Inspiring Innovation

Recap

Season-1 of RPG Innovation Festival was held on the 1^st of March, 2019 with the impetus to Unleash Talent from all corners of the Group’s companies and provide a platform to recognise innovations across products, processes and business models. From the inauguration of the Digital Wall by Chairman, Harsh Goenka to a Top-30 Innovation Showcase, visitors were treated to a range of ideas reflecting a rapidly “Changing Mindset” within the RPG Group. The event proved to be a phenomenal success, seeding the ground for the second season.

RPG Innovation Festival - Season 2

Season-2, held on the 6^th of March, 2020, proved to be a bigger, grander affair with 187 entries from across the Group as compared to the 137 received last year. After a rigorous shortlisting process, the top 30 of these entries came together under one roof to celebrate the spirit of innovation across RPG Group. The tone for the day was set by a stimulating keynote address by Ravi Arora, Vice President & Head of Innovation at Tata Sons. In an engaging address, he highlighted the nuanced approach undertaken by the Tata Group to raise its innovation quotient for over a decade.

The Top-30 Showcase: RPG’s innovative aptitude, unleashed

30 enthused teams showcased their magnificent exhibits to the Chairman, GMB members, and the Chief Guest, as they walked them through their innovations, with the help of working prototypes, demonstrations and eye-catching posters. The showcase also featured three partner stalls, which represented the external ecosystem that goes hand-in-glove with RPG’s internal innovation framework - IIT Bombay (partnerships with academic institutions), Percipio (online innovation learning content) and TechGig (external idea crowdsourcing platform). The highlight of the event was the booth that leveraged Artificial Intelligence to bring a Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak to life, opening the gates for an exuberant journey of innovative living as a concept.

KEC International

Use of Rebar Coupler: This has been designed to be used in RCC construction of slender elements, marking a sharp departure from the current conventional method of joining two rebars, thereby enabling 5 -8% cost saving.

RAKSHA - A Digital Platform for EHS Management & Compliance: KEC’s Raksha platform has revolutionised Safety in Infra companies. The project has resulted in the successful elimination of 95% of PPE violation while also providing real-time visibility for all Safety incidents. It also provides VR safety training to its employees and customers, and has leveraged technologies such as AI, VR & Mobility to design comprehensive solutions for end-to-end EHS management.

Smart Recruitment: By employing smart recruitment tools such as TurboHire and Talview, this venture addresses the challenges of integrating HR Management Systems with a constantly changing culture, bolstering speed in interview & assessment processes, offering Multiposing, Smart Candidate Cards and efficiency in communication lines between recruiters and candidates.

RAYCHEM RPG

ACE (Advanced Customer Experience): This aims to create unparalleled world-class Customer Experience as well as enhance Value Creation through 80 new & innovative WOWs (Ways of Work) across the entire Business Value Chain.

AI-Based Auto-Zeroing in Gas Meters: By leveraging AI & Machine Vision for Industry-First Automated Zeroing in Gas Meters, they have achieved the Perfect Index Zeroing as demanded by customers. An AI algorithm having real-time “Iterative Intelligence” was built, low-cost camera alternatives were taken into account, and alternative technological options were identified in order to ensure Low Latency.

RPG LIFE SCIENCES

In-House Development of Naproxen: A potential pain-killing pill, this drug has employed an indigenous, in-house technology that results in a substantially lowered acidity bout post consumption.

Relaunch of Norpace Capsules (100 mg): Chemically defined as Disopyramide Phosphate, this is the only medicine that is designed to cater to heart patients, a population that is now touching 2.4 million. Headlining new methods of formulation in their manufacturing processes, the relaunch reduces surgical interventions in patients, while also training them on the usage of disopyramide through Patient Assistant Programs.

ZENSAR TECHNOLOGIES

Digital Claim-Servicing Platform: This venture provides a digitally enabled end-to-end Claim Servicing Platform by incorporating solutions from multiple practices within Zensar. This has been a huge leap from the otherwise manual intervention, which led to unrecognisable property identification.

OmniCon Bot Platform: Built to deliver a seamless self-service experience across channels of customer communication, this project boasts of a viable and scalable model that is required to match the technological advancements in the imminent future. A patent filled algorithm maintains the context of the conversation on any channel and keeps a record of the last service or transaction, while also maintaining its contextual relevance across 26 channels such as Whatsapp, Mobile App, Alexa, Google Assistant, SMS, telephone and all social media platforms.

The Innovation Awards: Recognising the Trailblazers

The final leg of the event was the Innovation Awards, where winners and runners-up from each company were felicitated on stage. This was followed by the grand prize of the event, The Chairman’s Award, awarded to the best idea of the event. The list of awards is as follows: