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(Gul-Ahmed) : Supply Chain Management
(Gul-Ahmed) : Supply Chain Management
(GUL-AHMED)
GROUP MEMBERS:
SIDRA SHEIKH
MUHAMMAD ARSALAN
SAIF ALI SHAMIM
ANIQA WAHEED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Company profile
History
Business activities
Products
Supply chain management of Gul Ahmed
Supply chain drivers
Pricing
Distribution
Inventory management
Transportation
Operations
Corporate Social Responsibilities
Competitive landscape SWOT
Competitive analysis
Target market & customers
Placement
Promotion
Conclusion
Company Profile:
Gul Ahmed first began trading in textiles in the early 1900's, and manufacturing started in 1953 with
the establishment of Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited. Gul Ahmed was listed on the Karachi Stock
Exchange in 1972. Fifty years since its inception, the name Gul Ahmed is still synonymous with
quality, innovation and reliability.
Being vertically integrated Gul Ahmed is capable of producing different varieties, starting from cotton
yarn to finished product involving different processing techniques. With an installed capacity of
120,000 spindles, the spinning units are able to produce a wide variety of yarns from 100% cotton yarn
to poly-cotton, cotton-viscose and other blends in both coarse and fine counts.
The weaving units are equipped with high speed 250 airjet looms and can produce high quality fabrics
in sheetings, satins, percales, twills, drills, dobbies, voiles and an array of other finely woven fabrics
including yarn dyed. Processing is equipped with sophisticated technology to ensure quality printing,
dyeing, different finishing treatments with facilities to add extra value to products in terms of coating
and flocking.
With modern, state of the art stitching facilities Gul Ahmed is equipped with regular and specialised
machines which manufacture products in many varieties and styles. Large embroidery and quilting
units add versatility for embellished products to cater to all sorts of customer needs and requirements.
All this is backed by systems that constantly check and control production to achieve high standards
. Company History
The story of textiles in the subcontinent is the story of Gul Ahmed. The group began trading in
textiles in the early 1900s. With all its know-how and experience, the group decided to enter the
field of manufacturing and Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Ltd. was incorporated as a private limited
company, in the year 1953. In 1972 it was subsequently listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange.
Since then the company has been making rapid progress and is one of the best composite textile
houses in the world. The mill is presently a composite unit with an installed capacity of 130,296
spindles, 223 wide width air jet looms, and a state of the art processing and finishing unit.
Business Activities
Textiles
In the textile field, activities start from the spinning of cotton as well as man made fibers and
extend to weaving, processing and finishing of all types of cotton and blended fabrics, bed linen,
home furnishings, garment manufacturing, etc.
Management
Management of the group is professionally qualified and broadly experienced. The directors have
held top positions in various textile bodies, export committees and have also assisted the
Government of Pakistan in some of the major trade talks with EC and USA authorities.
Bankers
Main bankers of the group are:
Products:
1. Fashion Fabrics and Apparel
2. Home textiles, Embellished Beddings and Curtains
3. Singed Dyed and Mercerised Yarn
4. Combed and Carded Yarn for knitting and weaving
The apparel line consists of fabrics such as lawn, linen, chiffon, latha, khaddar and polyester cotton, for
the ladies collection. Gents collections are chairman, texana, poplin etc. The Home Textile range of bed
linen, cushions, kitchen items and curtains are in plain dyed, printed upto 21 colours embroidered and
embellished in different styles. Gul Ahmed is proud to be the largest Home Fashion Exporter to the
European Union consistently for the last 25 years.
Supply Chain:
We have the very strong and effective supply chain management, we have the number of items
that are major component of the Textile Industry that is Cotton, Yarn, Gray, Dyes & Chemicals,
Spare parts, Packing Material, Stitching Accessories, General Items etc.
We have the very transparent procedure of the procurement of the above items, Cotton is
normally a very specific material and the cotton are trade and fluctuate on daily basis so the
forward purchasing is done from the suppliers to avoid any stock out position. We booked our
cotton on the basis of the orders received from the export and the Local retail shops. The same
procedure applies to the Yarn and the Gray procurement.
Dyes & Chemicals are mainly imported and we have the internationally recognized suppliers like
BASF, Clariant, Dystar, Stork etc. they are the quality suppliers and they are also recommended
by our valued customer as well. For the Local purchasing such as chemicals, Packing material
and General Items we get the quotations from different suppliers and evaluate each of them
beside the price negotiations and finally to approved supplier we visit the factory to check either
any child labor or any envoi mental violation is being done at the factory. We are the quality
supplier for our customers so we strive to maintain the best quality.
They recommend the average inventory turnover for the local dyes & chemicals for two weeks
and for imported dyes & chemicals for four months (based on future orders).
And for Stores & Spares we broken down the items in three categories such as Insurance Items
(That could be required any time in emergency and we keep them in stock to avoid any long
stoppage of machines, they normally include the critical parts for the machine and that could take
more than 4 weeks to import. Second one is Running Items that are commonly use spare parts
and tool and we keep its inventory as per explain above and all the spare parts, Tolls and general
items are approved in the yearly budgets department wise.
