The House Magazine of the Thermax Group Volume 51 No. 1 January - March 2021
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The House Magazine of the Thermax Group Volume 51 No. 1 January - March 2021
Volume 51 No. 1 January - March 2021
About the Cover
There could be times when everything seems frozen
but one must remember the cycle of seasons is
inevitable. Let us bank on the hope that soon there
will be sunshine to thaw the frost of sufferings and
set the world free, restoring its lost momentum with
a newfound wisdom.
Photo by Amit Choudhary (TBWES)
BACK COVER
Introducing
Comment
We isolate now
Thermax's New so when we gather again,
Safety and no one is missing.
Environment Oath – Anonymous
Editor
Correspondents:
Swastika Mukherjee
Lavanya Athinarayanan Absorption Cooling Aishwarya Mankame IR
Assistant Editor & TCSL Bakhtawar Battiwalla Administration
Akansha Choudhary
Mukeshh Ghodke Steam Engineering Connie Fernandes Finance
Noorjahan Khan TBWES Saheblal Shaikh Corporate Safety
Editorial Team
Priyanka Sarode Anand Antarkar TBWES Services Kirti Pitale Mumbai
Avinash Kulkarni Power Reshma Mehrotra Delhi
Design Shruti Pathak Enviro Swati Aditya Kolkata
Sameer Karmarkar Kaustubh Dharmadhikari WWS Shailesh Choudhary Chennai
Anubhuti Gupta Chemical Vrishika Gilani Savli
Ambika Badwe HR Sujata Deshpande Thermax Foundation
Saswati Kar TOESL DeepPriya Kapoor CBG
Fireside is the quarterly house magazine of Thermax Limited, Pune. For private circulation only. Company related news/features may be reproduced only with the permission of the
Editor. Address: Thermax Limited,Thermax House, 14 Mumbai Pune Road, Wakdewadi, Pune 411 003, India. Tel: (020) 66051200.
Fireside is also hosted on the website: www.thermaxglobal.com. Email: corporate.communications@thermaxglobal.com Copyright © Thermax Limited 2021
Contents
2
Thermal HVAC by RTIC Thermax partners with DRDO to
WHAT’S NEW? supply fuel cells for submarines New technology tie-ups
for strengthening clean energy portfolio Chemical business
develops ion exchange resin for a unique application Launch
of Maxtreat® Plast-Tixo TOESL proliferates the tyre industry
with green steam supply
6
Through Expressions, Meher Pudumjee shares the concerns
EXPRESSIONS emanating from the resurgence of the COVID wave and
reflects on two interesting initiatives - launch of ThermaxNXT
and Thermax Cares
8
In conversation with Swastika Mukherjee, Shekhar Kashalikar,
UP CLOSE Senior VP, TBWES & Executive Council Member, Thermax talks
about his journey of diverse roles over 20 years and shares his
insights on 'ThermaxNXT', a growth strategy project that he is
currently spearheading
10
TBWES Services supports a refinery and petrochemical major
ROUND UP to increase its crude processing capacity Enviro and Water &
Waste Solutions welcome the year with SPARX Power division
synchronises 2x20 MW captive cogen plants for a leading
fertiliser company Awareness session on World Cancer Day
1.5 MW solar PV plant installed in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh
Thermax LinkedIn reaches the 3,00,000 follower mark
600 TR steam-fired chiller for NPCIL, Tamil Nadu Second
edition of STORM – a campus connect programme ThermQ
app launched for managing quality checks in EPC projects
BTG introduces 4D BIM app for Power EPC Virtual training
on steam traps conducted for IOCL Thermax Foundation
in collaboration with TVS Educational Society launches a skill
development programme for the youth in Sri City Another set
of CFBC boilers achieve 600+ days of continuous operations
Initiatives for women employees to commemorate
International Women’s Day Success continues for the Channel
Business Group
18
National level CII awards won by Thermax Thermax wins 'Risk
AWARDS & ACCOLADES Management' award from CNBC
19
Globally accredited risk management certification awarded to
LIMELIGHT Yogesh Sujata completes her doctorate in humanities and
social sciences
20 SIGNPOSTS
Varun Sugandhi from the International Business Group, Thermax,
shares excerpts from the book ‘Fit For Growth’ written by PwC,
highlighting best practices that could be pertinent and contribute
towards galvanising the organisation in enabling and sustaining
change
24
Avinash Bhusanurmath from Water & Waste Solutions (WWS)
VOICES reminisces his early days with Thermax and his first love
Bhushan Belkhede from Chemical division talks about the
power of dreams Amar Singh from Power EPC shares how he
and his team ensured zero COVID cases at a customer site
28
All for one Volkswagen changes to Voltswagen? And a pun
SLICE-OF-LIFE picture
1
What’s New?
The
‘cool’ buz(s)
in town
A
t the heart of the rapid advancement in T-HVAC provides total cost of ownership benefits by
automobile technology is the thrust on saving fuel, hence lowering pollution and contributing
making vehicles more fuel efficient from to a greener environment.
both economic and environment perspective. Given
As a next step, a European coach bus application was
the forte of Thermax in waste heat recovery, the
developed and demonstrated in Germany. Our T-HVAC
RTIC (Research, Technology and Innovation Centre)
unit was integrated with a 5-star premium coach. The
team invested years of effort and resources in
unit is designed to meet extreme climate demands
deploying absorption technology utilising automobile
with features of providing heating in winter along with
engine exhaust heat, which has now fructified into
cooling during summer.
commercialisation.
This T-HVAC integrated premium bus has met
RTIC team has developed a first-of-a-kind T-HVAC
the stringent homologation and roadworthiness
(Thermal Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning)
requirements that allows for this technology adoption
product for mobility application that was tested and
in the entire European Union. This is a major milestone
validated on bus applications with leading Indian
achieved towards our technology demonstration and
brands.
commercialisation strategy for the global markets in
the near future.
RTIC’s T-HVAC technology
validated on bus applications
2
Thermax fuel cells find place in
India’s defence milestone
3D model of fuel
cell AIP system
I
t was a proud moment for all Thermaxians when performance as per NSQR (Naval Staff Quality
we were recently in news for being a part of Requirements). The last and crucial milestone in
India’s home grown Air Independent Propulsion the programme was demonstration of land based
(AIP) system, slated to significantly enhance the prototype to Indian Navy which took place on 8th
operational effectiveness of submarines. March 2021.
