8 innovative enterprise mobility use cases by Indian enterprises

HeroMotoCorp: Tracking Spare Parts

Hero MotoCorp is the world’s largest manufacturer of two wheelers. The parts distributors of Hero MotoCorp are the sole suppliers of spare parts to other channel partners like dealers and external customers like retailers and mechanics. Parts distributor executives traditionally recorded the orders on paper or received it through emails. The company was facing several issues with the manual processes for recording orders as they were time consuming and resulted in delays and errors, given the huge volume of orders.

The company felt a need to capture the orders through a mechanism which was readily available with parts distributor executives. Accordingly, Hero MotoCorp developed a mobile app called Hero Genuine Parts Touch (HGP Touch), which was integrated with Hero Connect, the company’s CRM platform for channel partners. With this app, a customer is assigned an executive based on the executive wise tagging of the customers created in Hero Connect.

The app empowers the executive to check the stock and price of any part on the fly. “The app has the complete list of more than 20,000 parts and also includes minimum order quantity and price, which is readily available with the executives. With this information, executives can now commit on the delivery of parts,” states Vijay Sethi, Vice President- IS & CIO, Hero MotoCorp.

The app enables executives to add frequently used parts to ‘Favorites’ to speed up the punching of orders. It also includes an auto save feature, which saves the information every 10 minutes. In case of low connectivity, users can save the order on the device and the order gets submitted automatically once the connectivity is resumed. Further, the flow of order from HGP Touch to Hero Connect is not more than 10 minutes.

With the help of the app, the orders can be captured without any error, ensuring right delivery to the right customer. In addition, the data available for executives helps them in upselling of parts.

"The app has the complete list of more than 20,000 parts and also includes minimum order quantity and price, which is readily available with the executives. With this information, executives can now commit on the delivery of parts" —Vijay Sethi, Vice President- IS & CIO, Hero MotoCorp

TVS Motors: Recalling Defective Vehicles 

One of India’s leading two wheeler manufacturers, TVS Motor Company is another firm showcasing the power of mobility and using it extensively. For example, the company is using mobility for recalling vehicles, which have been identified with some defects. Recalls are a part and parcel of the automotive industry and recalling vehicles due to potential manufacturing issues and safety-related defects is an expensive proposition for the manufacturers. 

“If we identify defects in a few vehicles from a particular batch which hits the market, we can’t call back the entire batch with thousands or even lakhs of vehicles. We should be able to call the selected ones identified with defects,” explains TG Dhandapani, CIO, TVS Motor. 

Leveraging mobility with M2M has made this possible for TVS Motor. The mobility solutions can also capture the defect data and paint consumption data. “Today, with mobility solutions, we can recall the faulty vehicles from a particular batch and save a substantial amount of cost,” asserts Dhandapani.

Apart from recalling vehicles, TVS Motor is using mobility for creating new business opportunities and improving productivity. The company’s mobility initiatives are threefold: Hygiene, cost reduction, and strategic. Under hygiene initiatives, TVS Motors covers all office productivity improvement projects. Reports on sales, production, quality, and project status are pushed to mobile devices.

Under the cost reduction or revenue opportunity initiatives, TVS Motors has developed around 10 applications to prevent or minimize loss and create sales opportunities. Further, the company’s strategic mobility initiatives are customer-focused and helps the company in monitoring service history and resale value of vehicles. 

"Today, with mobility solutions, we can recall the faulty vehicles from a particular batch and save a substantial amount of cost" —TG Dhandapani CIO, TVS Motor.

Classle: Imparting Education to Rural

All over the world, educational institutions are exploring mobility solutions to enhance the students’ learning experience and provide them a holistic environment for learning. Education-based mobility solutions take the concept of learning beyond brick and mortar, and bring educators and learners from different parts of the globe together. Classle is one such organization that is leveraging mobility solutions effectively and efficiently on the cloud to bring a wave of sea change in the space of education. It is focused on using mobile devices to provide a seamless online and offline experience through mobile devices to students, irrespective of their geographical and socio-economic background. “The ability to use mobile devices, even low-cost ones, makes the entire learning process ubiquitous and accessible,” emphasizes Vaidya Nathan, CEO and Founder, Classle Knowledge.

