Internship Diaries #25

Abhimanyu Tomar

Otis Education Consultancy Private Ltd.

Market Research on Training Practices in Manufacturing & IT sector companies.

My internship project was on training practices in Manufacturing Industry. Training methodologies are playing very crucial role in today’s world of cut throat competition. Now a days each and every organization are focusing more on increasing operating efficiency because by doing so they will earn more profit margins. The skilled work force is pre- requisite for increasing operating efficiency. Big companies are paying more attention to their training activities as training is required to transform a workforce into skilled workforce. The purpose of my project was to find out the list of companies which are providing Microsoft excel training to their employees to improve their skills. I have to do market research on manufacturing sector companies. After this I have to generate a lead for my company as my company is providing training to Corporate and Management colleges.

Otis Education Consultancy is an IIM Ahmedabad alumni venture started in 2012. This company is located in Gurgaon. This company was started by Mr. Aman Vig and Mr. Tarun Hathila. Mr. Aman and Mr. Tarun have done their graduation from Delhi College of engineering and IIT Roorkee respectively. Mr. Aman has 4 years of work experience in SAP Labs. Both of them have completed their Post graduation from IIM Ahmedabad. This company has around 8 employees and 3 of them operate virtually from different parts of the country.

This company provides various types of training to Corporate and Management colleges. It includes Excel training, SPSS training and training of other Business Automation tools. The major chunk of their revenue comes from excel training and also a meager portion of revenue comes from consulting service that they provide to corporate on the basis of Min.hour system. The list of their clients includes Capgemini, Apaar Industry, Aarti Industry, Punjab University, Meerut University and other management colleges of Ahmedabad.

Internship Diaries #22

Mohana Bhattacharyay

Amazon India

“You got an opportunity to make a dream become a reality - and when you do, you just got to take advantage of it.”-Eric Thomas.

Working in one of the world’s largest brands, my internship at Amazon India was nothing short of a dream come true. The pace of e-Commerce in India has started picking up. With the online buyer penetration being less than 2%, the Indian e-commerce industry is still at a nascent stage. Growing at a CAGR of 34% since 2009, this sector displays a lot of demand-side potential. Amazon India has thousands of sellers listed on the platform and with the growing business volume, it is imperative to launch still more. With increasing number of sellers on-boarded, it is important to find effective and scalable solutions to proactively engage them.

My project involved the implementation of a social media engagement program for third party sellers. After exploring several options available to achieve seller-to-Amazon, Amazon-to-seller and seller-to-seller engagement with a qualitative study, supported by data from market research of my target customers, a specific platform was selected. Within two weeks of my internship, a closed pilot with around 400 marketplace sellers was launched that enabled them to interact with each other and with Amazon India in order to understand our processes better, share information, tips, experiences and best practices, and resolve their queries through continuous social engagement. All of this finally added up to the formation of personalized networks amongst the sellers of the Amazon family and ultimately, an enhanced seller experience.

With the project, I did not limit myself to seller engagement but also explored social media marketing of seller-facing products and services. Moreover, the platform has the potential to facilitate a faster, smoother and a hassle free “Go-Live” experience for the newly registered sellers by lowering the registration-to-launch time period, and thus, increasing the launch efficiency. To tangibly test the outcomes from the pilot, I also developed a number of metrics that would help measure the effectiveness of the platform and quantify the same in terms of the desired results.

At Amazon, our vision is to be Earth's most customer centric company and the results of the pilot suggested that the proposed platform, with close and careful monitoring has the potential for driving value for our customers. The best part of this internship project was that I got to interact with all the seller-facing teams starting from business development to account management to logistics, product development, online and offline marketing and even mobile app development. The extremely flexible work culture, the open door policy and the grandeur of the country head-office in the premises of the World Trade Center, Bangalore, left me absolutely mesmerized.  Despite being the largest online retailer of the world, Amazon India still functions like a start-up. It is still “Day 1” and there is relentless focus on using our investments in technology and innovation to transform the lives of our customers, our sellers and all our partners. From a summer internship, I couldn’t have asked for more!

Internship Diaries #21

Shavy Bhardwaj

Fairwealth Securities Pvt Ltd.

