Determination is a key factor behind a successful person. Swapna Sankhe, the Co-Founder and COO of KVAR Technologies, with a determined mind and hard work has achieved her desired goals. She stands to be an epitome for budding women entrepreneurs today. After completing B.COM she pursued Cost Accounting and signed for CA. Due to family pressures during that time, she had to get married and move abroad. Focussed on completing her higher education, she resolutely took up studying after becoming the mother of two daughters and obtained an MBA degree from S P Jain Institute of Management Research. Thereafter, she pursued CPA, and CMA in Business Strategy and Management Accounting from Wilfrid Laurier University. She believes that women leaders are not just empathic but pragmatic in getting the best out of any situation, be it for their family or profession. Thus, women work out for optimal solutions that turn out beneficial for all.

Here’s the exclusive interview of Swapna Sankhe with the Women Entrepreneur Magazine.

What are some important features of your expertise as a business leader that you want us to highlight through the article?

Having returned to India after studying abroad and working in MNCs, I had opportunities to work with different cultures (South-Asian, Middle-Eastern, Oriental, European, American); with different nationalities (American, British, Canadians, Chinese, Germans, Italians, Lebanese, Sri Lankans and of course Indians) and different industries (Oil & Gas, Infrastructure and Government). This exposure to various environments along with my professional credentials helps me to run a successful manufacturing unit.

In my company, we always emphasize the contribution of the entire team because the P&L is the responsibility of one and all. To this extent, all are being empowered through continuous learning, providing tools, and mentoring to bring out their best efforts. Most of our employees are in the category of unskilled, semi-skilled, or skilled, where the maximum level of education is 10th or 12th grade. They are aware that we are a result-oriented company, that focuses on quality and customer and each of them has the power to make a difference. Every major decision impacting the work, quality, or the employees themselves is first discussed, agreed and then implemented.

A collaborative, participative, empowering approach is what I bring to the table. As a leader, I provide the framework, not to limit themselves but to guide them appropriately. I discussed this particular question with my team, and they had this to say:

“Being empathic, encouraging innovation from one and all, communicating expectations, setting boundaries, multi-tasking and balancing career, social activities and family life are the qualities that inspire us about you.”

Give us a brief overview of KVAR Technologies.

Since its inception in 2018, KVAR Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has been engaged in the design, development, and manufacture of embedded/microcontroller-based products primarily for industrial applications. We provide technological solutions for various control requirements in the process control industry. We also manufacture electronic systems for automobile, industrial, medical, infrastructure, and telecommunication applications. Apart from standard products, we develop, design, and manufacture custom-built products. The firm has recognized itself as a dependable source for OEM requirements and also has a full-fledged R&D Center. We are one of the pioneers in the electronic manufacturing sector and our range of products is known for its low maintenance, accuracy, sustainability in harsh industrial environments, and reliability. Our goal is to provide innovative technology solutions that drive efficiency and improves the future of work and our vision is to provide qualitative technological solutions to our customers worldwide promptly at competitive costs and to exceed customer expectations in terms of quality, delivery, and cost through continuous innovation and improvement.

“We always emphasize that our whole team must contribute to the bottom line and this helps all to stay empowered through continuous learning, providing tools, and bringing out their best efforts”

Throw some light on your specialization as a Chief Operating Officer in the electrical and electronic manufacturing industry?

The electrical and electronics manufacturing industry can be overwhelming. There are too many variables. To begin with, is the intense competition; then the dependency on China for raw materials. Additionally, the operations are labor-intensive and require precision skills. The customer needs the product urgently and the supplier may not always deliver material in time for us to meet the customer's deadlines. Continuous developments in this field are making existing technology obsolete by the minute (or maybe nano-seconds now). A Canadian CMA is a three-year course study which is a combination of theory and industry experiences that trains you for C-suite positions. This has largely helped me in running a successful organization.

A manufacturing organization has several processes that need to be followed. At every point, we have to be conscious of quality improvements and cost efficiencies to remain competitive. Streamlining processes for efficient operations is my forte. A part of my study involved production, productivity, and cost-effectiveness. My experience in risk assessment and mitigation helped us in overcoming the Pandemic better. We were a little over a year and a half in the business when the covid outbreak struck the world and came to India.

Working from home is not an option for a manufacturing setup. All the same keeping in view the safety of our staff, we had planned for our production staff to take the material at home. They were trained to handle material with care to not have quality problems. The office staff was given laptops to work from home. When we were allowed to open our offices, we were able to meet customer deliverables as everyone was working from home including the Production team.

What are the various roles & responsibilities that you currently shoulder at KVAR Technologies?

When you are the co-founder of an MSME, there are no defined roles and responsibilities. My foremost responsibility is to keep ourselves aligned to our mission of providing innovative technology solutions that drive efficiency and improve the future of work.

Devising business strategies, keeping ourselves fluid to respond to the business environment, making a forecast, and drawing up budgets come under my portfolio.

I look into all functional areas to ensure smooth operations. While all the departmental heads report to me, it is my job to provide them with the right kinds of tools to enhance their reporting and performance. We ceaselessly design and upgrade our ERP to ensure a continuous flow of information. Over the period, we have established and successfully automated the business processes. Inventory management, Procurement Planning, CRM, Production Planning, and HR modules are some of the few modules I have been working on.

Being a private limited company, we have a lot of compliances like statutory payments, and tax audits that need to be looked into as well.

Managing human resources is a big challenge in the manufacturing industry. Defining jobs, aligning responsibilities, KPIs and designing appraisals, training, motivating the employees, and keeping their morale high in adverse times, working capital management, procurement management, and a few marketing activities are also some of the things that I need to look into.

Swapna Sankhe, Co-Founder & COO, KVAR Technologies

Swapna Sankhe is an efficient and multitasking professional with extensive managerial skills and know-how. She has pursued higher education in Canada while raising two children single-handedly along with having a full-time job in the Government. She worked for American MNCs in the Oil and Gas sector. She worked with a Swiss cement conglomerate in Dubai. Working for these MNCs taught her the importance of timelines, the discipline of companies’ policies and procedures, the compliant work practices, and the freedom to contribute to the vision of the companies. She took leadership training at St. Gallen’s in Switzerland for enhancing her team building and leadership skills.