Skipper Pipes Ltd.

Skipper Pipes Ltd. | Building loyalty in markets with low product differentiation

After adopting a replenishment model of distribution, this gen-set manufacturer ensured that the availability of spares at service points increased to 96% while overall inventory fell by 49%.

Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd (Spares And Services)

Vector’s unique solutions for auto OEMs and auto components manufacturers help them overcome constraints that hinder their organizational performance in new product development, manufacturing, distribution and sales.&nbsp;Over the years, Vector has worked with companies like Tata Motors – Commercial Vehicles (Spare Parts &amp; Services Division), Ashok Leyland, International Tractors Ltd. (Sonalika Tractors), Fleetguard Filters, JK Fenner (India) Ltd., TVS Motors and Royal Enfield to set new industry benchmarks in operational performance in different areas of business.

We offer consulting services to organizations engaged in manufacturing and distribution of automobiles or auto components. Our consulting methodology focuses on identifying the leverage point of an organization for intervention.

Auto OEMs & Auto Components Consulting Services

Auto OEMs, auto part manufacturers and auto aftermarket players constantly struggle with the auto industry's highly cyclical nature, i.e. an economic boom is generally accompanied by high sales, while sales usually suffer during economic downturns.

industries

Auto and Auto Components

Vector’s unique solutions for auto OEMs and auto components manufacturers help them overcome constraints that hinder their organizational performance in new product development, manufacturing, distribution and sales.&nbsp;&nbsp;Over the years, Vector has worked with companies like Tata Motors – Commercial Vehicles (Spare Parts &amp; Services Division), Ashok Leyland, International Tractors Ltd. (Sonalika Tractors), Fleetguard Filters, JK Fenner (India) Ltd., TVS Motors and Royal Enfield to set new industry benchmarks in operational performance in different areas of business.

KOEL adopted game-changing consumption-based operations, and they achieved 99% availability of engines at GOEMs and reduced the Order-to-Dispatch lead time of Gen-sets from 45 days to 7 days.

Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. (KOEL)

Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd (PGBU) | Rapid engine delivery – Four weeks to one week

BA Read More

Vector has developed bespoke solutions for equipment manufacturing or custom manufacturing companies to help them identify and address constraints in operations, sales, spares &amp; services, or new product development that limit consistent sales and profit growth.&nbsp;Working with companies like Laxmi Machine Works (LMW), Godrej Material Handling, RPG Raychem, Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. Bajaj Electricals (Luminaries Division), amongst many others, Vector has helped clients bring about excellence in equipment delivery, turbo-charge their sales &amp; business development efforts and set new benchmarks in after-sales services.&nbsp;

An equipment manufacturing or custom manufacturing company’s ability to grow its sales and profits consistently is limited by constraints in the following areas like Operations, Sales, Spares and Services and New Product Development:

Consulting Services for Equipment Manufacturing Companies

Analyses of top custom manufacturing companies, including manufacturers of capital goods and custom manufacturers of machinery and equipment, which design a product and make to order, show that only a handful have realized healthy sales, profits & ROI in the last decade.

BA industries

Equipment Manufacturing BA

Equipment Manufacturing

After a company-wide implementation of TOC, the company enjoyed a CAGR of 25% in the last ten years

Fleetguard Filters Pvt. Ltd.

Fleetguard Filters Pvt. Ltd. | Revamping operations

After a company-wide implementation of the pull based replenishment model, the company enjoyed a CAGR of 25% over 10 years.

Filtrum's tooling development lead times reduced by 25%, and on-time delivery improved to 90%.

Filtrum Tools

Tractor availability at 99%, inventory down by 25%, and production doubled with the implementation of 'pull'-based systems in operations.

International Tractors Ltd.

International Tractors | Improved productivity & reduced manufacturing lead time

International Tractors Ltd

JK Fenner transformed its operations by providing higher availability (>90%) of its products as well as faster and more reliable delivery (98%).

