Organisations should give more thrust to innovation and it should be their top most priority, said Harsh C.Mariwala, Chairman of Marico Ltd.
“Every brand needs innovation to be two steps ahead of others,” he said, delivering his speech at the eight edition of CavinKare-Madras Management Association (MMA) Chinnikrishnan Innovation Awards 2019.
Recalling his journey as an entrepreneur, Mr.Mariwala said every time they did an innovation the sales went up.
This year, 396 nominations were received for the award, of which 208 were valid. Finally, 11 shortlisted firms were presented to the jury. Spread across two categories — Innovation and Great Ideas — winners of the innovation awards are mentored by CavinKare to provide support on marketing, finance, designing, packaging, research and development and human resource.
Prajwel Karuna from Rekindle Automation Pvt Ltd bagged the award under great ideas category. He and his team developed a smart intravenous dripper which helps doctors and nurses to monitor intravenous drips of patients real time from their location. It relays key data such as the amount of liquid left, rate of flow and the time for completion. Under the innovations category, S Rajarathinam of the Eden Nursery Gardens got an award.
R Niveda and S Gowtham received an award under the innovation segment for producing a biodegradable natural sanitary pad made using Kenaf fiber. According to the duo, it is 100% natural, uses no synthetic chemicals, greatly reduces itching and irritation that synthetic pads cause. The germicidal properties of Kenaf prevent infections and the entire pad will degrade into its elements in a short time.
V.Prasanna, V N Ravi and Gowtham Jayaram the co-founders of Heaven on Oceans, also got an award under the innovation category. They operate a semi submarine in Andaman sea, wherein people can sail through the underwater world in the comfort of a modern air-conditioned cabin. C.K. Ranganathan, Chairman & Managing Director of CavinKare Pvt. Ltd said, “The award has helped a lot of small scale entrepreneurs to innovate and scale up their business.”
Commemorated in the memory of Late Shri R Chinnikrishnan and to celebrate his revolutionary innovation, Chinnikrishnan Innovation Awards was instituted in 2011. Since its inception, the award has recognised over 25 small-scale businesses for their innovative practices.