Introduction to FMCG Sector

The FMCG sector stands for Fast Moving Consumer Goods. As name
indicates this sector has Varity of goods for the daily use of the consumer. These
goods need depends upon the customer-to-customer and market-to-market. The
demand of the goods is very flexible. It means that the change in the price will
have the effect on the sales. FMCG is not a capital-intensive industry and so the
need to retain profits is not much. This industry has a number of goods, which can
be classified in different segments e.g. the food sector, soaps, hair colors, tooth
paste, hair- shampoo and many more. The goods covered under this sector is very
high as the result the players are many.

The major players under this sector are GODREJ, ITC, NESTLE INDIA,
HLL, AMUL, and DABUR INDIA. Now there are so many players in this sector
so the need to win the customer needs is very high. This sector is one of the robust
emerging sectors in India .This sector has contributed so much in the Indian
economy. The contribution from this sector is almost 2% required to achieve the
8% growth rate in the country.

Trends in the FMCG Sector:

The major trends in this sector now days are as follow: -

• The dampening demand for durables has forced FMCG companies to look
for new strategies to win market.

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 • Many players, who withdrew into a shell, forced by low price competition
and a stagnant market, are not only opening up their purse string but also is
also looking beyond just protecting their turf.
• The industry is changing from price realignment to a proactive product
innovation.
• More focus on the brand making and taking the decisions regarding the
brand image.
• The advertising and sales promotion (ASP) of FMCG companies has surged
by as much as 26% in 2005-06 outpacing the sector growth of 17%.
• As a percentage of revenue, spends on ASP have grown 14.6% up from
11.8% in 2003-04

Top 5 FMCG companies: The top five companies are shown in table: 1
(as per the survey “business world June 2006)

Top 5

Rank This Survey Last Survey

1 HLL HLL

2 ITC ITC

3 NESTLE INDIA ASHIAN PAINTS

4 GCMMF(AMUL) GCMMF

5 DABUR INDIA NESTLE INDIA

2
 Table:1 *{source business world June 2006

Company Silhouette
The silhouette of GCPL can be divided in to several parts which are as follow:-

• Historical perspective
• Current profile
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Associates
Historical perspective:
The Consumer Products business of the over 77 year-old erstwhile Godrej
Soaps Ltd. (GSL) was demerged into the newly incepted Godrej Consumer
Products in April 2001, pursuant to a scheme of demerger. As envisaged in the
scheme of demerger, the name of Godrej Soaps Ltd. (GSL) was also changed to
Godrej Industries Ltd. (GIL) with effect from April 2, 2001. GIL retained the
businesses of industrial chemicals, medical diagnostics and estate operations. With
effect from April 1, 2001 the capital of GSL was reorganised from shares of
Rs.10/- each to shares of Rs. 6/- each. Each equity shareholder of GSL was issued
and allotted one share of the face value of Rs. 4/- in GCPL for every one share of
the face value of Rs.10/- held in GSL. The record date for the above issue was May
3, 2001. GCPL was thus created to be a focused FMCG Company following best
in class norms for Corporate Governance and business practices to enable
shareholders and the investing public to fully understand and appreciate its
performance in the FMCG space. While Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. was
established in its current form in 2001, with a single minded FMCG focus, the
Company enjoys more than 77 years of heritage in the manufacture of soaps and
personal care products. GCPL is acknowledged as an innovator across the soap and

3
personal care segments and has demonstrated consistent superior growth since
inception.

Current :

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.(GCPL) is a major player in the Indian FMCG

market with leadership in personal, hair, household and fabric care segments. The
company employs 1200 people and has three state-of-the-art manufacturing
facilities at Malanpur (M.P.) Guwahati (Assam), Silvassa (U.T.) and Baddi ( H.P.).
focus is on providing customers with innovative, value for money solutions for
meeting their daily needs and improving the quality of their life. This is achieved
through the brands the company markets. They are among the largest marketer of
toilet soaps in the country with leading brands such as CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW,
and GODREJ NO.1. The FAIRGLOW brand, India's first Fairness soap, has
created marketing history as one of the most successful innovations.

They are the leader in the hair colour category in India and have a vast
product range from GODREJ RENEW COLOURSOFT LIQUID HAIR
COLOURS, GODREJ LIQUID & POWDER HAIR DYES to GODREJ
KESH KALA OIL, NUPUR based Hair Dyes. Their Liquid Detergent brand
EZEE is the market leader in its category.

They are also the preferred supplier for contract manufacturing of toilet soaps be
some of the most well-known brands in the country. They are supported in their
endeavour by a state-of-the-art Research Centre based in Mumbai. Their quality
products have been received very well in the international market and they are
present in more than -- countries across the world. They are an Equal Opportunity
4
Employer and offer very rewarding career opportunities to people who join them.
They have adopted the Total Quality Management system and their factories
have received ISO certifications.
Mergers and acquisitions

Keyline Brands Ltd Established in 1990 by Brian Boyce and Vicki Dryden
Wyatt, was acquired by the Godrej Group in October 2005. Keyline operates in the
toiletries and personal care sector, and its portfolio includes a number of important
niche brands, some of which are household names such as Cuticura, Aapri,
Erasmic and Nulon.
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, (GCPL) has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of the
South African hair color business of Rapidol, U.K. as well as its subsidiary Rapidol
International which had a combined turnover of 52 million South African Rand (Aprox Rs 33
crore) in 2005. The Company proposes to complete the acquisition via a 100% cash deal
subject to certain regulatory approvals.