JK Fenner (India) Ltd

JK Fenner (India) Ltd. | Operational Excellence using 'Pull' Manufacturing

The company embraced a distribution revolution: Same-day order fill rate zoomed from 50% to 80%, and inventory reduced by 25%.

Lucas Indian Service Ltd.

Parag Foods implemented the 'Pull' distribution solution and achieved: 56% increase in average sales per day and a 200% jump in outlets billed.

Parag Milk Foods Ltd.

Vector’s Consumer Goods &amp; Retail consulting practice offers expertise to consumer-packaged goods (CPG) companies involved in the distribution and retail of their products. These strategies help expand market range and reach, create market pull through influencers, and enhance overall supply chain and distribution efficiencies.&nbsp;With path-breaking solutions in Sales &amp; Distribution, New Product Development, Inventory Planning, and CRM programs, Vector has delivered significant business results for companies such as Bajaj Electricals (Consumer Products), VIP Industries Ltd., Godrej Interio, Polycab, Pidilite, Godrej Security Solutions, and many more.

Organizations producing, distributing, and making products available at retail points can be consumer goods companies or consumer packaged goods companies (CPG). Such companies could develop a constraint in areas like Internal Operations and Distribution, External Distribution, Sales Bandwidth, Retail Operations and New Product Development.

Consumer Goods & Retail Consulting Services

Much as they may wish otherwise, most Indian consumer good companies find that they have no consistent “Reach” into almost 65% of the country’s population (especially in rural, rur-ban areas) since they believe that this spread out population would be ‘cost inefficient’ to service.

Industries

Consumer Goods & Retail

JK Files and Tools experienced a 30% increase in output from existing capacity in 6 months with the High-Velocity Custom Manufacturing solution.

JK Files and Tools

JK Files and Tools experienced a 30% increase in output from existing capacity in 6 months with the high velocity custom manufacturing solution.

The company put in place robust mechanisms to effectively manage its portfolio and its product mix in stores

Landmark

Using the Solution for Retail, Liberty Retail increased sales by 30% and reduced store inventory cover by 50%.

Liberty Retail Revolution Ltd.

Using the solution for retail, Liberty Retail increased sales by 30% and reduced store inventory cover by 50%.

Using High-Velocity Custom Manufacturing, this integrated textile company saw its OTIF increase to 90%, and profits go up by 55%

Pratibha Syntex Ltd

Pratibha Syntex Ltd | Transforming Textile & Garment Manufacturing Using TOC | Vector Consulting Group

Textile manufacturers, garment manufacturing firms or fashion garment retailers could develop a constraint in Operations, Sales, Retail operations or Sampling. Vector’s Textile &amp; Garments consulting practice offers unique solutions to help these organizations to overcome these constraints in in Operations, Sales, or Sampling management. The firm has collaborated with Blackberrys, Westside Retail, Arvind Fashions, and Raymond’s, among others, to enhance their On-Time-In-Full (OTIF) performance, ensure high availability at the retail store level, and reduce overall inventory and working capital deployed in the business. Some of these clients have set new industry benchmarks.

Companies in this domain are export houses which undertake garment manufacturing for large retailers as per fabric or garment designs given to them. They could also be fashion retailers who design, source and sell garments under their own brands in addition to selling other garment company brands. These two types of companies (textile manufacturers or fashion garment retailers) can develop a constraint in Operations, Sales, Retail operations or in Sampling.

Textile and Garments

Traditionally, India’s textile businesses enjoyed lower labor costs and significant government support (capital subsidy, duty drawbacks etc.) However, things have changed in recent years, and the industry is now losing its edge to countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam! Find out how Indian companies can regain their superiority in the global markets

Textile & Garments

This textile company built a Decisive Competitive Edge with existing resources, they achieved: OTIF at 95%, production lead time down by 25% among other wins.

Raymond Luxury Cottons Ltd.

A leading global producer revolutionized their operations in just 8 months! Results: Month-end spikes eliminated, and on-time delivery up from 30% to 95%!

