Tuesday, July 22, 2014
How to Achieve Effective Supply Chain Management?
This article demonstrates an
effective supply chain management strategy.Effective supply chain management
strategy helps businesses to lower their product/service costs. This enables them to offer their products & services at highly competitive
prices to customers.
We have taken the example of
Walmart.
It’s regarded as world’s largest &perhaps most powerful retailer. Walmart
credits all its achievement in terms of highest sales/square foot, highest
inventory turnover & highest operating profit than any other discount
retailer to its effective supply chain management. It owes its evolution from a regional
retailer to a global powerhouse to its effective management of supply chain.
This clears one thing that effective
management of supply chain is crucial for businesses to reduce their costs and stay
ahead of competition.
Further
you can learn the strategies Walmart employed to achieve world-class supply
chain-
#Provide
customers with goods they want
Walmart began with the goal
to provide customers with the goods they wanted. Walmart believes that good
must reach customers at the right time & at the right place.
#Developing
cost structures
In order to achieve the
above caveat of providing customers with goods they want,Walmart focused on
developing its cost structures. This allowed Walmart to offer products at low
prices everyday!
Walmart achieved this by
effective replenishment of its inventories. This wasthe centerpiece of
Walmart’s strategy to achieve effective supply chain management.Walmart used a
logistics technique called as “cross docking”. Cross dockingallowed
Walmart to re-route its products from suppliers to the Walmart’s warehouses. From
the warehouses, the products where then shipped to various stores. This
prevented sitting of products for long periods in inventory. This
strategy decreased Walmart’s costs significantly. As a result, Walmart was able
to pass on those savings for their customers’ benefitsby offering products at highly
competitive prices.
Further, Walmart focused on
developing an enhanced supply chain management strategy to further exploit
&leverageits competitive advantage.
Elements
of Supply Chain Management (SCM)-
- The main elements of a supply chain include purchasing, operations, distribution &integration.
- The supply chain begins with purchasing. Purchasing managers or buyers are typically responsible to determine which products their company will sell. This is followed by sourcing product suppliers & vendors. Further, the purchasing managersprocure products from the selected vendors at prices &terms which meet profitability goals.
In order to achieve
effective supply chain management, the supply chain operations of a business
must focus on accurate demand planning, forecasting & inventory management.
Forecasts help a business to
estimate demands of customers for a certain product during certain period of
time. This is calculated based on historical data &external drivers like upcoming
sales & promotions. Also the changes in trends & competition affect demand
planning. This practice of employing accurate demand planning will help to create
accurate forecasts. This is critical for effective inventory management
which is at the crux of effective supply chain management.
Walmart’s Strategy
of Managing its Supply Chain
Walmart enjoys market
leadership position primarily because of its efficient integration of suppliers,
manufacturing, warehousing &distribution to stores.
#Walmart’s
supply chain strategy employs 5 key components which are-
- Vendor partnerships
- Cross docking
- Distribution management
- Technology
- Integration
Walmart’s supply chain starts
with strategic sourcing to search for products at best prices from suppliers. Also
Walmart ensures that the suppliers will be able to meet any demand. It establishes
strategic partnerships between most vendors. Walmart offers selected vendors,
the potential for long-term & high volume purchases. And in exchange Walmart
gets bulk-purchases at lowest possible prices!
The suppliers then are
responsible to ship the products to Walmart’s distribution centers. Here, the
products are cross docked & delivered to the Walmart stores.
Hence, Walmart uses cross
docking, effective & collaborative distribution management &efficient transportation
management to keep inventory & transportation costs down. This reduces the
transportation time & eliminates inefficiencies.
Another major feature of
Walmart’s effective supply chain management is Walmart’s possession of largest IT
infrastructure than any private company around the world!
Walmart regards technology to
play a key role in it effective supply chain management. Walmart’s
state-of-the-art technology & network design enables accurate forecasting
& demand planning. Also it enables Walmart to monitor &predict
inventory levels &create efficient transportation routes. This helps
Walmart to manage long-term customer relationships & provide immediate service
response logistics to customers!
Monday, July 14, 2014
Union Budget 2014-15: A Budget Which Can Transform India's Tax Regime & Business Environment
The Union Budget presented
by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley contains certain logical steps to transform
India’s tax regime to make it more favorable from investment and business per
se. Also it contains the required steps required to create conducive
environment to boost India’s business and economy manifold.
