Marking yet another milestone in their partnership, IBM magnified its strategic collaboration with India’s beloved biscuit magnate, Parle Products. This move aims to supercharge Parle’s digital transformation journey, already underway since their partnership in 2014. With the cloud and AI magic wand, Parle aims to not only streamline its intricate supply and distribution networks but also to bolster sales forecasts and reduce costs.
The most recent phase of this collaborative voyage sees IBM Consulting teaming up with tech giant Microsoft, aiming to incorporate the Azure Databricks Lakehouse, a state-of-the-art AI engine for Auto Replenishment, along with SAP Ariba solutions for Parle. This ensemble aims to gift Parle with enhanced operational resilience, agility, and scalability.
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Sanjay Joshi, CIO of Parle Products, remarked on the journey with IBM, “Our collaboration with IBM has always been a game-changer. Venturing into SAP solutions and migrating existing SAP and non-SAP workloads to the cloud has elevated our operational efficiency. With the introduction of Microsoft Azure Databricks Lakehouse platform, we’re gearing up to provide data-driven insights for business functionalities, aiding in critical decision-making. IBM Consulting has indeed been our compass in navigating the digital realm.”
Not to be left behind, Kamal Singhani, Country Managing Partner of IBM Consulting – India/South Asia, expressed, “Cloud and AI are the future, pivotal for companies to stand out. Our enduring alliance with Parle is a testament to this belief, aiming to revamp core strategic units, culminating in better customer satisfaction and revenue augmentation.”
The heart of this collaboration has seen three pivotal transformations:
1) Procurement Transformation: With IBM’s ‘Full Cycle Procurement’, Parle witnessed a dramatic 80% reduction in time to quote comparisons and achieved 2-5% savings across key categories.
2) Supply Chain Evolution: IBM’s SAP-based solution, SAP APO, played a critical role in reducing stockout episodes and optimising logistics. The result? A significant 10% surge in forecast accuracy and faster product delivery to customers.
3) HR Transformation: Employee performance took centre stage for Parle. Implementing SAP SuccessFactors, the company effectively aligned employee KPIs with their objectives, translating into speedier appraisal cycles.
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With IBM being a global leader in hybrid cloud, AI, and consulting expertise, and Parle’s commitment to quality and growth, this partnership is certainly one to watch out for in the coming years.