Final Project of 4 P's 1
Final Project of 4 P's 1
Submitted by:
Mandeep Singh
University Registration No.95182239097
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
SHREE ATAM VALLABH JAIN COLLEGE
LUDHIANA(2010)
2
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mandeep singh a MBA students were placed in this organization in the
sales office of Vardhman Textiles Limited for summer training for a period of six weeks, in
partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Post Graduate Programme.
The project entitled, “Study of marketing mix of hand knitting yarn in Ludhiana” submitted
is a bonafide research work carried out under my supervision and that no part of this research
project has been submitted for any other degree. The assistance and help received during the
course of this investigation has been fully acknowledged.
Signature
Mr. Lalit Mahajan
(Sales Manager)
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Any person can never do work of this nature alone. This formal piece of acknowledgement may
not be sufficient to express the feeling of gratitude and affection for those who were associated
with the project and without whose co-operation and guidance this project could not have been
conducted properly.
It is a matter of great pleasure for us in submitting the project report on “ study of marketing
mix of hand knitting yarn in Ludhiana” in “Vardhman Textiles Limited” in the partial
fulfillment of the requirement of my course. It is our profound privilege to thankfully
acknowledge the inspiring co-operation extended to me by all the staff members for the
successful completion of my project.
Our first word of thanks goes to Mr. V.K Goyal, Ex-CEO, Vardhman Textiles Limited,
Ludhiana for giving me an excellent chance to undergo training in a reputed and prestigious
textile company of India.
This is our profound privilege to express my thanks and gratitude to Mr. Lalit Mahajan, Mr.
Pawan Sharma, Mr. Maninder Sharma, Mr. Mukti Ranjan and Mr. Ankush Khanna for
their kind support and guidance in marshalling my knowledge.
We have, perhaps carved the niche with co-operation of all in whose contact I happen to come
during the entire time-frame of my project
MANDEEP SINGH
4
PREFACE
When everybody is providing what is expected from him/her, the person delivering the
unexpected to its customers succeeds in the long run. In today’s marketplace, it is no longer
enough to satisfy the customers, the manufacturer needs to delight them as well. To conquer the
modern business world one needs to be one-step ahead of its competitors.
MBA is combination of both theoretical as well as practical aspects of business and summer
training gives a good opportunity to work in a real work environment. The concept of summer
training, which is there in the curriculum of business management schools, serves three
important purposes:-
1. It gives the student a fair amount of insight of problems faced by them.
2. The summer training project helps business management students to get a first hand
experience of actual working condition, which otherwise is possible only when a student enters a
job.
3. Summer Training is a learning ground, which helps us to relate the workings of the corporate
world with the class room teaching.
Summer Training helps the students to view the real Business World closely, which in turn
widely influences their conceptions and perceptions. I was fortunate to pursue my training in a
reputed, well established, fast growing and a professionally managed organization.
This project report is the result of six weeks training at Vardhman Textiles Limited, Ludhiana. It
has given me a great deal of exposure and I have found practical work very different from
theoretical one
5
Executive summary
I had the opportunity to take up summer training at Vardhman Textiles Ltd. Ludhiana. During
the project I had the privilege of being guided by Mr. Ankhush Khanna , Executive in Sales
Department.
Vardhman, a household name in northern India, has carved out a niche for itself in textile
industry. The Vardhman group was set up in 1962 by Late Lala Rattan Chand Oswal, father of
present Chairman cum Managing Director Sh. S.P Oswal. Vardhman aims to be world class
textile organisation producing diverse range of products for the global textile market. Vardhman
seeks to achieve customer delight through excellence in manufacturing and customer service
based on creative combination of the state-of-the-art technology and human resources.
My project is A study of 4p’s of Vardhman hand knitting yarn in Ludhiana.
The study was conducted at the woollen market, Mochpura Market(Ludhiana) under Sales
Department.
The project was of 6 weeks duration. During the project were interviewed the dealers of the
Vardhman and various other local dealers of hand knitting yarn. The data collected was then
compiled, tabulated and analyzed .
The objective of my project was to study the effect of increase in price of Vardhman hand
knitting yarn on customers and ultimately the sales of the company in Ludhiana city.
Marketing mix is very important facet for marketing management due to following reasons :-
1. It accounts for what type of promotional tools are adequate for boosting the sales process.
2. It tells what price strategies should be adopted .
3. It tells about the product range and specifications for the new product to be launched.
4. It accounts for where the product should capture the customer’s focus very soon.
6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
7
Chapter 1
8
INTRODUCTION
The Textile Sector in India ranks next to Agriculture. Textile is one of India’s oldest industries
and has a formidable presence in the national economy in as much as it contributes to about 14
per cent of manufacturing value-addition, accounts for around one-third of our gross export
earnings and provides gainful employment to millions of people. The textile industry occupies a
unique place in our country. One of the earliest to come into existence in India, it accounts for
14% of the total Industrial production, 4 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP)
and 17 per cent to the country’s export earnings according to the Annual Report 2009-10 of the
Ministry of Textiles and It provides direct employment to over 35 million people and is the
second largest provider of employment after agriculture.
According to the Ministry of Textiles, the cumulative production of cloth during April’09-
March’10 has increased by 8.3 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous
year. Moreover, total textile exports have increased to US$ 18.6 billion during April’09-
January’10, from US$ 17.7 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year,
registering an increase of 4.95 per cent in rupee terms. Further, the share of textile exports in
total exports has increased to 12.36 per cent during April’09-January’10, according to the
Ministry of Textiles.
• Arvind Mills
• Raymonds
• Reliance Textiles
• Vardhaman Spinning
• Welspun India
• Century Textiles
• Morarjee Mills
• Indo Rama
9
• GTN Textiles
• Ginni Filaments Ltd.
• LNJ Bhilwara Group
• Mafatlal Textiles
• Modern Group
Government Initiative
According to the Ministry of Textiles, investment under the Technology Upgradation Fund
Schemes (TUFS) has been increasing steadily. During the year 2009-10, 1896 applications have
been sanctioned at a project cost of US$ 5.23 billion. The cumulative progress as on December
31, 2009, includes 27,477 applications sanctioned, which has triggered investment of US$ 45.5
billion and amount sanctioned under TUFS is US$ 18.9 billion of which US$ 16.4 billion has
been disbursed so far till the end of April, 2010.
Moreover, in May 2010, the Ministry of Textiles informed a parliamentary panel that it proposes
to allocate US$ 785.2 million for the modernisation of the textile industry.
Advantage India
India offers cheaper production and marketing costs and enormous opportunities that have
tempted Taiwanese companies to work on joint ventures with Indian companies, especially for
the manufacture of manmade fabrics. Several European textile and textile machinery
manufacturing companies have shown interest in sourcing garments from India. Textile
companies were keen to set up base in India due to the cheap labour available here. India offers
various incentives like low-cost labour and intellectual right protection to foreign investors. The
country allows 100 per cent FDI in the textiles sector.
• Composite Mills. Relatively large-scale mills that integrate spinning, weaving and,
sometimes, fabric finishing are common in other major textile-producing countries.
In India, however, these types of mills now account for about only 3 percent of
•
• output in the textile sector. About 276 composite mills are now operating in India,
most owned by the public sector and many deemed financially “sick.”
• Spinning: Spinning is the process of converting cotton or manmade fiber into yarn
to be used for weaving and knitting. Largely due to deregulation beginning in the
mid-1980s, spinning is the most consolidated and technically efficient sector in
• Weaving and Knitting: Weaving and knitting converts cotton, manmade, or blended
yarns into woven or knitted fabrics. India’s weaving and knitting sector remains
highly fragmented, small-scale, and labor-intensive. This sector consists of about 3.9
million handlooms, 380,000 “powerloom” enterprises that operate about 1.7 million
looms, and just 137,000 looms in the various composite mills.
been gradual, though lower and growth had been considerably slower during the third decade.
