Mahatma Gandhi Mission’s

Institute of Management Studies & Research

At Junction NH – 4, Sion – Panvel Expressway, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai – 410 209

PROJECT REPORT
On

Marketing Research on Hospital Linen at Innovative Linen Company (p) ltd at Pune
Region

SUBMITTED TO
Prof. Nitin Svarnapathaki

BY
Sumeet Sachchanand Gurnani
Roll No.97
Batch No.2009-11

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
MASTER OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (MMS), UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

May-July 2010

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DECLARATION

I, Mr. Sumeet Gurnani hereby declare that this project report is the record of authentic work
carried out by me during the period from May 3rd ’2010 to July 2nd 2010 and has not been submitted to
any other University or Institute for the award of any degree / diploma etc.

Signature
Sumeet S. Gurnani.

Date:

2
CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Sumeet Sachchanand Gurnani of MGM’s Institute of Management
Studies & Research has successfully completed the project work titled Marketing research
for hospital linen at Innovative linen co (p) ltd in partial fulfillment of requirement for the
completion MMS as prescribed by the University of Mumbai.
This project report is the record of authentic work carried out by him during the period from
3rd May 2010 to 2nd July 2010.

He has worked under my guidance.

Signature:
Name
Project Guide (Internal)
Date: `

Counter signed by:

Name:
Signature:
Date:

3
CERTIFICATE FROM THE COMPANY/ORGANISATION

4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

Preparing a project alone is almost impossible and it is an all consuming task without the help
of several people it is impossible. So we extend our gratitude to all those who have helped us
in successful completion of this summer project.

First of all i want to thank Mr. Vishal Gurnani, Organisation Head, ILC Auranagabad, for
having supervised this master project, for the time he has spent with me and for the
confidence he placed in my work. I hope I have fully satisfied his expectations, since that has
clearly been our main goal throughout this project.

I am also grateful to Mr Jain, MD of Innovative Linen Co (p) LTD for providing us with this
opportunity to conduct this valuable research for his organization and providing relevant
information.

Similarly we would like to express our grateful thanks to Mr. Nitin Svarnapathaki, Professor
at MGM’s IMSR and my Project guide for giving his valuable time and required knowledge
and support during the project.

Last but not the least I would like to thank our respectable Director Mam Dr. Ritu
Bhattacharya for allowing us to conduct this summer project for MGM IMSR College and
providing us the ample time for the same.

Thanks a lot to all……

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 Table of Contents
Chapter No. Title Page No.
Declaration from student 2
Certificate from guide
3
Certificate from company 4
Acknowledgement 5
Executive Summary 7
Chapter Scheme
1 Introduction 9
1.1 Basis of the study 12
1.2 Objectives of the study 13
1.3 Background of the Study 14
1.4 Hospital and hotel linen industry in India 25
1.5 Company Profile 26
1.6 Product Detail 31
2 Research Methodology
2.1 Meaning of research 37
2.2 Formulation of a research problem 39
2.3 Research design 40
2.4 Primary data 42
2.5 Secondary data 42
2.6 Sample design 43
2.7 Sampling method 44
2.8 Method of data collection 45
2.9 Instrument for data collection 45
2.10 Field Work 46
2.11 Data- analysis techniques 47
3 Analysis of Data
3.1 Charts/graphs/tabels 49
3.2 Findings 61
3.3 Conclusions 61
3.4 Recommendations 63
3.5 Limitations 64
4 Annexure 65
5 Bibliography 68

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Present business scenario is totally consumer oriented. Every company faces stiff
competition from its competitors, each provides the best product at competitive rates. As a
result customers have lot of choices to get the best with the least cost. To face this
competition, it is very important to know customer’s behavior, their needs, preference and
also the motivation factors.

My Project was to carry “Marketing Survey” Dealing in the Hospital Linen product within
Pune to know the Motivational & Demotivational factors of the client so as to cater the needs
in most appropriate manner. It will help business to expand its network & also its services by
application of appropriate strategy and marketing mix.

I had done my project under the guidance of My Guide Mr. Vishal Gurnani (Branch Head)
Mr. Rakesh Pohani (Area incharge) whose guidance helped me in completing my Project
Work Successfully.
Innovative Linen Co (p) Limited (ICL) is the Manufacturer and supplier of Hospital Linen in
many regions of the country; it has got the Expertise of almost 15 years .ICL is slowly but
steadily gaining market share and goodwill in the Market. Its strategies for marketing its
Product as well as developing a good Relationship with its client has given an edge over the
other service providers. ILC is on expansion path and is looking forward to be the Market
leader. ILC is a very flexible organization and its gives equal opportunity to its young and
energetic staff to work so as to bring this organization among the top.
This project throws lights on the working frame of Linen indusrty. This industry is on the
spree to adopt the latest technology and thus any player has to be dynamic in this industry.
The comparative analysis done in this project shows what the strong and weak points of ILC
are.
The Project help you understand the strategies of this industry right from Manufacturing to
Marketing. I hope this project prove to be beneficial for the Company and also give the
reader a through idea about the industry. I learnt a lot throughout the process of undertaking
this project report.
This research is aimed at understanding market size for the Hospital linen company by
analyzing sales volume in each territory month wise and to find out the competitors sales
volume each territory wise.
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A comparison is done about, where the company’s brand is effective in market share and
where it is weak in different territories of Maharashtra.
Reasons of short sales and best 4p marketing plans are mentioned. For this secondary and
primary survey is conducted.
To fulfill my task I had to visit the client (Doctors and purchase officers) personally who look
after the linen at hospitals.
During this project I was also assign the sales target to know the real time response of the
customers and to understand the difficulties of selling the product in the pune. For the same I
first generated the database and fixed appointments with them gave them a real feel of our
products and demos about the usefulness of the product.
After going through the exercise I could realize that there is less awareness in pune and
company already had stiff completion from local linen vendors.
But No doubt it is having lots of scope to grow as pune is a very huge market and can be
tapped by organized and relation based marketing.

8
9
Carrying out the market research leads to availability of information to the firm on the basis
of which firm is in position to form the future strategies and can take the decisions of
launching product or modifying the existing product, decisions about promotions etc, since
the market research is part of marketing we should know what is marketing and some other
related concepts to it.
Marketing:
All the activities carried to know the consumer’s preferences, to create brand awareness, to
collect information for modification of product or service according to consumer need comes
under marketing.
Ultimate aim of marketing is to increase sales and profit.
Marketing strategy:

The field of marketing strategy encompasses the strategy involved in the management of a
given product.

A given firm may hold numerous products in the marketplace, spanning numerous and
sometimes wholly unrelated industries. Accordingly, a plan is required in order to manage
effectively such products. Evidently, a company needs to weigh up and ascertain how to
utilize effectively its finite resources. As an example, a start-up car manufacturing firm would
face little success, should it attempt to rival immediately Toyota, Ford, Nissan or any other
large global car maker. Moreover, a product may be reaching the end of its life-cycle. Thus,
the issue of divest, or a ceasing of production may be made. With regard to the aforesaid
questions, each scenario requires a unique marketing strategy to be employed. Below are
listed some prominent marketing strategy models, which seek to propose means to answer the
preceding questions.

