Benefits of uniting panel builders under COSMA leadership

Cosma membership grew by 25 percent during this pandemic, which saw this approach of generic hostility amongst competitors transform into a healthy collaboration.
Covid struck, and various businesses were affected in various ways! Some had to shut down. Some worked overtime to cope with demands they had never experienced before. And in such challenging times, there is always a silver lining, isn’t there?
For panel builders from COSMA (Control Panel & Switchgear Manufacturers’ Association), headquartered in Mumbai and spread all over India, it was an online reunion party of sorts. We had online seminars, strategy meetings, and learning together events that brought in a kind of bonding that kept getting referred to as the COSMA brotherhood! Take a peek: https://youtube.com/@cosmaindia
We even came up with our COSMA tagline, “Uniting Panel Builders,” with the purpose being to come together to work collaboratively and empower such influence in the industry that would pave the way to creating a positive impact in the world at large.
COSMA will be participating in ELECRAMA 2023 and has been allotted a complementary stall at the pavilion to meet and greet during the exhibition. IEEMA is the largest electrical institution in India, and these times have seen them recognise COSMA as their switchboard subdivision!
Electrical switchboard manufacturing is a responsible business, wherein the fear of the end user is generally inadequate workmanship, which could lead to a short circuit and a fire with the potential to kill people and destroy infrastructure. Recognising this, COSMA has set up a quality committee to educate, benchmark, and align panel builders to global standards of safety, reliability, and convenience. This initiative is being headed by Dhananjaya Kudalkar, a veteran from Siemens (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhananjay-kudalkar-76b61011)
For the first time, COSMA empowered a female doctor who is born-blind, Dr. Urvi Jangam (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-urvi-jangam), to interview 10 of our members on their success stories. Out came the book ‘Uncommon Entrepreneurs,” which was soft launched during the bi-annual COSMA Awards Night in Mumbai on November 12, 2022.
The COSMA Whatsapp group exploded with members close to 350, chatting practically every day, yet in a guided and meaningful way, helping members liquidate their dead inventory, identify scarce materials they need across the country, and share technical information for the benefit of all.
COSMA has been on a spree of signing MOUs for a year now, with other associations like

1. EEPC https://www.eepcindia.org/
2. TATA NEXARC: https://www.tatanexarc.com/
3. ECAM, Pune, and Nashik https://ecamindia.org/
4. MASMA https://masma.in/

This is soon to go overseas, starting with NESMA (National Electrical Switchboard Manufacturers’ Association) Australia, extending our energy exchange in a boundary-less fashion!
Wanting to catch budding young engineers, and groom them with the right synergy between industry and academia, COSMA has collaborated with the Vishwaniketan’s Institute of Management, Entrepreneurship, and Engineering Technology in Mumbai.  Visit https://vishwaniketan.edu.in/. Soon, such a move will be extended to more than 40 skill training Centres of the Sri Sri Rural Development Programm SSRDP.
Cosma membership grew by 25 percent during this pandemic, which saw this approach of generic hostility amongst competitors transform into a healthy collaboration. Stories of how each one benefited from this “never urgent but important” step took turns!
Anand Jayawant, one of our dynamic directors, trained his lens on me, beseeching me to share my experiences with the tribe on how to simplify panel building. I willingly put thought into PPT and on Zoom and gave a 3-part talk on the said subject on 3 consecutive Sundays. It was soul-satisfying for me. If inclined, you could sink into my feelings at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXfzi6AWqI&list=PL0GEF3i4gC1no66ERWyPToOQVS6nAKH1O
Our Chairman Emeritus, Satish Kazi, and President Sanjeev Khinnavar were at full throttle, allowing creative energies to flow and catalysing and supporting as only such distinguished leaders can! COSMA is today a huge name to reckon with in the electrical distribution industry and is gaining momentum by the day!
For more information on COSMA and its illustrious members, do check out the carefully put-together website, www.cosmaindia.co.in. There are opportunities for you to advertise here too, and digital marketing is the best way to get noticed these days!
So, next time a pandemic strike, do not ask, “Why me?” but venture to appreciate, “What can I learn from this situation?”