Process Equipment Division Team

yderabad Branch conducted a full day training programme on 27 September, 2003 for our distributor technicians. About 14 technicians participated in this programme. Our service head, R.H. Ansari, was present for this Meet along with the Hyderabad Branch team.

(L-R): Senior Sales Officer, C. Nayamatullah and Assistant Sales Manager E.R.S. Reddy
conduct a training session for distributor technicians.

E.R.S. Reddy
Hyderabad Branch

Maharashtra Retailers Get Together

ocks Division (Maharashtra Branch) conducted a conference-cum-pleasure trip at Kumar Resort, Lonavala, on 9 November, 2003 for approximately 45 retailers of our distributor M/s. Geeta Hardware.

There were Distributor salesmen and technicians in the trip wearing red and blue uniforms, our brand colours, with the Godrej emblem on it. This was a good way of showing association with the Company.

Retailers along with their families have a splurge at Kumar Resort, Lonavala.

The retailers were very happy with the trip. They requested that we continue with such programmes where they get an opportunity to make their relations stronger with the Godrej parivar.

Prizes distributed after a lucky draw to the retailers in their presence made them quite confident about the authenticity of the different promotions carried out in the market by the Godrej Locks Division.

T. Sashi Kumar, West Zone

Davanagere Exhibition

angalore Branch participated in the Davanagere Properties, Building Material and Interior Exhibition organised by U.S. Communication, Bangalore from 19th to 22nd September, 2003 at Abhinava Renuka Mandira, Davanagere, along with distributor M/s. M.P. Hardware. The main focus and enquiries was on Rim type locks, especially our Vertibolt 2C Model. The entire range, including our new products, was exhibited.

K. Mohan Kumar,
Bangalore Branch

CII Uttaranchal Fair

ur Lucknow Branch participated in the CII Uttaranchal Fair organised from 16th to 19th October, 2003 at Parade Grounds, Dehradun. For the first time in Dehradun city, we introduced a Hotel Card Lock, which became a major crowd puller. Local dealers M/s. Talwar Agencies and Kwality Hardware actively supported the Fair.

“Professionally organised Trade Fairs not only build public awareness, but also play an important role in business promotion,” said Uttaranchal Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari, who inaugurated the Fair. Over a hundred companies participated in the event. A live band, Taan Trikz, added melody to the Fair. People mostly booked orders for the Godrej Ultra range to be used for their new houses and kothis.

S.K. Mazumdar
Lucknow Branch

Anand Mela

he Mumbai team of Godrej Locks participated in the Anand Mela on 15 November, 2003 at the Godrej Playground at Hill Side Colony, Pirojshanagar. The stall was put up along with our local distributor M/s. Yatra Arcade who gave us full support and cooperation. Our Division sponsored the third prize in the lucky draw.

The programme started at 5.15 p.m. It was a cultural get-together with a huge crowd gathered at the Ground.

On Sunday, 16 November, 2003, a roadshow was organised by the Mumbai team at Pali Hill along with the active support of our distributor M/s. Sakaria Enterprise. The show was organised by Pali Hill residents from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In both the events, our products were displayed at the stall and we received good mileage in promoting our range of locks, mainly Ultra. The crowd showed keen interest in our new products. The team members helped customers to resolve their queries and guide them in selecting locks based on their requirement.

We extend our special thanks to the distributors, their sales members and to our Marketing team who were present to assist us in the programmes.

Aspi Wadia
Mumbai Branch

Glimpses of Anand Mela

G.R. Dastoor, Assistant General Manager (Personnel & Administration),
witnesses the opening ceremony of the Anand Mela and distributes balloons.

G.R. Dastoor coordinates the game of Musical Chairs.

Stalls set up on the Godrej Playground sell a variety of products.

Inside Outside Mega Shows

Locks Division display their products at the Mega Shows in (L) Hyderabad and (R) Bangalore.