Pricing:
Our Pricing policy is some how mixed in connection with the Local and export. We use Total
cost Plus pricing for export orders that mean we do pre order costing based on sample approved
by the customer and send them for the acceptance. And for Local we have pricing based on the
market. We have the competition in the Local market as well and many brands are running so
that we consider the market before pricing the product.
Distribution:
Distribution channel are different for Local and Export orders, we have our own transpiration for
the distribution to the retail outlets in Karachi but for the other cities we have the contract with
the transporting companies to deliver to all outlets outside the Karachi. For export we do the
direct shipment to the customer. The shipment dates and the destination provided by the
customer.
Operations Spinning
Gul Ahmed is a network of composite mills which manufacture goods from yarn to finished
products. In order to achieve and maintain high quality control and to retain strict focus on
specialization, the production units have been decentralized into the following units:
Spinning
Weaving
Quality Control
Spinning
Gul Ahmed has two spinning units. The machinery used in these units is made in the U.K.,
Japan, Germany & the U.S.A.
Ring Spinning
The ring spinning operation comprises of a total of 130,296 spindles. A wide range of yarns are
produced in these units: 100% cotton from 50 NM for knitting and weaving, up to 135 NM for
light weight dress fabrics. Poly Cotton, Poly viscose and 100% viscose yarns are also produced
from 7 Ne to 100 count.
Operations Weaving
Weaving
The units have 223 air jet looms. The air jet looms come from Tsudakoma of Japan. The latest
installation of air jet looms operate in a new custom built weaving facility supported by the most
modern yarn preparation equipment and are comparable with the finest available yarn
preparation equipment anywhere in the world.
These units produce fine quality lawns, sheetings, twills, drills, dobbies, satins, and other fancy
fabrics with a width of up to 330 cms.
Operations Pretreatment, Printing, Dyeing, Finishing
Pretreatment, Printing, Dyeing, Finishing
The wet processing unit is equipped with a wide range of state of the art machines which gives
Gul Ahmed a flexible processing possibility and an edge over its competitors.
Gul Ahmed has 4 sophisticated rotary printing machines Capable of printing up to 21 colours on
fabrics as wide as 320 cm.
Processing and Finishing Machinery
Calender
CAD/CAM System
Colour Scanner
Dyeing Range
Film Plotter
Laser Engraver
Mercerizing
Stentor
Sanforizing
Wax Engraver
The first installation of a laser engraver, wax engraver, film plotter, colour scanner, &
CAD/CAM system in Pakistan was made at Gul Ahmed. Gul Ahmed places great emphasis on
innovation and implements the latest technology available. It is dedicated to computerization in
aspects of design reproduction.
In the finishing section, modern stenters are fitted with the most sophisticated electronic weft
straighteners which achieve perfect finishes. Final touch to the fabrics is given on different
calenders according to the requirements of the buyers.
An automated and computerized colour kitchen enables production of exact colour shades each
time from the use of recipes which are stored in the computer's memory station.
Operations Design & Styling
Design & Styling
Gul Ahmed's design studios are staffed with experienced artists with capabilities to meet the
most stringent requirements in design and to adapt to different colourways to meet the
requirements of each individual country. The company also employs leading European designers
who constantly develop new designs for specific geographical areas. A top French designer
works full time for Gul Ahmed and spends 2 months in Pakistan and 2 months in Paris on a
rotational basis throughout the year. The designing team visits major international exhibitions to
keep abreast of current market trends.
STRENGTHS:
strong brand name that it carries as its parent brand
People across the country trust the brand Gul Ahmed for it quality, novelty and
eminence. Especially in the clothing line their quality is considered to be superior to
their competitors.
WEAKNESS:
there is not complete exclusive distribution for Ideas
OPPORTUNITIES:
One of the major opportunities that await Ideas is the fact that they can expand their
business greatly. This expansion can be both: Locally and Internationally
Another diversification that holds a lot of opportunity is to invest and venture into
cosmetics market
THREATS:
Political Instability
Competitors
SWOT EXPLANATION:
STRENGTHS:
The major strength Ideas has currently is the strong brand name that it carries as its parent brand.
It banks heavily on the brand name Gul Ahmed. People across the country trust the brand Gul
Ahmed for it quality, novelty and eminence. Especially in the clothing line their quality is
considered to be superior to their competitors.
Consequently the loyal customers of Gul Ahmed would want to buy or try other product range
that is being offered by Gul Ahmed. Apart from the regular customers of Gul Ahmed clothing a
lot of people who would want to buy other households might want to try ideas because of the
mere fact that it belongs to Gul Ahmed.
The fact that they are offering personalization on some of their products makes them different
from their competitors. For instance they are offering to embroider on the bed sheets etc
according to the individual customers. This is giving them an edge over their competitors.
Another Strength is that they dont have many competitors, so if they market tactfully they can
make a mark within no time. The concept of having a one shop stop is relatively increasing as
people find it convenient to buy all the household stuff from a single store. Although it is
becoming a popular concept but they dont have many competitors in the market as the market is
not very saturated.
