Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
On
(Batch: 2014-2016)
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS
STUDIES
INTRODUCTION
Indane is today one of the largest packed-LPG brands in the world and has been
conferred the coveted Consumer Superbrand status by the Superbrands Council
of India
Having launched LPG marketing in the mid-60s, IndianOil has been credited
with bringing about a kitchen revolution, spreading warmth and cheer in
millions of households with the introduction of the clean and efficient cooking
fuel. It has led to a substantial improvement in the health of women, especially
in rural areas by replacing smoky and unhe- althy chulha. Indane is today an
ideal fuel for modern kitchens, synonymous with safety, reliability and
convenience.
With the status of an exclusive business vertical within the Corporation, Indane
is delivered to the doorsteps of over 92 million households. IndianOils 91
Indane bottling plants in upcountry locations roll out 1.81 million cylinders a
day, making IndianOil the second largest marketer of LPG globally, after SHV
Gas of The Netherlands. Indane is available in compact 5 kg cylinders for rural,
hilly and inaccessible areas, 14.2 kg cylinders for domestic use, and 19 kg and
47.5 kg for commercial and industrial use.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Literature review carried out under the following broad categories. Summary of inferences,
gaps from literature review is given under each category.
Table 4: Summary of literature survey
Main theme
references
No of
Cylinder marketing
Cylinder incidents
Cylinder design
13
Cylinder Marketing
The following documents reviewed under the category of
cylinder
marketing
management is critical for the operating firms particularly the initiatives taken towards
green supply chain, where in emphasis is on optimize the entire supply chain. Although
the potential exists, infrastructure needs to strengthen in terms of reliability for increasing the
access of energy
Cylinder Incidents
The following documents reviewed under this category
Identification Of Technological Disaster Prone Areas In Province Punjab, Pakistan [1]
Fires[42]&[43]
BLEVE.
Cylinder Design
The following documents reviewed under this category
Effects Of Weld Zone Properties On Burst Pressures And Failure Locations [104]
Finite
Design
and
analysis
of
LPG
cylinder
using
ANSYS
[33]
Design and finite element analysis of FRP LPG cylinder [71] From the literature, Cylinder
thickness is the critical factor in designing. If the thickness is increased the cylinder safety
increases in conventional design. However the weight of the cylinder increases proportional to
thickness. The cylinder specifications states, the thickness is based on yield strength and test
pressure, weld joint factor and the diameter of cylinder. Among these parameters the yield
strength can be obtained only with tensile testing of cylinder material.
While analysis stresses and deformation studies on cylinders, critical factors are identifies
such as tensile strength, yield strength, percentage elongation, burst pressure and volumetric
expansion. Limits for these parameters are given in Indian Standards for further reference.
From studies, it is evident that the burst test and volumetric expansion can be estimated using
mathematical models for LPG fuel tanks that are large capacity cylinders that are not
intended for domestic consumption. In small cylinder segment like refrigerated cylinders, the
burst pressure and its location can be predicted with mathematical models. Softwares like
FEA, ANSYS, Pro-E WILDFIRE can be used for estimation of stress in cylinders. However,
this software cannot be used for routine laboratory tests as these are expensive, cannot be
operative in shop floor and are not possible to integrate with online field equipment, where
instantaneous response is
This depends on soaking temperatures and time. The Indian standards on LPG Cylinder states
repeated heat treatment on LPG cylinders till they pass the acceptance test instead of
discarding a failed batch during the production process. This scenario affects mechanical
properties, based on the literature study. Also the few studies revealed linear relation between yield
strength and hardness on low carbon steel. Cylinder domes are manufactured with deep drawn
domes. The cold drawing process can influence mechanical properties especially, tensile
strength and hardness. Yield strength, tensile strength and ductility reduces with increased
cold drawing operation on a steel sample.
OBJECTIVE
primary objectives of the study:
To find out the quality of customer services offered by Indane LPG distributors in
Dehradun city.
To study the drawbacks of the services offered and way to improve.
Find out the expectations of the consumers.
To study the distributors and know about the distribution chain and the level of service
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Marketing Research Problem
To determine quality of customer services offered by Indane LPG distributors in Dehradun City.
Information Needed
The questionnaire was designed in such a way that the information regarding the following
was obtained:
Whether the consumer are getting timely refill supply from their Distributor.
Whether the consumer getting timely response in your complaints redressed from the
Distributor.
Whether the consumer finds any difficulty in booking your refill over phone.
Whether the consumers been getting prompt service from customer Service Cell.