The growth thereafter picked up significantly during the fourth decade in each and every
segment of the industry. The peak level of its growth has however been reached during the fifth
decade i.e., the last ten years and more particularly in the 90s. The Textile Policy of 1985 and
Economic Policy of 1991 focusing in the direction of liberalization of economy and trade had in
fact accelerated the growth in 1990s. The spinning spearheaded the growth during this period
and man-made fibre industry in the organized sector and decentralized weaving sector.
12
Review on Literature
In the sequence of strategic analysis and decisions, "marketing mix" analysis falls after various external
and internal environmental analyses such as PESTEL analysis, Porter's Five Forces analysis, SWOT
Analysis and even formulation of competitive strategies (Porter's Generic Strategies).
Marketing mix is an imperative concept in modern marketing and academically it is referred to as the set
of controllable tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market, so it
consists of everything the firm can do to influence the demand for its product (Kotler and Armstrong,
2004). It is important to realise that marketing mix strategy of any company can have one major function,
that is, strategic communication of the organisation with its customers (Proctor, 2000). It was further
argued that marketing mix provides multiple paths as such communication can be achieved either in
spoken form and written communications (advertising, selling, etc.) or in more symbolic forms of
communication (the image conveyed in the quality of the product, its price and the type of distribution
outlet chosen). However, the key element is that the main aspects of marketing mix that will be discussed
below "should not be seen as individual entities, but as a set of interrelated entities which have to be set
in conjunction with one another" (Proctor, 2000: 212).
The easiest way to understand the main aspects of marketing is through its more famous synonym of
"4Ps of Marketing". The classification of four Ps of marketing was first introduced and suggested by
McCarthy (1960), and includes marketing strategies of product, price, placement and promotion. The
following diagram is helpful in determining the main ingredients of the four Ps in a marketing mix.
• Product
In simpler terms, product includes all features and combination of goods and related services that a company offers
to its customers. So the Airbusproduct includes its body parts such as the engine, nut bolts, seats, etc along with its
after-sales services and all are included in the product development strategy of the Airbus. However, a serious
criticism can be raised here in terms of how marketing mix analysis will cater for companies such as ABN Amro
Bank, Natwest Bank, British Airways and Fedex Corporation as they don't possess tangible products. It was argued
that is it feasible to omit service-oriented companies with the logic that the term "services" does not start with a "P",
however, it was asserted that these companies can use the terminology of "service products" under marketing mix
strategy making (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004).
Lazer (1971) argued that product is the most important aspect of marketing mix for two main reasons. First, for
manufacturers, products are the market expression of the company's productive capabilities and determine its ability
to link with consumers. So product policy and strategy are of prime importance to an enterprise, and product
decisions dictate the scope and direction of company activity. Moreover, the market indicators such as profits, sales,
image, market share, reputation and stature are also dependent on them. Secondly, it is imperative to realise that the
product of any organisation is both a component and a determinant of the marketing mix as it has a great influence
on the other elements of the mix: advertising, personal selling, channels of distribution, physical distribution and
pricing. So without proper product policy, a company can not pursue for further elements of marketing mix.
13
Pricing
Pricing is basically setting a specific price for a product or service offered. In a simplistic way, Kotler and
Armstrong (2004) refer to the concept of price as the amount of money that customers have to pay to obtain the
product. Setting a price is not something simple. Normally it has been taken as a general law that a low price will
attract more customers. It is not a valid argument as customers do not respond to price alone; they respond to value
so a lower price does not necessarily mean expanded sales if the product is not fulfilling the expectation of the
customers (Lazer, 1971).
Generally pricing strategy under marketing mix analysis is divided into two parts: price determination and price
administration (ibid).
Price determination is referred to as the processes and activities employed to arrive at a price for a product including
consideration of relative prices of products within the same line, and differences in price for similar products of
differing grades and qualities.
Price administration is referred to as the activities involved in fitting basic prices to particular sales situations such
as geographic locale, functions performed by customers, position of distribution channel members, or special sales
situations. An example of this is special discounted prices at, for instance, GAP, NEXTetc or Coca
ColaandPepsiwheredifferent prices are set in different geographical areas considering the difference in patterns of
usage as well as varying advertisement costs.
Placement
Placement under marketing mix involves all company activities that make the product available to the targeted
customer (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Based on various factors such as sales, communications and contractual
considerations, various ways of making products available to customers can be used (Lazer, 1971). Companies such
as Ford, Ferrari, Toyota, and Nissan use specific dealers to make their products available, whereas companies such
as Nestle involve a whole chain of wholesaler retailers to reach its customers. On a general note, while planning
placement strategy under marketing mix analysis, companies consider six different channel decisions including
choosing between direct access to customers or involving middlemen, choosing single or multiple channels of
distributions, the length of the distribution channel, the types of intermediaries, the numbers of distributors, and
which intermediary to use based on the quality and reputation (Proctor, 2000)
Promotion
Promotional strategies include all means through which a company communicates the benefits and values of its
products and persuades targeted customers to buy them (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). The best way to understand
promotion is through the concept of the marketing communication process. Promotion is the company strategy to
cater for the marketing communication process that requires interaction between two or more people or groups,
encompassing senders, messages, media and receivers (Lazer, 1971). Taking the example of Nokia, the sender of the
communication in this case is Nokia, the advertising agency, or both; the media used in the process can be salesmen,
newspapers, magazines, radio, billboards, television and the like. The actual message is the advertisement or sales
presentation and the destination is the potential consumer or customer, in this case mobile phone users.
Despite the fact that marketing mix analysis is used as a synonym for the 4Ps of Marketing, it is criticised (Kotler &
14
Armstrong, 2004) on the point that it caters seller's view of market analysis not customers view. To tackle this
criticism, Lauterborn (1990) attempted to match 4 Ps of marketing with 4 Cs of marketing to address consumer
views:
To follow a simple and best approach for marketing mix analysis, it is imperative to understand the purpose of this
analysis. So the basic key is to analyse the company's overall marketing strategy primarily through the strategies it
follows under the 4Ps of marketing.
So the approach should be to keep equal balance in analysing all four elements of marketing mix. The following
points should be considered while carrying out analysis:
• While analysing a company's product, a common fallacy can be focusing on the final outlook of the product
and that gives rise to a naïve approach. Analysts should consider and analyse all major product decisions
that the company may have carried out including quality, features, options, style, brand name, packaging,
sizes, after-sales services, warranties, returns, etc. Moreover, the company's position, as well as marketing
strategy in the market, can be judged on the basis of its product mix including width, length, depth and
consistency (Proctor, 200). Width is the number of lines the firm carries, for example Sony has various
lines including TV, video, cameras and laptops. Length is the number of items in the product mix, for
example Toshibahas different types of TVs and laptops. Depth is the number of variants of each product
offered in the line such as clock radios, car radios and pocket radios. Finally, consistency is how closely
related the various product lines are in terms of the use to which they are put, more commonly including
electrical and entertainment products. So, using these bases for product strategy classification will lead to
easy and effective analysis. Finally, one should attempt to identify what the company is actually aiming at
through its product. There can be three possible product strategies in a company's action (Proctor, 2000).
Either it aims the product at the market such as Erickson with new mobile phones to cater for the business
class; it can be given a "face lift" such as Marks & Spencer's attempt with more customer-specific products;
and it can be withdrawn, discontinued or eliminated such as Marks & Spencer closing down its unprofitable
units across the globe.
• To write a valuable pricing analysis of a company, the key is to correlate its pricing strategy with its
product position in the market. The company may use various pricing strategies such as penetration,
skimming, competition-based pricing, psychological pricing, price wars, etc (Proctor, 2000). A company
uses penetration prices if its product is entirely new to the market so it may charge low prices to increase
market share. It may be observed that Porsche and Ferrariuse skimming pricing where they may charge a
higher price as they know their specific customers will buy their product at any price. Sometimes
companies have more fluctuating prices so an analyst should consider that their might be competition going
on or a price war has broken through between rivals. For instance, Pepsi and Coke often indulge in such
price wars. Sometimes psychological dimensions can be considered as well. Customers easily find products
in Tesco, Asda or Sainsbury'swith price tags of £2.99 or £4.99 rather than £3 or £5 as customers may
perceive them as £2 or £4. So the writer must analyse which of these strategies a company is following and
for what reason.
