PLM Quickens New Product Introductions At Asian Paints

With 40 percent market share in the Indian paint market, Asian Paints ranks among the top ten decorative coatings companies in the world today, with a turnover of Rs 22.6 billion in 2007.

With YOY growth for 2007 at 21.5 percent, the introduction of new products is a large part of the company’s aggressive growth strategy.

In an industry that involves 300+ raw materials and complex chemical formulations for any new product, Asian Paints has deployed a PLM solution from Infor to provide its scientists with a platform to leverage the existing formula bank and help foster innovation.

In a freewheeling chat, Manish Choksi, Chief - Corporate Strategy & CIO, Asian Paints, gives Biztech2.0 the complete lowdown on this solution.

Building From Scratch Not Feasible

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Paint can be manufactured by using multiple raw materials. What Asian Paints does really well is use different formulations to arrive at the same end product, to optimize the existing sourcing channels.

For over two decades the company’s been using an internally developed FoxPro platform for managing formulas. But all this allowed a scientist to do was produce the formula in the lab, then key it in and manage it through the ERP platform or SCM solution. Thus it was a workflow solution at best.

“We realised that in this competitive environment, we could not afford to build every product from scratch. We needed to give our scientists a platform on which they could search for older experiments conducted on existing products, or products that never went to market, to help them build the new products required today. This could only be possible using a more comprehensive PLM platform,” says Choksi.

Locating Vendor for Process PLM a Challenge

Typically PLM platforms are a mainstay in light engineering or the automotive sectors. When it comes to process PLM, it’s a different story. Thus locating a suitable PLM platform was a bit of a challenge.

“We chose a solution from a niche player that later got acquired by Infor. We went in for this PLM platform for an end-to-end mapping of processes from new product development to market processes. Our entire new production process was mapped on as workflows on the PLM platform.

“This platform was also integrated into our ERP solution and the SCM platform and other ancillary solutions we have, to clearly represent the single repository of all knowledge around formulas and experiments that go along with it,” explains Choksi.

The modules implemented allow Asian Paints to capture experiments, store test results and compare formulas. There is also a workflow module that allows the company to move products to various stages, ranging from development to market launch. Modules such as project management and long term testing, however, are yet to be implemented.

Implementation a Clear Challenge

“This is one of the first times where we found that implementation was a clear challenge,” says Choksi. Unlike an ERP solution that has a large footprint, the PLM platform has a relatively small footprint and includes a small set of processes. Each of these processes needs to be core designed with the help of an expert from the software vendor, which would require bringing 4-5 people from the software vendor to India, since Infor was not represented in India then.

This fact was making the solution too expensive for Asian Paints. So it sent a core team to the labs of the software vendors. This team configured test scenarios and end-to-end process scenarios at the labs and built scalability into the platform after coming back to India. Once this was done, Asian Paints called in a few experts from the vendor to do core testing, resolve any problems, and add new functionality to the platform.

Asian Paints foresaw that change management would have to go hand-in-hand with adopting the new capabilities that the PLM platform provided. Thus the implementation team consisted of personnel from R&D in addition to the IT team. When this team configured the solution, scientists’ needs were kept in mind right from the start.

The Single Platform Benefit

Collaboration and transparency have been major benefits of the PLM implementation at Asian Paints. The company has been able to leverage knowledge across the labs, as well as across the R&D technology platforms of paint development.

The other great benefit has been a significant reduction in the time taken to take a formulation from the lab and get it out into the market. This has been aided by the removal of virtually every piece of paper required in the process. The process has now gone digital, so it is less time-consuming.

“The biggest benefit was that it gave the scientists a single platform to interact with. Earlier they were interacting in bits and parts with the ERP and other disparate systems. Now they have a single platform that gives them end to end benefits,” says Choksi.

The platform has also given the scientists at Asian Paints simulation capabilities that have helped them re-engineer products even before they are actually formulated.

“This system has also allowed us to comply with our quality system while doing work. As the data gets recorded while you work, not many extra steps have to be taken to be able to comply with the quality system,” adds Choksi.

Compliance a Major Focus in Future

“What we’re working on today is getting more analytics and reporting that would aid in further improving the speed at which we produce new products,” says Choksi.

One of the major requirements in the world of chemical technology today is the increased compliance regulations. Thus Asian paints is planning to integrate product compliance with the PLM platform. They have licensed additional products from complimentary vendors to be able to do this.

On another front, Asian Paints is working on integrating a Knowledge Management platform with the PLM system that will help them capture asset knowledge adjacent to the formula production process.

In an increasingly globalised economy, innovation is the key to success. According to Harvard Business Review, a company that cannot outgrow its competitors must out-innovate them. And this is exactly what Asian Paints is planning to do with the help of this PLM implementation.