Vijay Kaushik: Muse To The Future Leaders
Vijay Kaushik
Managing Director
To know more about Vijay’s inspirational journey, delve into the following excerpts of an exclusive interaction between him and CEO Insights.
Tell us about Akwel Automotive India. What were your strategies to make it a successful organization and a great employer?
Akwel is a known name for designing, developing, and distributing high-performance automotive products and systems. The international group is present in 22 countries, with more than 40 sites and has over 10,000 valued employees who contribute daily to the success and growth of our corporation. Our expertise allows us to provide global customers with competitive solutions that make their vehicles reliable, environmentally-friendly, and more pleasant to drive.
Coming to my strategies to drive the organization, firstly, I believe that it is crucial to be clear & convicted about our vision, whether it’s company growth, turnover, or rating. Secondly, the management formula is to entrust task that our members can do & give them coaching on the things they cannot do. Finally, just give your best & keep on moving.
As a respected and growing corporation, we allow employees to deploy their talents to face the exciting challenges of the industry. My focus is to develop confidence in the team to revive & achieve everything. I was fortunate enough to gain trust from the team to make some tough decisions & as a result, we booked a positive EBITDA after 6 years of loss making journey. Another major factor that contributes to being a great employer is building a team & team confidence to be competitive, so that, we can improve the company top line.
As an MD, you have to assume various roles as a leader, visionary, decisionmaker, and others, describe your roles and responsibilities in the company.
I feel that it becomes a moral responsibility of a person who sits on top to think not only about the company but about the well-being & future growth of each employee working in his team. Apart from Company health, I need to think, plan & execute that every team member should grow in their career, because the success of a company depends on their employees’ dedication, their mindset & alignment towards a common goal.
How does your vast experience help you to chalk-out efficient business modules at Akwel Automotive?
Akwel Automotive is having a critical product portfolio with selected global customers. My past experience helped me a lot to capture the voice of customer. It drove us to establish lean manufacturing & continuous improvement culture on shop floor and improve the plant output & efficiency. My ability to develop team building approach to take right decision on right time helped us to move towards betterment.
How do you ensure to update
My focus is to develop confidence in the team to revive & achieve everything. I was fortunate enough to gain trust from the team to make some tough decisions & as a result, we booked a positive EBITDA after 6 years of loss making journey
As an MD, you have to assume various roles as a leader, visionary, decisionmaker, and others, describe your roles and responsibilities in the company.
I feel that it becomes a moral responsibility of a person who sits on top to think not only about the company but about the well-being & future growth of each employee working in his team. Apart from Company health, I need to think, plan & execute that every team member should grow in their career, because the success of a company depends on their employees’ dedication, their mindset & alignment towards a common goal.
How does your vast experience help you to chalk-out efficient business modules at Akwel Automotive?
Akwel Automotive is having a critical product portfolio with selected global customers. My past experience helped me a lot to capture the voice of customer. It drove us to establish lean manufacturing & continuous improvement culture on shop floor and improve the plant output & efficiency. My ability to develop team building approach to take right decision on right time helped us to move towards betterment.
How do you ensure to update
yourself with the latest industry trends and technologies so that you could always steer your organization towards the zenith?
I don’t have any structured way of updating myself with some defined source. However, I follow a One percent rule to make sure that I am getting something new every day.
Managing a company involves a lot of stress, skill, and time. How do you ensure balance between your personal & professional life?
I prefer to make a clear boundary between office & home conversation, I assure that there is no conflict in the personal & work life. I am a social person who tries to mingle up with friends & knowns on weekends. I feel that our existence is because of society & we should repay it back to society when we become capable of doing that, So I always try to repay the society in every possible manner. I am fortunate enough to have few good friends of the same mind set & we do whatever is best possible for us for society betterment. This makes me feel light and peaceful in my inner core.
As an individual, I am happy to be in this position what I dreamt of since the starting of the career. I dedicate this success to my parents & my spouse who has supported me well in my career moves & decisions made during this journey. I am greatly thankful to my parents, my siblings, my wife & kids, my friends & colleagues who had been a guidance and support to me throughout this journey.
Vijay Kaushik, Managing Director, Akwel Automotive India
The visionary comes with vast experience in the industry and has handled different roles in Plant Operations, Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality Management, Program Management, and Strategy planning.
Highlights of Professional Achievements & Personal Milestones
• Handled three Plant Shifting projects without affecting the supply chain and two Green Field Projects from Scratch to SOP stage
• Reckoned as a successful leader for making business turnaround in my 2 associations.
• Elevated the company from worst rating to a stage of receiving appreciation letter from customer.
• Recognized for the successful completion of my career first line transfer project in 2007
• Received “Face of the Crowd Award” twice between 2007 -10
I don’t have any structured way of updating myself with some defined source. However, I follow a One percent rule to make sure that I am getting something new every day.
Managing a company involves a lot of stress, skill, and time. How do you ensure balance between your personal & professional life?
I prefer to make a clear boundary between office & home conversation, I assure that there is no conflict in the personal & work life. I am a social person who tries to mingle up with friends & knowns on weekends. I feel that our existence is because of society & we should repay it back to society when we become capable of doing that, So I always try to repay the society in every possible manner. I am fortunate enough to have few good friends of the same mind set & we do whatever is best possible for us for society betterment. This makes me feel light and peaceful in my inner core.
As an individual, I am happy to be in this position what I dreamt of since the starting of the career. I dedicate this success to my parents & my spouse who has supported me well in my career moves & decisions made during this journey. I am greatly thankful to my parents, my siblings, my wife & kids, my friends & colleagues who had been a guidance and support to me throughout this journey.
Vijay Kaushik, Managing Director, Akwel Automotive India
The visionary comes with vast experience in the industry and has handled different roles in Plant Operations, Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality Management, Program Management, and Strategy planning.
Highlights of Professional Achievements & Personal Milestones
• Handled three Plant Shifting projects without affecting the supply chain and two Green Field Projects from Scratch to SOP stage
• Reckoned as a successful leader for making business turnaround in my 2 associations.
• Elevated the company from worst rating to a stage of receiving appreciation letter from customer.
• Recognized for the successful completion of my career first line transfer project in 2007
• Received “Face of the Crowd Award” twice between 2007 -10