Associates
The followings are the associates industries of GODREJ group
• Godrej & Boyce Ltd.
• Godrej Appliances Ltd.
• Godrej Infotech Ltd.
• Geometric Software Services.
• Godrej Industries Ltd
• Godrej Agrovet Ltd.
• Godrej Properties Ltdgodrej Saralee Ltd.

• Godrej Hicare

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 Product Mix/Product Assortment
The product mix refers to set of all products and items that a particular sell
offers for sale. Godrej product mix consists of two strong product lines: soaps and
hair color. A company s product mix has a certain width, length, depth and
consistency.

• Width: How many product lines

• Length: Total number s of items in mix
• Depth: Variants of each product
• Consistency: Closely related the various product lines

Product mix of Godrej:

The product mix of Godrej has mainly five lines:

• Soaps

• Hair Care

• Toiletries

• Detergents

• Baby Care

The line depth of each line is different and it has large number of vibrant of different brands e.g.
Cinthol such as regular, fresh, spice, spot, and cologne. Same in the case of Godrej no 1 it has
six vibrant and the total stock keeping units are 108. The product mix can be shown as follow:

6
 Product mix width

Soaps Hair Care Toiletries Detergents Baby Care

Cinthol Deo Godrej Fashion Hair Colour Talcum power Ezee Sunggy

P Cinthol Deo Renew Highlights Shaving cream liquid cleaner

r
o
Cinthol Deo - Sport Renew Natural Small Cinthol International deo Glossy
d
u
c
Cinthol Lime Fresh Renew Natural Brown

t Cinthol Regular Liquid hair Dye

m
i Evita Powder hair dye

x
Fairglow Godrej kesh kala oil

No.1.Natural Nupur Mehendhi

L
e No.1.Sandal Godrej kali Mehendi

n
g
No.1.Rose Anoop Hair oil

t No.1.Ayurvedic

h No.1.Jasmine

No.1 Lavender

Crowning Glory

Shikakai

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 Distributor Management System
Distributor management system is very critical in FMCG Company. It is essential,
as stocks out situations (wherein a company’s stock are not available with a
particular retail outlet) are unacceptable. Distributor management of Godrej is done
through extensively use of EPS (Enterprise Resource Planning) with the help of a
software called “Sampark” .Distribution has been recognised as one of the core
competencies by Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). Its Distribution
Network covers the Indian market through a vast network of 32 Company
Stockiest, 3030 Distributors and Super/Sub-Stockiest and reaches more than
4.8 lac Retail Outlets.
During the year, the company was able to increase the number of directly covered
retail outlets and also increase its reach to smaller towns through the Super/Sub
Stockiest scheme.
As a result, the Company was able to cross the 1 million outlet distribution
milestone for its Powder Hair Dye sachet. This product now leads the penetration
of GCPL’s products into the rural markets. This is all due to this “Sampark”

The sampark is a complex CPFAR web based initiative is being put into place.
This Collaborative, Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment IT initiative will
connect the entire GCPL sales and distribution network across India.
The objective is to ensure that the supply chain runs smoothly and the right product
is available at the right place in the right quantities, on a continuous replenishment
basis. CPFAR also aims to reduce inventories and improve efficiencies right
through the extended supply chain. This “sampark” was started in early 2002; this
huge initiative has made it on the fast track and has started bringing benefits to

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GCPL. The main task of Sampark is to maintain the supply chain or to manage the
supply chain.

Supply chain management:

Effective management of CFAs, raw materials, manufacturing processes and

distribution networks that are linked together to meet the customer's requirements
is termed as ‘Supply Chain Management’ (SCM). The Customer is the key factor
in a Supply Chain, and it is important to meet his needs efficiently.

A Company sells its products to stockists, who represent various companies,

through a C & FA, agent or designated depot. These Stockists in turn sell to the
retailers, from whom the consumers buy their products. Generally, the sale to the
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stockists from a C & FA or a depot is mostly made through a computer system,
which is uniform across all locations. Data from each of these locations is
transferred to the Company Head Office periodically.

Each stockiest, at the end of the month provides a ‘stock and sale’ statement to the
company. This statement shows the stock holding of each product and the total sale
during the month. Hence, the data available with the Company with regard to the
‘C & FA level’ is historical. The recorded data is related to orders, invoices,
dispatches, payments received, goods received, and sales returns.

An acceptable and immediate solution for the above needs is achieved by

automating the operations of the Stockiest and their parties.

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 Objectives of Evaluating
DMS Sampark

The main objectives behind this project was to under stand the sampark, to
understand level knowledge of Sampark among distributors and find out the
problems in the system. This project has helped me a lot to know more about the
Sampark .For this I have designed a questionnaire which includes mainly the
followings the things:

o What is Sampark?
o How it works?
o What are the issues distributors feels to improve in the
systems?
o What are their experiences (distributors) regarding
Sampark?
o What is the position of support they receive from
Sampark team?

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 Sampark Overture
Sampark, an inventory package developed by the Botree Software Pvt Ltd,
Chennai based Software Company. Godrej Consumer Products ltd has a tie up with
this software. This package is developed in Delphi (Front End) and MS-Access
(Back-End).As the name indicates that “Sampark” means the connection. In the
same manner sampark creates connection between distributor and company.

Sampark is an easy-to-use, ‘one stop’ solution that totally automates the core
business functions of a distributor like purchase, sales, inventory and collections.
Additionally, it is configurable to suit specific business needs, avoid redundant
activities, is scalable to support business growth and provides essential analytical
and managerial reports. What's more, Sampark is user friendly, reliable and
backed by efficient support.