My summer internship was at FairWealth Securities Ltd, Gurgaon which is a Broking arm of the Fairwealth Group and offers Personalized Broking services to its Institutional, Corporate and Individual clients. It was a valuable experience working in the risk management department of a Broking firm as I got to know how risk is managed in a company which has its operations revolving around the volatile stock market hence accompanying a lot of risk. I worked on the project “Risk Management in a stock Broking Firm”. I also had the opportunity to work in the accounts department where I had to manage the pay-in and pay-out of the clients. 

Fairwealth also has its business in Commodity Broking, Real Estate, Insurance Broking, Financial Services and Tours and Travels. I was lucky enough to have two mentors, who were always ready to provide a helping hand and motivated me and I got a lot to learn from them. I worked with my mentor on a project of Fairwealth Housing Pvt Ltd in which we had to project the financials of the ongoing housing project in Bhiwadi. I also worked with the CRM department of Fairwealth Housing in which I had to check the records and requirements of various customers and accordingly service them. I also had an exposure to the legal and compliance department which was under the company secretary and I could even sit with her sometimes and gain knowledge from her. I also got to learn about how the KYC (Account opening) section of the company works to open the Demat and Trading accounts of the clients. 

All the employees were so obliging and always available to answer my queries. So, being at the head office I could explore all the departments and interact with the employees and this helped me comprehend the basic operations of a Stock Broking company and provided me much practical exposure.

Internship Diaries #20

Menka

Nsimpl Infolabs LLP  

Nsimpl Infolabs LLP offered me an opportunity to work in business development, market research and sales domain during my summer internship. Nsimple has launched a product ‘nTrackr’  which helps the hotels to enhance guest experience and revenue as well with the help of a Mobile Guest App. It also helps them to manage and track their workforce in a more efficient manner by keeping all stakeholders in a loop via real-time communication.

My internship was all about business development, market research and sales. Our target customers were 3, 4 and 5 star hotels. My work was to fix meetings with GMs of different hotels. After that, during meeting I used to brief about nTrackr and how it will help them to increases their guest experience and overall efficiency. Before going to the meeting I had to do a lot of research about the hotel and the GM so that I could talk to him in his reference and another benefit was that I could easily answer their doubts and queries effectively.

During the implementation phase I had to understand the complete work flow of hotels so that we may help them to use the system seamlessly. I had to do follow up with each and every person on a regular basis to ensure that system is helping them to reduce their mundane tasks. It was a great pride in itself to meet sophisticated managers of 4 or 5 star hotels which bestowed a lot to my personality and boosted my confidence. Knowledge sharing and feedback sessions by our founder (Mudit Khandelwal, a dynamic personality) summed up a lot to my knowledge. Overall internship was a great learning experience.

Internship Diaries #18

Debjyoti Das

Jakson Ltd., Kolkata

I would like to thank Mr. Subrata Ray-Vice President & Mr. Shib Shankar Bhattacharyya – Head (Sales & Marketing) - and to my Head of Department, IIT Roorkee Dr. Santosh N.Rangnekar for providing me this opportunity for this corporate exposure which is a great learning experience during my MBA.

I am extremely thankful to Jakson Ltd. for giving me the opportunity to undertake this project on Sales and Market Research for Diesel Generators in Kolkata, during my summer internship  I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my project guide Mr.Siddhartha Ghosh (Team Lead –Sales and Marketing) for his overall support, valuable guidance, astute judgments and an eye of perfection without which this project would not have been in the present shape.

The main objective of this project report is to perform a detailed survey of the current scenario of the Diesel Generator market for Jakson Ltd. in Kolkata. These surveying and the sample generation has been done during the Summer Internship from May 2015 to July 2015.The project have focused on the company profile, its goals and objectives.

The report also contains thorough analysis of the customer reviews which have been gathered from regular field survey and telephonic interviews in Kolkata region. The Sample size that has been taken is 500 and above which gives more accuracy to the researches that have been made. All the samples are from geographical locations of Kolkata, West Bengal.

Moreover, the report also gives a brief idea about the company marketing strategies and various branding and promotion techniques. It shows the expected growth rate of the Jakson Ltd. in the market. The 4P’s and SWOT analysis of the company is also shown in the report. This report is beneficial for market research of Jakson Ltd., Kolkata.

