Consumer Goods Technology - October 2018 - 27

Industry Insight

Addressing the
Technology Imperative
SRINIVASAN RAJAMANI
Wipro

"It's critical to
drive seamless
integration
and visibility
across both
online and offline
channels"

Wipro's Srinivasan Rajamani recently
sat down with CGT to discuss key trends
in technology transformation.
1. Which areas of the traditional consumer
goods enterprise must undergo the greatest
transformation to address the new omnichannel marketplace in which we're operating?
For a traditional consumer goods enterprise,
the key to delivering an eﬀective, omnichannel
experience is taking a truly consumer-centric
service design approach that transforms the
still-siloed operations across the value chain,
including R&D, sales & marketing, channels,
supply chain and ﬁnance.
An effective omnichannel strategy should
address the following aspects:
Alignment with consumer behavior: R&D, sales
and marketing should focus on deriving insights
from large pools of data, driving direct interaction/dialogue, and curating the product mix to
drive brand-specific personalization. Crowdsourcing can be leveraged to tap into changing
demographic and lifestyle needs.
Cross-channel integration: It's critical to drive
seamless integration and visibility across both
online and oﬄine channels.
Operational agility: Supply chain and ﬁnance
should focus on redesigning fulﬁllment for digital orders and developing creative/dynamic
product pricing models.

Srinivansan Rajamani
is vice president &
global head of CPG
at Wipro with end-to-end
responsibility, including
delivery sales, solutions,
and new markets,
across all service lines.

2.What are the primary obstacles to the adoption of the new tools and technologies that can
make this happen?
For a number of businesses, getting buy-in for
new technology by shifting the spending mix
from traditional back-oﬃce needs to tools delivering consumer-centric experiences - and
just keeping up with the pace of change in the
operating models and technology - presents
signiﬁcant challenges.

Some of the key challenges include right-fitting people in key technology and strategic
roles (companies often lack employees with
the required skills in new-age technologies);
sustaining the investment necessary to succeed (for both process upgrades and tech modernization); governance of IT portfolio value
realization (prioritizing value-driven projects
and providing visibility into the business value
generated by IT engagements); breaking down
siloed organizational structures (cross-functional leadership alignment is needed, because
siloed data is a big obstacle), and the need for
rapid design and execution of proof of concepts (companies should explore partnerships
with startups).

3. What emerging technologies do you think
will be most critical for future success?
Consumer goods companies should first
lay down high-impact business imperatives
that can be enabled through emerging technologies, develop a ﬁt-for-purpose operating
model and then push through wide-ranging
transformation.
Emerging technologies critical for future
success include artificial intelligence and
machine learning (hyper-automation in IT
operations; robotic process automation);
the Internet of Things (entirely new ways
of collaborating with business partners and
consumers through connected devices; processing of device data at scale for operational
insights); blockchain (trusted supply chain
through authenticity and anti-counterfeiting/
fraud; exchange-to-exchange traceability); big
data predictive analytics tools (insights into
consumers/channels/pricing; smart demand
prediction); cybersecurity (real-time risk
proﬁle monitoring and attack surface analysis; rapid, accurate intelligence and incident
mitigation); augmented reality/virtual reality (enhanced shopping experiences); and 3D
printing (customization/personalization; quick
manufacturing). CGT

CONSUMERGOODS.COM | OCTOBER 2018 | CGT

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Consumer Goods Technology - October 2018

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