The RTIC team of Thermax has been working DRDO has gone in for a fuel cell based AIP, which has
hand in hand with India’s Defence Research and higher safety margins and better performance than
Development Organisation (DRDO) for the last few other such systems available globally. This significant
years in their ambitious programme of building milestone reinstates Thermax’s ability to support the
indigenous AIP for Scorpene class submarines of nation in its indigenous clean energy development
Indian Navy. Thermax has supplied fuel cell stacks ambitions and proves its capability in the growing fuel
for the AIP which underwent various stages of cell domain.
rigorous operation trials to successfully prove their
New collaborations give thrust
to 'clean' energy
I
n March, Thermax Babcock & Wilcox Energy
Solutions Private Limited (TBWES) signed a
know how transfer and license agreement
with Steinmüller Babcock Environment GmbH
(SBE), Germany for Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) incineration systems with forward moving
grate fired waste to energy boilers. As a part of
the agreement, TBWES will design, engineer,
manufacture and sell MSW fired waste to energy
Virtual agreement signing ceremony with the
solutions incorporating SBE’s well established
Power Roll team
grate and boiler technology.
for scale manufacturing and deployment of Power
In another venture, Thermax entered into an agreement
Roll’s unique solar film in India.
with Power Roll, a developer of unique, low-cost and
lightweight flexible solar films, to develop the market These tie-ups expand the forte of Thermax in
for solar films in India. The agreement will see the the areas of waste to energy and clean energy,
companies collaborate to assess the market potential reinforcing its commitment to sustainability.
3
Striking a safe chemistry with
Tulsion® resin
M
any ethanol based products widely used, team has developed new premium grade Tulsion®
such as acetic acid, perfumes, dyes, and products - Tulsion® ALD-207 and Tulsion® ALX-01(NR),
drugs contain acetaldehyde, a naturally to limit the proportion of acetaldehyde in ethanol so
occurring, colourless and flammable liquid with that the consumption is safe and at the same time, its
a suffocating smell. The International Agency for useful properties are retained.
Research on Cancer (IARC) has listed acetaldehyde
The developed products can be categorised as
as a group 1 carcinogen, however its use cannot
regenerable and non-regenerable. Regenerable
be eliminated as it serves specific applications such
product is regenerated with a local chemical which
as a flavouring agent and as an intermediate in the
is readily available in the market. Non-regenerable
metabolism of alcohol. Thermax ion exchange resin
product is used when the treated
quality of acetaldehyde content
A representative picture required is very low. These
of an ethanol plant
products can work across varying
proportions of ethanol used in
different industries, from 16% to
99%, where operating performance
and outlet quality depend on inlet
acetaldehyde content.
Some of the industries where these
products can be used include,
sugar (ethanol manufacturer),
chemical, pharmaceutical, wine &
beverage and cosmetic.
Ready mix plaster that binds faster
T
he rising scarcity in the Maxtreat® Plast-Tixo is
availability of river sand a modern-day plaster,
for construction has which is easy to use
made conventional cement with enhanced strength
plaster a costly and non-viable and higher binding
option. Realising the potential of properties. It is a mix
addressing this space with an of cement, fine-graded
innovative alternative, Thermax sand and special Application of Maxtreat® Plast-Tixo at a customer site
Construction Chemicals has polymer additives, time. This product can be used in
introduced a ready mix plaster, imparting higher quality and reduced various applications such as external
Maxtreat® Plast-Tixo. It eliminates rebound. It is ready to use by simply and internal plastering of walls and
the dependency on traditional mixing water and can be easily ceilings, all brick/block masonry work
plasters, thus providing a more applied to old and new concrete. including AAC (Autoclaved Aerated
economical choice and adding life Moreover, the consistency in quality Concrete) blocks, apart from general
to the durability of structures. ensures stronger adhesion every purpose repair mortar work.
4
TOESL makes 'green'
inroads in the tyre industry
18 ton biomass fired boiler
T
hermax Onsite Energy Solutions Limited guarantees committed delivery of quality steam for a
(TOESL) recently commissioned an 18 ton period of 10 years, leveraging agro-waste biomass
biomass fired boiler plant for green steam fuels sourced through the extensive biomass supply
supply to a Japanese multinational and leading global chain developed by the company.
tyre manufacturer's plant in Pune. The plant is supported
With this project, TOESL has entered the tyre
with an ingenious fuel handling system to handle vast
industry for providing outsourced utility delivery
amount of biomass fuel up to 28 tons per day.
services under the Build-Own-Operate (BOO)
Under the steam supply agreement, TOESL business model.
5
Expressions
W
hat came as an support each other and navigate
expected second wave this crisis with empathy, courage
to the rest of the world and determination.
turned out to be an unexpected
raging storm for India. It pains me Thermax has been trying to alleviate
to see the lack of preparedness of the situation in its small way with
our nation with so many, including initiatives like supporting MCCIA’s
people I know, struggling to find (Mahratta Chamber of Commerce,
hospital beds, oxygen and life Industries and Agriculture) ‘Mission
saving medical facilities. What Vayu’ to donate ventilators and
angers me is that we chose to oxygen concentrators. We will
ignore the possibility of a second continue to have vaccination drives
wave, were not prepared for it and for our employees, as and when
therefore inflicted a lot of pain and the vaccines are available. We have
death in many families. tied up with an organisation to
support people near our factories fill
Every death is a statistic until it hits in their CoWin forms and register
your own home. On behalf of our themselves for vaccines, once they
family and the Board, our heartfelt arrive, encourage them to take the
condolences to the families of those Government health insurance as
employees who have passed away. also life insurance, which is critical
Although each of them were in during these times. Thermax
hospital in the ICU, they could not Foundation is also trying to help the
be saved. I have a terrible lump in poor equip themselves with skills
my throat as I think of youngsters in order for them to get jobs, so
in their 30s and 40s - my heart goes there is a stream of income for their
out to all their families. families. And of course, we continue
our thrust on education since kids
Not planning for vaccines has cannot afford to be left out.
led to its shortage. Sadly, we have
only postponed our fight against The economic turmoil emanating
this deadly disease! However, from COVID has impacted
I do not want to harp on what Thermax adversely like many other
others need to do, but focus on companies, but we have been
The economic turmoil what each of us can do - stay safe, resilient in terms of maintaining
emanating from COVID has don’t let our guard down for even our cash flows and focusing on the
a few minutes, stringently follow ‘vitals’. ThermaxNXT is one such
impacted Thermax adversely all our SOPs including contact area where I am happy to see rigour
like many other companies, tracing and continue COVID across the organisation. Our sincere
but we have been resilient appropriate behaviour with masks thanks to Ashish, Shekhar and the
and sanitisation to secure lives. many teams involved – I can see
in terms of maintaining our
Please reach out to our HR team the amount of effort and hard work,
cash flows and focusing on or any one of us in the Thermax despite the constraints of COVID,
the ‘vitals’. community for support whenever physical distancing and resource
needed. Let’s all stay together, availability, so thank you all.
