NANDAN GSE PVT LTD
Globally, we wish to be a Mercedes Benz in the lifting system. We target a brand tag of premium quality that makes every client proud of the Nandan brand. If anyone is concerned about bespoke lifting problems, the name of Nandan comes up as a solution.
Started three decades ago by J C Kumar, Dr Raghunandan’s father, in the backyard of a small office with six workers, Nandan has come a long way to make itself a potential corporate entity with three strategic business units such as aviation, defence and material handling.
Dr Raghunandan Jagdish has four role models from whom he derives inspiration. One is his father, Jagdish C Kumar. The others are Richard Branson, a British Business magnate, Elon Musk and Ratan Tata, one of India’s most respected business veterans. He has learned many things from them, he admits proudly and admires their achievements, which are lessons for ardent learners like him. His father, the only person under whom he has worked in his career, stands at the centre of his universe, the source of light, energy and everything in life.
Our team met the young Dr Raghunandan while being busy with his team in the office, exactly a month before India declared a pandemic-induced lockdown. Most businesses saw a cloud burst inundating them with the painful Covid-19 crisis. Many phone calls came to him and he could read many panic-stricken minds. Nobody knew what was going to happen. Dr Raghunandan was determined not to leave even a worker but to handhold them and maintain a stronger relationship and better communication. That boosted the morale of the workers. “Look, crises give you a chance to rework your ideas,” he communicated.
One has to live with reality. In any business, you have to face two environments – internal and external. While you may succeed in controlling the internal environment with your entrepreneurial acumen, the external environment is beyond your control. The crisis in the business that Covid-19 brought along was external. Every turmoil delays capital investments besides an operational crisis at the given time. Every business waiting to thrive on capital investments also suffers from the delay. Nandan had to close the operations throughout the first phase of the nationwide lockdown. The next phase of the lockdown necessitated the opening of companies like Nandan as the company was making some equipment for hospitals, which was crucial for fighting the pandemic. In a way, Nandan also joined India’s battle against the pandemic but for learning many resourceful lessons and rediscovering its strengths. In the days of the crisis, it opened a lifeline by facilitating more than a hundred trucks to carry oxygen cylinders at the peak time of the pandemic. Nandan, which had 120 workers then, did overtime work and toiled to serve the nation during the pandemic with extra-hour work. The work atmosphere was tough, yet it could manage the supply chain, reflecting Nandan’s team spirit to do more in a crisis.
The experience taught new lessons and enabled him to structure a new work template. Dr Raghunandan created a new leadership team and delegated more responsibilities and accountability. The learning made many workers more competent and eligible to find better opportunities inside and outside. “Along with a well-woven team, we could do more,” he recollects. He turned the tide from the risk of de-scaling the business to up-scaling the business, finding better prospects in the scalable defence segments and consolidating his position in the aviation and material handling businesses. Simultaneously, Dr Raghunandan made his company better acceptable in the domestic and foreign markets owing to its engineering prowess, competence, capability to offer innovative solutions and integrity in every business it does. The company has 14 dealers, including a Qatar-based business group. As a company adhering to the principle of delivering V1 in quality, it has a message to all the clients; the price is what you pay and the value is what you get. The message speaks for everything. A Nandan customer once is forever a Nandan customer.
The government promotes a quality system so that Indian companies are globally competent. Nandan takes all efforts to pass even the toughest quality test. It passed the three-day SAMAR audit of DRDO done by a highly experienced team. At the end of the audit, it could learn many validation processes in its systems. Wherever there were observations of non-conformities, they revisited the areas for further processing to become stronger. He says the company has deployed a promising team to work on these areas. That is an investment in the company’s future. The company has invested in the cloud-based ERP. The company has a Research and Development (R&D) division and is investing in it as a part of its plan to build a position in the knowledge economy. It already has acquired 10 patents in its name. All these take capital upfront. “When we complete the product development process we know the sky’s the limit,” he says. Nandan works closely with its clients and exchanges expertise with each other. Some of them give access to training programs. All these give a flavour of richness, he opines.
Dr Raghunandan likes to place Nandan in the role of Hanuman, who, with an unwavering devotion to Lord Ram, was ready to move mountains to his lord. Dr Raghunandan used the epithet to show how unwaveringly Nandan is committed to moving a mountain for its clients. Nandan has the power and integrity of a Human, who lifts things easily to serve its clients. Dr Raghunandan uses the epithet of power, loyalty and integrity of Hanuman to characterise how committed Nandan GSE is when it serves its clients. It is ready to move mountains out of an unwavering loyalty towards its clients. Nandan’s lifting power and loyalty is as good as Hanuman’s relationship with Lord Ram.
