The book reviewed

Small Wonder: The

making of the Nano

What the book is all about ?

Concept of
Nano

Target Costing

Determination
& crisis
management

Focus on
customer

Leadership

Innovation

 Was first doodled by Mr. Tata during a board meeting

He had the idea of $2500 car in mind. Financial Times
Concept of
published that Tatas coming with a Rs. 1lakh car soon
Nano

Target
Costing

The only constant during the project was the cap of Rs. 1
lakh
The team would find a solution first & then look to reduce
cost eg. 3 nuts, one wiper

Focus on
customers

Mr. Tata made it clear that the small car should feel like a
car, not like a cheap replacement
Wanted to give the people an affordable & safe car
Quality of parts used are of Mercedes, BMW quality

Innovation
Technological

Engine at the rear

Opening on the
sides for in & out
of air
Different size of
front & rear types
One part perform
multiple functions
eg. switch near
steering

Manufacturing

Distributive
manufacturing
Seats on a single
steel rod
Central console
same for both
right & left hand
drives

Supply Chain

Single supplier at
cheapest price
Using the Golden
quadrilateral for
shifting from
Singur to Sanand

Determination & crisis

management
Flood at Singur facility

Feedbacks from Mr. Tata

Inflation
Shifting from Singur to Sanand - Delivery from Pune & Uttarakhand facility
Setting new factory in record time of 9 months and half the cost
Multiple engine & body designs

For the team

it was as if
there was no
fear of failure

Leadership

During flood at
Singur: Girish
what has
happened has
happened. I know
you have a plan,
now go &
implement it

Ratan Tata tested the prototype himself

Ravi Kant & other seniors would spend many a nights at
the factory

The parts
used are what
of same quality
of Mercedes or
BMW

Ratan Tata would come every Saturday from Mumbai to

Pune to look after the work & give suggestions

Girish you
have our full
support. You
will report
directly to me
or the chairman

Leadership
For the team it was
as if there was no
fear of failure

Ratan Tata, then

Chairman-Tata
Group
Ravi Kant, then
Managing
Director, Tata
Motors

Girish Wagh:
Small car
project-in-charge

Ratan Tata tested the prototype himself

Ravi Kant & other seniors would spend
many a nights at the factory

Leadership
team

During flood at Singur:

Girish what has
happened has
happened. I know you
have a plan, now go &
implement it

Girish you have our full

support. You will report
directly to me or the
chairman

Book Review : Poorly Made In

China

An Insiders Account of the China Production Game

It was written by Paul Midler, an American procurement agent who has worked for
twenty years in China, mainly protecting or trying to protect the interest of Western
importers.
He reveals, in a very entertaining way, the behind-the-scenes of the Chinese
manufacturing and exportation game.
From one side there are the Western importers that wish to outsource their production
in China but dont know how to do (or dont want to deal with all the hassles yielded by
this process).

 From the other side there are the Chinese suppliers, who offer prices
than cant afford or products they cant produce with the only goal
of securing a new, greedy client (and then scam him without any
mercy).
Between them there is Paul Midler!

Here is where the game starts. Through the pages of this book youll
discover how many Chinese manufacturers slowly proceed to
decrease the quality of the product in order to get a larger margin of
profit.
Also, they love to introduce last-minute price increases when the
importer, pressed by his deadline, cant refuse anymore.

What I liked about the book

Poorly made in China is damn funny, easy to read and you can tell that the author knows
the subject quite well. Also, this book prepares you to a wide range of common problems
that you may encounter while dealing with a Chinese manufacturer.
Many people think that make business in China is fairly easy because there are no unions
or state regulations: you can visit the Canton Fair, shake hands with the bosses and close
the deal in a couple of days walking away with an astonishing cheap price.
Lets say that after reading this book youre in a better position to understand whether
youre ready for outsourcing your production in China or its better to keep
manufacturing your goods in your own country.

What I didnt like about the book

The first thing I didnt like about this book was that it only underlines the stories of
importers that werent able to handle their Chinese counterpart and ended up losing
money (or even broken) because of it.
Why I didnt like it? Because there are thousands and thousands of importers that do quite
well importing from China so Im sure that, as long as youre prepared, you can still
doing business with China in a satisfactory way.
Finally, most of the problems occurred to the importers featured on this books could be
avoided with a better agreement or planning. An example? If your supplier raise the price
at the last moment and youve to buy the goods anyway because if you dont youll run
out of stock it means that you ordered your goods too late.

What you shouldnt expect from this book

I noticed that most of the critics of Poorly made in China were concerned with the fact
that Midler doesnt offer a solution for the quality fading problem.

I disagree with this criticism as the main goal of this book was to expose a phenomenon
and prepare the wannabe importer to the main drawbacks of dealing with a Chinese
manufacturer. There isnt a general solution to this problem, which should be addressed in
a different way according to the situation.
Another common criticism was that the novel doesnt offer any practical advice. And its
true: here you arent going to find any step by step procedure for importing from China.
But you should have understood it before to buy the book, just looking at the cover!

About the Book

Author: Brian Tracy
This is another way of saying that if you have two important
tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most
important task first.
Develop Habits of Success
1. Your success in life and work will be determined by the kinds of habits
that you develop over time.

2. Whenever you complete a task of any size of importance, you feel a

surge of energy, enthusiasm, and self-esteem. The more important the
completed task, the happier, more confident, and more powerful you feel
about yourself and your world.
3. The completion of an important task triggers the release of endorphins in
your brain. They give you a natural high. The endorphin rush that
follows successful completion of any task makes you feel more positive,
creative and confident.

21 Great ways to stop

procrastinating and Get more done
in less time
SET THE TABLE
There is a great rule for success: Think on paper.
The power of written goals

PLAN EVERY DAY IN ADVANCE

Six-P Formula
(Proper-Prior-Planning-Prevents-Poor-Performance)

APPLY THE 80/20 RULE TO EVERYTHING

CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES
PRACTICE CREATIVE PROCRASTINATION
Learn to say No!
Procrastinate on purpose

21 Great ways to stop

procrastinating and Get more done
in less time

USE THE ABCDE METHOD CONTINUALLY

Think on paper

A must dos frogs

B should dos
C nice to do
D delegate
E eliminate

FOCUS ON KEY RESULT AREAS

PREPARE THOROUGHLY BEFORE YOU BEGIN
TAKE IT ONE AT A TIME
UPGRADE YOUR KEY SKILLS
Never stop learning

IDENTIFY YOUR KEY CONSTRAINTS

21 Great ways to stop

procrastinating and Get more done
in less time

PUT PRESSURE ON YOURSELF

MOTIVATE YOURSELF INTO ACTION

Seek the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty

Think and talk continually about goals

SLICE AND DICE THE TASK

SCHEDULE BLOCKS OF TIME
DEVELOP A SENSE OF URGENCY
Get into flow
Do it now!
Once you get going, keep going (momentum)

SELF-DISCIPLINE IS THE KEY