6
Let’s all stay together, support each other
and navigate this crisis with empathy,
courage and determination.
I always believe that a in our personal lives. As an
company that has the right organisation that produces
set of values, with people fuels or digitisation. Customers clean energy, clean air and
who are truly passionate and are looking for smarter, more clean water, ESG (Environmental,
engaged, where there is trust, open, efficient, greener, cleaner products Social and Governance) is ingrained
honest communication and a strong and services – therefore, we need into the ethos of Thermax since its
sense of purpose, anything and ‘speed’ – in our innovations, inception, even though we may not
everything is possible, and that’s actions and decisions. have known it to be ESG.
Thermax!
3. Purpose – why do we do what Over time, we as an organisation, will
With NXT, we have embarked on we do? Because we truly believe need to push out the boundaries and
an important and transformative in “Conserving Resources, think about the entire life cycle of
journey wherein I’d request you to Preserving the Future”; we have the products we produce and thereby
remember three aspects: a critical role to play – one that influence our entire ecosystem;
can make a difference to our whether it be sourcing raw material,
1. An opportunity to change or customers and in turn our planet, components, our packaging,
transform ourselves – to think because we heat, cool, clean, transportation, design, what happens
differently, out of the box - recycle, power – all by reducing after its use, whether it be five years
question, debate, deliberate; our carbon and water footprint. post an ion exchange resin or 25
work across departments/ years for a boiler; thus becoming a
divisions - replicate the good Let’s enjoy and imbibe the NXT
part of our everyday lives; a part of
work done by one division into journey since that is as important
who we are. My request is that each
another seamlessly. Unleash as the end result. And with all
of us become warriors for change.
collaboration - the power of ‘One that we do, I would hope that it is
Thermax’ to serve our customers sustainable, that we assimilate the Mahesh just shared with us a warrior
– looking at it outside in; what methodology and that we continue for change – a very thoughtful
challenges are my customers to be able to grow and add value to act by one of our site teams led
facing and how can I resolve our customers world over. So please by young Lakshmipathy (a first
them, rather than what product question, deliberate, debate, decide time site in charge), who changed
can I sell, purely to reach my and act! the plant layout and construction
sales target? methodology in order to save 20
The future of Thermax is also
grown trees, although we had to
2. Need for speed – if you see the synonymous with the ‘Environment’
spend some extra time and cost – it
last 8-10 years, our growth has that is embedded in our vision,
was well worth it! Compliments to
been flat; in fact it’s a downward values and our brand promise. In
you Lakshmipathy and your team.
trajectory. And EBIDTA margins this context, it was a pleasure to
are also sloping downwards from witness the rollout of Thermax Once again, please stay safe and
11-12% down to 9%. It doesn’t Cares - a series of programmes and look after yourselves.
need to, since we have what it projects that will help all of us and
takes to go out there and offer our families imbibe sustainability, Warmly,
‘value’ to our customers. But let aligned to the Sustainable Meher
us also remember that the market Development Goals (SDGs)
is changing very rapidly; whether developed by the United Nations,
it’s energy transition, renewables, not just at the workplace but even
7
Up Close I have learnt far more
about markets, businesses
and people by changing
roles
I
t was exactly a decade ago that then with Oil & Gas business to form
Fireside had featured Shekhar B&H OEM, helmed by Shekhar.
Kashalikar in Up Close after he Thanks to his penchant for learning,
In conversation with assumed a new role as the Cooling pushing himself beyond his comfort
division head. Just as Fireside has zone and quickly getting into grips
Swastika Mukherjee, travelled in time, so has the journey with new technologies and teams,
Shekhar Kashalikar, of Shekhar, shouldering many more Shekhar has been successful in
Senior VP, TBWES & responsibilities, exploring new driving the businesses he has
avenues and emerging as one of headed in these 27 years with
Executive Council the role models in leadership. Thermax. A couple of years ago,
Member, Thermax To recap his career, Shekhar joined
he became a part of the Executive
Council and recently took up the
talks about his journey Thermax in 1992 as a Graduate
responsibility of spearheading the
of diverse roles Engineer Trainee after completing
ThermaxNXT transformation office.
his mechanical engineering from
over 20 years and the College of Engineering, Pune. Shekhar admits that it was
shares his insights He takes pride in sharing that he never his prerogative, but the
has worked across divisions of organisation's need, which triggered
on 'ThermaxNXT', Thermax (except for Water and these movements. Besides, the
a growth strategy Waste Solutions), including stints management's confidence in
project that in regional offices and international assigning him new responsibilities
assignments in Indonesia and was critical to his success. He
he is currently Thailand. He moved back to India shares that one needs to be humble
spearheading to settle down after his marriage, and adaptable. “Your new team
followed by a short stint outside expects you to know everything,
Thermax with a gas turbine which is practically not possible.
subsidiary of Caterpillar. Among all So the key is to acquire product
of these, Shekhar considers his shift knowledge faster and at the same
from Cooling to the Boiler & Heater time gain a sound understanding
(B&H which is now TBWES) Utility of the market situation. After you
business as the most radical leap. understand the business, you start
“The solutions, technology, and to use many of the improvement
markets were new; though it was ideas that have worked before. The
a business within Thermax, I had ideas need tweaking to suit the
hardly interacted with the people business requirements and by the
We need to before. I also realised the change time you settle with the processes,
start becoming needed in mindset as it required you have not just learnt a lot about
a lot of patience compared to the the business, but people as well.