As we are carrying out the study to suggest the best 4P, marketing strategy to company,
which will be beneficial to increase sales volume in the pune region, we must first know the
marketing mix and what is mean by 4P of marketing.

Marketing Mix:

The term "marketing mix" was first used in 1953 when Neil Borden, in his American
Marketing Association presidential address, took the recipe idea one step further and coined
the term "marketing-mix". A prominent marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a 4 P

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classification in 1960, which has seen wide use. The four Ps concept is explained in most
marketing textbooks and classes.

Elements of the marketing mix are often referred to as 'the four Ps':

 Product - A tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or

manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are
service based like the tourism industry & the hotel industry or codes-based products like
cell phone load and credits. Typical examples of a mass produced tangible object are
the motor car and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced
service is a computer operating system. Packaging also needs to be taken into
consideration.
 Price – The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. It is determined by a
number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity
and the customer's perceived value of the product. The business may increase or decrease
the price of product if other stores have the same product.
 Place – Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often
referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual
stores on the Internet. Place is not exactly a physical store where it is available Place is
nothing but how the product takes place or create image in the mind of customers. It
depends upon the percievedness of customers.
 Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the
marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements: advertising, public relations, personal
selling and sales promotion. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses
the four principal elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising
covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet
adverts through print media and billboards. Public relations are where the communication
is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions,
conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any apparently
informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or
people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays
an important role in word of mouth and Public Relations

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1.1 Basis of the study:
What makes people to undertake research? This is a question of fundamental importance.
The possible motives for doing research may be either one or more of the following:
1. Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential benefits;
2. Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems, i.e., concern over practical.
Problems initiates’ research;
3. Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;
4. Desire to be of service to society;
5. Desire to get respectability.
However, this is not an exhaustive list of factors motivating people to undertake research
studies.
Many more factors such as directives of government, employment conditions, curiosity about
new things, desire to understand causal relationships, social thinking and awakening, and the
like may as well motivate (or at times compel) people to perform research operations.
Here in this case our basis of study was our desire find out the low performing territories and
to identify the causes of low sales, this was the strange happening for the company because
pune being a highly potential market and despite of the fact that product offered by company
is of utter necessity and of good quality at reasonable compensation, still the region was
lower sales volume as compare to other regions of Maharashtra. The main aim of our study
was to give some recommendations regarding the above mentioned issue.

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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY:
The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of
scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and
which has not been discovered as yet. Though each research study has its own specific
purpose, we may think of research objectives as falling into a number of following broad
groupings:
1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it (studies with this
object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative research studies).
2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group
(Studies with this object in view are known as descriptive research studies).
3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated
with something else (studies with this object in view are known as diagnostic research
Studies).
4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such studies are known as
hypothesis-testing research studies).

Primary Objective:
 To Study how to improve the sales volume of a product.
 Application of proper marketing mix.
 Understanding the problems in direct sales.
Secondary Objective:
 To study the process of market research.
 To know the importance of MR.
 To know about the Linen industry in India.
 To understand the various marketing principles.

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1.3 Background of the Study:
Linen:

Linen is a textile made from the fibres of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-

intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional
coolness and freshness in hot weather.

Textiles in a linen-weave texture, even when made of cotton, hemp and other non-flax fibers
are also loosely referred to as "linen". Such fabrics generally have their own specific names
other than linen; for example, fine cotton yarn in a linen-style weave is called Madapolam.

The collective term "linens" is still often used generically to describe a class of woven and
even knitted bed, bath, table kitchen textiles and Hospital cloths. The name linens is retained
because traditionally, linen was used for many of these items. In the past, the word "linens"
was also used to mean lightweight undergarments such as shirts, chemises,
waistshirts, lingerie (a word which is cognate with linen), and detachable shirt collars and
cuffs, which were historically made almost exclusively out of linen.

Linen textiles appear to be some of the oldest in the world: their history goes back many
thousands of years. Fragments of straw, seeds, fibers, yarns, and various types of fabrics
which date back to about 8000 BC have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. Dyed flax fibers
found in a prehistoric cave in Georgia suggest the use of woven linen fabrics from wild flax
may date back even earlier to 36,000 BP.

Linen was sometimes used as currency in ancient Egypt. Egyptian mummies were wrapped in

linen because it was seen as a symbol of light and purity, and as a display of wealth. Some of
these fabrics, woven from hand spun yarns, were very fine for their day, but are coarse
compared to modern linen.

Today linen is usually an expensive textile, and is produced in relatively small quantities. It
has a long "staple" (individual fiber length) relative to cotton and other natural fibers

Many products are made of linen: apron, doctor dresses, drapping towels, bags, towels
(swimmers, bath, beach, body and wash towel), napkins, bed linen, linen tablecloth, runners,
chair cover, man and woman wear.

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Properties

Highly absorbent and a good conductor of heat, linen fabric feels cool to the touch. Linen is
among the strongest of the vegetable fibers, with 2 to 3 times the strength of cotton. It is
smooth, making the finished fabric lint free, and gets softer the more it is washed. However,
constant creasing in the same place in sharp folds will tend to break the linen threads. This
wear can show up in collars, hems, and any area that is iron creased during laundering. Linen
has poor elasticity and does not spring back readily, explaining why it wrinkles so easily.

Linen fabrics have a high natural luster; their natural color ranges between shades of
ivory, ecru, tan, or grey. Pure white linen is created by heavy bleaching. Linen typically has a
thick and thin character with a crisp and textured feel to it, but it can range from stiff and
rough, to soft and smooth. When properly prepared, linen fabric has the ability to absorb and
lose water rapidly. It can gain up to 20% moisture without feeling damp.

When freed from impurities, linen is highly absorbent and will quickly remove perspiration
from the skin. Linen is a stiff fabric and is less likely to cling to the skin; when it billows
away, it tends to dry out and become cool so that the skin is being continually touched by a
cool surface. It is a very durable, strong fabric, and one of the few that are stronger wet than
dry. The fibers do not stretch and are resistant to damage from abrasion. However, because
linen fibers have a very low elasticity, the fabric will eventually break if it is folded and
ironed at the same place repeatedly.

Mildew, perspiration, and bleach can also damage the fabric, but it is resistant
to moths and carpet beetles. Linen is relatively easy to take care of, since it resists dirt and
stains, has no lint or pilling tendency, and can be dry cleaned, machine washed or steamed. It
can withstand high temperatures, and has only moderate initial shrinkage.

Linen should not be dried too much by tumble drying: it is much easier to iron when damp.
Linen wrinkles very easily, and so some more formal linen garments require ironing often, in
order to maintain perfect smoothness. Nevertheless the tendency to wrinkle is often
considered part of the fabric's particular "charm", and a lot of modern linen garments are
designed to be air dried on a good hanger and worn without the necessity of ironing.

