50 Manufacturing Companies – Bharat Bijlee

Following the challenges posed by GST implementation, the electric motor industry soon faced another challenge: the Government of India’s Quality Control order that prohibited the manufacture, stock and sale of motors other than those of efficiency class IE2 or higher with effect from January 1, 2018. This meant that products that hitherto accounted for only 20% of the market were now the only ones that could be made or sold. The entire supply chain – from suppliers, to channels, and customers – had to transition, with an overnight hard stop. “At the same time, the market experienced an unexpected demand surge after four years of stagnation, putting further, though welcome, pressure on the supply chain. Our SCM Department was at the forefront of managing these multiple challenges,” says Fernandes.

Bharat Bijlee’s Motor Division had adopted Theory of Constraints (ToC) several years prior, and it now returned to its core principles and focused on steps to restore high levels of delivery reliability and stock availability under the changed circumstances.
Simultaneously, Logistics emerged both as a pain point and as an opportunity for improving customer experience. “As we shift in phases to a 4PL model, we look forward to several benefits: predictable transportation times, end to end visibility, less transit damage, and better cost efficiencies.”
An ideal supply chain model? “ToC tells us that an organisation must build and capitalise upon a Decisive Competitive Edge, and SCM can be the source for this.

“Our SCM Department works to improve delivery reliability and stock availability, to optimise costs, and to minimise working capital; by doing so, we can create a ripple effect of operational advantages, as well as improving customer satisfaction. Our SCM department has KPIs for all these parameters, but we must keep re-examining our model – and harnessing new digital technologies as enablers – to ensure that we are helping to improve business performance,” Fernandes adds.