comfortable with products business, considering the When you change your field so
uncertainty as we relatively long gestation period for often, you realise that the product
don’t have answers order finalisation and even longer knowledge alone is insufficient to
to all questions for execution.” Over the years, the run and grow a business. Every new
today. Utility SBU (Strategic Business Unit) experience adds to the kitty of ideas
merged with Solid Fuel SBU and and you are prepared for anything
8new coming your way. I would put costs that has been identified as customers. Customer connect will
adaptability as a bigger strength one of the focus areas. Another be the most critical aspect during
than product knowledge.” interesting aspect of transformation energy transition. Over the years,
is organisation building. This means Thermax has already transitioned
So when is the right time to change?
preparing our teams to handle from fossil dependent business
“According to me, it is when you
changing market dynamics through to majorly green solutions. I am
start feeling that you are on top of
cross-skilling, upskilling and influx of confident that Thermax will be able
things and tend to plateau, which
fresh talent.” to manage energy transition with its
typically happens after three to four
technological prowess and excellent
years in a role. Changing at this Shekhar also believes that the
teamwork.”
juncture is a good way to restart next phase entails a change in
the process. I have learnt far more the mindset. “While the shift to a What’s life working remotely and
about markets, businesses and carbon free economy is going to without travel? “I used to travel a
people by changing roles.” be the challenge of future, there lot to meet customers and I am
is an amount of uncertainty as to certainly missing meeting new
Speaking of ThermaxNXT, Shekhar
which technologies will eventually people. I always carried some book
says that he is excited about this
take the centre stage. So we need while travelling, and I am missing
major shift from a business role
to be constantly on the lookout for reading as well. The initial months of
to a transformation office role. “I
new solutions in line with customer lockdown were a struggle to settle
am happy to lead this project that
needs. We need to start becoming in a new rhythm, but now everyone
seeps across all the verticals and
comfortable with uncertainty as is getting used to it. I took over my
teams. It is an opportunity to work
we don’t have answers to all son, Divij's study table and my wife,
with people and look at strategies
questions today. Lastly, we need Monika uses our dining table for
to grow our identified businesses
to take proactive steps to build her laptop. Thankfully, the housing
at a significantly higher rate and
our competencies that blend with society where we live has managed
in the direction of sustainability. It
the evolving ecosystem and are to remain COVID free so far with
is a new experience where I am
relevant for the future.” strict safety protocols. The need of
working with a core team of young
the hour is to maintain the social
transformation office leads and With the volatility arising from
distancing protocol even when
an external consultant, to support the pandemic and the economic
the wave is not there, and get the
the growth aspirations of various challenges, we asked Shekhar
vaccine whenever our turn comes.”
businesses.” about the difficulties that Thermax
might face in getting there. He
He explains the premises and
said, “Thermax
core tenets of the project by
is very close
saying, “It is clear that energy and
to its
environment sectors will undergo a
transformation as the world needs
decarbonisation. We need to be
prepared to deliver sustainable
solutions that will help customers
in becoming carbon neutral. At the
same time, we also need to look at
growing our verticals that have
tremendous market potential.
Accordingly, the businesses
that have been identified are
Chemical, TOESL, WWS,
Services, especially related to
energy efficiency and energy
transition.
While we grow our select
businesses, we also have a
cost excellence programme
- control of direct and indirect
9Round up
Value add with design
improvement and execution
A
leading refinery and petrochemical The team from Services SBU and Savli manufacturing
major in Punjab carried out a study on closely collaborated to deliver these economiser
debottlenecking to increase its crude modules, meeting the customer's turnaround
processing capacity. As a part of this study, programme under challenging circumstances due to
improving the reliability and performance of the Flue COVID-19.
Gas Cooler (FGC) unit to handle hot flue gases up
The customer recognised these efforts by awarding
to 135% of design capacity was targeted. After a
a bonus and a letter of appreciation for on-time
detailed study of the process, Thermax Babcock
execution; adhering to the elevated standards of
& Wilcox Energy Solutions (TBWES-Service SBU)
safety at their refinery complex.
developed a solution for improving
reliability through the improvised Newly designed
design of economiser modules economiser modules
and accommodating higher supplied by TBWES
Services
flue gas flow with minimum
modifications in FGC. The scope
included engineering, procurement,
manufacturing, supply, erection,
and commissioning of these newly
designed economiser modules and
associated components.
Sparx 2021 T
he New Year 2021 was a damp squib
A virtual welcome to with restrictions on celebrations all over
the New Year the city. However, to keep employee
morale high, the Environment Business Unit
(Enviro and WWS divisions) organised a
colourful cultural evening to bring in the New
Year. The entire programme was a virtual
event, with the employees and their families
streaming their performances online and
witnessing the show from the comfort of
their homes. Lilting ballads were sung by
employees, accompanied by their guitars.
Dance performances explored diverse styles
from bhangra, classical dance and Bollywood
jazz. The show was ably anchored by the
EBU organisers and was a huge success.
Importantly, it was a great way to demonstrate
how a wonderful cultural evening could be
presented virtually, without having to meet
face-to-face.
10Recovering waste heat to
Site picture
of a 20 MW
cogen plant
save energy
T
he Power business of Thermax
has recently synchronised two
captive cogeneration plants for
a leading fertiliser company at their
manufacturing facilities in Nangal and
Bhatinda in Punjab. The two 20 MW
cogeneration plants are fuelled by natural
gas and equipped with 100 TPH and 70
TPH heat recovery steam generators
(HRSGs) respectively, that allow the
plant to utilise heat from exhaust
gas produced by the turbine while
generating process steam. The HRSGs
are also capable of firing only natural
gas in the absence of waste heat. This
reduces dependence on fossil fuels and
moves the operation of the plant towards
sustainability. The initiative is a part of
the Rs. 503 crore order won by Thermax
for setting up three cogeneration plants
of 20 MW each.
