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X-Ops, the Operations Committee of XIMB, organized their flagship event and annual business conclave, ‘Ashwamedh 2019’ on the 28th of July, 2019. The theme of discussion was ‘Driving Global Supply Chain Management through Innovation’.

The goal of the conclave was to gain perspective on how the business world is evolving and how supply chain management is changing to adapt to Industry 4.0.

Mr. Sunil Bharadwaj (DGM-Strategy and Supply Chain Management – Lifestyle Business-Central Functions, Raymond Ltd), Mr. Satpal Singh (Country Head, Supply Chain & Business Transformation, Legrand), and Mr. Nikhil Kush (Deputy Director, Supply Chain Program, PATH) were the esteemed speakers for the occasion. Professor Bikram Kumar Bahinipati (Professor, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Service Operations Management) served as the moderator for the event.

The session began with Professor Bikram Kumar Bahinipati giving the students an introduction to the concept of Supply Chain Management and how rapidly it has been changing in reaction to the dynamic environment.

Mr. Sunil Bharadwaj served as the first speaker for the day. He spoke about the need for a self-sustaining model of supply chain management, and also the need to implement the principles of design thinking and change management in the workplace. According to him, these principles were paramount to the success of innovation, and flexibility of process. He insightfully stated that, “Supply Chain Management is about visibility, velocity, and variability”.

The second speaker for the day was Mr. Satpal Singh. He talked about how innovation in Supply Chain Management should not be just for the sake of innovation. There should be both incremental, as well as disruptive innovation to help navigate the rapidly changing consumer needs. He also stated that the focal point of Supply Chain is to take care of the customer, and that Supply Chain Management has become even more crucial in this day and age. His advice to companies was that they must self-disrupt, so that others cannot do the same to them. He was very interactive with the audience, giving them a case study to work on, to help them get a better sense of the stakes involved in Supply Chain Management. His take on the theme was that, “Supply Chain Management cannot afford not to go smart”.

Mr Nikhil Kush

The final speaker for the day was Mr. Nikhil Kush. Interestingly, he suggested that Supply Chain Management is too narrow a term, and that we should look at Value Chain Management as an overarching concept. He also spoke about the need for Supply Chain sustainability, especially in the area of public health, since that was his area of work. As the only panel member from the public sector, he differentiated between Supply Chain Management in the private and public sector. He stated that, “The goal of Supply Chain in the public sector is maximum coverage – to move from curative to preventive solutions”. He said that there is a need for transformation in Supply Chain Management so as to bring more efficiency in the public sector

Once the panel members were done with their speeches, it was time for the Q&A session, where the students asked insightful and inquisitive questions. The annual magazine of X-Ops, ‘Ashwamedh’ was also launched by the invited dignitaries present on the stage. The event was concluded by Ms. Ankita Rath, the Student Coordinator of X-Ops, proposing the vote of thanks to everyone present in the business conclave.

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