Vol 14.

March 2014

The Definitive Newsletter on Operations Management

In this Edition

Logistics in Warfare

Business transformation

Flexibility in Operations ...

A Newsletter by

Association at XLRI for Industrial and Operations Management

A Welcome note to AXIS readers

Hello! With so much sincere happiness, Team AXIOM welcomes you to the pages of its operations newsletter AXIS. This is our second issue this year and is extra special as it comes very close to the beginning of the summer internships. This issue therefore includes some experiences from our senior batch, of their summer internship projects in the field of supply chain and operations. This would hopefully give the junior batch a flavor of the projects, the nature of jobs and help them to take on their internships in an informed manner. In addition, this issue brings to you a wide range of articles that explore recent and pertinent issues in the field of supply chain management and operations in general. In this world of cut throat competition, organizations often find themselves at difficult crossroads, where they face a choice between fading into anonymity, or undergoing Business Transformation to bring about a change in the very basic nature of the way they do their business. Also, Customer experience management has until now eluded the attention of the Indian manufacturing sector, but rising global competition seems to have nudged the sector into opening its arms towards CEM at last. We would like to congratulate Vinayak Talwar from the HRM batch for his article on Warehousing in supply chain management which has been selected as the Best Article. We would also like to thank the former Junior Executive Team for their contribution. We also take a look at the dynamics of supply chain management that come into play during disaster management. Also, in a very interesting article, we explore the role played by logistics in the field of warfare. With a new AXIOM team in place and a new editor, expect a great year filled with fun and learning. Keep reading to find out all this and a lot more and all the very best for your internships. Hope you enjoy this issue!! Cheers, Team AXIOM

Ushering Change: Competitive advantage through Business Transformation 1 Customer Experience Management in Indian manufacturing: A new dawn? 4 By Product Synergy When Disaster Strikes! Warehousing in SCM Logistics in warfare Flexibility in operations CII EXIM Excellence awards Cross-Decking In (tern) Voice Events Corner 6 8 10 13 15 17 19 20 22

USHERING CHANGE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading Lao Tzu With rapidly shifting market environments, increasing product obsolescence driven by technological improvements and sudden changes in business regulations, organizations are increasingly being forced to revisit the way they conduct their business. In this scenario, Business Transformation or BT is being widely used as a management approach to restructure functioning, realign work cultures and change the way technology is used in the organization. It typically involves significant changes to areas including business processes, core systems, channels, products, and services. A successful business transformation initiative would ideally lead to an increase in market share and revenues, improved customer satisfaction and better cost efficiency. A BT initiative would seek to embed these changes in the DNA of the company such that it cannot return to what it was and the benefits of the change can be continually achieved. Different organizations can choose to undergo change in ways best suited to their work cultures and business environments. However most BT programs end up following a six stage process for effective implementation: Avoiding pitfalls: A large scale change can usually take several years and therefore an extremely dedicated and visionary leadership effort is required to steer the program towards successful completion. A halfheartedly followed process would more often than not produce only lukewarm results.

Step 1

Facing the heat from declining relevance in the market or a potential thereof and realizing the need for dramatic change

Step 2

Deciding a general direction and the form of change needed to achieve the intended objectives

Step 3

Detailed planning and roadmaps for change keeping in mind the current situation of the organization

Step 4

Designing the new way of organizational working and providing sufficient support structures for implementation

Step 5

Implementing and evaluating changes, usually in small increments spread over a pragmatically estimated time period

Step 6

Embedding the change such that the organization cannot return back to its previous inefficient stage.

the program towards successful completion. A halfheartedly followed process would more often than not produce only lukewarm results.

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John P. Kotter in his article Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail enlists several common mistakes that leaders make in designing a change program. According to him, most change efforts fail at the start if the sense of urgency is not high enough. Also, without a strong vision, a change program generally disintegrates into a series of incoherent projects which end up achieving nothing. For him a vision statement should be such that it can be communicated within 5 minutes and generate a reaction of understanding and interest. Kotter advises change managers to systematically plan small victories to convince doubters, but also warns against declaring a final win too early to avoid catastrophic failures. Success Stories How TESCO transformed its fortunes It is hard to imagine that Tesco- one of Europes largest retail chains was once an organization in desperate need for repair. In the early 1980s the company was plagued by several inefficiencies in not just its distribution and supply structure, but also in the way the functioning of the organization was structured. Many of its stores were in need for an upgrade; staff attitude and service to customers was patchy, stock controls were poor and highly inefficient; the management structures in the head office were detached from the end customers and the stores. The supply chain

from suppliers to customers was not integrated and was expensive to maintain. In the 1980s Tesco decided to enter into a massive BT exercise spread over two decades and involving every area of operation within and outside the company. Its Head office operations were realigned to match those with the retail stores. Moreover, its senior officers were posted to retail store positions for firsthand experience and a retail stint became a prerequisite for senior head office positions. Customer focused business processes were introduced and performance measures were introduced across all levels of operations. The layout of distribution centers was re-adjusted to mirror the layout of retail stores to enable faster in-store shelf replenishment. Focus was redirected towards collection of useful consumer data with the introduction of the Tesco ClubCard. Additionally, some sweeping changes were made in the use of technology by the firm. Computerized stock control systems, pricing and checkouts were introduced. Personnel management systems were revised to match rewards and benefits with staff potential. The results of the exercise are of course very visible. Tesco went on to expand its operations across the globe and became UKs largest online food retailer. It has now expanded its portfolio to include local in-convenience and high street stores among several others.