The basis fundamental work of the sampark is to maintain the records about:
• Stock
1. Opening stock
2. Closing stock
• Sales
1. Daily sales
2. Monthly sales
• Distributors
1. A class
2. B class
3. C class
• Reports

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 1. Invoice report
2. Product report
3. Delivery report
4. Salvage report

This software is also deals in accounting which provides a great deal in

knowing the different kinds of accounts such as P/L a/c, cash a/c, debtors a/c etc.
this software has eight modules. Which are as follow:

Eight modules

This software needs to upload database file from the end of distributor.
And download a database file from the end of company.

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 Sampark Bill of Fare

The bill of fare i.e. options available in the software are in the form of
module. This will be open as the mouse cursor will be taken to that module. There
are 8 modules in the software out of which 6 are relater with the daily working and
the rest two are assisting menus to provide help. The main 6 pop menus are as
follow.

⇒ System
⇒ Configuration
⇒ Distribution
⇒ Financials
⇒ DMS
⇒ Reports

Each module has carried some further options which are having significant roll in
the Distributor Management System (DMS) .The detail study of these menus with
the further options is as follow.

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 System
It is essential to organize the system before you start transacting with it.
These are the preparatory arrangements that have to be completed before you start
using the system for daily transactions. The first menu found in the application is
the System Menu. This accomplishes the task of setting up the system.

The menu options provided for you in the System Module are:

1. Company Register: The Company Register maintains the details of the

companies that are represented by the distributor. The details corresponding to the
various companies are stored in this register. Typically, the company is also the
manufacturer, which sells its products through the distributor.
2. Distribution Calendar: The Distribution Calendar is maintained to track the
sales targets of the distributor in a given JC year. The Distribution Calendar also
helps the distributor provide monthly and weekly reports to authorized company
personnel. The months are divided into weeks in the Bucket as per the norms set
by the Company. These reports help in viewing the operational performance of the
distributor.
3. Keyboard Maintenance: Sampark allows the user to customize the keyboard
operations. The Keyboard Maintenance Screen allows the user to set new values
for ‘hot keys’ used within the application. Buttons like ‘New’, ‘Cancel’, ‘Find’ and
‘Help’ are available in all screens; and these buttons are frequently used. At the
time of system creation, you can assign short cut keys or hot keys for frequently
used buttons and menu options such as System, Configuration, Distribution and

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 Financials, through the keyboard maintenance screen, thereby ensuring faster
usability of screens.
4. User Maintenance: The User Maintenance screen is provided to help the
System Administrator or the controlling authority in creating new users and
controlling their activities. This facilitates the user to change the display settings of
the interface.
5. Send Mail: Sampark is integrated with a mailing facility. It helps in sending
mails swiftly to retailers, CFAs and all those who are connected to the distributor’s
business.
6. Calculator: Like the mailing system, Sampark also comes with a calculator,
which the Windows Operating System offers. Through Sampark, the user can
invoke the standard or scientific calculator for performing arithmetic calculations.
7. Website: This option opens the home page of Godrej Consumer products.
8. Back Up: Backup helps in saving data, which has been accumulated for a
long period. By backing up data, facilitates retrieval in future and the user can be
rest assured of it being safe and not getting corrupt or lost. Database alone is
backed up in this process. The database is typically with an .mdb extension. This
collection of information, which has been stored through Sampark over a period,
also helps in backtracking errors.
9. Restore: Data, which has been backed up, can be retrieved for future
reference. This process is called as restoring data. In order to restore the file which
has been backed up select the restore option from the System Menu
10. Year-End Process: This process will keep intact all the settled information
in the database as well as the pending details. This resets the counters and adds
new vouchers for the New Year. This process is typically done on March 31 at the
end of the Fiscal Year.

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11. Upload: The Company sends some standard information to the distributors
pertaining to products, invoices and the retailers’ class. The upload option adds this
information with the existing database. This helps the distributor to have the
current information from the company. This operation reduces the time taken to
add the details manually to the system.
12. Download: This option helps the distributor to close the transactions for a
given day. By doing this, the user can make transactions on this day or the previous
days. Once the day is closed, the system allows the user to make transactions only
for future days. The download has the following options Download Stock and
Sales (SNS), Invoice Receipts (RCT), Retailer Invoice Details (RTL), Shipment
Details (SHIP) and Retailer Master (RTM).

In order to begin working with the system, the essential tasks to be completed in
the system module are Company Register and Distributor Calendar.

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 Configuration
The Configuration Module in Sampark helps the user in setting up the basic
information necessary for initiating the system. The other modules of Sampark
access information from the Configuration module. E.g., the prefix and the suffixes
for the various incremental counters are set in the Counters screen. The categories
and classifications for the retailer are set in ‘Retailer Maintenance’. Likewise, the
details pertaining to the different storage locations and Salesmen are also
maintained in the Configuration module.

Before transacting with the system and extracting the power of its
application, it is essential to customize it according to its requirements.
Fundamental data should be made available for all transactions. Such data are
called ‘master data’. By making this entry once, it saves time and reduces the effort
of making similar entries again. The following are the details, which should be
made available:

1. Distributor Info: The distributor information screen captures the details of the
distributor. The system can store the details of one distributor point only.

