ERP Insights >> Magazine >> February - 2016 issue
IT, an Integral Part of the Business, Driven by the Business and Delivering Value for the Business
Author : Arup Choudhury, CIO, Eveready Industries India Limited
Friday, February 19, 2016
Incorporated in 1934 and later a part of the Williamson Magor Group in 1993, Eveready Industries India Ltd. is a provider of dry cell and rechargeable batteries, flashlights and lanterns, packet tea under the brand names 'Tez', 'Jaago', 'Premium Gold' and 'Classic', lamps and luminaries, mobile power banks, rechargeable fans and radio
After the emergence of Internet and social media, digital initiatives are a mandate for all businesses. Currently, one IT trend that is gaining fast traction in the IT space is SMAC. It is a synergy of four technologies, Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud, which allows businesses to obtain new insights about their customer's needs and behavior.
Another important trend that is to take over the IT landscape is the Internet of Things (IoT) that will revolutionize the way we interact today. Some other trends that are catching up in the market are the concepts of app based services. This has taken the services industry by storm. We will soon find hospitality and healthcare sector consuming these services.
Challenges to CIO
A major challenge for CIOs is to get the business involved while conceptualizing an idea. This is further abraded with the people in the company influencing "wisdom of the crowd", that is generally overcome by consistent persuasion. Once an idea had evolved, it is then put into perspective and IT is leveraged to automate processes around it. This gives us a genuine competitive advantage and IT plays a vital role right from conceptualization to execution of the idea.
Again, as a CIO, we always strive to set IT in perspective to achieve business goals for which we need to set up alternate channels of doing business and increase market shares. However, a major concern as CIO is the attrition levels. After spending time in training up the resources, they often leave creating a void that takes time to fill. Being a manufacturing company we rarely have the luxury of keeping bench strength.
We believe in innovation as a continuous process. We drive innovation through our internal blogs where anyone in the company can put in an idea. Generally it's done once a month. The day is called "The Idea Day". We do not restrict employees upon the ideas and subsequently shortlist the best idea and try to put it in practice. In this manner, Eveready Industries India Limited (EIIL) has invested in supply chain planning systems, demand forecasting systems, visual analytics, and mobility solutions to achieve speed and agility.
IT for Business Optimization
Understanding that technology should empower and drive business for sustained growth, we have moved from working with desperate legacy systems to completely integrated systems, accessible anywhere anytime. IT ensures that there is no disruption of service along with smooth functioning of the day to day business. IT is leveraged to decide on pricing & promotions, warranty claims, service requests, product placement and such. At EIIL, our integrated ERP system automates all process from procurement to sales that helps us plan our resources optimally, be it human or machine. The CRM application automates the entire after sales service process and is firmly integrated to the ERP system.
We are also focused firmly into making the company demand driven. For this, we have utilized IT in the best possible way. We have implemented basic transaction ERP system. Over and above it, we have e-Business system that connects the external stakeholders and supply chain systems to automate the entire supply chain. Apart from these, we have mobile field force automation systems for frontline sales, which empower our own sales force and the distributors. The analytical tools at the entry level enable us to perform various predictive and prescriptive analytics that is essential for an agile enterprise.
Do What the Business Wants
As a CIO, my message for my fellow IT fraternity would be to do what the business wants. At the same time you need to keep questioning the business requirements if you feel that it will not add value or create sustainable benefit. Don't be afraid to share your ideas if you genuinely believe that it makes business sense. Remember "IT is an integral part of the business, driven by the business and delivering value for the business" (As told to Arunakshree Das)
IT, an Integral Part of the Business, Driven by the Business and Delivering Value for the Business
Author : Arup Choudhury, CIO, Eveready Industries India Limited
Friday, February 19, 2016
Incorporated in 1934 and later a part of the Williamson Magor Group in 1993, Eveready Industries India Ltd. is a provider of dry cell and rechargeable batteries, flashlights and lanterns, packet tea under the brand names 'Tez', 'Jaago', 'Premium Gold' and 'Classic', lamps and luminaries, mobile power banks, rechargeable fans and radio
After the emergence of Internet and social media, digital initiatives are a mandate for all businesses. Currently, one IT trend that is gaining fast traction in the IT space is SMAC. It is a synergy of four technologies, Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud, which allows businesses to obtain new insights about their customer's needs and behavior.
Another important trend that is to take over the IT landscape is the Internet of Things (IoT) that will revolutionize the way we interact today. Some other trends that are catching up in the market are the concepts of app based services. This has taken the services industry by storm. We will soon find hospitality and healthcare sector consuming these services.
Challenges to CIO
A major challenge for CIOs is to get the business involved while conceptualizing an idea. This is further abraded with the people in the company influencing "wisdom of the crowd", that is generally overcome by consistent persuasion. Once an idea had evolved, it is then put into perspective and IT is leveraged to automate processes around it. This gives us a genuine competitive advantage and IT plays a vital role right from conceptualization to execution of the idea.
