Productivity improvement practices: the case of Darling Pumps

ABSTRACT Darling Pumps is a success story of the visionary entrepreneur Mr Ranade. His dream was to design, develop and produce specialized pumps in India. However, due to his minimal exposure to marketing, they were unable to achieve the required growth. Company faced big setback, when Mr Ranade suddenly passed away, without creating any succession plan. This tragedy trigged rumours that DPPL is on the verge of closure. Responsibilities fell on shoulders of Mr Naolekar, son-in-law of Mr Ranade. Because of limited resources, Mumbai unit was closed, which ignited the problems of labour union. Under the leadership of Mr Naolekar the Company was determined to overcome these adversities slowly but surely by evolving own systems and methods of productivity improvement and establishment of own sales and marketing networks. Now DPPL is doing well, in spite of challenges imposed due to increasing competition, demand for newer products, and entry of foreign players.