Early movers benefit from IT
HUL tags its retail outlets using global positioning system to identify and prioritize geographies that presented an opportunity for direct distribution expansion
“Mumbai:
HUL
Embracing technology" is one of the pillars of Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s five-pronged approach to be “future ready", said chairman Harish Manwani, while delivering a speech on ‘Building a Future Ready Organisation’ at the company’s annual meeting on 30 June 2014. HUL already tags its retail outlets using global positioning system (GPS) to identify and prioritize the geographies that presented an opportunity for direct distribution expansion. A 2012 report on HUL by consulting firm Accenture Inc. noted that HUL built the “GPS and density-mapping technology to design its rural supply chains and sales network" because population density and the distance between villages play a key role in determining the number of Shakti Amma and Shaktimaan (rural women and male entrepreneurs) recruits, their placement, and the volume of the product the supply chain needs to handle. HUL also has Project iQ, a technology-based analytics solution, to enable its sales force make shorter and more effective sales calls. The company also has a ‘Media Lab’ to help its brands “deliver engaging brand experiences in an effective manner across Internet enabled mobile devices and platforms".
GODREJ
In July 2013, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) said it helped Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) deploy information technology (IT) solutions in its supply chain, helping it make the right decisions on stock placement and thus provide its customers with greater product variety at a lower cost. Based on data insights, IBM supported GCPL in deploying “optimized and stable planning solution that replaced all legacy standalone applications". This helped GCPL improve its “on-time" delivery performance. That very year, GCPL was also in the process of implementing a technology framework to understand what performance metrics matter most and how different value drivers correlate to build effective cause-effect relationships. The result was the QlikView 11 business discovery software, deployed by Green Cube Infotech Pvt. Ltd, for the sales and supply chain, according to a 25 July 2013 report by PCQuest—a Cyber Media (India) publication. The software, according to the report, helped employee productivity improve “significantly...by allowing quick access to business insights than struggling to make sense out of huge data sets and multiple reports".
DABUR
In September 2014, Dabur India Ltd chose Ramco Ltd’s HCM (Human Capital Management) solution to integrate its human resources operations across the world. The solution included manpower planning and budgeting, recruitment, employee data management, performance management and training modules. Moreover, Dabur’s sales team use tablets and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The company also uses analytics to understand how its distributors are faring, which brands are doing well or otherwise, and where performance needs to be improved. On 7 July 2014, Dabur India also appointed LinTeractive, the digital division from Lowe Lintas + Partners to handle digital for its Dabur Healthcare and Foods division.
PROCTER AND GAMBLE
The company has implemented a cloud-based global Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) programme, deployed by analytic data solutions company Teradata Corp. The cloud-based solution enables P&G to get consumer insights that allow for marketing automation. This, in turn, helps to personalize interactions and communications with consumers across multiple channels, driving more meaningful consumer dialogues and deepening consumer engagement with P&G brands across countries.
Alok Shende, founder director and principal analyst of Ascentius Consulting, says that “leaders in India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries have been the one who have successfully navigated uncertainties both within and without. Be it an accurate forecast for supply and demand planning, or optimizing marketing spend, or identifying newer opportunities through segmentation of retailers, predictive data science offers unprecedented opportunities to pivot FMCG Enterprises performance."
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