CRM or CMR?

We all are quite familiar with the concept of CRM: Customer Relationship Management.

Needless to mention how important it is for the organizations to manage the all the touch points with the customers. As the competitive scenario intensifies organizations are pooling more and more resources in order to hear the voice of the customers streamline it with the voice of the processes and provide more value to the customers.

One of the recent trends in the supply chain is of Customer Managed Relationships.

The question that should be coming to your mind will be how it is different from Customer Relationship Management! Well, in case of CMR the customers are responsible for managing their relationships with the organization. Seems interesting right, appears to be one of those flaunted “Blue Ocean Strategy.”

The fact is that it is! With the rising awareness of the “green concern” , “eliminate waste” few organizations have managed not only to reduce the cost of the offerings thus enhancing the perceived value of the products but with “green supply chain” have earned the reputation with which customers wants to associated with. Thus instead of pooling most of the resources in managing customers the organization is much more focused on creating associations which calls for customers managing relationships by themselves.

Resolve Dissolve or Solve – Dilemma

Think about it! What is the best approach to sort out an issue? Should you attempt to solve it, resolve or dissolve it?

I wonder if you have ever thought of all these three option; however my love for process and supply chain management did force to think. So I just thought of sharing my thoughts with you people.

Resolve approach seems to be of reactive kind; you resolve an issue or a problem when you encounter it. Of course doesn’t seem like a good approach when time is resource are limited and results are paramount.

Solve approach seems more active; however the focus here is also on sorting out an issue and delivering results.

Dissolve approach on the other hand though appears to be a reactive approach but imbibed in it is the essence of project management. Here we do not only look to sort out an issue but at the same time moves a step ahead and look forward to the root cause and eliminate (dissolve) it.

My opinion is that embodying “dissolve” approach in your every day activity may initially consume a lot of time but the fruits it will bring to you might cover up much more in the long run.

A case study on Raymonds Supply Chain

The various brands under the Raymonds umbrella are: Park Avenue, Colorplus, Parx, Notting Hill, Manzoni etc. The company is one of the largest integrated manufacturers of worsted fabric in the world and commands a 60% market share in India. Raymonds in India has huge plans of expansion in the retail segment. With this in mind huge investments have been made at its existing plant at Vapi and investments have also been made to set up new manufacturing units at Bangalore and Kolhapur. This goes to show the increasing focus, the company has on distributing its manufacturing units across different regions in the country so as to be able to respond faster to the customer demands.

According to Mr. Gautham Singania, the Chairman and Managing Director of the group, “The difficult part we face is getting the right supply mechanism for materials and the manpower to improve the efficiencies in delivery of the product.” A unique feature of the Raymonds supply chain is the launch of Extranet - a B2B e commerce channel. The thought behind this introduction is to connect the company’s marketing and sales teams with its external business partners like dealers, agents, franchisees in the textile business division. Through this they believe they can speed up and improve the distribution channels across the country. This will give them more flexibility and enable the stockists to place their orders directly on the net. The Raymond Apparel Ltd. a complete subsidiary of Raymond Ltd. has also implemented a supply chain management package based on the Oracle platform. With this, they hope to smoothen out both ends of the supply chain.

Unlike some other garment companies in the industry, Raymonds Ltd. has configured its supply chain based on a pull system. The customers can pull what they want from the manufacturing base of Raymond through dealer based distribution networks. Raymonds has a supply chain that is a vertically integrated composite network of different operations that produces only as per the demand. The problem this could have is increased lead times and fails to address the challenge of quick response to customer demands. Increasing product variety makes the problem even worse. 

A case study on Arvind Mills Ltd Supply Chain

A very distinct feature of Arvind Mills Ltd is the fact that its brands work across multiple channels, price points and customer segments. These are brands that are distinctive and relevant across diverse customer segments. Some of the brands under Arvind Mills are: Wrangler, Excalibur, Flying Machine, Newport, Ruf & Tuf, Arrow, Izod etc and its customers include Levis, Lee, Tommy Hilfiger etc.

The supply network finally reaches the customer touch points through over 275 stand alone brand stores across the country and more than 975 counters selling multi brand retail outlets an key accounts across India. Arvind Mills Ltd is one of the largest denim manufacturers in the world and has configured its supply chain based on “push” system. Under normal operating conditions, Arvind manufactures denim “sorts” based on monthly forecast to stock at various warehouses. As Arvind Mills “pushes” its products (sorts) to ware-houses, actual selling takes place on an ongoing basis with the “sold sorts” are being replaced subsequently. The “Push” system operates under the “make-to-stock” environment.

While the system has worked efficiently at Arvind for years it becomes difficult for a company to follow the same where a high demand fluctuation exists. A Push-based supply chain accumulates excessive inventory (“cycle stock” and “work-in-process”) by the time it responds to the changing demand. In addition, since long-term forecast plays an important role, it is difficult to match supply with variable demand. “Push” supply chain also entails larger production batches, incompatible for catering demand of short quantity.

Another interesting feature of the supply chain is the intense reach Arvind Mills is targeting. With increasing disposable income available in the rural areas as well, the company is trying to

make shirts at affordable rates available at grocery stores and petrol pumps. It has also started selling shirt bits instead of multi meter long rolls which once dominated the retail shelves.

A case study on Madura Fashion & Lifestyle Supply Chain

A division of the Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle is one of India‟s fastest growing branded apparel companies and a premium lifestyle player in the retail sector. After consolidating its market leadership with its own brands, it introduced premier international labels, enabling Indian consumers to buy the most prestigious global fashion wear and accessories within the country.

 Some of the famous brands under the Madura Fashion & Lifestyle umbrella are: Van Huesen, Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Peter England, People etc. These brands have an image of attitude, comfort, luxury and style. What makes the supply chain of Madura Fashion & Lifestyle remarkable is the incredible retail presence it has in India. It has over 850 exclusive and franchise stores spread across the length and breadth of the country and over 2000 multi brand retail outlets both within and outside the country. It has also entered into a distribution agreement with the international brand Espirit which is also another feature of the Supply chain as it is used to increase its international presence.

An IT and web enabled organization, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle is the first apparel company to have successfully implemented the ERP, SAP system and the first company globally to integrate Retek ERP with SAP ERP. These are significant features which improves the efficiency, planning process, coordination and information visibility across the supply chain. Another feature of the supply chain is that it has not restricted its suppliers or immediate customers to Indian players. It has for more than a decade now sourced technology, fabrics and garments globally. It is also an international supplier to sophisticated international brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Marks & Spencer‟s.

A manufacturing unit of the company became the first apparel manufacturing unit to win the prestigious quality excellence award, The Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Award, instituted by the Indian Merchants Chambers and the house of Bajaj. This clearly goes to show the emphasis on quality the company has in the make stage of the supply chain also.