World Cancer Day – I am and I will
W
orld Cancer Day was commemorated on Thursday, 4th February 2021 with the theme of ‘I am,
and I will’, resonating with the commitment to create a cancer free world. On this occasion, the
Thermax Wellness team organised a virtual
discussion with Dr. Anantbhusan Ranade, Director
of Oncology at the Maharashtra University of Health
Sciences. Dr. Ranade presented an informative talk
about different types of cancers and how they react in
our bodies. He also stated that there are many myths
and misconceptions about this disease and educated
the audience about the facts and different types of
treatments available. He stressed upon the importance
of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and eating right to stave
off the disease. The session was attended by over 200
Thermax employees.
Talk by Dr. Anantbhushan Ranade
11Solar installation for a Government of
India entity
T
hermax Solar has bagged a prestigious compliance with highest standards of quality and
order from one of the largest construction safety. Congratulations to the Thermax Solar team for
and maintenance agencies that provide executing another wonderful project.
infrastructural support to the Government of India.
The team commissioned a 1,500
kWp solar PV plant for them in
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The
installation is spread over an
area of approximately 16,000 m²
and expected to generate more
than 2.5 million units of green
electricity every year. This will
significantly reduce energy costs
for the client and lower their CO2
emissions by 1,890 tonnes. Highly
satisfied with the installation,
the customer complimented
our team for their execution in 1.5 MW ground mounted solar PV plant
Welcome to the
#Thermax300Klub
I
t was a proud day in March when the Thermax
company page on LinkedIn crossed an important
milestone – 3,00,000 followers. The achievement
was hashtagged #Thermax300Klub on the social
media channel. A montage of videos and visuals was
released by the Corporate Communication team that
covered important moments in the journey to reach the
magic number of 3,00,000. There were congratulatory
posts pouring from followers, with some of them
reminiscing their memorable association with the To watch the journey towards this significant milestone,
company. We thank all the businesses and functions click on the play icon
for continuously sharing interesting content and all our
employees as well as followers for their continuous
engagement with our posts.
12Representative image
Eco-friendly chiller
for a nuclear
power plant
T
hermax recently commissioned a double
effect, steam-fired vapour absorption
chiller for the Nuclear Power Corporation
of India Limited (NPCIL) in Kalpakkam, Tamil
Nadu. The 600 TR chiller caters to both process
and comfort cooling demands of the nuclear
power plant. Besides offering air-conditioning to
the Distributed Control System (DCS) room, the
chilled water from the chiller also condenses water
vapour in the process area, enabling the recycling
of heavy water.
STORM 2021 – a memorable
journey for bright minds
T
hermax focuses on building a strong campus the top three teams
connect and engaging bright young minds across five cases.
through various industry-academia initiatives. Winning
The event was covered Teams of
After a successful maiden edition, STORM – The
on the Thermax
Thermax Online Case Challenge was released this
social media handle STORM 2021
year with new sets of guidelines and prizes to deliver
which created a
a bigger and better experience to the participants. 'Zenith' - NIT Calicut
lot of engagement.
The Campus team reached out to 16 colleges across 'Fab Four' - SGGS, Nanded
Firstnaukri, India’s
India and received participation from 339 teams
leading campus 'Raptors' - Nirma University,
comprising students from the second and third year
hiring portal also Ahmedabad
with a mix of several streams in each team.
played an integral
The participants were presented with five real-time role in supporting 'Team Groot' - NIT Rourkela
problems that were designed by our product experts, the Campus team 'Tech-Ease' - SVNIT, Surat
R.S. Jha (Heating), Anurag Chincholkar (Power), V.P. throughout the event.
Bhandarkar (Enviro), Vaidyanathan S. (Cooling) and
Nandan Prabhune (Water & Waste Solutions) along
with their respective teams.
The entire event was conducted via an online
platform and the top three winning teams from
each case were felicitated during the virtual award
ceremony, held on 23rd February 2021. Thermax
declared cash prizes of Rs. 50,000, Rs. 30,000
and Rs. 20,000 for the top three winning teams
respectively, along with a pre placement internship
opportunity for all third year students and internship
opportunities for the second year students from all
Virtual awards ceremony
13ThermQ app for seamless
quality checks
T
hermax has developed an platform to
app in-house called ThermQ facilitate a
to facilitate all the EPC teams dynamic
of Thermax in planning, assigning, overview of
coordinating and seamlessly the project
tracking quality inspections. The app and enable
has proved to be an effective tool them to
as the EPC business is dependent collaborate
on continuous collaboration effectively.
between multiple agencies, which
ThermQ
includes suppliers, procurement
has already inspection agencies. 350+ users
and inspection agencies and quality
signed up more than 2,700 from Thermax are already using the
inspectors. The app will bring all the
vendors, 200+ inspectors and 20+ app.
stakeholders involved on a single
Adding the fourth dimension to EPC projects
T
he Thermax Power business leveraged result in better scheduling, speedy resolution of on-site
digitalisation to enhance its EPC capabilities issues, 3D visualisation of the project status and an
with the introduction of the 4D BIM (Building overview of the results in collaboration with the EPC
Information Modelling). This new technology is project team and the customer. The newly introduced
expected to have a significant impact on the design BIM technology is expected to play a pivotal role by
and execution of enabling contractors
the company’s and construction
EPC projects. The teams to seamlessly
innovative 4D BIM collaborate and
technology will now execute projects
allow project teams effectively. This
to create detailed initiative is another
3D designs and milestone in the
augment these by ‘Smart’ journey of
adding a fourth Thermax.
dimension - project
timeline schedules
within a single
model. The use of 4D BIM simulation of
this technology will a project
14Steam traps training for IOCL, Guwahati
O
ur Steam Engineering division successfully under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and
bagged the contract for ‘Monitoring steam Natural Gas. The training was conducted by
trap systems and performance sustenance’ Rajesh Kulkarni and organised by
from the Guwahati refinery of the Indian Oil Sathiyababu V and Mizanur Akond
Corporation (IOCL) on 8th July 2019. As a part of from Thermax, covering the
the contract, the Thermax Steam Engineering team importance of steam traps and
conducted a training programme on the operation how they contribute to energy
and maintenance of steam traps at the IOCL refinery conservation, their operation and
virtually, in line with the pandemic norms. The training maintenance aspects as well
programme on the topic, ‘Efficient management of as latest trends in this domain.
steam and condensate systems’ was conducted The training programme was
during Saksham 2021, the month long oil & gas held on 20th January 2021 and
conservation awareness campaign organised was attended by 14 delegates
from IOCL. Ms. Deepa Jyoti
Thapa and Mr. Manish Kumar
from IOCL facilitated the
programme from the client
side and the Thermax team was
presented with a plaque, appreciating
its dedication and effort towards
making the training programme a huge
success.
