When challenges arise, exemplary supply chains don’t just survive – they thrive. The 2025 awards spotlight corporates whose supply chain teams have delivered outstanding performance by combining agility, foresight, and innovation. These winners stand out as true champions of resilience and customer success, inspiring the industry with practices that set the gold standard for supply chain excellence.
SIX-HOUR DISPATCH: Dalmia’s Logistics Game Changer
When outdated systems and operational bottlenecks began slowing dispatches, Dalmia Cement Bharat faced a challenge that threatened customer trust and market share. The solution was bold—a complete overhaul of its logistics backbone with a cloud-native TMS, infrastructure upgrades, and strategic transporter partnerships. The result was game-changing: Truck Turnaround Time slashed by 25%, costs reduced, and delivery reliability restored. This is the story of how Dalmia turned delays into a competitive edge, highlights PN Suresh, Deputy General Manager - Supply Chain Management, Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd., Dalmiapuram…
In a business where every hour can shape market share, Dalmia Cement Bharat knew that logistics efficiency was not just a back-end function—it was the heartbeat of customer satisfaction and growth. The company’s nationwide dispatch network, essential for moving thousands of tons of cement daily, was under strain. Its legacy Plant Logistics Management System (PLMS), once an enabler, had become a roadblock. The system lagged under the weight of peak demand, froze during critical month-end and year-end cycles, and struggled with server limitations, malware vulnerabilities, and frequent technical breakdowns. These problems were not confined to screens; they rippled across operations, delaying truck loading, disrupting invoicing, and ultimately holding back revenue at the very moments when the market was most ready to buy.
In an industry where primary movement from factory to dealer ensures next-day delivery and stronger margins, delays were more than an inconvenience—they were an existential threat. The longer trucks waited, the greater the risk of customers looking elsewhere, especially when competitors promised faster fulfillment. High Truck Turnaround Time (TAT) was eroding trust, shrinking opportunities, and inflating costs through reliance on more expensive secondary dispatches via depots.
THE CORE PROBLEM
The situation demanded urgent action. At its heart, the problem was twofold: outdated technology and operational inefficiencies. The PLMS could no longer keep pace with the company’s scale and ambition, while on-the-ground bottlenecks—from narrow internal roads to uncoordinated order flows—slowed dispatches further. Without the ability to accurately measure or address these delays, inefficiencies became entrenched. Customers, once confident in Dalmia’s service, were experiencing delays in receiving concrete-critical cement. Every missed delivery was not just a lost sale but a potential loss of long-term loyalty.
COMPLEX CHALLENGES
The road to transformation was far from straightforward. The cement mill and packing plant often operated with inconsistent reliability, making loading schedules unpredictable. Orders were sometimes fragmented due to unaligned Delivery Order creation, leading to mismatches with plant capacity. Inside plant premises, narrow, unpaved roads constrained truck movement, especially under heavy traffic. The existing TMS–SAP integration lacked the seamlessness needed to support high-speed operations, and real-time tracking was absent, with no RFID systems to measure TAT accurately. Human factors added another layer of complexity—contract manpower efficiency needed improvement, while the absence of proper driver rest facilities or dedicated weighbridges slowed down the loading-to-dispatch cycle. Migrating to a new system also meant navigating the risks of data migration, user adoption, and infrastructure readiness across a network of geographically dispersed plants.
THE STRATEGIC OVERHAUL
Dalmia Cement Bharat chose not to patch the old system but to rebuild its logistics backbone from the ground up. Partnering with EY, the company deployed a next-generation, cloud-native Transport Management System (TMS) that would not just replace but redefine how logistics worked. The new TMS integrated every stage of the dispatch process—truck registration, order allocation, vehicle tagging, tare weight management, loading, goods issue, and invoicing—into one seamless platform. The cloud architecture delivered faster processing, limitless scalability, and robust security, while embedded features like Electronic Proof of Delivery (EPOD), GPS tracking, optimizers, and a bidding module brought new levels of transparency and control.
Recognizing that technology adoption depended on user experience, Dalmia also introduced ‘Vahak Mitra’, a dedicated mobile application for transporters, ensuring real-time engagement and faster vehicle placement. The implementation was rolled out in phases, prioritizing critical modules first and training every stakeholder—from plant staff to transporters—on the new workflows.