A characteristic often associated with contemporary linen yarn is the presence of "slubs", or
small knots which occur randomly along its length. However, these slubs are actually defects
associated with low quality. The finest linen has very consistent diameter threads, with no
slubs.

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Measure

The standard measure of bulk linen yarn is the lea, which is the number of yards in a pound
of linen divided by 300. For example a yarn having a size of 1 lea will give 300 yards per
pound. The fine yarns used in handkerchiefs, etc. might be 40 lea, and give 40x300 = 12,000
yards per pound. This is a specific length therefore an indirect measurement of the fineness of
the linen, i.e. the number of length units per unit mass. The symbol is NeL.

More commonly used in continental Europe is the Metric system, Nm. This is the number of
1,000 m lengths per kilogram.

In China, the English Cotton system unit, NeC, is common. This is the number of 840 yard
lengths in a pound.

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Production method:

Mechanical harvesting of flax in Belgium.

(On the left side, flax is waiting to be harvested)

17
The quality of the finished linen product is often dependent upon growing conditions and
harvesting techniques. To generate the longest possible fibers, flax is either hand-harvested
by pulling up the entire plant or stalks are cut very close to the root. After harvesting, the
seeds are removed through a mechanized process called “rippling” or by winnowing.

The fibers must then be loosened from the stalk. This is achieved through retting. This is a
process which uses bacteria to decompose the pectin that binds the fibers together. Natural
retting methods take place in tanks and pools, or directly in the fields. There are also
chemical retting methods; these are faster, but are typically more harmful to the environment
and to the fibers themselves.

After retting, the stalks are ready for scutching, which takes place between August and
December. Scutching removes the woody portion of the stalks by crushing them between two
metal rollers, so that the parts of the stalk can be separated. The fibers are removed and the
other parts such as linseed, shive, and toware set aside for other uses. Next the fibers
are heckled: the short fibers are separated withheckling combs by 'combing' them away, to
leave behind only the long, soft flax fibers.

After the fibers have been separated and processed, they are typically spun into yarns and
woven or knit into linen textiles. These textiles can then be bleached, dyed, printed on, or
finished with a number of treatments or coatings.

An alternate production method is known as “cottonizing” which is quicker and requires less
equipment. The flax stalks are processed using traditional cotton machinery; however, the
finished fibers often lose the characteristic linen look.

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Producers

Flax is grown in many parts of the world, but top quality flax is primarily grown in Western
Europe. In very recent years bulk linen production has moved to Eastern Europe and China,
but high quality fabrics are still confined to niche producers in Ireland, Italy and Belgium.
Also countries including Poland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania,
Latvia, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Britain and some parts of India. High
quality linen fabrics are now produced in the United States for the upholstery market.

Uses

Over the past 30 years the end use for linen has changed dramatically. Approximately 70% of
linen production in the 1990s was for apparel textiles whereas in the 1970s only about 5%
was used for fashion fabrics.

Linen uses range from bed and bath fabrics (tablecloths, dish towels, bed sheets, etc.), home
and commercial furnishing items (wallpaper/wall coverings, upholstery, window treatments,
etc.), apparel items (suits, dresses, skirts, shirts, etc.), to industrial products (luggage,
canvases, sewing thread, etc.). It was once the preferred yarn for hand sewing the uppers
of moccasin-style shoes (loafers), but its use has been replaced by synthetics.

A linen handkerchief, pressed and folded to display the corners, was a standard decoration of
a well-dressed man's suit during most of the first part of the 20th century.

Currently researchers are working on a cotton/flax blend to create new yarns which will
improve the feel of denim during hot and humid weather.

Linen fabric is one of the preferred traditional supports for oil painting. In the United States
cotton is popularly used instead as linen is many times more expensive there, restricting its
use to professional painters. In Europe however, linen is usually the only fabric support
available in art shops. Linen is preferred to cotton for its strength, durability
and archival integrity.

Linen is also used extensively by artisan bakers. Known as a couche, the flax cloth is used to
hold the dough into shape while in the final rise, just before baking. The couche is heavily
dusted with flour which is rubbed into the pores of the fabric. Then the shaped dough placed
on the couche. The floured couche makes a "non stick" surface to hold the dough. Then
ridges are formed in the couche to keep the dough from spreading. It sort of looks like this
/\o/\o/\o/\o/\ where the "o" is the dough and the /\/\/\/\ is the folded couche.

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In the past linen was also used for books (the only surviving example of which is the Liber
Linteus). Due to its strength, in the Middle Ageslinen was used
for shields and gambeson (among other roles such as use for a bowstring), much like how
in Classical antiquity and Hellenistic Greece linen was used to make multi-
plied Hoplite cuirasses. Also because of its strength when wet, Irish linen is a very popular
wrap of pool/billiard cues, due to its absorption of sweat from hands. Paper made of linen can
be very strong and crisp, which is why the United States and many other countries print their
currency on paper that is made from 25% linen and 75% cotton.

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History

Linen was used by Egyptians in ancient times for mummification. Egyptians used linen as
burial shrouds. Moreover, priests only wore linen clothes and worshippers were only allowed
to enter the temple if they are wearing a linen cloth. Linen fabric has been used for table
coverings, bed coverings and clothing for centuries. The exclusiveness of linen comes from
the difficulty of working with the thread making it time consuming to produce (flax in itself
requires a great deal of attention to grow). Flax thread is not elastic so is difficult to weave
without breaking threads. Thus it is more expensive to manufacture than cotton.

The Living Linen Project was set up in 1995 as an Oral Archive of the knowledge of the Irish
linen industry which is still available within a nucleus of people who formerly worked in the
industry in Ulster. There is a long history of linen in Ireland.

The discovery of dyed flax fibers in a cave in Georgia dated to 36,000 BP suggests people

used wild flax fibers to create linen-like fabrics from an early date. The use of linen for
priestly vestments was not confined to the Israelites. Plutarch, who lived one hundred years
after the birth of Christ, wrote that the priests of Isis also wore linen because of its purity.

In December 2006 the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be
the International Year of Natural Fibres to raise the profile of linen and other natural fibers.

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Antiquity

When the tomb of the Pharaoh Ramses II, who died 1213 BC, was discovered in 1881, the
linen wrappings were in a state of perfect preservation - after more than 3000 years.

In the Belfast Library there is preserved the mummy of "Kaboolie,' the daughter of a priest of
Ammon, who died 2,500 years ago. The linen on this mummy is in a like state of perfection.
When the tomb of Tutankamen was opened, the linen curtains were found intact.

Earliest linen industry:

Diocletian's 4th century maximum prices edict showing prices for 3 grades of linen
across the Roman Empire

In olden days, in almost every country, each family grew flax and wove the linen for its own
use; but the earliest records of an established linen industry are 4,000 years old, from Egypt.
The earliest written documentation of a linen industry comes from the Linear B tablets
of Pylos, Greece, where linen is depicted as an ideogram and also written as "li-no" (Greek:
λίνον, linon), and the female linen workers are cataloged as "li-ne-ya".

