Platform People Leaders: Please share, as appropriate, with your span of care. This announcement will also be distributed enterprise-wide (and machine translated) in the May 2025 oneBW newsletter.

BW SLT, BW Division Presidents, Platform People Leaders, Engineering Leaders, Supply Chain Leaders, BW Corporate team members and BW India/GCC team members:

We are excited to announce the launch of our Global Competency Center (GCC) in Chennai, India. As Barry-Wehmiller looks to accelerate growth through innovation, as well as add capabilities like Digital Twins and IoT, it is essential that we expand our ability to tap into the rich, diverse talent pool that India offers. India graduates 1.5 million engineers annually, and Chennai is home to more than 100 engineering colleges and hundreds of manufacturing companies able to supply components for Barry-Wehmiller equipment.

For more than 30 years, Barry-Wehmiller has had a presence in India, evolving from a small team of engineers and IT professionals supporting Marquip Worldwide Systems (now part of BW Papersystems) to the current Equipment Design Solutions (EDS) and Global Sourcing team. Over time, our Chennai teams have developed deep expertise and become critical enablers of the businesses they have supported. Today's launch of a GCC within Barry-Wehmiller India represents the beginning of a new chapter in the evolution to build a global capability powerhouse.

Growing our Competency Center in India will allow us to: 

• Tap into a robust talent market with specialized engineering and sourcing expertise, reducing the need for external consultants.
• Operate across multiple time zones, creating a 24-hour workflow that significantly shortens lead times.
• Accelerate innovation while maintaining cost efficiency.
• Respond more quickly to the growing engineering workloads.
• More rapidly integrate acquisitions that require engineering data conversion.
• Source components in a region with high quality parts at competitive prices.

Importantly, this expansion will not reduce roles in the United States or Europe. Rather, it enhances our global capabilities, as one larger Team, and allows us to better serve our customers and scale in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner.

BW’s GCC currently serves two important strategic areas: GCC-Equipment Engineering and GCC-Sourcing.

GCC-Equipment Engineering provides comprehensive engineering design, documentation services and market intelligence research, supporting all BW equipment businesses. The GCC’s engineering teams are generally extensions of the platforms’ engineering teams, working seamlessly as remote team members fully dedicated to product line engineering teams. In addition, the GCC-Equipment Engineering team includes a multi-skilled team of engineers who are able to perform project-specific work as added capacity, or for a specific initiative (e.g., data conversion for ERP or acquisition, etc.).

GCC-Sourcing is committed to providing cost-effective and efficient procurement solutions. By strategically sourcing high-quality components from India and managing seamless purchasing transactions for divisions in the United States, GCC-Sourcing optimizes supply chain processes, enhances supplier partnerships and supports operational excellence.

Two exceptional leaders will guide the GCC’s journey to excellence:

Muthukumaran Kanniappan, Equipment Engineering Director: Muthu has led the Equipment Design Solutions (EDS) practice. With over 30 years of experience in engineering and engineering consulting domains, handling R&D, delivery, pre-sales and product design and development, he brings a wealth of intellectual and leadership experience to this role. For engineering-related inquiries, please contact muthukumaran.kanniappan@barry-wehmiller.com .

Sridharan Balaiyan, Director of India Sourcing: Sridharan also has more than 30 years of experience in supply chain processes, from engineering blueprints to supplier management, consistently generating cost savings exceeding 45 percent. His leadership will drive the procurement of high-quality engineering components for our companies in the United States and Europe. For sourcing-related questions, please contact sridharan.balaiyan@barry-wehmiller.com .  

Muthu and Sridharan work with engineering and sourcing leaders across BW to support various projects and goals. If you are not familiar with their capabilities, please review the attached GCC overview slide deck or SharePoint page to learn more.

Launching the GCC to expand our team and our offices in Chennai are foundational steps but it will be the work of our expanded global teams that will be our most significant accomplishment! We look forward to sharing more updates in the months to come.

Sincerely, 

Carol O’Neill

BW Chief Transformation Officer