Silca DUO: an
Italian-Indian
collaboration
Two teams of developers, two locations, two different
cultures – one project. The Silca DUO project saw developers
from Kaba’s Italian subsidiary Silca and from Minda Silca in
India working together for the first time. The resulting
product line My First Silca is a very attractive one. A project
report.
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Successful collaboration: in only ten months, the project team developed and launched the new
product line My First Silca.
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Pramode Parasramka, Managing Director Minda Silca
“A strong will to succeed and trust in
our partner shaped project Silca DUO.” Pramode Parasramka, Managing Director Minda Silca
I n 2006, Kaba’s subsidiary Silca and the Minda Group in
Differences in background brought some challenges for the
India set up the joint venture Minda Silca in the industrial
project team, too, with two different corporate cultures and
city of Noida, southeast of New Delhi. The purpose of
philosophies to grapple with. However, from the start the dif-
this collaborative venture, which represents a new opera-
ferences in working methods and cultural background were
tional base for Silca in the Indian growth market and in South-
regarded as an opportunity. “We successfully brought together
East Asia, is the manufacture of key cutting machines and keys
different ways of communicating,” reports Fischer. The launch
for the replacement key market and the OEM sector. Today –
of the new product line just ten months after the project
about two years since the venture was set up – Minda Silca
started proves his point.
with its distribution partners already covers a large part of
the Indian subcontinent. An efficient production line turns out
Complementary expertise
high-quality keys with over 300 different profiles as well as
The team members from Italy were the driving force when it
plastic heads. Further advances are set to follow.
came to project management and expertise. As a technology
leader, Silca is accustomed to updating its product portfolio on
This successful venture should be expanded, said the people
an ongoing basis, keeping abreast of a market which con-
at Silca, and they sought out new opportunities. How can better
stantly requires new key profiles and quicker and more user-
use be made of synergies? Where are the gaps in the huge
friendly machines for key manufacture. Thus, over the years,
Indian market? The answer soon became clear: through the
Silca’s R&D department has acquired a great deal of in-depth
Silca DUO project, a new type of key cutting machine was to be
knowledge and experience. In the Silca DUO project, this exper-
developed, specifically suited to the low-price segment of the
tise came to the fore particularly in the efforts to combine
growth markets in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe.
design and technology. In this area, Minda Silca entered new
territory to an extent, as both the product and the technology
Two locations – one team
used were new to the developers in India. “The knowledge
The project was launched at the beginning of April 2008.
transfer was a big challenge. We were developing a key cutting
Under the leadership of Corrado Fischer from Italy, eight devel-
machine for the first time. That also meant building and testing
opers – four from Minda Silca and four from Silca in Italy –
prototypes,” explains Anup Kumar Gupta, Unit Head Minda
began working on the new product line. The members of the
Silca. Giovanni Pupo, Quality Manager Silca Italy, observed a
project team had to have serious organizational and communi-
high level of motivation and great skill in his Indian colleagues:
cations skills. Developing a product together when the mem-
“They did perfect work from the start.”
bers of the team are thousands of kilometers and several time
zones apart is no easy undertaking. At the end of the day, the
Minda Silca played a strong role when it came to engineering,
constant exchange of ideas is what makes any development
procurement and quality assurance, says Pupo. The Indians set
process work. Modern forms of communication like videocon-
up contact with suppliers that produce the sought-for quality
ferencing helped – but more than that was needed. “From the
at low cost. The highly qualified Indian team also added valu-
outset, we encouraged the members of the team to visit the
able experience from developing products for the car in-
other location, to get to know each other personally and to
dustry, which brought new approaches to improving the design.
learn from each other’s abilities,” relates Corrado Fischer. The
“In product engineering we benefited from the perspective
project plan also involved regular meetings in situ to sort out
of our Indian partner from the outset,” says Corrado Fischer.
technical problems and discuss how things were to proceed.
“As the project progressed, they showed us ways in which we
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Interview with Roberto Gaspari,
COO Key + Ident Systems Europe/Asia Pacific
Roberto Gaspari, how has the joint venture Minda Silca
performed over the last two years?