The Phoenicians, who, with their merchant fleet, opened up new channels of commerce to the
peoples of the Mediterranean, besides developing the tin mines of Cornwall, introduced flax
growing and the making of linen into Ireland before the common era, but the internal
dissensions, which even in those early days were prevalent in Erin, militated against the
establishment of an organized industry, and it is not until the twelfth century that we can find
records of a definite attempt to systematize flax production.

When the Edict of Nantes was revoked, in A.D. 1685, many of the Huguenots who had to

flee the country settled in the British Isles, and amongst them was Louis Crommelin, who
was born, and brought up as a weaver of fine linen, in the town of Cambrai. He fled to Ulster,

22
and eventually settled down in the small town of Lisburn, about ten miles
from Belfast. Belfast itself is perhaps the most famous linen producing center throughout
history, during the Victorian era the majority of the worlds linen was produced in the city
which gained it the name Linenopolis.

During the late war Cambrai became well known as one of the centers of the most desperate
fighting. The name "cambric" is derived from this town.

Although the linen industry was already established in Ulster, Louis Crommelin found scope
for improvement in weaving, and his efforts were so successful that he was appointed by the
Government to develop the industry over a much wider range.than the small confines of
Lisburn and its surroundings. The direct result of his good work was the establishment, under
statute, of the Board of Trustees of the Linen Manufacturers of Ireland in the year 1711.

23
Religion

In the Jewish religion, the only law concerning which fabrics may be interwoven together in
clothing is one which concerns the mixture of linen and wool. This mixture is
called shaatnez and is clearly restricted in Deuteronomy 22:11 "Thou shalt not wear a
mingled stuff, wool and linen together" and Leviticus 19:19, neither shall there come upon
thee a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together.'" There is no explanation for this in the
Torah itself and is categorized as a type of law known as chukim, a statute beyond man's
ability to comprehend. Josephus suggested that the reason for the prohibition was to keep the
laity from wearing the official garb of the priests. ]while Maimonides thought that the reason
was because heathen priests wore such mixed garments. Others explain that it is because God
often forbids mixtures of disparate kinds, not designed by God to be compatible in a certain
way, with mixing animal and vegetable fibers being similar to having two different types of
ploughing animals yoked together and that such commands serve both a practical as well as
allegorical purpose, perhaps here preventing a priestly garment that would cause discomfort
(or excessive sweat) in a hot climate. Linen is also mentioned in the Bible in Proverbs 31, a
passage describing a noble wife. Proverbs 31:22 says, "She makes coverings for her bed; she
is clothed in fine linen and purple."

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1.4 Hospital and Hotel Linen Industry in India:
Linen industry broadly comes under textile manufacturing, but still it has potential of being
recognised as individual industry from conventional textile industry.
In India hospital and hotel linen is not an organised sector, so the exact size of this industry
can’t be derived, but looking at its customer base that is Health care and Hospitality
industries are growing very fast and already are of huge size, from this one can predict that
linen industry even in its unorganised form is very big.
Delhi is the hub of linen industry in India, more than 60% of linen trading happens in Delhi.
The other important cities of linen trading are Mumbai, Indore, and Ahmadabad.
Indore is hub for low cost unbranded linen. The reason behind this is availability of the raw
material, one can get the loomed cotton cloth at a very nominal rate as a raw material for
hotel linen production.
Kerala, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore are the main cities where branded linen is traded.
Following are Some major linen players in India:
1) Gujarat Flotex Pvt. Ltd, Ahmadabad.
2) Adinath tex-chem ltd, Surat.
3) Jm Global, Mumbai.
4) Innovative linen co (P) ltd, Indore.
5) Oscar overseas, Noida.
6) Biomed private ltd, Mumbai.
7) Track Manufacturing co (P) ltd.
8) Avani Huezone Fabrics Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore.
9) Bhat Export India, New Delhi.
10) Blue fab, New Delhi.

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1.5 Company Profile:

INNOVATIE LINEN COMPANY (P) LTD.

37, READYMADE COMPLEX, PARDESIPURA,

Indore - 452001, Madhya Pradesh, India
Phone:91-731-2578910/2704755
Fax:91-731-4041491.

Geographical Location:

26
General Information:

Type of Industry Manufacturing Industry

Products Hospital Linen and Dispo. Kits.

Certification ISO 9001: 2000

Annual turn over Around 5 crores INR

Number of employees More than 150

INNOVATIVE LINEN CO (P) LTD, an ISO, Certified Company, was founded in 1995.
Innovative linen co. (ILC) Company remains dedicated to manufacturing and importing high
quality Hospital linen. The company was set up by Mr. Virendra Jain with the sole
intentions of serving medical community by the people having medical background.

The organization was set up with medical background as a concrete base of the company
about fifteen years back. Over the years the company grew rapidly and gained enormous
experience, and the ability to provide right kind of service for the ever increasing needs of the
professionals in medical field. The company’s state - of - art technology with the latest
infrastructure facilitated business of dependable quality instruments for the surgeons in their
fields of surgery.

ILC has an excellent marketing network and the team that is ever willing to assist clients at
every stage to provide after sales service, which occupies prime position in relationship with
clients. We aspire to extend dedication to our clientele with quick personalized service and
innovative solutions. We have enhanced our reputation as a complete and comprehensive
one-stop shop for all kind of hospital Linen.

With our proven ability even as we strive to expand our reach and network, our goal is to
meet the requisitions in our best capacities. Our position enables us to understand the
continuous changes in medical science.

We are proud to announce our involvement in Research & Development , precision, quality
control, and customer satisfaction. With the Health care industry undergoing a sea change the
world over, newer medical and high tech surgeries equipments are launched in quick

27
succession. In such a competitive environment, due to proper customer service, and desirable
quality we have become a foremost company at the top of the field we serve.

OUR MISSION

To provide world class products, which are of high quality, affordably priced, that contributes
to the wellness of the patients, and positively impact both our clients and organizations
growth.

OUR GOALS

 To offer Quality Products.

 To be Innovative.
 To be Customer Oriented.
 To be Competitive.
 To seize the Future.

OUR VISION

Ours is an organization, which works with the ideology to provide the clients a VISION:

 A VISION that you are in the hand's of professional people.

 A VISION which will be a dream for us, but a reality for you.
 A VISION to be given with specific goals.
 A VISION that "Team is Strength and Strength is Success".
 A VISION of Success.
 A VISION of Leadership in respective field.

OUR SUPPORT TO OUR FOREIGN PARTNERS:

The principle objective would be to forecast the changes in the business environment, as
India is a vast country of 900 million people, with full of diversities. A country where a
Mercedes Benz Car and a Bullock Cart share the same road. This type of environment is to be
taken into account for making a decision on business in India. We can assist our partners in
establishing in Indian market, utilizing the platform developed by us during the last fifteen
years. We can offer the following services.

