Economic Times - Mumbai
67 col cm)
S P R E A D I N G
His job to
ensure that all
shoppers in
Mumbaiget
their soaps and
detergents in
time leaves him
with no time to
shop for his
wife, reports
KiranKabtta
Somvanshi
itendra Haria r a n u p t o his g o d o w n in
Byculla in t h e w e e h o u r s of t h e m o r n ­
J
ing o n Wednesday, N o v e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 0 9
w h e n a fire b r o k e d o w n in t h e Great
Eastern Mill c o m p o u n d . The largest dis­
t r i b u t o r of FMCG p r o d u c t s in India
t h a n k s his stars t h a t his g o d o w n w a s
spared. However, t h e fire, w h i c h raged
for m o r e t h a n 2 4 h o u r s , stalled t h e o p ­
e r a t i o n s at his g o d o w n for a day. M r
Haria, a m a n in a hurry, c o u l d n ' t afford
to lose e v e n o n e m a n - d a y in his busi­
ness. E v e n in t h e a b s e n c e of electricity,
h e decided t o r e s u m e w o r k by r e n t i n g
g e n e r a t o r s for t h e n e x t t w o days t o o p ­
erate t h e c o m p u t e r s at his g o d o w n .
Forty-year-old Jitu b h a i (as h e is
popularly called) c o m e s across as a t y p ­
ical Gujarati t r a d e s m a n w i t h business in
his blood. However, doing distribution
business for t h e country's largest FMCG
c o m p a n y H i n d u s t a n Unilever (HUL),
has transformed h i m from a traditional
Gujarati trader to a tech-savvy m a n a g e r
w i t h lot of fire in t h e belly a n d h u n g e r
for g r o w t h .
For s o m e o n e w h o is b o r n a n d
b r o u g h t u p in M u m b a i , h e k n o w s t h e
n o o k s a n d c o r n e r s of t h e city like t h e
back of his h a n d . After all, h e services
m o r e t h a n 3,500 retail stores right from
N a r i m a n P o i n t in S o u t h M u m b a i t o
Kurla a n d M a h i m in central M u m b a i .
He also supplies HUL's p r o d u c t s to n e a r ­
ly 50 m o d e r n t r a d e outlets from S o u t h
M u m b a i to M u l u n d in central s u b u r b s
Saturday, 02 Jan 2010 Page# :14 Size : 979.52 sq.cm. (217.
' E M O U T
t o A n d h e r i in w e s t e r n suburbs. F r o m a n d b a c k - e n d - quite m a n y of t h e m b e ­ o n l y four large distributors for t h e city.
foods & b e v e r a g e s to soaps & toiletries ing unskilled. T h e t e a m w o r k s o n zero A n d J e e t u b h a i is p r o u d to be o n e of
m a n u f a c t u r e d by HUL, h e supplies i n v e n t o r y system t h a t e n s u r e s t h a t a t h e m . He is o n e of t h e o n l y t w o distrib­
t h e m all a n d e n s u r e s c u s t o m e r s get wholesaler utors han­
stock as fresh as possible. or retailer dling distri­
Jitu bhai's conversation is laced w i t h gets his or­ bution for
der replen­ HUL's m o d ­
w o r d s like 'target', ' p e r f o r m a n c e ' ,
'deadlines', ' c u s t o m e r ' , 'delivery' a n d ished by
INDIA INCREDIBLE ern trade
such similar m a n a g e m e n t jargon. In his t h i r d day of T H E U N T O L D S T O R Y business in
case, t h e s e w o r d s are n o t just restricted placing it. M u m b a i .
t o c o n v e r s a t i o n b u t r a t h e r are w o r d s Except for Consistently
52 S u n d a y s a n d t w o m o r e holidays in a performing better, m e e t i n g a n d beating
year, this t e a m is at w o r k from 9 a m t o 9 targets a n d switching from a traditional
DELIVERY
p m daily. 'The s h o w m u s t go o n , c o m e system of w o r k i n g to a m o r e tech­
MECHANISM w h a t m a y ' s e e m s t o be t h e u n w r i t t e n n o l o g y - e n a b l e d system have
Starting with a small turnover code of con d uct . h e l p e d h i m gain this recognition.
of seven digits, his firm All this h a r d w o r k o v e r t h e last 15 Handling distribution business for a
years h a s paid off Jitu b h a i . Starting m u l t i - n a t i o n a l F M C G company
Mahavir Retail n o w
w i t h a small t u r n o v e r of seven digits, his gives h i m a m u c h h i g h e r say a n d
contributes to 2% of HUL's
firm M a h a v i r Retail n o w contributes to s t a n d i n g in t h e m a r k e t t o d a y as c o m ­
turnover (over Rs 400 crore) 2 % of HUL's t u r n o v e r (over Rs 4 0 0 p a r e d to a distributor of a n y o t h e r
— which itself is a very big crore) — w h i c h itself is a very big smaller FMCG c o m p a n y .
achievement a c h i e v e m e n t . Starting o p e r a t i o n s from All this also h a s its flip side. W h i c h is
a 3000 sq ft g o d o w n in M a z g a o n for first t h a t a wife w h o cribs t h a t she always
ten years, t h e firm m o v e d to a 10,000 sq sees less of h i m a n d t w o d a u g h t e r s w h o
ft g o d o w n in Reay Road. As t h e scale of k n o w b e f o r e h a n d w h a t will b e their fa­
t h a t h e lives everyday. A hard task­ o p e r a t i o n s increased further, t h e firm ther's reply if t h e y ask h i m t o a c c o m p a ­
master, Jitu b h a i clocks a r o u n d 14 started o p e r a t i n g from a n 18,000 sq ft n y t h e m at t h e i r school or social func­
h o u r s of w o r k o n a n average - m o n i t o r ­ g o d o w n since last year. F r o m recording tion. The irony is t h a t t h e m a n , w h o e n ­
ing good dispatches by trucks, daily r e ­ i n v e n t o r y in physical ledgers a n d m a n ­ sures t h a t c u s t o m e r s get their desired
v i e w of targets, visits t o m a r k e t to get ually a c c o u n t i n g t h e daily billing of bar of Lux a n d Liril w h e n t h e y go to t h e
t h e c u s t o m e r ' s pulse a n d overlooking s a l e s m e n , t h e firm n o w h a s c o m p u t e r ­ s h o p k e e p e r , k e e p s his wife w a i t i n g for
t h e billing raised by salesmen at t h e e n d ized a c c o u n t i n g system a n d h a s provid­ h e r list of HUL p r o d u c t s f o r a s m u c h a s a
of t h e day. ed p a l m - t o p s to all its salesmen. fortnight, since h e d o e s n ' t get time to
Along w i t h his p a r t n e r s , h e m a n a g e s F r o m 60 distributors catering t o s h o p for h e r in his g o d o w n !
a big t e a m of people in sales, logistics, LT M u m b a i city in 2 0 0 0 , HUL n o w h a s kiran.somvanshi@timesgroup.com