The business community has
expressed the introduction of a national goods and services tax as a keyconcern.
Adi Godrej, the chairman of consumer-goods company Godrej Group said, “A
streamlined tax system will help the business and commerce of India to save great
money, time and effort needed to pay different taxes in each of India’s 28
states.It’s by far the most important reform we all need”
Experts comment that if
implemented, the GST could boost economic growth by 1 to 2 percentage points
Let’s take a glimpse at the
necessary steps listed in the Union Budget 2014-15 which have been lauded by business
and commerce fraternity.
Importance
of proper tax regime is the need of the hour
Stability in tax regime is
crucial for development of India’s business, trade and commerce industry as
well as citizens of India. The proposed tax amendments can revive investor
sentiments and attract huge FDI investments generating massive employment. However,
again there must be determination and right intent to the fulfillment of all the
objectives listed in the budget.
Investors, especially the
foreign investors have expressed great dismay for the unstable tax regime of
India. This has been always the main reason for drying enthusiasm towards investments
and growth of business communities in India.
The
problem of retrospective tax legislation-
The Government’s right to undertake
certain retrospective legislations have impacted India’s economy and overall
investment climate in a negative manner. There were certain retrospective amendments
made to the Income Tax Act 1961 undertaken through the Finance Act 2012. This witnessed
a few cases in various courts &other legal forums, for example the Vodafone
Case in which the Company is liable to pay huge tax as per retrospective tax
laws. Such retrospective tax regime punctures investor sentiments who get discouraged
to invest in India.
The Solution-
In order to overcome this, the
budget upholds tax measures to provide a stable and predictable taxation regime
that would be investor friendly and spur growth. The Finance Minister said that
a High Level Committee will be constituted by the CBDT (Central Board of Direct
Tax). This committee will scrutinize all the fresh cases arising out of retrospective
amendments of 2012 before any action is taken in such cases. This will convey about
a stable tax regime to the investor community both within India and abroad and create
a business friendly environment. It will instill confidence in investors thus driving
India’s growth. Also,the foreign companies can obtain “advance ruling” which
can resolve the huge tax liabilities of companies. Tax demand of more than 4
lakh crores is under dispute and litigation before various Courts and Appellate
authorities. This is one of the serious concerns of all taxpayers in this
country. With such a move where foreign companies can obtain “advance ruling” will
drive more foreign direct investments (FDI) in India. This will ultimately lead
to more employment and improve the standard of living of India thus benefiting
everyone.
Further
are additional noteworthy measures in this year’s Union Budget which will have
a positive impact on India’s business, trade and commerce-
Digital
India
This pan India programme named
“Digital India” would ensure Broad band connectivity at village level. It will enable
improved access to services through IT enabled platforms and greater
transparency in Government processes. This will increase indigenous production
of IT hardware and software for exports. Also and greater transparency in
Government processeswill make the business community and common people feel
more secured. Also if reached to its full potential, it can make every citizen of
India literate and knowledgeable and improve standard of lives.
There’s also special focus to
be given to support software product startups with measures to conduct training
programs for people to acquire IT skills. This has the potential to make India
as the leading IT hub and generate employment for millions.
A move that can propel India’s
industry growth-
The eBiz platform aims to
create a business and investor friendlyecosystem in India. It plans to do so by
making all business and investment related clearances and compliances available
on a 24x7 single portal. It also has the facility of an integrated payment gateway.
All Central Government
Departments and Ministries will integrate their services with the eBiz platform
on priority by 31 December this year.
A move that can propel
India's trade
Exports cannot be
exponentially increased unless the states play a veryactive role in export
promotion. This needs provision of good infrastructure and full facilitation. The
plan to establish an Export Promotion Mission which will bring all stakeholders
under one umbrella is a good move. It will facilitate greater levels of trade
and resolve trade disputesfaster thus propelling India’s trade to a new level.
Skill India
Last but not the least, a
national multi-skill programme called “Skill India” is proposed to be launched.
It would instill the required entrepreneurial skills in India’s youth.