 

RETAILING DIVISION

The Old Newborn of Godrej & Boyce

ncepted on 1 April, 2003, the Retailing Division is the youngest Division of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. Encompassing the 31 existing Showrooms spread across the country, this is truly a rebirth of the existing retail business in a new avataar.

“Change” is truly a single word that can describe what has so far happened in the Retailing Division and what is likely to happen in the near future. The first step in the change process was staffing — placing the right people in the right places. This was followed by a training programme. Tailored to address the changing expectations of customers from retail outlets, it was conducted by Nithul Ojha of Team Productivity for all the 40 employees of the team. The programme, kicked off by P.D. Lam, President and Executive Director, was directed towards changing the mindsets of the team. Customer focus, result orientation, ambitious growth, product knowledge, retail environment in India and abroad, were some of the areas addressed.

The existing Showroom design conceptualised in the sixties and the seventies by our then consulting architect, the late Zal Gobhai, has proved to be robust and has served well for decades. With changing times, though, the Showrooms needed a more contemporary and fresh look. In order to achieve this, renovation of the Showrooms is another initiative undertaken by the Retailing Division on priority. Renovation is a complex and daunting process. It starts with conceiving the design and selecting the materials along with Visual Merchandising Consultant Manu Mansheet.

The next steps would involve obtaining sanction for additional electrical power, if required, for air-conditioning, finalising of contractors and monitoring the quality and progress of work in conjunction with our Construction Department and our Electrical & Electronic Services. It was the wholehearted involvement of these two Departments and the concerned Branches that has facilitated speedy renovation. With continued support from all, the Retailing Division plans to renovate 12 Showrooms in the country during the current financial year. So far, it has completed renovating five Showrooms and three are in progress.

B.N. Doongaji, Vice President, Retailing Division, with his long experience in setting up new Branches and businesses, is himself steering the renovation initiative. After the renovation of Thane, Chandni Chowk, Chandigarh and Godrej Bhavan Showrooms in this financial year, Dombivli Showroom was renovated in the month of November. With the youthful and fresh inputs of Manu Mansheet, our newly renovated Showrooms are appreciated by one and all. And, all this is achieved with very tight budgets!

Success Stories
The upbeat mood in the team is reflected in the many success stories and innovative initiatives taken up by the team members. A net-based initiative called “e-Applause” to share the success stories of our team members has been started. From the “e-Applause”, our members come to know about the good things done by their peers. This has helped us in learning from each other’s successes and taking pride in our work. Some of the success stories are worth sharing with our entire Godrej parivar.

One of the VIP customers, Mira Bhattacharya, the wife of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, visited our Brabourne Road Showroom in Kolkata. She was highly appreciative of the recent improvement in customer service at this Showroom. She even made it a point to call up the Showroom In-charge, Biswajeet Mukherjee, on the day of Diwali to convey her greetings and appreciation. Trina De and Partha De of the Park Street Showroom in Kolkata had undertaken an innovative crowd-puller in the form of a dice game, during the month of September.

R. Giridhar and R.K. Potty of Bangalore Showroom undertook an arduous and innovative exercise of distributing leaflets during the India Australia Match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Darayas Engineer, our Oriental Showroom In-charge at Ahmedabad has demonstrated over a hundred per cent growth over last year! Our Kersey Anklesaria and Sarosh Karkaria of the Ashram Road Showroom, Ahmedabad, Arvind Joshi of Pune, K.K. Dhar of Guwahati, R.L. Mishra of Okhla, Delhi, and Ken D’Cruz of Fort, Mumbai, have bagged bulk orders worth Rs. 4 lacs to 6 lacs each.

Other e-mail-based initiatives undertaken are “Mirror-on-the-Wall” and “e-Learn”. Any negative feedback from customers is shared with all the teams through the “Mirror-on-the-Wall” programme. This gives the staff an idea about customer perceptions and serves as an input for improvement. “Best Practices” in customer service across the world are shared through “e-Learn” with all our team members. Ideas on being customer-centric, service orientation, retailing practices, etc. make it a continuous learning process.