2. Counters: The Counter module records the prefixes and suffixes of all
transaction reference numbers and Claim types. There are by default values
for the daily transactions. Let us use Order Generation as an example. The
order number identifies each order uniquely. The user need not enter the order
number. The system generates this number automatically. In order to generate
these auto incremental numbers, you need to specify the prefix and the suffix
for every transaction type. The prefix identifies the type of transaction and the
18
 suffix identifies the current counter number. For instance, ORD signifies
Order Generation and 00000 is the current counter value. The next time an
order is generated it increments the prefix value to 00001, automatically.
3. Series definition: This screen allows the user to create more than one billing
series. The user can enter up to 10 billing series definitions. Out of these 10,
any 4 can be configured in the series maintenance screen. Once a series is
used in a billing transaction, no changes can be made to it. This screen works
similar to the counters screen. No two series can have the same 3-alphabet
prefix.
4. Series maintenance: There are two retailer types in the retailer master screen:
1. Order Booking 2. Ready Stock. Also, the retailer may be VAT registered or
VAT unregistered. Depending on these 4 combinations, 4 different billing
series counter settings can be configured in this screen. Users can select 4
series counters from a choice of 10 series counters configured in the series
definition screen
5. Attribute captions: The ‘Attribute Captions’ is a module provided to define
the attributes of company's products. The company defines the attribute
caption. Maximum of seven attributes can be defined. The attributes refer to
the product hierarchy level maintained by the company.
6. Product attributes: ‘Product Attributes’ module will help you define the
various products in the hierarchy. These attributes are defined in the Attribute
Caption screen. The attributes defined for a Company could be Brand, Sub
Brand, Category, Product Type, and Base. All products must be linked to
these attributes. E.g. Brand – Cinthol

Sub Brand – Cinthol International

Category – Soaps

Product Type – pp

Base – GSLPD
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7. Retailer: The retailer menu captures the details of the retailer, such as the
class of the retailer and the category to which he belongs.

⇒ Class: The ‘class’ option allows the distributor to assign a rating to all his

retailers. This rating depends on the turnover achieved by the retailer. The
company determines the turnover slabs. The distributor enters the
classification according to rules set by the company. The classification
rating is assigned to the retailer in the master details of the retailer.
⇒ Category: it identifies the type of retailer. The data, that is stored here,

comes in handy when the retailer details are entered. By specifying the
parameters that are given here, it is easier to identify the class and the
category of a retailer. By configuring these details, the user need not enter
these details every time a retailer is added. A reference made to this data
would suffice in identifying the class and category of the retailer.

8. Route maintenance: Route Maintenance’ identifies the market place wherein

the retailer is located. A market can have any number of retailers.
9. Location maintenance: Location Maintenance records the details of the
storage locations used by the distributor for stocking his resources.
10. Salesman maintenance: Salesmen play an important role in increasing the
sales of the products. Stockiest Salesman details are maintained through the
Salesman Maintenance screen. The salesmen title or designation is also
recorded while assigning his beats. Distinct beats are assigned to each
salesman. A salesman can be attached to more than one beat. In the absence of
a salesman for a particular beat, another salesman can be assigned to that beat.
The beats selected for the salesman are reflected in the transaction screens.

20
 Contributions (percentages) of the various salesmen towards the sales of
various products can be defined and monitored in this module.
11. Delivery boy maintenance: This screen records the names of the delivery
boys who deliver the goods to the retailers. The delivery process uses this
field as a filter to segregate the delivery process.
12. Bank maintenance: Distributors transact with many banks. Thus, it is
essential to maintain the details of all banks, in a separate module. These
details are maintained in the Bank Maintenance Screen. This screen is linked
with the chart of accounts.
13. Branch master: The ‘Branch Master’ screen maintains the distributor and
retailer bank branch details. Depending upon the distributor’s and retailer’s
proximity to the bank branch, accounts are maintained in various bank
branches. This screen maintains such details to carry account postings.
14. Claim configuration: The ‘Claim Configuration’ screen captures the percentage of value
that can be reimbursed form the company for the various financial claims maintained in
Claim Groups.
15. Claim groups: The ‘Claim Groups’ screen contains the different Claim
Descriptions that are used during the creation of financial claims. The claims
descriptions that are entered here are referred during the creation of financial
claims, in the Claim Register screen. In Sampark, claims descriptions are
attached to every financial claim.
16. Stock adjustment maintenance: The Stock Adjustment screen captures the
different adjustment types that are applicable on stocks.
17. Tax settings: This screen captures the various purchase and sales taxes that
are levied on the selected company products.
18. Account group settings: The 'Account Group Setting' option displays the
available Account Group heads used for recording transactions. This helps to
overcome manual maintenance of ledger accounts. The screen offers four tabs
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 viz Purchase, Sales, Others and Claims. The Purchase Tab displays the
possible purchase accounts such as Freight, Octroi, Difference Account and
Other Discounts. For instance in the Sales Tab, whenever a sales invoice is
raised through billing an entry in recorded in the financial module under the
Sales Book Account. Likewise, when a sales return is performed an entry is
recorded under the Sales return /Salvage Account.
19. Opening balance: The Opening Balance captures the Credit and Debit details
of all ledger accounts at the time of opening an account with the distributor.
When the account heads are created for the first time after the installation of
the software, the closing balances maintained in the account books are
transferred to the relevant account heads created under the financial module,
in Sampark. This screen records all opening balances that are transferred
from the distributor’s general ledgers.

