CEAT Chennai - a tyre manufacturing plant with innovation, sustainability, and community at its core

How do you tell the authentic story of a manufacturing plant in rural Southern India?

How do you create a meaningful place identity to showcase a vision of a place to your stakeholders?

How do you attract top talent to work and live in a remote location surrounded by villages?

Concept Culture is working on creating a place identity for the CEAT Chennai plant’s masterplan in partnership with the architectural firm beyond design and placeshaping and stakeholder engagement consultant Rumi Bose. As part of the project, we travelled to Chennai and Kanchipuram in Southeast India to run stakeholder engagement workshops to inform the place identity and place narrative.

The aim was to gather insights from CEAT’s employees and understand what makes the place, plant and the local community truly unique. This research will be key to shaping the identity and story of the plant and helping guide how it will be designed and presented to CEAT’s employees, partners, visitors, and the wider community.

In this blog, we will explore the creative process, from digital surveys and workshops with CEAT, to engaging with the local community.

Who are the people behind CEAT Tyres?

If you google CEAT Tyres, you will discover it is one of India’s leading tyre manufacturers, with products sold in over 115 countries and a workforce of more than 5,000 employees. But what you will not find in a quick search is a deeper understanding of who they are. Who works there? What is the make-up of the company and how diverse is it? What does the company do to meet the needs of their employees? What are their key values?

Before travelling to Chennai, our team shared a digital survey with senior company members, asking questions to discover who the people working at CEAT are. The feedback provided valuable insights that helped shape our upcoming workshop in Chennai. Of those who responded, 87.7% were male and 13.3% were female, with the majority (33.3%) having worked at CEAT for 10-20 years, reflecting the company’s strong employee retention.

Key values from the survey included openness, integrity, care for people and the community, and agility. When asked what makes CEAT a good workplace, they mentioned qualities like openness and trust, honesty and integrity, empowerment, and teamwork.

A Hub of Innovation and Excellence

Before our trip, we gained an understanding of CEAT’s ambitions and goals for the future. They aim to be the lead tyre manufacturer in the world, and their plant in the outskirts of Chennai will play a key role in achieving that vision. The plant is designed to be the hub for their most important research and innovation, with most of their projects being developed there. CEAT plans to make the Chennai plant a centre of excellence, bringing together the best talent and brightest minds to drive innovation.

In our initial conversations, we also explored the challenges they face. Regional challenges, like the geographical divide between North and South India, can make it harder to attract talent from the northern regions to relocate to the south. Another factor is that the manufacturing facility is located in a remote area that is not that well-connected. Therefore, it might not be the most desirable place to live. That being said, the place has a lot to offer, which we were excited to explore and see for ourselves.

Chennai Plant Workshop: What is place identity?

After reading the survey responses and having our initial online meetings with CEAT, we were thrilled to arrive at the CEAT plant and connect with the people and community. More than 30 people from CEAT attended our first workshop, representing various roles within the company from senior managers to engineers, HR, and machine operators.

Before dividing everyone into three groups, we introduced the concept of place identity, explaining that it is what makes a place unique - a mix of a place’s culture, values, history & architecture. The three groups focused on three themes: “Place Identity”, “Physical Environment”, and “Community Engagement”. We enjoyed the workshop and were excited to see everyone engaged, responsive, and enthusiastic about sharing their views. It was clear that everyone, regardless of their position, was invested in CEAT's future.

After the workshop, we were given a tour of the factory, where they currently produce 17,000 car tyres per day (their target is to grow their manufacturing capacity to 30,000 per day). We met the team running the operations and heard inspiring stories from employees who start as young as 18 and go on to build long careers at CEAT.

It was an insightful day that gave us a better understanding of the company environment, work culture, community, and people. We received wonderful feedback from the team who participated in the workshop too.

“As a manufacturing plant we never stop to think about how our local identity, culture, and traditions can impact our place of work - it was a half day well spent.”

— Shravan, CEAT Chennai

Cultural immersion in Kanchipuram

Just under an hour drive from the CEAT Chennai manufacturing plant is the ancient city of Kanchipuram, and in fact the district within which the plant is located. We spent the evening after the workshop and the next day in Kanchipuram immersing ourselves in the culture and exploring the rich heritage and craftsmanship of the region.

The region of Kanchipuram is renowned for its deep-rooted cultural and religious significance, reflected in the many temples and places of worship. This reverence permeates everyday life including the workplace culture, where respect, discipline, and dedication are key virtues shared by employees. These cultural insights were crucial for our research, shaping the Chennai plant’s identity and narrative.

We visited the Kailashanatha Temple, a 7th-century Shiva temple built during the Pallava dynasty. This was followed by a Bharat Natyam performance, a classical dance form that expresses South Indian religious themes.

Later, we attended a Golu dolls workshop, where we saw clay figurines created for the Navratri festival. These dolls are significant in this part of the world. The trip also included a stop at the Shri Darshinini Silk House. Kanchipuram is famous for its exquisite silk fabrics and Shri Darshinini Silk House is a popular silk shop. Finally, we wandered through the local markets, where we found fresh fruits, vegetables, and dry goods. For dinner, we enjoyed a traditional Udupi meal with regional South Indian delicacies like idli and dosa.

Workshop with CEAT’s senior management team in Mumbai

Mumbai HO - Workshop with Senior Management Team

After exploring the Chennai plant, culture, and local communities, we travelled to Mumbai to run our last workshop with CEAT’s senior leadership team at their Head Office in Worli.

We presented a video documenting everything we had experienced and shared other insights, we gained in Chennai. We also shared our initial ideas for the place identity and place narrative through 3 key themes. We then asked the group to split up into 3 groups to map out their priorities and aspirations to inform ‘The Big Idea’ and a direction of travel for the place identity.

It was another excellent opportunity to gain their feedback first hand and explore what the big idea could be together.

People make a place

Visiting the plant and meeting the people and community in person made a huge difference and was a crucial part of our research, analysis, and synthesis.

Digital surveys and online meetings provided some insights, but nothing matched the impact of experiencing CEAT firsthand. Being there allowed us to run meaningful workshops and shape a place identity that reflects CEAT’s people, many of whom have built long careers there. It is the people and the focus on innovation that make CEAT a unique and attractive workplace.

This understanding is vital to the design process, helping us craft a narrative that resonates with employees, visitors, and the wider community. Watch this space as the project unfolds!

Do you know what makes your place unique?

At Concept Culture, we specialise in creating unique brand identities that help your place connect with its audience and leave a lasting impression, whether you are looking to attract new talent or clients.

Let us collaborate together to create a place brand identity that truly celebrates your place, its people, and its culture.

Contact our team today!