• Similarly, placement analysis requires the knowledge of a company's distribution channels, for instance
analysis of the fact that a company is involving any middleman or not. If analysis of a consumer-good
producer such as Nestle, Cadbury, and Colgate & Palmolive is carried out, there are high chances that a
middleman will be involved considering the size of the market in target. However, industrial producers
15
such as Airbus may opt for direct distribution considering the limited number of customers. Similarly, it
should be noted that a company may be using a specific intermediary if the ease, reliability, image of the
particular outlet, the way in which it performs and the deals which can be struck with the distributor are
satisfactory. So, a company may choose C&A rather than Marks and Spencer, or Tesco rather than any
other retail outlet (Proctor, 2000). On a general note, a very good analysis can be made if the placement
related the six questions highlighted in previous sections are tackled.
• Finally, the basic step in promotion analysis is to identify the communication objective that the company is
aiming at. There can be multiple communication objectives that can be identified. One should analyse how
the promotion strategy is aimed at creating awareness of the product or service, provision of product
information, brand recognition, gaining access to a target audience that is inaccessible to a salesman,
evoking desire for a product or service, merely making the selling task easier, overcoming prejudices,
creating a reminder or to allay cognitive dissonance (Proctor, 2000). Once the communication objective is
identified, then it is imperative to analyse the message and the promotional mix that is used by the company
including advertisement, sales promotion, publicity and personnel selling. For Instance Nike very rarely
uses personal selling due to its established brand awareness, however, it continually uses advertisements
with communication objective of creating a product reminder. Contrary to that, Unilevermay use personal
selling, advertisements as well as offering discounts (sales promotion) if it launches a new consumer good
such as toothpaste or soap to cater for the communication objective of creating new product awareness.
Students may seek information regarding market mix analysis (4 Ps) from two basic sources: market and academic.
For market sources, information is easily available from a company's website, business reports,
newspapers/published data on marketing, independent market survey reports and, in some cases, students may visit a
retail outlet to analyse a product, its pricing and promotional strategies. However, to get more specific details,
marketing and advertising academic journals and secondary data in the form of case studies can be the ideal source.
Conclusion
Marketing mix analysis is a fundamental step towards effective strategy. Where other analysis are more related to
environment and feasibility analysis, the 4 Ps of marketing including the product itself, pricing, placement and
promotion are the four wheels of the vehicle on which the path of an organisation's marketing success is actually
dependent.
16
Chapter 2
17
COMPANY
PROFILE
18
The industrial city of Ludhiana, located in the fertile Malwa region of Central Punjab is
otherwise known as the “MANCHESTER OF INDIA”. Within the precincts of this city is
located the Corporate Headquarters of the Vardhman Group, a household name in Northern
India has carved out a niche for itself in textile industry. The Vardhman Group born in 1965
under the entrepreneurship of Late Lala Rattan Chand Oswal, father of present Chairman cum
managing director Sh. S.P.OSWAL, has today blossomed into one of the largest Textile
Business houses in India.
The Vardhman Group is one of the largest textile houses in the country. The group has the
sizeable presence in Spinning, Weaving, Sewing Threads, Fabrics Processing, Acrylic Fiber
manufacturing and Alloy Steels.
In 1965, at the time when India was awakening to the need for industrial investment, Ludhiana, a
bustling town in the fertile Malwa belt of Punjab, witnessed the establishment of Vardhman
which started as a 14,000 spindle spinning unit under the entrepreneurship of Late Lala Rattan
Chand Oswal. Vardhman has grown into full – fledged textile group, with a range of textile
products stretching from fiber to fabric. Over the years, Vardhman has expanded its spinning
capacities besides adding new business.
In 1982, the group entered the sewing thread market and has grown to be the second largest
producer of sewing thread. In 1992, it undertook forward integration in the weaving business. It
has also made its mark as the quality producer of Grey poplin/sheeting/shirting in the domestic
as well as foreign market
In 1990, the group went in for another diversification by entering the weaving business. A
grey fabric weaving facility was set up in Baddi, in Himachal Pradesh with a capacity of 20,000
meters per day. Soon after, the group entered into fabric processing by setting up a unit by name
of Auro Textiles in Baddi itself. This unit today has a processing capacity of 1 lac meters/day.
In 1999, the group went in for diversifying into a business where it didn’t have sufficient
expertise when it set up an acrylic fiber manufacturing facility in Bharuch (Gujarat). But this
20
shortcoming was overcome by bringing in the technological capabilities of two able Japanese
partners, Marubeni and Exlan, into the venture. So a joint venture Vardhman Acrylics Ltd was
set with a two Japanese companies of late the company setting up man integrated textile
manufacturing facility in baddi and satlapur(M.P) where it is setting up a captive power
generation unit, a spinning unit- satlapur as a composite unit(spinning and weaving Buddi. The
spindle capacity of the group is 8.5 lac. More importantly it would give it’s a manufacturing
presence in central India from where it can better serve its western and south Indian clients. Until
now the company had all its manufacturing units in the northern India which not only made it
difficult to serve its far off clients but also posed the problem of capacity constraints for the
company at the existing units just when demand for Textile is expected to pick up in the post
quotes scenario. The capacity is expected to solve both these problems and is expected to
become operational by 2008.During the year 2004 -05 Vardhman Spinning and General Mills
Ltd. (VSGML) merged into Mahavir Spinning Mills Ltd.(MSML) and VSGML became a
holding company.
Today companies of the Group like Vardhman Spinning & General Mills Ltd. (VSML) and
Mahavir Spinning Mills Ltd. (MSML) are listed and trade on various Stock Exchanges in India.
The Group’s joint ventures include VMT Spinning Company Ltd. (A joint ventures with Toho
Rayon Co. Ltd. and Marubeni of Japan) and Vardhman Acrylics Ltd. (A joint venture with Japan
Exlan and Marubeni, Japan)
Vardhman is also the largest manufacturer and exporter of Cotton yarns from India. It is the
second largest producer of sewing threads in India and a large producer of acrylic fiber and
greige/ finished woven fabrics. The company has been awarded the prestigious ‘Texprocil’
award for outstanding achievements in exports regularly over the last decade. Adherence to
systems and true dedication to quality has resulted in obtaining the coveted ISO-9002, ISO-
14002 quality award which is the first in the Textile Industry in India and yet another laurel to its
credit. Vardhman’s endeavor to provide its customers with state-of-the art products has been
felicitated time and again, by the industry and the Government.
21
COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT
• Marketing
• Costing
• Finance
• Material
ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT
• Industrial relations
• Personnel department
• Transport
• Security
• Establishment (dispatch & issue)
• Electronic data process (EDP)
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
• Spinning I
• Spinning II
• Post Spinning I
• Post Spinning
• Worsted I, II
• Hand Knitting section
• Research & Development
• Dye house – unit- II
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
• Electronic department
• Mechanical department
22
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
MISSION STATEMENT
23
Vardhman aims to be the world class Textile organization producing diverse range of products
for the global Textile market. Vardhman seeks to achieve Customer delight through excellence
in manufacturing and customer service based on creative combination of state of the art
technology and human resources. Vardhman is committed to be a responsible corporate citizen.
The mission of the Vardhman Group can be summed up in a single line i.e. “BEING WORLD
CLASS SPINNERS BY PROVIDING HIGHEST QUALITY PRODUCTS WITHIN
MINIMUM COST”.
• The “FLAME” signifies the growth of each and every individual associated with it
whether he or she is a worker, an employee, share holder or a customer.
