MPOWER - Edition 2

Mahindra Trucks and Buses launched the second batch of MPOWER - the Management Development Program for the nextgen Youth Transport Entrepreneurs - at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) on Saturday, the 3rd of August, 2013. The upside of this batch was that it had 35 participants – 5 more than the first batch.

The guiding philosophy of the program is empowering the next generation of India’s transporters/ fleet owners to “take forward their family business with their/ your OWN vision”, as propounded by Mr. Anand Mahindra while launching the program on the sidelines of the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards ceremony on 9th Jan ’13.

Mr. Nalin Mehta had also emphasized on the fact to media that MTBL was keen on the “walk the talk” initiation that urged the nextgen of transporters to join their ‘Papa ka Business’ in out TV-led mass media campaign a year ago.

MPOWER program is the next milestone of our engagement with young transporters, with Youth Transport Personality Awards being one more such step.

We chose and invited young transport entrepreneurs who belong to the finest transport companies of India for the 14 days course which is aimed at professionalizing the Indian transport sector in the long run. A course, of which the primary focus is the issues of the transport sector.  Notable faculty members of IIMA are running the course that covers subjects like, PROFESSIONALISM, BUSINESS PLANNING, MARKET& SEGMENTS, HR PRACTICES, SERVICE QUALITY, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT& ACCOUNTING, SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, LEGAL AND REGULATORY, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INDUSTRY FOCUSSED SESSIONS.

The program, MPOWER, which commenced on August 3, 2013 will conclude on the August 16, 2013 with the valedictory session.

The inaugural session  was graced by our MD and SVP along with IIMA faculty (Prof Raghuram and Prof Dheeraj Sharma), the MTBL team and members of Anantara Solutions team, our agency for transport sector initiatives.

The first round of MPOWER was a huge success not only in terms of an emotional connect with the nextgen of transporters but also in terms of bringing our business and offerings in their focus and also helping start a business relation with many of the people who attended. This successful engagement has motivated us to reinvest in driving a positive change in the transport ecosystem while nurturing our business interest.

We strive to make this program a grand success while it strengthens our brand even further, along with other initiatives like the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards and Outperformers’ League. All these initiatives will help us connect with various constituents of the Indian transport ecosystem at both the rational and emotional levels, which can be leveraged to build a strong market presence for Mahindra Trucks and Buses Ltd.

Mr. R. C. Mangal with the MPOWER Delegates and the gathering at the IMDC Auditorium

MD with Prof Dheeraj Sharma, Course Coordinator of MPOWER and Prof Raghuram, an authority on Transport and Logistics

OUTPERFORMER’S LEAGUE MEET - PATIALA

The month of July kicked off with an Outperformer’s League meet which was held at Patiala, Punjab on the 15^th of July 15, 2013. The event had a great participation with an overall count of 255 customer attendees out of which 176 were Unique Fleet Owners followed by 21 Local Dealership Officials, 4 Financers and 4 MTBL Officials.

The program was initiated by Mr. Satyanarayanana, Zonal Head North, who addressed the gathering with a welcome speech followed by a Corporate Presentation and an OPL introduction. The program gained momentum with Mr. Rajeev Sharma’s, GM – Logistics and Supply Chain, Panacea Biotech, Presentation on the Trucking Industry. Mr. Bharat Khanna, GM – Arshiya Logistics, gave insight on Opportunities for Market Load Industry in Patiala. As the evening went by, Mr. Moninder Walia, Editor Transport Times gave a Talk on the Transport Industry.

Mr. Pradeep Varaiya, Tyre Expert took over by giving a Presentation on Increasing Profit by Extending Tyre Life. Mr. Gagandeep Singh Behl, ABM took the privilege of introducing MTB Team and giving the Vote of Thanks. This was followed by the Key Distribution Ceremony whereby Five Keys were distributed to the customers. A short introduction of Dealer Sales and Service Team was given by Mr. Hemant Goyal, Director Pushpagoyal Enterprises. The end of the evening was marked by Cocktails followed by Dinner.

The customers provided feedback on what they felt about this meet and how it helped them. To quote Mr. Manjot, Dinsha Transport, Rajpura, “I find this program very interactive, what other companies do is simply not close to this. OPL is high level interaction program; it is a platform which makes transporter globalized. The speakers especially Mr. P.C (Tyre) is well known person in market. He knows how to inject tyre knowledge into transporter nerves. It is an excellent transport forum in all respect.”