A major vertically integrated linen exporter

This leading electrical cable and wire company achieved remarkable speed in project execution by seamlessly aligning purchase/material delivery to site requirements: 66% faster PO completion, and delivery lead times slashed by 57%.

KEI Industries Ltd

Vector’s Engineering &amp; Construction consulting practice, offers tailored solutions for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies, enabling them to identify and address constraints in project execution and operations that may hinder their sales growth and profitability.&nbsp;By implementing a unique Flow Management approach in its consulting assignments for construction projects, Vector has enabled clients such as Skipper Ltd., Bajaj Electricals (Engineering &amp; Projects Division), Godrej (Electricals &amp; Electronics Division), Tata BlueScope Steel Ltd., and KEI Industries Ltd. to complete projects ahead of schedule while increasing the number of projects executed within the company's allocated operating expenses.

An Engineering and Construction (EPC) company’s ability to grow and sustain sales and profits is limited by constraints in Project Management and Sales.

Consulting Services for Engineering and Construction Businesses

The growth of project organizations dealing with turnkey projects involving engineering, procurement and site construction has slowed down despite healthy demand because they operate in a highly uncertain environment (ROW issues, bureaucratic hurdles, etc.) Find out how companies can not only manage but also flourish in spite of these challenges.

Engineering & Construction

Defying the elements in a rain-ravaged location, using our Rapid Project Execution solution, the company fast-tracked the setting up of a new manufacturing plant in just 8 months against the industry norm of 12-14 months!

Fleetguard Filters

Defying the elements in a rain-ravaged location, using our rapid project execution solution, the company fast-tracked the setting up of a new manufacturing plant in just 8 months against the industry norm of 12-14 months!

Liberty's remarkable transformation with 'Pull' Manufacturing and Distribution! >97% availability at the central warehouse, probably the best in the business.

Liberty Shoes Ltd.

Liberty's remarkable transformation with 'pull' manufacturing and distribution! >97% availability at the central warehouse, probably the best in the business.

Using Rapid Project Execution solution, the company built a 30,000-spindle plant in just 9 months, smashing the 12-month industry benchmark.

Trident Group

Some results achieved by this office furniture major include:  OTIF jumped to 90%, lead times reduced by 30%, and a 30% jump in sales.

Godrej Interio - Office Furnitures

Jindal Stainless Ltd's strategic shift to 'Pull' manufacturing resulted in a 33% reduction in standard product lead times and a jump to >90% on-time delivery.

Jindal Stainless Ltd.

After streamlining operations, sales jumped by 50%, 100% on-time delivery was achieved, and inventory was down by 50%.

Filtrum Polymers Pvt. Ltd.

VIP achieved >90% stock availability at branches and a 20% boost in same-store growth.

VIP Industries Ltd.

VIP Industries Ltd. | De-stressing supply chain and sales with TOC | Vector Consulting Group

This electrical equipment company achieved these stunning results after the implementation of 'pull' solutions: 150% improvement in OTIF, >100% improvement in profits and ROCE.

Raychem RPG

This men's fashion retail company adopted an innovative Rapid Supply Chain model. Result: Daily availability of inventory at stores is now at 80%, and sales are up by 40%.

Blackberrys

Blackberrys | An innovative approach to apparel supply chain

MSP's steel plants achieved an incredible 98-99% OTIF and reduced dealer delivery times to just 48 hours, among other wins

MSP Steel

MSP Steel | Differentiating steel a commodity product using "pull" distribution

Using the Rapid R&D Solution, LMW improved the contribution of new products to sales by 3X.

LMW Machine Tool Division (MTD) - New Product Development

Breakthrough for a leading global generic drug manufacturer: 72% drop in Invalid Out-of-Specification (OOS) results, a 68% drop in analyst errors, and a 45% drop in lab incidents. How did we achieve this?

Lupin Ltd.

