Word: chains
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...efficient supply chain in a place where the roads are crowded and crumbling, the power constantly fails, the water is unsafe and the bureaucracy is complicated and burdensome? How do you transform a structure so deeply entrenched and with so many powerful political backers? How do you drag a wasteful, archaic system into the 21st century? The answer: detail by tiny detail...
...company RNCOS. Nowhere is that more true than in India, where poor infrastructure and bureaucracy can combine to thwart even the best-laid plans. When Reliance, which has interests in oil and petrochemicals and opened its first retail store only last November, began exploring the possibility of a nationwide chain of grocery stores-it wants to open 2,000 by next April-it quickly realized that it would need to build its own distribution network almost from scratch. "If we are putting up a pan-Indian business in terms of the front end, then we needed...
...There are other headaches. Reliance wants to start selling meat but will have to set up a completely independent supply chain so as not to offend vegetarians, who make up almost half of all Indians. Everything, from delivery vehicles to doors leading to meat and produce sections at individual stores, will be segregated. Because mass merchandizing is so new in India, there is also a dearth of experienced managers. Companies have had to lure Indians home from the U.S., the Gulf and Europe. Reliance says it has more than 100 returnees now working...
...goal, says Reliance's Asthana, is to "ultimately have the ability to link up all the country's markets in a ... seamless supply chain. That will reduce wastage, give the farmers more money and consumers better quality produce." But building the infrastructure may be the easy part. Convincing government and those invested in the old system that it's time for a change is still a major struggle. While the national coalition government in New Delhi says it is committed to reform as a way of helping farmers boost their incomes, its left-wing members are horrified by the prospect...
...Expect more protests, and further political waffling-especially on the issue of foreign chains investing in India-even as the benefits of the revolution become apparent to ordinary consumers. Reliance says it has cut spoilage and wastage in places like Bangalore to less than 5%. The federal government is contemplating the introduction of a single nationwide sales tax that would replace state taxes complicating distribution. It is also now talking about building its own massive cold-storage facilities outside major cities such as New Delhi to spur the transition to a more efficient supply chain. While middlemen may be feeling...