Classle has an online platform at its core through which students and learners interact with their peers, teachers, professors, and professionals through different courses and modules created online. The modules, features, courses, and content are accessed and delivered through both Internet on computers and offline and other means through mobile technology. “As the registration is absolutely free, rural students can seek knowledge, learn, and compete equally with other students in large cities,” states Vaidya Nathan.

Classle is leveraging mobility services in the cloud to build a digital ecosystem for educators and learners. One example is its product, Classle Slate, which is a highly interactive and engaging app that works on any Android device. The app gives access to education materials and other valuable resources available on the website. Further, this innovative app lets the learner access website content offline too.

Classle is working with over 100 educational organization and individual educators who share the common goal of bringing quality and relevance into education and learning. “With 350,000+ student members having signed up for Classle Cloud Campuses, we are poised to empower every student and learner with quality learning,” says Vaidya Nathan. Classle has received a strong and positive feedback from its community of learners, educators, and professionals. It is working on further expanding its footprint in mobility.

"The ability to use mobile devices, even low-cost ones, makes the entire learning process ubiquitous and accessible" —Vaidya Nathan CEO and Founder, Classle Knowledge.

Sheela Foam: Curbing Unauthorized Dealer Selling

Sheela Foam, one of the largest manufacturers of mattresses, was grappling with the issue of unauthorized dealer selling of its mattresses under the Sleepwell brand. Due to unauthorized selling, Sheela Foam faced a loss of 5-7% in the top line. As Sleepwell operates at an average margin of 15%, loss of 5-7% affected its bottom line.

To address this situation, the company turned to mobility and decided to deploy an RFID chip in the mattresses for tracing the product supply source for an unauthorized dealer. The RFID technology was then integrated with Sheela Foam’s home grown ERP ‘greatplus,’ so that the same unique product number could be stored for production slip generation and MRP label. Handheld mobile devices with RFID readers were then provided to mystery customers, so that they could carry the same to an unauthorized dealer to collect the unique product numbers online.

“Earlier, to track unauthorized dealer selling, we used to send a mystery customer to purchase our own product. We were spending `50- 70 lakh per annum on the purchase of our own products, and 90-95% of this purchase was a waste. With RFID implementation in place we no longer need to buy the product as the unique product number gets automatically collected in the mobile devices with RFID readers given to the mystery customer in an unauthorized shop,” says Pertisth Mankotia, Head-IT, Sheela Foam.

Once the serial numbers are collected via RFID readers, the dispatch history of the product movement can then be known very easily. The product supply source, ie, the distributor or the dealer who had sold the product to an unauthorized dealer can easily be identified. “With RFID implementation, we are able to add around `3-4 crore to our bottom line and have increased our top line by `25-35 crore,” updates Mankotia.

With the implementation, the company has been able to reduce unauthorized selling by nearly 50%.

"With RFID implementation, we are able to add around `3-4 crore to our bottom line and have increased our top line by `25-35 crore, "—Pertisth Mankotia, Head-IT, Sheela Foam.

Essar: Imparting Training Via Mobile

At Essar, a large sector of employees are always on the move. Given this scenario, the conglomerate faced the challenge in delivering effective communications from its top management to employees. Simultaneously, it also wanted to ensure seamless training to its senior management including conveying important business metrics. To deliver this content, the firm zeroed in on Drona Mobile, an enterprise mobile management platform.

Explaining the benefits of mobile-enabled training and communications, Prasad Patil, Vice President - IT Infrastructure, Essar says, “We are extending our existing learning and development programs on emerging and experienced managers’ phones. We also pass on refresher modules in leadership and other areas.”

Today, more than 500 employees within Essar access content in the form of text and videos. Essar can conduct just-in-time training, schedule delivery of videos, and more importantly, create a learning path for the employees. By implementing Drona Mobile, Essar has also reduced the burden on its training teams and HR, and enriched the employee-employer relationship.

Apart from using mobility for imparting training, Essar has extended a lot of enterprise applications on to the smart devices. It has a mobility strategy in place based on a list of parameters like data confidentiality, range and reach, business outcome, features and functionality, integration with ecosystem, etc. “We have also prepared an ‘appification roadmap’ for targeting both the existing and legacy apps as well as the new requirements (proactive and reactive) that are received from the business,” says Patil.