Lupin Ltd. - Building a world class lab

Vector’s pharmaceutical consulting practice offers solutions for organizations involved in pharmaceutical research &amp; development (R&amp;D), production, export, and distribution of medicines helping them address ongoing challenges or constraints in operations, R&amp;D, distribution, or the management of QC labs.&nbsp;Vector’s innovative solutions have helped Ajanta Pharma, Lupin, and Strides resolve their lab quality issues, reduce R&amp;D lead time and improve delivery performance while enhancing the productivity of resources.

Organisations working in the area of life sciences, especially those dealing with research, development, production, export or distribution of pharmaceutical drugs and formulations, can have an ongoing challenge or a constraint in Operations, Research & Development or in Distribution to International Warehouses.

Life Sciences

While the pharmaceutical industry faces many unique challenges, the fairly healthy gross margins this industry enjoys have made it possible for businesses to thrive during good times and remain viable even through tough times. However, with unprecedented and increasing competition, business complexity, velocity and volatility of markets, companies are now struggling with stressed supply chains, profit erosion, and continuously lowering returns.

Improve laboratory management with our' flow'- focused solution, human error can be reduced, lab capacity wastage eliminated, and quality practices reset to a much higher level of rigour.&nbsp;

BAHASA Read More

Solution ensures dramatic reduction in lab incidents and frequency of occurrences of OOS/invalid OOS.

Industry Solutions

Lab Management Solution for Quality Excellence

Discover how Vector Consulting Group's Lab Management framework enhances operational efficiency and reduces errors in Indian pharmaceutical labs.

Improving quality lab operations in pharma | Podcast by Vector Consulting Group

Bahasa Read More

Ajanta Pharma deployed a new dynamic pull-based scheduling approach in operations and supply chain and managed to release 15%-20% capacity and improve OTIF performance for their US warehouses to 99%.

Bahasa Ajanta Pharma Ltd.

Ajanta Pharma Ltd. | Agile pharma operations

Ajanta Pharma Ltd.

It is a leading supplier of critical process equipment and systems to the global chemical and pharmaceutical industries

GMM Pfaudler Ltd.

ENPRO Industries enhanced their operations significantly after implementing Flow Management principles, boosting sales by 47% and achieving stable output, faster execution, and improved resource synchronisation.

ENPRO Industries

ENPRO Industries, a market leader in the design and manufacture of mechanical fluid systems and process equipment, faced significant challenges in their custom-engineered multi-project environment:  -Long and variable lead times -Resource & material synchronisation issues -Frequent rework and delays -Limited system visibility  So, how did ENPRO turn things around and achieve remarkable improvements in sales growth, output stabilisation, and inventory management?  Curious to know? Discover how ENPRO unlocked impressive results!

Revitalising the growth engine. Enpro– a leading Engineer-to-order (ETO) company

Revitalising the growth engine. Enpro - a leading Engineer-to-order (ETO) company

Protect ETO company’s profitability by increasing team productivity, reducing delivery lead time and improving delivery reliability.&nbsp;

Solution helps resolve the conflict of often having to delay some orders while making some other orders before the customer requires it.

Accelerating Engineered to Order Projects

Vector Consulting Group delivers precision engineering-to-order solutions for projects ensuring efficiency and alignment with specific business needs.

Custom Engineering-to-Order Solutions | Vector Consulting Group

JK Tyre supply chain boosted availability by 30%, OTIF to 90%, cut inventory days by 8%, and lowered detention costs by 21%, driving efficiency and growth.

JK Tyre & Industries Ltd.

Transforming consumption based supply chain for growth at JK Tyre

Use 'pull' based inventory optimisation to achieve near-perfect order fulfillment of products with demand forecasting and lean manufacturing to improve supply chain efficiency.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Solution helps resolve the dilemma of having to face poor availability in spite of having excess inventory at the plants and at points of sale.

Pull Based Supply Chain and Distribution

Enhance supply chain with Vector Consulting Group's innovative strategies optimizing distribution networks to drive business growth.