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 Distribution
The Distribution module keeps track of the business transactions of the
stockiest. The distributor receives stocks from the C & F agent and redistributes it
to the retailers. Thus, details of the C & F Agent from whom the stock is received
must be maintained. Similarly, the retailer details are very important for the
stockiest and the company. The details of all the Products distributed by the
stockiest must also be maintained. All ‘master’ details are entered into the system
through the ‘Masters’ sub module found under the distribution module.

The distribution module is divided mainly into:

1. MASTERS
2. TRANSACTION
3. PLANNING

1) MASTERS

The Masters Sub module under the Distribution module is one of the most critical
modules. A lot of critical information required by the transaction module is stored
in the Masters Sub module. The Masters Sub module consists of the following:

a. Product Master: Keeps a record of all Products, in the system.

b. Retailer Master: Keeps a record of all retailers, in the system.
23
 c. C&FA Master: Keeps a record of Carrying and Forwarding Agents who
supply to the distributor.
d. Claim Master: Keeps track of the all-promotional activities and claims.
e. Scheme Master: Keeps track of the schemes given by distributor, on
behalf of the company.
f. Absentee Module: This screen is used to keep track of salesman
attendance.
g. Window Display Scheme: Keeps a record of display contests running at
retailer points.
h. Claim maintenance: Keeps a record of the amount to be reimbursed from
the company for the various financial claims defined in Configuration.

2) TRANSACTION

Transactions could be classified into:

• Buying.
• Selling.
• Stock Movement

After configuring the essential master details, the user can record frequently
changing information in the transactions.

This Transaction module consists of the following screens:

a. Order Booking: This window keeps track of the different sales orders that
are booked.

24
b. Billing: Billing is done through this screen. The records of all old bills can
also be viewed, using this screen.
c. Delivery Process: The system uses this screen to keep track of the Delivery
of billed goods.
d. Sales Return: The system records a sale return through this window. This
window also keeps track of previous sales returns.
e. Collection Register: This screen keeps record of the collections made for
bills. New collections are received through this window.
f. Cheque Payment: The system keeps track of all cheques deposits, through
this window.
g. Retailer On Account: This screen captures retailers excess collection
details
h. Retailer Credit Note: This screen captures the account head under which
the credit notes have to be posted for retailers.
i. Purchase Receipt: The system uses this screen to receive fresh purchases
from the C & FA. The records of old purchases can also be viewed through this
screen
j. Payment Register: This screen keeps a track of the payments made to the
CFA.
k. Stock Movement: This screen has sub-modules, through which the
movement of stocks is recorded.

3) Planning:

Planning is foresight. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. ‘Planning’ is the

general term used for business analysis. Planning identifies the factors that

25
 influence the future of the business. It is only when such factors are identified, and
given importance, that the management can initiate its plan of action.

The Planning module consists of the following:

• Target Setting: Distributor sets the target based on the previous years sale.
So also, the purpose of this screen is to maintain all the Quarterly Sales Targets set
by the distributor for the financial year.
• Return on Investment (ROI): ROI maintains the stock value details for the
specified period. It also gives details of the investment made by the distributor, and
the returns achieved on his investment.

26
 Financials
The financial module will show the details relating to the accounting. it keeps a
continues eye on the financial aspects of the distributor. It has the followings sub
modules

1) Accounts calendar: The distributor maintains a financial calendar to

keep track of the financial health of his business. The Accounts Calendar is
provided to monitor the financial implication of business transactions,
period wise. The financial year is created with the help of the Accounts
Calendar. The distributor can divide a financial year into any number of
quarters or periods, as per his requirement.

2) General ledger setup: The prefix for the different financial

transaction types can be entered in this module. The prefix once set here is
reflected in the standard voucher screen and in the respective screens. The
prefix can only be up to three characters

3) Chart of accounts: Sampark comes with a pre-defined chart of

account settings. The Chart of Accounts is a record of the classification of
accounts. New accounts can be created and set here, as per the user’s choice.
Chart of Accounts comprises of a ‘group accounts’, ‘Sub Groups’, ‘General
Ledger accounts’ and ‘Book accounts’.
27
 4) Standard voucher: In order to account for the day-to-day
transactions, vouchers are electronically maintained in Sampark. Vouchers
are maintained with the help of the Standard Voucher module.

5) Export to tally: Sampark is empowered with the flexibility of

exporting data pertaining to financial values of transactions, to Tally. The
‘Export to Tally’ screen facilitates the user to export the finance related
information to tally.

28
 DMS
This module has that kind of options. Which are being used to by the
distributor to manage the point. This will have all those options which provide the
distributor ground to manage the point. These options will tell that what the current
position of the point is? This module is more related with the palmtop functions. It
helps to upload the order from the palmtop.

This DMS module has the followings sub modules.

1) Norm entry
2) Closing stock entry
3) Download norms
4) Norm viewing
5) Up load order
6) Penalty entry screen
7) Penalty report
8) Scheme detail in palm

29
 Reports
The transactional activity entered through the various screens will be logically
executed, thereby, giving the desired report. Each report available under Sampark
has its own uniqueness and gives the exact status of the transaction - be it stock
related, sales related or financial.

Reports are generated with the help of the transactions that are recorded. These
transactions are captured using the ‘Transaction’ and ‘Financial’ module. They
help in enhancing the business process.

Each report has its own filtering conditions. The user can select and set the filters
according to requirement. Sampark groups the reports according to its
functionality. Each menu has a sequence of sub menus associated with it. The
different types of Reports generated are:

1) Retailer and CFA Masters

• C & FA Master Report: - The C&FA Master

displays the list of CFA’s for a given company.