Internship Diaries #17

Sanjo Jose
L&T Constructions, Buildings & Factories IC

I did my summer internship at the most respected construction company of India, “Larsen & Toubro Constructions” from May 8th to July 27th. During my internship, I traveled across the country to different L&T sites in major cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Patna, Bihar.

It was a life filled with moments of happiness, sadness, enthusiasm, learning, passion and a lot more. I worked under the guidance and mentorship of Mr. T.K. Prem Kumar, DGM- Training and Development at L&T Constructions, Buildings & Factories Independent Company. He is a faculty and facilitator, specialized in OD Intervention, who travels across the country to various sites of L&T Construction and conducts Training programs on behavioral aspects for the L&T staff at their sites.

The OD Intervention at different sites were conducted in 4 main steps:

1. Conducting Training Need Analysis, where we understand the major issues faced by the site staff.

2. Developing the Training Module based on the issues faced by the staff.

3. Executing the Training Module or Conducting the Training Program at the site.

4. Follow up and Action Plan of the employees based on the inputs they obtained from the training program.

This structured approach is adopted in L&T Constructions to conduct OD Intervention in their sites. We did OD Intervention at 10 sites of L&T over the 3 months duration. Some other events which we conducted in this duration were the GET Induction Program in the first week of July for the newly joined 243 GET’s (Graduate Engineering Trainee) of L&T Constructions, B&F Independent Company. Also, we conducted a 2-day session on Negotiation Skills to selected staff of various sites in Chennai at HQ.

This was my first experience of corporate life, which gave me many leanings, both technically and behaviorally. I got an in-depth knowledge about different psychometric tools, especially FIRO-B (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation – Behavior) and how to apply them in various life situations. FIRO-B helps an individual to understand self and others so that it becomes easy for a person to modify their behavior as per the demand of the situation. Also, we developed tools like, Wheel of Life, Values & Ethics, Team Building based on Life Cycle of Groups, Push, Pull and Move away, and Negotiation Skills which helped me to understand various behavioral tools and their application in human life.

This internship developed my soft skills, especially for Taking up Initiatives, Improving my IP Skills, Communication and Public speaking and above all has been a super motivation to my Confidence to face any life situations. I’m glad that I could work at a world-class organization like L&T, and take home a basket full of lessons for life, which will become a powerful incentive to guide my future.

Internship Diaries #16

Shaveta Banda

Webenza India Private Limited

Summer internship provides us an opportunity to get the gist of how is it like to work in a particular domain of the industry. Having tremendous inclination towards digital marketing, I consider myself lucky on getting an opportunity to work with a digital marketing agency, as part of my summer internship. I wanted to have an understanding of different roles under the umbrella of digital marketing. An opportunity to work with Webenza India Limited was what was needed to placate my straying mind.

I was selected as digital marketing intern, Webenza gave me an opportunity to work on various accounts for all the departments. I started off with social media marketing, learnt various aspects on major social media platforms. I contributed in terms of planning social media campaigns for various renowned brands and also gave my best shot in execution of those campaigns. I also learnt about external seeding and how is it an important element of online marketing to spread the word across various channels.

I also got a chance to develop content for various clients. It helped me in understanding the notion of creative and content and the necessary resonance between the two. I was also involved in Keyword Research and Influencer's Research, as Influencer outreach’s importance is increasing with emergence of Influence Marketing.

While working on online research and social media quotient I learnt how to compare one brand with respect to other competitors and how to assess the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. The most interesting part was to track social media background trails left by individuals and brands. After analyzing I used to prepare a SMQ analysis report by summarizing online behavioral traits of brands/individuals. To reduce business disruption by preventing damage to the brand, the companies are opting for social profiling reports these days. I got an opportunity to prepare social profiling reports for various clients.

Client pitching is a crucial aspect of any business. As part of my internship, I also learnt about business development as how to convince client to invest in digital marketing and the approach one should follow while preparing a digital marketing strategy for a brand. I also got wind of how to understand client’s requirement and come up with appropriate suggestions.

Webenza also works in the domain of web development so I  also got an opportunity to work in the domain of Quality Assurance, to ensure the deliverables were of superior quality and fulfilled the client’s requirement. My work was to ensure no gap between the client's requirements and the final deliverables.

