Published on June 18, 2020
Knowledge Management (KM) is an integral part of Tata Steel’s integrated improvement framework. In 1999, Tata Steel formed the KM group intending to capture, institutionalise and leverage specific knowledge. The aim was to convert knowledge into organisational learning for subsequent retrieval and application by business process owners, wherever required.
Tata Steel Europe (TSE) was keen to understand more about the practices employed at Tata Steel India for capturing, sharing and using knowledge. TSE was also interested in understanding how Tata Steel India effectively prevented knowledge loss due to people movement.
Accordingly, on March 5, 2020, TBExG facilitated an EPIC best-practice sharing session in which the TQM KM team, Tata Steel, shared a KM practice. Along with members from TSE, the primary requestor, the workshop was attended by 30 personnel from other Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Coffee, Voltas, Infiniti Retail, TM International Logistics and Tata Power.
During the session, Valasani Ravi Kumar, Head, TQM, Tata Steel, provided details on the following aspects of Tata Steel’s KM initiative:
- Charter formulation process
- Framework and systems
- Process of managing its Communities of Practice
- Key initiatives
- Way forward
Members from TSE as well as other participating companies found the session useful. They expressed desire to implement insights gained from the workshop to enhance their respective KM processes.
Participant speak
We were impressed by Tata Steel’s integrated approach to KM and appreciate the efforts to share their experience with us, both through the webinar and visits earlier this year. We hope to adopt some of the learning, such as the initiative to capture knowledge for key roles, shortly.
— Debbie Vick - Lead Business Excellence Manager, Tata Steel EuropeAbout the EPIC Programme
EPIC (Excellence Practice Implementation Champion) carries forward the Tata Best Practices Programme by helping companies adopt best practices from the group through a structured collaborative process, under the guidance of subject matter experts (SMEs) from best-practice organisations. EPIC is a platform that brings together the provider and receiver companies to enable successful adaptation and implementation of best practices.