Crispy Bytes - Dec 2024 by DFM Foods

2024 Sound Bytes

Kuldeep Bishla - GM Sales Excellence

Introduction

With 17 years of diverse experience in the FMCG sales domain, I have had the privilege of leading impactful initiatives in Commercial Excellence, Sales Transformation, and Digitization across emerging and developing markets in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. My professional journey has encompassed key roles such as GTM Center of Excellence Lead, GTM Manager, Sales Development Manager, and Sales Manager at globally

recognized multinationals.

What I Value Most at DFM

While DFM offers numerous aspects to appreciate, three stand out distinctly:

1. Our Exceptional Product Portfolio: Loved by customers across geographies and age groups, it is a testament to our market strength.

2. Transparency and Accessibility: The seamless approachability within the system, especially from the leadership, reflects integrity and alignment between our words and actions.

3. Speed and Agility: The ability to execute swiftly is a core strength I haven’t encountered elsewhere in my career.

Key Enablers and Priorities for Sales Excellence

To drive sustainable growth across channels, we are focusing on the following strategic pillars:

1. Retail Execution: Leveraging our competitive edge in direct active coverage, ensuring daily operational efficiency of Sales Units in line with Per Day Sales targets. Retail must perform to its full potential.

2. Rural Expansion: Identifying untapped white spaces and extending our portfolio to rural and remote markets.

3. Sales Capability: Equipping the frontline sales teams with targeted training to improve achievement.

4. Sales Digitization (Data

Hygiene & Reporting): Ensuring Master Data accuracy and authentic reporting in SFA related to Units, Sub-distributors, wholesale/retail outlets, system vs physical inventory, order fulfillment, daily sales, etc.

5. Best Practices Sharing:

Establishing a robust mechanism for cross-regional sharing of best practices to foster innovation and efficiency.

6. Sales Processes at RDS: Implementing tools like the Territory Scoreboard for unit-level performance & beat summaries at distributor points and a ”Wall of Fame” to recognize stellar-performing Sales Units.

7. Governance & Review Mechanism: Instituting a regular review cadence to track performance and ensure alignment with our strategic objectives.

I am looking forward to working closely with the Sales leadership and regional teams to implement the channel expansion plans and fine-tune our sales processes to drive efficiency, productivity, and sustainable growth.

2024 Sound Bytes

Nirupam Choudhury - Head Supply Chain Operations

About

I am a start-up enthusiast and a seasoned professional with core competencies in structured problem-solving across business functions including Large-scale People Operations, Integrated Supply Chain Management, and EBITA Improvement Projects.

I hold a Master’s Degree from IIM Mumbai, NITIE and a Bachelor in Technology from IT-GGV, which equips me with a unique blend of strategic insight, analytical rigor, and technical expertise.

I had the privilege to work with both American & Indian FMCG powerhouses like Heinz and Dabur in the early stage of my career, which helped me to understand the nitty-gritty of the business and build a solid foundation in Business & Operations Excellence.

Core Belief & Vision

I believe in fostering a Creative, Collaborative, and Process-oriented environment that relentlessly focuses on delivering Value to the end customer. I am a Practitioner and a Preacher of “Theory of Constraints” with a Mission to de-bottleneck/accelerate time to market DFM products in the evolving category.

My vision is clear: Strengthen end-to-end Operations Planning to facilitate DFM with a compe -

titive advantage to position itself as the market leader, consistently deliver results that Delight Customers & Drive Profitability, and set gold-standard for operational excellence in the industry.

Challenges & Opportunities

I am passionate about driving our top-line numbers through the growth levers of Geographic Expansion, New Product Innovation, and Increased Business Share of Core Category while optimizing the bottom-line by Cost Saving Initiatives and Expiry/Pilferage Reduction. While these objectives are challenging, my Techno-Managerial Skills and Cross-Functional Coordination are the key to delivering Targets/Projects on time.

With the set-up of the Demand Planning Process, I aim to integrate the Algo-based Replenishment, Production, and Procurement Processes as complexities have increased with new

facilities coming up in the East and South.

I foresee the challenge of striking the Right Balance for Service & Cost in the ever-evolving MT-Ecom Landscape, with New Players coming up with higher Volumes in the Next 50 Tier 2 Cities.

Driving Cost-saving during a year of high inflation is challenging, but my 3-member Team is motivated to cut down costs of Working Capital by optimizing Inventory at various echelons of the Value Chain and avoiding Expiry.

Data-driven decision-making is key to organizational success. With ERP adoption at DFM, data analytics is becoming integral to operations. My forte in developing KPI dashboards is the next step to effectively monitor Key Result Areas (KRAs) and enhance tactical and strategic decision-making for continuous improvement.