OPERATIONAL REINFORCEMENT
Technology alone would not solve physical-world constraints, so Dalmia initiated a comprehensive operational improvement program. Reliability at the cement mill and packing plant was strengthened through predictive maintenance and operational fine-tuning. Delivery Order creation was restructured to ensure a steady, capacity-aligned order flow. Internal roads were widened, paved, and dressed, allowing trucks to move more freely even during peak hours.
The absence of accurate TAT data was addressed with RFID-based time and motion studies, enabling precise diagnosis of delays and data-driven solutions. Dedicated weighbridges for cement invoicing trucks were installed to prevent bottlenecks. For drivers, temporary rest rooms and transport offices were set up, addressing comfort and readiness while waiting for loads. Seasonal delays during monsoon were mitigated by deploying skilled manpower for tarpaulin tying and installing elevated platforms for quicker, safer covering of trucks.
SECURING TRANSPORT CAPACITY
One of the persistent challenges was truck availability at the right location, at the right time. To eliminate this uncertainty, Dalmia introduced a Master Service Agreement (MSA) with key transport partners. This agreement committed dedicated vehicles to operate exclusively for Dalmia, without route restrictions, even on empty return journeys. The arrangement incentivized transporters while guaranteeing Dalmia priority access to capacity, dramatically reducing delays caused by last-minute sourcing.
RESULTS THAT REDEFINED PERFORMANCE
The impact of these combined efforts was transformative. Truck Turnaround Time fell from an average of eight hours to six—a 25 percent reduction that significantly accelerated dispatch cycles and ensured more reliable next-day deliveries to dealers. The improved delivery speed not only delighted existing customers but also drove a measurable increase in repeat orders, strengthening customer loyalty and market position.
Operational costs saw a marked reduction, with faster loading cutting demurrage charges and a decreased need for cost-heavy secondary depot dispatches. The MSA initiative alone slashed delay-related costs by 80 percent, proving the value of strategic partnerships in logistics. The integrated TMS, supported by the ‘Vahak Mitra’ app, gave Dalmia unprecedented visibility and control over its logistics network, turning dispatches into a synchronized, high-performance operation.
CONCLUSION
Dalmia Cement Bharat’s journey from an outdated, sluggish logistics process to a fast, transparent, and customer-focused system demonstrates the power of aligning technology, infrastructure, and stakeholder engagement. By modernizing its transport management and tackling on-ground bottlenecks with precision, the company has not only delivered operational excellence but also reinforced its customer-first philosophy. The transformation stands as a benchmark for the cement industry, proving that in logistics, speed and reliability are not just operational metrics, they are the currency of trust, loyalty, and sustained growth.
TELEFLEX MEDICAL: Transforming Supply Chain with Data-Driven Precision
In the fast-paced and highly regulated world of healthcare, supply chain performance is not just a matter of efficiency—it can directly influence patient care. For Teleflex Medical India, the years between 2021 and 2024 marked a period of intense transformation. Faced with growing product portfolios, unpredictable demand patterns, and the need for precise availability in life-saving medical devices, the India SCM team took on the challenge of building a supply chain that was faster, smarter, and significantly more cost-efficient.
THE results speak volumes: a 54% reduction in supply chain cost per dollar revenue, 100% daily stock visibility, and faster, more informed decision-making across the organization. This was not just a systems upgrade—it was a fundamental shift in how supply chain, sales, and planning worked together, powered by data integration, process automation, and a culture of collaboration.
THE CORE PROBLEM: VISIBILITY AND ALIGNMENT GAPS
The transformation journey began with a pressing issue—there was no unified view of product availability. This created a constant question mark: were sales shortfalls the result of insufficient stock, or simply weak order inflow? Without clear answers, opportunity losses went undetected.
At the same time, demand planning was largely manual and basic. Decisions were delayed, fiscal targets and demand forecasts often diverged by nearly 20%—almost three times the target variance—and there was little insight into what was driving these mismatches. In a healthcare environment where even small misalignments can ripple into service level challenges, this lack of clarity was costly.
CHALLENGES ON THE ROAD TO TRANSFORMATION
The problems were compounded by the sheer complexity of data scattered across SAP, DSX, SharePoint, and manual sales inputs, each operating in isolation. Integrating planning, orders, and forecasts into a single source of truth was not only a technical challenge but also an organizational one. Moreover, the team needed more than just a reporting tool. They required an intelligent, logic-based framework capable of providing daily SKU-level clarity, linking stock and orders, predicting billing potential, and prioritizing areas for action. Without it, planners were spending too much time on reconciliation, and too little on proactive decision-making.
