Published 5 years ago on Jun 19, 2020
by Ramesh GunasekaranView: 763
What are we missing?
The above question is always running in many of our minds...
In the business context we may get clarity if our questions are rightly framed; like below:
Why do brands & retailers in India prefer imports from china & Bangladesh? What should the Indian industry do to become more competitive?
If we fairly review & assess the Indian retail industry vs them, we will agree that they have an advantage over us. Let us review the 5 P’s in detail now which will demonstrate this.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
As we indicated in the previous article Innovation is the Fuel which is driving today’s business. It could be newness in terms of fabric blends, enhancement of existing product, new fit, style, construction, workmanship etc., There should be an orbit shift from offering commodity to value added products to customers.
In simple words “creativity to increase, copy/paste to reduce”.
PROFITABILITY
Given the competitive environment, companies are forced to decide on order placement keeping the cost advantage in mind. They come across several challenges while placing an order locally, starting from no standard cost sheet, logic, volatility etc., In my experience, I have heard this several times from Indian vendors that "can I get this sourced from China & Bangladesh to meet your target price."
Need of the hour is “understanding your customer requirements in terms of cost, learning the art of getting the business breakthrough by quoting competitive pricing which creates a win- win”.
PRODUCTIVITY
Ability to produce large amount of goods in shorter periods is again a challenge when the number of SKU's are more. This is being dealt by them better than us with an increased productivity. We have some large players in India who can manage & produce the same, but at the same time we face a challenge related to cost & priorities. They usually expect & accept only the bigger orders with better price due to their overheads. Having a “scalable & sustainable solution” in line to your customer growth is the Key.
PERFORMANCE
Meeting the delivery time lines as per customer requirement is the next big challenge which is faced due to various reasons. What we need to understand is that a product which is not launched on time is business opportunity loss which can’t be compensated by any means. For example if you are selling our national flag – a month before Independence Day (15th August) & Republic Day (26th Jan) then only it can be sold, else we all know the result. Same way if you are serving uniform to any company then the order has to be serviced as per required numbers & sizes else how do they distribute it?
These things have been managed & serviced well by them compared to us. Hence having a discipline of servicing “On time In full ( OTIF)” shall take care of the business in to our kitty.
PEOPLE
The biggest challenge Indian industry faces at present is the labour availability. The other big issue is that everyone prefers a white-collar job & no one is willing to be part of the manufacturing industry which has good amount of sweat in it. Having a wrong team member in place for managing the business also creates disruption & affects the business. Such things have been dealt with ease in countries like Bangladesh & China which is the reason behind their success. In order to manage this, we should have great employee welfare approach, thereby “hiring & retaining a pool of trained people & having right person for the right job”.
Apart from the above stated 5 p’s we have many external factors like duty structure, government support, policies, lack of vertically integrated facilities, outsourced, no of intermediate people involved etc.,
“Acceptance is the first step towards success”, it requires a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions from vendors.
In my view when we have clarity on the challenges, working towards a solution is easier. Things which are within our control & limit, when we start working towards those, we will become more competitive. Let’s work towards improvising on the above 5 P’s to earn a better market share.
Tip of the Blog – let’s refresh some of the retail terminologies
SPSF- Sales Per Square Feet
ASP- Average Selling Price
DC- Distribution Centre
RTV- Return to Vendor
CSD- Customer Service Desk
SOP- Standard Operating Procedure
D&L- Distribution & Logistics
C&A- Commercial & Accounts
UIN- Unique Identification Number
ERP- Enterprise Source Planning
SAP- System Application and Products in data processing
RELATED TOPICS:#Sourcing,Textiles,Apparel,Fashion,Supply Chain,garment,domestic,Apparel Imports,Labour,Ramesh Gunasekaran
Ramesh Gunasekaran
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53 Comments
Gunish Chander JainJul 18, 2020 at 14:47 pm
Nice Article Ramesh. Actionable.
Prashanth HVJul 16, 2020 at 19:43 pm
Written to the point. The main reasons for import from China is the availability of ecosystem. The requirements for designer, Sourcing professional or the business gets fulfilled easily. The professionalism of Chinese is unbeatable. Indians need to learn a lot from Chinese and a long way to go.
Lakshmi kanthanJul 06, 2020 at 21:49 pm
Very informative and need this information for current situation.thanks for the initiative
SathishJul 06, 2020 at 12:22 pm
Great. Very informative article for vendors.
Ramesh.gJul 06, 2020 at 16:23 pm
thanks Sathish for your text.
Vijey Kumar CJul 06, 2020 at 09:42 am
Very informative. Pls keep going Ramesh. Kudos.. ???
Ramesh.gJul 06, 2020 at 11:08 am
thanks for your positive response vijey. appreciated.
