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EDITORIALBalmer Lawrie's uniqueness lies in its 'Diversity' and no mass communication in this organisation can becomplete if it doesn't capture the various facets and hues of this diversity. BLOGwas introduced in October2011 and through the various issues it has highlighted different businesses, organisational initiatives,sustainability and CSRactivities, and people centric programmes. However, you'd agree with me that todaywe would not have been a successful conglomerate if we didn't change with time and keep pace with thechanging technology landscape. If today our businesses are working in synergy and leveraging eachother's strengths, Information Technology (IT) has a great role to play. I feel happy to say that our ITDepartment has acted as a catalyst to integrate the various businesses and support functions together onone platform and has translated the 'diversity' into 'the power of one'.

This issue of BLOGis dedicated to Team IT and while you read on, you will know how this team is constantlysupporting the Company to improve business processes, achieve cost efficiencies, enhance customersatisfaction, drive revenue growth and stakeholder integration and help the businesses to maintain acompetitive advantage in the marketplace. Bill Gates once said - "Information technology and business arebecoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without talkingabout the other. "

We will soon step into the next Financial Year. Hope the businesses will be able to create more opportunitiesin the new financial year and bring in better top line and bottom line growth for the Company.

LEADERSHIP SPEAKS

Mr. Viren SinhaChairman &Managing Director

I recall that in the early 80's Balmer Lawrie was one of the first companies tohave installed an IBM Main Frame. It was a showpiece of sorts and was givenuncanny names such as 'EDP Department' or 'Electronic Data ProcessingDepartment', 'MSD' or 'Management Services Division' etc. It was adepartment where primary focus was on, "automating" the accountingprocess. At times, they would bring out the odd report which in today's contextis pure garbage. With time, the department evolved and developed our ownhome grown ERPssuch as GLIOS, IPIOS, BLLMS, CFAetc. While we changedthe name from 'MSD' to 'Information Technology (IT)', the basic focus for quitesome time remained on the department churning out information which atbest could be labelled "slightly more than accounting".

Over the last 3 years there has been a sea change from the department beingmanned by clumsy old Data Entry Operators to a cool and geeky centre with a young team that is not onlyensuring that IT is used as a key business enabler but it is also helping leverage organizational knowledgeand analyze data to make strategic business decisions.

Significant portion of our businesses now run on world class business system call 'SAP' and some others ontailor made ERPs.We must take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues in the IT department who haverelentlessly worked 24/7 to bring about this tectonic shift in how we handle information across theorganisation. This process of transformation has been tough and challenging and the various newinitiatives that are in the pipeline will require even more efforts as it involves not only process and systemchanges but also a major shift in our work culture.

Today's business environment is evolving at a very fast pace requiring business to innovate and respond atlightning speed, bandling mammoth amount of data. The challenge before any manager is to be able tohandle thjs data so that we can remain competitive and create value for our customer. I am confident thatrrn- .Balmer Lawrie will shape the future of how we leverage appropriate technologies and emerge asleaders in our business segment.

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LEADERSHIP SPEAKSThe Company has been passing through very challenging times over the pastcouple of years. Although there are definite signs of growth in economicactivities in the country since the change of Government in May'14, theCompany is faced with stiff competition in the market place for all its productsand services leading to severe pressure on margins. In this highly competitiveenvironment, the only way to survive and grow profitably, in my view, isthrough technological interventions and making the various processes moreautomated / technology enabled. There is a strong need to have dataanalytics, information about the customers / markets in a structured form,making our production processes more technology enabled to make theproducts superior in quality than competitors as also to enable cost reduction,etc. So, Information Technology, in my opinion, has a very big challenging rolein Bl in the coming years.Prabal Basu

Director [Finance]

The Company has tremendous expectation from the members of the IT department and I am quiteconfident that our IT department is capable of rising to the occasion and will help this Company achievegreater heights in the future. We had started the journey of getting into SAP in 2012 and are fastapproaching the completion of first phase of implementation of SAPin BL. I have spoken to various expertsin this field about our experience / progress in respect of SAPimplementation and I am glad to inform youthat they have all been quite impressed with the progress that we have made in this regard given thecomplexities of our operations. However, I must admit, that this is only the beginning of the journey and wehave a very long way to go. There is a lot of work to be done in this area and we need to implement ourvarious ongoing projects like MIDOFFICEfor SBU: T&V, Defence portal for T&V, new operating package forlS, SRM,operationalising our own mail messaging system, Disaster recovery site at 39 BCRoad, etc.

However, I assure all members of the Bl family that our IT department is fully geared up to meet thesechallenges. The IT team has a perfect blend of youngsters and people having long experience of working inBl and I am confident that together they will facilitate the Company to achieve its growth targets in thecoming years.

My best wishes to the entire team.

EVOLUTION OF THE IT FUNCTION AT BALMER LAWRIE

Forty years of Information Technology in Balmer Lawrie

Balmer lawrie has been an early bird in adopting Computers for business needs in the country and startedoff with the Hollerith Punch Card systems in mid 70's.

80's:Personal Computers came into operation and Applications were written in-house using BASIC program forFinancial Accounting (single entry system) and programs were developed using dbase III for the CargoDivision. 8" floppy drives and spool tape drives were used for backups. Line printers came into existence inthe late 80's.

90's:The Company had the then latest IBM compatible PCs. Multi-user, time-sharing systems (servers) usingUNIX based operating systems were procured. Networking using serial ports came into being forconnecting dumb terminals and PCsto these servers. Multi-user programs were developed using COBOlfor Financial Accounting, Payroll, Travel, Cargo, lP, G&l and Pc. 5 %" floppy disks were used for backupsalong with tape cartridges. Remote computers were connected using modems & multiplexers whereverrequired.

In the mid 90's, the Company embarked on a major journey towards change by introducing RDBMSplatform and selected Sybase in this regard. Various Applications were developed jointly by externalconsultants and the company's in-house team, both for SBUs and Support Functions - G&l (!BOAS),

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Financial Accounting (FINACT), Non-officers Payroll (NOPS), Perquisite system (MPSYS), T&T (BLTRAP)and LS (CMS).

Local area networks were upgraded from serial connectivity using line drivers to a concept called structuredcabling using Hubs, Switches & appropriate panels / connectors. Optical fibre cables were introduced forexternal cabling. 3" floppy disks replaced the 5%" disks and compact tape drives replaced the cartridgetape drives.

GUI (Graphical User Interface) based front-end application development tool was introduced and thisgradually replaced the initially developed non-GUI based applications, and the Dumb Terminals weregradually replaced with the latest PC's(available at that point oftime). IPIOS for SBU: IP was the first to getdeveloped using this GUI. This development was done with the help of external consultants jointly with thein-house team.

2000 onwards:IAS for SBU: PCwas the first complete 'in-house development' using a GUI and this was followed by TRIOfor SBU: T&T, GLIOS for SBU: G&L, BLLMSfor SBU: LS, CFAfor Financial Accounting and CPAYfor Payroll &Perquisites. All these in-house developed applications had integration with CFA.Along with these the firstpackage for CFSwas also developed and this was with the help of external consultants. The function whichwas called as Management Services Division (MSD) was named as Information Technology (IT)Department.

Software as a consultancy business was tried out and the software that was developed for a Logistics clientusing MS-SQL & VB was subsequently adopted at our LS division with necessary modifications /improvements. This first and only project, apart from giving us good software (which is in operation tilldate) gave us a decent profit also.

