For more than 85 years, Schwing Stetter has been at the forefront of concrete processing equipment worldwide. In India, the company has rapidly grown since 1998 to become the country’s No. 1 concreting equipment manufacturer, operating five factories and preparing to launch its largest, state-of-the-art facility.
But by 2019, leadership faced pressing challenges: operations were ad-hoc, data collection was slow, decisions were often assumption-based, and silos hindered collaboration. The company needed to shift from an operational, person-driven culture to a strategic, process-driven organization.
That’s where Leadership Management International (LMI®) came in. Through the Effective Personal Productivity® (EPP) program, Schwing Stetter began a transformation that impacted both the bottom line and the culture.
Cost savings of INR 104 million (USD 1.47M) through rightsizing, operational efficiencies, and reduced overheads.
Working capital improvements, cutting overdue customer payments (>90 days) by 50%.
Significant productivity gains: standard man-hours per machine reduced from 2,000 to 800.
Travel cost savings through the adoption of digital reviews and video conferencing.
Cultural transformation: silos broken down, transparency increased, and employee alignment strengthened.
208 employees trained, embedding LMI tools such as goal setting, prioritization, and delegation across the company.
Voices from the team:
“The EPP program helped me refocus on the big picture and larger organizational goals… I even became debt-free and improved my personal health.” — P.N. Krishnakumar, CEO XCMG Business
“Within a year, renegotiating contracts saved INR 400M annually. Personally, I gained the trust of my team and even started running marathons!” — Mr. Ezhilvel, Head HR, Safety & Administration
“We converted the concrete mixer factory into a paperless one… data is now available at the click of a button.” — Mr. K. Balamurugan, VP Manufacturing
“I am now able to invest quality time with family and apply JIT methods to reduce working capital and space in the factory.” — Mr. Arun S, Manager Planning
Managing Director V.G. Sakthikumar captured the essence of the shift: “There has been a significant impact in the way we look at everything post the LMI EPP program. In an industry where turnover dropped 33% in 2019, we restricted ours to 15% — entirely due to the steps we took by looking both inwards and outwards.”
Read the full story here.
By embedding leadership principles across all levels, Schwing Stetter India not only reduced costs and improved efficiency, but also built a transparent, empowered, and future-ready organization.