CEO of the Month – Mr. Arvind Vidudala ,award winner celebrates his success by profiling their corporate group viz.Epoxy House. The Group was established in 1973 in Vadodara (Gujarat, India) by Mr.D.R. Patel, a veteran in electrical engineering to manufacture Epoxy resin moulded components for the Electrical Power Industry. We spoke to the winner of the award, Arvind Vidudala (CEO – Kaizen Switchgear Products which is an exclusive Export oriented unit under their corporate umbrella of Epoxy House ) to find out more about his current role and the firm he heads up.

The flagship company, being Baroda Bushings & Insulators, a name recognised for more than four decades, began manufacturing Epoxy Resin Insulators in a 4000-square foot facility in Vadodara, with 10 employees

In the years that followed, the company leveraged this technology and quickly expanded its product lines. Having established their credentials for quality & price, with a view to reach out globally & help enhance the competitive edges for their customers, Kaizen Switchgear Products , a 100% Export Oriented Unit (EOU) was Instituted in 1995. Today, with state-of-the art manufacturing equipment and more than 1500 employees under the corporate umbrella of Epoxy House, the group offers the most complete range of Epoxy moulded components and ancillary products for the Electrical Power industry. CEO of the Month award winner – Mr Arvind Vidudala , associated with the group’s Export Unit – Kaizen Switchgear Products , starts the interview by outlining his thoughts on this marvellous achievement and what it means for him.

“Winning the CEO of the month award was a pleasant surprise. Awards always have a feel-good factor as they not only recognise your efforts but also reinforce your direction of work. It is a great honour to be considered as an expert, indeed the recognition provides an increased ability to influence others and helps one to develop talent and trigger a lateral shift socially.”
Following on from this, Mr.Arvind reveals how he stays motivated and positive, the challenges he has overcome to be successful and the key attributes that every CEO should possess.

He quotes “All of us may not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent “. This talent, skill and ability combined with passion and a purpose transforms an individual into a winner. This can be achieved when people are valued and nurtured leading to workplace happiness and well-being. We live in exciting yet challenging times – but to rise to it, relish the challenge and the success of overcoming it makes us feel good and this cannot happen without good management and self-discipline.

“Secondly being decisive at the right moment and time is very important – there is nothing like a good decision or a bad decision- it is only the outcome which determines and if the consequence favours us we feel it is a right decision and if not , we seem to conclude to have taken the wrong decision. Hence taking a decision is important, when we are at helm of affairs, and the consequential effects are situation specific.

He further states a quote by a famous personality “Ability may get you to the top but it is character which keeps you there”. Honesty, integrity and perseverance are the values I stand by. The yearnings to make a difference in the lives of individuals who are affected by my actions push me to do better.”

On the wider work of the firm, Mr. Arvind explains that under the corporate umbrella of Epoxy House, Kaizen Switchgear Products, is a 100% Export Oriented Unit (EOU). It is one of the leading organisations in India, engaged in the design, manufacturing and supply of Epoxy moulded components.

Kaizen Switchgear Products is focused on providing solutions for the overseas market, with a comprehensive customer management system, creating the ability to recognise and tailor solutions for the electrical industry. In their work, they are finding applications for low/ medium voltage switchgear units, power distribution and instrumentation transformers. Mr. Arvind then tells us about the firm’s ongoing strategy and the key principles they adhere to.

“Our business is modelled around three intrinsic characters, the first of which is to excel in terms of swift execution from drawing to delivery, due to rapidly changing customer needs. The second attribute is to remain a differentiator in terms of our prices and services. We have the edge for competitive pricing due to our intra-group support manufacturing facilities and our belief in CRM values enhances the customer experience. The third attribute is to remain ‘at par’ on global quality standards, which we attain with the state of art equipment we possess for manufacturing, as well as testing facilities.

“Our approach is to consistently deliver the best experiences of doing business such that the experience as a whole is delightful. The process would involve mapping the customer’s perception, concerns and issues and instituting systems to meet expectations.

Finally, Arvind shares his thoughts on his future aspirations for the Kaizen Switchgear Products.
“Though we dwell in a technology era, I believe that at the same time there is an unbalance of wealth and skill. We need to move over from ‘systematic’ to ‘system change’, for which we need to be flexible and possess the ability to grasp new things, which implies a change in skills and competency levels.

“We shall continue to emphasise the importance of training, for which we would need to liaise with educational institutes and co-evolve, to help bridge the gap for total value maximisation of the enterprise.”