With a firm belief that novelty in the supply chain is the best possible competitive advantage a company can get, along with the added benefit of enhanced customer service, OPERA, the operations Club of SJMSOM presented the Operations Continuum 2009 on 26th Sept on the theme, “Innovation in supply chain management: An answer to uncertainty”
The Event
The Operations Continuum 2009 began with the inaugural address by Professor G.K Adil from SJMSOM. He set the tone of the event by posing some thought provoking questions about the challenges in achieving operational efficiency and the hurdles faced by the Operations department in various Industry verticals.
The sessions started on a grand note with the keynote address by one of the distinguished alumnus of SJMSOM, Mr. Sanjeev Chachondia, Ex-CEO of Loop Mobile, who gave a panoramic view of the telecom sector in India including challenges in the current scenario and strategies for future growth. The people aspect of supply chain management was elaborated upon by Dr. Anant Mahale, Country Manager, i2 technologies wherein he talked about the importance of human capital in attaining excellence in supply chain operations. Mr. VGS Mani, Country logistics Manager, Nokia took things forward by touching upon the 3Ps i.e. Products, Process and People and he delivered an exciting talk on the impact of these three factors on the overall supply chain, putting the Mobile Handset Industry in focus. Next in proceedings was the talk by Mr. P.S. Easwaran, Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited, on managing Supply chains in volatile times by going back to basics. He emphasized on revisiting supply chain strategies and operations in difficult times through the case study approach.
The post lunch sessions started with insights on collaborations and the role of IT in achieving the same. Mr. Sukanta Padhy, Head-Supply chain, Cummins (I) Ltd, lucidly explained how collaborations can be used for achieving competitive advantage and he briefly touched upon the future of industry collaborations in supply chain operations. The next speaker, Mr. Pankaj Gupta, General Manager, Supply Chain Operations, HUL elaborated on the role of Supply chain in attaining competitive advantage and the talk was substantiated by a gamut of real life case studies featuring products across the various categories of HUL. The last session of the day was conducted by Mr. Deepak Chibba, Executive VP of Mahindra and Mahindra who spoke very eloquently about the challenges that exist on a real time basis when working in a global framework. He provided a holistic perspective on the global supply chain, covering topics ranging from global sourcing to softer issues like leadership.
All the dignitaries present gave very interesting talks embellished with real-life examples, which kept the audience engaged and involved through the presentations. All the talks were followed by interactive Q&A sessions wherein the students got an opportunity to pose pertinent questions to the distinguished speakers.
