ARUP CHANDA, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Urban
Indians, salute our supply chain managers for your daily needs!
Psychiatrists
and fitness experts say, on an average, a human being needs at
lea st eight
hours of sleep a night to remain healthy and that also increases one’s
longevity of life.
Guess,
on an average, how many hours does a supply chain manager sleep in a day?
Only
four!
“By
the time I reach home after dealing with my clients in the USA
Sumit
has been associated with the MNC’s India operations for the last five years in
materials management module and has worked for many global clients in
cosmetics, FMCG and pharmaceuticals industries for their specialized software
initiatives in the role of business analyst for both release and support
activities.
Additionally
he has performed the transition management for an international brand of
cosmetics for one of their special projects before migrating to his present
job.
Before
that he had industry exposure of supply chain management for around five years,
the last of which culminated in his taking charge as National Logistics Head
position for an Indian corporate.
At 33,
Sumit looks middle aged with half his hair gone and a salt and pepper
moustache. It is sheer stress and tension which has taken a toll on him.
Married
with a son, Sumit has a “trade off” with his wife for this kind of a life!
“I
have to deliver fast and on time irrespective of any kind of problem. If I
fail, my company has to pay a penalty fee according to the contract my company
has with its clients worldwide,” he says but with pride as his success rate is
more than 98 percent.
“I am
no exception. The story is the same with all supply chain manager all over the
world. But in third world countries, it is tougher because of lack of
infrastructure and a proper and disciplined system,” he remarks modestly as we
sat on a bench outside his office in south Kolkata drinking tea without milk
and puffing our cigarettes.
“I
can’t have milk in my tea as it upsets my tummy. We have a first class canteen
serving all kinds of delicacies but I can only look … but not eat!” says Sumit
with a laugh.
Gone
are those days when in our childhood we would see the milkman coming with a cow
and milk her in front and offer the warm milk in our container. Later when milk
bottling plants were set up in big cities bottled milk would either be
delivered outside the doorstep very early morning or we as teenagers would go
to the milk booths with special kinds of wire baskets and fetch them.
Today,
when we go to a departmental store either to buy a carton of milk or fruit
juice, toothpaste, or to a pharmacy to get a life saving drug or even to get
timely delivery of our favourite limousine – it is the supply chain manager who
is the hero backstage and not the brand ambassadors!
Before
getting into the field of logistics I always thought it were the retailers and
traders who deserved the credit for timely supplies.
Today,
at Charnock City, a departmental store in Salt Lake, which had run out of
Snickers chocolates and Lay’s Onion and Sour Cream potato chips, I met a young
teenager who was thrilled to get them after weeks and thanked the young woman
at the counter.
I told
him, “Don’t thank her, but the supply chain managers,” much to the angry look
on the woman’s face. The young boy had no clue.
So I
took his e-mail ID and asked him read this story when it appears.
Like
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had said: “Give me blood and I will give you
freedom,” the motto of supply chain managers like Sumit seems to be – “Give me
any product and I will deliver it to you on time.”
Cheers
to all our supply chain managers because of whom, despite all odds urban India
Send your
feedback to chandaarup@gmail.com