IOCL employees attending Thermax's virtual training
Empowering the youth towards
self-sustainability
T
hermax Foundation has collaborated
with TVS Educational Society for Pragati
– a skill development programme for the
empowerment of local youth in and around Sri City,
Andhra Pradesh where Thermax's Cooling plant is
located. The CSR initiative, launched on 11th March
aims to improve the competency of the unemployed
youth and make them employable for their self-
sustainability. The welding training programme has
been initiated with a batch of 20 students having
a gender diversity of 50%. The batch comprises The first batch enrolled for 'Pragati'
students who have completed their ITI qualification.
The training will be a three-month residential improve their employability. At the same time, it will
programme facilitated by Thermax in Sri City. Once help employers in Sri City source good talent.
these students have completed the training, they This initiative is a part of Thermax's resolve to work
will be awarded the National Skill Development
for communities in the vicinity of its manufacturing
Corporation (NSDC) level IV certificate. This
locations.
qualification is equivalent to a diploma and will
15TBWES' CFBC boilers continue to outperform
I
n an earlier issue of Fireside, in Gujarat
we had covered the capability clocked 600+
of TBWES (Thermax Babcock days of non-stop
and Wilcox Energy Solutions) in operation, despite
setting up a CFBC boiler at the the challenges
largest petrochemical facility faced by the
in Gujarat that notched up an operation and
unprecedented 674 days of maintenance team
operation since June 2018. The due to COVID.
TBWES O&M team has been
The innovative
providing services for a total of
'U' beam particle
5 units of 500 TPH, 121 bar(g), Site photo of CFBC boilers installed in Gujarat
separation
535ºC, IR-CFBC boilers and
technology that
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP)
greatly improves performance of these boilers has
at the site since 2016.
boiler reliability, complemented enhanced the customer’s trust in
Following this achievement, with the customer centric and the TBWES products to the extent
another battery of CFBC boilers dedicated efforts of the TBWES that they have reduced the IBR
(4 X 500 TPH) installed at the team made this milestone inspection frequency from annual
second site of the same customer possible. The exemplary to biennial.
Know the secret of her health and happiness
I
nternational Women’s Day, 3H - Health, Hope and Happiness A new Thermax Sakhi cookbook
celebrated on 8th March every was launched. The celebration was launched on this occasion,
year has been important to featured Dr. Rachna Mehta, head of which comprises recipes by the
celebrate gender diversity within the department of Ayurveda at the company’s women employees.
our organisation. As a part of the Yoga Institute as a guest speaker for
The Learning & Development
Sakhi initiative, a campaign on an online session. She elaborated
team released a video sharing
on the relationship
testimonials from our women
between eating
colleagues on the ‘Secret of their
habits and a person’s
happiness’. Responses came in
state of mind. She
from the employees who touched
spoke about how the
upon a variety of diverse passions.
combined power of
Some said that they like to travel
health and happiness
a lot, while others touched upon
can create positivity in
different themes like spending time
our minds. She also
with animals, embracing nature,
congratulated our
making peace with oneself, listening
women employees
to old songs, praying and even
balancing work
cooking, baking, painting and yoga.
and life, and rising
Our chairperson, Meher shared a
gracefully to new
lovely snippet saying that spending
challenges.
time with her dog, Lara gives her a
lot of happiness.
Glimpses of events A great way to celebrate the day,
organised as a part of given the limitations of physical
'Sakhi' distancing.
16CBG records another milestone quarter
T
he Channel Business a few, Shreeji Incorporation its focus in the commercial and
Group (CBG) of Thermax bagged some large orders from hospitality sectors working closely
surpassed its phenomenal a textile hub in Gujarat after a gap with influencers such as MEP
performance in the last quarter by of almost seven years. Technical consultants, architects, builders
achieving the highest ever revenue Associates got the first order and key corporate customers. This
in Q4. The Heating business of for Shellmax boiler from Nepal, yielded some great orders from
CBG emerged as a star, registering and Maxitherm Works sold wet prestigious clients that included a
its highest order booking during the scrubbers from the air pollution leading research centre where the
quarter. control equipment portfolio to a installation of 1.5 MLD STP is under
pharma major in Aurangabad. execution, a renowned 5 star hotel
Introduction of the Balanced
KTV Techno installed Thermax where we bagged an order of STP
Scorecard (captured in an earlier
evaporative condensers to R-134a automation system and another
issue of Fireside), which signifies
chillers in a leading chemical plant premium hotel from where a 3 TPH
overall channel health, saw
that helped the customer achieve boiler order was won.
commendable improvements.
daily savings of about 250 units
There were high levels of
(kWh) per day for their water chiller
competition among channel
and about 400 units (kWh) per day
partners to secure top positions
for their brine chiller. The Urban
in the scorecard. This year, the
segment of CBG too intensified
channel partners worked towards
increasing customer outreach and All India Thermax Channel Associates Annual FY21-22
building customer relationship Rank Score Category
through innovative ways. The 1 Thermodynamic Services 86.59% Platinum
scorecard also helped identify the 2 Aetom Engineering Technologies Pvt. Ltd. 82.89% Gold
areas that needed more focus such 3 Nikhil Technochem Pvt. Ltd. 82.34% Gold
as training the teams of channel 4 Explore Watek Systems Private Limited (NCRG) 81.16% Silver
partners, scaling up marketing 5 Trivium Power Engineers (P) Ltd. 80.44% Platinum
activities and driving more cross- 6 Technical Associates Services Pvt. Ltd. 80.07% Gold
sell between Thermax offerings. 7 Thermtech Engineers & Chemicals 78.25% Gold
Some first-of-a-kind orders 8 Kamco Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (APTS) 78.25% Platinum
were secured during the quarter 9 Cinzac Sales & Services Pvt. Ltd. 77.71% Platinum
that improved the spread and 10 Vijetha 75.83% Base Category
capabilities of Thermax. To name Shreeji Inc. and Cinzac Sales & Services Pvt. Ltd. have been upgraded from gold to platinum
Top performing Thermax Channel Associates
Thermodynamic Services Aetom Engineering Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Nikhil Technochem Pvt. Ltd.