Again, as a CIO, we always strive to set IT in perspective to achieve business goals for which we need to set up alternate channels of doing business and increase market shares. However, a major concern as CIO is the attrition levels. After spending time in training up the resources, they often leave creating a void that takes time to fill. Being a manufacturing company we rarely have the luxury of keeping bench strength.
We believe in innovation as a continuous process. We drive innovation through our internal blogs where anyone in the company can put in an idea. Generally it's done once a month. The day is called "The Idea Day". We do not restrict employees upon the ideas and subsequently shortlist the best idea and try to put it in practice. In this manner, Eveready Industries India Limited (EIIL) has invested in supply chain planning systems, demand forecasting systems, visual analytics, and mobility solutions to achieve speed and agility.
IT for Business Optimization
Understanding that technology should empower and drive business for sustained growth, we have moved from working with desperate legacy systems to completely integrated systems, accessible anywhere anytime. IT ensures that there is no disruption of service along with smooth functioning of the day to day business. IT is leveraged to decide on pricing & promotions, warranty claims, service requests, product placement and such. At EIIL, our integrated ERP system automates all process from procurement to sales that helps us plan our resources optimally, be it human or machine. The CRM application automates the entire after sales service process and is firmly integrated to the ERP system.
We are also focused firmly into making the company demand driven. For this, we have utilized IT in the best possible way. We have implemented basic transaction ERP system. Over and above it, we have e-Business system that connects the external stakeholders and supply chain systems to automate the entire supply chain. Apart from these, we have mobile field force automation systems for frontline sales, which empower our own sales force and the distributors. The analytical tools at the entry level enable us to perform various predictive and prescriptive analytics that is essential for an agile enterprise.
Do What the Business Wants
As a CIO, my message for my fellow IT fraternity would be to do what the business wants. At the same time you need to keep questioning the business requirements if you feel that it will not add value or create sustainable benefit. Don't be afraid to share your ideas if you genuinely believe that it makes business sense. Remember "IT is an integral part of the business, driven by the business and delivering value for the business" (As told to Arunakshree Das)
After the emergence of Internet and social media, digital initiatives are a mandate for all businesses. Currently, one IT trend that is gaining fast traction in the IT space is SMAC. It is a synergy of four technologies, Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud, which allows businesses to obtain new insights about their customer's needs and behavior.
Another important trend that is to take over the IT landscape is the Internet of Things (IoT) that will revolutionize the way we interact today. Some other trends that are catching up in the market are the concepts of app based services. This has taken the services industry by storm. We will soon find hospitality and healthcare sector consuming these services.
Challenges to CIO
A major challenge for CIOs is to get the business involved while conceptualizing an idea. This is further abraded with the people in the company influencing "wisdom of the crowd", that is generally overcome by consistent persuasion. Once an idea had evolved, it is then put into perspective and IT is leveraged to automate processes around it. This gives us a genuine competitive advantage and IT plays a vital role right from conceptualization to execution of the idea.
Again, as a CIO, we always strive to set IT in perspective to achieve business goals for which we need to set up alternate channels of doing business and increase market shares. However, a major concern as CIO is the attrition levels. After spending time in training up the resources, they often leave creating a void that takes time to fill. Being a manufacturing company we rarely have the luxury of keeping bench strength.
We believe in innovation as a continuous process. We drive innovation through our internal blogs where anyone in the company can put in an idea. Generally it's done once a month. The day is called "The Idea Day". We do not restrict employees upon the ideas and subsequently shortlist the best idea and try to put it in practice. In this manner, Eveready Industries India Limited (EIIL) has invested in supply chain planning systems, demand forecasting systems, visual analytics, and mobility solutions to achieve speed and agility.
IT for Business Optimization
Understanding that technology should empower and drive business for sustained growth, we have moved from working with desperate legacy systems to completely integrated systems, accessible anywhere anytime. IT ensures that there is no disruption of service along with smooth functioning of the day to day business. IT is leveraged to decide on pricing & promotions, warranty claims, service requests, product placement and such. At EIIL, our integrated ERP system automates all process from procurement to sales that helps us plan our resources optimally, be it human or machine. The CRM application automates the entire after sales service process and is firmly integrated to the ERP system.
We are also focused firmly into making the company demand driven. For this, we have utilized IT in the best possible way. We have implemented basic transaction ERP system. Over and above it, we have e-Business system that connects the external stakeholders and supply chain systems to automate the entire supply chain. Apart from these, we have mobile field force automation systems for frontline sales, which empower our own sales force and the distributors. The analytical tools at the entry level enable us to perform various predictive and prescriptive analytics that is essential for an agile enterprise.
Do What the Business Wants
As a CIO, my message for my fellow IT fraternity would be to do what the business wants. At the same time you need to keep questioning the business requirements if you feel that it will not add value or create sustainable benefit. Don't be afraid to share your ideas if you genuinely believe that it makes business sense. Remember "IT is an integral part of the business, driven by the business and delivering value for the business" (As told to Arunakshree Das)
