So, in our last meeting with one of our stakeholders, a guy was facing too much confusion about Bill of material, SKU code, Components, Finished goods, Sourcing, Procurement, etc.
One of our team members was intelligent enough to place an illustration. “So Gaurav, have you ever eaten a Biryani?” Everyone’s mouth got watered while some saw an interesting illustration coming.
“Oh, yes I love it!”
“I am assuming you might have experimented alot with Behroz Biryani over swiggy & zomato!”
He grinned, “Every biryani lover does that!”
“Perfect!” she replied and then she didn’t stop!
Let’s start with SKU Code first! Every product available at the store has a unique code. This code which helps in the identification and tracking of the products at the retail store is called as stock keeping unit or SKU.
Now, biryani’s are not usually coded but to explain this, let’s give it an SKU code today!
- BE – V–F-1002
- BE – V–H-1002
Where:
BE stands for Behroz Biryani
V – Veg
F – Full plate
And, 1002 might be the code from the main course section.
In the same way H in the second example would stand for Half plate! Simply typing BE – V–F-1002 would let the retailer know whether the particular item is available with him or not.
Now, coming to the Planning part!
It’s july 2022, the planner at Biryani store found that following are the Biryani meals (BE – V–F-1002) consumed at his store month wise, Jan’22 – 86, Feb’22 – 78, Mar’22 – 102, April’22 – 103 , MAy’22 – 96 , June’22 – 91. He use some forecasting tool of his and with the Sales team input along with the consideration of No. of biryani consumers in the vicinity, Eid Festival, etc., he comes with an forecast of 108 Biryani boxes to be sold in the month of August’22!
Now, comes the Bill of Material (BOM) part!
If the entire Biryani Box (200 gm Biryani, curd, mint, wrapper, foil paper, spoon, etc.) is a Finished product, then 200 gm Biryani, curd, etc., would be Semi-finished product. Also, not to forget 200 gm Biryani has some requirement of ingredients as well (Rice, tomato, chicken, etc.) which are called Raw materials!
What will BOM give us?
It will tell us the exact unit of raw materials (rice, pepper, masala, chicken, etc.), semi finished products (curd, salad), etc. required to prepare one Biryani Box . Further we can source all these ingredients for 108 Biryani boxes (said forecast above)
Now, comes the Sourcing part!
The sourcing guy will go through the requirement of ingredients, say rice 30kg for the month. He’ll go through the rice properties and decided which suits best for the biryani (customer favorites, quality wise, health wise, etc.). Further, he’ll shortlist all the Rice producing stores and shortlist the best stores (By distance, price, etc.) And, he’ll proceed for the sourcing all the raw materials required.
Now, comes the Make part!
What in the world do manufacturer guys do at a plant? Well, he makes products using some machines!
So, here’s the case similar as well! The chef will cook the biryani with the best of his abilities. Not to forget, he too has some advanced machines like cooker, gas stove, etc XD
And once the tasty biryani is prepared, don’t think the job is over! The box needs to be prepared. So, all the packaging material needs to be used here and voila! biryani is prepared!
What do we do now? Logistics, someone shouted!
Logistics is nothing but every step related to delivery of the finished product! From deciding the path to be used by delivery boy to optimizing the delivery time, everything is taken care by the logistics. Not to forget, fuel & vehicle cost are considered too. I mean, we can’t afford leaving any stone unturned.
Once it is delivered, Return logistics is also the area where they care about returns, risks and frauds involved once it reaches the customer. Remember, it can be anything from delivery fraud to customer complaints, etc!
Once we achieve the lesser wastage, high profits, happy customers, etc., it means we have attained one of the finest supply chains!
So, next time, when you eat a wonderful biryani from Behrouz, don’t be just thankful to the chef, be grateful to the entire team of supply chain who ensured you get the bestest of things in no time 🙂
Now, that we have discussed the biryani so much, why don’t you be grateful to the author and give his post so much subscribers & shares that he can give his readers a biryani party? Can we? XD
Shoot in the comments, if you want more such discussions!
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