28
  Understanding the Products
 Offering a business plan .
 Creating Marketing Arrangements
 Sharing the business through ILC’s Dealer network
 Offering Promotional and Advertising Sketch
 Offering Sales and service Support for their products

OUR VALUES

 Honesty
 Discipline
 Teamwork attitude
 Commitment to our principal
 Good after sales service
 Easily communicable and accessible.

Facilities at ILC:

 Having well established and automated offices.

 State-of-the-art computers.
 24 hrs Internet connectivity.
 Informative Web Site.
 Web Shopping.
 Professional Doctors on the Board.
 Qualified Biomedical Engineers as team members.
 Management Graduates in Administration.

29
Organizational Structure:

MD

Sales Manager Production and purchase in charge

Sale Executives Floor Supervisors

Workers

30
1.6 Products Detail:
ILC is mainly into te manufacturing of hospital linen and HIV and maternity dispo. Kits, All these
products are used during the surgeries and in wards of the hospitals.
The linen is prepared from slightly modified cotton cloth, having greater soaking capacity and with
high tensile strength. The types of cotton used is normally mercerized cotton or treated cashment.
Conventionally Green or sky blue cotton is used but colour may vary according to the need of the
customer.
Following are Some important products with their uses:
1) O.T Gowns:

(O.T gown Disposable and cotton)

This one of the most common product of linen industry, it is an necessity for doctors during
the surgeries. This comes in two type overlap pattern and simple back open pattern. It is made
from cotton tricot and also available as disposable gown for a single use.
It is used to cover the doctors body during the surgeries which prevents them from infection
from patients blood and also save the cloths.

31
2) Surgeons dress:

Surgeons dress

As name suggests it is worn by the doctors during surgeries. It is worn below the O.T gown,
it is made of cotton and available in different colours mainly green and sky blue. It ranges
from rs 250 to Rs 400.
The surgeon dress is used for the protection of doctors cloth from blood stains and also to
prevent him from an infection.

32
3) HIV kit:

HIV kits are the sterile disposable surgery kits used at the time of operating on the HIV
positive patients. Since HIV transmits through the fluid contact that why the doctor have to
wear this kit to avoid contact with patients blood, these kits must used only one and should be
properly after the use.
Before packaging these material in this kit is properly sterilised through ethylene oxide and
UV rays.
These kits are made from impervious material which prevent passage of fluid from it, these
kits are available for single to four surgeons. Their price ranges from 300 to 600.

33
Ward Articles:

(1) (2) (3)

(4) (5) (6)

(7) (8) (9)

34
Sr.No
. Item
1 Instrument trolley cover
2 AB. binder
3 Bed sheets
4 Born baby kit
5 Instrument bag
6 Cap and Mask
7 Hole sheet
8 Apron
9 Draw sheet
Raw material Use
To protect instruments
trolley from blood
Parachute cloth contamination
Used for post operative
muscle support after AB.
Cotton and rubber band Surgery.
General purpose on beds
Cotton of hospital.
Protects infant from cold
and hot temperatures and
Fallalin material from infection.
Cotton and parachute Used to keep instrument
material during autoclaving
Cotton or impervious Doctors wear it to prevent
material entry of germs.
Used to cover the
Cotton and parachute patient’s body except the
material part to be operated.
Used by doctors to
prevents their cloths from
Cotton stains.
Used to prevent O.T table
from stains of blood and
Rubberised plastic betadine.
35
36
2.1 MEANING OF RESEARCH:
Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define
research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic.
In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or inquiry
especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.”1 Redman and Mory
define research as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”2 Some people consider
research as a movement, a movement from the known to the unknown. It is actually a voyage
of discovery. We all possess the vital instinct of inquisitiveness for, when the unknown
confronts us, we wonder and our inquisitiveness makes us probe and attain full and fuller
understanding of the unknown. This inquisitiveness is the mother of all knowledge and the
method, which man employs for obtaining the knowledge of whatever the unknown, can be
termed as research.
Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense.
According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and redefining problems,
formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data;
making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to
determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the
Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences define research as “the manipulation of things, concepts or
symbols for the purpose of generalising to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that
knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art.”3 Research is, thus, an
original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement. It is the
persuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment. In short, the
search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution to a
problem is research. The systematic approach concerning generalisation and the formulation
of a theory is also research. As such the term ‘research’ refers to the systematic method
consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data,
analysing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either in the form of solutions(s) towards
the concerned problem or in certain generalisations for some theoretical formulation.

37
Types of Research:
There are many types of research which are used for different purposes. The type of research
to be chosen depends upon the problem to be solved or study to be carried out.
Following are some types of research:
1) Descriptive
2) Analytical.
3) Applied.
4) Fundamental.
5) Qualitative.
6) Quantitative.
7) Conceptual etc.
In this study we have carried out descriptive research, because we had the problem of sort
sales and we had to find the facts and reason of the short sales.
Descriptive research:
Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The major
purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. In
social science and business research we quite often use the term Ex post facto research for
descriptive research studies. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has
no control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening.
Most ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive studies in which the researcher
seeks to measure such items as, for example, frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or
similar data. Ex post facto studies also include attempts by researchers to discover causes
even when they cannot control the variables. The methods of research utilized in descriptive
research are survey methods of all kinds, including comparative and co relational methods.

38
2.2 Formulation of a research problem:
I did my summers into an hospital Linen manufacturing and supplying company, which has its reach
in many states of country, I was working at pune and was suppose to carry out market research along
with sale of linen.
During the summer internship the main aim of the training was to know the current market territories
of ILC, and to know the sales patterns of respective territory.
Pune territory was always problematic because of low sales volume despite of high potential of pune.
For this I was suppose to carry out and market research to know the reasons of low sales and to know
the preferences of clients in the territory and to suggest the best 4Ps strategy to company in order to
increase the sales in the region.
Since it was the pure market research, the research problem was stated as follows:

“A market research for hospital linen at Innovative linen co (p) ltd at pune”

39
2.3 Research design:
The formidable problem that follows the task of defining the research problem is the
preparation of the design of the research project, popularly known as the “research design”.
Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much, by what means concerning an inquiry or
a research study constitute a research design. “A research design is the arrangement of
conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to
the research purpose with economy in procedure.
In fact, the research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted; it
constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data. As such the
design includes an outline of what the researcher will do from writing the hypothesis and its
operational implications to the final analysis of data. More explicitly, the design decisions
happen to be in respect of:
(i) What is the study about?
(ii) Why is the study being made?
(iii) Where will the study be carried out?
(iv) What type of data is required?
(v) Where can the required data be found?
(vi) What periods of time will the study include?
(vii) What will be the sample design?
(viii) What techniques of data collection will be used?
(ix) How will the data be analysed?
(x) In what style will the report be prepared?