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Business Transformation at Bupa, UK Faced with a need for responding to customer needs faster in an ber competitive market, Bupa Health & Wellbeing (BHW) embarked on an ambitious five year business transformation program. Starting from year 2007, it implemented the strategy in three phases. In the first phase it overhauled its e-learning system completely to enable its huge workforce get trained on any new policy in minimum time. This made changing and launching new products easier and smoother. In the second phase it implemented a program called One Voice, One Vision, and One Team (OVOTOV) to re-engage and motivate its employees. It brought together the whole employee team to meet and reflect on BHWs progress and new strategy. Finally, it repositioned itself as a Healthcare partner for life, for which it trained its entire workforce and made them more knowledgeable about healthcare.The company reaped rich results in the form of a highly skilled workforce with 25 % reduction in attrition rates. Also, it led to a rise in customer satisfaction and an 11% increase in customer loyalty, taking Bupa way ahead of its competition. Meanwhile, Closer Home Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has launched a new business transformation project called Smart Transformation At Reliance (STAR), to prepare itself for future challenges. RIL is somewhat unique in taking this initiative as its BT program is not driven by an immediate crisis facing the organization. Rather, this transformation project is designed as a proactive measure to maintain the dominance of Reliance as Indias leading private sector establishment. STAR seeks to align and streamline RILs diverse portfolio of businesses that so far seem to have been working in isolation. The project would include businesses like exploration, refining, petrochemicals, marketing and support functions such as manufacturing, logistics, human resources etc. Several state of the art technological solutions which aim to improve data collection, reconciliation and operational performance have been implemented. Also, a new business architecture framework has been developed which is ready to be implanted this year. To sum up, it can be observed that business transformation is being widely used by companies across the globe as a strong tool for gaining lost ground and preparing themselves for future challenges in the market. Backed by a strongly felt intent for change and visionary leadership, it has the potential to achieve long lasting results for modern organizations.

Akarsh Goel b13066@astra.xlri.ac.in

Customer Experience Management in Indian Manufacturing: A new dawn?

What is CEM? A company cannot design a successful CEM strategy without understanding the very entity it is trying to manage the customer. A Customer is any individual or an organisation that is currently interacting or has the potential to interact with the company in the near future. Customer Experience is the internal assessment by an individual (or a company) of its interactions with the company. Customer Experience Management is the strategic process of managing various customer touch-points by providing what the customer wants when, where and how she wants it with the aim of creating a basis of differentiation for achieving customer loyalty and enhancing business success. CEM in Indian Manufacturing CEM, till recently, had not been embraced by the manufacturing sector in India. However, many key drivers such as increasing global competition and advent of social media are increasing the CEM embracement in this area. However, even within the Indian Manufacturing Sector, the level of CEM adoption is seen to vary. With renewed focus on customers, companies are remodelling to mimic many of the B2C characteristics. How far the company has progressed in this transformation seems to be a direct indicator of the CEM adoption level. FMCG companies, the almost pure B2C companies, seemed to be most advanced. The automotive companies are not far behind and have started implementing practices such as active social media presence. Companies split between the two modes of operation, like the tyre or textile manufacturers are understandably less mature in their level of CEM adoption. At the other end of the spectrum are players who still operate more or less on a pure B2B model. For example, manufacturers of machine tools have not felt the need to embrace such practices till now. But, with CEM gaining more and more traction, slowly but surely, the level of CEM adoption will only increase Key Drivers of CEM in Indian Manufacturing Indian manufacturing industries have mostly focused on achieving quality and operational efficiency to go with the advantages of low labour cost, and abundant raw material in some industries. So, what has changed lately? Firstly, the traditional model of a pyramid to explain the Indian social structure is no longer valid. The Pyramid is fast becoming a Diamond. The middle class category is set to explode. Historically, an increase in income level has always led to even greater increase in demand for goods & services. Moreover, with most manufactured products becoming increasingly commoditised, companies are looking to create differentiation. Also, India's potential as a huge market is attracting number of manufacturing companies to set up base. The Local landscape has transformed into a Global Canvas. The global players are much more advanced in providing an integrated & seamless experience to the customers across the value chain and Indian companies are being forced to catch up. Moreover, the economy has been turbulent in recent times and manufacturing companies are some of the worst affected. A traditional outlook of managing customers is no longer sufficient to keep a customer happy and loyal when they are considering alternatives and Indian manufacturers are looking for hope in these uncertain times by increasingly considering CEM to retain existing customers. Another aspect is the rise of the millennial kids. These are the people who have only seen lightning fast computers and mobiles that respond to their

