Bhubaneswar, 30th August 2015
X-Ops the Operations Committee of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhaubaneswar (XIMB), hosted its flagship event “Ashwamedh’ 15” here on Sunday. It is an annual national seminar, which brings together eminent personalities from diverse range of backgrounds, including academia, corporate, and the government sector.
The theme of the conclave was “Gaining Competitive advantage through Operations and Supply Chain Management”. The eventsaw a congregation of leading names from different industries, namely, Mr. Vinay Singh Kushwaha, VP-Supply Chain, Britannia Industries Ltd; Mr. M.S Harinath, GM- Purchase, Mylan Laboratories Ltd; Mr. SoumyakantDwivedi, Manager-Supply Chain, Beckton-Dickinson; Mr. VS Ramesh, Associate VP- Business Excellence, Godrej And Boyce Mfg Co.; Mr. Baldeep Singh, VP-Operations, Snapdeal; Mr. SubhakarMahapatra, Associate GM-Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd. The panel discussion was moderated by Prof. WS William, Faculty Coordinator of X-Ops at XIMB.
The ground for discussion was laid by Prof. Williams who put forth the relevance of the theme, Operations and Supply Chain Management being the core competency of an organization and its role in creating value to the customers. He also shared the evolution of Supply Chain Management right from the time of Ford in 1913 to the 1990s and thereafter. The first speaker of the event Mr. Vinay SinghKushwaha discussed about the operations and supply chain at Britannia Industries and the challenges faced by the food industry. He mentioned challenges such as low margin and low value density of food products and the distributed supply chain footprint. He also discussed about asset productivity, i.e. keeping the production capacity in tune with the demand which helps to maintain lower costs. The second speaker of the event, Mr. SoumyakantDwivedi, discussed how successful organizations rely on supply chain management to keep their goods and services flowing to the marketplace at competitive rates. He also highlighted the importance of collaboration to improve sense in demand and response in supply. Mr.Dwivedi while summing up quoted Colin Powell who said, “Endeavors succeed or fail because of people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.”
The next speaker, Mr. Baldeep Singh talked about the latest trends in e-commerce and highlighted the key drivers of growth in this industry, such as the increase in options in the online mode vis-à-vis a physical store, the improved reach of the global brands to the customers and the convenience in the shopping time that is reduced.
Mr. VS Ramesh, through an interactive case of Godrej Securities services enlightened the audience on key issues like skew in demand, discounting, variability in demand and importance of effective dealer network. Subsequently, Mr. MS Harinath, explained how Indian Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly gaining recognition for their efficient delivery systems. He also mentioned some challenges faced by the industry such as the domination of distributers.The last speaker of the conclave, Mr. SubhakarMohapatra, citing examples of Ferrari and McDonalds, explained how they process deals with superior and standardized product quality throughout the world. He also cited the example of Indian Railways running in huge losses and stressed on operational excellence for achieving turnaround.The online journal of Xops, Ashwamedh ’15 was also launched by the speakers at the event.
This was followed by an interactive question and answer session between the panelists and the audience. It was a great learning experience for everyone present there. The conclave concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof. Arun Kumar Paul, Professor of Operations Management at XIMB.
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