• The “STICK” symbolizes cotton, which is basic raw material of the core product of
Vardhman Group.
• Professionalism
• System Approach
• Commitment To Quality
25
GROUP PHILOSOPHY
26
The Vardhman Group has always emphasized on total customer focus in all operational areas. It
has continuously monitored and nurtured relationships with all the customers and business
associates.
QUALITY POLICY
27
Vardhman is the market leader in terms of quality of its quality of its products which justifies the
price premium of the product. Therefore its quality policy has a very important role to play in its
organizational culture.
Its quality policy states that “Quality should be built into the company’s products not only to
meet customer’s requirements continuously but also exceed them. The company shall achieve
this interface with the market place, access to the state of art technology, R&D, process
development and adoption of innovative manufacturing and marketing strategies and it shall be
implemented through a network of system and procedure understood and followed throughout
the company.
More than 100 quality circles total, quality management, Manav Vikas Kendras for worker
training, communication meetings, inter functional groups are utilized to send a clear message
from top to bottom that “ The Quality & service are a part and modern add on to Vardhman
Products”
28
Quality Councils
A significant step towards total quality management (TQM) is the concept of quality
council adopted be the unit fine quality councils have been constituted to identify the problems
and to solve these as projects with efforts of cross functional projects teams, consisting of
officers from there concern as well as other departments.
The importance of human resources in industry is well established with management and
investment for the development of human resources through training and development in
continuously being made. This has resulted in building of team of professionals comparable with
best in textile industry. Apart from systematic and methodological training of fresh work men
the following developments amounts provided the staff and officers.
To keep the staff members attitude tuned to groups ideology staff development programs
are organized, generally once a month each program is prepared keeping in view the requisite
attitudinal inputs for staff members. The nominated staff members are individually invited to the
program an informal. Atmosphere oriented towards openness and frankness is related to
29
encourage participation in discussions. The participation is treated as the guests of the company
by providing lunch and tea.
Officers Workshop
To keep a breast with new and existing concept in management officers workshop are
organized regularly and the officers are nominated and are individually invited to the workshop.
The officers so invited exchange their views with help of moderator for about two hours for
better clarity and understanding.
Industry started various program for workers so that their mental level can be improved,
for the many schemes are launched by the Company, same this “Manav Vikas Kendar” is
organized for the worker to motivate them their problem can be listen and immediately action
can be taken against it.
What is TPM?
It aims to create a corporate system that maximizes the efficiency of the production system.
TPM is based on Participation of all members, ranging from the top management to front line
employees.
Maximize overall effectiveness and reliability of the plant and machinery by aiming at “Zero
Break down”, “Zero Defects”, “Zero Accident” through nurturing team work and continuous
development of all employees, following TPM road map for implementation of “Total
Productive Maintenance” (TPM) in the company.
It come under the training because trainers give knowledge of TPM to employee and its mission
is to maximize overall equipment effectiveness and improve flexibility through achievement of
total reliability of total reliability of the plant and machines and development of human resources
by us hearing cultural change by involving all personal working in the company.
31
There are hundreds of business books and number of journals and magazines published every
year on successful business operation. However, in nutshell, it can be distilled in 8 major secret.
• NOT SOLELY FOR MONEY – 1st secret is that successful companies are not in
business solely for the money. “Henry Ford” remarked that a company which only makes
money is no sort of company at all.
o “For successful companies money is a by-product of doing the right things”
• CULTURE – Strong culture, faster than other, friendly and goal oriented.
• CUSTOMERS – Try to understand the customers, what customers actually wants that
are understand by VARDHMAN, not vague idea, need aspiration and behavior.
• WHAT IN BUSINESS – They know what is important and this is reflected in their
impulsion of their employees.
• COMMUNICATION – Successful companies are persistent and powerful
communicator. People keep information and bright idea to themselves or communicate
with a select few.
• SIMPLICITY – Not a secret at all keep faith in simple practice and principles is the
presence of the chosen few.
• LEADERSHIP – Leader in sense overall activities he control ability and skill.
• RESULT – Make profit but make customer delight.
32
Yarns
The constant endeavor to excel has transformed Vardhman into being the country’s largest
manufacturer and exporter of cotton yarns
Catering to the diverse requirements of the local and global clients, Vardhman offers a wide
range of specialized grey, dyed and a variety of blended yarns in cotton, polyester and acrylic.
Technical tie-ups with the world class leaders from Switzerland, Germany, Japan and Korea
have provided state-of-the art machinery that has ensured a range of products admired across the
globe for their impeccable quality and service.
Latest technology, sourced from best available around the world, combined with dexterous
hands has made Vardhman a “Super Market of High Quality Yarns”.
1994 was another milestone towards its mission to supply quality products. Vardhman further
improved the value addition to its existing range of tops, fiber dyed and cone dyed yarns.
This was result of new phenomena that emerged on the horizons of Vardhman and also of Indian
Textiles. A fully integrated dyeing plant was commissioned with technology from Nihon Sanmo
Dyeing Co. Ltd., Japan, and the leader in dyeing technology in the world. It has a capacity of
processing 22 tones fiber/tops and 10-tonnes of yarns per day.
Today Vardhman Group has over 50 tones of dyeing capacity per day, spread over various
plants.
34
PRODUCTS APPLICATIONS
Cotton Hosiery Yarn All kinds of knitted garments for kids,
ladies ,gents, socks, t-shirts
Woven Yarn Shirts and Trousers
Tyre Cord yarn Manufacturing of Tyres
Acrylic Yarn Sweaters and Shawls
Hand Knitting Yarn Knitting
Sewing Thread
Vardhman is the second largest producer of sewing thread in the country. The sewing thread
manufacturing capacity is being expanded from present 17 tons per day to 22 tons per day in its
sewing thread plants located at Hoshiarpur, Baddi and Ludhiana. Sewing threads contributes 12
percent of the group turnover.
SEGMENT APPLICATIONS
Apparel Sewing Threads Clothing, Tailoring, Hosiery
Specialty Threads Sports, Leather Goods,
Gloves, Mattresses,
Quilting, Parachutes etc.
Textile Crafts Embroidery, Crochet
Tapestry etc.
Kite Flying Kite Flying
35
Fabrics
The group has created state-of-the-art fabric weaving and processing facilities in its plant at
Baddi, Northern India. The group has installed 208 shuttles less looms and a fabric processing
capacity of 30 million meters per annum in collaboration of Tokai Senko of Japan. Fabrics
business contributes 8 percent to the group turnover.
Fiber
Vardhman ventured into the manufacture of acrylic fiber in 1999. The Joint Venture, Vardhman
Acrylics Ltd., was s ET up together with two leading Japanese business houses namely Japan
Exlan company Ltd. and Marubeni Corporation, Japan.
36
Today, Vardhman Acrylics ltd. produces consistent superior quality fiber and has emerged as an
important producer in India. The products are marketed under the brand name VARLAN.
Varlan fiber has achieved a high order of recognition in the Indian market for its use in a wide
variety of applications such as dress material, blankets, carpets, upholstery, furnishing fabrics
etc. Vardhman acrylic is committed to continuous efforts for developing newer and exciting
applications in close association with the customers and the end users.
Special steels
Vardhman Special Steels was established in the year 1972 to manufacture Special and Alloy
Steel. The true impetus came with the upgrading of the plant located in Ludhiana to an ultra
modern plant. Today it has an installed capacity of 1, 00,000 MT per annum.
Continuous research and development efforts, focused on customer satisfaction, have enabled
Vardhman Steels to meet the stringent quality requirements of producers of all types of
commercial vehicles, tractors, cars, two wheelers, defense applications, and other engineering
products. The company has received approval for its products from leading Companies like
Telco, Ashok Leyland, Maruti, Hindustan Motors, Yamaha, Kinetic and Escorts among others.
GARMENTS
37
Vardhman Textiles Limited has entered into a Joint Venture agreement with Japan
based Nisshinbo Textiles Inc. by the name of Vardhman Nisshinbo Garments Company
Limited. The equity participation of Vardhman and Nisshinbo would be in the ratio of 51:49.
Nisshinbo is a world class textile manufacturer with comprehensive operations including spinning,
weaving, knitting, finishing and sewing.
The total manufacturing capacity of the project shall be about 1.8 million pieces per annum. This
venture of Vardhman is a step towards a gradual integration of our Textile Value Chain to meet the
clothing requirements of the higher end customers in domestic and international market. The
estimated capital cost of the project is Rs. 30 crores which will be financed partly from equity
contribution by joint venture partners and partly by debt.
The joint venture company will supply majority of its production for international markets through
Nisshinbo. The Joint Venture Company shall also manufacture shirts for supply to the domestic
brands. Nisshinbo shall also provide technical assistance for setting up the facilities and for the
manufacturing operations.
The Foundation Stone of the project was laid on 21st August, 2009 at Phase D-95, Phase VIII,
Focal Point, Ludhiana. Mr. Takeo Shimura, Vice President, Mr. Masatsugu Ohno, Manager,
Textile Fabrics Division and Mr. Masami Tsuji, Manager, Global Operation Section from
Nisshinbo Textiles Inc., Japan specially came to attend the ceremony.
The Project will provide direct employment to about 600 people and is likely to commence
production in July/August 2010. A team of technical persons shall go to Japan and China during
January to May 2010 for training.
38
Facilities
Yarn Manufacturing Units Location Spindles
Vardhman Spinning and General Mills Ludhiana (Punjab) 64572
Vardhman Spinning Mills Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) 36288
Auro Spinning Mills Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) 77792
Arisht Spinning Mills Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) 82128
VMT Spinning Company Limited Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) 45120
Arihant Spinning Mills Malerkotla (Punjab) 113804
Mandideep (Madhya
Anant Spinning Mills 74496
Pradesh)
Vardhman yarns Satlapur (Madhya Pradesh) 170528
Vardhman Fabrics (Yarns Division) Bhudhni(Madhya Pradesh) 60000
Vardhman Yarns and Threads Ltd.
Hoshiarpur (Punjab) 60352
Spinning
Spinning-Total 785080
Rotors
Auro Spinning Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) 1248
Vardhman Fabrics Bhudhni(Madhya Pradesh) 2160
Total 3408
• Sprung from a keen desire to set up an educational institution in Ludhiana and inspired by the writings
of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the Trust has set up a college - Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce
and Management (affiliated to the Punjab University) with the mission to create an institution with
distinction dedicated to the ideals of creating disciplined career oriented young people ready for going
for administrative and management roles in enterprises or to set up their own business as entrepreneurs.
43
A Vardhman initiative to improve the yield of cotton in Punjab in 2001 when the State had suffered a shock of
crop devastation and area under cotton cultivation was dwindling, led to the experiment to adopt villages and
see whether concerted efforts in bringing knowledge to farmers could improve the yield of cotton. The
experiment was successful as it improved the yield of cotton to 873 kg/hectare in 2005 in adopted villages
where the average yield of cotton in the State of Punjab was 587 kg/hectare (world average - 700 kg/hectare). It
found mention in the President's broadcast on Technology Day (11/05/04) as a 'technological event which has
the potential to penetrate into our everyday lives'. The Village Adoption Programme also found mention in the
President's address to the nation on the eve of India's 56th Republic day. The President of India was gracious to
bless one of the participating Villages -'Gehri Buttar' (District - Bathinda) by his presence on December 10th
2005.
44
• Vardhman is actively engaged in the activities of Nimbua Greenfield Punjab Limited (www.ngpl.co.in)
formed by a consortium of Industries of Punjab for developing a common facility for storage, treatment
and disposal of hazardous wastes generated by the Industry with a Government of India grant.
AWARDS
(The Padma Bhushan award has conferred to Shree S.P. Oswal by The President of India,
Ms. Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapti Bhawan as on 31st March, 2010.)
The Government of India has nominated Chairman and Managing Director, Vardhman Group of Industries, SP
Oswal, for the Padma Bhushan award. An announcement in this regard was made in New Delhi today. The
award will be conferred on him by the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan soon.
Talking to TNS from New Delhi, Oswal said he was grateful to the state and Central governments for having
chosen him for one of the highest awards.
He said, I am also grateful to society and the people in my organisation, who worked as a team to achieve
greater heights. Born in 1942, Oswal passed his master degree in commerce with gold medal from Panjab
University, Chandigarh. The Vardhman Group established in 1962 has today blossomed into one of the largest
textile business houses in India. It has the largest yarn manufacturing capacity in the country with over 7,50,000
spindles. The group achieved a turnover of Rs 3,200 crore in 2008-09 and employs around 23,000 persons at its
various plants, offices and branches.
Oswal has contribution in the area of agriculture. In 1999, 2001 and 2002, when the yield of cotton in the state
had fallen to a level that scared farmers, he took the initiative of adopting a village in 2003 to test if with good
practices adopted, the yield could be brought to international levels.
.
48
WEAKNESSES
49
OPPORTUNITIES
• As quality is good and prices are comparatively high, Vardhman can always easily
liquidate stock pressure by slight reduction in prices.
• As brand image is very good and production is too wide, Vardhman can have some good
customers with whom direct business can be established. With this Vardhman will have
better Quantity and Regularity of sales.
• Strict payments are strengths at times as well as weakness. If a moderate policy, as per
present conditions are adopted, the dealers and customers shall be attracted to buy more
and regularly.
• Shortened hierarchy shall provide hope for better customer service.
THREATS
• Smaller players in the market are using Vardhman’s process as a shield to push their
product at lower prices.
• Companies from south are entering into Ludhiana market.
• Capacity of Yarn Spinning is increasing rapidly in comparison to increase in market size,
resulting into the addition of new players. This would result in price cuts, liberalization
of payment, terms and conditions etc. the various functional areas.
50
SALES
PROCESS OF VARDHMAN
HKY
INTRODUCTION
OF
PROJECT
52
Introduction
One cannot rely on the theoretical knowledge; it has to be accompanied by practical one. Lesson
learnt in the classroom helps us to understand the fundamental concepts of management and also
facilitate in learning of practical situations. The practical training helps to provide necessary
industrial one cannot rely on the theoretical knowledge imparted in the institutions. To maximize
exposure and useful experience. It is therefore, very necessary that theoretical knowledge and
practical training should go hand in hand.
As an integral part of the curriculum, I had the opportunity to do summer training at
HAND KNITTING YARN SALES OFFICE of VARDHMAN SPINNING AND
GENERAL MILLS.
53
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibers, suitable for use in the production of
textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery. Hand knitting yarn is a
special type of yarn which is knitted manually.
Hand knitting yarn is that yarn, which is used directly by hands to weaving winter woolen or
winter garments. The ladies at free time in homes weaving different designed sweaters, caps
etc which helps them to spend free time or made winter garments at lesser cost as compare
to spend in readymade. The woolen garments protected the body from cold better then
readymade.
Vardhman in hand knitting yarn have good brand image in the market. From rural market to
urban market every customer well known about the Vardhman brand or product. The
Vardhman
group created good image in the market by providing quality products at reasonable prices as
compare to market.
MARKETING MIX
54
Meaning
Marketing mix is a particular combination of the product, its price, the methods to promote it,
and the ways to make the product available to the customer. Based upon its understanding of
customer, a company develops its marketing mix of product, price, place, and promotion.
The elements of market mix are much related to each other. Managers must manage these
4Ps in a way that they satisfy customer needs better then competition. Decision regarding
marketing mix form a major aspect of implementation of the marketing concept.
55
Definition
The elements of marketing mix: -Marketing mix is made up of four elements namely product,
price, promotion and place that constitute the heart of marketing decisions from the angle of
marketer.
Promotion: communication
Place : convenience
Marketing mix signifies internal controllable forces. The marketing mix is the master- Mix of
sub-mixes namely, product mix, price mix, promotion mix, and place mix. and as a set of
good many variables.
1) Product mix
Product is the sum total of physical and psychological satisfaction it provide to the buyer. Hand
knitting yarn is the product that provides protection in winter season from cold after giving a
proper structure to it. The main final products are sweaters, caps, gloves etc. that made from
hand knitting yarn.
56
In the sum total of hand knitting yarn product is raw material (fiber) used in its construction and
its ability to perform, its packaging, its brands its intangibles associated with it- all that speak
about its personality and image.
I. The product-line and product range.-Each company has its own product line. The
Vardhman product-line as under-
A: yarns
B: sewing threads
C: fabrics
D: fiber
E: special steels
Product range of Vardhman hand knitting yarn in different packing’s. Prescribed as:
II. Product design: - The marketing decision start with designing the product in a way which is
required by the target market .the Vardhman design the products in different shape, shades to
give greater proportion and beauty. Design is a major selling feature. Product design depends
upon the external experience. The external appearance of the Vardhman HKY depend upon
these factors count of yarn, plies twisted in it, shades, and ratio of different raw materials used
in it. The Vardhman employed imported machines and the workers are skilled that work
efficiently and effectively. New or innovative product design originates in Vardhman
merchandising, research, styling and development department of manufacture. Vardhman at the
time of new or development of consult with design engineers, suppliers of materials, distributers
and consumers are the source of original ideas. In Vardhman good design is the outcome of
team-work of engineers, designers and researchers.
The Vardhman marketing decisions start with designing the products in a way which is required
by the target consumer.
III. Product package: - Package is the container or a wrapper used to house the product. A
good package has the pride of place in merchandising because it protects the product, provide
convince to the consumer, increase economy and communicate.
Vardhman is very conscious about the packaging. The Vardhman packaging facilitate to both
consumer and dealers. Its packages protect the products against deterioration, insure against
evaporation loss and physical changes due to climate changes, diminish loss from handling and
reduce the amount of shopworn merchandising.
For consumer: Vardhman hand knitting packages keep product clean, make possible easy storage
and handling , help in quick identification..
For dealers: packages are helping them for easy handling, save time and money in selling,
facilitate inventory control and make possible attractive store display.
The Vardhman hand knitting yarn in three different packing’s
1. Hank packages
2. Lachhi packages
3. Ball packages (box and yarn packages)
59
Hank Packing:-
Hank packing is the highest weight packing in hand knitting yarn, with average 3kg yarn in a
packing. In hank packing counts available are 2.5 DMM - 21 DMM in 1/2/3/4/6 Ply. Hanks
include many product varieties like Millennium, Crystal, Brylon, Crazy, Sizzle, Khushboo,
Rabbit Excel, Butterfly, Shinning Star, Melody fine, Sensation. . Wide range of colors is present
in hank packing. The packaging of the products in polythenes and yarn role in hank shape
Ball Packing:
Ball packing is the next range in hand knitting yarn, with average packing of 200g packing. The
packing is done in cardboard boxes with both 6 yarn balls having 25g weight each and hence
150g packing. There are packing’s of 4 yarn balls also with each ball weighing 50g. Some of the
major ball packing are Soft and smart, Cozy care, Salsa, Christina premium, Blossom, Lamb hair
etc. Out of them soft and smart is considered the best in terms of sales following it is Christina
premium. Lamb hair is the product in ball packing having high level of wool in it.
Lachhi Packing:
Lachhi packing is the hand knitting yarn packing available in 100g packs. This is a small
packing targeting the end consumer. It contains many varieties and product range like Micro
shine, Pretty Baby, etc.
Fast moving products are those products which have more demand in market than others. In all
packing’s have some qualities that come under it. The qualities under it are…
Shade: color difference in a quality.
Ply: No of thread twisted in a yarn.
Count: thickness or thinness of the yarn. 1count= 840 yards
Attractive packages are having communicating values like the ball packaging have different
posters on it acc to quality or name. Vardhman mention name on each packaging that create their
brand identification and an element of advertisement and sales promotion.
Under legal requirement the Vardhman hand knitting yarn that sell in himachal pardesh not
packed in polythene material because polythene ban in that state.
Poly bags that help to carry the product that have value to customer for further use. Jar
packaging house in kitchens.
VI. Product quality: -Establishment and control of quality is the basic step in Vardhman.
Vardhman gives total quality in products according to ISO-9000.
The Vardhman hand knitting yarn product quality based on these factors
Colour, weight, size, shrinkage, strength, .
The vardhman produced proper designed products with help of marketing department and R&D
department. The purchasing department purchase good quality raw material from market, for
manufacturing new innovative or quality machines are establish , every type of facilities are
gives to workers for good performance on machines that that help to produce better quality in
products and well packaging of products.
63
V. Product labeling:- A product label may be either descriptive, informative, grade designating
or a combination of these. Vardhman hand knitting yarn packed in three different packing’s
hank, ball and lachhi, each packing label with their features. The factors included in labeling are
Price, quality; lot no, quantity, date of packing and, shad. Labels are fixed to identify about the
product. The product with ISO marks to conform about quality.
VI. Product branding:-Vardhman hand knitting yarn have good brand image in the market as
compare to competitors, so it create a loyalty among the customers. Today’s customer aware
about the products, they want to purchase a branded product because it is a sign of status or they
know good brad have good product quality wise. A brand is a symbol, a mark, a name, a
communication which brings about an identity of a product. A brand is a image, a quality a
value, a personality.
activities required to link producer with users and users with producers to accomplish the market
task.
The place mix variables:- The main place mix variables are- transportation, warehousing,
inventory levels- channels of distribution.
1. The channel of distribution:-The distribution system that creates time and place utilities.
Vardhman hand knitting yarn distribute their product through agents. Agent is channel of
distribution of products from producer to customer. It is a middle man between the producer and
customer. Agent transfer products without acquiring its ownership on commission basis. They
render a valuable service of bringing together the sellers and buyers.
Vardhman have total number of agents are 13 all over India. The hand knitting
products sell only in that states where winter season have. So there isn’t any benefit to over all
states .only that states where the products of HKY are needed. Vardhman gives 2% commission
to theirs agents on per kilogram of products. The agent sells more and more quantity by forcing
their dealers. The agents personally visit to dealers or call to them on phones to aware them
about new products and new schemes. There are 800 to 900 dealers of Vardhman but this no
vary between this figures.
Why Vardhman distribute their products through agents only.
They cover large area. HKY is only seasonal products that sale for 4 to 5 months. If the company
hire salesman fixed salary paid to them but in case of agents only commission paid on the
amount of selling. Company cannot cover all area by opening their own retail shops. if they open
65
need to hire management staff that will increase cost. The sales of Vardhman are near about
75crore that is not enough to use another distribution channel.
No fixed responsibility of Vardhman on the sale of products. If the dealers sale the products
commission to agent otherwise not. Agents collect payments from dealers. If any default
payment or not recovered the company recover from that payment from commission of agent. To
solve dispute if any rising between the dealers. To give feed back to company of customer and
market. To give idea about new product by gathering information from market or if new trend
comes in market
AGENT
DEALER
S
WHOLESAL
RETAILERS
ERS
CUSTOME CUSTOME
RS RS
66
The agents are make connection between the producers and dealers. The agents set target to
dealer acc to past experience this much you sell in this year. According to their targets the plan
for year sale or estimate how and what requirements we are needed to fulfill target with the help
of different departments. The dealer further supplies the products to wholesalers or retailers.
Dealers have also their own shops.
II. Transportation:- A selection is to be made of the most efficient, economical, rapid and
dependable mode of transport for the firm’s products taking into account rail-roads, trucks. The
mode which decreases the transportation cost to transfer products from producer to dealers and
dealers to wholesalers and retailers. Marketing creates the place utility that widen the market and
marketability for the products of producers.
Vardhman cannot pay or have not more responsibility towards transport to transit their products
from their place to dealers point. The dealers of Vardhman have their own contract with
transporters. The dealers identify the transporter to company. They give details of transporters to
company.
The payment made to transporter is the responsibility of dealer at the time of delivery. The
company has not any role to pay anything. The company has responsibility to transfer products
from their warehouse to transporter place. For this process the company employed contractors.
The company pays to their own contractors on the basis of per bale. The cost of per bale is near
about Rs 10. The weight of per bale is 60 to 90kg
The insurance of products at the time of transportation is made by company. The company
recovers the insurance from dealers.
The vital role plays in transportation by dealers on other hand company have not so much.
III. Warehouse:- Warehousing has its own place in distribution of that creates time utility by
adjusting supply and demand, preserving or conditioning the product and obtaining more
favorable demand and market price.
67
Vardhman have warehouses but inside the boundaries of the company. Warehouse in
commercial department that use to store the products after packaging. In the sales department
very big warehouse facility from where finally sales process start. From the sales department
warehouse the products are transfer to customer.
Vardhman don’t have warehouses in different area because the sales of products not on very
large scale. The hand knitting yarn demand decreases day by day due to shifting of customer to
readymade side. If Vardhman open their warehouses the cost of product increases. When we
open warehouse firstly purchase land then construct building after that to hire management for
controlling to it. So Vardhman shipping the products from sales department warehouse to
dealers. The dealers place the products in their own warehouses.
VI. Inventory level:- Merchandising is responsible not only for what make available but also
how much to produce. The sales staff of Vardhman along with market research staff and their
past experience determines the future prospects or sales volume of products. With the help these
things the manufacturing experts take idea how much amount of inventory store in warehouses
on the basis of time for one month, quarter, and a year.
On peak level of sales the Vardhman keep sufficient inventory must be on hand of different
shade, in qualities to make immediate shipment upon the receipt of orders. If company failing to
meet the demand or to fulfill the order on time, the orders cancelled, lost of customer to
competitors, reduce in sales.
The annual sales budget of Vardhman is 2800 ton. The Vardhman HKY sales their products near
about 2500-2600 ton. The Vardhman sales season on peak in months of July, august, September,
and October. In these months 50% sales of HKY. April, May, and June are the months of
production.
Vardhman keep inventory at average level neither maximum level nor minimum level. Inventory
increases the cost of company by insurance, money stock in products, management for store
keeping.
The inventory requirements are dependent on economic conditions, weather conditions. The
HKY is the seasonal product so inventory level varied. To increase their volume and profit level
68
the company reduced production and distribution cost, a more products line for the dealers,
improved ability to face competition.
3) Price mix
Price is the major marketing tool and helps in directing the product to a specific consumer
segment. Price is the value of a product expressed in terms of money. Price is the powerful
instrument in which both the buyers and sellers are keenly interested. Price ensures the
companies a decent return in investment, and helps to create, maintains and extends market and
market share. The price is decided by Vardhman according to the consumer expectations. At the
time of settlement of pricing most focuses on prices of competitor products.
The pricing decisions of a company are affected by internal and external factors
Internal factors External factors
Internal factors:
Internal factors, affecting the price of a product, are many. Cost of the product sets the floor. The
Vardhman would like to charge a price which covers the cost of the product and a fair rate of
return. Cost of the product means total cost i.e., fixed plus variable costs. Fixed costs do not
69
change with the change in volume of production Up to a certain level. Variable costs change
proportionately. The Company’s marketing objective is yet another important variable For price
fixation. The Vardhman have a good brand image in the market, so the company would stay in
the market as long as it covers variable costs fully and fixed costs partly. Due their brand image
company cannot compare their prices with competitors the relative importance of pricing
decision in marketing mix, also affects price fixation. Sometimes pricing decision is the control
decision and all other decisions are taken afterwards. It may also happen that other variables of
marketing mix like promotion become more important. Vardhman fixed the Price after
considering other variables like promotion. In vardhman, product line managers perform the job
of fixing the prices.
External factors:
Besides internal factors, external factors also influence the pricing decision of a Vardhman.
These factors are called environmental factors. Nature of demand, competitors’ costs, price
offers and government policy are very important factors to be considered while fixing prices.
The relationship between price and demand should be analyzed properly. No company can
ignore the costs, prices and offers of substitute items from competitors. Economic factors, like
rate of interest, state of industry (boom or recession), inflation, etc. affect the price-fixing
decision.
When Vardhman fixed the prices of their product, it cover all the factors that help or involved to
fix it. The factors responsible for it are nature of market, cost of manufacture, costs of marketing,
sales policies and methods channels of distribution and competitor’s prices.
I. The pricing policies and strategies:- The price policies and strategies are the guidelines and
the frames within which management administers prices so to match them to the market needs.
70
The Vardhman have a single price policy not vary to geographical area wise. The cost of
Advertisement, transport, agent commission, other discount offer cover in it.
II. The terms of credit:- Without the ability of offer some form of deferred payments or
installment buying, many of the products sold by business houses would never actives the size of
the market needed to get production economies of scale. The Vardhman issue products to their
loyal customers on credit. The credit facility helps the company to expand their business. In this
modern era no business survives without giving credit facilities to their wholesalers and retailers.
III. Margin:- Margin here refer to the difference between the final price paid by the consumer
and the total cost incurred in making available to him the products. In which Vardhman includes
margin of retailer, wholesalers and producers.
VI. Terms of delivery:- In Vardhman dealers pay the cost of delivering the products from
producers to customers from their margin. At the time of fixing the price of products the
company includes the cost of transport in their margins
4) Promotion
Promotion refers to using methods of communication with two objectives:
(I) Informing the existing and potential consumers about a
Product, and
(2) To persuade consumers to buy the product.
It is an important element of marketing mix. In the absence of communication, consumers may
not be aware of the product and its potential to satisfy their needs and desires. Various tools of
communication form part of promotion mix. Companies must decide which tool(s) should be
71
used for larger sales and in what proportion. The tools should be combined. These decisions are
known as promotion-mix decisions.
There are four components of promotion-mix i.e., advertising, personal selling, sales promotion
and public relations. Thus, promotion mix is a company’s total communication programs which
consist of different blends of its components and which are used to achieve the company’s
marketing objectives.
Vardhman play special attention for the promotion of hand knitting yarn. Vardhman is an
established brand in field of hand knitting yarn. The brand name Vardhman in market is itself
very powerful promotional tool. Besides these promotional tools credit facilities provides by
Vardhman is very helpful if the promotion of hand knitting yarn.
Tools of Promotion-mix :-Advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and publicity are the
major tools. Vardhman also gave credit facilities to their dealers’ fir the promotion of Vardhman
hand knitting yarn. The marketing manager must recognise the characteristics of each tool and
costs involved while deciding on the promotion-mix.
1. Advertising: - Advertising is an impersonal form of communication for which the seller pays
in order to promote a physical product or service. It may be in print form as in newspapers and
magazines, or in audio form as on the radio and other similar methods, or in audio-visual forms
as on the Television, cinema screen, etc.
The merits of advertising is that it reaches a larger number of people, the message can be
repeated, its cost is not high, and with the development of art and computer graphics, simple
statements can be transformed into forceful messages. The other side of advertising is that it
does
not provide any feedback, it is not as forceful as personal selling, it is not flexible, and good
advertisements cost a lot.
72
Advertisement is one of the strongest tools of Vardhman for promotion. Vardhman follows all
basic methods of advertisement i.e. print form as in newspapers and magazines, audio-visual
forms as on the Television etc. Detail information of these methods is given below: -
Newspapers and Magazines: - Vardhman promote hand knitting yarn by advertising it
through newspapers and magazines. Vardhman advertise HKY in weekly magazines like
grehshoba.
