AWARDS WINNERS BEST
SERVICED APARTMENT PROVIDER
country/specialist provider Above: Rohit Kumar, IKAN Relocation Services IKAN RELOCATION SERVICES INDIA B
uilding a home away from home in a place often a physical, cultural and linguistic world away is the essence of relocation. TheRelocate Awards, therefore, celebrate those individuals, teams and companies who innovate, overcome
challenges and smooth the transition for relocating employees. The winner of this Relocate Award, IKAN Relocation, also highlights
the significant scale of the objectives service providers are often presented with. And the depth of vision, tenacity and expertise required to bring such projects to fruition. This serviced apartment award is particularly fitting for a company
with the strapline “bridging boundaries” and one perhaps best known as a mobility management, PEO, global immigration services and destination service provider (DSP). It also rewards the truly inspirational distance that IKAN Relocation will go to ensure a client- and relocate-centred service; in this case, during a Suzuki plant-construction project.
FROM JAPAN TO INDIA India is increasingly afforded preferred status as a manufacturing centre by global companies. Motor company Suzuki’s decision to build a new site in Vitthalapur, Gujarat, a hot, semi-arid state on India’s west coast, reflects India’s growing economic influence on the world stage. Such developments bring with them the need to support the ranks of globally mobile employees delivering investment projects like Suzuki’s. It was Japanese company Kumagai that engaged the services of IKAN
Relocation after winning the contract to build Suzuki’s factory. The brief was to create acceptable board and lodging for a team of Japanese technicians coming to this remote and challenging greenfield site for the three-year project, so they could perform effectively and deliver their objectives for Suzuki.
CREATING A COST-EFFECTIVE AND COMFORTABLE HOME FROM HOME Faced with a timeline of just four months from engagement to delivery, the 15-strong IKAN Relocation team swung into action to deliver this accommodation project to deadline and Kumagai’s expectations. The Delhi-based destination service provider – which has seven offices
and 34 remote service locations across India – oversaw the completion of a building shell into 20 expat-quality serviced apartments, complete with a bespoke Japanese kitchen and dining area.
IKAN Relocation’s team also identified how
to equip, staff and sustain the serviced apartments once operational. This included the tricky logistics around both food transportation and the expats themselves to this remote site in an industrial zone 100 kilometres away from Gujarat’s commercial capital, Ahmedabad. Before completion of the Kumagai Vitthalapur serviced apartment
project, expatriate technicians stayed at a local hotel. However, the expatriates found the service quality and availability of Japanese cuisine challenging. Once the new complex was finished, the nightly accommodation cost
per apartment practically halved. Life also became more comfortable for the technicians. A key aspect of the ongoing success of the project is its team of facility managers, interpreters, chefs, butlers, housekeeping, drivers and security onsite who run the serviced apartments day to day. IKAN Relocation recruited people both locally and nationally, committing to training and developing people’s skills, including around intercultural awareness.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE ACROSS THE WORLD Congratulating IKAN Relocation for successfully navigating the challenges, including the remoteness of the site, the judges commended the company for its involvement in this “huge, brilliantly managed project for Japanese technicians in a remote location in India.” “This is clearly an impressive effort that successfully overcame tight
timelines and immense cultural differences,” the judges continued. “The organisation had to create a home away from home in order to ensure that its people could perform effectively at work. As a result of the actions taken by IKAN Relocation, the client’s project will be completed on time.” Receiving theRelocate Award, Rohit Kumar, co-founder, co-owner
and managing director of IKAN Relocation, said, “We are very excited to have won. What we are doing in the sector is extremely unique in India. We are a DSP provider and involved with housing projects in a very niche segment of Japanese relocation in very remote areas of India and in really greenfield projects. “This award is for all the team members in India who have worked so
hard to achieve this. Thank you RelocateGlobal for recognising this initiative.”
www.ikan.com
58 | RELOCATE | SUMMER 2019
2019 THINK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
