The 17th JRDQV Award, one of the most prestigious awards instituted by the Tata Group, was given to Tata Steel’s Ferro Alloys & Minerals Division (FAMD) and Wires Division, at a ceremony held in Mumbai, to commemorate the 107th birth anniversary of JRD Tata. This prestigious award is given to a group company which has excelled in business performance following the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM).

Present on the occasion was Mr H M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel, besides other prominent senior management of the Tata Group. FAMD and Wires Division surpassed the 600 mark, thereby becoming eligible for this award. Last year, the two divisions of Tata Steel had stood after Tubes Division.

Mr Nerurkar accompanied by Mr Rajeev Singhal, Executive-in-Charge, FAMD and Mr Sunil Bhaskaran, Executive-in-Charge, Global Wires division, Tata Steel, received the awards from Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons, for both the divisions, respectively. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Mr Nerurkar congratulated FAMD & Wires divisions and their teams of dedicated employees for providing an unstinted support by adopting new practices in this challenging environment.

Congratulating his team, Mr Singhal said, “FAMD receiving the most coveted JRD QV award 2011 is a testimony of its commitment towards quality, customer centricity and workforce engagement."

The Tata Business Excellence journey at Wires Division began in 1995. Over the years, the Division has achieved a few milestones including the TBEM Delta 50+ Award in 2010. Wires Division has worked on numerous improvement initiatives supported by an engaged workforce. Mr Bhaskaran on the occasion said: “We are indeed delighted and humbled to receive this recognition. Having reached here, in cricketing terms, we look forward to taking fresh guard to continue this excellence journey, to achieve our aspirations as a global leader".

About JRD QV Award
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, or JRD, as he was popularly known in business circles, guided the destiny of India’s largest business house for well over half a century. Over the years that he was at the helm of affairs of the Group, JRD Tata helped establish many new enterprises. He was always conscious about the importance of quality, and ensured that this quality consciousness prevailed in all the organizations that belonged to the Tata Group. He was proud that the companies within the Group were known, domestically and internationally, for the quality of their products and services. As a tribute to his quest for perfection in every sphere of activity, the JRD Tata Quality Value Award was instituted in his memory.

The JRD QV Award is modeled on the lines of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, integrating beneficial attributes from other national quality awards. The award recognizes a company within the Tata Group, which excels in quality management and has achieved the highest levels of quality. This is an annual award presented to the winning company on the 29th day of July, the birth anniversary of Mr. JRD Tata.

The Objectives of the Award

• This award is given to Group companies in order to create awareness on the importance of the value of quality and the need for total customer satisfaction in all areas of operations within the Tata Group companies.
• To achieve and sustain continuous excellence and consequently leadership in the marketplace through perfection and the achievement of quality which will be recognized as being the best and ahead of competition.

Evaluation Process
Tata companies participate in an annual process of External Assessments. The idea is to subject them to an assessment, based on the Excellence parameters embedded in the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM). Each company writes an application in which it describes what job it does and how it does the job in the context of the criteria set by TBEM. This application is then "assessed" by trained TBEM assessors who study the document, visit the company and interact with its people, draw out the strengths and the improvement opportunities, and then provide feedback to the leadership team. An in-built scoring mechanism enables the company to track its progress over time, and ensure that it keeps improving.

Criteria for Recognition:

• JRD QV Award – 600+ for the first time
• Leadership in Excellence - 700+ for the first time
• Sustained Excellence - 3 Successive Improvements beyond 600
• Active Promotion - 500 - 600 for the first time
• Serious Adoption - 450 – 500 for the first time
• High Delta – High Improvement in one year

About Ferro Alloys & Minerals Division (FAMD) of Tata Steel 
Tata Steel’s Ferro Alloys & Minerals Division is the market leader in Ferro Chrome in India and is among the top six chrome alloy producers in the world, with operations spanning two continents. It is also the leading Manganese Alloy producer in India and is a leading supplier of Dolomite and Pyroxenite. FAMD is a profit centre of Tata Steel. The unit is a benchmark in Safety, Environment, and community development in geographies it operates in.

About Global Wires Division of Tata Steel
Tata Steel Wires Business is a major player in the wire industry servicing the discerning needs of its customers across global markets. It is the leading producer of steel wires, with greater than 40% market share in the specific high-end products of the organised wire market in India. A wealth of experience and expertise in the wire industry coupled with latest technology incorporations has enabled Tata Steel Wire Division to meet the most exacting specifications and requirements of customers time and again. It manufactures a wide range of wires catering to the needs of various industry segments such as automobile, infrastructure, power and general engineering. The products are well established across the markets of Europe, USA, Middle East Asia, Australasia, South Asia and Asia - Far East.

To bring about a greater focus to the steel wires business, Tata Steel has brought all its wire manufacturing under the scope of the Global Wires Business with manufacturing facilities spread across the geographies of India, China, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The Company has fully integrated manufacturing cycles, from sourcing of raw materials to in-house steel making and wire rod rolling facilities. This has led to a comprehensive extension of technology support to all the wire units in the Company’s fold. All the units of operation adhere to strict quality parameters and are ISO certified.