Very well. We have doubled our operations and now produce
key blanks for Europe as well. In the local replacement key
market, our team has already established a significant customer base; our business covers now most of the Indian subcontinent through our twelve distribution partners. It goes
without saying that there is still much to do.
could easily produce other parts for other machines at Minda
Silca.” A welcome synergy effect, which Silca will obviously
make use of. “The strengths of our two operations complement
each other ideally,” observes Fischer.
The production location challenge
Silca DUO is in many respects an ambitious project. And this
extends to the choice of production location. For the first time
ever in Silca’s history, key cutting machines will not be made
at the headquarters in Italy. In order to enable production to
take place in Noida, adjustments had to be made to existing
production methods. The complex mix of components needed
to make the key cutting machines required an improvement
in process setup. Silca equipment also had to be integrated
into the manufacturing process. In order to ensure high Silca
For example?
standards were maintained in the new product line, the project
In the coming months we will be negotiating with other pro-
team developed quality assurance processes along with a fail-
spective distribution partners, and we will also develop a
ure mode and effects analysis. It was on this basis that produc-
product catalog in Hindi and make point-of-sale material avail-
tion for the new product line was set up: every tool and every
able. We will be staging some events, too, with a view to
step in the process were put precisely in place.
enhancing familiarity with our brand and our business model.
Successful collaboration
What challenges did you face in setting up the joint
Anup Kumar Gupta regards the experience of the last year as a
venture?
very positive one. His team has developed extraordinary skills
The joint venture was a new experience for us all. Unlike
and a great deal of technical expertise in key cutting machines.
acquiring a company, entering into a joint venture requires a
The collaboration, he believes, was an excellent thing at all
partnership between the two companies based on mutual
levels. And: “Communication was affected less by cultural differ-
understanding, shared goals and trust. Happily, we established
ences than by differing local realities.” Giovanni Pupo agrees
a good relationship with our partner even at the negotiation
with him. Everyone expanded their horizon. He felt the contact
stage. The teams from both companies know each other per-
with another culture and the exchange of know-how was
sonally; regular meetings at both locations and our success in
enriching. His summing up of the partnership: “Successful at
mastering the different challenges together have fostered a
all levels!”
team spirit and created shared values.
And the future?
I see many opportunities for Minda Silca. I have great confidence in our Indian partner. Pramode Parasramka, their
managing director, is an experienced manager with great
technical competence. He understands our needs and the
market – and he has the ability to motivate the team to
achieve even better results.
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“The product line My First Silca specifically caters to the needs of customers in
emerging markets.” Corrado Fischer, Project Manager Silca DUO
With its My First Silca product line,
oped as entry models aimed in particular
industry standards. In addition, for the
Kaba’s subsidiary Silca is setting new
at customers in Asia, South America and
first time the machines will not be pro-
standards for mechanical key cutting
Eastern Europe. In these markets, price
duced at Silca’s Italian site but at Minda
machines. A dual function now means
and margin competition is particularly
Silca in Noida (India). “The products will
that for the first time two key profiles
fierce, so that cost is the first question
comply with the standards Silca sets
can be cut on the same machine.
which arises in any purchase decision. “If
regarding quality,” Fischer adds.
a customer buys a Silca DUO machine,
My First Silca is the result of an extremely
they get double functionality on the same
The My First Silca product line consists of
successful R&D collaboration between
machine: so the purchase price is lower
five models adapted to regional needs.
Minda Silca and Silca in Italy (see also the
than it would be if they bought a separate
The first model, Silca DUO Basic 220V, is
report on pages 4 to 8). The aim: to
machine for each functionality,” explains
expected to be on the market at the end
develop a product which would allow cus-
Corrado Fischer, Project Manager Silca
of February. The 110V model and the ver-
tomers to buy a key cutting machine at
DUO. As a reliable partner, Silca also
sion for South America will be available in
low cost and without sacrificing quality.
offers valuable expertise and top-class
April, while the European plus version will
The product line created, My First Silca,
service worldwide.
come onto the market a little later.
one and the same platform. With this dual
However, My First Silca does not only set
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function, flat keys can be cut on one side
new standards in terms of product engi-
and double-bit keys on the other.
neering and pricing: the time between
enables different key types to be cut on
the original idea for the new product line
The machines are distributed under the
and it going on sale is just ten months. A
name of Silca DUO and have been devel-
period which is a lot shorter than usual
Clever dual function: the new Silca DUO machine
is able to cut two differing key profiles
at the same time.
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