• List of Outlets: - This report filters the different retailer outlet information.
The generated report contains the following details the Salesman name,
Salesman market route, Category of the retailer, classification of the retailer
and the status of the retailer - whether he is in business or not.

• Outlet Summary: - This report generates the count of retailer outlets for the
selected Stockiest salesman in his assigned market route along with their
category and class.

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 • Coverage Frequency Report:- This report generates a list of retailers for the
selected Stockiest salesman in his assigned market route for a particular
category and class based on the frequency by which they are visited, i.e.
weekly, fortnightly, or monthly.

• Retailer Outstanding Report:- This report generates the outstanding amount

of the retailer, based on the selected Stockiest Salesman market route for the
given period.

2) Product Reports

• Product Master: - This report displays the details of the various products
under the selected attribute captions for the given company along with the
products STU (Sales Transaction Unit) and Purchase Units.

• Product Price List Report: - This report generates information on the details
pertaining to the Product names.

3) Daily Sales Report

• Bill Wise Report:-This report generates information on the sales details for
the given period bill-wise. The generated report contains details such as bill
number, bill date, retailer name, sales value, discounts, sales return, taxes
and net amount based on the selected Stockiest salesman market route.

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• Product Wise Report:- This report generates sales information for the given
date range product-wise. The generated report contains the following
product details such as product name, product batch number, quantity sold,
free quantity and the sales value based on the selected Stockiest salesman
market route, retailers against their corresponding bill numbers.

• Attribute Wise Report:- This report generates the sales information for the
given period, based on the selected product level hierarchy assigned for a
company.

• Bill Designer: - The ‘Bill Designer’ option is an important feature

accommodated in Sampark for designing customized bills. The screen
provides a range of icons using which the user can develop, save and print
customized bill designs. To open the bill designer the user has to supply the
authorization key (password). For this a special User called “Designer” has
been created with a password. Only this user can use the bill designer screen.
To change the existing password the bill Designer supports a separate
option.

• Bill Printing: - The ‘Bill Printing’ screen enables the user to specify the
required number of bill copies that are to be printed on paper.

• Sales Return Report:- This report generates the details of the sales returns
for the given period bill-wise. The generated report contains the following
information the retailers’ name, the products returned, the sales amount,
quantity returned and the product stock Condition – Un-saleable, Saleable or
Offer.

• Net Revenue: -This report generates the details of the net revenue earned by
the distributor. The generated report displays the following information
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 purchase rate, selling rate, distributor cash discount and net revenue
(purchase rate value – selling rate value – discounts).

• Daily Call Report:- This report generates details of retailers, the Products
purchased by them and the productivity of each salesman with their reason
codes.

• Product Track Report:- This report keeps track of the Products based on the
transactions carried out for them over a specified period. It includes details
like sale quantity, purchase quantity, sales return, ‘transfer in’, ‘transfer out’
and Stock Journal quantity retailer wise / bill wise.

• Tax Summary Report:- This report generates a summary of secondary tax

details. The generated report displays the following Bill Number, Total
Amount, Taxable Amount and Tax Charged.

• Retailer Wise Item Sales Report: - The generated report displays the sales
details for the selected product retailer wise for the given period.

• Replacement: - This report generates the product replacement details for the
given period bill-wise.

4) Stock Details

• Current Stock Report:- This report generates information on the closing

stock of the available products from the selected storage location in the
requested measurement based on purchase rate/selling rate/net rate. The
generated report contains the following information product code, product
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 batch code, MRP, UPC (units purchased in cases), stock condition -saleable,
free, un-saleable and closing stock value.

• Stock and Sales Report:- This report generates information on the stock
position (volume wise) for a specified period brand-wise, in the selected
storage location based on purchase rate/selling rate/net rate over the given
reporting unit. The generated report contains the following information like
the product code, product batch, opening stock, from company, total stock,
retail stock, transfer in, transfer out, sales return and closing stock.

• Stock and Sales (Value) Report: - This report generates information on the
stock position (value wise) for a specified period, in the selected storage
location based on purchase rate/selling rate/net rate. The generated report
contains the following information like the product code, product batch,
opening stock, from company, total stock, retail stock, transfer in, transfer
out, sales return and closing stock.

• Stock Value Report: - This report generates the details of the average stock
holding for the given period. The generated report displays the following
details the opening stock value, stock receipts value, adjustment value,
today’s sales and closing stock. It also gives the minimum and maximum
stock holding information.

• Stock Adjustment Report: - The stock adjustment report generates

information on the details of the stocks adjusted through the stock
adjustment module fro the given period. The generated report contains the
following information the location name, Product name, batch no, product
batch Condition - saleable or un-saleable etc, date, quantity, rate of the
product and the total amount

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 • Stock out Report: - This report generates the stocks that are not available,
for the given period. This can be further filtered, by the attribute. If stocks
have not moved out, an asterisk is displayed to signify this.

• Salvage: - This report generates information on the Products that are

damaged or salvaged and returned by the retailer for replacement in the
given period. For each of these transactions, a financial claim number is
created for reimbursing the claim from the company.

5) MIS Reports

A) Outlet

• Top Outlet Report:- This report generates the retailer performance for the
given period. The generated report contains the following information
market name, retailer name, retailer code, sales value and the % of
contribution made by each retailer. This report is arranged as per the
descending value of retailer sales.

• Dead Outlet Report:- This report generates information about the retailers
who have not purchased for the given count of days until the specified date.