Altogether, it was really enriching experience as I got to work on various verticals like social media marketing, content development, quality assurance, business development and web analytics. All I was expecting from my internship was to get a clear picture of what working in a digital marketing agency is like and Webenza stood true to its promise.

Apart from all the learning, I would also like to mention about its fabulous culture. Interns are treated at par with permanent employees. It’s not just about work, we used to have a Cricket, Badminton and Football day every week. My time at Webenza was full of fun-filled trips and celebrations. I made lifelong friends and worked with the coolest CEO ever. It is definitely an experience to cherish for a lifetime. 

Internship Diaries #15

V. Karthik Reddy

McCann Erickson India

  

I was once told Summer internship is meant to identify what one want to and not want to pursue as job responsibilities in future as one kick starts his/her professional career. Keeping that in mind I embarked my journey as Marketing and Brand Strategy Intern at McCann Erickson India in the month of May 2015. From our campus three students (including me) got selected for McCann. We were put under the Strategic arm of MRM Worldwide, McCann WorldGroup . This department is meant to create brand strategies and digital media solutions for its clients. The office environment was energetic and designed to let the creative juices flow around.  We had flexible working hours but at times it would stretch quite late as well.

The best part of my internship at McCann was working on different projects every week. It kind of helped kill the monotonicity of a corporate job. Fortunately, we were directly involved in the live assignments at MRM Worldwide, McCann WorldGroup. It also meant that we didn’t have the luxury to work at our own pace but to meet the deadlines given by McCann’s clients. The first deadline that we got on our first day itself was of 4 hours. It helped us adjust to the demands of the job at hand and within a week we got used to the work pressure. Another enriching experience working at McCann was that most of the clients of MRM Worldwide, McCann WorldGroup are big brand such as Airtel, American Express, General Motors, Lufthansa, IFFCO etc., which meant we were involved in making real time business strategies for such huge brands.

Following were few of the assignments we were involved during our stay at McCann.

1) Consumer insights & market research for CRM program of Chevrolet

2) Strategy formulation and business insights for Lufthansa

3) Strategic Planning for Digital Media Platform for American Express

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my mentors whose encouragement, guidance and support enabled me to perform my job to the best of my abilities. The innumerable knowledge sessions about the Industry and MRM Worldwide, McCann WorldGroup in particular was enriching. The constant feedback and daily interactions ensured our stay at McCann fruitful.

In the end, my advice to juniors is look for opportunities where the job profile is enriching and mentor-ship is supportive.

Internship Diaries #14

Jiviteshpreet Singh Bawa

Trident Group

Trident Group is a USD 1 Billion Indian Business Conglomerate headquartered in Ludhiana (Punjab). The group operates in five major business segments: Yarn, Terry Towels, Paper, Chemical and Captive Power. Incorporated in 1990, the company continues to grow under the dynamic leadership of Chairman Mr. Rajinder Gupta: a first generation entrepreneur.

Internship experience at Trident was really exceptional. I got the opportunity to work with different people having experience in Sales, Marketing and Analytics. I was one of the 3 Research Interns that Trident hired from PAN India through their web portal. My Internship project was to identify strategies to increase market share of Trident Copier paper in Delhi NCR region. Working on Copier paper project gave me exposure to FMCG sector & Channel Sales via Distributor Retailer network. It was a great learning curve for me interning at Trident Group.

Internship Project learning's:

•  Market sizing strategies & Sales data analysis to identify market share of Trident Copier Paper. 
• Sales Trend analysis to evaluate Market Potential of different locations & dealers of Delhi NCR.  Product Portfolio analysis, Competitor pricing & Packaging strategies. 
• Need-based & Behavioral Segmentation, Porter 5 Forces to evaluate segment attractiveness.
• Product & Brand positioning based on Consumer & Dealer research.

I am glad that I got to work on Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) system. TPM is a system of maintaining and improving the integrity of production and quality systems through processes that add value to the organization. I was involved in Quality competitive analysis vis-à-vis R&D parameters. Detailed analysis on TPM process for identifying bottlenecks in increasing market share of Trident Copier included the following:

•  Fish Bone diagram analysis
•  Why Why analysis
•  Pareto analysis (80/20 rule)

Such in depth analysis helped me find insights about Copier paper market. Detailed analysis helped me define strategies for Sales, Distribution, Marketing, Branding and Packaging. I worked on Ansoff matrix to define strategies for Market Penetration, Product Development, Market Development and Diversification.

