Exclusive Interview with Ms. Hemalatha Annamalai, Founder & CEO at Ampere Vehicles Pvt. Ltd

In this issue, we are extremely happy to publish the interview of Ms. Hemalatha, the founder & CEO at Ampere Vehicles, a company that designs and manufactures wide range of economical and comfortable electric vehicles with the implementation of smart batteries and thereby contributing to environment sustainability. Ampere Vehicles Pvt. Ltd is headquartered in Singapore and is extensively dedicated to application driven technology that meets the requirements of new age electric vehicles. Ms Hemalatha has a wide experience of associations in the areas like professional recruitment, technology training and professional services for renowned companies like Wipro InfoTech, Uni Connect Pvt. Ltd and Cayenne Software. She has stepped into her entrepreneurial journey 15 years ago and constantly striving for providing high quality and cost-effective means of personal transportation with a wide range of Electric Mobility Solutions to all categories of people and businesses of the emerging markets in Asia and beyond.

Ampere’s contribution to the environment has fetched some of the prestigious awards such as: ‘Best Product Design’ for disabled by the State Commission for Differently Abled in Tamil Nadu for 2010; ‘Best SME company’ awarded by Coimbatore Management Association for 2011; ‘Best Eco-Friendly company’ contributing to Environment by Lead India 2020, a national movement initiated by former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam for 2012; Best Entrepreneur- Sadhana Award for the year 2012 by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Coimbatore and the most recent one includes ‘The CII Regional Emerging Entrepreneur Award’ in association with Business Line.

Ms Hemalatha holds an MBA degree from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore.

Here are the excerpts of the exclusive interview with her:

Origiin: It is a great pleasure for us to interact with you and publish your thoughts in this interview.

Ms Hemalatha: Thank you Sabina, it’s a pleasure for us to interact with Origiin.

Origiin: For fifteen years, you have been in this entrepreneurial journey, I am sure you would love to share your experience in setting up your innovation driven company.

Ms Hemalatha: We are grooming young engineers in our team, who can be product managers in about 3-4 years. The average age of our team is about 26 years that shows the vibrancy with which we operate.

In 2010, when we had to supply some 1000 numbers of Battery Operated Scooters for Persons With Disability (PWD), the entire team worked tirelessly to execute the order. The team said mam, you pick the orders, we will deliver within timelines, I think this kind of team spirit is what makes Ampere take on bigger challenges and the team is motivated to strive for bigger things

Origiin: Innovation is a buzz word today, how have you been channelizing the innovation in the right direction to translate every innovative product into business growth of the enterprise?

Ms Hemalatha: We have few patents filed last year and some 13 more to be filed in the area of Electric Mobility. Non-Thermal Runaway Charger for VRLA Batteries, Battery Revival Process, Alarm less Anti Theft protection Circuit for Electric Vehicles, Inter Battery Heat Sink, Chip Integrated Intelligent Batteries are some of the areas where we have in-depth expertise.

I think in India, we are more followers. Original thinking exists, but we fail to execute on time, which makes us lack international credibility. With the new Govt’s“Make in India”challenge, we are positive about this new initiatives.

On April 8, 2015, Government of India launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan through Department of Heavy Industries. About 3-4 of our technical projects have been accepted by the Government for pilot projects in some specific locations, which very clearly shows that the government wanted local entrepreneurs and technologies to be developed in India.

Origiin: What are the challenges that you face while introducing your products to customers in terms of acceptability or cost etc?

Ms Hemalatha: There are still certain obstacles that we face; some of them that I would like to highlight are such us-

1. Conducive Govt Policies for the EV industry specifically making any subsidies be given to end users directly, this will impact end user decisions.
2. Financing for E-bikes are not prevalent which makes  buying difficult.
3. The industry suffers chronic awareness problems, for instance, when we launched in 2008, people said that EV cannot go high speed, cannot climb slope, will not run in rainy seasons, spare parts not available, cannot take doubles, etc, which are all myths. All these have been overcome with grit and determination.
4. The consumer market in India is more a reference buying stage as the EV market is still not mainstream yet. With the government’s announcement of Subsidies, the consumer market will improve and lastly,
5. There are very few local manufacturers who are in India who make batteries suitable for Indian power, grid and road conditions, and this also makes it difficult.

Origiin: What role does innovation play in economic growth? How important is the protection of innovation in terms of patent, copyright, design or trademark?

