing facility to meet production of medical grade ICU Ventilator in lieu of defence products.

The approach adopted by BEL which led to success include: Creation of War Room for making faster and dynamic decisions; ToT partners’ identification and co-location of BEL and ToT teams; infrastructure creation / realignment; formation of cross-functional task force teams with specific tasks; obtaining statutory certifications; multiple / alternate sourcing for critical and long lead parts; timely indigenisation of imported parts; production at multiple business units; online training of medical professionals on use of the ventilator; pan India installation network.

Complete involvement of top management, resource optimization and total employee involvement led to the success of this mammoth project in a record time. This success has inspired BEL to diversify into the field of medical electronics.

Photo Caption:
The BEL team from Export Manufacturing SBU of Bangalore Complex receiving the IMTMA Productivity Awards.

Recognised as Role Model Organisation

BANGALORE, November 25, 2022: The Ghaziabad Unit of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has won the twin honour of CII EXIM Bank Business Excellence Award (2022) and the Jury’s Commendation for Role Model Organisation.

The Award is the highest level of recognition in the CII-EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence, established by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Export Import Bank of India in 1994 with the aim of enhancing the competitiveness of India Inc.

Mr Bhanu Prakash Srivastava, CMD, BEL, along with senior officers Mr Joydeep Majumdar, Executive Director (NCS) & Unit Head, BEL-Ghaziabad, Mr Jagdish Chand, GM (Radar), BEL- GAD, Mrs Rashmi Kathuria, GM (SCCS), BEL-GAD, Mr Giriraj N, GM (DCCS), BEL-GAD, Mr Naveen Kumar, In-Charge GM (Antenna), BEL-GAD, Mr K K Agarwal, In-Charge GM (Corporate Quality), Mrs Anita Srivastava, Sr DGM (QS) & In-Charge of Business Excellence, received the prestigious Award for BEL at the Quality Summit organised by CII in Bengaluru on November 25, 2022.

The CII recognises organisations at three levels: Gold Plus (First Level), Platinum (Second Level) and Award (Highest Level). One of the Award winning organisations is declared as Role Model Organisation based on the highest levels of excellence demonstrated by it in certain key parameters. BEL’s Bangalore Complex was the first PSU to be recognised as Role Model Organisation by the CII in 2018. It’s a matter of great honour that the Ghaziabad Unit of BEL has now been recognized as Role Model Organisation.

BEL-Ghaziabad has five Strategic Business Units with three distinct product lines and solutions – Radars, C4I and Satcom. It delivers 90% of Radars, 100% of C4I solutions and 80% of Satcom equipment installed for the defence of the country. The award citation lauded BEL-Ghaziabad’s strong business performance even during the pandemic, aggressive growth in all domains with focus on R&D, fast-paced technology adoption, customer intimacy, deep-rooted culture of innovation and continuous transformation.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Bhanu Prakash Srivastava, CMD, said he was happy that the Ghaziabad Unit of BEL had received this prestigious Award and recognition for excellence. He said BEL is safeguarding the Nation on all three fronts – land, sea and air. He pointed out BEL’s contribution to democracy through the Electronic Voting Machines; and by manufacturing Ventilators during the Covid pandemic. He said BEL’s business processes have been structured for gaining customer confidence and recalled BEL’s business excellence journey in association with CII.

Mr Joydeep Majumdar, Executive Director (NCS) & Unit Head, BEL-Ghaziabad, spoke about the transformation of Ghaziabad Unit from product manufacturing to making high level systems and system integration. He shared the business excellence transformation in the Ghaziabad Unit.

Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is celebrating Swachhta Pakhwada at all Units, SBUs and offices across India from December 1-15, 2022.

Swachhta Pakhwada celebrations at BEL’s Corporate Office in Bengaluru got kick- started today with the Swachhta Pledge being taken by all employees, led by Mr Bhanu Prakash Srivastava, CMD, BEL, and Mr Manoj Jain, Director (R&D). The pledge was administered to employees in three languages: Kannada, Hindi and English. 

This was followed by a march-past with employees carrying placards advocating cleanliness, like “Live Life Cleaner; Make Earth Greener” and “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”.