After a slow growth of the economy between 2008 and 2014 due to the low capital outlay, the company rediscovered a ray of hope, thanks to the government’s focus on rapid infrastructure building. Though the pandemic brought a temporary shocker as it hit the overall economy badly, ending up in a contraction, the government’s focus on the ease of doing business, Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat and infrastructure development rekindled his hope like many others. Hence, post-pandemic India offered promising spots for companies like Nandan. Yes, adversities usually give relearning opportunities for entrepreneurs. However, the adversities did not deter Dr Raghunandan’s ambitious long-term plans. He has been passionate about building a company that is the best in innovation, the first in offering solutions to complicated tasks and the greatest by all engineering metrics in the segment it is charting its course.
Dr Raghunandan again found vibrant new opportunities in the new economic vibrancy of modern India driven by Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat and infrastructure development. Today, no other country is in a better position than India. Make in India fired up many companies with corresponding benefits to companies which were heavily import-depended in terms of cost competence. This is an opportunity for technocrat-driven enterprises, large corporate entities and the government also by way of foreign exchange savings. As an entrepreneur with the determination that he has ever since he joined his father’s tiny business named Nandan Enterprise, which had 19 people working, he spotted immense opportunities to thrive within India. After he completed the Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Texas in 2003 he had two options before him. One was to stay back in the US and find a job. “But why should I work abroad if I have a better chance in my country?” Dr Raghunandan asked himself. He chose the option of homecoming. Incidentally, that was the time the India Shining campaign was stealing the limelight. The campaign sent him a spark of the potential growth opportunities in India. He saw immense opportunities in Shining India upon infrastructure developments on an unprecedented scale. “I didn’t want to miss a great opportunity in the fast-growing home market. So I decided to return home and join my father’s company. The next day, I joined my father’s enterprise, which he built from zero,” Dr Raghunandan recollects.
The enterprise of his father, a technocrat, was a laboratory to test his skills and a platform to take off his plans. He did not look for a job abroad like most youngsters of India who went abroad to study and find a job. Instead, he chose to understand the potential of his father’s enterprise and opportunities in India. He knew nothing would come easily if he sat on the laurels of his father. He worked hard to understand the nuances of the engineering services that the company provided for almost 16 years before his entry. He became Managing Director of the company only after 16 years of working with his father. What differentiated him from others was his deeper and broader understanding of emerging India and opportunities within to thrive, his entrepreneurial passion and broad vision. He learns from books and great men. More than this he learns from reality.
By the time Nandan Enterprise acquired a name in the manufacturing of flight kitchens with almost a monopoly position in the segment. Today, 95 per cent of flights in India are served by Nandan’s flight catering Hi Lift. It could keep its position intact and foray into the overseas market also. After joining the company, the first decision he took was to de-risk the focus on a single segment so that it could be safe from being vulnerable to the segment’s recession at any time. The decision to diversify through harnessing the internal strength and emerging opportunities paid off well, as that made it serve larger industrial segments. Incidentally, policies like Ease of doing business, Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, India’s focus on building a defence industry and massive investment in the infrastructure gave it a stronger wing to fly faster at high altitudes. It is now at a transitional phase to be a conglomerate that India can be proud of.
Nandan has three strategic business units (SBU) – aviation, defence and material handling. It plays a big role in the aviation industry. It entered into aerospace and defence in 2010 though very slowly in the early stages. But we are excited once we realise that the same service we provide the other industry needs a complete change when we deal with the defence industry. It may be a ton of lifting, but the complexities, the testing procedures and the documentation were different. So we built the capability under Nandan’s sales and marketing process. Subsequently, when the production runs we meet with the defence standard. Though all three equally important business verticals, Dr Raghunandan sees the defence business as more scalable. Nandan GSE makes missile loading and unloading systems, armour transport systems, movement of goods, and aircraft loading systems for aircrafts C17, C130 and C 295. The company is revolutionising the logistic system for defence. Dr Raghunandan did a thesis on logistics management in aviation and defence for his doctoral degree.
