| In my 5 years of experience of marketing and | | | | without an action plan. In my experience, in the |
| business development in the Indian textile | | | | Indian context, following are some of the ways to |
| industry, production of exact quantity of goods | | | | clear stocks: |
| was a rare event. This could be due to various | | | | 1) Excess produce forcibly shipped with the |
| reasons such as the growing complexity in | | | | parent order to realize some value, sometimes at |
| consumer demand, the uncertainties in the | | | | a discounted price |
| manufacturing and processing, inefficient quality | | | | 2) Stocks from all order are accumulated at one |
| control, defects in raw material, labour indiscipline, | | | | place and sold to local dealers by weight in which |
| power failures, and a whole gamut of reasons. | | | | case it faces a far less value than its original price. |
| Although excess production or short packing was | | | | 3) Storing them in a warehouse for future |
| a routine phenomenon, both never receive | | | | clearance |
| strategic attention. Most managers realize that | | | | 4) Used in making other products to be sold |
| managing stocks or excess produce could very | | | | locally or internationally fetching far less realization |
| well reduce their cost of products and ultimately | | | | than their actual value. |
| boost bottom lines; rarely do they think this as an | | | | 5) In some case, sent as gift items to |
| important way of supplementing their targets. | | | | government officials. (Believe me, this was a |
| Most stay focused on delivering the parent order | | | | common thing to do!) |
| on time, as that itself is a challenge in many cases. | | | | In all the above cases, the goods are sold in |
| And in the process, the stocks are sidelined, | | | | markets they were originally not meant to be |
| stacked in dark corners of a dingy warehouse, | | | | consumed. Why is it a wonder then that these |
| and forgotten about. | | | | goods fail to generate the value they were meant |
| Are you excess produce really this worthless? | | | | to generate? |
| Here, I may be painting a worst case scenario. | | | | We are all aware the as human consumption is |
| These stocks, which are revisited at the time of | | | | growing; the demand for resources is rapidly |
| annual events such as auditing and stock | | | | increasing and their supply constantly under stress. |
| clearance, are by then rotten, infected by fungus | | | | Why not then, let the consumer consume |
| or found with completely worn out packaging. | | | | products that would otherwise merely sit in |
| In better cases, the stocks from all orders are | | | | darkness? |
| accumulated at one place and records are kept | | | | |