whims & fancies. Their expectations of a complete buying & after sales & service experience are in stark contrast to that of the traditional buyer of old. To keep these millennial kids satisfied, companies will have to take a whole new outlook to CEM with greater emphasis on supplementary technological channels, social media, and mobility. This is also complemented by the advent of social media. Customers can now instantly upload their experiences in a store or the actual usage of product on online review sites or on social media. Only by incorporating a CEM program based on intelligent information management can a company hope to keep them happy. All these factors together unequivocally point in one direction the growing importance of CEM in the manufacturing industry in India. Benefits of embracing CEM There are many direct benefits of a successful CEM program. The most important benefit is increased revenues because of a high correlation between customer satisfaction levels and revenues. Moreover, with manufacturing industries focusing on enhancing revenues from after-sales services that is recession-proof, having CEM take centre stage results in enhanced customer satisfaction and more revenue. An emotionally connected customer as a result of an effective CEM program increases customer loyalty, thereby increasing the customer lifetime value. Also, a high correlation exists between effective CEM implementation and customers

likelihood to recommend the company to others. With customers able to express themselves on social media, blogs etc., they have the potential to become the strongest promoters of the business, thereby increasing the potential customer base. Apart from the direct impact, a successful CEM implementation has many secondary benefits through increased harmony in the value chain of a company. With better level of co-ordination and greater information visibility across partners, the entire value chain is now much more closely-knit. For example - as companies improve data visibility throughout the value chain in a bid to better manage information and create value for the customers - the product design teams, which earlier did not have access to the customer data (that used to be available with marketing teams), can now view the required data and design better products in lesser time. The sales teams are more informed and are able to handle customer interactions much better. The inventory and demand data also become visible throughout the chain, leading to improved forecasting and better handling of the bullwhip effect. With the supply chain going global and companies searching for partners across boundaries, adoption of CEM practices is providing many such unexpected benefits in ensuring seamless operations. Having a full blown CEM programme is no longer just an option. It is fast becoming a way of life for most Indian Companies.

By: Abhijit Nagarhalli b12002@astra.xlri.ac.in

BY PRODUCT SYNERGY TRANSFORMING WASTE INTO PROFIT

By taking "wastes" from one company and using them as raw materials for another, industry can turn a negative into a positive for the environment and shareholders.
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eco-bricks, diverting 16,000 tons of waste from landfills each year.

YOU NEED TO ASK WHAT ARE YOUR RESOURCES, AND HOW CAN CREATE WE ORGANIZE THE VALUE TO WE MAXIMIZE

A cement manufacturer uses the slag from a neighboring steel mill in its production process, resulting in a 10% increase in production output and a 30-40% decrease in nitrogen oxide emissions. A major US chemical company identifies synergies between six of its own plants with an estimated annual cost savings of $15 million and total annual energy savings of 900 billion BTU. A fiberglass manufacturer connects with a firm that will use its 500 tons/year of offspec material as well as discovering soy polymers and chicken feathers as more benign and less expensive raw materials. A brick manufacturer uses incinerated cow bone ash from meat processing plants, industrial ash, and water treatment residue to create a new product line of recycled

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." By shifting strategy from a pursuit of less waste to a strategy of 100% product, companies can pursue a path of ecoeffectiveness. It is based on the ecology principle that Waste Equals Food. If generating products and food, rather than products and waste, is the ultimate natural consequence of industrial output, an increase in output can support or offset resource needs of another, thereby reducing the depletion of natural resources.

What is By-Product Synergy?

By-Product Synergy (BPS) is the matching of under-valued waste or by-product streams from one facility with potential users at another facility to create new revenues or savings with potential social and environmental benefits. The resulting collaborative network creates new revenues, cost savings, energy conservation, reductions in the need for virgin-source materials, and reductions in waste and pollution, including climate-changing emissions.

Why?
The BPS process breaks down the barriers to cross-industry communication, as well as the barriers between government and industry and between small and large companies, by fostering dialogue and working across groups to identify supply chain localization and waste minimization opportunities.

With raw materials prices escalating as rapidly as they are, by-product synergy is a practical survival strategy for the years to come. In the US, manufacturers devalue millions of dollars of inventory each yeareven the leanest
By-product synergy is the principle which underpins the concept of 'industrial ecology' - a holistic view of industry in which organizations exchange energy and material between one another, rather than operating as isolated units. Industrial ecology promotes a shift away from traditional open, linear systems towards closed loops and inter-dependent relationships of the kind found in nature. If you look at everything as market-driven, it's very unlikely you'll get to operational synergies that fully leverage natural resources and capabilities within the firm. It is time for business to take an approach toward resource management that reflects the principles of nature. By-product synergy holds great promise as a way to ensure.

manufacturing process does not eliminate the problems of yield loss or occasional offspecification product. Instead of total loss and disposal of these resources, by-product synergy solutions can identify new uses and can naturally lead to business savings in the six figure range or more. Michael Gromacki, VP Operations & Chief Sustainability Officer, Dixie Chemical Company

Industrial Ecosystem Development

In order to facilitate an exchange of materials and resources, businesses need to work together to determine what unwanted byproducts exist, and what their potential applications are. The resources can then be exchanged, sold, or passed free of charge between sites, creating a by-product synergy. By-product synergy has been defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the US Environmental Protection Agency as 'the synergy among diverse industries, agriculture, and communities resulting in profitable conversion of by-products and wastes to resources promoting sustainability'.