IAM has been helping corporate
personnel acquire business and entrepreneurial skills for over a decade. Several
executives have greatly benefited from IAM’s seminars.The list of companies
that have sent their executives for training with us includes industry leaders
and corporate giants as also consulting firms. Please visit website to know
more about our upcoming seminars and a fuller list of client companies.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Railway Budget 2014- Presenting an Optimistic Roadmap for India’s Commerce, Industries and Trade
Does
the Railway budget present an optimistic road-map for India’s commerce,
industries and trade?
Yes.
The move of the railway
ministry to raise the railway ticket fares by 14.9% was not welcomed by the
citizens of India. Citizens still express discontentment regarding ministry’s method
of financing the railway budgets by taking money from common man’s pocket alone
for the mismanagement of the previous Government.
However, industry experts comment
that the Railway Budget 2014 is the most practical budget till now. Vineet
Agarwal, MD of Transport Corporation of India says, “This railway budget presents
an optimistic roadmap for all the logistics players. The plan to initiate high
speed trains will fulfill the long pending demand for well-timed delivery of
goods as well as services. We hope that the continuous push to electrification,
gauge conversion and new lines will make the railways and the logistics sector
more efficient.”
The logistics is the
backbone of a country’s trade, commerce and industries to flourish. With moves towards
refurbishing the logistics of India, it presents a picture of highly modernized
India with flourishing trade and commerce over a period of time.
FDI in the Railway sector and
Public
Private Partnership route (PPP) for future infrastructure projects will
have an optimistic impact and create the foundation for new lines with advanced
and enhanced capacities along with attracting huge investments to fund the 367 pending
infrastructure projects worth lakhs of crores. This will help to achieve better
Road
Vs rail ratio. This will act as a catalyst for smooth freight movement
thereby reducing huge logistics costs. This will prove to be a great step for the
success of India’s industry, logistics, distribution and commodity players.
Below I have summarized the
key factors mentioned in this year’s Railway Budget which will take India’s
industry, trade and commerce to a new level benefiting everyone. The following
moves if implemented with determination and executed to the fullest will transform
India to be one of the largest trade hubs generating employment to millions of
Indian citizens.
They are-
- · Connecting Ports & speeding up current delayed projects is surely a welcoming announcement. This will eliminate bottlenecks from the logistics sector. This will help the Railways to keep in pace easily with logistics requirements of various small, medium and large industries of India thus uplifting India’s industry, trade and commerce to new levels.
- · Another welcoming move is to eliminate the wastage of fruits and vegetables due to current inadequate distribution and logistics measures. This is one of the main reasons for the price hike in these goods due to the goods getting wasted or spoilt or not able to reach the designated places on time due to improper supply chain. If the fruits and vegetables are transported via AC storage facilities then it will surely transform India’s food supply chain. This move will create positive impact on the availability, costs and quality of the transported goods.
Another good feature which shows
a good intent is the move of skill development of staff members. It
will make the staff more skilled and develop useful knowledge. This is very
important considering that technology is one of the main focus areas to modernize
the railways. In order to leverage the power of technology optimally there is a
need for skilled workers. The railway minister has expressed plans to tie up
with advanced technical institutions and introduce railway oriented subjects
for graduation & skill development of all the staff members. The ground
level staff will be sent for certain short duration courses relating to technical
and non-technical nature. The exposure for expert & specialized areas like
high-speed and heavy haul operations will be undertaken for all staff levels
& officers at appropriate and deemed institutes of India & abroad.
All these moves are very
inspiring. Also Railway minister’s aim of transforming India into the largest
and most efficient Railways and biggest freight carriers present a picture of
modernized India. However, this must be backed up with a clear roadmap with the
determination to execute all these measures time successfully. The moves must
be monitored with time-bound milestones as only then will we all people will
witness an India of flourishing trade, commerce and industry generating
employment for all and transforming India as a trade and commerce hub.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
How To Make Effective Power-Point Presentations?
This article is about key
points to remember while creating power-point presentations to make them more effective
and engaging. You’ll become aware of the key things to remember while delivering
power-point presentations to make an indelible impact on the audience and speak
easily while you show the slides with ease.
Let’s start with points to
remember in terms of the creating effective power-point presentations.
Consider
the following points while designing your Power Point Presentation-
#Decide
the main theme of your presentation
Deciding the main theme of
your presentation is the 1stimportant step towards making effective
power-point presentations. This main theme will be the focus of your slides and
your speech delivering the relevant knowledge about the same to your audience. It
will be your main take-away message or the information you want the audience to remember.