40
Research design in case of descriptive research:
The design in such studies must be rigid and not flexible and must focus attention on the
following:
(a) Formulating the objective of the study (what the study is about and why is it being made?)
(b) Designing the methods of data collection (what techniques of gathering data will be
adopted?)
(c) Selecting the sample (how much material will be needed?)
(d) Collecting the data (where can the required data be found and with what time period
should the data be related?)
(e) Processing and analysing the data.
(f) Reporting the findings.
In a descriptive/diagnostic study the first step is to specify the objectives with sufficient
precision to ensure that the data collected are relevant. If this is not done carefully, the study
may not provide the desired information.

41
2.4 Primary Data:
This is the original source of the information 1st hand in nature where the researcher goes to
different people and collects data himself. Data that is collected for a specific purpose at hand
is called primary data. It is customized according to the needs of the researcher and focuses
exclusively on the current research problems. The collection of primary data is time
consuming and costly. 
This is a particular research study the primary data collection was done with the help of the
questionnaire method, which is best suitable in order to get maximum information from
respondent is questioned directly about the aspects of interest of research i.e. personal
interview. 
Sources of primary data-
1. Questionnaire method
2. Observation method
3. Interviewing.
2.5 Secondary Data:
Secondary data is the data, which has been collected for the other purpose than that of the
present study. Any data that is available prior to the commencement of research project is
secondary data, and therefore it is called historic data. It is one which is derived by any other
person or institute. It already exists and is processed. The researcher has only to decide that
how it will be handy to appraise the project.
There was plenty of data in the library, which was useful in drafting the report. 
For the present study data was collected through –
Sources of secondary data-
1) Published sources
2) Unpublished sources.
The present study is mainly based on primary data but here also secondary data was used for
the study. Both Primary and secondary sources were used for data collection.

42
2.6 Sample design:
It is very important to have a predesigned sample for a study as it helps us to have sample of
high relevance and hence collected data can be observed to draw right conclusions. Sample
design includes decision about:
 Uniformity of sample:
In this we have to decide what kind of sample we have to select, we must be clear
about the uniformity of the elements to be taken as samples.
 Geographical area of sample (Sample unit):
While deciding about the geographical area of sample we have should take into
account the research size, time availability, Research budget etc. if the area we choose
is very big we may not have uniform sample and correlation of responses may be
difficult.
 Source of sample:
After selecting geographical area we have to decide about the source of the
information and accordingly sample elements are selected.
 Sample size:
This refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe to constitute a sample.
This is a major problem before a researcher. The size of sample should neither be excessively
large, nor too small. It should be optimum. An optimum sample is one which fulfils the
requirements of efficiency, representativeness, reliability and flexibility.
While deciding the size of sample, researcher must determine the desired precision as also an
acceptable confidence level for the estimate. The size of population variance needs to be
considered as in case of larger variance usually a bigger sample is needed. The size of
population must be kept in view for this also limits the sample size. The parameters of
interest in a research study must be kept in view, while deciding the size of the sample. Costs
to dictate the size of sample that we can draw. As such, budgetary constraint must invariably
be taken into consideration when we decide the sample size.

Following is the Sample design we have followed for this research:

Uniformity of sample Yes ( All doctors)
Geographical area of the Pune.
sample
Source of sample Hospitals and private clinics.
Size of the sample 100

43
2.7 Sampling methods:
Non-probability sampling: Non-probability sampling is that sampling procedure which does
not afford any basis for estimating the probability that each item in the population has of
being included in the sample. Non-probability sampling is also known by different names
such as deliberate sampling, purposive sampling and judgement sampling. In this type of
sampling, items for the sample are selected deliberately by the researcher; his choice
concerning the items remains supreme. In other words, under non-probability sampling the
organisers of the inquiry purposively choose the particular units of the universe for
constituting a sample on the basis that the small mass that they so select out of a huge one
will be typical or representative of the whole.
For instance, if economic conditions of people living in a state are to be studied, a few towns
and villages may be purposively selected for intensive study on the principle that they can be
representative of the entire state. Thus, the judgement of the organisers of the study plays an
important part in this sampling design.

Probability sampling: Probability sampling is also known as ‘random sampling’ or ‘chance

sampling’. Under this sampling design, every item of the universe has an equal chance of
inclusion in the sample. It is, so to say, a lottery method in which individual units are picked
up from the whole group not deliberately but by some mechanical process. Here it is blind
chance alone that determines whether one item or the other is selected. The results obtained
from probability or random sampling can be assured in terms of probability i.e., we can
measure the errors of estimation or the significance of results obtained from a random
sample, and this fact brings out the superiority of random sampling design over the deliberate
sampling design. Random sampling ensures the law of Statistical Regularity which states that
if on an average the sample chosen is a random one, the sample will have the same
composition and characteristics as the universe. This is the reason why random sampling is
considered as the best technique of selecting a representative sample.
 In this case we have gone for the Non probability sampling as we didn’t had to select
our sample on the basis of mathematical formula as it was a survey to be conducted.
We had to choose samples from doctors and everybody didn’t have equal chance of
being in sample, we chose the doctors who were our existing or potential clients that
are all surgeons and gynaecologist.

44
2.8 Method of data collection:

Primary data:
Primary data being a first had information has to be collected by the researcher himself from the
relevant sources. In this research we used following methods to collect the primary data.
Observation method:
We observed and analyzed company’s previous sales records and data base of clients to collect the
data.
Collection of data through interview:
use of this method was very limited as doctors and other purchase officers were reluctant to it because
of their time constrain.
Collection of data through questionnaire:
Questions were our important tool to collect the data about consumer preferences, we used this
method extensively.
Informal visits:
These were of great importance as we went to the client as a sales executive and could get their real
response and preference towards our product and company.

Secondary data:
Secondary data is collected after considering factors like availability, reliability and Suitability and
adequacy etc. There is not fixed method of collecting secondary data.

2.9 Instruments of data collection:

Data was collected through following instruments:
 Questionnaire.
 Interviews.
 Books and magazines.
 Internet
 Through informal discussions with employees.
.

45
2.10 Field Work:
The profile I got during my summer project was sales based, it was a complete field work
throughout the pune city.
During my summer project I was assigned the target to sales the Linen of Rs 50000 to
hospital at pune, for that I first collected the information of hospitals and private clinic and
even multispecialty hospitals from which I prepared my database of doctor. I prepared the
database of more than 250 doctors in pune and nearby areas.
It was mandatory to make at least 8 to 10 calls a day in a particular area of pune, out of 8
calls I could only meet 4 to 5 doctors and purchase in charge in a single day.
Out of the given target of 50000, I had received the order of RS 35000 maximum of which I
received from our regular customers.
My field work use to be from 9:30 am to 6 pm daily with the lunch break of 1 hour. After
coming back from the field I had to send report to my guide Mr. Rakesh who always use to
encourage me to try and decrease cold calls.
During my summers he had joined me on the field for two days, with him I learnt lot of
things specially how to start the communication with the client and which area to be targeted
on particular day of the week.
For the first 2 weeks I did the pure sales with the intension of achieving target and to know
the clients response towards the company. This work helped me to prepare the questionnaire
as I was familiar with the perception of many clients towards the company.
During 1st two weeks of work I could realise that there was very less acceptability for the non
local vendor like ILC and clients use to go for local purchase even after providing them good
quality product.
For the above reason my questions in survey were more directed to know the reasons of non
acceptability of outside vendor and also to know the benefit they have from local vendors in
our comparison.

