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Peer-To-Peer
Infotech at the Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar
DCM Shriram has linked its Hariyali retail outlets with a
custom-built IT system to serve rural consumers, reports Abhinav Singh
Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar (Hariyali) is a rural retail initiative
by DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd (DSCL) for which it has partnered with software
solution providers SAP and Polaris to create a unique IT platform.
 The
initiative, named Project e-STARR (Systems & Technology in Agriculture and
Rural Retail), offers a solution to Hariyali to serve the farmer better. SAP’s
two solutions—IS-Retail and Retail Store—were implemented by Polaris
Software along with its Retail Excel Point of Sale (PoS) and Agri Service Module.
Empowering farmers
Hariyali is a business unit of DSCL. The concept was started in 2002 in Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttaranchal. It aimed at empowering farmers
by addressing all their occupational requirements. The scope of the project
involved supplying the agricultural and daily needs of the farmer that include
availability of inputs, agronomy services, finance, and output linkages. The
retail outlets have steadily increased from five stores in 2002 to 24 centres
today; there are plans to rapidly scale up to 500 over the next five years in
all states across the country.
DSCL was using NetBase, a PoS module, which had its limitations. Recalls Rajiv
Sinha, Deputy Managing Director, DSCL, “The main objective was to develop
and customise a retail solution which would help the company serve the rural
customer better while creating a strong infrastructure for the operations spread
over multiple locations.” DSCL also wanted the technology platform to be
scalable, robust and capable of improving inventory management and controlling
stock-outs and overstocking, thereby reducing operational costs.
| DSCL—DCM Shriram Consolidated Limited—a
company with a turnover of about Rs 2,000 crore, has primary business interests
in agri-sectors (sugar, agri-inputs and retail) and in energy-intensive
businesses (chemicals and plastics). The Hariyali centres have warehouses
for agriculture-inputs or farm produce, an agri-advisory centre equipped
with qualified agronomists, a vet centre with qualified vet doctors, and
a pharmacy. Each centre, which has been set up over 2-3 acres of land and
provides need-based infrastructure to farmers, caters to agricultural land
of about 50,000-70,000 acres, and impacts the life of approximately 15,000
farmers. |
Stumbling blocks
In terms of the implementation, there were connectivity issues to begin with.
DSCL was using an Internet connection through Reliance phones, but since the
places were in remote locations there were connectivity problems. But the issue
was successfully tackled and all the Hariyali outlets are now linked through
VSAT connectivity. The integration of SAP’s solution, IS-Retail, with the
Polaris’ PoS and Agri Service Module took time. SAP IS-Retail is developed
on ABAP while Polaris is on Visual Basic.
The implementation began towards the end of 2004 and 20 stores went live on
October 1, 2005. The company is using 425 licences of SAP’s IS-Retail solution.
| Solution implemented |
SAP IS-Retail, and Retail Excel Point of Sale solution from Polaris Software
|
| Server |
Dell PowerEdge 6400 server with Intel Pentium III Xeon dual processor
and 2 GB memory |
| Operating system |
Windows 2003 |
| Database |
Oracle 9.2.0.6 |
| Cost of the project |
Rs 2 crore including the cost of the SAP and Polaris application software,
hardware, training and implementation |
Net results
Post-implementation, the package has been able to formalise and improve business
operations and processes for Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar business based on best practices.
There has been simplification, standardisation and rationalisation of business
processes across all retail stores and in the head office.
The solution has helped farmers by providing online information about weather
forecasts and market prices, and also by helping them get fair and transparent
billing. The system has helped in maintaining extensive farmer databases with
micro information about the farmers’ fields to provide customised service
to them.
In order to provide technology services, farmers are being trained to use the
PoS terminals installed at various outlets. Further, it has helped improve the
planning process. As far as the operational benefits are concerned, there is
now centralised storage and improved access to the real-time data at the retail
stores and the head office. There is also increased data transparency as all
the systems are integrated.
Reporting and analytical tools and inventory management have resulted in reducing
the inventory load. There has been faster financial consolidation and generation
of financial statements as everything is on a real-time basis. This has also
enabled reporting for each store for improved decision-making. Due to the generation
of real-time information, there has also been up-to-date and instantaneous MIS.
The system has helped the company in standardising its IT processes through
integration of SAP R/3 and BW (business warehouse) systems at the back end.
There are now plans to extend the BW solution running at the back end to the
Hariyali centres across the country so that better reporting and analysis can
be done.
abhinav@expresscomputeronline.com
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