17AWARDS
& ACCOLADES
National level CII awards won by Thermax
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
had organised a National Maintenance Circle
Competition on 18th and 19th March 2021 and
focused on transformation initiatives by the industry
in adopting best practices for maintenance using
innovative technology and solutions. Participating
teams had to make live presentations on their
initiatives through a virtual platform. The competition The winning team from TBWES
was tough with more than 90 companies
participating across eight categories, of which For the category, ‘Predictive and preventive
TBWES Savli team chose to compete in two. This maintenance practices', the TBWES team put
included leading brands like Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, forth an innovative concept called IDEA, which
Berger Paints, etc. to name a few. featured a combined approach of IoTs, Digitisation,
In the category of ‘Intelligent maintenance Engineering and Automation. This concept was
management’, the team presented three case highly appreciated by the panellists and the team
studies, viz. energy management systems, QR bagged second place.
code-based traceability systems and computerised Kudos to the painstaking efforts and contributions
maintenance management systems (CMMS). of the TBWES Savli team in bringing home these
TBWES was declared winner in this category. prestigious awards!
Thermax wins Risk Management award
It was a proud moment for Thermax when the company won
the Special Jury Citation award for logistics risk management
at the 7th edition of India Risk Management Awards – in
the large-cap category. Thermax bagged the award for
demonstrating exemplary execution capabilities for its largest
export order from Dangote Oil Refinery Company. Speaking
on the occasion, Nitin Naik, Project Director and the Business
Head of Projects PU said, “Thermax is a well-respected global
organisation and this award will keep Thermax in spotlight on
the global risk management map”.
Logistics risk management has emerged as an important area
of focus for Thermax as the company increasingly focuses
on seamless supply chain management for its EPC and OEM
businesses.
(L-R) Sudip Chowdhury, Yogesh Ghorpade,
Nitin Naik and Ajay Hantodkar with the award
18Limelight
Globally accredited risk
management certification
awarded to Yogesh
Yogesh Ghorpade has been awarded the Certified Risk Management
Professional (CRMP) certification by RIMS. It is a qualification given by
the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) of the USA and
accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the
only certification across the world that holds an accredited status. Yogesh
completed this certification in October 2019, and in November 2020, his
interview was published in the Risk Management magazine that enjoys a
worldwide circulation.
Yogesh
Yogesh is the Group Head of Insurance at Thermax and a part of the
Enterprise Risk Management team. He has been associated with Thermax
for over eight years. His hobbies include cycling and exploring nature.
He has been recently selected as the member of RIMS Regional Advisory
Group for South Asia.
Sujata completes doctorate in
humanities and social sciences
Sujata Deshpande acquired her PhD in humanities and social sciences from
Symbiosis International University in 2021. The foundation of her research
dates back to the period of 2014-16 when she qualified for the Teach
for India fellowship and taught in a municipal school. This was a unique
initiative directed at bridging the inequality in our country’s educational
system. Sujata was able to witness the challenges faced by the government
schooling system and the need for capacity building of municipal school
teachers, which was the topic of her research.
Sujata has acquired several degrees throughout her career spanning 25
years. She holds an MA (Economics) from the Gokhale Institute of Politics
and Economics, Masters Diploma in Business Administration (HR and
Sujata
personnel management) from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies
and a post-graduate diploma in counselling. She also holds a certificate in
psychometric tools like Workplace Big 5, Neuro Linguistic Programming,
Emotional Quotient inventory and is also certified in Deep Democracy.
Sujata is the Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Thermax Foundation.
She has spent 14 of her 25 years in the profession with us. Before her CSR
role, she was a part of the Thermax Learning and Development team. Her
present interests include reading, particularly vedantic philosophy and
listening to sufi music.
19Signposts
‘FIT FOR
GROWTH:
A Guide To
Strategic
Cost Cutting,
Restructuring and
Renewal’
by Vinay Couto, John Plansky & Deniz Caglar
The COVID pandemic has accentuated the concept of the VUCA world, pushing organizations to revisit their
ways of doing business. In this context, Varun Sugandhi from the International Business Group, Thermax
shares excerpts from the book written by PwC highlighting best practices that could be pertinent and
contribute towards galvanizing the organization in enabling and sustaining the change.
Pandemic, sluggish global growth, of top-line and bottom-line, resulting in an inability to achieve
political instability, regulatory from all stakeholders including organizations’ true potential.
pressure, digital disruption, and shareholders.
In this context, Fit for Growth,
changing consumer expectations
To meet the demand for delivering which is PwC’s overarching
…welcome to a new normal and
higher shareholder value, many framework for cost transformation
VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty,
enterprises often pursue growth linking it to an organization’s
Complexity and Ambiguity) world.
opportunities to crank up a strategic agenda, capabilities
In this new normal, enterprises are plateauing revenue and/or carry and operations model, can be a
increasingly under pressure, to not out cost-cutting initiatives to bring thought-provoking guide.
only sustain but to boost delivery down the fat, but often in isolation;
20“The secret to unlocking growth is to make
deliberate choices not only about what to cut
but also about where to invest.”
What an organization Apple, for example, excels not only differentiating capabilities.
needs to do to in product design with unmatched
Costs that are not linked to
simplicity, but also in its ability to
become fit for spot an unmet consumer need/
'Differentiating Capabilities' can be
growth? categorized into ‘Table Stakes’ and
want, deploy technology towards
‘Lights-On’ costs.