My project of identifying strategy to increase market share was appreciated by CMO – Mr. Naveet Jindal & my mentor Mr. Srikanth Markonda. They were pleased with the research and analysis done by me on the given subject. The strategies for increasing market share was categorized into the following:

• Share of Preference
• Share of Voice
• Share of Distribution.

Admissions Reloaded

Here's a video on the hard work and dedication put by Admissions committee of Students for the smooth transition of GD PI process.

And one more video on the awesome Life at DoMS, IIT Roorkee..

FAQ Admissions 2014

General Queries-

1. What is the degree offered by DoMS IITR?
The degree being offered is "Masters in Business Administration".

2. Do we have to choose a specialization in second year or is it a general MBA?
Department offers dual specialization in any of the two functional areas: Marketing, Finance, Operations, Human resource management and Information technology. Students have to opt for any two specializations during second year.

3. What is the Fee Structure for academic year 2014-2015?
Program fee (Tuition fee) for the regular candidates is Approx Rs. 1.15 L  per semester including Mess and Hostel fee. Apart from this candidates have to pay for security, mess charges, hostel and other institute charges. SC/ST candidates are exempted from paying tuition fee. The above fees are subject to change and the exact amount payable by the students shall be communicated at the time of admission.

4. Difference in the Fee structure between the General Candidates and OBC candidates?
There is no difference in fee structure for General and OBC candidates.

5. What is the total intake for 2014-2016?
Total intake for MBA program is 95. Reservations applicable as per Government of India rules.

6. Specialization Offered at DoMS IIT Roorkee?
Department offers specialization in any of the two functional areas: Marketing, Finance, Operations, Human resource management and Information technology.

7. Student-Faculty ratio at DoMS IIT Roorkee?
There are 9 "Core faculty”, 3 “Joint faculty” and 3 “Institute faculty” for 160 students which works out to a faculty ratio of 1:11. If one includes the visiting faculty, the ratio will be better.

8. Does the college help in getting loan for fees?
All the documents required for loan will be provided to students who apply, by the institute. Students can avail the scholars’ loan at 10.25%, floating (0.5% less for girls) interest from SBI at the campus itself.

9. When does the academic year start?
The academic year will start approximately in the 3rd week of July

10. What are the selection criteria for getting a GD/PI call?
Short listing of candidates for GD/PI is done on the basis of performance in CAT 2013. Candidates have to appear for CAT (Common Admission Test) conducted by IIMs

Winter Internship - a Memoir

Winter Internship @ TAJ FALAKNUMA PALACE 

                                                                          - by Priyadarshi Mayank (MBA 1st year)

Hospitality industry is an industry which has its own working style and is very unique in its own. This winter I got a tremendous opportunity to work for TAJ Falaknuma Palace, a hotel of Taj Hotels and Resorts group which comes under IHCL(Indian Hotel Companies Limited).  Falaknuma Palace is located in the culturally rich southern Indian city of Hyderabad. The Palace was built in 1893, and it is spread over 32 acres. It took NawabVikar-ul-Umra, the then Prime Minister of Hyderabad princely kingdom, nine years to build the Palace. It was later bought over by the ruler of the Hyderabad state, H.H. TheNizam VI, Nawab Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Bahadur, who was recognized as the world richest man in 1930’s. 

Taj Falaknuma Palace being a heritage hotel situated in outskirt of city has less scope for business unlike other business hotels which exists in heart of the city. Hence in order to increase the business of the hotel I worked on a project headed by Mr. Girish Sehgal (General Manager of Taj Falaknuma Palace). The hotel is very costly as its room rates varies between Rs.32,000 to 1,50,000 per night and most of the guests are foreign nationals or tourists. So in order to increase the business we worked on the concept of Destination Marketing Management. 

