In pandemic, we successfully met the rapidly changing needs

Berger Paints has more than 250 years of a rich tradition in the global paint industry. In Bangladesh also, it is at the top among paint companies, providing a diversity of colour-related products and quality service to customers. Maintaining its commitment to produce the highest quality products and provide satisfactory customer service, the company is carrying on its legacy with an unparalleled reputation.

The company recently received the 'Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Award (BSCEA) Award' in the supply chain planning process category. 

Kakan Chandra Dey is Head of the demand supply planning and customer service and distribution department of Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited. Recently, in an exclusive interview, he talked to The Business Standard on various aspects of the company. 

Here are some excerpts from the interview.

The Business Standard: What is the story behind Berger's long time success in the supply chain planning process?

Kakan Chandra Dey: Berger has  a best in class supply chain planning process for a long time, as the top company in this sector. Integrating all the internal functions of the company under the same umbrella is the key in working in this field.

We drive our Innovation and  Renovation initiatives through a  structured process. It helps us to  understand and get insights of the different dimensions of the competitive market scenario in advance, making it convenient for us to take and implement appropriate decisions.

The Business Standard: What is your plan to carry on this success further?

Kakan Chandra Dey: Planning is the key to success of an organisation. The more integrated and comprehensive plan an organisation adopts, the more successful it becomes. If a proper plan is adopted, an organisation can keep its commitment to customers, supplying products on time at fair prices.

We plan for five to ten years under top leadership in accordance with the vision and mission of our organisation. Our plan includes a possible scenario  analysis for the future and a road-map to achieve the organization's objectives under different dynamic context.. For this reason, our organisation can overcome the impact of any short-term crisis very efficiently. However, the issue of the coronavirus is different. In order to overcome the crisis and keep pace with the times, our innovation activities are always going on, helping us to open up new aspects of business.

The Business Standard: What kind of impact your experience, in product supplying during the pandemic, is going to make on your future planning?

Kakan Chandra Dey: The blow of the Covid-19 pandemic was totally unexpected by all. However, keeping a global pandemic in mind we had already sorted out a proactive plan in advance which helped us a lot. During the pandemic, we have successfully met the rapidly changing needs of customers and users, giving highest priority to the safety of customers, colleagues and all concerned. The organisations that adopted long-term overall business plans specifying strategies and a split of their periodic activity-wise milestones and followed them accordingly have successfully come out of the negative impact on business very quickly.

During Pendamic, Maintaining constant online communication with consumers and suppliersand analyzing the situation to take quick action accordingly has helped us to stay ahead in the competition. Now, we are enriching our future plans by analyzing different new dimensions of consumers' demand in collaboration of our sales and marketing team.

The Business Standard: Our national economy is dependent on remittances. Many expatriates live in the remote areas of the country where more and more new structures are being built. In your present capacity, how much are you being able to reach out with your services to those remote customers?

Kakan Chandra Dey: We ensure superior products availability to our consumers across locations in our country. We have a wide distribution network across the country through which we are ensuring supply of  our products to the doorsteps of customers in remote areas of the country. ,

Importing raw materials from different countries of the world at appropriate price, a skilled production team is producing world class Paints and Coatings in guidance of a rich research and development team.

Under constant supervision, we are successfully meeting current demand for our products in the market. We have already set the  plan to meet incremental demand for five years down the line. The relevant department of our organisation is also working accordingly. We are also aligning our capabilities accordingly. In this regard, we are confident.

The Business Standard: Goods transportation cost is very high in our country. What is Berger Paints' policy in this regard?

Kakan Chandra Dey: Yes, you are totally right here. we maintain a position in view of our business policy so that consumers can get the products they demand on time and at fair price. We constantly monitor the competitive market and work with new innovative ideas.

Even then, in order to stay ahead in the competition, one has to consistently achieve higher excellence through adopting global best practices, continuously learning and generating innovative ideas in mapping out plans to delight customers.