There has been a change in the management of TÜV India and Cluster India: Shrikant Kulkarni retired on 31 August and left TÜV India as well as OBS System Certification. Mr. Rahul Nayak has taken over his role and responsibilities as Senior General Manager Management System Certification, Training & Sustainability at TÜV India and Cluster Head India within OBS SC. Rahul Nayak, who has been with TÜV NORD for two years, was previously the head of Accreditation System Certification at TÜV India. Before he joined us he had a successful career in the certification business as well as in the industry. In this interview we talk to him about current projects and new plans.
Mr. Nayak, you are the successor of Mr. Kulkarni. How were the first two months in your new position?
The first two months, so far, have been quite encouraging, very exciting and interesting. I have been associated with the Certification Business over the last 15 years mainly dealing with accreditation management, and so it’s a welcome challenge for me to step into this new role.
It has also ensured that I continue learning and keep on challenging the status-quo to take the organization forward as well as building and continually improvising further on the legacy left behind by Mr. Shrikant Kulkarni. The management team of TÜV India has expressed confidence in my abilities and has been providing all the necessary support and guidance to ease me into the new role.
Which topics currently play an important role for TÜV India?
As you know, the current COVID-19 pandemic has affected businesses worldwide. So focusing on generating new business as well as ensuring the existing client retention remain of prime importance. We have an excellent training portfolio and there will be a continuous effort to see how we can build further and create brand value for the TÜV India Training Academy. Similarly, making our Sustainability and Food portfolio more viable for the clients as well as for our business is a key focus area for us. Apart from conventional management system certifications, which form the basic foundation of the business, we aim to move closer to the clients to support them with any second party assessment needs.
TÜV India is one of the key critical locations within the TÜV NORD GROUP and has been managing various accreditations locally as well as supporting for the same as part of the global portfolio. Maintaining the high quality standards in our auditing processes as well as compliance management towards accreditation requirements as a major driver for keeping the business sustainable is of prime importance.
All the above would still be incomplete without a mention of the need for digitalization. One of the key supports that we look forward to is global software, with an integrated MIS support, for end-to-end management of the System Certification processes – right from first contact to Certificate Delivery. With the world moving more towards digital operations, it is also imperative that we embrace the digitalization initiatives (both for TÜV NORD/TÜV India as well as the clients) and align ourselves with the pace of technological developments & advances so that we remain ahead or at least on par with the competition.
What goals and ideas have you brought with you for the coming months and years?
TÜV NORD has been a highly-respected brand in the TIC industry. As TÜV India, we aim to both think and act globally to ensure we keep our flag flying high. We are looking at reforms (at strategic level, management level as well as operational level) to the way we manage our operations to make them more sustainable, more lean and more efficient, without any risk to our effectiveness, client deliverables and/or accreditation norms.
Aside from the above, we would also like to work on becoming more digitally oriented, improve existing software platforms so as to make the processes more reliable, more user-friendly and less person-dependent.
We have an excellent, highly dedicated and competent team and our aim is to strengthen the team work further so that the synergies and competencies within the team are used to the fullest extent for overall growth, both at organizational level as well as at individual level.