Ms Hemalatha: We wanted to be an Electric Focused, product based but solution driven company covering both domestic and international markets. We received our first export order for Electric Trolley to carry about 600 kgs of load, which is very useful for material movement within factory premises. When the customer came to our factory and checked on us, the first question was our commitment to patent, copyright etc. They also understood that we were patenting some of the new technologies developed, which gave them solid comfort, I presumed. If anyone aspires to be a long term player, design/trademark/copyright is paramount and building blocks for growth and scale.

Origiin: Do you feel Indian IPR regime is friendly enough to encourage lots of innovative growth and filing for protection, or there are still some lacunas which we need to work on.

Ms Hemalatha: The official processes take a long time to get patents registered in India. If this can be reduced and the process becomes simpler as well as track able, I think more companies and entrepreneurs will benefit. Today, the IP process from start to finish takes 4-5 years which is too long and requires lots of patience.

Origiin: Would you like to give any advice to young aspirants who carry the same zeal like yours to venture into entrepreneurship and contribute to a greener environment?

Ms Hemalatha: I think anyone who wanted to venture into making a product or service must beworking in a similar industry for 2-3 years, generate enough contacts and network in that domain which can help validate their idea for take off. Making a business plan and tracking it is important. Getting the first 5-10 reference customers will be key for getting funds, and then ensure you scale carefully.  Customer Orders and cash-flow planning are important and must be through right from the start, reviewed systematically, any errors made must be captured and discussed with the team to prevent from happening again. And last but not the least, communicate and CONNECT at all levels. Entrepreneurs should not assume the role of CEO too quickly, until about 100 crs being hands-on is NOT micro management, in my view.

Origiin: Thank you so much ma’am, for your valuable inputs and your time spared for Origiin. I am sure our readers will thoroughly enjoy it.

Innovative product

Angel-The electric bicycle from Ampere Vehicles

This month we present Angel – the electric bicycle as innovative product of the month. Angel is the most innovative e-bicycle coming out from Ampere Vehicles, a company that designs and manufactures wide range of economical and comfortable electric vehicles with the implementation of smart batteries and thereby contributing to environment sustainability. Although electric bicycles have been doing round in the market for a time now, but what differs Ampere’s Angel from the rest of the crowd is it’s removable battery pack, that can charge other devices anywhere and any time. This special feature make Angel stands out as the most reliable, cost effective and high quality alternative transport which is bridging the gap between a standard pedal-powered bicycle and a motorcycle. Angel comes with a cruise control option, in which the speed mode can be set by holding throttle for 8 seconds, by which it will run automatically in the same speed even without using throttle. It has an option of E-brake for efficient use and foot rest for pillion riders. With a motor power of 250 w, the E-cycle can easily cross 25km/hr. What more interesting is the fact that when the cycle is not in use the removable power back up can be used to run fan or other devices! According to the CEO of the company, Ms. Hemalatha Annamalai a software engineer herself, these electric vehicles are designed for mobility in rural areas where public transport are still not effective, and making daily communications very difficult especially for students, women and senior citizens. So this pollution free alternative transport is definitely an innovative product coming out from an Indian start up.

To know more about the product and the company please visit: http://www.ampvl.com/

Interesting patent

Title of the invention: Cold weather shoe

Publication number:      US3977093 A

Publication type:           Grant

Application number:      US 05/650,136

Publication date:           31 Aug 1976

Filing date:                  19 Jan 1976

Inventors:                    Gilbert L. Santroch

ABSTRACT: 

A hollow heel is movably mounted in the heel area of the bottom of a shoe. A battery is mounted in the heel. Electric heating elements are mounted at the bottom of the shoe in the area of the sole thereof. A switch at the bottom of the shoe in the heel area thereof is operable by the heel of the foot of a wearer. A circuit at the bottom of the shoe electrically connects the battery, the heating elements and the switch in circuit whereby the heating elements are selectively energized by the battery via the switch.

Article

Assessing a supplier from an IP perspective

By-Donal O'Connell

Supplier Relationship Management:

Good supplier relationship management is the discipline of strategically planning for, and managing, all interactions with third parties that supply goods and/or services to an company in order to maximize the value of those interactions. In practice, it entails creating closer, more collaborative relationships with key suppliers in order to uncover and realize new value and reduce risk.

Good supplier relationship management involves the systematic enterprise wide assessment of suppliers’ assets and capabilities with respect to the overall business strategy. The output from such an assessment should determine what activities to engage in with different suppliers. The focus of supplier relationship management is to develop two-way, mutually beneficial relationships with strategic supply partners to deliver greater levels of innovation and competitive advantage than could be achieved otherwise. Successful supplier relationships require a win-win. It is important that there is understanding of the costs and value along the entire supply chain. A true partnership leverages these costs and value to both parties' advantage. Both parties have to accept accountability. Appropriate service levels and metrics need to be built into the Agreements. Equal time needs to be spent aligning incentives and penalties. Critical information should be shared between the two parties as early as possible as information is the grease that makes an integrated supply chain work. It is crucial that there are plans in place for exceptions and major contingencies. Expect and reward honesty and make relationship meetings meaningful and value adding.