• Retailer Class Shift Report:- This report generates the list of those retailers
who have undergone a shift in retailer classification based on their sales

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 turnover. The generated report displays the following the dealer name,
dealer class and dealer class old.

• Class Category Contribution:- This report generates the sales contribution

made by the various retailer classes and categories towards the selected
company products.

• Birthday/Anniversary Report:- This is a reminder report that reminds the

distributor of the birthdays and anniversaries of the retailers.

• Ageing Analysis Report:- This report generates the number of bills and
amount pending from the retailer and the number of days taken by the
retailer to make the payment. It also displays the amount collected.

B) ABC Analysis

• Attribute Wise:- This report generates the sales value for the selected
attribute in the given period either in the ascending or descending order.

• Product Wise:- This report generates Product sales details for the given
period. This generated report is based on the selected reporting unit, sort
type (i.e.) either on the value or the quantity of sales and display order (i.e.)
in either the ascending or descending order.

• Route Wise:- This report generates the sales value based on the selected
stockiest salesman market route for the given period. The generated report is
arranged in either the ascending or descending order of the sales value.

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 • Retailer Wise:- This report generates the sales value based on the retailers.
The report is arranged either in the ascending or on the descending based on
the sales value.

• Category Wise:- This report generates the sales value based on the category
of the retailers. The report is arranged either in the ascending or in
descending order based on the sales value.

• Class Wise Report:- This report generates the sales value based on the
classes assigned to the retailer for the given period. The report is arranged
either in the ascending or in the descending order based on the sales value.

6) Claims and Scheme Details

• Claim Report:- This report generates information with regard to claims for
the given period, that have been recorded through transactions like purchases
and billing, and their outstanding amounts that are yet to be claimed.

• Scheme Details:- This report generates details of schemes that were applied
to bills for the given period.

• Scheme Discount Report:- This report generates the bills for which a
scheme discount was allowed on the selected company products during the
given period.

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 • Product Wise Scheme Report:- This report generates the product wise
retailer bills that have availed the product scheme benefits for the selected
product level, product lists in the given period.
• Multi Product Scheme Details:- This report generates information on multi
product scheme details.

7) Collection Report
These reports will tell all the all the things relating to the collection of the amount
from the retailers. It will include the followings reports.

• Bank Slip

• Collection Report

• Daily Cash Balance

• Pending Bills Report

8) Financial Report
These financial reports will tell the following things relating to the finance. It will
include the following

• General Ledger - Listing

• Day Book

• Period Wise - Listing

• Trial Balance

• Profit and Loss

• Balance Sheet

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 • Voucher Dump

9) VAT Reports
• Product wise Report

• Retailer wise Report

• Retailer wise Slab wise Report

• Product wise Input/Output Report

10) Drill Down Report This report generates information

on sales, which can be drilled down from the company to the least level in
the Product hierarchy as well as from the markets to the bills raised by the
retailers. This also gives information on YTD sales and the last month’s
sales.

11) Distribution Depth/Width This report generates

information on the Products distributed to the retailers as per their respective
hierarchy. This report can be filtered as per cases or units.

12) Coverage Report This report generates the

effective coverage for the specified Cycle month based on the selected
stockiest salesman market route. The generated report contains the
following information Name of Outlets, Outlet Type and the month on
which the salesman coverage was effective.

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13) Delivery Report This report generates
information on sales, which includes bill number, bill date, retailer name,
sales value, discounts, sales return, taxes and net amount. It also displays the
format for a salesman to enter the amount collected through cash or Cheque,
credit and sales return.

14) Loading Sheet This report generates a

consolidated list of products billed during the day. This is a vital report used
by the godown keeper to load the billed stocks into vehicles based on which
deliveries are made.

15) Unloading Sheet This report generates a

consolidated list of products that have been sale returned (Hold) and those
replaced during the given period. This is a vital report used by the godown
keeper to track stocks.

16) Critical Sales Parameters This report displays

information on Salesman’s performances - based on number of bills
generated per week. The performance of the Salesman is categorized as
various indices. These indices use various analytical formulae to calculate

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 different parameters of sales performance. This also helps in determining the
salesman’s productivity.

17) Salesman Monthly Field This report generates the

salesman productivity for the selected cycle month either in the ascending
order or in the descending order. The generated report contains details such
as: the selected month sales, maximum, minimum and medium productivity
and average calls per day.
18) Claim Reports This report generates the
relevant details for the selected claim group. Not all users have access to this
report. Access is restricted to the ADMIN.

19) On Account This report generates the

retailers and the date on which excess payments were made to salesman
during collection or by cash at the distributor point.

20) Credit Note This report generates the

credit notes raised during the given period for the selected retailer.

21) Bill Modification Report This report generates

information on bill modification. The report includes Bill No., Bill Date,

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 Product Code, Product Name, Changed Bill Qty, Changed Free Qty,
Changed Return Qty and Changed Replaced Qty.

Interface in Reports
Buttons Purposes

Find It is a search button used on report filters.

Preview To have a miniature view of the reports.
Close To close the report screen.

Findings
The responses of the distributors to whom I have approached were mix. For
this I have visited all eleven distributors. I have tried to get the response of the
distributors in deep about the Sampark .But many of the distributors have computer
operators for the working of Sampark. I also inquire from the operator for best
results. The initial response from the distributors’ end was that Sampark is a very
good package that has provided him low investment in inventory and its other
benefits are as follow.

