A Supply Chain Management Project

Prepared by:
Bhargavi Parekh - 20131009
Krina Tarange - 20131045
Samriddhi Gambhir - 20131081
Supriya Kumari - 20131093
Khuzema Raj - 20131146
Harsha Telwani - 20131183

Submitted to:
Prof. Firdos Solanki
Assistant Professor,
School of Business and Law, Navrachana University
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Acknowledgement
We would like to express our profound gratitude to Prof. Firdos Solanki, Assistant Professor,
School of Business & Law department, and Dr. Hitesh Bhatia, Associate Dean, School of
Business & Law, Navrachana University, for their constant guidance and support in the
completion of our project titled ‘Uty Pro- Supply Chain Management’.

We would like to express our special thanks to our mentor and interviewee Mr. Aalok Vakil for
his time and efforts he provided throughout the completion of this project. His useful advice and
suggestions were really helpful to me during the project’s completion. In this aspect, we are
eternally grateful to him.

We would like to acknowledge that this project was completed entirely by us, i.e., Bhargavi
Parekh, Krina Tarange, Samriddhi Gambhir, Supriya Kumari Khuzema Raj and Harsha Telwani
and not by someone else.

Table of Contents

Sr. No. Title Page No.

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1. About Uty Pro 3

2. Supply Chain Process 4

3. Uncertain Demand & Supply 7

4. Responsive Supply Chain 9

5. Challenges 10

6. Forecasting 10

7. Inventory Management & Warehousing 11

8. Transportation & Logistics 13

9. Technology (IT, SRM & CRM) 14

10. Sustainable Supply Chain 15

11. Conclusion 16

12. Appendix- Questionnaire 17

About Uty Pro

Uty Pro - Utility Products is a start-up by Mr. Aalok Vakil started in 2018 as a small
manufacturing factory for foldable laptop tables targeting school kids for studies and later
targeting WFH office workers. He was interested in consumer related products so he came up
with 7 innovative products and started his own business.

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Quickly it became popular during COVID-19 and there was a rise in demand for customised
foldable laptop tables in both height and size. Their other products include foldable phone stands
that too in multiple sizes. It is a B2B (direct gift shops) and B2C (exhibitions to display his
products and he uses WhatsApp Business for customised order) business. They sell their
products both locally (in Vadodara) and in Mumbai. Currently, the company does not have a
website nor any social media marketing channels.

The Interview
We interviewed Mr. Aalok Vakil on 13th November 2022.

Supply Chain Process

1. Sourcing of wood -
They use eco-friendly cotton & sugar waste based wood which are compressed and
brought from wholesalers. They come through light commercial vehicles such as tempos
or industrial rickshaws.

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2. Manufacturing Process -
The wood is then transported to the factory where it is cut according to the size required,
then sunmica or laminates
are applied on both top and
bottom - different colour
laminate is used according to
the customised orders. The
edges and borders of the
wood panel are covered with
protective plastic edges.
Wood is then flipped to the
bottom side where clams and
legs of stainless steel or mine
steel rods which are powder
coated (height of the steel
rods vary due to
customization) are screwed onto with nuts and bolts. These screws, nuts and bolts
workers buy and bring in transportation vehicles (2 wheeler or 4 wheeler because they are
very small parts). So, basically, there are 2 main types of inventory- one which is already
pre-made and ready to supply and shown as a sample to customers and the other is
through Make-To-Order which is customizable by height, size and colour. Then these
products are transported to a warehouse where it is stored along with other finished
products.

3. Warehousing -
According to size, height and type of products, the products are stored in the warehouse.
The ready-to-dispatch products will be on a different shelf. The company is using
traditional methods for dispatching and distribution communication.

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4. Distribution -
The distribution is done either through courier if the order is small or by trucks, ev
tempos, trains, etc.

a. Commercial Distribution (B2B) -

In the case of B2B, they directly supply to gift shops, retailers and malls and those
orders go through tempos as these are comparatively bigger orders in terms of the
quantity.

b. Direct Distribution to Customers (B2C) -

Through exhibitions he is getting in touch with direct customers and taking
custom orders. For them the order is dispatched through couriers because they are
ordering 1-2 products.

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Uncertain Demand

There are a lot of uncertainties as far as demand is concerned. As these are not fast moving
products and are not purchased frequently, demand is uncertain almost throughout the year.

The company faced uncertainties in demand also due to economic environmental factors such as
demonetization, COVID and the following lockdown, etc. For eg: During the beginning of
academic year there is comparatively higher demand for study tables, but as COVID period
started during 2020’s academic year, there was an overall decline in demand. On the other hand,
when schools and colleges started their operations online, the demand for foldable laptop tables
suddenly increased.

To manage the inventory built-up caused by uncertain demand, the company often has to give
discounts or combo offers in order to free their blocked working capital.

To manage customised product demand by customers, they listen and understand their needs,
problems that they are facing, and try to do their best to do some innovation and make changes in
their products to best suit their needs. At times, it is completely impossible with the current
infrastructure what they want but wherever it is possible the company gives their best and
thereby have come up with many new products because of customers’ ideas and demands.