The Company's data centre was set up at the Corporate Office and centralised data storage and applicationdeployment were established and the local networks were integrated into a single company wide networkusing leased lines. This centralization helped in phasing out the SBU wise servers and also in standardizingthe MIS which eventually helped in the subsequent companywide IT initiative that was to follow.

Some of the other major initiatives / milestones that were achieved during this period are as follows:• The Company's Website was launched and the official mailing system using "balmerlawrie.com"

was standardized during this decade.• e-Procurement using outsourced agencies was started in the Company.• A Disaster Recovery (DR) setup was implemented with the DRcentre at Delhi.• RFID/ GPSbased container tracking system for SBU: LI was implemented at all the CFS's.• A vendor registration & evaluation portal was launched ..• The Company embarked on ERPimplementation.

- Inputs from T 5 Sankar, Binayak Biswas and Ujjwal Pachal

THE FUTUREBalmer Lawrie Keeping Pace with Information Technology Headway

Balmer Lawrie has made significant progress in the last few years in implementation and adoption of IT invarious SBUs/functions. User centric applications are running all aspects of business and are channellingdata to and fro with core ERPsystem.The diagram on Pg.-5 illustrates as to where we are and what could bethe possible direction as we go forward.

Business Dashboards - Will provide snapshots of key performence indicatore across SBU'sand Functions.

SBUs and Functions will generate transaction data, social media data, mobile data, complaints/grievancesdata, employee data, assets data etc. which fall into unstructured and structured data categories.Churning this data to understand will require Big Data Analytics.

THE FUTURE

Balmer tawrie &TToday_ ilndPOSSIBI.YTOMORROW

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Balmer Lawrie has understood the huge reach of Social Networks and has already established a Facebookpresence. We will have to enhance our focus on these platforms to achieve diverse objectives ranging frombrand building to providing information through social networks. The vacations business will possiblyembrace these technologies most as it reaches out to end consumers.

Cloud Computing - Essentially means one can lease/rent shared assets and will not have to take thecost/effort of owning and maintaining it all. We can immensely benefit from this model where it will allowour manpower to conserve energy on running businesses instead of managing infrastructure. We couldexplore some low risk Cloud Deployment for an initial understanding. We also need to ensure that we arecomplying with Government guidelines for leveraging cloud services.

Immediate demand for information and ability to manage critical business functions from anywhere isdriving Mobile Computing. Our Logistics businesses are already using handheld applications for real timebusiness communication. Retail business of G&L, Employee-related applications and Travel Portal are likelyto leverage mobile computing using smart phones, tablets etc.

Services SBUs may be early adopters of Customer Relationship Management applications to ensure ahomogenous customer experience - irrespective of the communication channel. A 360-degree view of thecustomer - immediate transactions, leads generated, status of invoices - will be the intermediate stage.The end state will be to ensure Analytics can leverage these for enhanced Customer Satisfaction leading toretention and profitability.

SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES

Milestones covered in the recent past (2011- till date)

ERP Implementation:ERPwas envisaged as the Enterprise Software and a feasibilitystudy for adopting an ERP was done. As an outcome of thisstudy, a management consultant was selected and SAP as theERP Software along with the implementation partner waschosen. Core committee was constituted by taking membersfrom each SBU / Function. The as - is & to - be studies weredone with GAPanalysis so that the required customization wasappropriately taken care of. SAP HR module started from April2013. SBU: IP went live on SAPfrom I" Aug 2013 along with the -

L----=~=:::::::::::::2.~.~ SAP's financial module called FICO for all the SBU's including~-~--....I those on legacy packages / systems. On the t" of April 2014,

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SIGNIFICANT MrLE5TONES

SBU: PCwent live on SAPand the exercise on G&L is currently underway.

The IT landscape as given below shows that Post ERPimplementation the Manufacturing Businesses will beon SAP and the Service Businesses will have their own applications which will be integrated with SAP.

F- :::::Manufacturing :

BUs •JySAP

SBU: Logistics Infrastructure• "iCOMET", a web based application software solution for our CFSs was implemented in 2012 - 2013

and keeps track of the operations right from gate-in to billing and also maintains a decision supportsystem with built-in MIS reports.

• A RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based Solution along with an Application was implemented inthe year 2012-2013 which helps in locating / identifying containers stacked in the yard quickly and atan accuracy level of +/- one container.

• A Customer Interface Portal (a Mobile Application tool) was implemented in the year 2013-14. Thisweb based tool enabled our customers to handle a whole gamut of operations by themselves that theyneeded and which were crucial to them.

SBU: Logistics Services• Mobile Application to capture status of Air Import and Air Export operations implemented on 1stMarch

2014

• A new project has been launched to implement a package (CORVI) to replace BLLMS

SBU: Travel &Vacations• A Back-Office Application called "CashX" was implemented on I" January 2012. This has enabled the

SBU to generate invoice along with ticketing and simultaneous accounting.

• A travel portal for Flight and Hotel functionalities was implemented on t"April 2012.

• A self-booking solution that enables Corporate and Travel Management Companies to integrate all theelements oftheir travel has been implemented for several marquee corporates.

• A mid-office application called "NEXTRA" is under implementation to take care of the B2B and B2Cbusiness. This has all the above facilities / features in-built into it and will be replacing the aboveapplications / tools for T&V as and when it gets implemented. The Figure on Pg.-7 depicts the solutionfootprint of NEXTRA.

Infrastructure:• The data centre at Corporate Office has been modernized / upgraded with more powerful blade

servers and storage devices like SAN & DLT's.• Implementation of a Mail Messaging Solution is in progress.• A disaster recovery site is being set up at 39 BC Road, Kolkata.

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SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES

..PRODUCT/CHANNEL

MOBILE SBT B2B B2C PORTAL

DOCUMENTATIONPRE / ON / POST TRIP SUPPORT

A.SUPPLIERS

•••PAYMENT

GATEWAYS & BANKS

•••••Leads, Opportunities,

Sales, ServiceCALL CENTRE t t

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SUPPLIERS BANKS

NEXTRA solution landscape

"Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good andsmart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them." - Steve Jobs

\

All of you would agree that the IT Abhishek has diversified portfolioFunction is all about People. Team experience in businesses includingIT is lead by Mr. Abhishek Agarwal, Financials, Government / Defence,Chief Information Officer whojoined Balmer lawrie on 9th Manufacturing/Automotive, Tele-February 2015. communications and Oil & Gas

during his 20 years of professionalcareer. His expertise lies inmanaging large Business Transfor-mation Prog ra ms, Softwa reDevelopment, System Adminis-tration, Data Center Management,Program Governance & Manage-ment, Change Management,Contact Center Technology for CallCenters (CCT), CRM, Business

Management Intelligence (BI) and SAP.

TEAM IT

Mr. Abhishek Agarwal,Chief Information Officer

A seasoned professional, Abhishekdid his B.E.(Computer Science)from BIT, Mesra, Ranchi and M.S.(Software Systems) from BITS,Pilani. During the various stages ofhis career, Abhishek acquiredcertifications in Sun Microsystems(SCSA/SCNA), Cisco (CCNA),Service Management (ITIl),Quality (CIQA) & Oracle (OCP-DBA). He is a certified ProjectProfessional (PMP) since 2008.

Abhishek started his career in 1995 at Ashokleyland Information Technology (AUT), Bangaloreas Program Analyst. He joined Institute of SystemsStudies & Analyses, Defence R & D Organization(ISSA, DRDO) at Delhi as a Scientist in 1996. 2004onwards, he worked with Maruti Suzuki India ltd.,Bharti Airtel Ltd., Wipro Ltd. in various capacities.His last stint was with Vodafone India ltd., Pune asHead - IT for a period of three years.

Some of his major professional achievementsinclude development of Hire purchase & leasesystem for Ashok leyland Info. Tech., developmentand delivery of Geographical Information Systemand Weapon Simulation software for Indian Army,Architecting & delivery of Dealer ManagementSystem application and rolling out at 600+locations in India, Network Designing &Interconnecting 750+ locations of Maruti Suzukion MPlS, Implementation of Tracking system for

BBLOGTEAM IT

the Maruti fleet of 2500+ trucks, Delivery of eCRMsystem at Bharti Airtel, Managing a largeOutsourcing deal of Cairn Energy, Implementationof SAPin Cairn Energy India Ltd, Migration of DataCenters (Approx. 250+ servers, network devices& storages) with minimal downtime at CairnEnergy as well as Bharti Airtel, Call centerTechnology management for 80 Mn. Inbound and20 Mn. Outbound calls at Bharti Airtel and Rollingout enhanced Pre-paid system for 140+ Mn.subscribers and Post-paid billing system of 3 Mn.

Subscribers in Vodafone India.Abhishek was born in Kota, Rajasthan. His fatheris a retired Electrical engineer and mother ahome maker. Abhishek spent most of hischildhood in Kota, Jaipur and his professionalcareer has been mostly in Delhi. He is married toMs. Nitu, a Computer Scientist at DRDO,Ministry of Defence. He has two sons and hisfamily is settled in Delhi. When free, Abhishekspends his time reading management books. Healso likes travelling, photography and driving.

The team is beautiful mix of talented and hardworking individuals representing Gen X and GenY.Wegot theopportunity to interact and chat with some of them.

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Gen Y Speaks f the Corporate IT Team and thehow it felt to be part 0We asked them away from home.department was a home

"IMy association witii 'Ba6ner £.awrie issince June 2012wfien I joinea as an"'Executive Trainee". I ayyreciate theWork environment in my d:eyartment. Itfee{s {[keI am in a '':J[omeaway fromHome". We Work ana enjoy ([ke afami[yfiere. 'Due to the ongoing 5.J1.pirnyCementation, many senior co[Ceagueskeey on Visiting our d:eyartment ana Weget a cfiance to interact witti tfiem.Working wu« our IrnyCementationPartner ana otfier service yrovlders isfiefping us to enfiance our Ski[{sana caterto tfie needS of the cornyany, in a betterway. I fee[ yroua to work for a Cornyany,which is going to cornyCete150 years ofeXistence, sfiort[y.

-.JI.nurag.JI.rora,.JI.sstManager [IT]

6eenaIt fiaS ':meB1'eat ~tfiadsince d'oineJ'.BaCnt~1'1antLa'W1'te.,f the

a1't 0)a~lnfra-1 truettt1'~ ,chs 'Wntteam, onsi6Ceis 1'esy ;ninB

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Cootr~ ':J 'on aices snt rlttentt tttnit~el'''' ':res lA- ,1')1')01' 'des,cent1'e s r 1'eqttt thiS 0JJ N' '.Bestta anu .fnCfo1' :ree• . , 9

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non-Kolkatans felt that the

Istarteamy careerwu«'BaGner.£.aWrieinJune 2012anafor tfieyast2years, Ifiave beenworking as.nart oftfieITinfra_structure team. 'During tfiisYhase I

have alWays »« "WelCorn"rfa1Uffo:.1Ufmy.~~[ftn.a very conaUcive ana aYOSltzve work environ-""ent Ifi ce . "~. aVe aeenntn.sterf wu« VarioUs i""'anant taslisWfilCfiapylies tfie liltest infDrnuztWn.tecfinofogies in tfie mart::et ana:,t Iii. «et, u tn.courseo ac zeVe tfiose tasks I fiave founaSUpYan from aiTquarters Of tlie depart-ment. HaVing aItat organizationa[structur.e has onty acce£eratea tfiemecfianzsm. 50far it has been anexceiTent journey a1UfI sincerefit hopefor -ny 1"tWreexcitino years afieadj

-Sfirikcmt YQd4v, .J1sst:Manager [I'I]

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Tete-e-tete with Mr. Partha Mitra, Chief Manager [IT]How many years have you spent Then private VPN and Centralin IT and how has your Server Based applications wereexperience been? implemented for all SBUs andI joined BL in the IT Dept. in January Corporate Finance and HR. We1988 at Delhi. I was looking after established our own data centerthe entire IT installations at Delhi and disaster recovery site.which includes Tours & Travel, Automated applications wereLogistics and Co-ordination office. implemented for SBU: LI andDuring this period I was engaged in SBU:TT. In this process, we alsoimplementation of Business procured packages from variousApplications for SBU :T&T and service providers and imple-SBU: LS. Then, I was transferred to mented them. Now, we are in theCorporate IT in June, 1994. I process to implement Mid-Officeworked till October, 2014 at Mr.ParthaMitra, application in SBU:T&V.Corporate IT. I was closely involved Chief Manager [IT] Additionally, I am in a role to meetin the implementation of various the customers and understandapplications at different locations. lead the project to develop their technology landscape andInitially I was engaged in interface application to integrate convince them to adopt our Selfdevelopment and implementation business applications of all SBUs Booking Tool solution.of Sybase based applications for ex c e pt S B U : I P. We a Iso What according to you is theSBU:TT, SBU:LS, Finance and implemented _Self Booking Tool biggeststrengthofIT?Payroll. In the year 2004-05, I application for SBU:TT. I was I think the biggest strength of IT issuccessfully lead the development transferred to SBU :T&V from to adopt technology evolution.project for first central server based October 2014 to implement Mid- Also, IT understands businessapplication BLLMS for SBU:LS and Office application. During the last need and delivers to meetimplemented over private VPN. We 27 years I have gathered excellent customer satisfaction.handled various vendors and experience in this organization. I What steps are being taken toerected our Data Center to host have spent golderi times with the keep pace with the changingcentral servers. We then stalwarts of the organization and technological trends andsuccessfu Ily implemented an cherished the achievements of IT. provide best in classsupport toapplication BLTT for SBU: LS to How have you seen the IT all the SBUs/Functionsat BL?co n n ect six m aj 0 r fo re i g n function evolve over the period We are always keeping us updatedassociates' systems and integrate oftime at BL? about technology trends andwith BLLMSsystem. I have seen various changes in migrating our applicationsI lead another project for Central technologies in this organization. accordingly for all SBUs/Financial System integrated with all Initially when I joined, it was Functions.business applications. We central processing at Kolkata HO. What will be your message forsuccessfully implemented a back- The applications were written in newcomers in IT?office system CashX integrated with BASIC. Then I have seen We should always keep usour Central Financial System for decentralized applications being upgraded to deliver applicationsSBU:TT. I was engaged in the implemented in COBOL. Then we on latest technology platforms.implementation of iComet system witnessed a revolutionary change This will give our SBUs aintegrated with our Central with the introduction of RDBMS competitive edge. We shouldFinancial Accounting System for platform SYBASE. All SBUs and continuously improve our skillsSBU:LI. On I" August 2013 we corporate applications were and enable our organization tosuccessfully implemented SAPand I developed with RDBMS as SYBASE. attain the defined strategic goal.

Tete-e-tete with Mr. Pradeep Thekutte, AVP [IT Infrastructure]My journey so far has beenextremely challenging, satisfyingand fulfilling and I have thoroughlyenjoyed working with theCompany. Being placed at Mumbaiduring my evolving period hasgiven me great exposure to workwith almost all SBUs within BalmerLawrie and has also taught me tolead, overcome challenges andpartner with each SBU inleveraging business benefits.How have you seen the ITfunction evolve over the periodoftime at BL?IT in Balmer Lawrie has gonethrough immense changes and it

How many years have youspent in IT and how has yourexperience been?I would be completing 26 yearswith Balmer Lawrie this April,during which I have not onlyevolved as a person butprofessionally progressed as aManager. Being instrumental forintroduction of computerisation inMu m b a i b a s e du nit s , theresponsibilities entrusted upon mewas not just to set upcomputerisation practically at allMumbai based units but also toguide, train and encourage widecomputer usage amongst users.

Mr. Pradeep Thekutte,AVP [IT Infrastructure]

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Tete-e-tete with Mr. Pradeep Thekutte, AVP [IT Infrastructure]

Tete ..e-tete with Mr. Adhip Nath Palchaudhuri, AVP [ERP & Systems]-...;;'------ ...•

has been a truly fascinatingexperience to be part of thisevolving process. IT has come along way from being adecentralised architecture to acentralised one with its Data Centreat Corporate Office in Kolkata.Improvements in Networkconnectivity has led to BalmerLawrie adapting to Virtual PrivateNetwork(VPN) and Internet forconnecting various locations to theCentral Data Centre.The Centralised setup hasimmensely facilitated in stan-dardisation of BusinessApplications packages acrossvarious SBUs. BusinessApplications software in BalmerLawrie has moved from traditionallegacy applications written incomputer languages like COBOL,FOXBASE to RDBMS - SYBASE andMSSQL and later adaption to SAP.What according to you is thebiggest strength of IT?It is the team of people whichmakes the difference and is thebiggest strength of IT. The team is ablend of youth and experiencedwho have the right attitude andspirit, going the extra mile andmaking sure to drive businessexcellence by delivering the rightquality of product. There are someextremely talented, hardworking

How many years have you spentin "IT and how has yourexperience been?Ihavespentover18yea~inthelTindustry - though most of it inConsulting/IT Services outsideBalmer Lawrie.In the early days, we had the luxuryof longer project execution time -that allowed learning to seep indeeper. The earlier era also allowedfor other incentives like ESOPs,more overseas assignments etc. -making the industry a lot morelucrative for professionals. A lot ofthat has changed with increasingcost pressures on the IT industryand the fact that they have to do alot more with a lot less. However,the industry has grown in statureand from the point where most of ithad been support and maintenance- the top players are now in the bigleague and working with the latesttechnology and influencing businessoutcomes for Fortune 500

and efficient people within thedepartment.What steps are being taken tokeep pace with the changingtechnological trends andprovide best in class support toall the SBUs/Functions at BL?Technology is a great businessdriver and could be effectively usedto automate systems, driveefficiency gains and keep pace withquickly evolving strategic businessgoals. During the last few years,Balmer Lawrie has undertaken aseries of initiatives to keep pacewith the changing technologicaltrends, one of its initiatives isintroduction of SAP which wouldenable it to adopt best practicesfrom the industry and at the sametime integrate all businessapplications to generate BusinessIntelligence for decision making.Most of the Business applicationpackages within the company isundergoing upgrade to meet thecompeting demand from thechanging business scenario. Onesuch technological adoption thathas been in use is RFID basedtracking and tracing of containersfor SBU: Logistics Infrastructurewhich was introduced over 5 yearsago and has immensely helped thebusiness in cutting short thetimelines in tracking of containers

within the yard.There are few projects planned forimplementation, one of them isMS Exchange Server, which willallow easy integration with in-house business applications, fasterprovisioning of" new accounts.Future integration with Lync(unified communication platform)would enable user to have aconsistent client experience forpresence, instant messaging,voice, video and meetings.Other project being planned forimplementation is Virtual DesktopInfrastructure (VDI) which wouldcentralise user desktop from localmachines to central data centre andwould enable user to access his/herdesktop from any capable device likeDesktop PC, Laptop or even smartphones apart from fasterprovisioning of user desktops.What will be your message fornewcomers in IT?Balmer Lawrie is a wonderfulplace to work in. Strive forexcellence, commitment, passioncombined with hard work. Have apositive attitude and just grabopportunities that come your way.Nurture a good reading habitespecially technology andindustry specific articles and lookfor solutions to generate businessvalue for Balmer Lawrie.

Mr. Adhip Nath Palchaudhuri,AVP [ERP & Systems]

first few SAP implementations inIndia, scaling up revenue anddelivery - all throughout beingenergized by the tremendouscommitment of youngprofessionals who, on a dailybasis, go beyond their call of dutyto work during ungodly hours foranonymous customers inunknown geographies.How have you seen the ITfunction evolve during yourtenure at BL?My tenure at Balmer Lawrie hasbeen relatively short with mejoining with the commencement ofthe BLESS - ERP program inFebruary 2012. However, the paceof change has been scorching withthe last 3 calendar years seeing avirtual rehauling of our entireApplications landscape - with SAPERP replacing the legacyapplications of the ManufacturingSBUs and each of the ServicesSBUs, either implementing or

companies.Speaking for myself, I have enjoyedthe fringe benefits of working in theindustry and have travelled to closeto 20 countries. As a professional inthe IT industry I have relished theexperience of diversity - openingnew accounts in new geographies,program managing BPOengagements, working in one of the

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kicking off transformationalprojects for their operations. A setof IT infrastructure projects havealso taken off - ensuring that weremain on newer platforms, inbetter control of security andservice levels.Quite a few youngsters have joinedthe IT function and that hasbrought in energy and freshnessamongst the entire group. Thisperiod has also seen the BLESS ERPprogram being executed from theCorporate Office. The programstructure - with SBU membersspending considerable time as CoreTeam members - has resulted instronger bonds between the ITfunction and business teams -which will hold us in good stead.What according to you is thebiggest strength of IT?The strength of any Servicefunction is the quality of people.And nowhere is it more evident

than the Balmer Lawrie ITfunction. As a lateral hire, Ibelieve that the organization isblessed to have a teamcomprising the likes of Krishanu,Partha, Kaushik, Binayak,Hermeet and others. In anindustry where job hopping iscommon, the bulk of the IT teamhas continued for a long period -ensuring very deep relationshipswith internal customers, richinsights about the businessesand strong technical knowledge.I am proud to be a part of thisteam.What steps are being taken tokeep pace with the changingtechnological trends andprovide best in class support toall the SBUs/Functions at BL?The paradigm needs to changefrom us providing support to theSBUs/Functions to us providingthem with capabilities with which

they will be able to win in themarket place. We can stay relevantonly if we are able to add value inhelping them either increaserevenues or cut costs. In order tooperate with this emergingparadigm, the team needs to bemuch more business aware and bearticulate in conceiving IT projectswith business impacts. Training onnew technologies, investment ininfrastructure and processes,recruitment of fresh talent - allthese avenues are being pursuedto ensure that we are able tomaintain high service levels andact as Change Agents.What will be your message fornewcomers in IT?I love cricket and have beenfascinated by the talent anddetermination of the Waugh twins.My message for newcomers is "Youhave to be born Mark, but you CANBECOMESteve".

