History of WIPRO:once called as Western India Vegetable Products Limited
Anjali Bissa
Wipro Limited (formerly Western India Products Limited) (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685) is an Indian multinational provider of information technology (IT) services, consulting and outsourcing services. It is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. As of 2012, the company has over 130,000 employees and a worldwide presence with global centers across 54 countries.
Early formative years
The company was incorporated on 29 December 1945 at Mumbai by Mohamed Hasham Premji as Western India Products Limited, later abbreviated to Wipro. It was initially set up as a manufacturer of vegetable ghee, vanaspati, refined oils including salad oil in Amalner, Maharashtra under the trade names of Kisan, Sunflower and Camel.The company logo still contains a sunflower to reflect their original business.
In 1966, after his father’s death Azim rushed back from Stanford University and took over Wipro as its chairman at the age of 21. He was instrumental in transforming Wipro into a multi-billion dollar diversified corporation. Azim Premji is a major shareholder in Wipro. During the 1970s and 1980s, the company shifted its focus and began to look into business opportunities in the IT and computing industry, which was at a nascent stage in India at that time. In 1977, the name of the Company was changed from Western India Vegetable Products Limited., to Wipro Products Limited., with effect from 7 June.
The year 1980 marked the arrival of Wipro in the IT domain and in the year 1982, the name was changed from Wipro Products Limited to Wipro Limited Meanwhile Wipro continued to expand in the consumer products domain with the launch of `Ralak' a tulsi based family soap and `Wipro Jasmine', a toilet soap.
1988-1992
In 1988, Wipro diversified its product line into heavy duty industrial cylinders and mobile hydraulic cylinders. A joint venture company with General Electric of U.S.A., in the name of Wipro GE Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd. was set up in 1989 for the manufacture, sales and service of diagnostic and imaging products. Later, in 1991, tipping systems and Eaton hydraulic products were launched. The Wipro Fluid Power division, in 1992, developed expertise to offer standard hydraulic cylinders for construction equipment and truck tipping systems. The market saw the launch of the "Santoor" talcum powder and "Wipro Baby Soft" range of baby toiletries in 1990.
1994-2000
It was in 1994 that Wipro set up an overseas design centre, Odyssey 21 for undertaking projects and product developments in advanced technologies for overseas clients. Wipro Infotech and Wipro Systems were amalgamated with Wipro in April that year. Five of Wipro's manufacturing and development facilities secured the ISO 9001 certification during 1994-95. In 1999, Wipro acquired Wipro Acer. Wipro SuperGenius personal computers (PCs) became the only Indian PC range to obtain the US-based National Software Testing Laboratory's (NSTL) Certification for Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance Wipro Limited joined hands with a global telecom major KPN (Royal Dutch telecom) to form a joint venture company “Wipro Net Limited” to provide internet services in India. The year 2000 was the year Wipro launched solutions for convergent networks targeted at Internet and telecom solution providers in the names of Wipro OSS Smart and Wipro WAP Smart.
2001 onwards
In February 2001, Wipro became the first software technology and services company in India to be certified for ISO 14001 certification. Wipro also achieved ISO 9000 certification to become the first software company to get SEI CMM Level 5 in 2002. Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting Group entered the market of Compact Fluorescent Lamps, with the launch of a range of CFL, under the brand name of Wipro Smartlite. As the company grew, a study revealed that Wipro was the fastest wealth creator for 5 years (1997–2002). The same year witnessed the launch of Wipro’s own laptops with Intel's Centrino mobile processor. Wipro also entered into an exclusive agreement with the owners of Chandrika for marketing of their soap in select states in India. It set up a wholly owned subsidiary company viz. Wipro Consumer Care Limited to manufacture consumer care and lighting products. In 2004, Wipro joined the billion dollar club. It also partnered with Intel for i-shiksha. The year 2006 saw Wipro acquire cMango Inc., a US based Technology Infrastructure Consulting firm Enabler, and a Europe based retail solutions provider. In 2007, Wipro inked a large deal with Lockheed Martin. It also entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Oki Techno Centre Singapore Pte Ltd (OTCS) and signed an R&D partnership contract with Nokia Siemens Networks in Germany. The year 2008 saw Wipro’s foray into the clean energy business with Wipro Eco Energy. In April 2011, Wipro signed an agreement with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the acquisition of their global oil and gas information technology practice of the commercial business services business unit. The year 2012 saw Wipro make its 17th acquisition in IT business when it acquired Australian analytics product firm Promax Applications Group (PAG) for $35 million.
Wipro Business Units
Wipro IT
Wipro Technologies, the global IT business of Wipro Limited is a leading Information Technology, consulting and outsourcing company with a comprehensive portfolio of services and an organization wide commitment to sustainability and innovation.The IT Products segment sells a range of Wipro personal desktop computers, Wipro servers and Wipro notebooks. It is also a value added reseller of desktops, servers, notebooks, storage products, networking solutions and packaged software for international brands.
Wipro entered into the technology business in 1981 and has over 130,000 employees and clients across 54 countries today. IT revenues stood at $ 5.9 billion for the year ended March 31, 2012 with a repeat business ratio of over 95%.
The business model at Wipro Technologies Ltd is an industry aligned customer facing model which gives greater understanding of customers’ businesses to build industry specific solutions.
Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting
Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCLG), a business unit of Wipro Limited operates in the FMCG segment offering a wide range of consumable commodities. Established in 1945, the first product to be introduced by WCCLG was vegetable oil, later popularized under the brand name 'Sunflower Vanaspati'. It offers personal care products, such as Wipro Baby Soft and Wipro Safewash, toilet soaps like Santoor and Chandrika and international brands like Yardley. Its portfolio of lighting solutions includes products like Smartlite CFL, LED, emergency lights and more.
Through its customer-centric products and acquisitions, Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has become a fast growing company in the FMCG segment.
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering is the hydraulics business division of Wipro Limited and has been in the business of manufacturing hydraulic cylinders, truck cylinders, and their components and solutions since 1976. This division delivers hydraulic cylinders to international OEMs and represents the Kawasaki, Sun Hydraulics and Teijin Seiki range of hydraulic products in India. It has entered into partnerships with companies like Kawasaki and aerospace giant EADS. The commitment to quality has made Wipro Infrastructure Engineering the second largest independent manufacturer of cylinders in the world. The company has recently ventured into water treatment systems and solutions to cater to the needs of various industries.
Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited
Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited is Wipro’s joint venture with GE Healthcare South Asia. It is engaged in the research and development of advanced solutions to cater to patient and customer needs in healthcare. This partnership, which began in 1990, today includes offerings like gadgets and equipment for diagnostics, healthcare IT solutions and services to help healthcare professionals combat cancer, heart disease and other ailments. There is complete adherence to Six Sigma quality standards in all products.
Governance
Chairman : Azim.H.Premji
Chief Executive Officer : T K Kurien - IT Business and Executive Director
Chief Financial Officer : Suresh Senapaty - CFO and Executive Director
Sustainability at Wipro
Wipro’s approach to sustainability is structured on enabling itself, as an organization, and its customers to be more ecologically sustainable. It is driven by issues considered important to employees, current and future generations, customers, investors, suppliers and the community as a whole. Wipro has been ranked 1st in the 2010 Asian Sustainability Rating (ASRTM) of Indian companies and is a member of the NASDAQ Global Sustainability Index as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
In its November 2012 Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace ranked Wipro first with a score of 7.1/10
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wipro
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with regards,
-anjali