Sathya PrakashJun 29, 2020 at 05:25 am
Article is posted on right time and most informative
Ramesh.gJun 29, 2020 at 11:59 am
Thank you sathya..
SuriyaJun 26, 2020 at 13:03 pm
Informative, Nice Thought.
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 14:56 pm
thank you suriya, for your valuable feedback
Suriyaganesh GopalJun 26, 2020 at 09:56 am
Thanks for for sharing such valuable insights which is required at current situation. Very informative sir
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 14:58 pm
happy to have your feedback suriya , thank you
Pulkit PuniyaniJun 24, 2020 at 10:30 am
Amazing insights with focus on factors for how to make India competitive...These insights will surely help the industry to concentrate on areas we lack....Look forward for more insights sir
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:00 pm
thanks pulkit, will touch base more on same line in subsequent articles.
Dr.Viswa RajasekaranJun 24, 2020 at 09:37 am
Dear Mr. Ramesh, Nice and Informative Article!
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:01 pm
thank you Dr. Viswa for your feedback
NagendraJun 23, 2020 at 21:10 pm
well said
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:02 pm
thank you nagendar...
SugumarJun 23, 2020 at 14:38 pm
Dear Mr.Ramesh, It is Indeed pleasure to see the Blog to help the industry.. well explained . Congratulation to you on the innovative step towards improvements.. thanks. Best regards , Sugumar Murugan Tex Fab.
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:05 pm
Thank you mr.sugumar, will work towards further improvements in future blog..
AshutoshJun 23, 2020 at 13:06 pm
Very well articulated insights. Thanks for sharing
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:06 pm
Thanks Ashutosh for your feedback. much appreciated.
SandeshJun 23, 2020 at 12:56 pm
Nice article Ramesh ji.
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:07 pm
thank you sandesh ji,
Rajeevan TPJun 23, 2020 at 12:45 pm
Hi Ramesh, Great insights into current supply chain issues. It could have been better if you could touch upon one major area, which is trust or trust deficit among players in supply chain. Which is a major reason dampening the growth
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:09 pm
Hi Rajeevan, thanks for your inputs, hope you have refereed Mr.Anindya articles regarding the trust & trust deficit. in future articles will further touch base on the same as well.
VijayJun 23, 2020 at 11:37 am
Really super ramesh ji.
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:10 pm
thank you vijay....
Lakshmi Kanth Ashok BabuJun 23, 2020 at 10:58 am
Hi Mr Ramesh. I applaud the publication of your wonderful article on blog. It's a good reminder to look on the humorous side of our daily challenges. Thank you for sharing with us. also we are looking for many more articles from you. thanks Lakshmi Kanth Ashok Babu
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:12 pm
hi Lakshmi kanth, yes, all our daily challenges turns humorous over the period of time. we will surely write more articles & share with you as well.
AnbazhaganJun 23, 2020 at 10:25 am
Hi Mr.Ramesh, This article really stimulate to the business people to the point of realizing why we are missed and missing , This will sure to improve to the level of NOT MISSING
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:14 pm
that was the main reason for sharing this article anbu..
MahendraJun 23, 2020 at 08:50 am
Very practical and insightful, thanks for sharing.
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:15 pm
hi Mahendra, aim was to share the views of practical experience. thanks for your feedback.
K. SankarJun 22, 2020 at 23:18 pm
Really Superb Ramesh. Excellent
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:16 pm
thank you sankar...
Ramesh PadmanabhanJun 22, 2020 at 22:36 pm
Fantastic , keep going.
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:17 pm
thank you Ramesh...
MariyappanJun 22, 2020 at 21:45 pm
Great analysis
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:18 pm
thank you Mariappan
Rakesh GurujukotaJun 22, 2020 at 21:30 pm
Good Analysis, Classic content.
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:19 pm
thank you rakesh, will work further improvements on content.
NandaJun 20, 2020 at 16:07 pm
Hi Good one... Keep writing to motivate younger generation to make our field Live!! Regards Nanda gopal
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:20 pm
sure nanda, thanks for your feedback..
Kotte JagadeshJun 20, 2020 at 16:04 pm
Well done Ramesh.... Nice article..
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:21 pm
thank you Kotte Jagadesh
K S KarunakaranJun 20, 2020 at 15:24 pm
Hi , Bro Excellent review on the garment industry statis . Keep writing .Good luck . KSK
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:22 pm
Thank you Karunakaran for the valuable feedback..
NithyanandhanJun 20, 2020 at 15:04 pm
Dear Ramesh, Nice to see your article, Really this what much needed to boost our make in India policy... Good pls keep on posting
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:23 pm
thanks for your feedback, will surely do further articles Nithi,
KanthasamyJun 20, 2020 at 14:57 pm
Very informative and productive one Ramesh G
Ramesh.gJun 27, 2020 at 15:24 pm
thank you Mr.Kanthasamy for your comments.