NOKIA INDIA BATTERY RECALL LOGISTICS

Q#1: Summary of the Case:

The case illustrates the recall action of Nokia which was initiated because of the spread of defected
batteries in the market, which caused them to swell. The batteries were manufactured in
Matsushita- Japan which turned out to be defective. The case further discusses the position of
Nokia in India. Due to over-whelming media coverage about the incident, Nokia decided to call
back the defected shipment. In calling back the shipment, Nokia faced supply chain issues, which
made the mangers rethink about the incident and devise strategies to overcome such issues in
future. To resolve this issue they are totally relied on Regional Distributer, Customer Care Centers,
Nokia Priority dealer and third party logistics. Problems faced by the Nokia since Nokia has to call
back its shipment in INDIA, it has to develop a total new strategy to deal with the situation. In
doing so, the company faced following problems as the batteries were given free to the customers,
the price zero cannot be added into SAP (Software System), which made Nokia prepare manual
invoices. It failed to understand the behavior of Indian customer base, who are not frequent users
of internet. The company faced Government intervention in shape of public holidays, which
delayed the shipments. Since the shipment was to be carried in large bulks and in different areas,
it had to contact DHL to join hands with local couriers in India, to make the delivery on time. The
incident of Diwali made Nokia to pay more to the local couriers in order to make them work for
extra hours. Since the batteries were free of cost, the company had to justify to the government
and Tax authorities why it was delivering free batteries. In the process of delivering the batteries,
the company failed to serve each customer due to lack of customer data, like address and phone
number. Thus it created a problem for the company to deliver batteries to such customers. But by
the best efforts of Supply Chain Management, Information systems, Logistics and reverse logistics
made it successful for Nokia as 95% of the battery replacement had been completed and initial
customer’s surveys showed the Nokia’s Reputation.

Q# 2: Take the position of Dhariwal in Nokia India: What is your role in a product recall
situation?

Logistic controller has the duty to arrange, oversee and look after the whole process of
transportation and deliver of goods from the place of production to consumption. Dhariwal is a
logistic controller of Nokia India. He is responsible for the entire logistics and transportation
whether by air, sea or land.
In the situation of an emergency or crises such as in this case where there is an urgent need of
recalling the products (faulted batteries), defective batteries, as a logistics controller this requires
an effective planning and management for the entire process of recall. The recall process involves
not only replacing the batteries but also making reverse logistics for getting the defective batteries
back for their disposal with environmentally friendly fashion.
Role in the process of forward logistics:
In this recall situation, as a logistic controller I have different duties such as,

There is the need to get the full descriptive information regarding the situation as well as
the required tasks that will be required and detailed plan of the company as to how will it
implement such plan of recalling.
Not only getting the information internally but also making this recall information and
procedure available to those affected by this recall, such as sales centers and dealers.
An operational logistics team shall be formed, which will be responsible for the entire
process, from the planning to its implementation. This requires the identification of the
available resources that can be used such as means of transportation and local third party
dealers. The available warehouses and mode of delivery etc.
Identification of the markets and potential segment and point of delivery to the final
customer. Assessing the required resources to make the whole process efficient. Identify
bottlenecks and prepare an extensive plan for the recalling process.
Helps the marketing team in solving the problems that the customer might face and through
proper medium create awareness to the customers of the process and gain their trust and
confidence.
Arrangements shall be made to take the shipment of the new replaced products, and for
this the arrangement of the transport is a vital role. In this process examine the needed
capacities that will be needed to accommodate such shipment take over. Thus,
considerations will include whether the transportation is available at current company
capacity or new transportation means is required to be hired.
Once the shipment is taken, the location of the products where they should be delivered
should be identified. The availability of the warehouse and transportation infrastructure is
major considerations, whether new warehouses are needed to be taken on rent etc.
Problem solving role, in case of some issues raised that might affect the logistic process
such as availability of temporary labor at time there is need arises.
There are quiet expectations that the employees become demotivated in this process if the
process is sudden and requires them to work more than their duty time. Thus, a proper
system of reward is introduced for the overall effectiveness of the process.
Make sure that the internal goods management system is working efficiently and each
product is accounted for and traceable under the system.
Finally, making proper planning to get the products delivered to the right customers, and
in a proper way; such as use local couriers services or use franchises of the company.

Q#3: Access Nokia India’s Handling to the battery recall, Aspects of the recall do you think
were handled well over aspects have room for improvement:
Handed well:
 First the Nokia made website access to the customers so that they can provide the serial
key of the battery so that they can enter this serial key on the battery into the website and
claim for the replacement of the battery. So they have quick reach to the web site
immediately to the problems by offering SMS, Customer Care Centers and direct shipment
to solutions for that.
Advertisement Communication Campaign aimed at its consumers. The focus of the
campaign is to decrease the losing consumers and to provide them the knowledge to check
the batteries and request for the replacement.
The delivery of free batteries, which under the law cannot be done, so to counter the issue,
the company employed “not for sale” packing to make it tax free Dhaliwal’s additional
Resources from Previous Companies.
Dispose off the old faulted batteries in a environmentally friendly way.

Room for Improvement:

Must Estimate the Size and the scale of the recall batteries operation because of huge
infrastructure of India with having 25 states. Must analyze the behavior of the consumers.
Did not estimated the customer limitation as web sites registration of faulted batteries is a
good strategy but not for rural areas where there is no concept of internet.
Blue Dart 3PL Logistics failed to handle large shipment. The help of DHL was a relief for
this operation.

Q # 4: Recommendations:
The company should develop its own distribution centers, most particularly in rural areas
where the Couriers cannot reach out easily. This will allow company to make efficient
deliveries in future and also will reduce the transportation cost.
In order to make the supply chain efficient, the company should take on board, multiple
Courier partners, both online and offline. This will enable the company to utilize them in
time of urgency.
The company should develop a strong relationship with government officials to facilitate
the supply chain and deal with the bureaucratic system of India.
In the process of delivering the batteries, the company failed to serve each customer due to
lack of customer data, like address and phone number. Thus it created a problem for the
company to deliver batteries to such customers. So they must have to make a strong data
base to keep appropriate data of customers during purchase.
Prepare blue print and road map for reverse logistics operations in a way that company
should coordinate with the third party logistics providers while preparing the road maps so
as to provide it flexibility and adaptability in future.
Create Organization Structure to handle reverse logistics for development.