Hippocratic Oath for managers

The oath taken by doctors to fulfil their duty in any condition towards another life and humanity defines a framework that shapes their orientation towards society. We are living today in a very brittle state of economy and for that matter politics. Each and every day, managers who run the big corporations have to take decisions beneficial for their organizations. And in these times, the moral conduct expected by them may sometimes be put aside for the “higher good”, as they say. The point here is whether they should be forced to take Hippocratic Oath to instil in them a sense of morality towards others!

 

 

Hippocratic Oath as Wikipedia puts it is “one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. It requires a new physician to swear upon a number of healing gods that he will uphold a number of professional ethical standards.” Generally taken by medical professional during convocation, this oath helps them to remember their duty towards society. In modern times, it has since changed a lot but the crux remains the same.

VIPANAN – The Marketing Summit

     Can Big Data truly replace Creative Marketing?

Big data is already a buzzword in the field of Marketing. Marketers are getting increasingly interested and involved in capturing and analyzing Big Data for a variety of reasons. For a management student, it is of vital importance to understand about this new concept. DoMS, IIT Roorkee found such an opportunity to discuss the topic and learn from the industry leaders. The event was marketing summit, Vipanan which was organized on 15-Sep-2013 at Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee in association with ISTD Dehradun chapter. The event was sponsored by brands such as Namo Alloy & Indian Oil and conducted by MarkIIT, the marketing club of DoMS, IIT Roorkee. There was an aura of excitement in the department and students were enthusiastic about the same.

The event saw participation of some of the industry stalwarts. A total of four eminent personalities joined the occasion and shared their experience with the students. Their brief profiles are mentioned below.

Mr. D. Bhattacharyya – Sr. Executive Director (HR), IFFCO
Mr. Shushobhan Chowdhury – VP and Head of Digital Strategy India, JWT
Mr. Raghu Iyer - Head Marketing (Vaccine Business), Panacea Biotech Ltd.
Mr. Divyang Gupta – Account Manager, IBM

Reminiscence 2013

Alumni meet is always an emotional subject for students, be it current students or passed out ones. The passed out students are eager to go back and feel the life where it all started and on the other hand, current students have a chance to meet the seniors and learn from them. We, at DoMS, had such an experience on 20^th Sep 2013. The occasion was Reminiscence where three batches (first year, second year and recently passed out) of the department came together. It was one of the most awaited events for the students. The passed out students came to collect their degrees and were looking for reunion whereas second year students were having an opportunity to meet their seniors again and revisit the good times. Even first year students were enthusiastic about meeting their seniors. 

The event was organized by Alumni committee of DoMS, IIT Roorkee. It started with a welcome speech and then our Head of the Department Dr. Santosh Rangnekar addressed the students. The event was also graced by Dr. M. K. Barua who appreciated the efforts of the students.

After the addresses it was time for some thrilling performances. A series of high voltage and enthralling performances were given by the first year batch. Meanwhile the alumni were entertained by various fun games. 

My first month experience of IIT Roorkee MBA

My Dear DoMSIITes,

Being an engineer, it gave me an immense excitement to pursue my journey from the gates of IIT Roorkee. Like a lot of other engineers in the country, I felt an urge, to go beyond my profession as a software developer and look forward to being a techno- manager. And here I was, with eyes full of dreams of becoming someone big…

I disembarked the train at Roorkee station and tried to inhale the city which was going to be my 'partner in crime' for the next 2 years. But the first look rooted me to the ground. And my first and only scepticism occurred that it was going to be hard living in a small town after living almost half my life in the city. But the journey towards the Indian institute of technology made it a lot easier. The famous Ganga Canal spanned nicely in the way provided freshness that no words can describe. After completing registration process in the campus, it was time to begin my hostel life. Someone has rightly said, “The best years of your life are spent in your hostel.” Since I had already lived in the hostel in my undergraduate years, it was no stranger to me.

Operation's Summit: Avyudaya 2013

In the contemporary world, the buzzwords are PPP, supply chain, investors, shareholders, customer, rural supply chain etc. To highlight these issues and to bring lucid perspective on these important issues, Operazione (Operations Club of DoMS, IIT Roorkee) organized AVYUDAYA-2013 in association with an ISTD Dehradun Chapter on 15/03/2013. The event was graced by the presence of eminent speaker like 

• Mr. Mangu Singh , Managing Director – Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)

• Mr. Shammi Dua, Head - Logistics and customer service – Akzo Nobel India Ltd

• Mr. Keerthi Prasad, Head - Program Management Office Business Transformation, CSC

• Mr. P. K. Garg, Indian Railway Service of Engineer

The summit was sponsored by IFB, global leader in home appliances and Valuence training and Research Pvt. Ltd., a knowledge services provider company.