Essar has broadly transformed three kinds of processes using mobility: Transactional processes including the extension of backend ERP systems like SAP, JDA, etc, on to the mobile; collaboration and communication processes including mail, messaging, Intranet, VoIP, audio video conferencing, secure file share, training, polls, surveys, secure image upload and share, etc; and operation processes including analytics dashboard, sales force tracking and enablement, farm management, audit, etc.

"We have prepared an ‘appification roadmap’ for targeting both the existing and legacy apps as well as the new requirements (proactive and reactive) that are received from business" —Prasad Patil, Vice President - IT Infrastructure, Essar.

Godrej Properties: Showcasing Flats

One of the leading real estate firms in the country, Godrej Properties is using iPads to virtually showcase flats to its customers. The company’s sales agents are no longer required to carry hard copies of brochures of the flats for showing off flats to prospective clients, as all the company’s brochures are on the iPad. The benefit of showcasing with the iPad is that the sales agents can now also take the client through virtual tour of the flats and properties.

“Our sales professionals have the option of showcasing to a customer how certain furniture layout would look in the flat, or how a particular color will change the look of the flat,” says Shailesh Joshi, Head-IT, Godrej Industries. The agents are also able to furnish information regarding the number of properties sold, rented, and new constructions coming up. “The use of iPads has increased the productivity of our agents and has translated into an increase in sales,” adds Joshi.

"Our sales professionals have the option of showcasing to a customer how certain furniture layout would look in the flat, or how a particular color will change the look of the flat, " says Shailesh Joshi, Head-IT, Godrej Industries.

BNP Paribas: Enabling Trading Anytime, Anywhere

Geojit BNP Paribas gained the first-mover in online and mobile trading by launching a mobile trading platform for real-time market watch, quotes, market-by-price, etc. FLIP mobile trading platform lets customers connect to various markets, through brokers’ order routing network, using mobile devices or PDAs.

“FLIP Mobile Edition is a new-generation mobile trading application. It lets you execute trades through your mobile devices, on multiple exchanges, dealing with multiple instruments simultaneously,” says A Balakrishnan, MD, Geojit Technologies.

The implementation of mobile application has accelerated the growth of self-service and self-directed transactions. “We have achieved a significant market share in the mobile application usage and transactions. As of now, per day volume through mobile has reached to `200 crore. Also, over 25,000 unique clients login per day via mobile,” informs Balakrishnan.

Further, the company’s mobile platform offers live support and technical and exchange-relevant assistance.

Our per day volume through mobile has reached to `200 crore and over 25,000 unique clients login per day via mobile —A Balakrishnan, MD, Geojit Technologies.

Cigna TTK Health Insurance: Empowering Distributors

Cigna TTK, a provider of health insurance, has a multi-channel, country wide distribution model. To empower its distributors and win customer trust, the company implemented the first-of-its kind mobile platform. The application is integrated with Cigna TTK’s core systems and operational processes. To maximize available business opportunity for the distributors, the application tracks leads, generates quotes, and enables policy fulfilment in a seamless manner.

“Our app enables the complete policy purchase and fulfilment to be done in front of the customer, ensuring ease and convenience for the customers and distributors,” says Sandeep Patel, MD & CEO, Cigna TTK Health Insurance. Earlier, the company was faced with the challenge of collation of sales data, integrating all the sales channels, and tracking of sales across India. There was also a high scope and possibility for fraud. Further, the availability of customer records used to take longer time since the person at the branch level had to send a request at the head office and then the premium receipts were issued. The chances of errors in lead capturing were also high.

With the deployment of the mobile app, Cigna TTK has been able to address these concerns. Also, as the app works on an online as well as offline platform, it can be used in areas with limited or no Internet connectivity. “The mobile application enables our brokers and agents to reach out to customers across wider geographies, even at locations where there is limited or no access to the Internet. Thus, the app will help increase health insurance penetration and deepen our presence in tier-2 and -3 cities,” says Patel.

Today, the distributors can access the broker/ customer details on the go. The app has also significantly reduced the chances of errors as customer data is uploaded instantly.

"The mobile application enables our brokers and agents to reach out to customers across wider geographies, even at locations where there is limited or no access to the Internet "—Sandeep Patel, MD & CEO, Cigna TTK Health Insurance.