Mr H M Nerukar

TN: Tata Steel’s Global Strategy is to become a 15 million tonnes player by 2010. How will the FP Division contribute to the realisation of this objective?

HMN: In line with the globalisation strategy of Tata Steel, Flat Products formulated its own expansion plan. Flat product has chalked out its plan to augment its capacity for crude steel making by two million tonnes in Jamshedpur with balancing downstream facilities. We are also exploring possibilities of green field and brown field projects elsewhere.

TN: What major innovations brought about last year’s record-breaking performance?

HMN: Culture of innovation is engraved in the work culture of Flat products, which is demonstrated by the numerous improvement projects taken up by Flat products during FY’04. Some of the achievements are record ladle and vessel life in LD#2; innovative process of Imprinting “Steelium” Brand logo in CRM to prevent duplication; development new products and materials; Customer Value Management / Retail Value Management program to reach the customer in a different way; sharing of best practices across distributors and across locations; facilitating adoption of retailers by CAMs – a total of 95 retailers have been adopted across India; highest ever production of 2.86 Million Ton in HSM; lowest roll consumption in HSM of 0.633 Kg /tonne; and highest ever gross yield of 97.46% in HSM.

TN: please elaborate on the planned ‘De-Integrated Production’ in collaboration with POSCO & Arcelor?

HMN: The Global Techno commercial dynamics encourages industry to take advantage of lower cost of production anywhere in the world. India has been identified as one of the countries to have cost advantage till steel making stage or hot rolling stage, wherever applicable, with the down stream facilities near the actual end market.

To utilize the low cost production advantages due to availability of good Iron ore and Coal deposits in India, it is logical to set up production facilities in India up to the Slab stage to take the advantages of scale, with the down stream facilities near the customers.

TN: What according to you are the most significant initiatives undertaken for improving customer relations?

HMN: Flat products division has launched a barrage of initiatives to come closure to customers. Each of these initiatives has its own value creating proposition, for example, the initiatives like Customer Value Management and Customer Service Teams and the road shows has directly put us in the top bracket of the customer’s consideration set, where as initiatives like RVM, Haat, FGD, etc has given us immense insight into the retail

customers buying behavior.

TN: What forms of customer interface does your division maintain and how do these help your division to achieve its goals?

HMN: Flat products maintains direct and indirect both forms of customer interface. For OE customers where relationship marketing gives us the competitive edge, we indulge in focused direct customer contact. But for our distribution business where value is created through branding, we are devoting ourselves to understanding the behavior of the retail customers to realize the value creation opportunities.

TN: How, do you foresee, will the flat products market to be in the future?

HMN: The coming years are expected to be more challenging in terms of customers expectations. Quality will mean zero defect and that will be the basic requirement for entry into any auto company. Long term partnership will be the order of the day. Total solution providers will be the market leaders.

TN: The Flat Products Division has been aggressively developing its markets and growing its customer base. Where do you see Tata Steel five years from now?

HMN: Flat product division as a long-term strategy has consciously decided to be a dominant player in the auto steel market of the country. Flat product has weighed all the long-term implications before coming to this decision, primarily because auto steel market gives the maximum return to its shareholders, in terms of net realization; being a major player in the auto steel market gives us the advantage of operating in the premium market; also the service and quality requirements of auto steel market will help us improve our position in the existing markets.

TN: Tata Steel was the first company from India to be invited to the Toyota Global Supplier convention held in Tokyo recently, what has the experience taught us?

HMN: The quality and service standard subscribed by Toyota is well known to everybody. To be invited to its global supplier convention boosts our ambition to become a preferred world class supplier to auto companies. All the suppliers of repute were present for this convention. The experience has motivated us enough to go that extra mile to satisfy the best in class.