46
2.11 Data- analysis techniques:

 Bar Diagram & Pie Chart

 Percentage Analysis
 Chi Square Test

Percentage Analysis:
Percentage Analysis is used for making comparison between two or more series of data.
Percentage (%) = No. of respondents * 100 / Total No. of respondents.
Chi- Square Test:
Many time manager need to know weather the differences they observe among several
sample proportion are significant or only due to chance.

X2 = (fo-fe)2
fe
Determine Degree of Freedom:
No. of degree of freedom = (No. of rows -1) (No. of Columns-1)
Pilot Testing:-
A pilot testing is conducted to detect weakness in design and instrumentation and provide
proxy data for flections of a probability sample. The objective of pilot survey is to filter
unnecessary question, question which are difficult to answer and improve the phrases of
certain question.

47
48
3.1 Charts and Graphs
1) Comparison of sales in different territories:

250000

200000

150000 Pune
Aurangabad
Nagpur
100000
Jalgaon

50000

0
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March

Territory wise sales from Oct 2009 to March 2010.

Territor Total
y sales
Aurangab Nagpu Jalgao of a
Month Pune ad r n month
11352
Oct 36120 206400 0 159960 516000
10350
Nov 21600 219000 0 146000 490100
11665
Dec 42000 196000 0 154000 508650
Jan 19950 205000 99000 149000 472950
10500
Feb 23200 224600 0 162000 514800
11100
March 83400 198700 0 132700 525800
Total
sales of
territori 22627 64867 302830
es. 0 1249700 0 903660 0

49
The above graph shows the territory wise sales of 6 months that is from Oct 2009 to March
2010. Looking at the graph we can observe the contribution of Aurangabad territory is
highest and it shows consistently high bars while pune territory consistently shows the lower
sales. Jalgaon and Nagpur shows moderate sales figures but are consistent.

2)

Total sale of each territory from Oct

2009 to Mar 2010.

648670

1249700
903660

226270

Territory Sales ( In RS) % sales

Aurangabad 1249700 41
Jalgaon 903660 22
Nagpur 648670 30
Pune 226270 7
Total Sales 3028300 100

Above graph shows the sales in different territories of Maharashtra from Oct 09 to Mar 10.

If we observe the graph we could clearly conclude that Most of the sales in the given 6
months come from Aurangabad and Jalgaon territories, contribution of Nagpur can’t be
ignored, but pune despite of and large territory contributes only 7% of the sales which is very
low.

50
1) What is your Average OPD of the day?

Responses No. of respondents

20-30 21
30-50 42
50-70 26
Above 70 11
Total 100

No of respondents
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
(20-30) (30-50) (50-70) above 70

If we observe the graph above we could see that out of total doctors surveyed most of have
OPD between 30-50 and the Doctors having OPD above 70 are very less. From this we can
conclude that the average OPD in pune is near to 50 patients a day. This gives us an Idea that
their Linen requirement must be moderate depending on the number of patients.

51
2) How many surgeries you carry out in a Month?

A) 5-10 14
B) 10-15 33
C) 15-25 38
D) Above 25. 15
Total 100

Range of no. of surgeries

15 14
(5-10)
(10-15)
(15-25)
Above 25
33
38

Above pie chart clearly shows that most of the doctors perform 15 to 25 surgeries in a month,
also the number of doctors performing surgeries 10 to 15 in a month is considerable,
observed data again shows the linen requirement of doctors is moderate.

52
 A) Purchase 89
B) Make it in house. 11
Total 100

3) Do you purchase Linen or make it in house?

Make it in house 11

Purchse 89

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

In above question 89% of respondents said that they purchase the Linen from outside and do
not make it in house. All who manufacture mostly were multi spatiality hospital, which have
their separate unite for linen manufacturing.
These cannot be the potential customer of the linen suppliers as they make the in house linen
in their own unit as and when require.

53
 4) How much are your monthly Expenses on Linen?

A) 500-1000. 32
B) 1000-2000. 39
C) Up to 5000. 19
D) Up to 10000 10
Total 100

Resonses of monthly expenses of linen

10

32 (500-1000)
19 (1000-2000)
Upto 5000
Upto 10000

39

Looking at the above chart one can observe that most of the doctors spent Rs 1000 to 2000 on
linen in a month, also No. of doctor spending Rs 500 to 1000 on linen is high i.e 32%, but the
No. of doctors spending 5000 and 10000 on linen is limited, all these are having big
hospitals.
From above data we can derive the conclusion that if a linen company has the customer base
of more than 100 and if they are able to sell the linen even to 50 out of that 100, company
may have the sales of at least Rs 100,000 in pune. This can be said after looking at the
average spending by doctor on linen in a month.

54
5) You go for bulk purchase or in small quantity as per requirement?

A) Bulk. 54
B) Small quantity. 46
Total 100

Purchase pattern of respondents

46
Bulk
Small Quantity
54

Above graph gives us the idea about No. of doctors going for bulk purchase is slightly higher
than No. of doctors going for small quantity purchase. Still the difference is not much, so we
cannot draw the exact trend of purchase pattern.

55
6) How much do you think should be the appropriate delivery time after placing the order?

A) Immediate delivery. 44
B) 1 to 2 days. 31
C) One Week. 25
Total 100

Expected Delivery time of respondents

44

45
40
31
35
25
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Immediate Delivery 1 to 2 Days One week

From the Above graph it is clear that most of the respondents want immediate delivery of
their orders and out of remaining respondents majority of them are willing to wait up to 2
days for their order to be executed and very few can wait up to one week.

56
7) Assign highest priority to following criteria of purchasing Linen?

No. of
respondents
assigning highest
Criteria of purchase Priority
A) Quality 13
B) Delivery Time. 52
C) Customized Product. 21
D) Price. 14
Total 100

No. of Respondents Assigning Highest priority to a criteria

60
52
50

40

30
21
20
13 14
10

0
Quality Delivery time Cutomized product Price

Above graph clearly suggest that the respondents first priority is given to delivery time while
purchasing the linen, after this customization of products Important, limited no. of
respondents give highest priority to quality and price that is 13 and 14 % respectively.

From this we can conclude that on time delivery of linen can play a major role in firm’s
success.

57
8) Which is more preferable of the following while Linen purchase?

A) Local Vendor with normal services. 78

B) Non Local vendor with better
services. 22
Total 100

Prefrences of respondents towards the vendors

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Local vendor Non Local vendor with better Quality product

From the above responses we observe that, most of the respondents would like to buy the
linen from local vendor and not from outsiders even if they offer something better. This
shows the importance of local distribution facility of firm to be success in the pune region.

9) Please specify the reasons of Opting Local or Non local Suppliers?