Supply Chain & Distribution Excellence | Vector Consulting Group

Mallcom India Ltd., a ₹450 Cr Personal Protective Equipment manufacturer, improves operational performance across garment, shoe, and glove sectors with Vector, boosting efficiency, sales, and customer satisfaction in domestic and export markets.

Mallcom India Ltd.

Breaking the bottleneck: Mallcom's shift to predictable, scalable operations

A leading manufacturing company optimised blast furnace shutdowns, reducing project timelines by 36%, enhancing resource productivity, minimising downtime, and achieving cost savings through improved project flow and management.

Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd.

Accelerating shutdown projects with Flow Principles​

INEL, a ₹750 Crs. company, is a leading supplier of electrical and electronic sub systems for the Auto 2W industry, streamlined its operations with a global priority system, overcoming delays and increasing new product development by 35%, maintaining a market leadership in the auto industry

India Nippon Electricals Ltd.

Aditya Auto transformed supply chain operations, cut inventory days by 57%, improved cash flow, achieved 100% on-time delivery, and boosted productivity by up to 40%—without additional capital investment.

Aditya Auto - Operations

Transforming Operations: Excellence in delivery and working capital management

Skipper Pipes is a division of Skipper Ltd., and &nbsp;part of the SK Bansal Group. This polymer business, launched in 2009, manufactures plumbing fixtures (UPVC, CPVC and SWR pipes and fittings) and agricultural solutions (rigid pipes and fittings). This industry has many players, both from the organised and unorganised sector. Another feature of the pipes business is that the products of Skipper and its competition are poorly differentiated, and sales offtake depends more on the channel (the distributors, the retailers) and influencers (plumbers and contractors). Therefore, as in the case of most other commodity-like companies, Skipper competed on price/margin to aggressively push sales to the company’s distributors and wholesalers to gain volumes. Unfortunately, despite increasing inventory levels in the supply chain, they experienced shrinking margins, poor availability, and stagnating sales.&nbsp;&nbsp;Since most in the industry followed the same or similar operating models, Skipper realised that as a late entrant in the business, following the footsteps of the entrenched competition could not get them ahead. However, if they could emerge from this paradigm and significantly improve availability in the market, they could establish a decisive competitive edge for themselves. So, Skipper Pipes, by abandoning traditional volume-based schemes, adopting consumption-based inventory movement, and implementing an innovative retailer/plumber loyalty program, now enjoys lower working capital investment in operations, higher availability of products in the market and increased sales.&nbsp;These are some of the significant results of adopting this new direction:<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:739/642;" src="https://web-assets.vectorconsulting.in/storage/editor_uploads//image-1720246623_1776937571.png" width="739" height="642"></figure>

Skipper Pipes is a division of Skipper Ltd., and &nbsp;part of the SK Bansal Group. This polymer business, launched in 2009, manufactures plumbing fixtures (UPVC, CPVC and SWR pipes and fittings) and agricultural solutions (rigid pipes and fittings). This industry has many players, both from the organised and unorganised sector. Another feature of the pipes business is that the products of Skipper and its competition are poorly differentiated, and sales offtake depends more on the channel (the distributors, the retailers) and influencers (plumbers and contractors). Therefore, as in the case of most other commodity-like companies, Skipper competed on price/margin to aggressively push sales to the company’s distributors and wholesalers to gain volumes. Unfortunately, despite increasing inventory levels in the supply chain, they experienced shrinking margins, poor availability, and stagnating sales.&nbsp;&nbsp;Since most in the industry followed the same or similar operating models, Skipper realised that as a late entrant in the business, following the footsteps of the entrenched competition could not get them ahead. However, if they could emerge from this paradigm and significantly improve availability in the market, they could establish a decisive competitive edge for themselves. So, Skipper Pipes, by abandoning traditional volume-based schemes, adopting consumption-based inventory movement, and implementing an innovative retailer/plumber loyalty program, now enjoys lower working capital investment in operations, higher availability of products in the market and increased sales.&nbsp;These are some of the significant results of adopting this new direction:<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:739/642;" src="https://web-assets.vectorconsulting.in/storage/editor_uploads//image-1720246623_1776937559.png" width="739" height="642"></figure>