We understand that our Showrooms are the public face of Godrej. The Retailing Team is poised to bring about a major change in interfacing with the customer and thereby build goodwill for the Company.

Atul Natu
Retailing Division

Excerpts From My Diary

 

The new look of (L) Karol Bagh and (R) Chandni Chowk Godrej Showrooms.

A brief review of Showrooms renovated to date:

Asaf Ali Road, Delhi
This is a large old Showroom where space had not been utilised fully. Dark panelling and dull lighting was not showing off the products very well. So the whole Showroom was demarcated into different product areas. All the panelling and walls were painted white thus giving the feel of a larger area. The large windows were used effectively by creating small partitions and inspirational room sets that give customers an idea as to how the product would look in any home or workplace.

Karol Bagh
If space was abundant in the earlier Showroom, this one may be the smallest one in the country. A lot of unwanted structures within the Showroom were removed. The window could be pushed out by a few inches. Window air-conditioners were not required to be installed within the Showroom, so they were put right outside where they belonged, thus resulting a few extra square feet of display area and more breathing space.

Thane
The Showroom needed optimum utilisation of space, a new look and new lease of life. Achieved by doing away with all unwanted appendages and structures. Snipping six inches off here and there, can result in important retail space of many cubic feet.

Chandni Chowk
This historical old Showroom needed a lot of help without ruining its originality. This Showroom looks the most homely and inviting with its own little courtyard, an ancient temple and a well of its own. A lot went into the repairs and restoration work. Considering that the Delhi Branch was started from this very historical location, it sure speaks for itself.

Chandigarh
Two-coloured flooring creating an aisle throughout the Showroom, encourages and subtly leads customers deeper into the Showroom and also provides much more effective display space. A meticulous use of props and accessories resulted in a Showroom that could accommodate more than twice the number of products as before and yet not look cluttered.

Godrej Bhavan
A very challenging and important Showroom from all aspects. With so many windows around and very few walls available, it was important to add a lot of colour. Beautiful oil paintings from Pheroza Godrej’s collection dictated the colours of various settings. The redone up Showroom looks warm and inviting.

By the time this article gets published, we would have completed the Showrooms at Plant 10 and Okhla (Delhi). Showrooms at Fort, Bangalore, Bhopal, etc. would be in different stages of renovation.

Manu Mansheet
Visual Merchandising Consultant

A New Refurbished Look

ombivli Showroom comes to life, charm and vibrance as the totally revamped Showroom now wears a modern, contemporary look. The new layout of the Showroom has been conceived and redesigned by Manu Mansheet, Visual Merchandising Consultant.

The array of products draped in light golden yellow hue under the canopy of lights makes a brilliant and spectacular display. The expanse of 2,200 square feet area showcases single and double beds, sofa sets, coffee tables, kitchen cabinets, i-space, dining sets, refrigerators, washing machines, tables and chairs.

The revamped Dombivli Showroom

The walls are painted in shell white colour with a bi-colour horizontal band running across the wall. There are also some walls in contrasting colours that act as backdrop to the products displayed. This lends beauty and grace to the ambience of the Showroom. Besides, each product has been rightly placed, which makes our displays look artistic. It would certainly be a pleasurable shopping experience for Dombivli locals when they visit the Showroom and are greeted by our courteous sales officers with warm smiles.

Ulhas Eknath Tare
Dombivli Showroom

Unique Initiatives Come From North Zone

ast October, Chandigarh and Ghaziabad Branches participated in exhibitions at Chandigarh and Dehradun, respectively. These exhibitions, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), are usually high profile and draw a large number of potential customers both from the institutional as well as the home segments. The highlight of the exhibition at Dehradun was the visit of N.D. Tiwari, Chief Minister of Uttaranchal, to our stall. He spent considerable time at our stall, trying out several products. Our stall was set up with the active involvement of Dehradun Wholesale Dealer, Indian Stores.

