TOIIS – Tata Steel Innovation Initiative

[Audio] The Tata Steel Growth Shop Innovation Initiative, or TOIIS, is our commitment to turn every technocrat at TGS into a practising innovator. A structured path, from spark… to the world stage..

[Audio] Let's start with an honest question. Tata Steel has world-class innovation platforms — Innovista and InnFuze. The infrastructure exists. The ambition exists. But the spark — the real ideas — lives in our workforce. And right now, too much of that potential never reaches the platform. Participation is concentrated. Most innovations never surface. Most talent never gets a stage. So we asked ourselves: what if every technocrat at TGS had a clear, structured path from a spark of an idea… all the way to the competition stage? That question is what gave birth to TOIIS..

[Audio] TOIIS is a structured engine for grassroots innovation — built on four pillars. First, **Discover**: we surface high-impact opportunities hidden within daily operations — the problems our people live with every day. Second, **Ideate**: we convert those challenges into structured, screened innovation concepts — not just ideas, but actionable proposals. Third, **Execute**: a stage-gated development process takes ideas from prototype to proven solution. And fourth, **Recognise**: we celebrate our inventors — because a culture where innovation is everyone's job doesn't happen by accident. It's built, deliberately, through recognition..

[Audio] TOIIS has a clear leadership hierarchy built for accountability and speed. At the top, our **Champion** — the Head of EM — approves the roadmap and ensures resources are in place. **Mentors**, our Sectional Heads, guide teams through every stage-gate. The **Convener**, our Senior Manager of I&PE, keeps the entire programme coordinated and on track. At the heart of it all are our **Innovators** — the TOIIS core — Officers who identify the problems and propose the solutions. And supporting everything, our **Collaborators**: IT, Design, Vendors, and Group Companies — providing the technical and cross-functional firepower to bring ideas to life.

[Audio] How does an idea become an innovation? Through our five-stage gate process. Stage one: **Identify** — pinpointing the high-impact opportunity. Stage two: **Ideate** — developing concepts and solutions. Stage three: **Feasibility** — a rigorous study of cost, design, and risk. Stage four: **POC and Trial** — building the prototype and putting it to the test. And stage five: **Scale and Share** — full implementation, and recognition for the team behind it. Here's what makes this powerful: every stage is deliberately mirrored to Innovista's own gate structure. That means TOIIS projects are competition-ready from day one — not retrofitted, but built for the stage.

[Audio] The TOIIS playbook runs on five strategic pillars. One — **Align with Business Objectives**: every project must connect to productivity, delivery, customer impact, or cross-functional improvement. Two — **Leadership-Driven Governance**: clear project selection, defined KPIs, and regular monthly and quarterly reviews to keep momentum. Three — **Structured Innovation Pipeline**: from idea to screening, execution, and validation, with feasibility, impact, and scalability assessed at every step. Four — **Capability Building**: we invest in our people through Lean, Six Sigma, QC tools, analytics training, and internal knowledge sessions — our WOW talks. And five — **Sustainability and Long-Term Impact**: solutions that are embedded into systems, processes, and culture — not just one-time wins..

[Audio] So where does TOIIS begin? We've identified five priority innovation themes — and for each one, we've already converted challenges into live TOIIS projects. **Automation and Digital Transformation** — from AI-driven consumable prediction to digital twins for operational efficiency. **Capability Gaps** — cycle time reduction, modular automation, and import substitution. **New Development** — new product and process opportunities, and component tracking systems. **Sustainability** — green energy and carbon-aware manufacturing. And **Customer Value** — error-proofing and quality benchmark excellence. Every identified challenge is systematically converted into a TOIIS project. None are left behind..

[Audio] TOIIS has a rigorous funnel to ensure only the strongest advance. It begins with **Ideation** — problem-driven, theme-based, data-informed brainstorming across functions. Those ideas then enter **Screening and Refinement** — department-level review, mentor guidance, and a full technical, financial, and operational feasibility check. The best then go to **Central Selection**, where ideas are evaluated on three dimensions: business impact across cost, quality, delivery, and safety; innovation quotient — how unique and creative is the solution; and alignment with our organisational priorities. Only the most impactful ideas advance — ensuring every TOIIS project that reaches the platform is truly worthy of it..

[Audio] We believe what gets measured gets done. So here are our targets: at least one idea submitted per month per team. At least one POC completed per quarter. A cost saving target of ₹20 to 50 lakhs per year. One to two patent or copyright filings annually. And a minimum of three Innovista and InnFuze entries each year. But TOIIS isn't just about numbers — it's about people. That's why our recognition system is equally ambitious. The TOIIS Innovator of the Year. The Best Prototype Award. The Patent and Publication Heroes Award. Because celebrating our inventors isn't a nice-to-have — it's the engine that sustains the culture long after any single project ends..

[Audio] Capability building is central to TOIIS. We're investing in five areas of upskilling. **Design Thinking** — empathy mapping and SCAMPER techniques to unlock creative problem-solving. **Data Analytics** — Power BI and Machine Learning basics, giving our teams data fluency. **Problem Solving** — TRIZ and QC tools to tackle challenges with rigour. **Automation and IoT** — sensors and PLC basics to demystify modern technology. And **Product Costing** through Value Engineering — so our innovators understand the commercial impact of every solution. We're not just asking our people to innovate. We're equipping them to do it well..

[Audio] teel is forged under pressure. So are the world's best innovations. TOIIS is our commitment — that every ounce of innovative potential in our workforce reaches the world stage. Today, we're asking leadership to take three steps. **Endorse the TOIIS charter** — give the programme the authority and legitimacy it deserves. **Allocate the resources** — because great ideas need investment to become great solutions. And **champion a culture of innovation** — from the top down.