Four engagements across automotive and appliance manufacturing in Gujarat — what was broken, what changed, and what it was worth.
Automotive machining · 140 employees
Ahmedabad Tier-2 supplier: IATF 16949 in 8 months
Challenge
A repeat OEM order was blocked pending IATF 16949 certification. Warranty claims were running high and two customer audits had already returned major non-conformities.
Solution
Full gap analysis, process re-mapping with turtle diagrams, Core Tools training for 18 engineers, control-plan rebuild on the top six part families, and two internal audit cycles before the stage 2 assessment.
Outcome
Certified with zero majors, a ₹2.5 Cr OEM contract signed, and warranty claims down 35% year on year.
Timeline
8 months
“The audit was the easy part by the time we got there. The line changes did the work.”
Appliance component assembly · 60 employees
Rajkot appliance MSME: COPQ from 4.1% to 2.4%
Challenge
Scrap and rework were absorbing margin, but nobody could say how much. Costs were spread across three spreadsheets and never reconciled to finance.
Solution
Built a COPQ baseline reconciled with the P&L, ran loss-tree analysis, and executed 8D projects on the top three drivers — press-shop rework, incoming component variation and sorting labour.
Outcome
COPQ down from 4.1% to 2.4% of turnover, roughly ₹38 lakh recovered annually.
Timeline
5 months
“For the first time we argue about quality using rupees, not opinions.”
Precision machining · Micro enterprise
Vadodara machining unit: ZED Gold with 80% subsidy
Challenge
The owner wanted export credibility but had stalled twice on ZED paperwork and was unsure which subsidy rate applied.
Solution
Eligibility mapping, Udyam and ZED portal filing, Bronze evidence pack, parameter-by-parameter gap closure to Gold, and full handholding-grant claim support.
Outcome
ZED Gold achieved, 80% of certification cost subsidised, and a ₹4.2 lakh grant used for in-house testing equipment.
Timeline
7 months
“The grant paid for the measuring lab we had postponed for three years.”
Wiring harness · Tier-2 automotive
Sanand harness supplier: 62% fewer line rejections
Challenge
Customer line rejections triggered a controlled-shipping level 1 and threatened the supply agreement.
Solution
Weekly pre-dispatch third-party inspection, defect classification retraining, poka-yoke at two crimping stations, and a documented containment exit plan.
Outcome
Line rejections down 62% in one quarter, controlled shipping exited, and the supply agreement renewed.
Timeline
3 months
“Independent inspection gave our customer the confidence we could not buy with promises.”
