RAMCO CEMENT

LIMITED insight into their marketing analytics

IIMC CASE STUDY

BY
GROUP 06
CONTENT
 Background

 Business model

 Business intelligence in RCL helped

 What were some of the critical success factors for Ramco in their implementation of
business intelligence system?

 How can Ramco enhance their marketing analytics system?

RCL’S BACKGROUND

First major IT investment to deploy

Ramco Group founded by UNIX based minicomputers supporting
PAC Ramasamy Raja various processes

1938 1981  5th largest cement producer

with a total production
capacity 16.5 MPTA
1957 2017  Over 2900 employees and a
Opened 1st cement sophisticated R&D centre in
manufacturing plant in 1 billion dollar Chennai
Viruthunaga with investment enterprise  9 state of the art cement
from State govt producing headquartered in production facilities with 5
Portland cement Chennai integrated cement plants & 4
grinding units
BUSINESS MODEL

 Trades in institutional customers & through huge network of distributors

 Advanced IT infrastructure at all levels of business transactions

 Heavy reliance on sales team to liaise, manage & work with distributors

 Focus on Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) for fair evaluation of sales

performance
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE IN RCL
HELPED
 Efficient Output through Team effort

 Effective ERP System Implementation

 KPI Process Improvement and alignment with the Strategic Goals

 Leveraging Technology for Marketing and Advertising

EFFICIENT OUTPUT THROUGH TEAM
EFFORT
RCL started focusing on ways in which this rich information could be tapped
and analyzed to obtain relevant business insights and observe trends. These, in
turn, could be used by the management to improve their decision making
process. Prima facie, the operational data could be used to identify current
inefficiencies in RCL’s manufacturing operations and systematically weed
them out, thereby reducing cost and improving profit margins.
 7
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE INITIATIVE AT
RAMCO

ERP system Implementation

Type of data Operational Real-time data Transactional data

collected

Complex cement manufacturing

Area of impact Customer and dealer relationships
process

What did BI Monitor & collect complex, high Customer behavior patterns, KPIs of
volume data/metrics over different dealers
collect/monitor?
processes in various plants

Identify and weed out Helped management to improve

How did it help? inefficiencies- reducing costs and customer satisfaction and
increasing profit margins dealer/salesforce performance
 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE INITIATIVE AT 8
RAMCO
• Lack of a dynamic KPI monitoring system to collect granular data (regions, districts, dealers etc.)
• Lack of a visual tool for Goals vs KPIs
Issues • Need for an optimization tool to reduce outbound logistics cost

• Ramco Geoapps: Provides performance data at a geographic level on Google Map

• Ramco Perfmon: Visualisation of KPI against goals
Solutions • Ramco Advanced Planning & Optimization: Dynamic optimization tool to reduce outbound cost

• Reduced penalties, losses and demurrage during the wagon clearance process by up to 70%
• Improved consignment clearance time by up to 40%.
Major • Successfully captured 20-30% market share in unrepresented markets
Achievement
s
 CHALLENGES
• Lack of standardization for employee appraisal
•
•
Employees KPIs not aligned with the teams strategic goals
No standard method to compare operational and performance metrics geographically
9
HRM

SOLUTIONS

• Standardized KPIs and developed dashboards for effectively visualizing and monitoring employee
performance
• Overlaying dashboard on google maps helped compare performances across regions

CHALLENGES
Marketing & Advertising

• Lack of standardization protocols for strategic placement of hoardings for maximum profit and
impact against competition
• Lack of standardized approach to determine optimized hoarding parameters for high impact (size,
height, distance between 2 hoardings)
• No way to monitor the impact of billboards on regional sales
• Ineffective manual tracking of billboard contracts expiry led to losing prime spots to competition
SOLUTIONS

• Google map system was used to plot all Ramco and competitors advertisement assets to strategize
better
• Revamped advertisement plan helped to explore and advertise to new locations
• Setting and enforcing optimized standards on hoarding placement parameters for contractors
• Automated systems helped in effectively tracking the advertisement expiry ensuring prompt action
to maximize ROI
 10

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CRITICAL SUCCESS

FACTORS FOR RAMCO IN THEIR IMPLEMENTATION
OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM?
 11
RAMCO’S HOLISTIC
APPROACH

Unlike traditional approach that solely focus on sales data to drive decisions, Ramco adopted a very
holistic approach to the final goal of increasing market share and sales. They constantly identified
business areas that could benefit from BI, which led to a quick turnaround time to identifying
inefficiencies and providing an effective solution to address them, hence reducing overhead, employee
frustration and increasing profits.
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OBJECTIVES & CRITICAL SUCCESS
FACTORS
Improve Reduce logistics Drive sales by
OBJECTIVE

Improve Improve Resolve

customer and cost by improving
manufacturing employee contractor pain
dealer streamlining marketing &
operations satisfaction points
satisfaction operations advertising

• Increase awareness • Effectively monitor

• Increase contractor records
transactional • Improve distributor to prevent lapses
• Visual dashboard to network
Critical Success

• Upgrade excel
transparency view/monitor KPIs, • Reduce region to
legacy systems to • Use BI to identify
• Identify region
Factors

• Track KPIs employee dynamic solutions new regions to

inefficiencies performance that can capture real inconsistencies by
early to reduce effectively acquire market standardizing the
• Overlay KPIs and time complex data share in high
overhead costs & • Forecast by contractor workflow
increase profit sales data on a map • Increase cross potential areas
studying patterns • Provide easy
to compare device compatibility • Be more strategic in
and trends/regions solutions to
metrics across for easy access placement of
• Visual depiction of regions contractors to help
hoardings/billboard standardize process
goals to motivate s
teams and record keeping
HOW CAN RAMCO ENHANCE THEIR MARKETING ANA
13
SYSTEM?
 14
SCOPE OF MARKETING SYSTEM ANALYTICS
ENHANCEMENT
• Pricing analytics for different areas to win over competition and to gain more market share in new regions
• Integrate real time data of geographical sales with that of advertising efforts in that particular region
• Identify underperforming regions by mapping contractor KPIs and current sales data to provide additional training/support
to the contractors
• Inputs and feedbacks from the contractors, developers should be included in the system
• Identify and target high potential construction zones and responsible contractors to quote attractive pricing for high volume
orders
• Measure visual engagement using eye tracking in advertising billboard
• Compare the impact of billboards on highways vs by-lanes to penetrate specific regions and modify strategy
• Monitor and track metrics to understand the impact of advertising tactics in specific regions for effective fund allocation
• Determine the cost effectiveness of the marketing and advertising tactics by analysing generated revenue to aid in
appropriate fund allocation and forecasting
Tracking KPIs at different
levels to:
•Identify trends & regional
bias
•Increase accountability and
ownership amongst employees
•Effective forecasting based on
real time sales data