⚠️ LEGACY NOTE
Kunwer Sachdev is no longer associated with Su-Kam. Any current dealings with Su-Kam should be made with full awareness of this fact. This blog documents historical leadership (pre-2018).
Kunwer Sachdev is no longer associated with Su-Kam. Any current dealings with Su-Kam should be made with full awareness of this fact. This blog documents historical leadership (pre-2018).
📊 Battery R&D & MIS
16th July, 2016
16th July, 2016
🏭 The Profit Centre Revolution
“Each department head must show me their Profit & Loss. No excuses. No AI. Only Excel and ownership.”
— Kunwer Sachdev, Managing Director, Su-Kam
💡 The Core Idea: Every vertical — Production, R&D, Stores, Maintenance, HR, Admin — ran as an independent P&L. Internal transfer pricing, custom Excel formulas, and monthly reviews created accountability that most founders cannot replicate even today.
📸 ORIGINAL SLIDE
June 2016 MIS Data
June 2016 MIS Data
📋 Actual MIS Snapshot – June 2016
📌 What this slide shows: Detailed product-wise costing – RM Cost per unit, Transfer Price, Total RM Cost, and Total Transfer Value for 20,005 batteries produced in June 2016. Total RM Cost: ₹9.08 Cr | Total Transfer Value: ₹13.68 Cr | Plant Expenses: ₹1.26 Cr | Margin: ₹3.33 Cr
📈 Production Snapshot
June 2016
June 2016
🔋 Batteries Produced & Revenue
20,005
Batteries Produced
₹13.68 Cr
Revenue (Transfer Price)
₹1.26 Cr
Plant Expenditure
₹3.33 Cr
Margin (P&L)
📌 The Production department’s P&L showed ₹3.33 Cr profit in June alone. Every product code was tracked – from 40Ah to 200Ah batteries.
👥 Each Department as Profit Centre
Headcount & Efficiency (Jun’16)
Headcount & Efficiency (Jun’16)
🏢 Who Made Money This Month?
| Department | Headcount | Reduction vs 2015 | P&L Metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production | 36 | -75% | ₹3.33 Cr margin |
| R&D & Quality | 34 | -73.5% | Warranty reduction |
| Stores | 2 | -84.6% | Inventory cost |
| Maintenance | 12 | -68.4% | Uptime % |
| PPC & Dispatch | 4 | -50% | On-time delivery |
| HR & Admin | 3 | -50% | Cost per hire |
📌 Kunwer’s rule: If your department doesn’t show profit or measurable efficiency improvement, you don’t have a job.
🔄 Returns = Improvement
The Quality Loop
The Quality Loop
📦 Every Returned Battery Was a Blueprint
In Kunwer’s system, a returned battery was not a cost — it was data for R&D. The Quality department’s P&L included a line item: “Failure Analysis Savings”. If returns reduced, their margin improved.
✅ The result: Su-Kam became synonymous with reliability. Because behind every battery was a P&L, an Excel sheet, and a leader who demanded accountability without AI.
🎯 Kunwer’s Observation
Leadership Insight
Leadership Insight
“When I Meet Founders Today — They Cannot Think Like This”
“I look at their structure and operations. They rely on intuition or expensive tools without first building ownership. They don’t have the P&L discipline at every level. The rigour I created at Su-Kam — most founders simply cannot replicate.”
Most Founders
Cost centres
Blame games
No clear accountability
Cost centres
Blame games
No clear accountability
Kunwer’s Su-Kam
Profit centres
Mini-CEOs
Excel-based reviews
Profit centres
Mini-CEOs
Excel-based reviews
🏆 The Legacy
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
Excel Was Our AI. Ownership Was Our Algorithm.
The Su-Kam way: Measure, own, improve. Repeat.
📊 Based on actual internal MIS document – “Battery R&D & Costing, June 2016”