We were also fortunate to have Prof. S. P. Gupta, Deputy Director of IIT Roorkee, with us. The event started with the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries and a welcome note by Dr. Santosh Rangnekar, Head of the Department. Dr. Rangnekar emphasized the need to develop oneself in entirety. He talked about the multitude of clubs which department has and the various summits which they have conducted.

Guest Lecture: Jauss Polymers’ Revival Strategy

Speaker: Mr. Pramod Pant, VP- Marketing, Jauss Polymers
12th Sep, 2011.

Introduction to Jauss Polymers:
Realizing the potential of a food grade and recyclable polymer as versatile as PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), Jauss Polymers Limited successfully ventured in the field of manufacturing of all types of PET bottles, containers, jars etc using advanced Injection Stretch Blow Molding(ISBM) technology. It is one of the oldest PET Bottle and Jar Manufacturers in India. Jauss Polymers was established in 1989 with its first plant in Kurali (Dist. Ropar) 25 Km from Chandigarh. .The Second Plant was commissioned at Surajpur, Greater Noida In 1992. Presently all operations are undertaken at its Plant in Malpur, Baddi, Himanchal Pradesh.

Summary of the guest lecture:
Mr. Pant began by giving us a brief overview of the polyester packaging industry. This industry began as a substitute product for the glass industry in 1965. Production in India started in 1984. Pearl Polymers were the first entrants in India. He also talked about the primary and secondary packaging industry. Primary packaging is the material that first holds the product and envelops it. Primary packaging includes items such as jars, PET bottles, strips etc. Secondary packaging is outside the primary packing meant for grouping the primary packages together. Examples include paper and boards, cartons etc. Carbonated soft drinks constitute 70% of the total PET market with packaged water behind it

He then gave an overview of the production and consumption capabilities at different point of times in India. In 1991-92, the total consumption was 2000 tons, raw material was imported and there were heavy margins. The focus during this period was on developing new end users for the industry. In 1993-94, Reliance setup a plant having a capacity of 2L tons, when the consumption was 5000 tons. Until 1995, the industry was in the development phase and FMCG companies used PET jars as a promotional tool. Today, the consumption is around 3L tons and it is an industry having very thin margins. The industry employs about 3L people in India.

Need for Revival:
Jauss Polymers initially concentrated on developing the market for PET bottles in India. It spent a lot of money on promotion and development rather than on sales. Market awareness improved but sales were still to the same buyers. As a result, around 1995, the debt on the company was three times the revenues of the company and its survival was at stake. The main aim was to repay the debt first and then go for expansion.

Revival of the company:
Jauss Polymers started concentrating on generating revenues. For doing this, they shifted their focus from all of their customers to the few profitable ones. By 2000, they had a settled revenue model; however there was still a huge debt left. Finally they adopted a one customer, one supplier model and became the exclusive suppliers for Wrigley’s. This meant they had only one customer which was a big business risk for the company. But, they managed to exploit the model to their advantage and the company became debt free in 2010. He, however, stressed that this was a dangerous strategy to follow. Jauss achieved success by being proactive and maintaining a successful buyer supplier relationship.

Opportunities and Threats:
Mr. Pant then discussed the threats and opportunities for the industry. He said that there were many manufacturers in the industry and margins are very low and industry has had to go downward price revisions many times. Also, it is not commercially feasible to supply PET bottles beyond 250 km as transportation costs are huge. It is like transporting air. Transporters charge by volume of shelf space used and this is the primary drawback. Also, technological innovations such as reducing the weight of the bottle have a major impact on profits. Recycling is another big issue for the industry. Coming to the opportunities, he emphasized on the fact that there are many industries where there is significant growth potential. These include industries such as liquor, pharmaceuticals etc who are yet to adopt PET packaging in a big way.

He concluded by saying that Jauss Polymers is looking to expand its business by extending its customer base and by entering into related businesses such as making caps for the jars.