It all started on 14th Aug 2017, when I was a part of the 5-member team from SJMSOM selected for the “Operations Boot Camp”, a very innovative programme started by Marico to give MBA students a perspective on the operations/supply chain and the opportunities in a typical FMCG industry. Even before joining my internship, this unique initiative by the HR team at Marico has helped me to get an overview of their functions and on this day, I wished to associate myself with Marico in my summers and work on projects that help me add value and make a difference!
After my selection during summer placements, my very first interaction happened much before the start of the internship with the sales representatives during March’18. It was a two-day sales stint focused in and around Chembur area of Mumbai and I was able to understand the working level of various channel points, Marico’s order management system and the innovative IT tools available to the sales representatives. This visit was a great value addition to my summer internship and since then, I was excited to begin my project. The curtains were finally raised to experience Marico in-depth on 2nd Apr’18.
Every activity that the company does is new and stands out among the others. Our induction week was very well crafted and focused on giving an overall picture of various functions and how an intern can get inputs and support from the teams. Since the beginning of the week, I was never seen as an intern but rather as a member. I also got an opportunity to get to know and experience the values of the company through my interaction with the members from various departments. The highlight of our first week was the interactive session with the CEO of Marico. I was enthralled by his simplicity, leadership qualities and he not only motivated us but explained how Marico looks forward to our solutions to the challenging projects and how we as members of the company for the next two months can really make a big difference to their growth trajectory. One laudable thing about Marico was the complete freedom given to the interns in the execution of the projects.
It was helter-skelter in the first two weeks and I couldn’t figure out properly the way ahead for my project. In this situation, Marico’s value bias for action had shown me the right way out and I quickly acted upon the key differentiating factors which enabled me in quickly taking decisions. My super guide had also directed me in the right path and asked me to drill down until I arrive at a feasible solution. I was given complete freedom to drive this project based on my analysis and observations along with the support from the management. My buddy had also helped me at the right time in data collection and analysis. I never looked back from here and went ahead confidently to further achieve my objectives defined.
After one month of my project, I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to test my hypothesis through a pilot. I got a chance to visit the regional team at Delhi and subsequently work with the local team at our distribution center. As this was in an interior village, I used to face trouble in commuting in the first few days. But the members based out of that place had extended their support and ensured that my entire one-month stay was smooth. I used to commute daily with them and sometimes go back to my stay in the evening by different kinds of trucks which I used to refer to as Ola Trucks 
.
Throughout the pilot, some minor hiccups had crept in however with the right support and motivation from the members, I was able to scale-up the pilot successfully after doing the necessary course corrections. This entire four weeks of my tenure at the warehouse facility had shown how Marico handles such huge volumes with a very good accuracy. I was able to see the challenges being faced by the supply chain team and the hidden opportunities.
With the successful completion of the pilot, I had also evaluated the business impact and proposed my recommendations and a scale-up plan to take it ahead. This entire nine weeks of my project had opened gateways for me to come up with my innovative ideas and I have arrived at solutions to various challenging scenarios.
The summer internship is not completely about achieving the objectives of the project but also to get a perspective of the work, company, people etc. The HR team has conducted various interactive sessions during the weekends with the senior members from marketing, R&D, new business, finance, E-commerce etc. I was also privileged to be a part of the coffee with CSCO session (chief supply chain officer of Marico). All these had shown me how people are free to come up with their own ideas and innovate which have a potential to disrupt the current business.
To sum up, this internship has really made a big difference to my career and I got a complete perspective of the today’s challenges in an FMCG supply chain and the opportunities that await for our young generation.
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