The Hindu Business Line : `Supply chain management vital to success of products'

GOOD support services and speedy delivery mechanisms enhance the value of a company's product, almost as much as the product's inherent quality, Mr Mohamed Iqbal Dabhoiwala, Lead Consultant, Supply Chain Practice, Bristlecone India Ltd, has said.

He was addressing OPUS 2005, the annual operations management seminar at IIM-Kozhikode on the theme, `Indian Industry at Crossroads: A Century after the Industrial Revolution', which was sponsored by Take Solutions, CII Institute of Logistics being the knowledge partner and The Hindu Business Line the print media partner.

In his inaugural speech, Dr Saji Gopinath, faculty coordinator for the event, said that though several companies had cutting-edge technology, they continued to suffer because their suppliers did not have the technology to match the manufacturers' needs.

The two important functions of supply chain management are physical delivery and market mediation, Mr Radha Mohan Gupta, Head of Logistics, Reckitt Benckiser, said. He talked about how systems and technology were an integral part of supply chain management and how Reckitt Benckiser leveraged on technology to enhance its operations efficiency.

Speaking on the topic, `Driving Agility in an Enterprise', Mr Narayan Rajagopalachari, Vice-President, Global Consulting Services, i2 Technologies, highlighted how the organisation that has the ability to thrive in a continuously changing and increasingly complex market would be the leader of tomorrow.

He talked about the key characteristics of an agile organisation, and how efficient supply chain management helped in maintaining visibility of a product across the network.

Mr P. Ravindran, Senior Superintendent, Dept of Central Excise, and faculty at the CII Institute of Logistics, discussed VAT and Supply Chain Management, with all their benefits and pitfalls, especially from the point of view of the Government and tax agencies.

Talking about the `Challenges in the Road Ahead of Supply Chain Management,' Mr G. Ramesh, Head of Knowledge Organisation group, Take Solutions, said that markets should not exist just in the perception of managers, but in the real world, and should be properly tested for their demand levels.

OPUS 2005 also featured a case study competition named `Opstimum'. The preliminary round had been conducted earlier, with wide participation from top B schools across the country. The selected finalists presented their solutions to a panel of judges from the industry and academia.

Mr Aditya Suresh and Mr Krishnan R. of Great Lakes Institute of Management were placed first. The second place was jointly awarded to the teams from IIM-Ahmedabad and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.

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