BHEL sets new benchmark; bags highest number of six CII-Exim Commendations for Business Excellence

Among a host of Public and Private sector companies, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has bagged the highest number of six Commendations, under the CII Exim Award Scheme for 2009. Notably, all the six units which applied for the recognition have been awarded this year.

The prestigious recognitions have been bestowed for business excellence on BHEL’s manufacturing plants at Bhopal, Trichy, Ranipet and Bangalore and its Southern and Eastern Power Sector construction divisions, as per the globally recognised model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

Significantly, BHEL is also the only public sector company in the country to have earlier won the ‘PRIZE’, under the CII Exim Award Scheme, besides being the only company in India, all of whose major divisions have been recognised for business excellence.

Jointly instituted by CII and Exim Bank, the coveted commendations have been awarded to BHEL’s units for ongoing journey towards Business Excellence, aimed at improving overall operations and encouraging Total Quality Management (TQM) at all levels. The highest recognition of its kind in the country, the award has been instituted in India in line with International Quality Awards like the 'Malcolm Baldrige National Award' in USA, the 'Deming Prize' in Japan and the 'European Quality Award'.

15 units of BHEL are moving ahead in the CII Exim Award Scheme for business excellence. Continuing its winning streak, BHEL’s units at Bhopal and Trichy and its Power Sector Eastern Region construction division have won ‘Commendations for Significant Achievements’, while its units at Bangalore and Ranipet and its Power Sector Southern Region construction division have been awarded the ‘Commendations for Strong Commitment to Excel’.

A quality conscious organisation with a strong customer focus, BHEL has acquired ISO-9001 (2000 version), ISO-14001 and OHSAS-18001 certification, for all its operations. BHEL initiated TQM in 1995 at its Trichy unit. Later, the concept was extended company-wide and a road map for business excellence was evolved. TQM concepts, deployed under the ‘Movement towards Business Excellence’, focussed on benchmarking and improving its products and internal processes to global standards. All the divisions of BHEL have since embarked on a ‘Continuous Improvement’ culture and adopted the CII Model for Business Excellence.

The criteria for the award include display of visionary leadership, besides demonstrating a clear policy and business strategy in achieving the vision in a time bound fashion. In addition to effective deployment of people and other resources, this calls for creating synergy with the company's business partners in a bid to satisfy its major stakeholders like customers, employees, society and investors. Their satisfaction levels are then ascertained in a systematic way through feedback.