Name of Authors: Varoon Damodaran Shridhar Joshi Shruti Kaushik Rishab Sapra Prashant Borkar Nityanand Nawalkar Roll

No.9 Roll No.21 Roll No.24 Roll No.46 Roll No.5 Roll No.34

Title: Radhakrishna Foodland Private Limited (RFPL), an innovative initiative

ABSTRACT Inspite of unfavourable operating conditions for the cold chain Industry in India, RK Foodlands Ltd (henceforth mentioned as RKFL) has managed to sustain success by implementing innovative solutions to meet customers needs. RKFL devised new method to improve the supply chain with the objective of maximizing information flow. This has propelled the company to a consistent growth of __%

Introduction In India, the logistics sector supporting the supply chain management, especially of food produce and perishables is in a nascent stage. About 30% of the food produced in this agrarian country is wasted each year, which is adequate to feed countries like Britain for the entire year. The reason for this wastage is that the infrastructure in India is not adequately developed and there are very few market players as this is a very capital intensive industry. With this backdrop, there are a few companies that have survived in this industry despite the multiple challenges. Radhakrishna Foodland Private Limited has been one such company at the helm of the Cold-Chain development in India. Radhakrishna Foodland Private Limited (RFPL) was established in 1988, as a captive outfit for its other group companies requirements. They are the industry leader in the Supply Chain Management of Food, Near Food, Agri-Services and Pharmaceuticals. With over 35 years of experience in the Foodservice, Retail, Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs), Distribution and Logistics businesses, RFPL has evolved into a consolidated, single point SCM solutions provider to some of the worlds largest companies in India. In 1994, McDonalds India chose RFPL as its integrated supply chain partner. Since then, RFPL has built on its strengths to establish a leading position in one of the most demanding markets in the world. They

also cater to some of the worlds most prestigious brands like Subway, Pepsico, Bharti Walmart, McDonalds, Sodexho and Cadbury.

PURPOSE
To study how RFPL managed to be successful in spite of difficult operating environment in the cold chain industry.

OBJECTIVES With the cold chain sector making its in-roads in the market, RKFL came up with innovative techniques to meet the challenges of the market. RFPL is the national supply chain partner of McDonalds' Restaurants, which operates chain of QSR's (quick service restaurants) throughout the country. There was a need for a supply chain solutions system through which all the three types of goods i.e. frozen / chilled / dry could be delivered together at a time, without compromising on the integrity of the food product. One of the objectives is to study how RKFL accomplished this task. A leading MNC in FMCG snacks segment approached the RFPL to devise new method to improve the supply chain with the objective of maximizing information flow. Another objective of this study is to study the solution that RKFL provided to the customers need.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Shridhar,varoon,rishab

CONCLUSION Rishab,Shridhar

References: Neeraj Kumar, Manager Fresh Produce, M/S Vista Processed Foods Pvt. Ltd RK Foodland: Mr. Anumod, HR Mr. Imran Khan, Manager Training & Development

Mr. Akhil Sawhney, Business Development Managers Mr. Prasad Oak, Manager- Logistics (Mc Donalds Account)

Innovation Scenario 1 Present Outbound delivery through multi-temperature vehicles. Situation RFPL is the national supply chain partner of McDonalds' Restaurants, which operates chain of QSR's (quick service restaurants) throughout the country. They use hub and spoke model of supply chain for the distribution purpose. The DC (Distribution Center) at Kalamboli, Panvel provides the daily supplies to McDonalds' QSR's across the city of Mumbai. Prior to the development of new technique, stores were delivered Frozen, Chilled and Dry goods in separate vehicles. This resulted in higher transportation cost, more manpower in loading / unloading / delivery and inconvenience to McDonalds outlets which were receiving multiple deliveries and multiple documents. There was a need for a supply chain solutions system through which all the three types of goods i.e. frozen / chilled / dry could be delivered together at a time, without compromising on the integrity of the food product. Solution Against the conventional mode of distribution, need of a truck carrying multiple temperature products was felt. A multi-temperature refrigeration unit was imported and installed in the trucks. The units had two evaporators which enabled temperature setting for frozen and chilled products at the same time.

Partitions were created according to the capacity requirements. These partitions were used as separator walls between two temperature zones. Truck containers were made with two side doors in addition to the rear door. The side doors are used to unload products without disturbing the products carried in other temperature zones. The only problem with this type of multi-temperature trucks was that the downtime of these trucks were very high since the technical know-how on repairing of these evaporators is very limited in the country. To counter this problem RFPL developed a truck with two single units in such a way that there were two temperature sensitive compartments and one ambient temperature section. With the experience of maintaining single temperature units, the downtime of these trucks was reduced drastically. After the implementation of the multi-temperature trucks the following results were observed: 1. Consolidated delivery of frozen / chilled / dry goods. 2. Cost saving in transportation and manpower; against carrying approximately 150 cases per truck, the multi-temperature trucks carried 500 cases per truck with a mix of frozen, chilled and ambient products. 3. Convenient for the McDonalds store to receive all the goods at a single time window. 4. One order, one invoice and one delivery.