Mr. Raj kumar, Agarwal Transport, Cheeka said, that Mahindra has set a benchmark and has done a fabulous job altogether. This has got him to see the product range and has also built confidence in him with regards to the facilities being provided by Mahindra.

And finally quoting Mr. Lavi Chadha, Chadha Motors, Patiala, “As we know that transport is having a tough and busy time, but thanks to Mahindra who has taken an initiative to inject some social life in a form of get together; a quality get together where we can get quality interaction with industry experts."

The City of Commerce and Industry Meets

In the city of Commerce and Industry, Mumbai was held the Outperformer’s League meet on the 10^th of July, 2013. The total number of customer attendees was 156 out of which there was a participation of 80 Unique Fleet Owners. Five Financers along with their team also attended this event.

To begin the program it was Mr. Vijay Goudar – ABM, Mumbai who welcomed the attendees with a warm welcome speech followed by a Corporate Presentation leading to the Introduction of the OPL to all. Mr. Uttam Ramani, Sr. Vice President – Logistics, JSW Steel Ltd gave a talk on the “Best Practices and Opportunities in Steel Transportation.” The Tyre Expert, Mr. Pradeep C. Varaiya, gave inputs on “Tyre-Selection, Care and Maintenance” through an enriching presentation.

Mr. Sanjay Dayal, COO Credence Logistics highlighted, “The key challenges for the transport Industry” on the earnest request of Mr. Prashant Kumar, Key Accounts Manager, MTBL. The Summarization and Vision of the Forum was given by Mr. Amitkumar Gupta (ZM, MTBL). Mr. Pathania of Spectra Automotives ended the evening by giving the Vote of Thanks and also introducing the local sales team to the large gathering.

Despite the heavy downpour witnessed by the city on the same day, the attendance was indeed very satisfying with a large number of Fleet Owners who enjoyed the session and also actively interacted with the speakers. All the speakers stayed till the end of the event to interact with the participants. The team members of Spectra Automotives and Local MTBL-Team were active participants all throughout the evening.

The customers gave feedback on what they felt about the event. Quoting Mr. Suresh Panmand, Sahyadhri Logistics Pvt Ltd (MTBL-IKA), “It’s very good initiative by Mahindra. Calling experts related to our industry. The session on Steel was really good & the session on tyre was quite interesting & full of knowledge.”

Mr. Mukesh Sharma, Supreme Transport Organisation Pvt Ltd (MTBL-IKA) had similar views. He said, “Mahindra ke program hamesha acche hote hain. Hum chahte hain ke Mahindra hamari drivers’ ki samasya ka bhi koi samadhan nikale. Driver ke saath Truck Offer kare.”

OPL – INDORE MEET

An Outperformers League meet was held in the city of Indore on the 26^th of June 2013 which was met by a large number of participants.

The event was attended by 174 participants out of whom there were 85 Fleet Owners attended from a list of 120 Fleet Owners. The event also had participation of 26 NKA/IKA customers out of 38 customers. Along with them attended 4 Body builders out of the top 10 Body builders.

Mr. Amitkumar Gupta, Zonal Head kick started the event with a warm welcome speech to all the fellow participants present at the event along with a Corporate Presentation and a Presentation on OPL Introduction. This was shortly followed by a Presentation on Containerized Transportation and the Future of Containerized transportation in India by Mr. Amrendra Pratap Singh, Head Distribution and Logistics, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The following presentation was by Mr. I. C Goel who gave a Presentation on Subrogratory Claims made on Transporters by Insurance Companies. Mr. I. C Goel represents the AIMTC as a nominee for the Insurance Regulatory Authority, Government of India.

As the evening proceeded, Mr. Amitkumar Gupta took the privilege to introduce Mr. Madoosudanan (ABM-MTBL) among the Fleet Owners. Marking the end of the event was Mr. Ghulam Gous Shirani, MD-Sagar Automobiles who gave a quick Vote of thanks to all the participants for gracing the event.

Despite the heavy rainfall in the city, the Fleet Owners turned up in good numbers and also enjoyed the event. They actively participated in the discussions that were conducted and interacted with the speakers. There was active participation from the team of Sagar Automobiles and Local MTBL-Team.