This identifiable theme will keep your slides in sync conveying the information
through your slides and speech. In this way the audience will know till the end
of your presentation that what the focus of your presentation is. For example, if
your presentation relates to business then it should convey the product’s or the
service’s unique offerings (USP).
#Create
slides containing relevant information as per the decided theme
Create your slides and boil
the information down. Spread the information (text)across your slides in an
equal manner (content density). This will make your slides look presentable and
clear. Create a proper structure. You can plan out the structure on a
paper first and then inculcate the structure in your slides.All this will
prevent your presentation from becoming too long and sound "rambling"
to the audience.
For example, structure for an
academic or business presentation must follow these 3 steps-
- · Introducing your key point
- · Supporting the key point with relevant evidence
- · A short conclusion
Guy Kawasaki has
been the chief evangelist for Google’s Motorola division and Apple and is a
notable business personality and marketing guru. He has suggested for the
following important points to remember and follow to create effectivepower-point
presentations for business presentations-
- · The Problem
- · Your solution
- · Business model
- · Underlying magic/technology
- · Marketing and sales
- · Competition
- · Team
- · Projections and milestones
- · Status and timeline
- · Summary and call to action
#Streamline
your slide’s text
Your PowerPoint slides must actually
enhance the quality of your presentation. It should not just simply exist
alongside. You should not present while reading from the slides. This distracts
the audience and they will feel that you’re not confident enough and don’t know
the matter well. Your PowerPoint presentation slides should contain minimum text.
Having to read longtexts will divert your audience’s attention from what you
really want to convey. Hence, streamline the text in a structured manner like in
the form of bullets.
#Utilize
informative graphics.
Graphics are one of the
great ways to create really engaging slides. Graphics like charts, graphs and images
creates appealing visual connection with your audience. Therefore, your
audience clearly understandsyour presentation when you show them the relevant
facts about the central theme using graphics. Also visuals have the potential
to lure audience more and preventing them to lose interest. They help to provide
information which is difficult to express in words by using graphics like charts
& graphs.
However, remember that don’t
over use graphics and make it a reason for your audience’s distraction.
#Practice
Only practice will help you to
deliver your presentation to make an indelible impact on your audience.Practice
helps you to time your speeches with the slides in an efficient manner thus
communicating with your audience in an effective way.
#Don’t
extend your presentations unnecessarily
Creating long boring
presentations stuffed with text and irrelevant graphics just resembling flowery
images are a strict no-no. They not only fail to keep the audience engaged but the
speaker also may get lost in the array of text and graphics of his slides. This
can cause the speaker to lose confidence when he/she sees the audience losing
interest and forget his main theme of the presentation. Hence, stay focused on
your decided theme and what you want to convey to the audience. Put relevant information
in a structured format with relevant graphics. This should be followed by your confident
speech conveying what the audiences really want. Remember that in the end it’s
not just the engaging slides you create but also the ability to deliver in the
form of your speech that will win the audience’s attention!
If you want to see all this live then attend IAM’s seminar on How to Create & Make Effective Power-Point Presentations. Over 2000 executives have greatly benefited from this seminar. You can browse through our website to see a list of all our seminars and a partial list of our clients.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Techniques Of Cost Reduction For Effective Cost ManagementIn Business
One of the crucial aspects
of efficient business functioning and to prevent the business from high expenditures
is effective
cost management.Effective cost management helps the business to cut
down costs and therefore maximize profits. Effective cost
management can be undertaken with the help of several tools and techniques of cost
reduction.
This article provides profound
knowledge on the various proven tools and techniques of cost reduction. Reading
this article, various entrepreneurs and business professionals will be able to expand
their thoughtson some basic factors, essential for effective cost management.
The
essential techniques of cost reduction for effective cost management are as
follows-
#System
of JIT or Just-In-Time
JIT system’s major focus is
to createonly required items at required quantity and quality. Just-in-time system
favors producing required standardized goods at the required precise time. The
basis of JIT is to reduce the burden of huge carrying costs linked with the holding
of high inventory levels. Investment in inventories forms a large share of
firm’s expenditure costs. Hence, JIT purchasing system diminishes investment in
inventories due to frequent ordering of small quantities.
