LEAN MACHINE

AS CEO, THOMSON JOSEPH HAS EQUIPPED TRÜTZSCHLER INDIA WITH THE TOOLS TO DO MORE WITH LESS. WHAT A TIMELY JOURNEY IT HAS PROVEN TO BE.

- CHRISSIE MCCLATCHIE

A self-described lean manufacturing professional, Thomson Joseph spent the early part of his career in the water and construction industries before starting at German textile machinery manufacturer Trützschler’s Indian operations in 2010. “Trützschler was not lean when I joined,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “I’ve introduced lean tools to the company.”

In the decade since Thomson came on board as Senior Vice President, then as CEO in 2017, his ‘more with less’ philosophy has been the catalyst for its aggressive growth – even if, due to space constraints at its location in the city of Ahmedabad, the company hasn’t been able to expand its 41,737-square-metre plant physically. “We’ve shrunk a lot of working spaces to make room for new products and new manufacturing areas,” Thomson explains. His team has been very supportive in joining him on this lean journey.

With the strong support of the parent company to the Indian subsidiary, additional product lines have been added as Trützschler India strives to become a major player in the textile machine manufacturing market, which includes domestic production of tuft blending machines for fibre blends and the modern high-production portal bale opener, BO-P. “These are the products required for new generation spinning mills,” Thomson predicts.