Fleetguard Filters Pvt Ltd

A: We have been on an exciting journey for about six years to make the transition from forecast-based push to a pull system. The paradigm changes were significant in production to move away from batch production to variety-based production, which was assumed to lead to inefficiencies but we have actually generated excess capacity by not producing what is not immediately required. The changes in sales were even more fundamental – we had to move away from a system where we used to push material to distributors at month end, to now a system where goods are invoiced daily as per consumption. This called for changes in the way we measured sales. Sales teams do not have a primary sales target – they have targets for generating real demand in the market and increasing range and reach of our products.

A: We overhauled all our trade schemes, which were based on meeting short-term targets. Such schemes created an artificial wave of peaks and troughs because of demand advancement and did not help anyone in the chain. We have now stopped all such schemes and shifted the budget to long-term loyalty programs with our key customers and influencers – the mechanics in our case.