Hard grind at idyllic spot
Flashback 1998: The domestic market for engineering products was booming on the back of refinery and petrochemical project activity. Sanmar Engineering Corporation’s (SEC) constituents were all doing very well. Reason enough for everyone to relax and rest on some well-earned laurels, right? Not really.
That was the time when the SEC business heads got together at Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, south India, to brainstorm on ways to keep the momentum going when the project activity slowed down, as it was bound to do. At that meeting were born the export thrust and the target to grow exports to the same levels of domestic sales.
Since then, SEC exports have grown by over 30% on an annual basis. Back to the present.
SEC was riding on the wave of its best year ever. Time now to ease up a bit? Not really, for with growth comes the bigger challenge of sustenance. It was time for another round of strategising and planning for the future, a future in which the growth momentum is sustained, at the least. With this in mind, the SEC management team met at Kumarakom in Kerala to plan the strategy and set the targets for the next few years.
Two gruelling all-day sessions later, the team emerged with a clear vision of the challenges ahead and the mountains to climb. And of course, there was some time for some fun. With batteries fully recharged, Team SEC is now fully into the execution of the plans identified at Kumarakom.
Brainstorming session in progress.