A foreign company, which comes for due diligence on the company’s delivery quality and capability, has reasons to seal a deal with it for a long time. Last month, Nandan passed a quality audit by Airbus on its delivery standard to qualify as a Tier 2 supplier directly. Nandan designs a range of ground support equipment and surrounding management. Nandan GSE can audit the requirements of the end customer for material handling required by a small company as one with 6000 sq ft to companies with factories spread across millions of square feet as a thought leader in the industry. He firmly believes in Richard Branson’s famous quote: “If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you are not sure you can do it, say yes – learn how to do it later.”
In August 2011, Raghunandan met Ratan Tata at this residence after a conditional appointment. Tata was then one of India’s busiest business heads and a fan of India’s young entrepreneurs. “You are not supposed to take more than 10 minutes.” That was the precondition of the appointment. As his timer ticked, he asked Ratan Tata: “Sir, do I have permission to continue?” Tata readily said: “take your own time. I am enjoying…..” That sent him a spark of encouragement down his heart. That was an inexplicable moment with one of India’s loveable business doyans. The meeting went on for two hours. Finally, Tata awarded Raghunandan the contract to erect a car lift at his residence. “That was one of the most memorable days in my life,” Raghunandan still cherishes the moment. A photograph with him is still one of his most precious possessions.
When many good customers talk well about a company, the management faces the new challenge of maintaining the status while planning massive business growth. When one handles a small number of customers with smaller-sized contracts, it is easier to satisfy them and take care of each customer individually. But as business grows with more customers and business footprints expand, maintaining the service standard at a high level is a big challenge. “Still, we make it happen because each of our workers works with the spirit of a stakeholder. They know Nandan is a parivar, more than a workplace,” Dr Raghunandan once said.
Once a contract is signed, Nandan’s team of engineers work overnight to meet the interest of its customer within time. The team ensures that the customer gets premium value. On the other side, senior-level employees get exposure to multiple functions within the company so that the management can roll them through various functions. The workers also will learn to handle multiple tasks and timely reskilling. The company’s Covid-19 time experience has proven it.
A major strength of the company lies in its design capability. Every design is its own, unique and innovative enough to cheer its customers. “I never copy anyone’s design, nor would ever accept any such attempt in my company,” says J.C Kumar. The company can sufficiently leverage the existing infrastructure strength to sustain the demand growth for the next two to three years. As Dr, Raghunandan foresaw a need for huge expansion and capital investment, the post-Covid-19 saw massive expansion and remaking of the Turbhe factory where the company has its corporate office.
The logistics and material handling business is one the fastest growing segments in the rapidly growing Indian economy where truck loading and unloading solutions have a fast expanding big market. The boom in the manufacturing sector contributes to the growth of this sector with new challenges of handling complicated materials. The company offers a complete set of sophisticated and easy-to-handle truck loading and material handling solutions for the safe handling of heavy payloads. Nandan, with the capability to offer a wide variety of heavy material handling and lifting equipment, helps its end users achieve a high level of efficiency. Ultimately, the company makes equipment, which can reduce the labour task and deploy the same energy for other more productive activities. By making the products of material handling, it sets two aims, such as efficiency enhancement at the customer end and reduction of risky labour work. “Whether it is for lifting a nuclear missile, loading an aircraft kitchen, an elephant or a box, we can help our customers do better,” he says. Moreover, there is a substantial time-saving and reduction in mortality risks. Services of the company involve a high degree of risk. On the other hand, its material handling equipment could promote manual labour to become an operator. The company offers material handling solutions for every industry and companies from goliaths to small enterprises.
Today, Nandan has 270 workers, many of them serving it for over many decades. The attrition rate is very low, mainly because of the company’s policy of grooming the workers from within. However, some workers trained within could find demands and offers. Learning, re-learning and re-skilling are crucial in building a value system that is beneficial for each worker in their career, the management of the company believes. “For me, the workers are my extended family members,” he says while calling them a part of the Nandan parivar. The highly professional HR policy adopted by the company enables each of the workers to rise through the hierarchy. The company also invests a lot in the development of human capital and technology.
Hard work put in collectively by everyone, investments in organisational development and the vision set by the management will ultimately accelerate the phase of the company’s growth. Ten years ago, Dr Raghunandan could foresee the green pastures opening for his company in the aviation and defence segments. He had its calculation right. It has been working for the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, DRDO and companies engaged in the defence sector with a host of products and services including armour loaders, missile transporting, etc. The company makes aviation ground support equipment, aerial access equipment, special-purpose material handling, unmanned aerial vehicles, etc. Finding defence as a potential area for growth the company plans to give a major focus on innovation in the sector, Dr Raghunandan declares. It is now working on artificial intelligence to handle unmanned ground systems. Every Indian airport has one or the other equipment made by Nandan.