By: Siddharth Priyadarshi b13053@astra.xlri.ac.in

When Disaster Strikes!

In June 2013, the state of Uttarakhand received heavy rainfall almost 40% more than normal. By the end of June there were 1000 or more dead or missing, thousands stranded and injured, Rs.12000 crore of revenue loss and 11% of the states GDP was lost. The cost of buildings and roads lost per kilometre was Rs.46 lakhs. The official machinery was faced with the gigantic task of rescuing 60000 pilgrims stuck in the valleys of the state, providing food and medical supplies and clearing the way for movement of men and materials. This is where disaster supply chain management comes in mitigating the complex problem faced by the teams operating on ground to minimise casualties of life. Imagine a company like Coca Cola with the best supply chain in the industry facing a huge task in controlling its supply chain. Compared to that it is a daunting task indeed to maintain the supply chain for disaster relief. Managing supply chains during disasters is a different ball game altogether with uncertain situations and paralysed infrastructure. Forming a supply chain is of paramount importance in this situation. Communication Channels: In a stressful situation as a disaster communication is often compromised or lost. When conventional channels are down alternative routes have to be established. As no single system is disaster proof a combination of systems have to be used. Decisions taken include Search and rescue Transportation Communication Emergency Infrastructure Human services One of the best examples of taking help from alternate communications when commercial lines are down was seen during the Gujarat floods. Power Grid of India stepped in to help with their communication systems and established a centre for communications till normalcy was restored. Crisis Teams: As important as communication centres are, Command centres are even more critical. National and local agencies have their own roles to play. Specialists and volunteer organisations are also involved. Crisis teams are established with the authority make plans and take decisions and ensure that they are implemented throughout the chain. In Uttarakhand it involved the Police, Public Works, Power Departments and also the Army, Airforce, Navy, ITBP, BSF, NDRF and a whole lot of international and national voluntary organisations working together.

Transportation: In the Uttarakhand disaster by 21 June 2013, the Army had deployed 10,000 soldiers and 11 helicopters, the Navy had sent 45 naval divers, and the Air force had deployed 43 aircraft including 36 helicopters. From 17 June to 30 June 2013, the IAF airlifted a total of 18,424 people - flying a total of 2,137 sorties and dropping/landing a total of 3,36,930 kg of relief material and equipment.

Suppliers: One major difference between normal suppliers and disaster suppliers is that it is often donors that provide the required supplies. It is the donors who decide what supplies are needed which are often inadequate All said and done the one thing that differentiates conventional supply chains and disaster management supply chains is the need for Speed. There are also extreme constraints in other areas as well. Governments need to be prepared with worst case scenarios to handle the situations. Processes need to be reviewed and evaluated continuously. There is also a need to be flexible in order to meet unstable situations. With the increase in incidences of disasters across the world studies in disaster supply management are being done. It is important in saving the lives of people. There are lessons to be learned from conventional supply chain management.

Typically transportation includes moving people from affected areas to safer ones, moving supplies ( food, medicines, clothes etc,.) and damage assessment. Logistics: Particularly during disasters specified facilities have to be established to receive and ship required supplies. It may be limited because of lack of access to the facilities. The facilities may include permanent ones and also temporary sites which also have direct point of distributions. In countries where Disaster Management Systems are well established the whole of logistics are optimised to get the best delivery which include multi transportation systems. The importance of quick delivery cannot be stressed on adequately. Problems faced in this area would be inadequate space, shortage of supply and the changing nature of the emergency.

Sweta Dantuluri b13057@astra.xlri.ac.in

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Warehousing in Supply Chain Management

In the last decade, with the recognition of India as a key player in the dynamics of the Global Economy, we have witnessed numerous players entering the market trying to make the most of its untapped potential. The arrival of Global Players has brought along various technologies and ideas that have helped Indian firms in looking at their operations through a different perspective. In the field of Supply Chain Management, a shift has been witnessed from the age old process of merely storing ones inventory towards the idea of smart warehousing. Numerous trends have been witnessed in terms of improving ones operational costs and increasing efficiency but what is common among all these businesses is the awareness of going vertical. In the major metropolitan cities of the country, with the hiking prices in real estate, the cost per square foot of land has now increased exponentially in the last few years. With this concern, major industries are looking for options in minimizing their expenditure in terms of area required for handling their supply chain. In this kind of a scenario, a proverb often spoken comes to mind, The Sky is the Limit. It is therefore, imperative for any organization to use up each inch of horizontal space available for their operational needs and use their vertical space for their storage requirements. Many companies, fully aware of this need have already established warehouses that have a racking or shelving system installed that are able to store

their inventory at great heights. The inventory can be accessed by forklifts or stackers that move along a fixed aisle to access the required items and bring it to the user. These systems have been created to help them organize their inventory on the basis of their SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) and reduce the cycle time of moving any object off the shelf and into the next step of operation. However, compared to the supply chain

management of firms in Europe and The United States, India is still following a conventional based system of storage and is slowly showing signs of adopting practices that are up to date with the demand at hand. Owing to the cheap labour available in the country, organisations are still hesitant in investing their resources towards automation of their supply chain module but there are examples that beg to differ. Many pharmaceutical industries are now showing signs of shifting towards automation for the storage and retrieval of their SKUs and are keen on adopting the strategies that have been used in their sister concerns abroad. The ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval System) is a fairly new concept that entered into the Indian market around 5 years ago which