But, as you are aware, participating in exhibitions is just one of the many ways of exhibiting products. Breaking away from the routine, our Furniture and Interiors Group (FIG) — Home team of Delhi Branch undertook a unique initiative. The team hired a truck for the entire month of September 2003 to display the Godrej range of “Slimline” Storwels in Delhi. This, of course, generated a lot of excitement and awareness. Our Jaipur Branch undertook another unique initiative of a cross-promotion exercise with Bajaj Allianz. A special leaflet was designed and distributed by Bajaj Allianz to each and every customer as a special offer on Godrej FIG — Home products. By the way, Jaipur Branch also participated in an exhibition for a good cause. An exhibition was organised by the Cancer Research Society of Jaipur. Money earned by the Society then goes for the treatment and research of cancer. Jaipur Branch got good enquiries for Kitchen Cabinets from this exhibition. In an attempt to reach out to customers, the Branch also organised a roadshow in October at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Colony, Jaipur, which was inaugurated by S.L. Singh, General Manager of BSNL. A similar roadshow was held at the township of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Hardwar. Our products were displayed at the BHEL Club House.

The entrance to the CII-organised exhibition at Dehradun.

A  neat display of Godrej products at the CII Exhibition, Chandigarh.

(Centre): Dehradun Wholesale Dealer Raman Kochhar demonstrates the “Recliner” to N.D. Tiwari, Chief Minister of Uttaranchal.

The Godrej “Slimline” Storwels displayed on a truck hired by Delhi Branch.

No tension at the Parents-Teachers Meet! Children relax on the Godrej i-Space at Khaitan Public School, Noida.
 

When we say “customers”, we never forget our tiny tots. Last September, Ghaziabad Branch, with the enthusiastic support of Noida Wholesale Dealer Vikas Furniture, displayed our furniture for children on the occasion of Parents-Teachers Meet at Khaitan Public School, Noida. The display of our products certainly added colour, thereby, giving the Meet a festive look.

Compiled by Dhruv Sharma, General Manager (North Zone) with inputs from Bibhash Biswas, Rajiv Vasudeva and Sushil Thariani, Branch Managers of Chandigarh, Ghaziabad, and Delhi Branch, respectively, and Pran Mitra, Deputy Manager of Jaipur Branch.

Godrej i-Space Rotaquiz 2003

he Godrej i-Space Rotaquiz 2003, organised by Rotary Club, Visakhapatnam Central, was held on 21 September, 2003 at Taj Residency, Visakhapatnam. This is an annual event where 200 teams from over 50 schools from all over Visakhapatnam participate. Godrej i-Space has been sponsoring this event every year since the year 2000. It is an event in which the young boys and girls of Visakhapatnam look forward to participate. This event, in turn, has helped the Company to leave behind a good impression of its products on the young minds, our future prospective customers.

(R-L): Proud winners of the rolling trophy, the Timpany Senior Secondary School boys,
applauded by Noaka Simhadri and B.P. Chinoy.

Noaka Simhadri, wife of the Andhra University Vice-Chancellor, was the Chief Guest at the prize distribution function. The rolling trophy was handed over to the winners, boys from the Timpany Senior Secondary School, by B.P. Chinoy, Senior Manager, Visakhapatnam Branch. Incidentally, Jupiter, the name of the winning team, is also the name of one of our recently introduced mattresses!

Inputs: K.V. Kedarnath, Senior Sales Officer, Visakhapatnam Branch

Zero Cost Offer

he Furniture and Interiors Group (FIG) — Home Segment, launched a “Zero Cost Offer” for customers last Diwali. The offer period from 22nd September to 9th November, 2003 was applicable to all FIG — Home products, which included Home Storage, Home Furniture as well as Computer Tables.