Scenario 2 Present A Leading MNC in FMCG Snacks Order status updates to Sales Team and Distributors. Situation A leading MNC in FMCG snacks segment approached the RFPL to devise new method to imrove the supply chain with the objective of maximizing information flow. Assistant Sales Managers (ASM) and the Distributors placed order with the CFA (Central Forwarding Agent) of the MNC as and when required. Once the order was placed, the status was available on the order w.r.t. the date and time when the delivery will reach. The fill rate / quantity received, was known

only when the delivery reached the customer. This affected further commitments from Distributors to the retailers and impacted subsequent orders. Since the retail purchase of the products, is driven by impulse, absence of product in the shelf means loss of sales. They needed a system wherein the status of order with respect to delivery and SKU level quantity is tracked.

Solutions The need was felt for information travel, faster than the product travel. Though the whole system worked on SAP, manual intervention was required with respect to information recorded outside SAP. Following steps were taken to keep complete visibility with Sales Team w.r.t. to the order placement to dispatch and delivery status: Ordering and Delivery scheduled on selected days of the week for a distributor based on Distributor sales volume and trend. Immediately after taking order, the CFA Order Taker will check the stocks and get back to the Distributor/ASM confirming what is available and what is not. If Distributor/ASM wants to take a substitute against what is not available, the order is revised with the substitute products. An order status report was published every day at 8.00 am and 8.00 pm, giving details on time and quantity of order placed/picked/dispatched/delivered. Every order placed during the day would be captured in this report along with the status. Every time an order is dispatched from the CFA, an SMS with the truck number and time of dispatch is sent to the Distributor and ASM., Every evening at 7.00 pm, SKU level fill rate report is published to all the ASMs, which informed them in advance, what is not coming, and what can substitute. While the emphasis for a better fill rate was by managing inventory better, the need for the above steps were felt.

Results 1. Fill rate went up from 70% to 95% against the amended orders. 2. Transparency of order status enabled the Distributors to commit to retailers on stock delivery timelines. 3. Transparency of fill rate helped the distributors to push stocks, which are available as substitutes, rather than lose sales on what is not available. 4. Overall, helped in pushing up the sales.

Conclusion We, students have learnt in theory about the various techniques to implement innovation in the industry but practical exposure to these techniques has given us opportunity to better understand the process and challenges to be expected while implementing product and process innovation and how to overcome them.

Other stuff: RK Foodland over the years has found innovative techniques to serve their clients better. Their customer centric approach has enabled many businesses in the country such as the quick service restaurant industry to expand across the nation.

RFPL has been successful in understanding all facets of Supply Chain Management Solutions. They are

focused on the Agri-Food, Consumer, Retail, Pharma and Food Service sectors and have emerged as the leading end-to-end SCM solutions provider and the preferred partner in the industry. Brand Protection At RFPL, their focus is to ensure that they protect the brand by ensuring business continuity and total system integrity and have developed a zero-tolerance approach to quality, health, hygiene, safety, the environment, maintenance and compliance, all in a continuous effort to serve the customer better. They were one of the first few companies to focus holistically on all attributes important to business.

With a carefully managed growth strategy and agile adaptation to their customers' needs, they have successfully established a leading position in one of the most demanding growth markets in the world. RFPL is backed by sound pan-India experience in the following sectors: 1. Food Services 2. Retail 3. FMCG 4. Pharmacy 5. Agriculture

Value Proposition to RFPL Customers:

Customer Centricity Their customer service orientation and the ability to anticipate, adapt, evolve and innovate with each customer or situation has enabled them to emerge as the trusted partner to some of the world's most prestigious brands.

RK Foodland customer service is at the core of their business philosophy. Their understanding of the

locations customers want to reach, the formats the customers prefer, customers product range and year round promotional cycles allow them to make sure that customers products are always available at a competitive price, ensuring that all service level parameters are measured, reported and reviewed periodically for timely corrective actions.

PURPOSE To study the strategies of a company that has developed innovative techniques from the perspective of products/services or processes.

Method: For the purpose of this study, the group visited the Main Distribution Center at Kalamboli, Panvel in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. This distribution center and warehouse is on the outskirts of Mumbai, where we experienced the operations for the McDonalds account first hand, along with our interviews with the employees of RFPL from various departments. Also, to understand the process in holistic sense, interviews were conducted with senior managers at Vista Processed Foods Pvt. Ltd. which is the global consultant of Hardcastle Restaurants, the group which owns the McDonalds Brand. The insights given by them were very helpful for the research. Innovation is a broad term with many possible interpretations. The capacity for innovation can be defined as the ability to do things alternatively and to continuously reinvent products and services. The focus for innovation within companies is on product or technology development and cost saving. Looking at new ways of organising work and implementing changes in the organisational structure to improve performance should thus be seen as an important form of innovation. With highly competitive condition of todays marketplace, it has become a necessity for companies to continuously reinvent product and

services.