The continuum kicked off in an auspicious note at 9:15 a.m. with Dr. Karuna Jain, Dr. Kirankumar Momaiya and Dr. Ravi Prakash Mathur igniting the lamp. Our HoD Dr. Karuna Jain delivered the inaugural address which set the stage for the succeeding sessions. She gave an overview of the various types of supply chain, past continuum themes and concluded with the relevance of the continuum theme. 

The first speaker of the day Dr. Ravi Prakash Mathur, Director SCM, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, delivered a thought provoking talk on ‘Transforming the Supply Chain through Innovation’. He started his talk in style with a short laughter therapy session to freshen everyone’s minds on a Sunday morning! His presentation began with the historical perspective of flow and how it relates to the supply chain. He went on to talk about various supply chain innovations and the practice of SCM by famous historical leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Alexander and Napoleon. He also explained some interesting concepts like Theory Of Constraints and Cross Docking. 

The next speaker was Dr. Vikas Anand, COO, DHL Supply Chain, India. His lecture was on the topic ‘Goods and Services Tax – Impact on Indian Supply Chain’. He took everyone through an informative presentation explaining about Goods and Services Tax, optimizing the supply chain along three dimensions because of the change in Goods and Services tax – Physical Locations, Transportation and IT Systems. He also stressed on Cold Chains, a relatively new concept of the Supply Chain. He concluded his presentation by elaborating on two case studies on the Supply Chain.

The Post Lunch session began with Mr. R. Balaji, Vice President Procurement & Contracts, Reliance Industries Limited. His presentation on ‘Oil and Gas Industry in India-SCM Challenges’ was highly elaborate and factual with Mr. R. Balaji beginning with the basics of Oil and Gas Industry, and then elaborating on the drilling and production steps of the supply chain.

Following the above session, Mr.Tarun Mishra, the founder of Covacsis graced the occasion. Amit Jain & Indranil Khodwe (Team: Opsomaniacs) of K.J.Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research were selected as the winners of Covaxon, pre-event of Operations Continuum 2011. Mr. Tarun Mishra felicitated the winners and awarded their certificates and cash prize. He then delivered a short address on the Supply Chain.

The next session was handled by Sukanta Padhy, Head Global Supply Chain, Alliance Tire Group on the topic ‘Risk Management in Supply Chain’. His presentation primarily involved the topics: Complexities in the Supply Chain, Risks of the Supply Chain and finally Managing the Risks. He also gave the students a clear description of the FMEA (Failure Modes Effect Analysis) along with a simple illustrative example.

Mr. Dharmendra Gangrade, Head Logistics, Pidilite Industries Ltd presented the final session of the day on the topic ‘Supply Chain Collaboration: Strategy or Compulsion’. He started with a brief introduction about his organization, Pidilite. He went on to explain about the nuts and bolts of Supply Chain and then to his core topic: Collaboration. Finally, he listed down the various ways of collaboration and the weak links of transportation in a very comprehensive manner.

At the end, the Opera Club Coordinator delivered the vote of thanks and thus, the session concluded. The Operations Continuum 2011 was a grand success with all the students gaining a lot of insight about Operations and the Supply Chain from the eminent speakers of the day.