Whether
the
consumers
been
getting
periodic
instruction
from
the
Oil
Whether the consumers been getting periodic guidance from Oil Company/Distributor
regarding Fuel Saving.
The above information actually leads to the conclusion that whether Indane consumers are
satisfied with the services offer by the Indane Distributors and also their expectation on the
future.
The questions were diverse and personal interaction was needed to get the correct and
Primary Data:
Primary data was collected from Indane consumers through personal interviewing techniques.
The interview was conducted at the distributors booking point and LPG distribution point. A
structured questionnaire was designed to conduct the interview.
To get an insight into the various services offered by the distributors I visited two prominent
distributors. I also took information about the feedbacks they received from the consumers. This
information helped me to get an initial understanding of the consumer need. No structured
questioner has been formed for the distributors interview.
The sample size has been decided and divided accordingly to four distributors. The distributors
visited by me are: Bhaskar Gas, Bluflame Agencies, City Gas and Dipti Gas. These four
distributors are located in prominent part of the city.
The data was collected from Indanes consumers and distributors code of conduct manual,
IOCLs magazines, journals, news papers and websites like:
www.iocl.com
www.petroleum.nic.in
www.ioclbizz.com
www.google.com
On the condition:
Sampling Technique
Non-Probability Sampling Technique
The sample includes Indane consumers visiting the Indane Distributor booking office and LPG
distribution point.
Convenience Sampling.
Judgmental Sampling.
Sample Size
Scaling Technique
The scaling technique I used in the survey is nominal methods. Each data collection form has
been assigned a serial no. so that the consumers can be easily identified.
Fieldwork
The fieldwork was done by me along with the help of staff in the Indane Distributors office.
Analysis
SPSS package was used to analyze the data obtained from the survey.
Findings
Out of 200 consumers, 158 (79%) consumers get their refill on time but, 21 % consumers
face delay in delivery of refill at preferred time. One of the main reason for the delay is
that the delivery man have to return back as there is no one present in the consumer
residence at the time of delivery.
Out of 200 consumers,158 (79 %) consumers always receive home delivery but 42 (21
%) consumers dont get home delivery. Out of the 42 consumers 24 of them never get
home delivery. The company have to do something as the price of cylinders include home
deliver charge.
When it comes to demanding extra money by the delivery man, 170 consumers out of
200 responded that the delivery man never demanded extra money. 30 consumers have
face situation where delivery man have demanded extra money. The delivery man ask for
carrying charge from the consumers and dont want to return the change. The consumers
can lodge a complaint against such deliver man.
Out of 200 consumers 170 consumers are getting timely response in complaints redressed
from the Distributor. Only 3 consumers have never got timely response on complains.
133 consumers out of 200 never find difficulty in booking refill over the phone but, 67
consumers are find difficulty in booking refill over the phone. Some consumers have
even complained that instead of confirmation of booking refill over the phone by the staff
the consumers do not get the cylinders. When the same consumers visit the office and
enquire about the delay the staff say that there is no such booking been made by the
consumer. The telephone booking facility is also one of the major services offered by the
distributors and customer satisfaction depends a great deal on it.
Recommendations
Customer expectations are not merely limited to receiving timely refills, but look forward
to value added services. Indane have to initiate these changes and have to take measures
to standardize and benchmark all marketing activities such as checking weight of the
cylinders and spreading safety and fuel saving awareness among consumers.
The company must take initiatives to improve the overall service of the distributors. The
company can set targets for the distributors which, if achieved the distributor will be
awarded in the form of increased commission rate, advertisement for the distributor,
discounts on non fuel products, etc.
As Indane has a market share of almost 99 % the distributors must provided the services
seven days a week to increase customer satisfaction.
The delivery man of all the distributors must be provided with proper uniform and i-card
in order to minimize sales through road side vendors at very high prices. As the general
public is unaware they must be educated through various means such as newspapers and
television advertisements, by sending personal to the consumers residence and by
telephonic conservation. The consumers must be guided about what action they should
take when they see such illegal activities. Only then such illegal sale LPG can be stopped.
The company should organize regular tanning sessions for the distributors staff such as
the manager, the staff at the booking counter, delivery boy and the mechanic so that they
can give 100 % at work. This will help to increase consumer satisfaction.
The distributors must give weight checking equipments and leak checking equipments to
the delivery man to make the process fast, reliable and safe.
References
Books:
Statistics for Business & Economics{ India Edition } By Anderson, Sweeney &Williams.
(Published by Thomsan Southwestern)
Journals:
Newspaper:
Sentinel
Dehradun Tribunal
Websites:
www.iocl.com
www.ioclbizz.com
www.petroleum.nic.in
www.google.com