The organized segment of the Indian mattress industry is trying out numerous methods to lure customers. Growing adoption of omni channel policy gives us an impression that mattress brands are making themselves accessible to customers across different channels. Based on some consumers surveys done by Comfort Times last year, it is clear that majority of consumers prefer buying mattresses through retail outlets, however, the number of online buyers, especially in tier 1 cities, is on rise. To meet the varied demands of customers across different parts of the country, mattress companies are exploring all possible and pathbreaking ways to lure customers. Mattress firms, not only have to focus on production of mattresses and sleep products but they also need to keep a performance track of all sales activities happening through their exclusive retail outlets, retail partners and online channels. Besides that, there are other functions in every mattress firm and getting an idea about the developments at their end is quintessential.
With the increase in demand for mattresses among Indian consumers it is important for brands to match up to their customers’ expectations and most importantly remain available at the right place and at the right time. To ensure efficiency in the entire process of mattress production, warehousing, transportation, sales, after sales activities and prompt response to customer queries and issues, a lot of internal processes need to be streamlined to give maximum visibility to all employees and partners in any mattress company.
In our last issue, we had extensively covered about the need for automation in the Indian mattress industry to drive growth. We had discussed about the holistic approach that mattress firms must adopt towards automating their organization and have better control over their entire business operations. That article focussed on the importance of automation to optimally utilize all the resources and what approach should organizations adopt towards automation. Automation is a vast area and to implement it within large organizations requires a strong technical and business acumen. Therefore, organizations hire Chief Information Officers (CIOs) who are deft in adopting a comprehensive process of intersecting the right set of technologies with the overall business operations.
The Indian mattress industry that is getting highly competitive with new players bringing in more innovation and the established players rolling out new product offerings, the need to streamline the short term and long-term processes is becoming quintessential. The involvement of CIOs in ensuring growth of the mattress industry is more important than before. Ensuring smooth information flow across the organization and making information easily available for employees based in different locations and manufacturing facilities is an uphill task. CIOs need to evaluate every step involved in mattress production businesses and propose an ideal approach streamlining all processes that would help mattress business in areas like inventory management, sales forecast and analysis, demand forecast etc.
To meet the varied demands of customers across different parts of the country, mattress companies are exploring all possible and pathbreaking ways to lure customers.
Role of CIOs in mattress firms
CIOs are involved in understanding about every level of business and figure out the scope to make the processes efficient by leveraging the right tools and technologies. We reached out to some industry experts who are actively involved in integrating information systems with daily business operations. The role of CIOs in every sector broadly remains the same. The main agenda of every CIO is ‘simplify the business operations.’ According to Mohan M R, Associate Vice President of CyberMedia India Limited, “In a manufacturing industry, CIO plays a crucial role. In any manufacturing industry, technology and information systems are integral to operations, efficiency and competitiveness. The role of a CIO in manufacturing involves a range of responsibilities that contribute to overall success of the organization.” According to him, some key aspects of CIO’s role in manufacturing industry include, strategic planning, digital transformation, data management and analytics, information security, ERP, collaboration and communication, supply chain integration, infrastructure management, cost management and risk management. Besides following the processes, a CIO needs to have a kind of business continuity plan.
As explained by Mohan of Cybermedia, the role of a CIO starts from strategic planning, wherein, the job entails to collaborate with executive leadership to align IT strategies with overall business objectives. It has now become mandatory to initiate digital transformation to modernize manufacturing processes and leverage emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, and automation. CIO also must ensure that industry standards are followed. They also have to work on implementing industry 4.0 concepts to create smart factories and improve supply chain visibility. The next process involves data management and analytics, wherein, the CIO supervises the data governance and ensures data accuracy, security and compliance. Then comes, the implementation of Information Security that focusses on developing and implementing robust cyber security measures to protect sensitive manufacturing data and intellectual property (IP). He or she then moves towards the implementation and optimization of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to streamline business processes including inventory management, order fulfilment, and resource planning. Then comes the collaboration and communication stage, wherein, a CIO facilitates communication and collaboration between IT and other departments to ensure the technology solutions meet the needs of manufacturing operations. The next step involves supply chain integration, wherein, the IT systems is integrated with supply chain processes. These processes involve enhancing the visibility, reduced lead time and improve overall efficiency. The subsequent task is infrastructure management, where a CIO manages the IT infrastructure to ensure reliability, scalability and performance of manufacturing systems. After establishing the technical processes, the CIOs move onto cost management, where they optimize IT budgets and expenditures and ensure cost effectiveness while delivering value to the organization. After having every process in place, they implement risk management measures, wherein, CIOs assess and mitigate the IT related risks including cyber security, threats.
Organizations hire Chief Information Officers (CIOs) who are deft in adopting a comprehensive process of intersecting the right set of technologies with the overall business operations.
As the Indian mattress industry is on a growth spree, the role of CIOs in mattress firms is getting more complex. They not only have to focus on the current goals of the organization but they should also have certain processes established beforehand that would help mattress manufacturing companies cater to futuristic goals of the company. The IT infrastructure should be able to meet the work demands of the employees, partners, vendors, customers and should meet their implicit requirements, as well. The systems in the entire organization should facilitate the regular business requirements in a seamless manner.
To implement and execute such facilities, a CIO must have a required skill set to help mattress firms navigate through the increasingly complex nature of any business. As explained by Sreedhar Kadambi, Managing Director of Skill
Global Business Solutions, every CIO should possess these top three skill set:
1. Transformation – It’s crucial to recognize that the rapid evolution of digital technologies is reshaping customer behaviour and disrupting industries far more swiftly than organizations can adapt their cultures, processes, and behaviours. Survival hinges on the ability of today’s companies to undergo profound transformations. While technology implementation is undeniably vital, the type of transformation the organizations are interested in involves reshaping the IT landscape and the company’s culture. This entails breaking down legacy silos to establish end-to-end processes, cultivating a data-driven mindset, or placing the customer at the core of business operations.
2. Strategic thinking and execution – The strategy encompasses the articulation and translation of the company’s vision and mission into measurable goals and objectives that the company must clearly define, monitor, and enhance. Defining a great strategy is just a part of the narrative, the other part of the narrative revolves around how effectively the strategy is executed. A brilliant strategy can falter due to subpar execution, just as exceptional execution can flounder in the absence of a stellar strategy. Both elements— a superior strategy and even more proficient strategic execution—are imperative to realize the company’s vision and mission.
3. Business Acumen – Transforming the IT landscape isn’t the ultimate objective; rather, it serves as a pathway to achieve a goal. The pivotal inquiry is: how can a CIO take charge of the transformation that revolutionizes the utilization of the pivotal four-letter word, ‘data,’ as a currency to navigate the company’s trajectory from its current state (‘here’) to the desired state (‘there’)? The perspective a CIO adopts in approaching business transformation, particularly when compared to a CEO, is a subject under consideration.
Mattress manufacturing companies deal with hundreds of suppliers and have thousands of retailers spread across various parts of the country. Such organizations cannot function without a good IT infrastructure that can handle procurement, inventory, manufacturing, quality, warehousing, sales and financials of the entire process.
Venkat Iyer, Managing Partner, Tranquility Advisory LLP says the role of a CIO in mattress manufacturing firm is no different than CIOs of any other business vertical. “Definitely there will be unique areas that are specific to the product will need to be addressed separately. It also depends on the extent of manufacturing (what percentage is manufactured in-house and what is outsourced). Also with companies going directly to end customers will add another layer of IT system to get the demand and payments directly from the customer, working with third party logistics companies and delivering it on the promised time lines,” explains Iyer.