Mario Gasparri :

We are not among the largest players in the Indian farm equipment market. It is a complex, competitive business with a lot of pressure on margins. Nor are volumes very high. Making a tractor requires managing specific complexities. We sell our products in some of the strangest pockets of this geography. Reaching them requires a strong sales network and a commercial force spread across the country.

These specific needs have created our approach to IT. We never look at IT as an isolated island of excellence. Unlike many other enterprises, our IT department doesn't work as a department separate from business. Our IT thinks, breathes, walks and talks business. We do monthly reviews of IT projects and focus on innovations and the results they have reaped for internal users. The way ERP supports assembly is an example of running an analysis of business need before building IT support.

So far, we've been able to take advantage of our innovative use of IT. We have developed IT systems that can beat best-of-breed solutions in the industry. The  streamlining of production and the reduction of certain costs is a direct benefit of IT systems. Its impact is clearly visible in dollar terms.

Another example is our communication infrastructure, which we use to reach out to a large customer base. The old set-up was costing us a fortune and wasn't delivering with sufficient efficiency. IT replaced it with a Web-enabled communication system that's both efficient and cost-effective. We also have SMS integrated with the ERP system to enable field personnel to access real-time data.

Mario Gasparri :

Innovation is vital. It is impossible to harness your IT investment 100 percent without it. Hardware and software can't be changed with every new product variant. Forget investment protection, isn't innovation by itself a good habit? If IT is innovative, it means we've the best minds working for us.

There are other benefits from in-house innovation, which would have been hard to achieve if a point product was deploy and left to its own. I believe that if there aren't new ideas coming from IT, its time to rethink the IT policy. We are really fortunate to have innovative people in New Holland's IT team.

Mario Gasparri :

All the answers to that question start with the fact that IT sits with the core management team. Right from conceiving an idea and its business goal, IT constantly supports business. Our business-need assessments keep costs under control, and also flesh out reasons for an IT project. IT implementations are put through a budget approval process and we also make sure that optimal usage is received by the department that requested it.

Mario Gasparri :

Since we are growing in volume and in the number of markets within and outside India, we're encountering new problems. Since India will be a major export-centric production hub, we need to sync our systems with those in other geographies. Our topmost priority is to work as a single group across the world. This will become critical once there is a constant flow of orders from other countries.

Different markets have different product configurations and these have to be understood so that we can deliver correctly.  It's technical and complex and already IT has played an innovative and intelligent role in saving us manpower costs. More importantly, IT systems help us avoid 90 percent of the errors that occur on the shop floor. We've introduced wireless bar-coding and are   working on RFID. We are also building a potential customer database with detailed customer information on it.

Mario Gasparri :

As our growing numbers tell, we are chasing the number one slot in the Indian market. Our long-term plan is to be a formidable player in other agricultural equipment segments as well. This can't be achieved without very strong IT infrastructure. With the volume we expect in the next two-to-three years, we will need an even more committed approach from the IT team. I'd like them to come up with new and profitable ideas. The major focus area will still be at the industrial level where complexity will increase.

Mario Gasparri :

Indian IT professionals are more business-oriented than others I have worked with. I have found, in previous experiences, people in IT working with isolated ideas with little or no link with business realities.

My CIO introduces IT systems only when there is a compelling business-need. It's important to absorb into our DNA that IT systems can't deliver 100 percent without a specifc business-need.

Mario Gasparri :

CIOs can't be an annex to the whole operation. They have to be integral to the core of an enterprise. I've involved my CIO in projects which were not exclusively IT. CIOs can think business and can contribute in other areas. We need to let their imaginations work. Simultaneously, CIOs are responsible for convincing their CEOs of their ability to contribute more than just in terms of IT.

My CIO has been a leader of transformation many times. For example, the e-catalogue was his idea and it worked better than any other suggestion that crossed my table. The CIO is someone who must think across processes and have a vision similar to the CEO's.

Mario Gasparri :

We've discussed a project which would make order-processing-for dealers looking for part-easier. The result could be an e-catalogue which efficiently help dealers recognize the parts they want. They also help order and track goods till the time of delivery.

IT also needs to address certain problem areas in logistics. I want to make ordering more process-driven and reduce turnaround time by 50 percent. It is critical to cut costs on delivery and to make them happen on time.