The level of Information System Activities At Strategic Level Supply chain management operates at three levels; strategic, tactical

l and operational. At the strategic level, company management makes high level strategic supply chain decisions that are relevant to whole organization. The decisions that are made with regards to the supply chain should reflect the overall corporate strategy that the organization is following. The strategic supply chain processes that management has to decide upon will cover the breadth of the supply chain. These include product development, customers, manufacturing, vendors and logistics. Logistics Management is also used at this level, in logistics management company decides to develop long term plans of adopting information technology for better delivery of goods, efficient functioning of the department and better customer satisfaction. Company is in the preliminary phase of implementing use of RFID and GPS at the present level.

At Tactical Level

Company uses Customer Relations Management at this level. It uses VCX (Value Chain excellence), an organizational transformation initiative to create excellence with-in the value chain aiming at customer happiness with sustainable growth. It is not about cost cutting, but aims to optimize costs, improve service levels, improve perceived benefits to customers and add value all along the supply-chain Company also uses ERP at this level, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an integrated computer based system used to manage internal and external resources including tangible assets, financial resources, materials and human resources.

SAP-ERP package is used in ACC. The SAP ERP application is an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software manufactured by SAP AG that targets business software requirements of midsize and large organizations in all industries and sectors. It allows for open communication within and between all company functions.

At Operational Level

Company also uses OTRR (On-time rake return) to check on the movements of the goods. Logistics management for Peak demand This project is aimed at developing a logistics model to be deployed in peak demand months with an objective to maximize sales in high contribution markets.

Security System - Each departments SAP system has been designed in such a way that no other department of the organization can have an access on it.

Only the Production Planning section and the Plant Maintenance section can have a access on the Material Managements SAP ERP system.
Additional software used by the companies CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM) In critical path method company is currently using CAPEX project management systems and tools .CPM Function adds pace to development plans of ACC and optimizes the returns on investment in assets through expert know-how on large projects and expansion of existing operational capacities. With a systematic and effective approach it builds operational capacities in a sustainable and cost efficient way, using CAPEX project management systems and tools.

Intranet Portal System The Company has an Intranet Portal called Accelerate which is dedicated to employees. The portals content is based on Personal information relating to Human Resource matters, Performance Management, as well as other information of use to employees such as the latest news on company affairs, developments on sustainable development, house magazines and newsletters. Thus the mantra of system department for this Portal is--Know Your Colleague This Intranet Portal basically helps the employees to communicate with their employer as well as with their colleges. It helps the employees to build up a strong communication between them and also helps to know about the company and its policies. It provides a platform to the employees were they can interact with each other and also can update their knowledge and can solve their queries related to company and its policies.

Competitive Advantage of ACC ACC was one of the first Indian companies to realize the potential and importance of information technology and adopted automation and IT to gain a leading edge. The organization started computerizing its systems as early as 1968.The organization has traveled a long way from the days in 1968 when it was using simple keypunching machines. Significant improvements have been made in the application systems and infrastructure. From Batch processing to online systems, from IBM1401 to the latest UNIX and Windows 2003 based machines it has made timely transitions determined by available technologies and business requirements.

ACC has made a quantum jump from in-house developed systems using Oracle 9i and Developer 6i to an ERP based solution. This decision was solely based on its strategic objectives and the business benefits that are expected to follow. With this move people, business

processes and technologies across the country are aligned. A product that is in excessive demand is usually extremely difficult to manage. Supplying the right amount of products implies that an accurate demand forecast is essential. This impacts the entire supply chain to facilitate efficient consumer response based on consumer demands it becomes imperative that such companies consider inventory management seriously. Making accurate demand and supply predictions is an ideal situation that anyone in the supply chain management arena could dream off. By providing timely accurate information pertaining to inventory location, movement and valuation, receipt of goods, sale and return of goods and profits you can make sure that your inventory is visible throughout a network.

With inventory management ACC has customised its product catalog to hide products that are not in stock, and has changed prices based on the amount of products available in the warehouse. The quantity available is displayed to the shopper and this prevents unnecessary confusion when the shopper adds items not available to a shopping cart. The store buyer is automatically notified about low inventory levels. These features were not used by competitors in the market like Ambuja Cement and it took them a long time to implement and roll out these features. ACC seized the first mover advantage and utilised the potential to the fullest.

TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE IT department of the company should now work towards integrating the system on a higher level and making the company Paper-Less Office. This should be done by integrating the system in a way that the manual intervention be minimized in the day-to-day process. The company should also start Web-Based ordering and selling, so that to be able to catch up with the growing industry. As more improvements in MIS would be done, and Websupport to be also incorporated, it is more than sure that current Network available is going to crash. To cop this, company needs to upgrade its network. For this purpose, we suggest the tie-up of company with some outside contractors like IBM or CISCO to continuously upgrade and maintain their network.

With each up gradation, we suggest training to the managers of the company about effectively using the added functionalities and use of them in a better way. This can be also done by providing a handbook along with each up gradation.