JNA Awards 2012 Jewellery Industry Best Practices

47 JNA AWARDS 2012 Innovative solutions The massive investment that Kiran injects in advanced technology and equipment, and human resources development proves just how keen the company is in scaling up business growth. This year, it became the first manufacturer to have more than 400 of Sarin’s rough planning and marking systems in one manufacturing facility, with 450 now installed and running. Although 450 systems may seem a lot, the diamond manufacturer said it would have 500 shortly and “even 1,000 over time,” Kiran Chairman Vallabhbhai S. Patel said in an earlier statement. These machines have helped Kiran reduce the amount of time spent on planning and marking smaller rough stones in the thousands of carats. By using this technology, even the parameters for smaller stones could be set. This has significantly pushed the accuracy of the planning and marking of the stones, which ultimately leads to the production of better-make diamonds in smaller sizes. It has also helped increased productivity by 10 percent to 15 percent. Today, no stone in Kiran is planned and marked manually, although every polished good that it produces does not leave its factory without being checked by its top quality controllers. Creative ideas This, however, is just a sampling of Kiran’s commitment to manufacturing innovation and excellence since the pursuit of innovative solutions has become an integral part of the company’s day-to-day operations. In Kiran, there are teams handling different projects that aim to improve operational efficiency. They monitor, review and study developments related to products, services and IT efficiencies, and come up with detailed proposals on how existing gaps within the business could be filled. “Kiran invests heavily in research and development activities, and staff members are periodically recognised and awarded for their contributions,” the manufacturer said. “Kiran believes in remaining technologically advanced and hence, has encouraged and empowered its staff members to form various cross-functional teams that study and propose new technologies for various business processes. This practice has brought in a lot of efficiencies into the group from raw material procurement to product selling, and this has kept Kiran ahead of the competition.” One example of these teams’ ingenuity is the development of a software application that allows Kiran to manage inventory and match its goods to customers’ preferences. “This helps ensure that our customers will always get the goods they want and that ‘dead’ stocks are kept to a minimum,” the company said. Similarly, Kiran also has a team of specialists whose only task is to improve process yield. In the last two years, this team sought out ways to advance the diamond manufacturer’s existing systems, identifying those that needed to be fine-tuned for optimum results. This innovation has a significant impact on the company’s bottom line. As soon as the results of these innovations are established and the system is accepted by the management, the Gautam Gopani, director of Kiran Exports HK Ltd Dinesh Lakhani, director of Kiran Gems Pvt Ltd