3) Sales Promotion: - Sales promotion means the use of short-term incentives which are
designed to encourage immediate purchase of a product or service by the buyer. It may include
offer of discounts, free gifts, free sample, coupons, demonstration, store display, etc. Generally
this tool supplements the efforts made through personal selling and advertisement.
74
Most of the sales promotion activities come in the form of some incentive for the buyer; hence
sales generally increase immediately. Big business enterprises use sales promotion tools while
introducing a new product. It adds to the effectiveness of total promotional efforts of a company.
Sales promotion has certain demerits e.g. it does not leave a lasting effect. Some customers also
feel that sales promotion schemes are launched to clear old stocks.
4) Publicity: - Publicity takes place when a favourable presentation is made through mass media
about a product or service. People believe more on such news than in advertising. It covers
people who do not entertain personal selling and sales promotion approaches. It is a non-paid
form of communication but sometimes it is not regarded as a promotional tool within the reach
of a company. Very few products or services are covered by publicity.
For publicity purpose Vardhman arranges knitting competitions in schools and military. These
knitting competitions motivate the children to knit because in these days youngsters loosing their
interests in knitting which directly affect the sales. Vardhman distributes gifts among those
children who knit best. Same competitions are arranged in military between the house wives of
army man. Vardhman performs these kinds of activities for publicity of HKY.
Packaging is also considered as a powerful sales promotion tool these days. It immediately
attracts the buyer and makes him buy the product. This tool has produced good results in case of
consumer goods. Vardhman use very good packing material which helps to promote the product.
In Vardhman there are no hard and fast rules of promotion mix. Vardhman pays attention to all
the tools of promotion while deciding on the promotion mix.
76
1. To find out the present trend of Hand Knitting Yarn in Ludhiana, Amritsar, moga and
batala.
2. To study the status of Vardhman Hand Knitted yarns over other competitors.
3. To know the consumer response towards Hand Knitting Yarn of Vardhman.
4. To have suggestions from consumers to increase the sale of Hand Knitting Yarn.
77
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
78
Market research is the systematic design, collection, and analysis of the data and reporting of
information and finding relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.
Why a research study has been undertaken, how the research problem has been defined, in what
way and why the hypothesis has been formulated, what data have been collected and what
particular method has been adopted, why particular technique of analyzing data has been used
and a host of similar other questions are usually answered when we talk of research methodology
concerning a research problem or study.
Research Design:
Research design stands for advance planning of the methods to be adopted for collecting the
relevant data and the techniques to be used in their analysis. By focusing on objective of
research.
The research design of the project will be descriptive as it will describe data and view points of
the consumers of Hand Knitting yarn . Descriptive research is used to obtain information
concerning the effects of 4Ps on customer or dealers to increase the sales.
Data Collection:
Primary data: we were personally visited and interviewed the dealers, wholesalers and retailers
and the data was collected with the help of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was well
designed to meet the research objective. The questionnaire contained all open-ended and close-
ended questions.
Sampling Design:
Sampling refers to selecting some of the elements in a population by which one can
draw conclusions about the entire population. Four district of Punjab named Ludhiana, moga;
gurdaspur and Amritsar were covered in this project. Although there were a large number of
dealers but it was necessary to have sufficient sample to have a greater degree of accuracy.
Sample size:
No of respondent: 25
Analysis of data:
After the data collected, it was analyzed to extract finding from it. Analysis was done by feeding
the data in Microsoft excel and the results were interpreted.
80
ANALYSIS
AND
INTERPRETATIONS
According to our survey no new retailer or wholesaler enter in market. There are100% retailers
and wholesalers that work in market more than 4yrs. The company take initiative to inspire the
new comers to enter in market.
In our survey there are only three main HKY brands in the market that compete with each other.
Name of these three brands Vardhman, Malwa, and Oswal. In the market there are so many
other local brand that deal with HKY like adhinath, overtake, taj, rosy etc.
Maximum numbers of dealers and customer prefer lachhi packing’s. According to our survey
63% rate lachhi packing’s, 10.5% to hank packing, 2% to ball packing, and .5% to jar. So they
most prefer to lachhi packing.
Interpretation: Other competitors like Oswal, Malwa and rosy are using style of as Vardhman
do. The only difference is that they don’t have jar packing.
There is 64% customers demand plane quality wool and 36% fancy wool. The plane wool is
evergreen and fancy depend upon trend. The trend of fancy wool changes season to season.
Q-10 which company provides you more variable and qualitative products?
Total
no of
yes
no
questionnaire =25
No of respondent response to this question =19 (76%)
The respondent rate 56% , the supply of Vardhman on time and 20% not on time. The problem is
that some time some qualities or shades are not available.
1.5
0.5
0
1-5 days 5-10 days 10-15 days above 15
Q-16 Are you satisfied with the credit facility given by Vardhman?
91
Interpretation: In our market survey 26% respondent having Vardhman exclusively and 74%
not. Reason behind this price factor, margin, to fulfill customer demand.
Questionnaire
I am conducting a survey on “study of marketing mix of Vardhman hand knitting yarn” as apart
of my MBA summer training project. I will be grateful if you could spare a few minutes from
your valuable time and provide me with the information asked below.
Mandeep Singh
Name :………………………
Address :……………………………......................
………………………………..................
95
Contact no : ………………………
Fax :………………………
Email :……………………
Oswal ………………………………………………………
Malwa ……………………………………………………….
Rosy ………………………………………………………
Vardhman
Oswal
Malwa
Others...............
16) Are you satisfied with the credit facility given by Vardhman?
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Agree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
Disagree
98
Strongly disagree
FINDINGS
AND
SUGESSTIONS
100
FINDINGS
SUGGESTION
The following suggestions can be derived in the basis of the survey and the analysis being done
of questionnaire filled during the survey. There are-
1) There are some complaints of pilling in a few products of Vardhman HKY, so Vardhman
should pay attention for the improvement of quality of those products.
2) Vardhman should lunch new product in the competition of ‘juhi’ of malwa and ‘Venus’
of Oswal.
3) Some retails feels there is monopoly of dealers of Vardhman in the market. So Vardhman
should take corrective action regarding this problem.
4) Vardhman should also give credit facilities and incentives to Retailers.
101
5) They should also promote the product by distributing free knitting sticks and design
books etc.
6) They should do timely visit of the dealers so as to know their business and to check the
status of the products.
Though carrying out the research study was learning and enriching experience but I also faced
some constraints and limitations.
1. Overall hand knitting yarn market was too vast and it was not possible to cover each
and every customer in the available short span of time.
2. The study was conducted within the boundaries of some local areas.
3. The research is carried out in a summer which is not the dyed cotton yarn season so
consumers can’t disclose their needs properly.
4. Generally, the respondents were busy in their work and were not interested in
responding.
5. Respondents were reluctant to disclose complete and correct information about
themselves and their organization.
102
6. The research was conducted in present prevailing conditions. There can be some
fluctuations in the market, which can offset the findings.
7. The results of the survey might not be generalized and may not hold good for the whole
population as they are based on the sample collected from specific areas only.
103
CONCLUSION
• Vardhman has been rated no.1 by the respondents in terms of quality and variety.
• Oswal offers best price of hand knitting yarn as compared to its competitors.
• The demand of hand knitting yarn has been decreasing from last 5 years and will
decrease in future also.
• Companies like Oswal, Malwa and local players are giving tuff competition to
Vardhman.
104
• Consumers consider quality as the most important factor while procuring hand knitting
yarn.
• There are only few dealers of Vardhman in the market so company should aim to
increase the dealer’s network.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• http://www.vardhman.com/products_yarns_overview.asp
• http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020303/ldh1.htm
• http://textilescommittee.nic.in/Pro-Kol.pdf
105
• http://www.answers.com/topic/yarn
• www.wikipedia.com
• www.google.com