This was the descriptive question in which following common reasons were given for
favoring local vendors by respondents:
1. Delivery time..
2. Payment disputes can be easily handled.
3. Ease in settlement of post sales issues like mismatch of size and quality
of ordered product can be fixed quickly with local vendor.

58
10) Can you suggest the name of some local vendors from where you purchase the linen?
1) Biomed
2) White Linen
3) Bansal and sons.
4) Meghna linen suppliers.
5) Gopal surgical.
These were some of the common names we got to know from the respondents in pune area
but more than 50% of clients do not purchase from the company, instead they order it to local
individual retailers.

11) Have you ever heard about Innovative Linen Company?

A) yes 31
B) No 69
Total 100

Knowledge of respondents about ILC

31
Yes
No

69

Only 31% of the respondents have heard about the ILC, which indicates towards the poor
brand awareness in the pune region.

59
 12) If yes, please specify the source?

A) Through ILC Executive. 25

B) Internet. 6
C) Other Doctors. 0
D) Any other source. 0
Total 31

Never heard

Other source 0

Other Doctor 0

Internet 6

Through ILC Executive 25

0 5 10 15 20 25

The above responses indicate that most of the respondents who have heard about ILC is
through their executive and very few respondents have seen the name of the company on
internet.
From this we can conclude that the ILC will have to increase their promotions to increase the
brand awareness as they are heavily dependent on sales force for it.

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3.2 Findings:
 Average OPD of doctors at pune is around 50.
 Average Surgeries performed by doctors is 15 to 20.
 Most of the Doctors in Pune Purchase linen instead of making it in house.
 Most of the doctors in pune region Spent not more than Rs 2000 in a month.
 Doctors may either go for bulk or small quantities purchase of linen.
 Most of the doctors expect early delivery after placing the orders.
 Most of the doctors give highest priority to delivery time and then to customization of
product while purchasing the linen.
 Many of the doctors prefer local retailers to outside retailers while purchasing linen.
 Biomed is most heard name in pune for linen and they prefer to purchase from small
retailer instead of branded linen.
 Most of the respondents have never heard about ILC.
 ILC is heavily dependent on their sales force for sales and brand awareness.

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 3.3 Conclusions:
 Hospital linen requirement of most of the respondent doctors in pune is
moderate. A doctor spends around 2000 on linen in a month that shows every
100 doctors will give sales of Rs 200000 in a month.
 Company giving on time delivery and customized product have high chances
of success. As they give higher preference to these two criteria.
 It will be of great benefit to have local distribution setup. Three most common
problem with outside vendor were observed as:
4. Delivery time.
5. Size mismatch cannot be handled with outside suppliers.
6. Payment disputes.
 Lacks of awareness for ILC in pune, almost 70% of respondents have not
even heard about the company.
 There was no issue on quality and price of ILC products as compare to local
retailers of pune.
In all if we try to sum up the conclusion, the company has poor distribution and promotional
activities are also not sufficient to create better awareness.
Company need to rethink and come up with a new marketing mix plan which could give the
success in market which has a highest potential among all territories of Maharashtra where
ILC operates.

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3.4 Recommendations:
ILC operates in pune from more than a year; still it has not got the deserved success looking
at the high potential market of pune despite of having good quality products and competitive
pricing. The reason sot was unavailability of local distribution, lack of awareness.
The following 4 Ps strategy can be followed by the company to increase the sales volume in
pune territory:
 Product: The Company should continue with same quality of product as there was no
problem found in quality of the product offered by ILC, but the company should offer
the customized product as doctors over there are more conscious about this factor, this
will lead to greater consumer satisfaction and will help in long term relation with
customers.
 Price: Company should continue with the same pricing strategy, because there pricing
is compatible with competitors and the most prevalent in market.
 Promotion: this was fond to be the weak point of ILC, there is lack of awareness for
ILC in pune, therefore it is must for them to incrase awareness by putting hoardings,
promoting the brand through portals like just dial.com, sulekha.com. as the company
have benefit of good quality product and competitive pricing, they can position their
product accordingly and create brand of ILC instead of rendering itself only an linen
supplier organization. For this they will continuously hammer the brand name in
names of customers and by winning their trust.
 Place (Distribution): This is an major problem of ILC in pune as they don’t have
local distribution setup. This has lead to lack of trust, delay in delivery time, non
addressing of post sales issues, all these problems can be dealt by having a local
distribution setup in pune. Of course company will have to invest a lot for this but
looking at the potential of pune market, that investment is justified.
If company is only able to sell even 50 doctors every month, they will have sales
revenue of more than a lakh.
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 With a local distribution facility they could get the linen tenders of newly construted
hospitals or of already existing multi specialty hospital. This would increase their
sales and profits by many folds.

3.5 Limitations:
1) This research was only limited to understanding the reasons of lower sales volume in
pune, and it did not taken into consideration the finding of strategy to target
multispecialty hospitals in pune as these can be even more profitable to ILC, if they
could grab the tenders. One can have a special research on How to formulate strategy
to grab tenders of big hospitals.
2) Data collection period was not enough as we were mainly concentrated on achieving
the sales target.
3) The period of summer internship was just around two months, which was not enough
to carry out the research of this magnitude in fully efficient manner. One can add
many things to this research in absence of time constrain and with the help of MR
experts.

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65
 Date:

Questionnaire:

Name:

Hospital Name:

Post:

1) What is your Average OPD of the day?

A) 20-30
B) 30-50
C) 50-70
D) Above 70.
2) How many surgeries you carry out in a Month?
A) 5-10
B) 10-15
C) 15-25
D) Above 25.
3) Do you purchase Linen or make it in house?
A) Purchase
B) Make it in house.
4) How much are your monthly Expenses on Linen?
A) 500-1000.
B) 1000-2000.
C) Up to 5000.
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 D) Up to 10000
5) You go for bulk purchase or in small quantity as per requirement?
A) Bulk.
B) Small quantity.

6) How much do you think should be the appropriate delivery time after placing the order?
A) Immediate delivery.
B) 1 to 2 days.
C) One Week.
7) How much you will rate the following criteria of purchasing Linen out of 10?
A) Quality
B) Delivery Time.
C) Customized Product.
D) Price.
8) Which is more preferable of the following while Linen purchase?
A) Local Vendor with normal services.
B) Non Local vendor with better services.
9) Please specify the reasons of Opting Local or Non local Suppliers?

10) Can you suggest the name of some local vendors from where you purchase the linen?
1) 3)
2) 4)
11) Have you ever heard about Innovative Linen Company?
A) Yes.
B) No.
12) If yes, please specify the source?
A) Through ILC Executive.
B) Internet.
C) Other Doctors.
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 D) Any other source.

Websites:
 www.tradeindian.com
 http://en.wikipedia.org/
 www.sulekha.com

Books:
 Research methodology (methods and Techniques) by CR. Kothari.
 Marketing Management by Philip kotler.
 Market research by Naresh malhotra.

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