One of the major strength they bank on is the increasing awareness of diversion between income
and economic classes. Shopping from good branded stores and malls has become a trend. So,
shopping from these big stores is becoming a status symbol. Now is the right time to make the
most out of this strength which is at its peak right now.
WEAKNESS:
There are a few weaknesses that Ideas has to take into consideration and work on for the
improvement of its business:
One of the major weaknesses is that they are overpriced for the variety they are offering.
Although it is competitive to their other competitors but the overall pricing is a bit too high given
the fact that the clothing prints and the material they are selling on other shops at a lower price
are being sold at a higher price in the ideas outlet. So, taking the clothing line specifically, the
items that are being sold at Ideas are also being sold at other shops so there is no exclusive
distribution for Ideas. In comparison to this the competitors have exclusive distribution for their
stores. The products offered there are not being sold anywhere else.
Another weakness is that they are not marketing themselves currently rigorously as compared to
Chen one and Bareeze which are their competitors. They dont have a television advertisement at
all and they dont usually advertise through print media as such. Only a few bill boards are
displayed around the town, which does not really give them visibility or make their presence felt.
So they really need to work on their marketing to make them known. As opposed to this their
competitors pay special attention to their marketing campaign and design them well.
Another weakness is their display of items. It is too cluttered and shabby. Their outlets in
different cities have different ways of displays i.e. there is no coherence. Even the individual
outlet is not well displayed as compared to their competitors who have a very clear display and
each section is differentiated in a lucid manner.
OPPORTUNITIES:
One of the major opportunities that await Ideas is the fact that they can expand their business
greatly. This expansion can be both:
Locally
Internationally
Locally there are many cities that are still unexplored but they do have a lot of potential. Apart
from that they can also participate in different business festivals where they can put their stalls
and displays. So taking part in such activities would not only bring awareness for their brand but
also make it easier for them to enter the markets that are still untapped by them.
Internationally there is a huge potential for them to setup their stores. For instance Chen one is
doing exceptionally well in Dubai, so that shows that there is a huge market for such stores.
What needs to be considered is that they need to open their stores in markets where there is
potential and the right kind of consumers that would be able to shop from this brand.
Another diversification that holds a lot of opportunity is to invest and venture into cosmetics
market. As they are a reliable brand and offering a home concept shop, offering cosmetics would
also be successful. Cosmetics market is huge with little local players. People would consider
their cosmetics range reliable and of good quality because of the mere factor that their parent
company has a great name as far as quality and reliability hold. They can give their cosmetics a
different brand name but can display them on ideas outlets. They are already making perfumes so
making a complete range of cosmetics would only help them.
THREATS:
The dominant threats to Ideas currently are:
Political Instability
Competitors
The major threat to any business currently is the political situation in the country. Strikes, riots
and other instabilities are increasing by the day. It affects the businesses adversely. It not only
affects the sales of the store but may also cause damage to the outlet itself.
Secondly, the rising costs of production that includes the costs from materials to all the overhead
costs are making it difficult for the textiles industry to sustain. Although there is no threat of
sustaining the business but it does increase the cost of production which in turn increases the
price. So, the current economic crunch is also a threat for them to develop more efficient ways
and means of manufacturing and commuting their products to their outlets.
Last but not the least the threat is from their competitors. Chen one is famous for their grand
sales, discounts and the offerings that they have for their prestige customers. They also have a
long established their name in this business of selling almost all the households at one shop.
But if they make the most of their strengths and take up the opportunities that they have, it wont
take them long to match up to their competitors in the market.
Target Market & customers
PLACEMENT
Ideas is a store by Gul Ahmed and therefore it follows exclusive distribution. The products by
Gul Ahmed are available at its store that is located in the major cities of Pakistan like
Karachi
Lahore
Islamabad
Hyderabad
At these stores customers get the entire range of Gul Ahmeds products including home products,
gifts and personal wear.
Along with its physical presence it has also maintained its online shopping facility for its
consumers. The consumers can log on to the website and can order online. The online presence
has helped it gain the international consumers and in this way it has buit has brand
internationally.
PROMOTION
Ideas follows integrated marketing communication in which it uses a number of advertising
mediums to communicate its personality and positioning to the consumers. Its IMC includes the
following advertising mediums
Billboards
Banners
Magazine
News paper
Internet
Ideas has its own magazine that it uses to communicate its new offerings to its target market. The
magazine is published twice a year with the changing variety due to the change in the season.
Complete information is given with images about its product range including home products,
gifts and personal wear. Different celebrity endorsements are used to enhance the effectiveness
of the brand. It has also been given the title of SUPER BRANDS in Pakistan.
Billboards are used to increase the brand visibility in Lahore, Hyderabad, Karachi and
Rawalpindi. Competitors have also placed billboards. New happenings are mostly communicated
through banners and newspapers. It has also maintained its online presence through its website
which also offers subscription and the consumers are updated through mails also.
Ideas also care about its corporate social responsibility. It has taken steps to make sure that the
environment remains clean. For this the company has installed a state of art water recycling plant
to biologically treat its processing waters and gas turbine unit to produce energy at a low carbon
emission. Some of the areas that they focus include:
Re-using water
Re-using energy
Conclusion