On purchase of any of the above products, the customer was given a scratch card, which gave him or her a discount ranging from 10 per cent to 100 per cent (10 per cent, 15 per cent, 25 per cent, 50 per cent and 100 per cent) on the basic price. Customers were definitely assured of a minimum discount of 10 per cent on any scratch card and, if luck favoured them, they could be entitled to higher discounts. Moreover, customers were given a 15 per cent discount card for the next purchase of any Home product (not applicable to steel cupboards) with a validity period till 31 March, 2004.

(Centre): Sadhana Jha, the lucky winner from Asansol, receives the keys to her free Wardrobe H from Hiren Vyas, the wholesale dealer of M/s. N.P. Vyas. Others seen are (l-r) G.N. Vyas, Mr. Jha, Amalesh and Tapia Chatterjee. Amalesh and Tapia are employees of M/s. N.P. Vyas.

The offer was open to individual customers from all over India. One of the first winners was Sadhana Jha from Asansol, who won a discount of 100 per cent on the basic price. The response to this offer from customers across the country has been overwhelming.

Doreen Rosario,
Furniture and Interiors Group

Integrated Warehousing Operations

s a sequel to the demerger of Appliance Division, the Management had envisaged in October 2002 a proposal for integration of the logistics function for primary movement of goods at Vikhroli. Warehousing of traded products at Bhiwandi, hitherto spread in multiple locations for multiple divisions, merited immediate attention. The traded operations of Godrej & Boyce divisions (excluding Appliance) were spread across 24 sheds at Bhiwandi and Taloja, occupying an area of 67,000 square feet. These are now converged into an integrated modern facility admeasuring 38,000 square feet with the objective to benefits accruing by way of inventory optimisation, enhancing service levels and cost-effective operations. The new facilities at Bhiwandi encompass 650 Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) varieties of finished goods, and 1,120 SKU varieties of spare parts, with complete warehousing solutions.

For the implementation of this project, a task force was created, headed by A.N. Choksey, Vice President (Finance and Commercial) and other key personnel from Logistics and Distribution Department, Storage Solutions Group (SSG), Material Handling Equipment Division, Electrical & Electronic Division, Construction Department, Godrej Infotech Ltd. and divisional representatives of Furniture and Interiors Group, Security Equipment, Prima and Locks Divisions. It was a challenging assignment for the SSG team to evolve a framework for inventory profiling of each SKU. Static and dynamic inventory analysis methodology was adopted to guide divisions in optimising their inventory levels. The SSG team undertook detailed analysis and engineering of the various elements of facility design viz. design of layout, storage, material handling equipment, pallets/accessories, safety members and auxiliary operations like packing, testing, repair facilities, etc. With the re-engineering of designs, we evolved efficient design solutions for Office and Consumer Products and Appliance Division, incorporating Drive-in racking, Pallet racking, 2-tier multiflex and an entirely new push-back system storage and retrieval system for all SKUs. The facility is also equipped with a modern visual aid system for operational convenience. Expeditors, a leading U.S. logistic provider, were appointed as third party logistics service providers to bring in their international best practices in warehousing solutions.

The warehousing facility was inaugurated by our consultant, Takaosan, and our Executive Director and President, P.D. Lam, during their visit to Bhiwandi on 24 September, 2003. SSG is proud of their association with this project. This would help them to extend their learning, experience and expertise to other facilities of Godrej and their external customers.

Bhiwandi project shall evolve into one of our finest integrated installations, which will showcase our capability and serve as a benchmark in times to come.

A.N. Choksey,
Office Consumer Products

Celebrating Onam

nam, the harvest festival of Kerala, was celebrated in Kochi Branch on 21 September, 2003 with pomp and gaiety under the auspices of Godrej Arts & Cultural Organisation (GACO). The programme started at 5 p.m. with the lighting of the traditional nilavilakku (lamp). G. Venu Gopal, Branch Manager, Kochi Branch, and Patron of GACO, delivered the Patron’s address. GACO honoured Past President P. Karunakaran, who retired from the services of our Company on 1 October, 2003. G. Venu Gopal presented him with a memento on behalf of GACO.

