One of the ways to make the supply chain efficient is digitalisation. Speaking on the same, Budhiraja continues, "Our organisation has taken the biggest and the most important step, which most of the clever and smart companies has taken as well, to ensure efficient supply chain management. Digitalising of the supply chain. Now why do I say smart and clever is only on the basis of current trend, everything is moving online. While we have digitalised the supply chain management and operations, we have surly gained a lot, like now procurement and sourcing is now being done online, our quality supervisors go and inspect. All vehicles onto which material is loaded, real-time tracking of the positioning of vehicle is now being done. This ensures complete transparency between logistics department and operations. Online status of inventory and such other examples has made supply chain management more efficient."

JCB's emphasis on the quality urges it to make its suppliers partners in the success. Elaborating on the same Singh asserts, "At JCB, we believe in the concept of One Global Quality, products manufactured in India are not only sold in the Indian market but are also exported to over 80 countries. Therefore, it becomes imperative for our suppliers to align themselves with JCB Group's objective which is done by regular upscaling of systems and processes and training of people. JCB also shares the best practices it has accrued in its journey of four decades towards manufacturing excellence. Our suppliers have also built their world class facilities on JCB's lean manufacturing principles. We have remained committed to the concept of local supply chain through regular OEM Supplier initiatives such as Supplier Development Programmes, and hand holding to achieve JCB's Global Standards, etc."

Speaking on their strategy, Jain mentions, "Our customers follow Just in Time (JIT) strategy. Therefore, it is imperative for us to ensure that we are able to supply our products to them on everyday basis. This is not possible unless the entire supply chain from procurement of raw materials to delivery to the customer is efficient. In order to improve the efficiency of the entire supply chain, our company maps the entire process using a tool called PIF (Parts and Information Flow), which we have learnt from one of our esteemed customers. Using this tool, the lead time to procure, transit timings, inventory levels, WIP levels, Lot size for manufacturing, etc. is tracked and improved upon. As a result, we are able to improve our overall cost competitiveness by efficiently managing the inventory levels as well as the cash flow."

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