Tread the digital highway to move forward
Countries that manufacture indigenously and export goods, achieve high economic growth. Mandar Athalekar, Strategy Leader for Global Trade Management, Thomson Reuters, talks about the challenges in supply chain management and how companies can counter the
What are the supply chain management challenges affecting or likely to affect ‘Make in India’ initiative?
’Make in India’ is a vision to transform India into a global manufacturing and export hub. It is much more than simply that. The primary objective of this initiative is to attract foreign investments and strengthen India’s manufacturing sector. In the process, however, it aims growth of manufacturing machinery and infrastructure in the country, technological improvements, skills enhancement, innovation and most importantly, for a highly-populated country like ours, job creation. The biggest challenge is lack of adequate infrastructure, mainly transportation, energy, and communication.
High rate of economic growth is difficult to sustain if infrastructure development does not increase and keep pace with demand. ‘Make in India’ aims to transform India into a global manufacturing and export hub. Only a strong supply chain can connect the various supply sources within India to markets across the globe.
We need roads, highways and railways network, seaports, airports, bridges, urban and rural transport, dedicated freight corridors, power, construction equipment and communication technology, all of which in a scale capable of keeping pace with global demand. Another challenge is lack of required co-ordination between the various government and regulatory agencies for land clearances, approvals, licenses and financing. The third one is lack of digitisation in that the lack of timely availability, processing and transmission of information. What role will Thomson Reuters play in making ‘Make in India’ a success?
Thomson Reuters is the answer company. Our vision is to provide trusted answers – to industry, academia, governments, professionals, and individuals. And these answers are mainly in the form of content-equipped automation software systems and workflow solutions we have designed to meet the various challenges faced by the corresponding entities.
’Make in India’ is a vision for transformation and growth of the nation, the institutional mass of which is all the entities listed above. Ease of doing business and digitisation are two main building blocks of this ’Make in India’ initiative. There are several problems in both these areas which need solutions. Our visions, thus, converge.
Comprehensibly, Thomson Reuters has the intelligence; technology and expertise to provide software solutions, as specialised content on technology platform, to enable corporations digitise their processes in co-ordination with various governmental and other regulatory agencies and increase ease of doing business globally. One such solution is our ONESOURCE cloud enterprise solution which provides capabilities across Global Trade Management, Indirect Tax and Transfer Pricing. It is a global platform with local regional features, a combination typically corporations across the globe would benefit with, as a part of ‘Make in India’ initiative.
How would you rate smart technologies in supply chain management in terms of their adoption, effectiveness, cost, and benefits?
Smart technologies are the backbone of a growth-oriented digital economy. Both supply chain and industry stand and thrive on it. Newer products, markets, demand patterns, trade routes and macro technology trends, all call for newer and more efficient and transparent techniques to track and control goods movement and improve customer service. That explains the rapid adoption and proliferating use of mobile wireless devices, electronic sensors, RFID (Radio-frequency identification) techniques, GPS (Global Positioning System)-based vehicle tracking, navigation and message transmission, big data analytics, cloud computing information systems and the internet of things in supply chain management.
So, on every parameter of adoption, effectiveness, and benefits, they deserve the visibly high rating industry has conferred on them globally. As far as cost of adoption goes, it justifiably sets the magnitude and direction of investment towards mitigation of risks due to obsolescence, productivity loss and missed opportunities on continuous improvements. Hence, it is always better to be smart enough and adopt smart technologies in supply chain management in time than to reactively try and recover from losses later, due to delayed or lack of adoption. In your opinion how prepared is India to take on the future supply chain challenges?
The future certainly looks bright with all the timely initiatives this government has started. India looks well-prepared to rightfully claim its position as a global leader in supply chain management and economy. Infrastructure, the major challenge in supply chain management, is on the verge of a turnaround.
‘Make in India’ aims to transform India into a global manufacturing and export hub. A strong supply chain can connect the various supply sources within India to markets across the globe
Government policy initiatives and reforms – GST, land acquisition, fuel pricing deregulation, labor, banking, foreign trade policy, single window clearances in global trade (SWIFT), export incentives, increased FDI limits, ease of doing business, skills development, digitization, development of smart cities and many more, are all significant and thoughtful steps in this direction. And Thomson Reuters, having strong solution footprints in almost each of these reform areas, is keen to collaborate closely with the Indian government only to add to its preparedness!