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involved a completely unmanned operational handling of ones inventory. The functioning of this system involves an integration of a Structural and a Software Design that allows you to mechanically retrieve any item in your entire stock via the operation of a stacker crane. This crane operates on its own through a built in software and is programmed to move on a fixed railing system along an aisle to any location that is preferred by the user. Once it has reached that particular location, it identifies the item that is to be retrieved and by adjusting its position, it recovers the same and places it on the conveyor, ready for dispatch. The system has minimum utilization of space on the ground and can even be installed in spaces as small as 10m x 10m. The heights up to which this system can go up to is endless and there are organizations which have used up more than 40metres of their height through the installation of this system. The amount of error that can be caused is also negligible which can help avoid accidents and loss of man hours. But as mentioned, the cost of installing such a system is immense and owing to the surplus availability of labour, it will still take a while before such a system permeates through to the supply chain processes of India. Another such example of emerging practices is the concept of a Radio Shuttle. The Radio Shuttle is a system which is program controlled and requires no manpower for its operation. Instead of a crane moving along an aisle, we have a platform in the shape of a pallet that moves within the storage system, locates the item to be retrieved and brings it to the forklift or stacker to be carried ahead further. This technique has been used by the beverage industry in India but the constraints of cost have not allowed it to propagate any further.

Certain sectors have been identified where there is a growing need of making the most of the space available and where every second counts. An industry that is not much talked about is the Record Management Sector. There are companies all around the world which have been assigned the task of maintaining the records of organisations that have to be kept very secretive and in closed locations all across the world, here the Stock Keeping Unit is kept uniform and contracts are made between service providers on the basis of the no. of boxes that they would be looking to store. Some companies that have entered into the market are Recall, P.N. Writer and the Indian owned CBSL. As most of these records contain confidential information, they usually require a storage system that has the minimum involvement of human presence and would prefer the reliability on machines to perform their record keeping. The second sector that would gain benefit would be the Logistics Sector. A lot of MultiNational companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne Nagel, Nippon Express, Expeditors International are well known logistic providers who have entered into the Indian market and performing services for their clients through warehousing practices all over the country. Most of these Logistics companies have multiple clients and require an organized system of handling a wide range of inventory for their functioning. Here, the requirement would be for a system that is able to provide customized solutions for their various SKUs and bring about a clean flow of material from input to storage and finally to output without any kind of error, miscalculation or delay. The third and most emerging of all sectors is that of Cold Storage. Owing to the recent debate on introducing 100 % FDI in retail for all the foreign players into the Indian Market, the

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need for establishing the infrastructure in Cold Storage facilities has seen a rise. As cold storage is also a very costly affair that involves cooling of foods and other perishables in small rooms, the need for reducing wastage in space becomes the key point in focus. Here, one may introduce another technology of Mobile Storage. In a conventional storage system, there exist aisles for the movement of a stacker or a forklift which are used to retrieve an item from a particular location. In such a scenario, the space that is left for an aisle is kept static and accessed only when an item has to be retrieved from that particular row. However, by introducing the concept of Mobile Storage, the entire structure of storage exists on a track of rails, which creates a compact system having each row stacked right next to the other. When an aisle is required, it can be created at will by shifting the rows on the railing through a mechanized system. The above mentioned ideas have been identified by various service providers of storage in the country and every year, a Warehousing Show is organized in different parts of the country where one can witness prototypes of the emerging innovations in terms of warehousing. Apart from modernizing the current methods of supply chain operations by replacing the old with the new, an alternative of increasing efficiency is to obtain the services of Warehouse Consulting firms. Here, experts in the field of warehousing study the current operations in warehouses and suggest new and improved practices that could

help reduce their redundant costs and save their time. Despite all the new and improved ways that have emerged in the world of warehousing today, the priorities that Indian players have allocated are quite contrary to that of the world. In terms of ranking, the maximum importance is given to the cost of the system, then to the quality of the system and finally to the safety and reliability of the system while in the outside world it seems to be quite the opposite. This has limited many organizations in achieving the most of their potential. Therefore, in order to grow and compete with the global market, business leaders must understand the importance of improving their supply chain operations. Not only will it help in improving profits, but will also help in creating a sustainable operational management system for years to come.

By: Vinayak Talwar h13061@astra.xlri.ac.in

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Logistics in Warfare
People often identify logistics as a relatively modern term, coming into existence as production firms look to improve their operational efficiency. The truth, however, is that logistics has been around for a LONG time, and continues to do so, all around us! In this article, well try to look at exactly how. Because what is simple and logical, is common. And as Arthur Ferrill, an expert in military history puts it, logistics is simply organized supply. To help the Romans roam The Roman military received rations on a fixed day of the month. The amount which one received did not depend on what one needed, but what one was entitled to, based on his rank. However, when the soldiers were on the warpath, equal food and drink was distributed among the legions, with the difference being accounted for later on. This made sense since carrying no excess rations made an army mobile and agile!

