'Nano' a buzzword for the Tata Group New project on way

With the success of the Nano car, the word 'Nano' has become a buzzword within the Tata group, with practically every company of the group wanting to do some 'Nano' (low-cost) project, R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, Tata Sons Ltd, said on Monday. Speaking to journalists here on 'Innovation and innovativeness - The Tata Experience', Gopalakrishnan said that there were many 'Nano' projects in the offing, such as Nano Housing, the proposed low-cost housing project of the Tatas. In one of the presentations made to the media by the Tata Group officials today, showed a 'Nano cement' - but that came in the list of projects that had not taken off.

Need to innovate

Gopalakrishnan observed that the next decade would be one marked by the need to innovate. This in mind, the Tata Group has begun to streamline and document the innovations that are happening in the group companies.

A Tata Group innovation forum has been set up to formalise innovation, which includes cross pollination of ideas and a system of recognition and awards. The idea is to foster the culture of innovation and as such, there is a category of awards even for failed innovation projects.

Dr Santanu Chakrabarti of Tata Steels Ltd spoke of a successful attempt in the company to reduce time, and consumption of water, in the process of annealing steel. The team that worked on the project substituted water with 'nano liquid' - a water-based solution containing suspended solids (fine grains of metal oxides).

For a one-time investment of Rs 50 lakh, the company would save Rs 5 crore annually, but more significantly, the company will be able to make more steel with less waterOne of the presentations said that the number of innovation projects registered for awards rose from 101 in 2006 to 1,712 in 2009. The number of failed projects that were nominated for awards increased from 12 in 2007 to 115 in 2009.

One of the 'failed projects' was of Tata Tetley. The company wanted to bring in flavours in the form of soluble capsules - you put them in your drink (any drink) to get the flavour you want. It did not work out, but the company is now working on the concept with liquids and sprays.

Another failed concept was a plastic door for the Nano car. The door, with reinforced metal bars, passed every crash test, but was still rejected because it might be perceived by the public as unsafe.