Evolution of the Concept of Corporate University:
Anand ‘U’ is set up as a Corporate University to cover the needs of Anand. Essentially, there were five broad forces that led to the setting-up of Anand ‘U’ :

- The emergence of a flat, flexible organization
- The need for ‘knowledge workers’ rather than ‘blue-collared workers’
- The shortened shelf-life of knowledge
- The new focus on life-time employability, rather than life-time employment
- A fundamental shift in the global education marketplace

These broad trends point to a new key vehicle for creating a sustained competitive advantage – the Group’s commitment to employee education and development.

During the initial years, training & education within the Group followed the traditional supermarket model viz. a set number of programs were available to the Group Companies and trainees were sponsored based on the felt needs of the employees / business heads. Accordingly, training was imparted each year, but the overall effectiveness of the programs could not be evaluated as the focus was not directly on implementation and monitoring of the learning.

Considering the above-mentioned forces influencing the market place, the mission statement of Anand University was redefined to focus on learning solutions that could be applied immediately by the participant, thereby reinforcing the learning.

Anand Production System (APS)
The Anand Production System is very closely related to the Total Quality Management, Total Productive Maintenance and Total Employee Involvement, and derives from the “Toyota Production System” model.

Basic philosophy behind APS is ‘Increase of Value Contribution & Customer Satisfaction”, which means elimination of non value added activities and emphasis on Value Stream Way of thinking rather than the traditional functional way of thinking.

APS is designed around the concept of 20 keys, which was first propagated by Iwao Kobayashi, one of Japan’s best known consultants in manufacturing. The concept focuses on achieving ‘Synchronized Manufacturing Flow’ through, strong focus on enablers, at the work unit level. These 20 keys are divided into five areas namely People, Workplace, Quality, Machine Effectiveness and Synchronized Manufacturing. Each of these sections represents a step towards achieving manufacturing excellence.

Step One: People Involvement:
Involving people from the grassroots levels and sharing the vision of becoming a world-class company with them. This is the focus of people keys:

• Key 2 - Small Group Activities
• Key 3 - Idea Implementation
• Key 4 - Management by Objectives
• Key 5 - Skill Versatility

Step Two: Standardizing workplace:
Making the workplace organized, safe and visual and creating work standards to reduce variability. This is achieved using workplace keys:

• Key 1 – Value Stream Design
• Key 6 – Safety
• Key 7 - 5 ‘S’
• Key 8 - Flow oriented Layout
• Key 9 - Visual Management
• Key 10 - Standardized Work

Step Three: Quality Maintenance:
Making processes capable, improving quality and solving problems effectively, with a special focus on developing supplier. Keys for quality maintenance are woven around the Six Sigma concept of stabilizing the process and reducing variability for consistent quality. The quality keys are:

• Key 11 – Process Capability
• Key 12 – Quality Maintenance
• Key 13  -  Problem Solving
• Key 14  Supplier Development

Step Four: Machine Effectiveness:
Producing quality products and delivering at customers end in time, would be possible, only if we have reliable equipment. There are three keys in this section:

• Key 15- Productive Maintenance
• Key 16 – Efficiency Control
• Key 17 – Quick Changeover

These keys help in improving equipment effectiveness through productive maintenance and quick changeover and the benefits include Zero Breakdown, Zero Accident and Zero Defect, which translate to higher productivity and lower production cost.

Step Five: Synchronized Manufacturing
As we move towards the last section of 20 keys we see that the improvements we make have started to yield result in terms of synchronized flow throughout the value stream and this synchronize manufacturing comprises of three keys

• Production scheduling
• Coupled manufacturing and finally,
• Delivery performance.

Key number 20, Delivery performance is the result of all the effort made using Key-1 to Key-19. Achieving 100% delivery performance and becoming a JIT supplier to our customers is the outcome of this key.