THE BREAKTHROUGH: FROM DATA SILOS TO A SMART, CONNECTED SUPPLY CHAIN
The Availability Matrix: The first breakthrough came with the creation of the Availability Matrix—a standalone Power BI solution built on data pipelines from SAP HANA and SharePoint forecasts, with SQL and Power Query handling transformation and integration. This was not a static report but a dynamic, daily-refresh system that factored in customer orders, rolling three-month forecasts, goods in transit, and daily sales consumption.
The matrix went beyond stock counts—it highlighted two critical scenarios: when orders were needed despite sufficient stock, and when materials were required despite a healthy order book. It also projected monthly billing probabilities by combining forecasts, backorders, and inventory on hand, giving sales and planning teams a shared, real-time understanding of opportunities and risks.
Advanced Demand Planning Dashboard: In parallel, the team redesigned the demand planning process. They developed a multi-dimensional review dashboard that offered seven layers of analytical depth, including fiscal variance tracking, demand evolution waterfalls, forecast loss trees, ABC-XYZ analysis, and exception-based SKU management.
A new automated monthly data pipeline integrated DSX inputs, the Global Forecast Dashboard, and standardized sales templates, storing the consolidated data in SharePoint for collaboration. This eliminated hours of manual consolidation work and ensured everyone—from planners to business unit leaders—was working from the same, trusted data. The process standardization was rolled out across India and consolidated for APAC, ensuring the same level of insight and discipline region-wide.
The Human Element: Collaboration and Cultural Shift: Behind the dashboards and data pipelines was a cultural shift. The SCM transformation required closer-than-ever collaboration between Planning, Sales, and Customer Service teams, breaking down silos that had existed for years. In the early days, there was understandable skepticism—some teams wondered if the dashboards would add more complexity rather than reduce it. That changed quickly when the first set of missed billing opportunities was flagged within days of going live. The ability to see in real time where action could unlock revenue created a wave of buy-in across functions.
Leaders played a crucial role by championing the use of these tools in every demand review, turning meetings from broad, sometimes abstract discussions into sharp, data-driven problem-solving sessions.
MEASURABLE IMPACT: FROM REACTIVE TO PROACTIVE
The outcomes were far-reaching. Stock visibility reached 100%, enabling rapid responses to market shifts. Root-cause analysis of availability issues became 80% faster, and millions in potential missed billing were flagged each month—opportunities that could now be acted upon.
Demand forecast submissions improved by 5% overall, reversing under-forecasting patterns from prior years. In C-class products—a notoriously difficult category to predict—variance dropped from 74% in 2022 to 30% post-implementation. Early detection of supply-demand mismatches and excess inventory helped reduce carrying costs, freeing up capital for other priorities. Financially, the transformation drove a dramatic improvement in efficiency. Supply chain cost per revenue fell from 7.01% in 2021 to just 3.46% in 2024, a 54% reduction. And critically, this was achieved without increasing headcount—proof that automation and process redesign were delivering real productivity gains.
BEYOND THE NUMBERS: A STRONGER BUSINESS AND BETTER SERVICE
While the metrics are impressive, the impact on customer experience has been just as significant. Improved forecast accuracy and inventory positioning mean fewer backorders, faster order fulfillment, and greater reliability—essential factors in the healthcare sector. The clarity and responsiveness built into the system have also strengthened supplier relationships. With better demand signals and clearer stocking strategies, negotiations are more informed, lead times are better managed, and risks are mitigated earlier.
FUTURE-READY: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE NEXT LEAP
The success of the Availability Matrix and demand planning dashboard has set the stage for the next phase of SCM evolution at Teleflex Medical. Plans are already in motion to integrate AI and machine learning models for predictive forecasting, to expand the tools to additional product lines and regions, and to embed more automation into exception management and replenishment triggers. By combining the precision of data science with the discipline of standardized processes, Teleflex Medical India has created a blueprint for resilient, scalable, and cost-efficient supply chain operations—one that can flex with market changes while keeping customer needs at the center.
In the end, this transformation was not just about systems and dashboards—it was about creating a culture of clarity, accountability, and continuous improvement. Teleflex Medical’s India SCM team has proven that when technology and people work together with purpose, supply chain can be a driver of competitive advantage, not just a support function. And in healthcare, that can make all the difference.
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