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Responsive Supply Chain

The owner of the company wants to aim for making his supply chain both responsive (to ensure
that customer service level is 100%) and efficient (to make the products cost effective).
Accordingly he has tried to implement strategies belonging to both types of supply chains.

But this is a mistake they are making, as it is not practically possible to combine both the supply
chains. As his main focus is on providing customised foldable tables, he should opt for making
his supply chain responsive.

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Challenges
The company faces many challenges such as uncertain demand, transportation problems, keeping
up with the latest technology and investing in technology, etc. These challenges are further
intensified due to the lack of IT systems.

Forecasting
The company does not use any advanced software for forecasting, but rely on their personal
judgement to forecast demands for festival time such as Diwali, Christmas, Holi, Rakhi, etc. As
during this period gifting is at its peak, they forecast higher demand. Even during the wedding
season and Diwali some products go for corporate gifting so they build up their inventory
accordingly.

During the May-June-July school

period they target students and
predict the demand accordingly.

Due to lack of data based

forecasting, the company has faced
many errors in their forecasts. For
example: Once during Karwa
Chauth they participated in an
exhibition and forecasted high
demand based on the expected
footfall. Based on this high
prediction of demand they hoarded
up their inventory. But in that
exhibition home decor items, jewellery and clothes were more popular as the people visiting
were not looking for their products. This mistake in forecasting leads to high inventory holding

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costs. Instead, the company should have participated in exhibitions related to education such as
Education Fair, as their target audience would have come there.

Inventory Management & Warehousing

The company uses Tally, which is an accounting software, but it also helps in managing their
inventory.

In inventory management they have to take care of transportation cost, labour cost, inventory
maintenance cost (when storing their raw materials, they have to keep the warehouse clean and
free of termites and pests by fumigation and the warehouse has to be free of humidity cause it
will damage the products).

Currently for warehouse management they own a warehouse, which makes warehouse
management easier for them.

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Photos of Inventory Management & Warehousing:

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Transportation & Logistics

Mainly they use light commercial vehicles, tempos, trains, Tata Ace SCV (Small Commercial
Vehicles), industrial rickshaws, trucks, ev vehicles.

For calculation of transportation risk, they keep a few percent like 5% or so which is either paid
during transportation fee or damage of the goods fee they cover in their cost.

Transportation mode is decided based on the priority of delivery as well as the dimensions of the
product. When the size of the products are small they avoid transportation through trains so at
that time it goes through courier, but when it is slightly bigger it goes through tempos, and when
it is huge it goes through trains. The company uses 1PL logistics.

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Technology (IT, SRM, & CRM)

For the technology part they use Tally Software to maintain inventory and stock records, MS
Excel, etc. For communication with both suppliers and customers, they use WhatsApp Business
and e-mails to do regular follow-ups and promotions.

Other than that they have not yet implemented any advanced IT or SRM systems. Hence, the
efficiency level of their supply chain and operations management is still low.

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Sustainable Supply Chain

The company’s products are Green, that is, they are eco-friendly and the wood is made up from
the waste of cotton and sugar. Their transportation is done by EV Rickshaws and tempos so in
that way they are contributing to the environment by reducing pollution level.

Conclusion
Uty-Pro has a long way to go as far as managing their supply chain is concerned. While their
operations and supply chain is not yet fully developed as they are still in the introductory stage,
they should build a responsive supply chain and establish strong IT systems, strategies, and
forecasting methods to ensure their growth.

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Appendix
Questionnaire
1. Could you please explain the supply chain of your foldable laptop tables? (Supplier,
manufacturer, distributor, retailer, customer).
2. Do you face problems of uncertain supply or uncertain demand as far as foldable laptop
tables are concerned?
3. How do you keep up with uncertain demand/supply?
4. How do you manage customised product demand by customers?
5. Is your company’s supply chain responsive or efficient? Could you please give a detail of
your effective/responsive supply chain process?
6. What challenges do you face in your supply chain?
7. How do you forecast your orders? Which methods and tools do you use for forecasting?
8. Have you ever come across a forecasting error? If yes, what were the consequences of it?
9. How do you manage your inventory? What type of systems have you
implemented/developed for managing inventory?

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10. What kind of cost does it (inventory management) include?

11. What are the modes of transportation you use for your products? (from bringing the parts
to transporting the finished item)
12. How do you calculate the transportation risk?
13. How do you segment the shipment based on priority?
14. Do you use any transportation management system?
15. Which type of warehousing do you use to manage your cost?
16. Which party logistics do you use? (1PL, 2PL, 3PL, 4PL, 5PL)
17. What kind of Supply Chain Information Technology does your organisation use to keep
track of the products - from manufacturing, warehousing to shipping and transportation?
18. Do you use any SRM system or any other technological systems to effectively manage
your operations and have transparent communication with your suppliers? If yes, can you
please tell us more about it?
19. Do you use any CRM system to manage your customer communications? If yes, can you
please tell us more about it?
20. Does your company follow any sustainable supply chain process? If yes, what kind of
factors are considered while using the green supply chain?

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