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TGMC Case Studies - Asian Paints enables faster information dissemination

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Table of Contents TGMC 2009 Case Studies Canara Bank ensures peak performance of its application with Tivoli Enterprise Software Canara HSBC reduces processing time Canara Robeco automates processes Credit Information Bureau ensures highavailability DHFL sets up integrated modular system Federal Bank creates a new online payment hub HDFC Standard Life saves Rs. 8+ crore HSBC enables efficient management of disk space usage IndusInd Bank lowers cost of ownership Janata Sahakari develops core banking systems Kotak Mahindra Asset Managment Company MAX New York Life Insurance reduces operational costs MAX New York Life Insurance saves nearly Rs. 1.6 crore Punjab National Bank creates an enterpisewise data warehouse Scope International reduces risk Standard Chartered Bank implements core banking solution State Bank of India

You are in: TGMC Case Studies > Table of Contents > TGMC 2009 Case Studies > Asian Paints enables faster information dissemination

Asian Paints enables faster information dissemination

| Updated June 12, 2012 by VijayKumar2012 | Tags: desktop_version, m_pow er, monitoring, sales_force_automation, smart_phone, w ebsphere Page Actions

ASIAN PAINTS ENABLES FASTER INFORMATION

dissemination with Sales Force Automation tool built on Websphere IBMS WEBSPHERE PLATFORM WAS SELECTED BY THE IT TEAM AFTER EVALUATING SEVERAL PLATFORMS

ORGANIZATION NAME: Asian Paints Limited WEBSITE: www.asianpaints.com INDUSTRY: Chemicals COMPANY PROFILE: Asian Paints is India's largest paint company with a turnover of over a Billion Dollars. Asian Paints along with its subsidiaries, has operations in 20 countries across the world with 28 paint manufacturing facilities, servicing consumers in 65 countries through Berger International, SCIB Paints-Egypt, Asian Paints, Apco Coatings and Taubmans. CHALLENGES Asian Paints has a field force of around 500 personnel who service around 25,000 dealers. The dealers place orders for paints at the sales office which then get delivered to their respective shops. The sales personnel of Asian Paints interact with the dealers on a regular basis to ensure dealer satisfaction with respect to information needs, scheme details, status of orders, any previous complaints etc. At times, the sales personnel also take orders on phone. These requirements meant that the sales personnel have to carry a number of physical reports in their travel bag. At the same time, they rely heavily on the sales office for online information. Administrative tasks such as filing a visit report necessitated a trip to the sales office. There was a growing business need to make the sales personnel more effective and efficient by equipping them with tools to operate independently and empower them to take faster decisions with the right information at their hands. SOLUTION A Sales Force Automation (SFA) initiative was conceptualized to tackle the above business challenge. After analysing the requirements of the sales personnel, IBMs Websphere Platform was selected by the IT team who evaluated several platforms. The Application was designed using IBM development tools and branded as M Power. Designed to run on a PDA smart phone, M Power connects to the back-end IBM Webshere Mobile Infrastructure over GPRS to exchange information and sync data. M Power is thus able to operate on both an online and offline mode. An Expeditor Client with a DB2e local database runs on these HP smart phones running Windows Mobile 5.0. To ensure consistent response time and secure data exchange, Asian Paints has also tied up with Airtel for creating a private GPRS network by installing leased lines between the Asian Paints data center and Airtel. M Power has three main features: 1.Dealer related functionalities offline module (requires synchronization) 2.Territory related functionalities offline module (requires synchronization) 3.Online module (real-time access)

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TGMC Case Studies - Asian Paints enables faster information dissemination

FEATURES Dealer related functions In this module, the activities that sales personnel perform for a dealer are covered. This includes: Record Dealer Visits: The sales personnel have to record date and time of visit and other activities undertaken such as describing the promotional offers, or taking down dealer concerns. This is used to track sales and dealer satisfaction. Place Orders: The tool also provides for taking orders from the dealers and entering the details. Once the order details are entered an Order ID is generated locally which is then synchronized with the server, a unique SAP Order ID generated, and then synchronized with the local device. Checking the Order Status: Sales personnel have the rights to view existing orders placed by the dealer and can inform the dealer about its status. Dealer Product Sale Report: Shows the product sales done by the dealer till date during this year and month as well as the comparison with last years results. This helps the sales personnel in review performance and take necessary action. Dealer Product Sale Report: Shows the product sales done by the dealer till date during this year and month as well as the comparison with last years results. This helps the sales personnel in reviewing the performance and taking necessary action.

What were some of the unique features or challenges in implementing the solution? Since the smart phone was being used across remote locations, connectivity was a major challenge. To ensure that the application can be effectively used in the event of weaker connectivity, a comprehensive sync module was conceptualized. The following modules were developed: Activity Sync to sync only the entries entered in the smart phone to the back-end Report Sync to sync only the reports from the back-end to the smart phone Master Sync to sync only the master data changes Schedule Sync to schedule a sync request at a particular time. A sync request would be auto triggered at the set schedule This approach enables the sales force to sync multiple times when connectivity is available without having to wait for an extended period of time to update entries in the back-end.

M Power on Desktops To protect against hardware failures that would disable the smart phone, a desktop version of the same application is available to the sales officer to ensure that there is no compromise on the process compliance.

M Power Monitoring To ensure that the entries entered by the sales officer is made available to the immediate mangers for near real-time monitoring and appropriate approvals, a separate offline application on Expeditor has been developed for the sales manager. This application has been designed to run on laptops. BENEFITS Now, the sales force at Asian Paints is empowered with information that helps them to operate independently and work smartly. A lot of the time that was earlier spent on travelling and administrative activities is now saved and sales personnel have more time to focus on the dealers. The speed of information exchange within the organization has also improved significantly. The main benefits can be summarized as: Higher responsiveness and information empowerment Improved Efficiency Quality Dealer Interaction

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