The Dagra Model

“In the race for excellence, compete with yourself to finish first”
– Owais Dagra

Owais Dagra’s career spans over 30 years, two continents and multiple industries. This vast and diversified experience coupled with his personality has allowed Owais Dagra to develop a unique business model known as “The Dagra Model”. The model has evolved with time and experience into a refined process of opportunity creation, platform building and strategic opportunistic growth, resulting in economically surpassing the conventional business approach by a significant margin.

Comparison Between A Conventional Business Model And The Dagra Business Model:

Phases

Conventional Business Model
(The Straight Pyramid)

Dagra Model
(The Inverted Pyramid)

Phase – 1

Strategy Phase

In a Conventional Business Model, strategic planning is the first phase of the business plan. The business plan is conceived and strategy for growth over a future time horizon is mapped out with targeted financial projections and a specified percentage growth plan. The Conventional Business Model is generally based on historical norms of a business, availability of market data and the growth is based on a predetermined financial strategy, supported by actual performance relative to the plan.

Opportunity Creation Phase

Business Process Innovation
Dagra Business Model starts with opportunity creation in a business through business process innovation. First going into the detail operating aspects of a business and identifying an economic edge with respect to the fundamentals of business operations.

Phase – 2

Execution Phase

The second phase in a Conventional Business Model is the execution phase whereby the plan is implemented and the business becomes operational.

Platform Phase

Business Process Optimization
In this phase, the Business Process Innovation is leveraged by creating a platform with significant economic edge through a multifaceted approach towards Business Process Optimization.

Phase – 3

Refinement Phase

The third phase in a Conventional BusinessModel is the refinement phase, whereby the business operations and its financial aspects are evaluated and refinement exercises are initiated to conform to the business plan. Growth is prescribed per the financial strategy laid out in the strategy phase.

Growth Phase

In this phase, the created platform is then used as a springboard to catapult into the growth phase through an opportunistic strategy versus a prescribed strategy as in a Conventional Business Model.

In line with the business model an action plan to achieve the vision and concept of enhanced efficiencies and sustainable consistencies,Stallion’s project roll out was executed in Phases.

During Phase-I the opportunity creation phase a conventional project of 15,480 spindles was put online. The purpose of Phase-I was to identify and create opportunities in the areas of reengineering and redesign in the spheres of manufacturing and commercial activities which would provide Stallion with an economic and operational edge. A running production facility was needed to develop and finalize these initiatives and practically test the same from operational and commercial standpoints.

Observing the dynamics of spinning locally and globally Owais Dagra focused his attention to the following areas:

Minimizing Capital Expenditure and setup cost
Operational cost efficiencies with a special focus on minimizing energy consumption.
Economic and operational consolidation with a focus on identifying a product with a mass market and a baseline commodity oriented application.

Owais Dagra’s assessment in 2006 of the significance of these factors in coming years was remarkably accurate. Stallion identified several opportunities in the Business Process Innovation Phase and achieved unique breakthroughs in the above areas which were subsequently translated into a sustainable commercial advantage.

Phase II was the platform phase in which a mega unit was conceived, and the innovations identified in Phase I were brought into operation on a mega scale. Then came the Business Optimization Process in which theoperations and commercial activities were streamlined, innovations were fine tuned and initiatives in the areas of management, controls and systems were implemented. In a span of five years Stallion has solidified itself and is poised to initiate the final and most exciting growth phase of the Dagra Model.

The highlights of the successes and achievements during Phase I and II are presented below:

Distinctive machinery layout resulting in a space utilization of 1.76 square foot per spindle instead compared to an industrial average of 5.53 square foot per spindle.
Optimized roof height and significantly reduced mechanical heat emission resulting in energy savings in excess of 4MW in the areas of air conditioning, humidification and waste removal systems.
Reengineering of the ring spinning machine to create the 1644 spindle frame compared to a traditional 516 spindle frame. The ring frames installed at Stallion are longest and most energy efficient conventional geometry ring frames in the world, being run by a 37KW motor versus a 30KW motor used to run a traditional 516 spindle frame, equating to a 62% conservation of power.
Innovative building design removing all departmental compartmentalization creating a single production hall environment, resulting in up to a 50% reduction in material and worker movement.
Reduced capital expenditure. Implementation of Stallion Phase-II required capital expenditure 50% less than conventionally required for installation of a comparable unit.
30% reduction in operating costs.
Reduction in raw material inventory levels and carrying costs. Stallion raw material inventory levels are 80% less than that of a comparable size unit implementing a conventional multiple product mix business plan.
Reduction in finished goods inventory levels. Stallion’s finished good inventory levels are negligible due to selection of a basic high volume count with a substantial local market. The baseline commodity nature of the product also ensures that the demand is highly inelastic and allows Stallion to weather cyclical variations in the textile spinning sector.

Stallion’s journey and its achievements are unique and non replicable. This can be attributed primarily to the unique philosophy and nature of its founder. The same is highlighted by the following events:

Bearing the substantial financial cost of extensive R&D and spending the time required for the process with total focus and dedication.
Subsequently taking the risk of implementing the results on a scale conventionally not conceived or accepted traditionally.
Facing the operational challenges that arose as a result of radical changes implemented on such huge scales with creativity and time appropriate solutions which entailed absolute focus and a 24/7 dedication. An example of this is establishing the R&D facility “Stallion Engineering” to devise operational solutions and subsequently implementing those changes at the required scale and pace.

These events are all a testament to the nature and intellect of Mr. Owais Dagra, his ability to discover opportunities and visualize the necessary plan to capitalize on these opportunities.

The technological changes have been all developed in house and are proprietary. The cohesive nature of the reengineering provides a barrier for replication for other organizations, because to attain similar economic benefits the changes cannot be implemented piece meal or in small scale environments.