Know Your Fellow Baimer lawrief)",,"

was one of the best time which I got to spend at BalmerLawrie. Interactions were livid with Senior Managementand the ITTeam. I learned about other SBU's and businessin an easy environment and friendly banter.Who is your inspiration in life and why?I have derived inspiration from a lot of people rangingfrom my family, friends, colleagues and almost everyonewho are good at something. My thinking is influenced alot by my guide at IIT-R, Dr. BK Mishra who helped me tothink logically and made me understand the closerelationship between academics and industry. Anotherperson who has helped me in shaping my career andgoals is Martin Comroe, my Manager in my previousorganization, IBM. He taught me basics ofpresentations, etiquettes, communications, handlingthe client and even guided me in my personal matters. Iam deeply influenced by my mother's ability to be a rocksolid pillar during difficult situations. As of today, I aminfluenced a lot by my wife and a wonderful kid whomakes me do anything and everything.What are your hobbies?I am addicted to English lV Series and Movies in general.In my free time I read both fiction and non-fiction. Beingin IT I am a technology enthusiast, so gadgets andreading about new applications is another thing which Ilove to do. Writing is another passion of mine and attimes I write articles/satires and short stories.Place you belong to and who all are there in yourfamily?My hometown is Rewa, MP. I have my 89 year oldgrandfather, mother, father, younger brother, wife and2 year old son, Advik.Any message for Balmer Lawrie employees.It's not the end of the game but it's the journey whichmakes it breath-taking and interesting. We call it "TheRace ison!"

How long have you been working with BalmerLawrie and currently what is your role/ dept?This January I will be completing around one and a halfyears here. I am working in the Corporate Office, asManager in Corporate IT and I am mainly working onSAP platform and applications.What do you like about Balmer Lawrie?There is a deep sense of pride for the culture andcamaraderie among people. People do try add apersonal touch while working, which is rare to see inthe current business environment. Reaching out to myreporting officers and discussing issues with them hasbeen extremely easy which creates a positive conduitfor work.What is your most memorable moment in BalmerLawrie? ,I will say the IT Meet which we had at Vedic Village, Kolkata

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Know Your Fellow Balmer Lawrien ...How long have you beenwor,king with Balmer Lawrieand currently what is yourrole/dept?I am working with Balmer lawriefor almost seven years now. Ihave been in Corporate ITthroughout. Currently I amworking in the Infrastructureteam as Deputy Manager(IT).What do you like aboutBalmer Lawrie?I have started my career withBalmer lawrie. So I amemotionally attached to theorganization. I like the fact that Blcares for its employees and thatour leaders can be approached byone and all for voicing concerns.What isyour most memorablemoment in Balmer Lawrie?I have had my share of personalups and downs while working

Hermeet Kaur Bhangu,Oy. Manager [IT]

here. I remember a particularlylow phase where my colleagueshad been extremely supportive. Ican never forget the warmth I

received during that time.Who is your inspiration in lifeand why?I am deeply inspired by my Dad.He has set an example for me byfollowing two things- Giving yourhundred percent in whatever youdo and how we should always tryto help the less privileged in life.What are your hobbies?I like painting and reading.Place you belong to and whoall are there in your family?My hometown is Rajgangpur,Orissa. There are six members inmy family- My grandfather,parents, brother and sister-in-law.Any message for BalmerLawrie employees.Every little contribution in ourwork matters. So let's make thebest of this time and opportunitiesthat are being provided to us.

Tete-e-tete with Mr. Manash MukherjeeYour journey at Balmer LawrieI have been associated with theorganization for 21 years 8months and during my journeywith Balmer lawrie, I have comeacross some beautiful minds andsome great leaders. Great ideaswere expressed and we had togive shape to those ideas with theapplication of InformationTechnology. My journey at Balmerlawrie was exciting as we werealways in search of somethingnew, implementing and gettingthat adopted by the users.Bringing change was neversmooth, but with the support ofmy seniors and the team besideme, it was possible and enjoyable.Your personal and professi-onal achievementsDuring my tenure in Balmerlawrie, I have seen a sea changein the area of InformationTechnology. I joined here with theknowledge of RDBMS from myprior employment in Dunlop Indialtd. I was entrusted with theresponsibility of changing thesoftware platform from COBOl toSybase (RDMBS)along with the ITteam. The transformation was anachievement and it was carriedout successfully across all SBUs.This was done with the help of a

i~

I

Mr. Manash Mukherjeesuperannuated as SVP[IT] onsr' January 2015 aftersuccessfully completing around28 years of service. We spoketo him to know about hisjourney at Balmer Lawrie andhis post-retirement plans.

team who adopted the newplatform and put that to practice.Online systems were built up andmade operationally working foreach SBU and integrated withcentralized financial accountingsystem. All Balmer lawrielocations were connected by VPNand locally by LAN. Web basedsystems balmerlawrie.com,mailing systems, intra net etc.

were implemented. ERPimplementation wasconceptualized and for doing thata Management Consultant,Implementation Partner and SAPas the ERPflavor were selected.Frankly speaking I will like to sharethese achievements with the teamwhich was a part in this journey.Your most memorablemomentIn April 1996, the first onlineFinancial Accounting Systemstarted on RDBMS, which was amemorable day for me as 'hugeeffort both technical andmanagerial went in to see that golive in BL. Another memorablemoment was in 2013 when SAPwas operationally used, since itwas a fruit of huge effort put in bythe organization and I was a partof the project since its inception.IT function is all aboutpeople. Your thoughts onTeam IT..•Yes, Information Systemsrequires two types of people -one who makes it and the otherwho uses it and both are equallyimportant part of the system.Information Technology isperhaps one of the technologyfields which is evolving at a veryfast pace with high degree of

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Tete-e-tete with Mr. Manash Mukherjee

obsolescence. Hence, people whomake it have to keep on learningnew technology quickly and putthat to practice, while the usershave to keep on adopting newapplications in their areas ofworking. The IT team that wayhas to perform the role of achange agent to a large extent.

Who all are there in yourfamily.I have my mother, wife, two sonsand a daughter in law in my family.What do you plan to do postretirement?There is no end to learning in thefield of Information Technologyand Information Management. I

wish to be in touch with theacademia post retirement.Any message for BalmerLawrieLook forward, adopt newtechnology and be a part of thechange that will make BalmerLawrie a technology drivencompany.

KKR Walks Down Memo~ Lane...

Krishanu Ray, AVP [Applications], KaushikBiswas, Chief Manager [IT] and Ritu Mittal,Sr. Manager [IT}-KKR- joined Balmer Lawriein the IT department and have spent aroundtwo decades together. They took time off towalk down memory lane.

KK: We joined BL in 1990 just a r:;:,;ii==:=::::::::::=::=;:;:::===:::==:;;;;:::;-J wedding, which was fortunatelycouple of months apart. The ~ Balmer LClWf'ie5 CoLtcl on a Sunday.recruitment advertisement had LIJ ,A ""'.,..",.,u. •.•••••.••••••••l • Kaushik: My initial posting was income up in one of the local English :~~~~.::;=·:;:.T..:.:.~~.:::r.~:"'..:t:="'~lP, Kolkata and in September

0f0w'1h. we are>iooJung lot """ IqIowing pnfmtL

dailies and both of us had applied r 'oOlL_11on 1997, I was transferred toSeal, 01PaYI Ob.lllleatlonl

for the post of "Computer •.•.•••.•.•n' •• m. •• ••• -"... -....... Corporate Office. There wereProgrammer". The recruitment l.!"cf.t:'!:':'" ~..=:.!"........ some ongoing issues with

RIS'82~~#lI!:2Y. COOOl.ll"dpc tueh_ ~ofyarious

process consisted of a written-test ::~~~so.l75Q.~,;~~ •••~ ===~......:....computerization initially and I was(about 100 candidates) followed :''i;';'~~:-;'2~2~':.', ::.,=.:.~ asked by the union not to take upby a series of interviews before we 2.t~;~:!n~)IOy ~~:~:'::;:;:'-:-..ut~=IMEOPany jobs and just log in my_· ••• tsya ••••• ) ••• , " _~_

received the final appointment c;och" ••••••••__ •••• a attendance.~~~~S:1O-::~~~~ ~~letter. To be selected as a part of a 198,,.,H65S ••••••• _ ••••. K__ •• 'C·, .,.. ••• L Krishanu: I started my journeybl ~1~fls••".'·'~7.!!',,~~~~~wM~ f G& Ik . J I 1990 APu ic Sector organization was - , •.•••••''' ••.''''301..... rom L Ko ata In u y . t

indeed a happy occasion. GEM.RAL that time most of the factoryI d ( h k) (l)1Nobootv.'TIoIumeftt.~ofBWc.~Adhoe.HAAandCCAoriy ~.ber04f11s • IOk' .. kStrange y, even to ay, I Kaus i !Io,.",.J •••••••••_., __ oI""""""" •• """"'9 •• _~~...... operations ,I e inVOICing, stoc

1nctnt'I&.gt;JfUity.CPF,PostA.llraf~.1 A•••••. l,eew £nc..rwn.nt. Ll"A AM ~

still have the paper-cutting of that ::":::;:'":.=-.;J!l:= .•.'(,~:~~~e:":',;~~~~=oI*,:ledger, etc. were maintainedb(~ yMf.l:nt"P4K$:ofSClSl~thaI~,f.4) ou.,.iot\~ •••w!MlMJk~fII>d

particular advertisement against ~)~~:~~~,~~.;/=~~ manually. So my job was towhich we had applied and been ~=.:.!"..'J:'~=:::'~:'==~';:'~:'~=develop systems to convert these

wtvf8Oll'Vttt.

selected. ~, •••••""t"'_, IdO'l!y.ppIy""""'___ manual operations into computer15 d:ty. him IfIit 1Id"""""""'" door.. ~ h pod appkd to o.n.t., MMag«

Ritu: My journey in BL started in 1•••••_._Uw< ••• ""'u •..•• _~ •••••••_Ca •••••••700•• ,. __ based systems and processes. It(.l ••••••.•••~ ••• IIJl.Mr-~~"'~~)

April 1996 against a recruitment '------------------' was great fun and a new learningadvertisement. When I joined process for everyone present. Thethere was a lot of resistance and had very strange people in the line function of business played a vitalexperiences; thankfully I could overcome it with the role, particularly.cooperation of the seniors. t" project was officers' Kaushik: I still remember the way EDP used topayroll. The payroll was to go-live for grade E4 and function in those days. Hard-copy documents from theabove and that too in November, the month of my units would be sent to the EDP department and allwedding. I was working to meet the target before my sorts of codes would be put on them. Data-entrymarriage on 24th November. However, one evening operators would key in this data in the system. Thiscloser to the date, when we were reviewing the would be followed by processing, steps of which werechecklist I found that the server had crashed as kept written on copies. Outputs was printed and sentsomeone had deleted the operating system file. In the to the units along-with the base documents. Ourprocess I couldn't take even a day's leave before the appointment at the two Kolkata units was probably the

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KKR Walks Down Memory Lane ...

first step to de-centralize applications in Kolkata.KKR: In one instance when our server crashed, thewhole team in the Corporate Office stayed back withthe engineer. Once the machine was up, we stayedback the whole night to recover data bases so thatpeople could do transactions the next day.Kaushik: One incident that comes to my mind wasduring the development of an Attendance Monitoringapplication. This application absorbed data from thetime recording machines. The time administrator usedthis data to provide inputs for preparing salary. Thefirst day this was to be made operational, I was pickedup from my house early morning and I reached officebefore 6 AM when the shift was scheduled to start.Sadly, due to some understanding problems with theunion, the employees refused to use these machines.However, things got resolved over a period oftime.Ritu: In 1997-98, when MS Office was introduced inBL, since I had prior knowledge, I was chosen toimpart training to the users. I was given the project todevelop Travel system using PowerBuilder. I had noprior knowledge of PowerBuilder. The new system wasdesigned and developed by me under Mr. Niraj Guptaand Mr. Manash Mukherjee. My Delhi trips for userinputs were very interesting. This package was usedtill CashX was introduced and was the first in-housedeveloped GUI based application.Kaushik: Another interesting incident that is stillafresh took place when IPIOS was being implementedat Thurbhe. Till then, BL users had never used GUIbased applications and some of the users (ones in thehigher age group) had great difficulties in tackling themouse. It was a great struggle - bringing the mouse topoint to the required field.KKR: Those days BL had distributed servers across thecountry. Effecting changes in these applications was a

great challenge. The way it was managed in those dayslooks very primitive in today's parlance. Modifications /additions were done centrally and documentation usedto be prepared. These would be sent to the locations fornecessary incorporation. There would be understandingissues and implementation differences were the call ofthe day. But in the end, these got sorted out.KKR: Occasionally we would have to login to theremote servers and make changes. This connectionwas done over STD which was costly in those days.MSD had one STD connection for doing this and whichwas kept locked to avoid misuse. We all shared this asper requirement. A register was to be maintained withthe details of the usage.KKR: We were all part of one particular system that wasin vogue at that time in the department. Mr. Niraj Guptawas the Head of IT. There used to be a register in whichall of us had to sign to record our attendance. After 9:40am, the register would be taken and placed in his cabin.Late comers had to go into his cabin and sign. This itselfwas a deterrent. To top it, a fine had to be paid for latecomings of more than three days. The amount socollected was used for partying atthe end of the month.KKR: With e-mail still in its nascent stage, data wassent to and fro through floppies.KKR: Y2K was a hyped episode. Lot of precautionsrelated to Y2K compliance was initiated. On 31st

December 1999 we stayed back in office till midnightand checked all the systems. In fact all the teammembers across locations were in office. We broughtin the New Year peacefully for BL and all was in placein spite of the big hype created globally.KKR: We had an eventful stint till now and we lookforward to the journey ahead which we areconfident would be strewn with memorablemoments to cherish.

Sanjeev Padhee, Sr. Manager [IT] is a person who can't be ignored. Whennot working Padhee nurtures hobbies like photography, biking, running andmany more. Padhee loves exploring nature and enjoys trekking andcamping; he never forgets to carry his camera on these jaunts. He loves tocapture nature, people and moments that tell a story, with his lens. As achild, the l" camera he experimented with was a Yashica A with TLR (TwinLens Reflex) owned by his father. Over the period of time, he upgraded toDSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) and the model is Nikon D5200 with DXformat. He has few Nikon F mount lenses like 35mm, 55-300mm and 18-55mm. A photography buff, Sanjeev has attended few training sessions,organized by Nikon India.

Padhee owns a B'Twin Cycle and the model is Riverside 3. This is a hybridcycle, which is meant for 70'-0 on road cycling and 30'-0 off road cycling.Till now, his best performance is 74.72 KM in 4 hours and 26 minutes withan average speed of 16.8 KMs/Hour from Sanpada, Navi Mumbai to

Dodhani. In a single day, he had once completed 96KMs. Padhee has also completed two half marathons of 21 KMs,one in Mumbai and the other in Kolkata. In the Kolkata Marathon held in 2013, he completed 21 KMs in 2 hours 59mins. An animal lover , Padhee loves to spend time with Goku and Tia, his dogs. Goku is a "Pug" and Tia is a "Shih Tzu".