Before the first Punian war in 264 BC, Carthage was the major naval power in the Mediterranean. Our favourite Romans, their main adversaries, were able to capture one of their war-ships, and in the modern equivalent of a tear-down analysis were able to replicate several powerful Roman triremes (war vessels). What they lacked in quality, they made up in numbers. To win back Spain from the Romans and invade Italy, Carthage had to continue their war against them through land, but using a long terrestrial route spanning Spain, Gaul and the Alps. This is where the Romans made their killer moves. They knew the Carthagians were a long way from home and themselves had walled cities established all along the route. The Romans attacked like a pack of hyenas, with stealth and surprise and even lost a couple of battles in the beginning, but always had the luxury of retreating to their cities to lick their wounds and plan the next attack. The Carthagians had to act like sharks- they had to keep moving to survive, the longish land-based campaign meant they could not carry provisions from home and half the army was busy foraging for food. Inferior logistics ultimately led to their defeat. Alexander believed in Lean Inventory!! Alexander the Great was said to be a master in Supply Chain Management. Like the Romans, he trained his Macedonian army to carry their own equipment and the use of carts was restricted, as additional people would have to tag along to tend them. By taking these measures in contrast to other contemporary armies, the Macedonian army became the lightest and fastest army of its time. Alexander also had a unique method of partby-part territory conquest. He first arranged for the surrender of the new territory he was entering into and also made food arrangements for his army by engaging the local authorities. In case the area leader refused to surrender, Alexander first gathered

Carthage Logistics = Carnage!!

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information about all the routes in and out of the target area, the resources and the climate of the area, built up his army accordingly, and finally attacked with a relatively light team. The main army would be stationed at a nearby strategic position and would be called only if their food supplies were arranged. Vietnam War- the Ho Chi Minh trail: In the David v/s Goliath battle of Vietnam, there was a certain network of pathways, called the Ho Chi Minh trail, which served as a miracle worker for the Viet Cong. The construction of these trails, running from North to South Vietnam via Laos and Cambodia, was started in 1959, and over the next 16 years helped the North Vietnamese supply their National Liberation Front soldiers with rations, despite repeated American air strikes. Going down the path meant basically taking a six week hike through the jungle, and for all people who fell ill along the way, there were base camps located at regular intervals known as Binh Trams where food, medical care and directions for the next station were provided. The trail was also used to transport soldiers from the north to the south, and there were times when around 20,000 soldiers a month used to come from Hanoi using this path (It is said more than one million soldiers North Vietnamese were transported over the years!). While America tried to retaliate using their famous defoliant Agent Orange- to remove the heavy vegetation cover, the task proved too great and the Ho Chi Minh trail was used for the entire duration of the war.

If you ask an avid Counter Strike player/fan (theyre usually the same people) he could prattle on for hours about what to buy in each round. He would give little gems of advice like BUY GUNS YOURE COMFORTABLE WITH, KNOW THE COST OF ALL ITEMS TO SAVE TIME, and ALWAYS BUY EXTRA AMMO!! Ask him about inventory management and hell probably tell you to stop wasting his time. Counter Strike (Virtual warfare):

Heres how an operations engineer would interpret what he said: An expert Counter Strike player says: Buy guns youre comfortable with Operations Manager understands this as: Your product depends on your skill sets Know the cost of all items to save time and make the best buy (No change here!) Perishable components should be stocked up!

Know the cost of all items to save time and make the best buy Always buy extra ammo!!

By: Abhra Basu Ray Chaudhuri b13003@astra.xlri.ac.in

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FLEXIBILITY IN OPERATIONS
If you focus on results, you will never get change. If you focus on change, you will get results.- Jack Dixon

Plant Level

Volume Flexibility Mix Flexibility Expansion Flexibility New product Flexibility

Marketing and operations strategies are integrated in which they are interrelated and correlated strategies and each one of them is considered when formulating and implementing the other as the both strategies must be clearly linked with business and corporate strategies of a firm. However, these strategies are not only correlated ones but also they contributed to forming the competitive advantage of a firm. Flexibility as a competitive weapon in the arsenal of any firm practices its activities in a turbulent environment is required for coping with uncertainty. Uncertainty emerges from two perspectives: marketing function and manufacturing function. Flexibility is the ability to respond effectively to changing circumstances. Therefore, flexibility as a multidimensional concept can be used for addressing and analyzing the relationships between marketing and operations functions where the emphasis should place on using the different dimensions of flexibility in coping with changes associated with marketing and operations functions, particularly, when dealing with business environment.