#Target
Pricing
Target pricing refers to the
product’s design and processes utilized to create the product. Target pricing aims
to manufacture a good at a profitable cost. It enables the firm to gain profit
by selling the good at anestimated market-driven cost. This estimated selling price
is known as target price.
#ABM
or Activity Based Management
Activity based management (ABM)
focuses on using activity based costing for improving operations. ABM identifies
and eliminates non-value added costs.
Life
Cycle Pricing
The Life cycle pricing system
estimates the costs of a product over its entire life cycle. It also records
all the costs incurred during the product’s manufacturing phase. In this way it
determines whether the earned profits during product manufacturing phase will be
able to cover incurred costs before and after the manufacturing stage.
Kaizen
Technique
Kaizen technique aims to reduce
cost during a product’s manufacturing phase. It’s a Japanese word and focus on regular
improvement using small but effective activities. This is in contrast to large
or radical improvements via innovation and large investment technologies which require
huge capital and if not successful leads to huge losses. Kaizen technique is especially
helpful for SMEs and small businesses with limited capital.
Six
Sigma
Six Sigma is known to be
today's by-word for businesses for efficient management and cost reduction. It
includes a set of techniques for process improvement and effective cost
management. Motorola in 1996 developed Six sigma principle. It formed Jack
Welch's core business strategy for process at General Electric. Today, it is
used in many businesses to achieve effective cost management. It also helps to
achieve other important objectives like reduction in process cycle time, reduction
in pollution, reduction of costs, higher customer satisfaction and increased
profits.
The focus of Six Sigma is to
improve quality of process outputs. It achieves this by identifying and then removing
the defect causes or errorsfrom the roots. This reduces and gradually eradicates
variability of manufacturing as well as business processes thereby reducing immense
costs and maximizing profits!
There are various other cost-reduction techniques you can use to maximize cost effectiveness and increase profits of your company. Indian Academy of Management(IAM) is organizing a seminar on “Effective Cost Management & Cost Reduction Techniques” This will give you more profound ideas from expert professionals in terms of successfully proven cost management techniques to grow your business manifold!More than 1, 00,000 executives have benefitted from our training seminars since 2002.Book your seats now!
Inventory Control & Management
What
is inventory?
Inventory is a stock of
goods in any form such as raw materials, maintenance, repairs and overhauling
items, work-in-progress and finished goods for sale.
What
is Inventory Control/Management?
Inventory control /management
is a science which deals with determining the right quantities ofthe stocked
goods. Materials may be required at diverse locations across various locations
of a supply chain/ network.
Why
there’s a need of efficient inventory control/ management?
Inventory control/management
isimportant to precede the planned and regular course of production aswell as stock
of materials for efficient management of inventories at minimal cost.This
increases functioning of business thus leading to optimal allocation of resources
in the right direction, minimization of costs and maximization of profits.
What
is the scope of inventory management?
Inventory management’s scope
coversefficient management of various factors like-
- · Replenishment lead time
- · Inventory carrying costs
- · Asset management
- · Inventory forecasting
- · Inventory valuation
- · Inventory visibility
- · Future inventory price forecasting
- · Physical inventory verification
- · Available physical space for inventories
- · Quality management
- · Replenishment
- · Returns
- · Defective goods
- · Demand forecasting
The art of effective inventory
control management lies in balancing all the above competing requirements efficiently
to arrive at ideal inventory levels.It’s an on-going process as
the firm needs to shift and respond to the changes of wider environment.
What
is the objective of inventory control/ management?
Inventory control / management
involves achieving twin objectives of minimizing capital blockage and at the
same time ensure availability of materials as and when required. This is done by
creating the right culture and using effective inventory control techniques like
ABC / HML / SDE / GOLF / SOS / VED / XYZ / FSN Analysis.
All the above techniques are
crucial for a company to manage
inventories in the most efficient way. If you
want to learn these important inventory control techniques in detail, then feel
free to attend our expert seminar on Inventory Control Techniques which is
going to be held in Mumbai and Bangalore. Our professional speaker -a renowned expert
in this particular field will take you through an insightful tour of Modern
Storage and Inventory Practices for enhancing the functioning of your business and
profits manifold!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