Know Your Leader ...

1. Your corporate journeyprior to joining Balmer LawriePrior to joining Balmer lawrie in2015, I was working as GeneralManager (Lube Complex), andwas in charge of Indian Oil's Lubeoperations in Southern India.I joined Indian Oil as aManagement Trainee in 1983with a Bachelor's Degree inChemical Engineering and anMBA in Marketing. After rigoroustraining in various disciplines,such as - Operations, Aviation,Technical Services, Lubes, LPG,Retail and Direct Sales, I wasinitially posted to manage a POLinstallation in Salem in TamilNad u and thereafter wastransferred to the Lubes &Technical Services group. Myjourney in Indian Oil has beenmostly in the Lubes & TechnicalServices Group at various places,such as - Chennai, Madurai,Bangalore, Puneand Colombo.Between 2006 and 2009 I servedas Senior Vice President at LankaIOC PLC, Colombo, an overseasventure of Indian Oil in Sri Lanka.During this period I also servedas the Director on the Board ofCeylon Petroleum StorageTerminals Ltd, which is thecommon user facility forpetroleum storage anddistribution in Sri Lanka.2. How does it feel to be partof the Balmer Lawrie family?It gives me a wonderful andpleasant feeling to be part of theBalmer Lawrie family that pridesitself for its Professiona IManagerial skills and VisionaryApproach. I look forward to anexciting and abundant futureworking in the Balmer Lawriefamily.3. Significant professionaland personal achievementsDuring my stint as Zonal RetailManager for southern region, Ispearheaded the business processre-engineering of the Lubesgroupand was instrumental in thedevelopment and nurturing ofchannels of distribution, supplychain management, distributordevelopment, retail marketdevelopment, brand managementand capability building.

Mr. D Sothi Selvam took over asDirector [ManufacturingBusinesses] on 2nd January2015. A perfect gentleman anda highly professional person,Mr. Sothi Selvam is a leaderwho leads from the front.

During my three year tenure withLanka IOC PLC,I played the leadrole in setting up a modern lubemanufacturing plant with a stateof the art laboratory in Sri Lankabesides establishing the lubemanufacturing operations andthe lube business in Sri Lanka. Ialso played lead role inestablishing the bunkeringbusiness and bitumen business inthe island.During my tenure at Karnatakafrom 2009 to 2012, apart fromsteering the retail, institutionaland OE sub-groups, I held theoffice of Central PublicInformation Officer under the RTIAct.During 2012-13, I headed thelargest lube manufacturing facilityof Indian Oil Corporation and wasaccredited for bringing in a cultureof total quality managementthrough a world class qualitymanagement system.During my early career, I wasinstrumental in business tie-upswith leading automotive OEMs,such as - Hyundai MotorCorporation, Mitsubishi, Skoda,Bajaj Auto, TAFE, Kinetic Honda,Tata Motors, ELGIand also playeda lead role in many long termbusiness tie-ups with majorindustrial units.

4. Who all are there in yourfamily?My family consists of my wife andtwo children. My wife is workingas Assistant Director with theGovernment of Tamil Nadu. Mydaughter is currently pursuingher Doctorate in PharmaceuticalBio-Technology at the Universityof Illinois in Chic;ago,USAand myson is presently doing his BE inElectronics and CommunicationEngineering at Anna University,Chennai.5. Who is the person whoinfluenced you the most andwhy?I cannot single out anyoneperson. There are severalpersons; however, my parents,m\y' wife, my Maths teacher inSchool and my first DivisionalManager in IOC come on top ofmy mind. This is because theywere deeply interested in mywell-being and taught me self-discipline, ethics, honesty,empathy and made me aconfident person in my life.6. What is your favourite oneliner?Attitude is everything.7. What are your hobbies?Playing Cricket, Table Tennis andShuttle Badminton, Reading andWatching Television.8. Which is your favouritetravel destination?Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu.9. Two things that you wouldwant your colleagues to knowabout you(i) I believe in collaboration andteam work rather than commandand control.(ii) With normal actions you getnormal results and if you wantextraordinary results, you musttake some extraordinary actions.10. Your management styleormantraVision without execution is simplyday-dreaming. In this time ofchallenges, there can be nosubstitute for strategic thinkingand tireless, relentless execution.11. Message for all BalmerLawrie employeesI am truly honoured by theopportunity and responsibility of

BLOG11Know Your Leader ...

becoming the Director[Manufacturing Businesses] of sucha great organisation. I am aware,there are lot of expectations fromme. I am absolutely confident thatdespite challenges in our SBUs and

in the environments in which weoperate, our Company with itsstrategic vision is incredibly alignedto face those challenges and tomaintain the growth trajectory.I believe in Team Work and with

the support of my fellow BalmerLawriens, I am confident thattogether we can convert thechallenges into opportunities andtake our organisation to newerand greater heights.

Tete-e-tete with Anand Da ai, ex-Director Manufacturing Businesses

Mr. Anand Dayal superannuated on 3r December2014 after successfully completing 38 years ofservice. It was pleasure talking to him andknowing about his vision of the manufacturingbusinesses.

Your journey at Balmer Lawrie ...I joined Balmer Lawrie on 1st December, 1976 in theTravel Division at Mumbai and after four years I movedto the Container Division. The stint there was a veryshort one as I had to move back to Travel again. InSeptember 1984, I got the opportunity to joinContainer Division as Marketing Manager and after 3years, in 1987 was moved to Director(B)s office to co-ordinate for the manufacturing businesses with the OilCo's who constituted 80% to 90% of IP and G&Lbusiness. This stint gave me a deep dive into both thesebusinesses. Thereafter, after my movement back toContainers, Bombay in 1991 since then my work lifewas centered on the Industrial Packaging Business ofthe organisation. I spent significant years and wasfortunate to be associated with several firsts. However,I would rate the introduction of lightweight spiral seamsteel drums of 20 gauge thickness as a substitute for 18gauge double seam steel drums, the launch of theValerex 20 and 200 plastic drums as significantachievements during that time. In the year 1991 wesuccessfully launched the Valerex 20 litre drum and in1994 the Valerex 200 lite drum was launched.Maintaining market leadership for steel drums andachieving market leadership for Valerex 20 and 200was particularly satisfying, especially transcendingfrom 80% Govt./PSU sector business to 80% privatesector business for steel drums.My journey was greatly satisfying as I got theopportunity to continuously learn and work under the

tutelage of illustrious mentors and great leaders, whoI acknowledged in my previous .interview. I wasfortunate to have moved through differentbusinesses, learn the skills of varied areas and finallydon the hat of a Director.The unique culture of BL was successful inencompassing me in its warmth and care making mystint here a very memorable one, dotted with myriadsof cherishable moments.How do you see the manufacturing businessesevolve in the next 5 years?Year 2014 was a very difficult year for all businesses.All the businesses saw profits going down. Let meexplain businesswise. I'll begin with PerformanceChemicals (PC). We enjoy market leadership in fatliquors in competition with MNCs like BASF, Clariantsand others. Our USP is the indigenous technology ofSulpho Chlorination. When we ventured into theleather chemicals business, CLRI helped us with thistechnology. No other company in the countrymanufactures fat liquors using this technology. Sincewe had a quality edge over our competitors, thedemand was very high. This led to constraint incapacity and we were finding it difficult to meet thedemand by customers. The Board has approved thecapacity expansion project and hopefully it will becommissioned by April 2015. This would help infulfilment of the pent up demand.