Shop Floor Level

Routing Flexibility

Individual Resource Level

Labor Flexibility Machine Flexibility Material handling Flexibility

related to each other. Particularly, it is the volume flexibility that is used for making the balance between demand and capacity. Another form of flexibility is the mix flexibility which is measured by the number of products that a system produces at any point in time. Mix flexibility contributes to satisfying customer needs' variations in the target market by producing products and introducing services for all market segmentations. It supports competitive advantage by enabling an organization to compete on a basis of variety of products and services.

What is Plant Level Flexibility?

Flexibility acts as a strategic tool to avoid the imbalance between demand and capacity, which results in causing several risks for organizations such as entering competitors to the market and reducing the market share. Thus, capacity and demand concepts are

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What is Shop Floor flexibility?

The number of products that have alternative routes or alternate sequencing plans and the extent of variation among the routes used without incurring high transition penalties or large changes in performance outcomes. Routing flexibility may contribute to shop responsiveness by offering a means to deal with, for example, congestion, machine failure or blocking. Therefore, operators need to be trained to acquire programming, maintenance, and diagnostic skills. Material handling flexibility is the number of existing paths between processing centers and the heterogeneity of material which can be transported along those paths without incurring high transition penalties or large changes in performance outcomes. The different dimensions of flexibility that are required for achieving strategic objectives considering the type of uncertainty associated with marketing and operations functions are depicted as follows:

What is Resource level flexibility?

Resource flexibility can be in the form of either labor, machine or material handling. Labor flexibility is the ability of the workforce to perform a broad range of manufacturing tasks economically and effectively. Machine flexibility is the ability of a piece of equipment to perform different options economically and effectively. It refers to the ability of different types of operations that the machine can perform without requiring a prohibitive effort in switching from one operation to another. Technological sources of machine flexibility are numerical control, easily accessible programs, rule based languages, sophisticated partloading and tool-changing devices. These are built in to ensure easy changeability of work pieces, tools, size of the tool magazine, availability of sufficient pallets and fixtures, number of axes, automatic chip removal, adaptive control to optimise metal removal, diagnostic software, and integration CAD/CAM.

By: Nihit Kumar b13158@astra.xlri.ac.in

Pulkit Gupta b13162@astra.xlri.ac.in

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and they also nurture creativity and innovation and do not hesitate in taking responsibility for a sustainable future. The excellence model is based mainly on the European Forum for Quality Management (EFQM) model .It is thus based on nine criteriafive of them called as enablers and four of them called as results .Hence the enablers bring about the results and the feedback from results is used to improve the Enablers. . Thus, like kaizen it brings about continuous improvement. The enablers are: 1. Leadership : They check for the following: i) Leaders define the Mission , vision, values and ethics and act as Role Models ii) Leaders define, monitor, review and drive the improvement of the organizations management system and performance iii) Leaders engage with external stakeholders iv) Leaders reinforce a culture of excellence with the organizations people v) Leaders ensure that the organization is flexible and manages change effectively 2. Strategy: It consists of the following factors i) Strategy is based on understanding the needs and expectations of both stakeholders and the external environment ii) Strategy is based on understanding internal performance and capabilities iii) Strategy and supporting policies are developed, reviewed and updated

With cut throat competition and the need to globally benchmark ones organization, various metrics and models have played a role in the assessment of an organization to globally accepted Standards. Several awards like the Deming award or the Japan Quality Medal have been an aspiration for many companies. But amongst Indian companies an award that seeks to recognize excellence in every aspect of its operation, be it from the manufacturing or service industry was non prevalent till 1994, when the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Export Import Bank joined hands together to institute the CII EXIM Business excellence Award. According to them Excellent organizations meet their mission and progress towards their vision through planning and achieving a balanced set of results that meet both the short and long term needs of their stakeholders and where relevant, exceed them. So it involves adding value for the customers primarily and leading with Vision, Inspiration and Integrity. Also excellent organizations manage by process, succeed through people

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iv) Strategy and supporting policies are communicated, implemented and monitored People: The following qualities are stressed i) Plans support the organizations strategy ii) Knowledge & capabilities are developed iii) Aligned, involved and empowered. iv) They communicate effectively throughout the organization v) People are awarded, recognized & cared for Partnerships and resources: Its all about the following: i) Partners and suppliers are managed for sustainable benefit ii) Finances are managed to secure sustained success iii) Buildings, equipment, materials and natural resources are managed in a sustainable way iv) Technology is managed to support the delivery of strategy v) Information and knowledge are managed to

i) Processes are designed and managed to optimize stakeholder value ii) Products and services are developed to create optimum value for customers iii) Products and services are effectively promoted and marketed iv) Products and services are produced, delivered and managed The results are customer results, society results, people results and Key results. They have perceptions and performance indicators for the same. The assessment process would be thus: 1. Companies order application brochure. 2. Applicant submits documents and the assessors are selected. 3. An assessment team is formed to filter out applicants. 4. The applicants are screened for Site visits and then a Site Visit is made is conducted after a

support effective decision making and to build the organizational capability 5. Processes, Product and services

few days. 5. The different parameters are assessed and then the jury finally awards the marks. 6. An awards Function is held to honor the distinguished companies.

