The actual internship program, named as the “Ulchemies” which was supposed to begin in April was postponed to May on account of the Covid-19 outbreak. The nature of the internship was also shifted to virtual. I was assigned the project “e-Bidding Process Rollout” which was a new initiative taken by the company. E-Bidding is the process by which UTCL will conduct an online bidding process among transporters to get the lowest freight bids for its transportation requirement of moving cement and clinker from its plants. Unlike traditional bidding that occurs at physical locations, e-Bidding will be accessed online, through web browsers, via specific links. I got to work on the project during the pilot phase and under accomplished mentors and mentor buddies.
I was part of the Central Logistics Cell from where the team oversaw the expansion of the project to all the zones. The stint deliverables included recommendations from analysis and learnings of the pilot, trend analysis, cost-benefit analysis, to help design final product document, subsequent changes in the current tool for finalization and implementation on multiple plants post-pilot phase. I was tasked with analysing weekly data and coming up with insights to make the process more efficient.
Throughout the 2 months of internship, every day was a learning opportunity which cumulatively can be sorted under Technical & Behavioural learnings. Technical learnings included the integration of various tools used in cement logistics, the end-to-end bidding process and the various methods of analysis along with project management. The behavioural learnings should be given more weightage according to me as I learned the deeper intricacies of teamwork and working inter-departmental synergy, self-development while handling complex situations and positive interpersonal communication.
This 2-month virtual internship came with its share of problems owing to the medium of communication. Nonetheless, the learnings and the experience from the exposure to working in the field of supply chain and logistics with the leader in cement manufacturing across India were phenomenal. This has been a wholesome learning experience for me.
Chat
Comments