Mine has been an overwhelming 25 year odyssey of learning and aspiring, in a relatively young Indian steel industry.

This landscape has undergone mutation.

Functional innovation has lost pace. The industry is way from being world class. Challenges have compounded. It’s about cutting corners inward for survival. M & As in the new millennium bears testimony.

The ‘90s had been a sunshine period of Indian steel industry. Euphoria was palpable. Buzz was around technology and its trajectory was aligning with ‘global’ trend.

Integrated mills invested in the zing product, greenfield factories and cutting-edge technology. Steel companies fashioned engineering graduates as front-line marketing talent, envisaged as future drivers. However, a less supportive market with national consumption under 50 million ton, left the industry bleeding. Nevertheless, new found zeal of the industry captains and stakeholders, kept the sails ‘high’.

Sales pitched high on customer connect, product knowledge, user process knowledge, perseverance, value-engineering to tackle competition and obsolescence. Evolving methods were experimented to tackle a volatile sales revenue. Industry churned new products for sustained growth in the face of adversity.

Notably, the well treated domestic customer reciprocated with reckless behavior and their credit worthiness was a real ‘threat’.

By the turn of the millennium, came the ‘big bang’ moment from the red dragon, China.

Low end vanilla grade steel was carted out in droves, to make up for the opportunity lost in the ‘90s. Beginning of this millennium, prices were more dynamic than the stock market. Cash registers began to jingle. Local customer was made to ‘pay’ for his past behavior. This was a ‘renaissance‘ period for the Indian steel.

Significance about credit discipline ushered in. But, the big loser was investment in new technology, R&D and customer connect. Service attention to the Indian customer hit a low paradigm.

Is this an opportunity to reinvent service industry in the steel sector to ensure turnaround profitable sustenance?

In an upcoming series, we will debate on multi-dimensional customer service in the steel sector, focussing on this ‘sustainable tool’. August 2020.