Like most industries, the Indian building material industry has both organized and unorganized brands across the various products in the building material space. ‘Pipes’, which also has a lot of organized as well as unorganized players, has one particular feature – that is, low customer involvement. As a product category, pipe sales have traditionally been more influenced by the distribution and retail channels. It is sort of a commoditized product. Consumers are not really interested in going and purchasing pipes on their own. It is more dependent on the plumber or the contractor and the retailer. This has led the industry to becoming a little price sensitive, especially when the channel is the one deciding what brand sells, and what products they will buy from which company. As a result of the consequent price pressure, companies can gain only low margins. Apart from this, over the last couple of years what we have seen more prominently is the fluctuating raw material prices, which has really disrupted the industry in its working.

India's building materials industry is mostly commoditized. What were the challenges you faced because of this?

It was a constant battle between the head office and the plant teams because the plants were really high on their inventory levels, and, there was pressure from the head office to reduce inventory and to reduce dead stock. This high inventory was really not necessarily their mistake. So, there would be a little bit of blame game going on that. “No, you know, we did not produce this just by our own decision, it was more from the sales team”, but then the sales team said, “yeah, we felt that this would sell, but then it did not”. Then, it reached a stage where there was a lot of inventory that had not moved for a year or two, or even more. At the distributors’ end, again, it was the same story. A lot of push sales was involved that led to inventories building up at their level. There was a constant battle between the distributor and the company to pay on time; which they could not, as they had not sold that inventory. And, because both the company and the distributor channels were clogged, the retailer would not get what he wanted, and therefore, he would inevitably just go to another company to buy those products. So, these were some of the supply chain challenges.

Fluctuating raw material prices and low margin business can create havoc in managing supply chains. Can you elaborate?

The most important aspect of the solution was that we transitioned from a ‘push’ to a ‘pull’ mechanism. The first step in that journey was to understand why our current push system was harmful for us. We realized that a push system can never result in sales continuity. It was never going to create a business that was going to be ever-flourishing for years to come. Do you know that every deal that was struck between the company and the distributor had elements of price negotiation, schemes, etc.? Because that was how you were able to sell; because, you are pretty much just sitting across the table and deciding – can you please buy this much, and we will give you this much extra? On the other hand, from the retailers’ perspective, they were juggling with their limited space and their limited capital. And because of that, they were unable to buy some of the things that they actually needed, which they wanted to sell. So, you know, a pull-based mechanism takes away that decision from the distributor. It moves him from what he wants to buy, to what he needs to buy. We could tell the distributors – “we understand what the trends are in your market, and we have the data to support that understanding.” And that data helped us to dispatch only the required materials to the distributors. That helped the system to really smoothen itself out so well that we were able to relieve all of that pressure, and provide the retailers with the correct SKUs, what they needed and the quantity that would keep them satisfied, so that they do not need to turn to another brand.

How did you streamline the supply chain and operations?

We have tried all of the different kinds of trades schemes that you can think of – Diwali Bonanzas, gold schemes, foreign tour schemes – all of that. However, the one feature that was common between all of them was that they were all for a stipulated time period. It used to be, say, traditionally a month long or three months long, maximum. And, these schemes were introduced typically during the lean periods, and you feel happy that you have done your best to achieve the best possible sales.

But what used to happen with this was that, we used to just give them the schemes. The distributors would have to work with that and they would buy as per their capability. It was not that they could just magically buy a lot more, but they would take a little bit of extra, which would result in stock dumping, which would result in them not purchasing in the next quarter. A lot of the smaller players would be dissatisfied with these schemes as these schemes are typically ladder schemes. So, the larger distributors are the ones that can actually go on that really nice trip or get that really nice vehicle or whatever. And the smaller guys would just not even try for it because they know that they are not going to be able to do it.