This was followed by a variety entertainment programme by our talented employees and their family members. There was also a competition for the best matched couple, and prizes were distributed to the winners. The evening concluded with a sumptuous buffet dinner.

The function served the purpose of bringing the Godrej parivar together.

K.K. Kutty
Secretary, GACO

A.N. Choksey, Vice President (Finance and Commercial), Office Consumer Products, addresses the Kochi, Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram Branch teams during the e-CRM (Customer Relationship Management) initiation and business review on 18 November, 2003. Choksey is flanked by D.B. Chhapger, Assistant General Manager (Marketing Administration) on his right and K.M. Vinod Kumar, General Manager, South Zone, on his left. Sanjay Deokule, Business I.T. Consultant and Saby Fernandes, Manager of Godrej Infotech Ltd. were also present to guide the teams.

L-R): P. Anil Kumar, Senior Executive, Kochi Branch, receives a certificate and prize from A.N. Choksey, Vice President (Finance and Commercial), in the presence of K.M. Vinod Kumar, General Manager, South Zone. The prize was given for topping the quiz conducted as part of BaaN training. Kochi Branch is now 100 per cent BaaN literate, thanks to the efforts put in by R. Sankaran and R. Devarajan, BaaN trainers from Chennai Branch.

G. Venu Gopal
Kochi Branch

Perfect Home Showroom

ur Wholesale Dealers M/s. Southern Agencies renovated their Showroom and opened a Perfect Home Showroom on 3 November, 2003 at Kakinada. The inauguration was done by a pooja, followed by the cutting of the ribbon by Mr. Narayanan, Senior Manager, Bank of Baroda, Hyderabad. Bank of Baroda are bankers of M/s. Southern Agencies.

Approximately, 175 square meters of display area had been created for the Perfect Home Showroom and a lot of work had gone into doing the interiors with direct involvement of Krishna Mohan, Managing Partner, Southern Agencies. Krishna Mohan and B.P. Chinoy, Branch Manager, Visakhapatnam Branch, explained our products to the Chief Guest. Chinoy did the first sale. The customer had purchased a Riviera Sofa Set.

(R-L): B.P. Chinoy, Branch Manager, Visakhapatnam Branch, being greeted with flowers by Krishna Mohan, Managing Partner, Southern Agencies and G. Ramachander Rao, General Manager, Southern Agencies.

A section of the renovated Southern Agencies’ Perfect Home Showroom.

It was no surprise that the Showroom was thoroughly crowded for the dealer had given around 500 invitation cards personally to all the leading doctors, advocates, business-men, architects, buil-ders and other prominent citizens of the city. Colourful handbills inviting people to the opening of the new Showroom were also distributed through newspapers. An advertisement, too, was released in the local newspapers.

(L-R): The first sale of a Riviera Sofa Set takes place by G. Ramachander Rao and B.P. Chinoy to a customer named Raju. Satyanarayana, Branch Manager, Southern Agencies and Krishna Mohan stand alongside Raju.

Apart from the large crowds, the success could be gauged through hardcore sales. Around four Sofa Sets, one Recliner, one Sofa-cum-Bed and a few Cots were sold on the same day. The customers were pleasantly surprised to see the Godrej Perfect Home range of products. All the products were appreciated, especially our i-Space and Kitchen Cabinets. More than 10 enquiries were generated for our Kitchen Cabinets.

The success of this event should be attributed to the fine teamwork of K.V. Kedarnath, Senior Sales Executive, Visakhapatnam Branch, G. Ramachander Rao, General Manager, M/s. Southern Agencies and to Krishna Mohan.

K.V. Kedarnath
Visakhapatnam Branch