By Shweta Sengar
April 10, 2015: Tracing its origins to Thomas Edison’s work on lighting, GE Lighting, a division of General Electric, is a trailblazer in lighting solutions. The company is continuously and aggressively expanding its operations in LED lighting all over the world. With expansion plans comes a strong supply chain management and modes to excel in that. Speaking at EFY Expo’s ‘Vendor Development Seminar’, Paresh C. Shah, supply chain and operations leader – South Asia at GE Lighting, highlighted the basics of lighting and the growing need for efficient supply chain management
Lighting transformation over the decades
The lighting technology is ever-changing. The first decade of the lighting revolution rotated around filament technology followed by exploring energy efficiency in lighting products. With this move, mercury-based bulbs like CFLs came in to play. The lighting industry has taken a huge leap by moving towards LED lighting technology in the recent years. At present, the consumers are aware of the advantages of LEDs over conventional lighting systems and this is the primary reason why LED technology is growing.
Many reports suggest that India is the largest power consumer in the world. In our country, lighting consumes about 20 per cent of the power produced by any means and here arises the need for using the most efficient lighting system.
Capabilities of GE in India
GE Lighting is one of the largest companies in the field of lighting and it stands at the forefront of technology through constant research. The company is continuously reinventing and evolving the technology for energy efficient products in the lighting world. General Electric has a total of six technology centres or engineering development centres worldwide for lighting with one in India. GE has an excellent lab set up in Bengaluru where any kind of lighting fixtures can be tested for their efficiency and life span. GE, being the pioneer in the lighting industry, has witnessed the changes and advancements that have taken place in this segment. From sodium lamps to mercury-based lighting products, the focus of lighting industry now is primarily on LEDs.
Achieving supply chain excellence
With swift technological advancements, the lighting industry needs to keep up with the needs and demand of its customers. The customers run out of patience when it comes to product delivery. Here the need arises for the companies to become more aggressive in their supply chain activities. For any supply chain system the biggest requirement is the quality house. The quality house not only considers the quality of a given product but also other aspects of supply chain management. The supply chain management starts from market research up to fulfilment of the customer needs including after sales services.
To be successful in any country, a company needs to keep a check on its products whether they are meeting the local standards and if not, improvement is the key.
Just as the world is moving ahead in the other facets of life, the same continues in the lighting segment too. Given the current scenario, no one will buy a Rs 10 filament bulb. Consumers, today, are ready to spend Rs 200-400 on LED bulbs. The technology in lighting is changing rapidly and therefore the room for improvement is expanding. The ‘Six Sigma’, which is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement, is required for any kind of industry.
The need of the hour is to level load production because the demand patterns are changing frequently these days. This is the biggest problem that OEMs, suppliers or any other small/big industry is facing. Due to this reason inventory management is becoming a highly critical task.
A lot of programs and techniques are required to excel in supply chain management. First is to identify and understand the needs of the market. Second is to focus on product development. Earlier an LED bulb was sold at around Rs 600 and now it is being sold at far low prices starting from Rs 150 onwards. Given the present scenario, no LED firm is making loss. This is entirely about product development in every aspect. Third technique is to have a strong manufacturing program wherein every aspect of a product is taken in to consideration. Fourth is having fortified quality systems/ framework as people want reliable and long lasting products. The companies dance to the tunes of its customers and this is something every firm must understand. Fifth is fulfilment followed by customer feedback and management reviews, respectively. Many a times firms do not bother to address the queries of the customers, big or small. However, the current market scenario is changing and all the needs of the customers are taken care of.
To understand fulfilment, customer feedback and management reviews in a simpler manner, here is this one example – Cricket is the favourite game of India. We expect our leading batsmen to hit centuries in all the matches. Same is the case here. The market is expecting a lot and the bar is going up continuously. The companies have to meet customer expectations and have to change our traditional philosophies to customer-oriented philosophy.
Partnering with vendors
GE has a diverse range of lighting products that are designed for every application area namely, commercial, industrial, sports, etc. GE works with the vendors, who excel in product distribution, at the product development stage. Most of the vendors have innovative ideas. GE supports them at the development stage, process improvement stage and also takes into account the audit process which is meant for improvement. We considers vendors to be our partners.
Experienced and efficient vendors are required for effective supply chain system. If the vendors are efficient the benefit passes on to firms as well. Once an extremely innovative product is designed for the Indian market, the same is promoted in global markets too. Flexibility is the key to every successful business. Therefore a flexible supply chain system needs to be designed since product volume is variable over a period of time.