What happened to all your trade schemes, which usually support a push approach?

The competition typically works in this market with quarterly schemes or monthly schemes. They are mostly target linked. And you know, that obviously results in distributors or retailers buying a lot more than what they can consume, or what they can sell. The Loyalty Program, on the other hand, is on the other extreme, where no one is pressurized to buy. There is no time limit that you have got to buy in. So that obviously helps retailers to work at their own pace. Now, the flip side to this is that the competition does come out with very lucrative schemes, typically, in quarter four and during low seasons. Where our sales team does come back to us and say that we are unable to sell in a particular market because XYZ brand has come out with a scheme where they are giving an absurd amount of benefits to the retailer. That is something that cannot be helped. I mean, we are not in it to just sell for that particular period.

Retailers who are getting associated with us under the loyalty programme or who are seeing the benefit in the loyalty programme will know that if you buy every week, and if you keep increasing your range, you can potentially earn a larger percentage. So, our loyalty programme is not fixed because there are multiple additional multipliers. There are bonuses that are given, and it depends on a retailer how engaged he gets. So, there is a little bit of gamification to it. Typical retailers would see that – “If I really want to earn a lot more, I can make use of these multipliers, and then I can earn pretty much more than any other competition scheme.”

How could you manage to discontinue trade schemes especially when your competition has aggressive schemes for the channel partners?

The way we engage with our retailers is something that was non-existent in the past, you know. Because traditionally, we have always been a company to a distributor model. Of course, our salespeople were there in the market. They were working with our distributors to go and meet their set of retailers. But that set was very small at that stage because typically it was more of a wholesale model. So, they would just be going and meeting, say about 20, 30, 40 odd retailers in a particular geography, whereas that number has now grown to 300 or 400 retailers in that region. The way we interact with them has definitely changed. Earlier it was more of just stepping in and deal striking at that level as well. Whereas, now it is a little more informed. Our people are aware of what the retailer trends have been, what they are, what the retailers’ health is in terms of how loyal a retailer is he to our brand or not. So that decides the narrative that the sales team is going to go with while pitching to the retailer. Plus, from our sales team point of view, they have got a lot more tools in their bag to really pitch to a retailer.

How did the way you engage with retailers in your business change?

We recently launched our plumber loyalty programme, which we call ‘Skipper Sathi’. We are still in the implementation phase with a lot of our markets. The plumber is someone who is very important in our sales channel. He is the influencer of our sales. Because, as I mentioned earlier, piping, we believe, is a low consumer involvement product. It is considerably dependent on the channel as well as the influencers. It was because of these factors that we we decided to launch this programme. Apart from the benefits that the plumbers definitely get out of this, the company also gets a lot more visibility regarding the visibility on plumber purchase trends. It helps us link directly with the plumber. It helps us continuously interact with them, wish them on their birthdays, help them feel connected to the company directly. Traditionally, they would just be connected to a company’s distributor. Very rarely do plumbers get directly linked with the company.

Retailer engagement is usually not sufficient. What other initiatives did you take to promote your brand?

First from the plant point of view, working capital has really been freed up. We have seen our working capital cycles improve to an extent that we have reduced the investment by almost half. In terms of availability of material at the plant, we are constantly at between 98 to 99 percent. Secondly, distributors are mostly maintaining stocks that are movable stocks. Moreover, in some of the areas that we have implemented this new way of working, we have observed that the distributors have their return on investment shooting up to more than 40% to 50%. Finally, the company’s retail reach has at least gone up by at least three times. But this is a constant journey. We think that there would be nothing less than two, two and a half lakh retailers across India. And yeah, we’ve managed to touch base with at least 10% of them and going forward, you know, there is a wide playground for us to really play in.

What are the benefits realized so far?

Read about Vector Consulting Group's partnership with Skipper Pipes, ensuring product availability in the market and increasing sales.