India's largest producer of utility vehicles is rolling out an order-to-delivery system that links the chain from tier suppliers to dealers. Rajesh Jejurikar, COO of the auto division - and soon to be its chief executive - and the head of supply chain, SK Krishnan, explain the strategy
Mahindra & Mahindra's chief operating officer, Rajesh Jejurikar (pictured right), believes logistics and 'demand' chain management have improved the carmaker's customer satisfaction ratings. Along with head of supply chain SK Krishnan (left), he says that M&M's groundbreaking order-to-delivery system has not only
changed the scope of their supply chain management, putting it at the centre of its production and distribution strategy, but has also renamed it.
Jejurikar will become chief executive of M&M's automotive division on April 1st, and sees logisitics as not only essential to lowering cost and keeping production stable, but also important to maintaining vehicle quality and the customer's relationship with the brand.
For that reason Jejurikar prefers the label 'demand chain management' as better reflecting how M&M is building its production and distribution network.
"We really want to be able tell a customer when exactly he can expect a vehicle, and then align our production around that," says Jejurikar.
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Jejurikar (right) and Krishnan
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