It has also built a position for it in the electric vehicle segment. The company finds huge opportunities for it through global contract business and white labelling for European and American giants. Its highly cost-efficient operating model and skill in meeting buyers’ requirements make it optimistic about new openings for it in the world market. The car parking system is another newer area, where the company has already built a respectable name. Dr Raghunandan feels proud of getting an opportunity to build a car parking system at the residence of Ratan Tata.
For the entertainment industry, it makes theme parks soaring flight simulators, and float and parade vehicles. Its mobile scissor lifts are built on solid rubber tyres with versatile options to move 1000 kilograms up to 16 meters. Flight Catering Hi Lift as used by clients throughout India, Asia and Africa are very popular. More than 900 Hi Lifts are in service with clients around the world, the company management says. The emphasis on sturdy design, reliability, top-notch fabrication finesse and most importantly the economy give Nandan an enviable position in the market.
Besides enhancing operational and engineering efficiency, the company also places greater focus on operational transparency. There are many advantages to transparency in business operations, besides peace of mind, In the corruption-free era, our business transparency and the support of experts have opened new vistas for growth. As the company continues to grow through the acquisition of new customers, consultative and value selling propositions give it a satisfactory margin, along with a new optimism in the business. The management expects roughly two-thirds of the business to emerge from large corporate entities, while the company itself is on its way to being a large corporation over a period if everything goes well. Dr Raghunandan can make it happen.
In the process, it has become a fine example of how a small Indian company can compete with China’s engineering might. This is a wonderful model, a small company now with the potential to be a large corporate entity over a period under the dynamic leadership of Dr Raghunandan. It will be a major defence company, the most preferred aviation support company and the most sophisticated ground-handling conglomerate.
Now the company is working on contract manufacturing with a long-term goal of building a position in the defence segment. What Nandan does now is homework to make itself a strong defence company and further consolidate its position in the aviation and material handling segments. Nandan GSE Recently embarked on another expansion by setting up a three-acre factory at Khalapur, which will have a world-class standard. Employees will be the first beneficiaries of this imminent transformation as he has determined to unlock the value by listing on the stock exchanges, probably by the end of next year. Dr Raghunandan has a big plan for his employees, as he believes the growth should be commensurate with the workers’ wealth. Through an employee stock option plan (ESOP), every worker will have a stake in the company’s growth. He does not want to create a façade of high valuation, but a robust institution with constant value creation based on everlasting commercial tangibility and an unsuspecting value of a blue chip. There is also a Leadership Development Program to generate the next level of leaders – who meet in a weekly meeting called the “Leader Council”.
Globally, we wish to be a Mercedes Benz in the lifting system. We target a brand tag of premium quality that makes every client proud of the Nandan brand. If anyone is concerned about bespoke lifting problems, the name of Nandan comes up as a solution.
Dr Raghunandan
Managing Director and CEO
Whether it is for lifting a nuclear missile, an elephant or a box, we can help our customers do better. Moreover, there is huge time saving and reduction in mortality risks as products of the company have big safety connotations too. Our material handling equipment could promote manual labour to become an operator. We offer material handling solutions for every industry and company from goliaths to small enterprises.
In business, like workers, he considers vendors and suppliers also as family members. He keeps their interest above his interests and comforts. Suppliers are all-weather and inseparable parts of the Nandan parivar, he tells. At tough times, it is the relationship that matters, he adds. When you run your ideas into a crisis, they are the ones who can help you leapfrog into exponential growth.
The new growth phase will make Nandan a force to reckon with in three segments. Given the engineering dexterity, curiosity for innovation, and above all a firm determination to make itself the best in the business it has engaged in, it can make itself known as a new-generation defence company that India can be proud of. Each segment has its merit and potential to grow.
Dr Raghunandan’s vision is lucid. What is drawn on the board is for precise execution, as the Nandan parivar adheres to the principle of walk-the-talk. The one-page strategic plan (OPSP) displayed on the screen is what drives Raghunandan’s team. A culture of growth and learning is ingrained in every worker. Learning more to earn more epitomises his philosophy. A dream seed sown by Raghunandan in the Indian shining era on an orchard readied by his father and grew through the era of unpleasant weather is now a classic example of a robust enterprise of unbeatable modern India.