 Benefits of Sampark

Benefits from Distributors Management System-Sampark:

• Prevention from stocks out situation

• Faster and accurate information on secondary sales at distribution

Points
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• Reduction in inventory levels

• Accurate forecasting, better sales and production

Planning

• Used by more them 400 distributors who account for 70 percent of sales

• Reduces the working capital of distributors, which translates into direct

business benefits

• Helps GCPL obtain retail information on a real-time basis, which gives a clear
idea about market demand for individual products

• Reduced time for closing accounts

• Better visibility into the inventory pipeline

• Information about key outlets

 Level of under standing of Sampark among distributors:

The distributors have knowledge of Sampark Package and all functionality

related to the software. Some distributors operate it by themselves. But most of the
distributors have operators for it. Most of the distributors are working properly and
sending data online regularly. But still some have queries about this package or
suggestions. The main concern is that this software needs more simplicity and
flexibility. As regards to the knowledge each distributor knows it very well. They
know what they have to do with (kind of work).

 Daily Activities of Sampark:

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 The distributors have told me that this software provides a basis to daily
activities, required to fulfill the task are done on through Sampark software. These
activities include Invoicing Downloading and Daily Data Sending through Internet.
Daily billing of their retailers, dispatch challans, Delivery goods, Maintaining daily
stock and sales, Sales returned and replacement by the customers done through by
this package. Each distributor performs the same kind of work. The software they
are using is same so the activities they done are also same but the sequence may be
different

 Issues they need consider to be improved:

They considered that there are no such changes required at that movement
the software is fully functionally and effective and efficient. Due to new version of
Sampark 2.11. But the main point of condensation is only the complexity of the
software. The software is easier to use difficult to learn and not easy to be operated
by any new user. The software should be of that kind so that they have to do
minimum activities

 Experience with Sampark (Traditional vs. Sampark)

They said that the software gives them very much advantage over the
traditional system (manual) wherein the traditional system it requires a lots of
manual books records or stationery. But as such this software concerned, it
provides us a lot of previous data which are stored in the Sampark system. No need
to give any manual bill in the market, just get bills printed and it will show the
amount of sales, Vat Summary Report (Before and after vat value) without
calculating manually, Gross Amount (Total Value of the Product before Vat Tax)
and the Net amount after deductions , the schemes and the details of free items.

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 Position of support received from Sampark team

Distributors were saying that the Sampark team is very co-operative and
always ready to help him for any troubleshooting. If they have any problem related
to the software, they can call to the Sampark implementation team. Either they
solved their problems by phone or personal visit. With the help of Sampark team,
the software has become easy to use. And if they find any problem, they can
communicate to Sampark team in Delhi.

Encumbrance in Sampark
The Sampark has made the work very easy .but there are some points which
can further increase its capability .The following are the shortcomings in the
software.

 The first hindrance in the soft ware is that some kind of schemes introduced
in monthly sales promotional activities by the companies i.e. TPR or ARF or Free
Issues or Samples etc. are not fully compactable with the software. More over
these schemes has to be entered every month. It will be easier to take these
Schemes by Online rather than to feed Monthly.

 Schemes will be easier for feeding in the billing format as it’s always select
the scheme before applying the specific scheme for the particular month. The
system does not support direct save and print command when we entered and
save the bills. It saves the bill but don’t print at all. We first go in the Bill Printing
Form in Sampark and then selecting the bill for printing. It indicates the late work.

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 There is also a short coming in the report printing. The reports being printed
in 80 columns but the simple dot matrix printer does not support it .more over there
are some columns which are not required for day to day work. For effective
working there should be options before printing that which columns you don’t
wants to print.

 The product wise sales report which is required for loading the goods in the
delivery van doesn’t show the total number of bills. It become necessary to get
print other report for total number of bills.

 There is a problem in applying the schemes after the day end .if by mistake
they (distributors) forget to enter any scheme then they have to pay it from their
pocket.

 The scheme report shows all the sales with scheme and without scheme.
Which provide attention to check the scheme sales.

 Quantity purchases schemes (QPS) are not in accordance with the Sampark.
Where retailer gets more discount on more or large quantity.

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 Multi product scheme is very difficult to enter in the bills. This gave birth to
problem in the working.

 The problem of backup of software is there .due to software failure they are
not able to work. And it takes time to load software by Sampark team .so they
should provide a backup of this software.

Conclusion
At the end of this report, it can be said that the step of GCPL to make it’s
distribution channel online was the good decision, which has provide a good
supportive hand to the distributors regarding the sales, billing , knowing their A
class retailers, stock detail etc. the general remarks for the software was
excellent as per the distributors. This system which can be complicated for some
distributors due to the illiteracy of the computer they can have a computer
operator. Where there is a successful integration strategy, there is enterprise value.
At its very core, a well-executed supply chain project offers a single window into
business and distribution, consolidates systems and processes, and provides quick
and accurate information on secondary sales at the point of distribution. This is
precisely what Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) achieved through project
"Sampark," a distributor management system used for stock management, billing
to retailers, accounting and report generation.

Commenting on the meticulous implementation of the system, The objective

of implementing Sampark was to reduce the working capital of distributors. This in
turn would give a better return on investment leading to more coverage and hence
more sales. Sampark was initially being used by 300 distributors who account
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for 67 percent of the company's sales. GCPL has made an investment of
approximately Rs 1 crore and by the end of the year, the company plans to extend
its reach to around 400 distributors spread across the country.

The general remark for this software “Sampark” is excellent as per the distributors.

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