IP must be part of the assessment:

All that said, many supplier management exercises fail to properly assess the intellectual property (IP) situation of the supplier, despite the fact that the importance of intangible assets including intellectual property is growing, often equaling or surpassing the value of physical assets for a company. The state of the intangible assets of a company can determine their share and corresponding influence on the market. The way a company is now valued has changed considerably with intangible assets making up approx 80% of the value of the company.

The challenge dealing with IP:

The challenge I see is that many Sourcing / Procurement people do not have the skills, experience, process or methodology to properly access the IP maturity and sophistication of suppliers (either hardware or software) and properly assess the supplier from an IP value and risk perspective.

They lack a broad definition of IP. They do not know how to determine the maturity of the supplier from an IP perspective. They are unaware of how to judge the IP environment of the supplier. They cannot plot where the supplier sits of the 'level of IP control' axis. They do not understand the different ways in which IP adds value.

Simply put, they do not know what questions to ask, and how to interpret any answers received back.

I am being unfair. A few do, but most do not. Yes it is important to consider obvious issues like the implications of 3rd party IP rights but this is only one of many IP issues which should be considered when dealing with suppliers. I would even go so far as to say that many IP professionals lack the skills; process and methodology to conduct such supplier assessments from an IP perspective.

What should be assessed from an IP perspective?

The ideal of any supplier assessment is to identify deficiencies with the supplier’s processes and procedures before they impact. Of course, the purpose is also to identify opportunities. These two equally important objectives apply just as much to the IP portion of any supplier assessment.

Effective questions are questions that are powerful and thought provoking.

Effective questions are open-ended and not leading questions. Behind effective questioning is also the ability to listen to the answer and suspend judgment. This means being intent on understanding what the person who is talking is really saying. What is behind their words?

Services

Although it may vary greatly depending on the exact nature of the product or service being supplied and how critical this supplied item is for the company, I would propose that the IP portion of the supplier assessment explore the following issues …

1. … What is the supplier's IP awareness level?

2. …What is the supplier's definition of IP and good IP?

3. …Where is the supplier on the IP Maturity Ladder?

4. …Where is the supplier in their eco-system from an IP perspective?

5. …What is the supplier's comfort level on the 'Level of IP Control' axis?

6. …Describe the IP Portfolio of the supplier

7. …How is IP adding value to the supplier?

8. …What are the IP risks facing the supplier and describe IP risk mitigation activities?

9. … What IP resources are available to the supplier (internal & external) and how are they deployed?

10. … Describe IP Governance by the supplier

These ten questions listed here are high-level abstract questions as such and much more detailed check-lists exist that describe individual components of each of these ten. I should also state that the first question listed, namely IP Awareness and the last question listed, namely IP governance, are like bookends keeping all of the others properly in place.

The purpose of this IP portion of the supplier assessment is to determine the overall sophistication of the supplier from an IP perspective, and to identify IP value and risk.

Final thoughts:

Legal and intellectual property text books typically describe intellectual property and patents in particular in somewhat negative terms. For example, a patent is not a right to practice or use the invention, rather, a patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent, which is usually twenty years from the filing date. A patent is, in effect, a limited property right that the government offers to inventors in exchange for their agreement to share the details of their inventions with the public.

However, the legal aspects of intellectual property sometimes get too much attention, while the business aspects suffer. It is as if when looking at a tree, all we saw were the roots. Yes, the roots of a tree serve an important role to anchor it to the ground and gather water and nutrients to transfer to all parts of the tree, and for reproduction defense, survival, energy storage and many, many other purposes. However, it is the trunk, the branches and especially the leaves of the tree which capture our attention.

This more enlightened view describes intangible assets and intellectual property in particular as a means to build innovation as opposed to block.Innovation including collaborative innovation with a supplier is reliant on some form of management and control. Intellectual property is the means to manage this process as knowledge and technology needs to be managed as transactions of objects in the development stages as these objects may now be as valuable as or even more so than the resulting products and services.

Intellectual property in this regards can be seen as a means to objectify knowledge so it can be properly managed. Without an understanding and appreciation of intangible assets and intellectual property, technology development becomes prohibitively difficult.

This is a fresher way of viewing intellectual property, namely as a management system for knowledge-based business instead of a legal right to exclude others.