Tool for Measurement :
20 keys is the tool that can be used for making substantial improvements and for the assessment in the work unit both by internal as well as external assessor. Each key has 5 maturity levels measuring continual improvement of the system;

• Level 1 – Traditional
• Level 2- Learning
• Level 3- Leading
• Level 4- World Class
• Level 5-  Best in Class

For measuring the maturity level of these 20 keys detailed check sheets are used. Each check sheet has “Enablers” to evaluate the improvement process and “Results” to evaluate its effectiveness. In every quarter internal and external assessment in carried out and current level and target for quarter are displayed in each work-unit for information of all stakeholders.

This audit system provides a structured framework for three stage cycle i.e. check, analyze the gap and improve.

Anand U Trainings to support APS implementation:
As Anand U’s role has changed over the years from that of a trainer to an inhouse consultant, Anand U had developed a gamut of tailor made courses to help companies move up the ladder of excellence. These programs are carefully designed to meet specific requirements of each level of employees ranging from operating level to top management as APS is all about Total Employee Involvement. These courses are structured around each of the five key areas of APS.

Apart from the above trainings, Senior Managers are trained as Manufacturing Excellence Champions, who would guide the APS teams and provide resources, apart from being roadblock removers.

Impact of Anand U Trainings
The development of these focused training programs has resulted in a definite impact on the business from the points of views of our various stakeholders.

APS implementation process in on fast track in the group at this moment and is reinforced through quarterly audits by trained auditors across the group and reviews by top management. This consistent focus would yield long-term benefits of motivated & skilled workforce, standardized & high quality system and becoming a Just-in – time supplier to the customer.

Audit results for the last four quarters show that during the year, 76% plants have moved to Leading level. Five of our plants, namely, SIL Hosur, Emcon B’lore, Changyun, Henkel Pwn and Ansysco, have moved to the World Class level.

We have a plan of taking 32 % of our plants to World class level by the end of year 2008. Year 2009 would see 70 % of our plants at World class level and 15 % plants at Best in Class level.  By the end of year 2010 we’d be striving to take 50 % of our plants to Best in Class level.

The business impact of the various training programs is also monitored through the Training Effectiveness Monitoring Process.

There is an emphasis on monitoring the effectiveness of training against the preset objectives. Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluating learning at four different levels is used.

The Reaction Level - This refers to the participant’s feedback regarding the training effectiveness immediately after the training. This is captured through a comprehensive feedback form.

The Learning level - This refers to the degree to which knowledge has been absorbed. Testing the participants on their knowledge levels captures this twice - first with the help of a pre-test before the program begins and again by giving them a final test after the program ends. The difference between the average scores on these tests is a measure of the learning that has taken place.

The Application Level - This refers to the amount of application of the training content that has taken place at work. This is captured by making projects at the work place an integral part of the training and monitoring the quality of the projects. (Grade A, B, C)

The Impact Level - This refers to the actual impact that the training has made on the bottom line of the organization. To do this, all projects are methodically quantified to assess their business impact, both during their proposal stage as well as after their execution.

For ease of comparison and monitoring, the first two levels are combined and captured through a Composite Index, which is calculated as follows
µ final test / pre test

Where: µ  &  are the average and the standard deviation respectively of the scores of pre test & final test with the feedback factor being the average rating given to the faculty & program by the program participants, based on a final questionnaire given to them.
This rigorous methodology for measuring the impact of the various training programs that are conducted ensures a sustained business impact.

Impact – Employees
Education and development of its people is an integral part of the culture at Anand. A minimum of 40 training hours per employee at all levels is envisaged. Apart from the programs that have been developed in-house, employees are also sent for training programs at premier institutions in India and abroad.

Anand ‘U’ training programs impact employee competencies in several areas. These include management skills, engineering skills and behavioral attitudes and skills. More important, the teaching is made much more powerful by providing employees with immediate arenas to practice their new-found skills. This immediate reinforcement of learning internalizes it in ways that add to their stature as managers, engineers as well as organizational leaders.

For specific details regarding the different initiatives, their structure, course contents, eligibility criteria etc, please visit the Anand U website at www.anandu.com