Companies that are fit for growth market gap, make the user
do three things consistently and experience intuitive, and last but Costs Categorization:
continuously: not least, retain their customers in A. Differentiating Capabilities:
the Apple ecosystem – making it a Capabilities that build
1. Focus on a few differentiating
top-of-mind and top-of-heart brand sustainable advantage (spend
capabilities
that earns an extraordinary price more than competitors)
2. Align cost structure to these premium.
capabilities B. Table Stakes: Activities
Differentiating capabilities should required to compete
3. Reorganize for growth be fully funded, whereas other in a given sector
costs – those that are discretionary (at least match competitive
1. Focus on a few or may be necessary but not threshold)
differentiating differentiating – should be subject
capabilities: to a stringent examination and an C. Lights-On: Activities
intensive trimming. required to keep lights
To get started, a strategic outlook on/operate efficiently
is required for identification of
2. Align cost structure (spend as little as possible,
capabilities that distinguish
to differentiating consider outsourcing)
a business and contribute
disproportionately to its success.
capabilities: Fit for growth cost reduction
A single capability is unlikely to framework organizes various cost
Fit for growth companies manage
be adequate. High performance reduction levers. The framework
their costs not only tightly but also
organizations derive their challenges companies to revaluate
thoughtfully; they recognize not
competitiveness from having basic beliefs about their business
all costs are bad. Indeed, costs
mastered and institutionalized by asking three questions:
that strengthen a company’s
three to six capabilities, which differentiating capabilities are good Targeted Cost Levers:
strengthen each other such that costs. These companies increase
I. WHAT do we do? (Business
they are really hard to imitate. This allocation towards good costs while
Portfolio & Capability Choices)
is called the capability system. To meticulously managing the rest of
secure a lasting right to win in any the cost structure. Through tight II. WHERE do we do it?
industry requires identification of the cost management, fit for growth (Operating Model)
differentiating capabilities with clarity companies increase profitability III. HOW (& how well) do we do
and consensus. and free up cash to further invest in it? (Operational Excellence)
21I. What do we do? category, product, customer, headquarters, business
Business Portfolio & channel and geography. Portfolio units and shared service
Capability Choices: Rationalization systematically organizations.
analyses the profitability to identify
To assess Business Portfolio & ii. Outsourcing: Evaluate
where complexity is driving high
Capability Choices, organization whether some internal
costs. The goal is to reduce the
needs to carry out ‘Portfolio processes are better
complexity that is not adding value.
Rationalization’ and ‘Zero-Basing’. performed by a vendor.
ii. Zero-Basing: Justify what to
i. Portfolio Rationalization: iii. Footprint Optimization:
keep, not what to discontinue.
Key parameters to assess – Restructuring the physical
Zero-Basing examines the footprint of company’s
• Products Portfolio (What
costs of all activities, based manufacturing plants,
Products to offer?)
on their strategic priority, value distribution centers, R&D and
• Customers & Channels add and business necessity, administrative offices.
(What Customers and rather than budgetary
III. How we do it?
Channels to serve?) precedent. No activity gets
Operational Excellence:
• Service Models (How to funded only because it was in
the last year’s budget. i. Process Excellence:
configure operations, route-
Optimize processes for greater
to-market, innovations and II. Where we do it? efficiency and effectiveness
sales?) Operating Model: by using Lean, Six Sigma and
In the search for growth, many i. Business Operating other approaches.
organizations end up adding Model: Redefine how roles,
ii. Strategic Supply
complexity by expanding or responsibilities and decision
Management: Improve the
diversifying the portfolio with new rights are distributed between
efficiency of an organization’s
direct and indirect material
IKEA: A Case Study spend.
Sweden based home furnishings leader – IKEA has set a great iii. Digitization: Evaluate existing
example in terms of focussing on its differentiating capabilities. processes for opportunities to
It has aligned its costs and organization for the benefit of itself use technology for automating
and the customers it serves. Few brands have achieved such an manual work.
iconic status and customer loyalty that IKEA has earned, which
is noteworthy given that IKEA asks customers to pick, carry and 3. Reorganize for
assemble its flat-packed furniture themselves. But customers do it growth:
happily because they recognize that IKEA passes savings to them.
A company’s organization can
IKEA is known for its simple and yet elegant product designs, huge either make or break a fit for growth
but inviting retail stores, and its affordable prices. IKEA employees
transformation. A well designed
are persistent in searching cost saving opportunities in everything
except the quality of merchandise, the customer experience in the organization model enables
store and efficiency of their operations. It has reinvested savings fitness and growth in two ways:
towards understanding how customers live, which helped them in by enabling and sustaining cost
custom designing their stores with distinctive room settings. Even reductions and creating the right
in times of market stress, IKEA has been able to operate from a conditions for managers to drive
position of strength. growth.
22The solution typically involves program must be grounded in
redesigning the company to create “All spending is an the organization’s culture. To make
a more appropriate structure it successful, the front-line and
and spans of control. Managers
investment. Every back-office employees have to
are given explicit financial and
cost is a choice.” embrace and enable the change.
operational targets, along with This is possible only if ‘What
clear decision rights that spell out works in the company culture’ is
what they can and cannot do by organization units in the leveraged.
themselves to reach those targets. company and how these units
They are also given greater control work together. Summary:
over the resources assigned to ii. The Four Building Blocks Running a transformation program
them, and they can deploy these of Organizational DNA could be an arduous but fruitful
resources flexibly. Incentives are and Talent: There are four journey, if it recognizes and
aligned with company’s broader standard building blocks that enhances key differentiating
objectives in both the long term define an organization and capabilities of the enterprise, and
and the short term, aimed at its effectiveness: Decision thus strengthens the ‘Moat’ (ability to
making managers accountable for Rights, Information Flows, maintain competitive advantages).
results. It is about changing the Motivators and Structure. As In this journey, ‘Where to play’
way organization works. the transformation program and ‘How to win’ decisions would
Key considerations are: redesigns organization, it get crystalized to support cost
needs to think through the structure realignment (making
i. The Operating Model:
talent implications too. savings from ‘Bad costs’ and
Operating model defines what
iii. Management Processes: reinvesting them in ‘Good costs’).
work is performed by what
Management processes A successful program could
for developing reassess and rationalize business
strategy, prioritizing portfolio; evaluate operating model
differentiating (including outsourcing, shared
capabilities, services and footprint optimization
designing opportunities); and leverage
accurate budgets incremental change opportunities
and forecasts, and through operational excellence
tracking business initiatives. The program also needs
performances to deliberate on organizational
– these are model and culture that can sustain
critical areas for a lean structure, and also enables
assessment. managers to drive growth.
An organization that can implement
Enable Change
such transformation program can
and Cultural surely deliver higher shareholder
Evolution: value by turbocharging revenue,
Large scale change operating margin growth and capital
such as a transformation efficiency.
23You can also read
