The 30th National Convention of NATCOM 2007, organised by Indian Institute of Materials Management, was inaugurated here at Panchkula on Friday by Captain Kawaljeet Singh, Minister of Co-operational, Punjab Government. Titled 'Role of supply chain for India vision 2020', the two-day convention was sponsored by host of private and public sector companies including TRIM (Thomas Register of Indian Manufacturers), Philips, Indian Oil, FITCO, SAP, Infor, Turbo Energy Ltd., Spareage etc.
The convention was largely attended by policy-makers of private firms and PSUs who have a decisive role in supply chain management. "Material management has become an epicentre of modern management as it plays a crucial role in the growth of a company," said Rajesh Gupta, Vice-chairman IIMM, Chandigarh. He further added that an overwhelming response from the corporate world was a clear indication of popularity of the convention, which was attended by more than 400 delegates from various national and international companies.
Held in the sprawling city of Panchkula, the conference had a brain-storming session on supply chain management in the new emerging retail sector, which was hotly debated by the corporate world. The other topic which drew a massive response both from the audience and speakers were the new technologies and its impact on supply chain management.
The proceeding of the day was organised in three sessions which was chaired by Ashok Sharma, former president of IIMM, Surinder Talwar, senior director Industrial Operations, Philips and VK Jain former Director SCM, Indian Airlines.
Speaking on the inaugural session, Lt. Gen. (Dr.) DDS Sandhu, Director General, Ordnance, Indian Army stressed the need of streamlining the various parameter of Supply Chain Management (SCM) including total asset visibility, automated data entry, decision support tool, productive management, optimised repair and lean practices.
He further said that the future belongs to new technologies including Radio frequency identification (RFID) which will play a key role in SCM and will decide the fate of material management in the country.
Narrating on the geopolitical and economic linkages which might affect the future strategies of global SCM, he said that volatility in oil prices, global economic drift towards India and China and military conflicts - conventional or sub-conventional may play a crucial role.
The first session was addressed by eminent speakers including Radhamohan Gupta, Head Logistics, Rackitt Benckister and Ramakrishna Potluri, Head SRM Regional Group, SAP Bangalore. Speaking on the role of information technology in SCM, Potluri said that the IT has not only made the life easier but has opened new vistas of opportunities for young managers. "When it comes to SCM, there are no definitive answers, it rather opens up fresh challenges in the paradigm of new technologies, which are so rewarding," he said.
The second session of the conference was addressed by Rajkumar N Pugalia, Senior Vice-president, Reliance Retail and Venkata Krishna M Reddy, Executive VP-SCM, Pepsi Foods. Speaking on the occasion Pugalia said that with the changed scenario in material management and a booming retail revolution on its way, young SCM managers have all the chances of excelling and becoming CEOs of the upcoming retail companies.
The third and the last session of the conference were addressed by Sunil Kumar, Director, Business Consulting, Infor Global Solutions and Lu Jiang, Chairman, China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.
The conference brought forth many queries of modern practices in SCM including IT and the challenges in Industry verticals. The audience participated actively, shooting back intelligent questions to the speakers which were answered in equal vigour by the speakers and experts.