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7. Every applicant is provided a feedback on how to improve and strive for excellence. There are four different levels of achievement that the CII EXIM bank would award for different levels of achievement: 1. Award 2. Prize 3. Commendation for significant achievement. 4. Commendation for strong commitment to excel. Last year the award was won by Inteliment Technologies. The award has been won by very few distinguished firms like Infosys, TCS, Maruti Suzuki Limited, HP India and Tata motors Limited.CII Institute of Quality also provides the following services for corporates in order to apply for the award like workshops on the

Business Excellence model, Business Process management and Strategic Quality Management etc. By: Suhas Kini b13175@astra.xlri.ac.in

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IN(TERN) VOICE
Louis Ritchie C ITC Supply Chain

Logistics, Procurement, Stores etc) to appreciate the probable implications on each of these departments due to my recommendations. Before the final presentation, my guide helped me share my ideas with other section heads to get their views and approval. It helped me provide feasible solutions which would result in overall improvement of the business. Proficiency in Excel & Power-point would immensely help during internships. It saves lot of time and effort which can be channelized in the actual project. Another critical aspect that determines the outcome of the project is the inputs and guidance of the project guide. It is very difficult for any intern to understand the entire process and its constraint in such a short time frame, without the help of the guide. It is the role of the interns to get the maximum out of the interactions with the guide and complete the project within the stipulated time.

My internship project with ITC involved improving the efficiency and responsiveness of one of its business segments. I was provided with an exhaustive project brief almost a month prior to my internship with all the project details such as location, deliverables, Guide contact etc. The duration of my project was 8 weeks. It was a live project with huge scope and impact. In the first week, all the interns of my division got the opportunity to interact with the CEO of the division. He stressed upon the scope and relevance of our projects. It helped us realize the importance ITC places on each of the projects. The first two weeks were utilized to understand the entire operations and I was asked by my guide to undertake an exhaustive process mapping which helped me understand the flow of materials & information across different departments. I was sent to the manufacturing facilities to understand & appreciate the various aspects of the business. A detailed time plan was designed by my guide to accommodate all the deliverables in the limited time. I had frequent meetings with all the related departments (such as Operations,

Manish Sapra ITC Supply Chain

I did my Summer Internship in ITC - Supply Chain Management Role. I interned in TM&DWarehousing department and worked on a live project which was on resource optimization of ITC's three biggest warehouses. The first week was spent in understanding the basic structure of supply chain in ITC and the strategy behind setting up a warehouse. I was sent to a small ITC warehouse nearby to practically see and understand various operations and

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methodology followed in ITC's downstream supply chain operations. In the second week, milestones were defined along with timelines and basic plan of action was made to capture relevant data points in the warehouse. The three warehouses differed from each other as they operated with different settings- Block storage, Rack storage with WMS, Rack storage with automated WMS (WMS- warehouse management system). Due to the busy schedules of my guide and top management, my warehouse visits started only after 4 weeks. I visited the warehouses to do process mapping of various inbound and outbound operations and performed time study to arrive at resource productivity of the warehouse. The scope of the project was expanded to on-ground pilots of certain improvement measures suggested and hence I covered two warehouses. After spending 4 weeks at two warehouses ( Hassangarh & Chennai), I presented the final findings and potential results of proposed measures to the Head of DepartmentWarehousing. Overall, the best part was that I was given a live project and was exposed to different types of warehouse operations.

Abhishek Modani GSK CH

manufacturing sites. The line manager helped me to define the project objectives, scope and timelines in the very first week of the internship. The project involved identifying major inventory holding items, studying current inventory policy and identifying scope for improvement. I started my project by visiting GSK owned sites (Nabha and Sonepat ) to understand the physical flow of raw materials at every stage from supplier to consumption site. Based on the last 12 month data, I built a statistical model taking into account average daily consumption, supplier lead time and supplier performance to suggest optimum inventory levels for each raw material item ensuring 99.9% service level (0.1% risk of stock out). Using this model Raw material working capital requirement was reduced by close to INR 20 million. Pre-requisite for project: Basic understanding of inventory models and costing process. Takeaways from the internship: Toughest part of the project is extracting the required data from the right source in the right form. Building personal connect with people makes you job easier Suggestion for juniors: Be proactive at all times. The project is your responsibility; make sure you get time and guidance from your guides. Talk to as many people from different functions to understand and learn what work they do. This will help you get a feel of the overall SCM function.

I interned with the Procurement function reporting directly to India Sub-Continent Head for Raw Material Procurement. My project aimed at Reducing Working Capital requirement through Inventory Optimization for GSK owned

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_____________________________________EVENTS CORNER
KRONOS - the Operations quizzing league was revived after a hiatus. There were two online quizzes which had almost 36 teams participating in all. It was a quiz worth fighting for as it was their only way to enter LIFELINE- AXIOMs brand new simulation event. The top 6 in the leader board made it to LIFELINE

TIME FOR SOME SIMULATION

The top 6 teams from KRONOS were in for some tight walk as the prdeictions of the teams were pretty close. It was a problem on optimising the movement in a hospital based on seasonal data. After 4 rounds of simulation our Drac quiz master Pritwish Datta emerged victorious along with the other seasoned quizzer - Francis Thomas.

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