The discussion was a part of the fifth edition of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Vocal for Local – Achieving Efficiency in Supply Chains’
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), one of the apex trade associations of India in association with ITC Sunfeast concluded the fourth edition of its Wisdom Series lecture titled ‘Role of Consumer Voice’ on the theme of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Vocal for Local – Achieving Efficiency in Supply Chain’. The event saw an expert panel consisting of Mr. Subroto Dey, Deputy General Manager, Industry Engagement GS1, Mr. Ishaan Bedi, Founder & CEO, Synchronized Supply Systems Ltd. and Mr. Anup Pai, Founder & CEO eSamudaay hold an insightful discussion on developing domestic logistic solutions for India supply chains, how it can contribute to product traceability across the supply chain and how it can ultimately help to achieve the goal of making India self-reliant under Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
Commenting on how Vocal For Local should increase consumer confidence in Indian companies, Mr. Ishan Bedi, Founder & CEO, Synchronized Supply Systems Ltd. said, “There is a trust deficit seen in Indian consumers when it comes to trusting Indian companies. As entrepreneurs, we feel that is a big gap that needs to be covered. Vocal For Local, while benefiting the manufacturing sector, should also be stretched to Indian technology and help in building trust in Indian companies and consumer confidence on the fact that Indian companies are able to provide solutions that are needed.”
Highlighting how replicating Western technological solutions to Indian markets especially, supply chain is not ideal, Mr. Bedi added, “India’s logistics problems are its own. It does not have the same issues faced by developed countries or even China. It has very unique problems in terms of the requirements of its domestic manufacturers, logistics and movement of goods. In that context, technology can not be bought off the shelf, photocopied or imitated. One has to take the arduous step of building that technology and tailoring it to the requirements of the domestic audience. That is a key aspect where Vocal For Local should play out.”
Continuing the discussion by emphasizing on how mindsets are changing, Mr. Anup Pai, Founder & CEO eSamudaay said, “We have been taking a lot of technology from the West. We have always admired the maturity of the technology of the West. But a lot of thinking is now changing with technology, network and data having now become commodities. We have entered the age of low code and no code, APIs and quick implementation of technology.”
The panellists also discussed the effect of COVID on the supply chain, technology disruptions in supply chain innovations through technology such as block chain, artificial intelligence etc that need attention and how Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative can produce a level of protection for domestic manufacturing.
Mr. Subroto Dey, Deputy General Manager, Industry Engagement GS1 highlighting the importance and benefits of developing efficient supply chains said, “To build supply chain efficiency, we need to have end to end visibility. We should be able to identify where a product is being manufactured, how the product is being produced, how it is moving from one end of the manufacturing chain to the other by crossing multiple stages of the chain and reaching the consumer. End to end traceability is possible only when you have visibility across the supply chain.”
The session was moderated by Ms. Nirupama Sharma, Joint Director, ASSOCHAM. She placed pertinent questions before the panelists and guided the discussion deftly into a meaningful and enlightening webinar. The experts shared industry insights based on Ms. Sharma’s questions that ranged from COVID’s effect on the supply chain to technology distributions in supply chains.