In leather chemicals, we are in the middle segmentthat is the wet end. We are not into beam house(dehairing, cleaning) and the last end (finishingchemicals). Thus we are at a disadvantage ascompared to MNCs because we do not provide end-to-end solutions. We have been exploring options toget the technology to manufacture chemicals in allthe segments and we have been successful. We are indiscussions with an Italian company formanufacturing finishing chemicals and beam house.We have tested their products and they are ready togive us the technology and buy 50% of the output. Wewill then be an end-to-end manufacturer of leatherchemicals. PC was making losses; in October it brokeeven, in November it made losses but in December itbroke even again and I am confident this will now besustainable given that market conditions remainstable.

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Greases & Lubricants (G&L) embarked on the retailpath and I feel this is the only way to increasevolumes. It has taken us more time to reach thevolumes we had thought of. We have enjoyedexcellent credibility as a premium grease productsupplier. We need to leverage this with the oils in theretail segment. We have strong potential backed upwith strong R&D. G&L went on a tailspin from April toOctober. However, in November it broke even andDecember it was in the black and I am confident nowonwards it will be making profits. Once again, I wouldtemper this assertion with the caveat of stable marketconditions. G&L is focused on distribution channel forgrowth in the retail segment. Our success will lie inimplementing distribution channel network in 2015-16, as envisaged, there should be no looking back.It has been a challenging year for the IndustrialPackaging (IP) business. April to August were verygood months; September to November were lossmaking months. As a market leader successfullygetting over the MSME hit was a feather in the cap. Weexpect to do more volumes in this year than theprevious year (market remaining stable) even withthe loss of government business. Correctivemeasures on raw material procurement should bringthe SBU into profit and sustain it in the months tocome. The Sewri, Kolkata and High Throughput Plant(HTP) at Taloja are the three biggest challenges. In lP,Sewri discussions commenced with the collectives onclosure and hopefully this with get resolved amicably.The Kolkata team is putting together a proposal forachieving breakeven and viability. As far as HTP isconcerned, it has taken more time than expected toreach the desired level of productivity and efficiency. Iam confident that it will be making profits in 2015.The performance of the Refinery & Oil Field Services(ROFS) business is worse than the previous year butwe have received new orders and this is indicative ofus getting back to our desired performance levels. Weare examining the area of sludge disposal. Today weonly clean and we return the oil and the sludge. Byworking on sludge disposal, we can create a nichearea for this business, as nobody does this in Indiacurrently.Your most memorable moment at Balmer Lawrie ...PESB had announced my selection as Director in theafternoon. The next morning when I entered theSewri factory, I was welcomed with bursting ofcrackers. All the workmen of G&L and IP were waitingto shake my hand and congratulate me. I met all ofthem and their love and affection was deeplyoverwhelming. I'm blessed that I could win over thegood wishes of so many people across the

organisation.Which is that one significant achievement thatyou would always cherish?Seeing the high throughput barrel manufacturingplant at Taloja working from end to end and watchinga vision and dream come true is something that I willcherish always. The quality of the barrelsmanufactured is par excellence and we have tocontinuously work towards fighting competition. Thefixed cost of this plant is lower than that of Asaoti,which is our model plant for IP. This is remarkable asAsaoti is a contracted plant. Asaoti can make 2300drums and HTP can go to 5400 drums in 8 hrs. So, ona per drum basis we are well placed competitively.What are your post retirement plans?The Company was very kind by nominating me toBalmer Lawrie Van Leer (BLVL), our JV Company. Iwill take some time off until I get governmentapproval and then I will take charge at BLVL.

Message for Balmer Lawriens ...BL has been a company that cares about people. Tomy mind it is this feeling of being cared about, whichinspires superlative performance. I do hope thateveryone will be able to continue this tradition andwish everyone all the best and success.

Charcoal Sketches byPrasenjit Roy,

Dy. Manager [HR]

BLOG19TALENT UNLIMITED

THE 148th FOUNDATION DAY OF BALMER LAWRIE

It was an immensely honourable and proud moment for all the employees of Balmer Lawrie to becelebrating its 148th year of existence, which emphatically proves the fact that not many companies cansurvive for such a long period in the midst of such fierce competition in the today's world.The CMD of thecompany in his speech too, aptly endorsed the fact that not many companies are able to sustain and survivefor -so long. Indeed, it's a great achievement! Hail all the employees! An occasion and an event toremember; the stupendous and relentless hard work done unceasingly by a team of sincere young andsenior employees of Balmer Lawrie, who put up an extremely flawless and organised show to commemorctethis grand occasion, was noteworthy.

In the vicinity of Kolkata, in a venue called' Swabhumi' r all the employees with their near and dear familymembers assembled. A pretty and lovely compere with a husky voice enchanted the whole gathering andskilfully led us through the entire day's events ably supported by a gentlemen who had an enormous andwitty sense of humour which sometimes made all of us grin, giggle and laugh. He was undoubtedly verygood. The function was inaugurated by releasing green and white balloons (colour of the company) in thesky. Its abyss was unusually bright and clear as this day was without a single cloud and was filled with thebrilliance of the sun's rays; symbolising the fact that growth and perfection has no boundaries. Beautifulwhite pigeons were released individually by the senior management to convey us the message of PEACE forall in this world.

Prior to this, breakfast was served and relished by one and all.The auditorium was decorated with green,white and blue balloons on all sides.The emblem of the company's logo in vibrant colours painted on a largecanvas was placed vividly in the background. With everyone seated, the company's song was sung by ladiesand gents, followed by the CMD' s speech in which the accomplishments of the company and new ventureswere announced. All the time references were made to the untiring efforts and hard work of all employees.Long service awards were given away and we all clapped proudly. It was a poignant moment for the families.

There was a song and dance performance by the children of the SOS village who are supported by BalmerLawrie, followed by a talent contest in music and dance for employees' children. There was a drawingcompetition too for children of all ages. It felt very nice to see so much talent around. After a sumptuouslunch there were fun filled aCtivities like just a minute game played by officers, their wives and children.It was hilarious to see people trying to complete simple tasks like blowing balloons, tying threads orsticking bindis in a minute.

With funny comments being made all along by our competent comperes it was sheer entertainment.Prize distribution was an integral part of the show for children and all who did well in the various fun-filledcompetitions organised. The prizes were handed to the contestants by the wives of the senior officers. Tobe on stage and present a prize is in itself a nice and warm feeling.

Last but not the least, the highlight of the entire occasion was an enthralling performance by Usha Uthup,an extremely talented and fairly famous singer in our country. She can sing in thirteen languages. Herdeep, rich, baritone voice resonated the entire auditorium, while singing one hit song after another withher five man army (as she calls her musicians). Without them, she modestly proclaims she can't sing. Sheset the stage on fire and we all enjoyed it to the hilt. It was lovely, an evening to fondly remember.

While I conclude, I feel happy to say that the 148th Foundation Day of Balmer Lawrie was a huge success;thanks to the tireless work done by the employees and we should all raise our voice in unison and say' AMARRAHEGA HAMARA BALMER LA WRIE:

Here is a toast to many more celebrations of Balmer Lawrie' s Foundation Day and may the company grow in_ unity in all diversities!

- Shalini Gupta w/o Niraj Gupta, Director [Service Businesses]

Edited by Mohar Mukhopadhyay, Corporate Communications Dept., Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd, Printed at Nabapress Pvt Ltd, Kolkata